Chapter 153: Agree to her!

It was because of Ye Yuanhang that Wang Mo remembered his task of “cultivating a King or Queen of Pop.”

After Yuan Xiong left, he fell into thought. “It’s time to settle on someone. Who should I choose?”

He had given it serious consideration before. If he wanted to cultivate a King or Queen of Pop, only Su Xueyao or Fu Zhuang would be suitable. Everyone else was out of the question.

Both Su Xueyao and Fu Zhuang had their own strengths. Their fame was about the same, and Wang Mo was satisfied with both their character and temperament.

The only difference was their gender.

That was why he couldn’t make up his mind.

“Su Xueyao?”

“Fu Zhuang?”

The scales in Wang Mo’s mind kept seesawing.

After wrestling with it for a long while, he finally settled on a name: Su Xueyao!

First, she was the earliest person to follow him, someone he had truly discovered and brought up from the bottom.

Second, on Singer’s Style, he had already gone all out to promote Hao Mingxing. The next person he championed ought to be a woman. Otherwise, Su Xueyao and Tang Qinyun might start to feel overlooked.

“Then it’ll be Su Xueyao!”

Wang Mo made his decision.

Now he had to work out how to elevate her to Queen of Pop within six months.

With a single song, “Invisible Wings,” Su Xueyao had already become far more famous than the average third-tier singer. After the Spring Festival Gala, the attention she would gain from her solo performance there should, Wang Mo estimated, bring her fame up to the level of a second-tier singer.

But compared with a Queen of Pop, the gap was still enormous.

To make Su Xueyao a Queen of Pop in six months, he would have to give it everything he had.

“Once Su Xueyao has finished her Spring Festival Gala performance, I’ll sit down with her and plan out a path to the top. Then I’ll have her follow my plan.”

Wang Mo considered it carefully.

Going by the timeline, by the time Su Xueyao became a Queen of Pop, he would probably be getting ready to make his own comeback.

A comeback!

That was what mattered most to Wang Mo.

Everything he was doing now was laying the groundwork for it.

…

Early February.

There were barely ten days left until the Lunar New Year in Huaxia.

The annual mass migration for the Spring Festival had begun. Across this land of more than a billion people, the world’s largest human migration was underway.

The journey home was arduous, but filled with hope and happiness.

Yet the thought of going home left Wang Mo with mixed feelings.

After all, he didn’t belong to this world. Since crossing over, he had absorbed the original owner’s memories, but his soul still came from somewhere else.

“Going home… Maybe I’ll never be able to go home again in this life.”

The home he meant was Earth.

As he sat lost in thought, his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and let out a surprised sound.

It was Xu Mengqi.

Putting his thoughts aside, Wang Mo answered with a smile. “Sister Qi, what made you think of me?”

Xu Mengqi’s voice carried a hint of sultry charm. “What? You don’t like it when your big sister calls? You little brat… You never think to call me first.”

Her words came in fits and starts, as if her tongue were thick.

Wang Mo could tell at once. “Sister Qi, are you drunk?”

Xu Mengqi giggled. “Drunk? Don’t be silly… I can hold my liquor just fine.”

Wang Mo: “…”

When he didn’t reply, Xu Mengqi muttered to herself for a few moments, then suddenly sighed. “Wang Mo, I’m really jealous of you. You’ve stepped behind the scenes, but you’ve managed to leave all the mess of show business behind. There are just so many things in this industry you can’t do anything about. When will I ever be like you, free to do as I please?”

Wang Mo frowned. “Sister Qi, did something happen? Are you drinking to forget your troubles?”

This wasn’t the first time he’d heard her say she envied him. The last time they met, she had told him how much she envied his life.

He hadn’t expected her to say it again.

Xu Mengqi hiccupped. “You got it. I’m drinking to forget my troubles. Do you think my life is pathetic? While I was drinking, I wanted to call someone and talk about how I felt. Then I realized there was no one I could turn to. In the end, I could only call you, a kid brother I barely know.”

Her voice was self-mocking, with a deep sadness beneath it.

Wang Mo was silent for a moment before answering. “That’s normal. I don’t have any friends in this industry either. When I got canceled, I had no one to talk to, too.”

“Hahaha!”

Xu Mengqi was taken aback, then burst out laughing. “I knew I was right to call you. You really are different from ordinary people, little brother.”

As she spoke, Wang Mo heard a glugging sound. She had probably poured herself another drink.

“Sister Qi, stop drinking. Drinking away your sorrows only makes them worse.”

The movie star seemed to pause.

A moment later, Xu Mengqi’s alluring voice rang out. “Drinking away your sorrows only makes them worse… That’s well said. Little brother, don’t you think it’s ironic that someone as talented as you got canceled for being ‘uneducated’?”

Wang Mo didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Sister Qi, why don’t you tell me what’s troubling you? I may not be able to solve the problem, but I can listen.”

After a moment, Xu Mengqi sighed softly. “Thanks to you, Mango TV invited me to their Little New Year’s Eve Gala this year. I’m set to perform ‘Peach Blossom Oath.’”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It is. I’m even happy about it. This is the first time in years that a TV station has invited me to perform a solo at a gala. It’s a major breakthrough for me. It means I’ve taken another big step toward entering the music scene. But during rehearsal, I ran into someone: Cheng Yonglan.”

“Cheng Yonglan?”

Wang Mo knew the name well.

Cheng Yonglan was another movie star whose fame in film rivaled Xu Mengqi’s.

The difference was that Cheng Yonglan had also made a name for herself in music. Since her debut, she had released several well-received songs. In terms of popularity, she even outshone Xu Mengqi.

Two movie stars.

Two women.

Wang Mo had once been a top celebrity himself, so he knew that in the entertainment industry, people with the same status were natural rivals. Even if the two women seemed cordial in public, there was bound to be tension beneath the surface.

He blurted out, “Did the two of you have a falling-out?”

Xu Mengqi sighed. “Not exactly. Cheng Yonglan had to keep up appearances in front of everyone. She just came over during rehearsal and congratulated me on finally opening the door to the music scene, then asked if I wanted to play a little game.”

“What kind of game?”

“She suggested we compare the ratings during our respective performances. Whoever had the lower ratings would have to give up three top brand endorsements next year.”

“And you backed down?”

“Yes. I didn’t dare accept.”

Wang Mo snorted. “You have so little faith in my songs?”

“‘Peach Blossom Oath’ may not be the best song in the world, but it’s definitely first-rate.”

“I don’t doubt your songs. I doubt myself. Cheng Yonglan is much more famous than I am in music. A little while ago, she sang a song called ‘A Heart in a Dream,’ and it got a response just as strong as ‘Peach Blossom Oath.’ If I compete against her, there’s more than a seventy percent chance I’ll lose.”

Wang Mo understood.

In front of a crowd, Cheng Yonglan had put Xu Mengqi on the spot with a single remark, and Xu Mengqi hadn’t dared answer. Given her status, that had to be mortifying.

He could even imagine Cheng Yonglan’s company using the incident to stir up publicity after the Mango TV gala, claiming Xu Mengqi wasn’t worthy of sharing a stage with her.

Small-time celebrities had small-time worries.

Big stars had big-star troubles.

But sometimes, simply talking about them made things better.

Xu Mengqi had only wanted someone to confide in, someone who could help her vent her frustration.

She had never expected Wang Mo to be able to do anything for her.

And yet, after she finished speaking, Wang Mo was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “Accept her challenge.”

Xu Mengqi hadn’t quite processed it. “What?”

“Accept Cheng Yonglan’s challenge.”

Whoosh!

Xu Mengqi jolted, instantly sobering up. She swallowed. “What do you mean?”

Wang Mo said gravely, “Have you forgotten? We already signed an agreement. I promised to write songs for you and help you break into the music scene. Now that you’re in trouble, I can’t just stand by. Helping you means helping myself.”

Xu Mengqi was stunned. “But how can you help me with this? You can’t exactly make ‘Peach Blossom Oath’ any better, can you?”

“Heh.” Wang Mo chuckled. “I may not be able to make ‘Peach Blossom Oath’ better, but you can switch songs.”

“Switch… songs?”

Xu Mengqi repeated the words stiffly, completely at a loss.

“That’s right. If you think ‘Peach Blossom Oath’ can’t beat Cheng Yonglan, then we’ll switch to a song that can!”

Xu Mengqi finally understood, but hesitated. “The gala is only five days away. Do you still have time to write a song?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already written it.”

“You have?”

“That’s right. Ever since we talked about working together, I’ve been preparing songs for you. I finished one a little while ago and was planning to tell you about it after the New Year. But circumstances have changed, so I’ll have to bring it out early.”

Xu Mengqi’s spirits soared.

But a moment later, she hesitated again. “Can a new song really beat Cheng Yonglan?”

In her eyes, “Peach Blossom Oath” was already an excellent song, yet she still hadn’t been confident she could beat Cheng Yonglan.

Just how good would a song have to be to guarantee a win?

She couldn’t imagine.

Wang Mo smiled. “Don’t worry about whether it can win yet. Where are you now?”

“XH District,” Xu Mengqi replied without thinking.

“Go somewhere quiet and private, Sister Qi. I’ll come over now, and I’ll bring the new song for you to look at.”

Xu Mengqi nodded. “All right.”

After hanging up, Wang Mo got ready and sent Xu Mengqi’s location to Yuan Xiong, asking him to drive them there.

Yuan Xiong looked surprised. “You’re planning to give Xu Mengqi a new song so she can take on Cheng Yonglan? Are you sure you can pull it off? Cheng Yonglan is nothing like those singers you faced on the new-song charts. She has far too much fame and experience. You’ll only have a chance of winning if you’re certain the new song can crush ‘Peach Blossom Oath.’”

Yuan Xiong’s eyes were full of concern.

“Peach Blossom Oath” was already an exceptionally good song. What kind of song could possibly surpass it?

Besides, before a new song was released, no one knew how good it really was—or whether the audience would like it.

Wang Mo smiled faintly. “We have to give it a try.”

Seeing the determination in Wang Mo’s eyes, Yuan Xiong could only nod.

Half an hour later, Wang Mo met Xu Mengqi, who was sober again, in a quiet café.

When she saw him, her expression was complicated. “Little brother, you really came.”

“Of course. I told you I’d help.”

Xu Mengqi nodded and studied his face for a long moment before her gaze shifted to the sheet music in his hand. There was little excitement in her eyes.

She shared Yuan Xiong’s view: “Peach Blossom Oath” was already good enough that the odds of a new song surpassing it were tiny.

So she wasn’t expecting much from Wang Mo’s new song.

Still, his coming had warmed her heart and eased most of her frustration. That alone was enough.

But curiosity got the better of her. She looked at the sheet music, wondering what kind of song Wang Mo had written.

It didn’t take long for her to make out the title.

Two words were written on the cover:

“Legend.”

(End of Chapter)