The lounge.
Li Shaojun sat slumped on the sofa, a half-smoked cigarette in his hand, its ash still intact.
A song played from the phone on the table.
It wasn't his new song, but Listening Rain's "Stubbornness."
Life is unpredictable…
He had lost?
And been utterly crushed.
To be an ace producer meant having one's own pride.
Listening Rain had defeated him using his own strengths, shattering the pride in his heart.
Now, he finally understood why Qian Qinghua had previously said Listening Rain was terrifying.
This feeling… one could only truly understand it by experiencing it firsthand.
*Ding-dong!*
A message notification suddenly chimed from the phone.
Li Shaojun flinched.
The stubborn cigarette ash finally gave way, falling to the floor.
Li Shaojun put the cigarette in his mouth and picked up his phone.
"Qian Qinghua requests to add you as a friend."
Seeing this friend request,
Li Shaojun froze for half a second.
"Trying to mock me?" he sneered, and tapped "reject."
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*Ding-dong!*
Not long after rejecting, the phone rang again.
"Damn it, this is endless!"
Li Shaojun, annoyed, agreed to the friend request.
We were both people who had been hammered by Listening Rain. You, Qian Qinghua, were beaten three times by just one song. What right do you have to mock me?
To his surprise, after agreeing.
Qian Qinghua didn't send any messages but pulled him into a group chat.
The group was named "The Hidden Ones."
It only contained Qian Qinghua and himself.
"???"
Li Shaojun was confused.
"Do you feel Listening Rain's terror now?" Qian Qinghua messaged in the group.
"Hmph, so what?" Li Shaojun raised an eyebrow. This guy really wanted to mock him.
"Interested in joining The Hidden Ones and proving the Ace internal group wrong about those who look down on Listening Rain?"
Seeing Qian Qinghua's message.
Li Shaojun's forehead was covered in black lines.
So this was what "The Hidden Ones" meant…
You, Qian Qinghua, are over forty years old, and you're still forming such chuunibyo organizations. Is this not boring?
"Get lost!" Li Shaojun, furious, left the group.
Isn't this crazy?
What else could he do?
Li Shaojun muttered curses, intending to block Qian Qinghua.
Suddenly, he noticed many unread messages in the Ace internal group.
Curiosity piqued, he clicked into it.
"I want to go to a tropical island to swim for a few days… Haha, I'm dying of laughter."
"Why is Li Shaojun so quiet? His face is swollen, but his hands are fine."
"Haha, maybe he's found a corner to cry in and doesn't have time to chat."
"Let's not talk about him. Listening Rain has really stolen the spotlight this time, even brazenly claiming to be omnipotent on stage, only to choose folk music again."
"@Liu Quanlin, are you going to be the next Li Shaojun? It would be interesting if Listening Rain beats you with folk music."
"Hmph, don't compare me to Li Shaojun. Being utterly hammered by Listening Rain with such a score, and still calling yourself an ace producer? I think you're a pig producer. In all these years, on folk music, I, Liu Quanlin, have only lost to Chen Shuhao, no one else!"
"Pig producer… Haha, that's a good comparison."
Li Shaojun's face turned red as he read the mocking messages.
He wanted to type a response, but knowing he had indeed lost, he abandoned the thought.
You guys who brag in the group, when you encounter Listening Rain, you'll know his terror!
As he was about to put his phone down, unwilling to bother, he caught sight of Qian Qinghua's account.
After a moment of deliberation, he decisively sent Qian Qinghua a message.
"Add me again, I clicked the wrong button just now."
After sending it, his old face felt inexplicably flushed.
He should have known not to impulsively leave the group.
Not long after.
At Qian Qinghua's invitation, he rejoined the "The Hidden Ones" group.
Qian Qinghua: "Although it's a bit late for you to agree now, you're still welcome to join."
Li Shaojun: "Why is it late?"
It had only been a short while, how could it be late?
Did this organization have some kind of qualification test?
Qian Qinghua: "Let's not talk about that. Change your name."
Li Shaojun: "Change to what?"
Qian Qinghua: "I am Hidden One, and you are Two."
Li Shaojun: "Okay!"
Thus.
The group, with Li Shaojun's addition, grew to a size of two people.
Hidden One: "Screenshot the next opponent of Listening Rain, Liu Quanlin!"
Hidden Two: "Okay!"
…
The first phase of the Ace City Competition concluded.
Besides the highly anticipated Listening Rain,
Shen Jinghong from the first division also trended on hot searches.
#Shen Jinghong Wins Match by Largest Score Difference!#
Across the five divisions, Shen Jinghong had the biggest gap in scores with his opponent.
Listening Rain was second.
"I heard Shen Jinghong's song, it's definitely the standard of a top ace producer, and not far from that of the Music God."
"That's right. The most impressive thing is that he didn't bring a singer but performed himself, his vocal skills not inferior to any first-tier singer."
"It seems Shen Jinghong is a strong contender for the championship this time!"
"I think Listening Rain is the most likely to win."
"If Listening Rain had stuck to ancient style songs, he really might have won. But this time he's come up with folk music again, which is uncertain. Maybe he'll crash before the finals."
"Perhaps Listening Rain is also very good at folk music?"
"Didn't Listening Rain say after the competition that he was omnipotent?"
"Come on, do you really believe that? Even the Music God hasn't mastered every genre."
"…"
There were mixed opinions online about Listening Rain.
Some believed he had the strength to win the championship.
Others thought he was too arrogant, choosing to compete in his opponent's strong genre, and might falter at any time.
…
Dingsheng Entertainment.
Office.
Qi Shenghua and Chen Shuhao were listening to "Stubbornness."
It wasn't that he wanted to listen.
It was just that Listening Rain was a thorn in Dingsheng's side, so they had to pay close attention.
"A song with great merit, I couldn't have written it."
Chen Shuhao's tone actually held a hint of admiration.
"Chen Shuhao, he is our enemy!"
Qi Shenghua said exasperatedly.
Then he clicked the pause button.
The music abruptly stopped.
"People are enemies, songs are songs."
Chen Shuhao shook his head.
"Forget it, let's not talk about that. Are you really going to release a song this month?"
Qi Shenghua rubbed his forehead.
Chen Shuhao's new song was his most proud folk piece.
When he learned that Listening Rain was going to write folk music this time, he immediately decided to release a new song this month.
Although Qi Shenghua had great confidence in Chen Shuhao's folk music, the lingering effects of defeat still made him worried.
"I have already decided."
Chen Shuhao nodded, his tone very firm.
"Why?" Qi Shenghua didn't understand.
"Because I can't stand some people saying I'm not even as good as an ace producer."
This time, it wasn't entirely because of Listening Rain.
Another reason was that people outside were mocking him, saying he didn't deserve to be called the Music God, and wasn't even as good as an ace producer.
Chen Shuhao, however, responded with a cold sneer.
Since his comeback, he had only lost to Listening Rain.
Apart from Listening Rain, he truly didn't put any other ace producers in his sights.
"Fine, I hope this time we can leverage Listening Rain's competition popularity to win against him once. As long as we can win once, I can restore Dingsheng's damaged reputation!"
Qi Shenghua clenched his fist and said in a deep voice!