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

Mid-November.

"Coral Sea" swept across all music charts online within two weeks of its release.

The song topped the Nebula Chart for fourteen consecutive days. It also occupied three spots in the top ten of various platforms' trending song charts—"Suspended," "Secret," and "Coral Sea"—all by the same artist.

Including the previous song "Summer Breeze," these four original songs have all become hits, with each one widely sung by the public.

Lin Yuan went from a newcomer to a phenomenal dark horse of the year. His popularity was in the lead by a wide margin, with the second place separated from him by a huge gap.

Major platforms and TV stations couldn't sit still any longer.

The one that is most concerned about it is Qingmang TV.

The New Year's Eve concert on Qingmang TV is widely recognized in the industry as a "litmus test for young top stars." In previous years, the closing act has been either a superstar or a phenomenon of the year. Being able to stand in that position is basically a certification that one is "the hottest right now."

The director of Qingmang TV's program department personally led a team to connect with Tianxing Entertainment more than a month in advance.

In the conference room, three people sat opposite Fei Zhao: the program director, the gala's general director, and the business coordinator. All three were extremely sincere and got straight to the point:

"We hope Lin Yuan can be the closing guest at this year's Qingmang TV New Year's Eve Concert."

The director added, "The final act means the last performance before midnight. The stage performance will last twelve to fifteen minutes, and he can choose his own music. We'll provide top-of-the-line stage design."

Fei Zhao's expression remained unchanged after hearing this, but his mind was racing.

The grand finale of the New Year's Eve celebrations. Qingmang TV. One of the top three New Year's Eve TV shows in national viewership.

This is more than just a performance; it's a springboard that propelled Lin Yuan from the "music circle" into the "public eye."

"I need to confirm with the artist himself," Fei Zhao said.

That evening, she called Lin Yuan.

What do you think of the closing guest at the Qingmang TV New Year's Eve Concert?

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Sure. But I have conditions."

Fei Zhao was used to it. Every time this person said "there are conditions," it would end up being "you have to help me do something that seems impossible."

"explain."

"First, I don't want the usual backing tracks and dancers. I want my own band, a complete ensemble, drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards, performing live."

"Secondly, a piano. I need a Steinway D-series grand piano to bring onto the stage."

"Transporting a Steinway D series unit from Beijing to the Youth Olympic Games stadium, including tuning and moving, would cost at least—"

"I don't care about the budget."

"Third, the stage needs to be able to rise and fall. I want the piano to rise from under the stage; that's the opening shot."

When Fei Zhao relayed these three conditions to Qingmang TV, the expressions on the faces of the three people opposite him were as if someone had splashed a cup of coffee on their faces.

Steinway D series. Stage lift. Full band lineup.

Any one of these elements represents a level of scale never seen before in the history of New Year's Eve galas.

The program director paused for three seconds, then turned to look at the chief director.

The chief director paused for two seconds, then turned to look at the business coordinator.

The business coordinator quickly did some calculations on paper, then turned the paper over, not wanting his colleagues to see the number.

"Mr. Fei," the program director cleared his throat, "this budget..."

"Lin Yuan said he doesn't care about the budget," Fei Zhao said calmly. "My suggestion is that you think about it again. Once you've thought it through, we can talk again."

She stood up, picked up her bag, and made as if to leave.

"Wait a minute." The program director stood up instinctively. "Let's discuss this."

Ten minutes later.

Qingmang TV conceded.

Give it all.

They borrowed a Steinway D series stage from the Central Conservatory of Music and arranged a specially designed temperature and humidity-controlled transport vehicle to monitor the temperature and humidity along the way. The stage lift was redesigned, and the engineering department revised the blueprints overnight. A separate backstage area was allocated for the band's use.

A week later.

Tianxing Entertainment's official Weibo account posted a message with only one sentence—

Lin Yuan has been confirmed to join the Qingmang TV New Year's Eve Concert, and will be the headliner.

The accompanying image is a poster: Lin Yuan's profile, with light and shadow cut off from the upper left corner, half his face in light and half in shadow. Below are eight characters—

See you on New Year's Eve!

This Weibo post was forwarded over 100,000 times within three minutes.

Five minutes later, #LinYuanQingmangNewYear# became the number one trending topic.

Qingmang TV acted even faster than Tianxing.

On the day of the official announcement, subway light boxes in seventeen cities across the country simultaneously displayed solo posters of Lin Yuan. The posters all bore the same message: "First New Year's Eve with Lin Yuan."

On a large LED screen outside the Third Ring Road in Beijing, a 12-second video plays in rotation—piano keys emerge from the darkness, a finger presses the first note, the image cuts to Lin Yuan's profile, and finally freezes on "December 31, Qingmang TV".

Short video platforms are going even crazier. Qingmang TV's official account posted countdown short videos for three consecutive days, each a mashup of Lin Yuan's past videos, accompanied by the slogan "X days until the New Year".

The fans' reaction was even stronger than the publicity.

Half an hour after the official announcement, tickets for Qingmang TV's New Year's Eve Gala officially went on sale.

Sixty thousand tickets.

Sold out in 30 seconds.

The server crashed twice, and the technical team urgently expanded the capacity. By the time the system was restored, even the return tickets were gone.

The secondary ticket market exploded instantly. Tickets originally priced at 1,200 yuan for the inner field were being resold by scalpers for 8,000 yuan and up. The highest price for a front-row ticket was 26,000 yuan, with people even asking if they could negotiate a lower price.

On Weibo, the hashtag #LinYuanQingmangNewYear# garnered over 100 million views in three days.

The comments section is flooded with messages every day—

[@DidYuanshenReleaseAnySongToday: I just want to know, out of the four hit songs, which one will he sing?]

[@ChasingStarGirlXiaoQian: I've already bought a high-speed rail ticket from the neighboring province and am staying at a Home Inn near the Olympic Sports Center in Shanghai. It costs 800 yuan a night. But I'm willing to pay.]

[@LinYuan, how many songs are you hiding? Will he sing a new song? I'm full of questions right now.]

[@Scalpers, stop dreaming: An 8,000 yuan ticket for the inner circle is a month's salary for me. But if it's Lin Yuan, I'd be willing to eat instant noodles for two months.]

404 Dormitory.

Xie Wanyin stared at the words "sold out" on her phone, then slammed the phone onto the bed.

"Thirty seconds! Thirty seconds is gone! I don't live on the router!!"

"You got it?" Gu Zhiwan walked in from the balcony.

No! What about you?

"No, not either."

Shen Qingci rolled over: "I didn't snatch it. I was thinking about what it meant for him to be the final act."

"It means the whole nation is waiting for him," Su Zhiyuan said, without looking up from her book. "It also means—he's been preparing for a long time."

The dormitory was quiet for a few seconds.

Xie Wanyin suddenly spoke up: "Do you think he can sing 'Coral Sea'?"

"That's a duet," Gu Zhiwan said. "Rala isn't on the program."

"Secret?"

"Highly likely."

"Suspended?"

"That's possible."

"Could he sing a song we've never heard before?" Xie Wanyin's eyes lit up. "Like, a new song?"

The three people looked at her.

"Think about it," Xie Wanyin said, getting more and more excited, "He always brings something new to his repertoire. The first time was 'Summer Breeze,' the second was 'Suspended,' the third was 'Secret That Cannot Be Told,' and the fourth was 'Coral Sea'—every time it's something new. On such a big stage as the New Year's Eve celebration, he can't just sing old songs."

"There's still a month until New Year's Eve," Shen Qingci said. "Releasing a new song takes time."

"Others need it. But I feel he doesn't," Xie Wanyin said confidently.

Outside the window, the night was already very deep.

Xie Wanyin picked up her phone again and wandered around the second-hand ticket market.

"Never mind." She closed the page. "I'll watch the live stream in my dorm. Anyway—"

She paused.

"Anyway, I never get tired of watching his performances."

At the same time, in dormitory 602.

Qian Zhuangzhuang lay on the top bunk, reading the news aloud from his phone: "Brothers, Qingmang TV announced that they've added two branch venues for live streaming, specifically for viewers who can't get into the main venue."

"You managed to snag one?" Zhou Zixuan asked.

"No."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm just sharing good news for all the brothers and sisters across the country who couldn't get tickets," Qian Zhuangzhuang rolled over. "By the way, hasn't Yuan-ge been back to the dorm for a week?"

"He went to rehearsal," Chen Mo said. "He probably won't be back before New Year's Eve."

"He seems incredibly busy lately," Qian Zhuangzhuang thought for a moment. "Filming movies, releasing songs, and now he's going to be the New Year's Eve closing act—is he even getting any sleep?"

"Sleep," Chen Mo said. "I asked Brother Yuan, and he said he sets aside five hours for sleep every day."

Five hours a day? Is that even a human life?

"He's more human than you," Zhou Zixuan added, "At least he won't be dancing to girl group songs in the cafeteria."

"That's performing arts!"

"Alright." Chen Mo closed his laptop. "Go to sleep."

The lights went out.

Qian Zhuangzhuang muttered softly in bed, "Brother Yuan, see you on New Year's Eve."