Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

For the next five days, Lin Yuan spun himself around like a top.

Recording studio, photography studio, editing room—she worked non-stop between these three locations. Gu Zhiwan also stayed up for three consecutive nights. When filming the final, crucial scene of "looking at each other through glass," she stared at Lin Yuan's face covered in special effects for injuries on the screen, and her eyes welled up with tears. Even after the director yelled "cut," she remained in character for half a minute.

"Lin Yuan," she sniffed, her voice muffled and teasing, "this script of yours is like stabbing people in the heart. Aren't you going to compensate me for emotional distress after filming?"

"I'll treat you to milk tea for a month." Lin Yuan handed over a cup of hot cocoa, smiling innocently. "An advance payment."

"roll."

Late at night on September 19th, the final master tape rendering was completed.

Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair, staring at the final version of the music video on the screen. From the black screen at the beginning to the last frame of "he turned and left," he made sure that every drumbeat and every color tone was perfectly matched before he called Fei Zhao.

"Sister Fei, it's all done." His voice was a little hoarse. "The song, the music video, the cover—everything's ready. Just waiting to go live."

On the other end of the phone, Fei Zhao was unusually silent for two seconds.

"Have you looked at the stats for 'The Lover' and 'Autumn Wind' on Star Road?"

"I haven't looked, I'm busy." Lin Yuan yawned. "What happened to them? Did they dominate the rankings?"

"The Lover is in the top four, and Autumn Wind is in the top ten." Fei Zhao's voice was flat. "Our 'Rebellion,' featuring Chen Yu and Zhou Ye, is stuck at twelfth, not in the top ten."

Lin Yuan responded with an "Oh," as if he had heard that the oden at the convenience store downstairs was sold out, without any reaction.

"There are only ten days left this month." Fei Zhao paused, "Both songs on 'Star Journey' have gained both critical acclaim and popularity, and their fan base is incredibly stable. Bolaikun is still ramping up their promotional efforts, and our window of opportunity..."

"Sister Fei," Lin Yuan interrupted her.

"Um?"

Do you believe me?

Fei Zhao remained silent.

"If you trust me," Lin Yuan spun in his chair, gazing at the pale light on the ceiling, a slow smile spreading across his face, "let them run for a few days. Once the 'Suspended' event is online, I'll show them what it means to—"

He deliberately dragged out the tone.

"With a thud, pure love begins."

Fei Zhao finally chuckled softly, a sound so brief it was almost an illusion: "It's a shame you're not a comedian with that mouth of yours."

"I'm already considering a side hustle."

"Okay." Fei Zhao's voice regained its usual calm. "Official announcement on the 20th, launch at 19 PM, I'll give you the green light for all channels. Lin Yuan, don't make me lose face at the Tianxing board meeting."

"Don't worry, Sister Fei." Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes. "Just wait and see the trending topics explode tomorrow."

May 20th, 10:00 AM.

A post suddenly appeared on Tianxing Entertainment's official Weibo account without warning.

[Tianxing Entertainment V: Tonight at 19:00, "Suspended Drowning," written, composed, and sung by Lin Yuan, the lyricist and composer of "Summer Wind," will be officially released. Suspended and unresolved, drowning in your heart.]

The accompanying image is a cover that looks like a movie poster.

Under the streetlights on a rainy night, a man with a scarred face but still sharp features gently stroked the profile of the blind woman before him. The woman's eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembled, and a tenderness bordering on reverence played on her lips. The man's gaze was like shattered stars scattered across the ground; though he was touching his beloved, it felt like a farewell.

The visuals have a cold, somber, and intense feel, conveying a strong sense of destiny.

After a three-second silence, the comment section on Weibo exploded.

"Holy crap?! The author of 'Summer Breeze' is singing herself?!"

"This cover... I'm speechless! What kind of cinematic quality is this?!"

"Wait, isn't that guy... the school heartthrob who sang 'Summer Breeze' with Gu Zhiwan a while ago?!"

"The girl is also Gu Zhiwan!!! My favorite couple actually made a music video???"

"A blind girl and a down-on-his-luck boxer? This premise is making me want to burst into tears!"

"I'm going to be stuck here by 7 PM tonight!"

"Lin Yuan? Who's Lin Yuan? A newcomer? Never mind, I'll fawn over that face first!"

The trending topics skyrocketed, with #LinYuanSuspended#, #LinYuanGuZhiWanMV#, and #SummerWindAuthorAppearsOnScreen# all climbing into the top ten in less than half an hour.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Starway Entertainment, in the high-level conference room.

Wu Liang stared at the Weibo post on his tablet, his thick fingers tapping the screen so hard it made a squeaking sound: "Lin Yuan? It's that Lin Yuan again! He actually dares to sing it himself?!"

"A songwriter, does he really think he's some kind of all-around entertainer?" Chu Nan sneered, a hint of anxiety he himself didn't realize hidden in his eyes. "Just a publicity stunt. Bo Laikun and Shen Wei's numbers are rock solid. What kind of waves can a newcomer like him stir up?"

Shen Wei remained silent in the corner.

She stared intently at the cover.

She remembered the young man in the karaoke room whom she had publicly humiliated for "not even being able to use music production software properly." She remembered Fei Zhao's words, "Turn right when you leave, don't bother seeing me out." She remembered the eight-figure penalty she had paid by emptying her savings to breach the contract.

The fingernails dug deeply into the palm.

"Lin Yuan..." she gritted her teeth, squeezing out the name as if she wanted to devour him alive.

Time was stretched into a taut string.

From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., the entire internet was waiting.

The screenshot of the teaser cover has been shared hundreds of thousands of times. Gu Zhiwan's fans are screaming "Sister is absolutely gorgeous!" while frantically recommending it, saying "You're not human if you don't watch it tonight at 7 pm!"

Even forums frequented by straight men who don't usually follow celebrities are buzzing with discussion: "Isn't this cover a bit too much? A blind girl and a disfigured boxer? Is the music industry really going this far these days?"

19: 00.

"Suspended" has been officially launched.

It was simultaneously pushed on four major platforms: NetEase Cloud Music, Tencent Music, Shuaigou Music, and Apple Music.

The prelude was the first to explode.

The synthesizer's undertones are like the seawater washing over your ankles at night—cold, slow, and irresistible. Then the drums join in, not with a powerful, explosive beat, but with the sound of a heart beating alone in the darkness.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Yuan's voice cut in—

"So funny..."

His voice was hoarse and restrained, like someone lying in a dark room, talking to themselves while staring at the ceiling.

"Ya i ya i ya i ya i……"

There were no complete lyrics, only a string of indistinct syllables, yet it felt as if it had a real weight, hitting my eardrums with a dull ache.

The music video was released simultaneously.

The barrage was filled with "ahhh" comments for the first thirty seconds, then it started to decrease during the first scene, "First Encounter in the Rainy Night," and a few "So Sweet" comments floated by during "Love Confession by Picking Pebbles by the Lake." Then, during the third scene's turning point, "He Goes to Thailand to Fight in Underground Boxing," the barrage completely fell silent.

It's not that nobody watches it.

Everyone was afraid to breathe.

In the fourth act, he stands before a mirror, his face disfigured, the shattered glass reflecting his crisscrossing scars. He doesn't cry; he simply clenches his fists and then relaxes them.

Act Five.

After regaining her sight, she stood on the street and brushed past him.

She didn't see him.

He watched her walk away, paused for a moment, but ultimately did not chase after her.

The final scene.

He watched through the glass window of the carving shop as she bent down to carve a small pebble—the token of their love from years ago. Occasionally, she would look up at the door, her eyes vacant yet tender, as if waiting for someone who would never appear.

He stood across the street, his face covered in scars hidden in shadow by the backlight, simply watching quietly.

Then he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

The screen went black.

The subtitles slowly appeared—

Every year, the world witnesses passionate love, but my pure love ends at our first meeting, returning to the sea of ​​people.

After a full ten seconds of silence, the comments section exploded.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit..."

"The prelude to godhood!!!"

"This isn't a song, it's a knife stabbing me in the heart..."

"The pinnacle of BE aesthetics! I cried so much my roommate thought I'd broken up with my boyfriend!"

"Wait, my ex-girlfriend... never mind, I'm going to go have a smoke."

"Working people get emotional; who hasn't thought about someone unattainable in the dead of night?"

"Gu Zhiwan's acting is amazing! That last look up made me burst into tears!"

"Lin Yuan's voice... I declare that the man I love most this summer has appeared."

"One more time! I don't believe I can't take it—okay, I'll just cry one more time."

The data started to surge.

Within fifteen minutes of its release, the number of comments on NetEase Cloud Music exceeded 100,000.

Within half an hour of its launch, Penguin Music's real-time play count exceeded five million.

Within an hour of its release, #SuspendedDrowningUnresolved# surged to the top of Weibo's trending topics, followed by a wildly popular "hot" tag.

Behind the scenes, unseen by anyone, the data curves of major music platforms are almost vertically rising at a 90-degree angle.

Fans of "The Lover" were still working hard to boost their idol's chart rankings, but they soon discovered that a mysterious force was invading their idol's comment section—

"Just came from the set of 'Suspended,' I'm sorry Kunkun, I need to cry for a bit."

Tonight, my heart belongs to Lin Yuan.

"The Lover is good, but Drowning is heartbreaking!"

Midnight.

The charts on four major platforms have been updated, with "Suspended" ranking first across all charts, dominating the entire internet.

Jinghua Film Academy, Room 404.

Gu Zhiwan snuggled in the blankets, wearing headphones, and watched the music video for the seventh time.

Every time she saw the final scene of "looking at each other through the glass," she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat.

On screen, she is a leading actress with superb acting skills.

But the Lin Yuan on the screen, when he stroked her cheek, had such tenderness and despair in his eyes that she couldn't tell if it was acting or something else entirely.

Su Zhiyuan, who slept in the bed opposite hers, was also awake.

She was scrolling through the #LinYuanGuZhiWan# CP super topic on Weibo, which had already soared to second place on the entertainment list.

She turned off her phone expressionlessly and buried her face in the pillow.

Three seconds later, a muffled sound came from inside the pillow:

"...So annoying."

As for Lin Yuan himself?

He was lying on his dorm bed, staring at the ceiling, his phone displaying a message from Fei Zhao:

[Fei Zhao: Well done, you didn't embarrass me.]

Lin Yuan: Thank you for the compliment, Sister Fei.

Lin Yuan put down his phone and closed his eyes contentedly.

Outside the window, the night in Beijing was deep.

But the storm surrounding "Suspended" has only just begun.