Chapter 20 Old House on Fire
After he lined up God K for me, Xiao Yuan went visibly insane.
He opened a column on his Weibo. Every week he posted an article analyzing my songs.
Arrangement, creative ideas, lyric intent. He covered all of it.
I later couldn't help reading one. I went quiet after. It was professional. His takes were more or less what I thought.
On top of that, Xiao Yuan started sending things to my studio like a madman.
Not gold or jewels. Not clothes or bags.
Uncensored high-res CP doujin. Signed physical albums from musicians I had loved for more than ten years. Signed gloves from the boxers I followed most. A handmade guitar from a famous workshop I had queued three years for and never gotten.
And a custom motorcycle parked downstairs at the studio.
My favorite brand. My favorite color. A model that had been out of production for nearly five years. My name was even engraved on the helmet and the tail.
I stood with my arms folded, face blank, looking at that beautiful, arrogant bike.
My usual arranger came down carrying instant noodles, clicking his tongue. "This isn't a sugar-coated cannonball anymore. This is a bomb."
I drew a deep breath, covered my face, and said in pain, "Send it back. Send all of it back. Don't let me see it."
Sister Li went, "Oh. And that box of high-res, uncensored, definitely-not-clean doujin?"
I went silent.
Years ago I had bought a volume that customs seized. Some bastard posted it online and set off a whole spectator storm.
"Send everything back." I turned and left. "The faster the better."
One wave went back. Another wave arrived.
Signed vinyl photos I had begged for years from a singer. Rare LEGO collector sets. Handmade chocolate I bought every year when I traveled abroad.
Every three days, a delivery. After we sent it back, two days of quiet. Then new things again. He didn't quit.
At the same time, collaborations kept throwing olive branches at me.
Magazine shoots. Variety invites. All kinds of endorsements. Industry collab requests. Even film scripts.
All top-tier setups. Top-tier resources.
The first one, Sister Li could refuse. The second made her ache, but she could still comfort herself. When she refused, she kept it polite. "Thank you for the invitation, but we want something that fits our own path."
After that line, it went quiet. A week later, every resource that came looked tailor-made for me.
Sister Li broke. "Stop torturing me. Do you know how much willpower it takes to spit out meat that already smells this good?"
I called Xie Kun. "Did your Haohai shut down? Why dump this many good resources on me?"
"Go ask the man in charge. I'm just hired help." Xie Kun sounded exhausted. "A lot of it is actually his private connections. But it's about the same. Now every collab that comes to Haohai, he reads first. If it fits, he sends it straight to you."
My head hurt. "What does he even want?"
"An old house on fire." Xie Kun gave a cold laugh. "All these years it didn't burn. Once it does, it burns sky-high."
I hung up, drained.
That night Xiao Yuan hit the trending search.
His Weibo was basically my fan account now. After he reposted my new song again, a fan asked:
【你他妈现在火葬场烧得这么大？】
Xiao Yuan replied:
【嗯，毕竟是和老房子一起烧。】