Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

As soon as the May Day holiday ended, Su Yu couldn't wait to turn on his computer, log into various music websites, and check the data of those ten songs before he even had a chance to sit down.

Baidu MP3 Ranking, TOP500, scroll from the end to the beginning.

498th position: None. 489th position: None. 450th position: Still none.

He scrolled all the way to number 500, but none of his ten songs made it onto the charts.

Undeterred, Su Yu opened Sogou Music, Kugou Music, and Jiutian Music, and checked them one by one.

Some people listen, some download, and a few comments occasionally pop up in the comment section: "This song is good," "The voice is beautiful," "Lake Baikal is so beautiful." But that's about it; it's lukewarm, like a pot of water that never boils.

Wang Boxue passed by him from behind, glanced at the screen, and said, "Didn't you say that good wine needs no bush? This alley is way too deep."

Su Yu leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling: "Maybe the wine isn't fragrant enough."

"Then why don't you brew some more?"

Su Yu ignored him, turned off the computer, and went to the cafeteria for lunch.

On the way, he kept thinking about one question: what exactly went wrong? The songs were definitely fine; these songs were all market-tested hits in his previous life.

The singing isn't quite as good as the original, but it's not that much worse!

That's a publicity problem. He's an ordinary person, without a company promoting him or any promotional channels. Relying solely on organic traffic, when will he ever become famous?

Su Yu sighed, ordered a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a bowl of rice, and sat in the corner eating in silence.

Halfway through the meal, my phone vibrated; we had exchanged phone numbers the last time we met.

Anxi sent me a message: "Su Yu, how's your song going? Is it a hit yet?"

Su Yu wiped his mouth and typed a reply: "No fire; some people listened, but not many. It feels like throwing a pebble into the ocean, not even making a splash."

Anxi sent a smirking emoji: "Take your time, gold will always shine."

"Your consolation sounds rather perfunctory."

Anxi: "What else can I do? I'm not the owner of a music company."

......

Days passed by, and half of May had gone by. The weather in Beijing was starting to get hot.

Su Yu went to class, wrote scripts, and browsed music websites as usual every day. The data for the ten songs slowly climbed, but they were still a long way from becoming "viral".

Sometimes he would lie in bed at night and wonder if he should spend some money to hire someone to promote it.

On second thought, I don't rely on this for a living, so why the rush? I'll take it slow and wait for the ringtone to become popular.

Su Yu remembers May 22nd very clearly because it rained heavily in Beijing that day. He forgot to bring an umbrella and ran back to his dormitory from the teaching building, getting soaked to the bone.

He changed into dry clothes, sat down at the table, and habitually opened the Baidu MP3 ranking list.

Then he froze.

TOP500, No. 11, "There is a kind of love called letting go".

Number 9, "Damn Tenderness".

Number 7, "By the Lake Baikal".

5th place: Blue and White Porcelain.

Su Yu rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating from being in the rain.

Refresh, then refresh again. The data hasn't changed; it's still rising.

He opened the comments section of "There is a kind of love called letting go" and found that the number of comments had already exceeded a thousand.

The latest hundreds of comments are almost all saying the same thing: "Recommended by Liu Yifei!" "Same style as the fairy sister!" "From the Legend of Sword and Fairy press conference!"

Su Yu's finger hovered over the mouse, his brain racing.

Liu Yifei? Did you recommend one of his songs?

He opened a search engine and typed in "Liu Yifei's recommended songs," and a bunch of news articles popped up instantly.

The top post is from Sina Entertainment, titled: "Liu Yifei reveals her personal playlist at press conference."

Su Yu clicked on it and read it from beginning to end.

The news reported that on May 21, Liu Yifei attended the launch ceremony of the national promotional campaign for "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" in Beijing, and then immediately attended the press conference for signing a contract with Sony Music Japan.

At the press conference, when asked what kind of music she usually likes to listen to, she said, "Recently I've been listening to some original songs online. There's a singer named Su Yu whose songs are really good, like 'Blue and White Porcelain,' 'Damn Tenderness,' and 'By the Lake Baikal'... You should all give them a listen, they're really great."

Su Yu stared at the text three times, his face filled with disbelief.

It wasn't because he was about to become famous, but because he couldn't understand why Liu Yifei would hear his song.

He was just an ordinary person, and the demo he uploaded online didn't even get any promotion. How did it end up in the ears of a big star?

Could it be that Luo Jing recommended her? Luo Jing and Liu Yifei are classmates.

Su Yu shook his head, unable to understand, but he didn't think about it too much.

A big star might just casually mention it; he might genuinely like the songs, or it could be a PR stunt by his management company. In any case, his songs became hits.

He opened QQ and sent a message to Anxi: "Did you see the news? Your goddess Liu Yifei recommended my song!"

Anxi replied after more than ten seconds: "I saw it. How could I not pay attention to my goddess's news! Congratulations, Director Su."

"How did she even hear my song? I haven't promoted it at all."

Anxi: "Maybe she found it herself. Didn't you upload it to many platforms? Maybe she just happened to hear it."

Su Yu thought about it and felt that this explanation was barely acceptable: "That's true, but I still have to thank her. A big star like her helped me out, I owe her a huge favor."

Anxi sent a smiley face: "So how do you plan to thank her?"

"I don't know. Invite her to dinner? Would she even accept?"

Ansie: "How will you know if you don't try?"

Su Yu thought it made sense and decided to find an opportunity to try it.

........

For the next week, Su Yu's phone was ringing off the hook.

The first to approach us were the major record companies.

Warner, Universal, EMI, Taihe Rye Music—they all pretended to be dead when Su Yu submitted his song, but now they're all alive again.

The phone kept ringing, with similar messages: "Hello Mr. Su, we are from XX Records. We are very interested in your songs and would like to discuss the album release with you."

After receiving several phone calls, Su Yu replied in unison, "Thank you, but I'm not considering releasing an album for the time being."

It's not that he didn't want to pay, it's that he knew his own limitations.

So he decided that he wouldn't release an album, but he would still sell cover versions of his songs and collect royalties.

Next to come knocking was China Mobile.

Su Yu was writing a script in his dormitory when he received the call from the mobile company.

The other party identified himself as Zhou, the head of China Mobile's data department, and spoke in a polite tone as if he were reporting to a superior.

"Mr. Su, we are very interested in ten of your songs and would like to include them in our ringtone library. We would like to discuss the specific revenue sharing with you in person."

Su Yu's ears perked up. Ringtones—that was his real target.

Which of those legendary songs from the past didn't make a fortune through ringtone downloads?

It is said that the ringtone download of "Autumn Never Returns" has exceeded 100 million times. Each download costs a few dollars, but the amount that the lyricist and composer receive is astronomical.

He suppressed his excitement and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Okay, when?"

"If it's convenient for you, let's meet at the company in Dongzhimen tomorrow morning to discuss this further."

"OK."

After hanging up the phone, Su Yu jumped up from his chair and walked around the dormitory.

Wang Boxue was startled: "Are you crazy?"

"China Mobile! China Mobile is looking for me! Ringback tone!"

Wang Boxue looked bewildered: "Ringtone? That lousy song I hear when I make phone calls?"

"What do you mean by 'broken song'? It's a secret to wealth!"

.......

The next morning, Su Yu wore a dark blue shirt.

When we arrived at the mobile company, Manager Zhou was already waiting for us in the conference room.

He was in his forties, his hair was neatly combed, and he spoke with perfect eloquence.

The two sat down and talked for more than an hour. Su Yu gritted his teeth and negotiated the profit-sharing ratio from the initial 75% to 25% to 50% to 50% to both parties.

When he finally signed, Su Yu's hand trembled slightly.

It wasn't because he was nervous, but because he was excited. From then on, every time these ten songs were downloaded, he would earn half of the money.

Based on data from his previous life, the download volume of these ten songs during the heyday of ringtones would be enough for him to do nothing for the rest of his life and just sit back and collect money.

As Manager Zhou saw him off, he shook his hand and said, "Mr. Su, it's been a pleasure doing business with you. By the way, are you really not considering releasing an album? We have partnerships with many record companies and can help you make connections."

Su Yu shook his head: "I'm not considering that for now. Let's focus on getting the ringback tones done first."

After leaving the mobile company, Su Yu stood on the overpass at Dongzhimen, looking at the bustling traffic below, and took a deep breath.

In May, the air in Beijing was filled with poplar catkins, which filled the sky and made him sneeze.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Anxi: "The ringback tone contract is signed. China Mobile, 50/50 split."

Anxi replied instantly: "50/50? You negotiated that? Impressive, Director Su."

"Of course, who am I?"

Anxi sent an eye-roll emoji and then said, "By the way, you said you'd treat Liu Yifei to dinner last time, did you do it?"

Su Yu: "Not yet, I'm trying to contact her. I don't know her, I can't just go up to her and say, 'Hi senior, I'm your junior, I'd like to invite you to dinner,' that would be too awkward."