The dead of night.
Su Yu lay on the bed, scrolling through fan comments.
Lin Yanyu rested against his chest, her quiet presence not disturbing him.
Su Yu was only twenty years old now, and not only did his fans feel he might retire, but Lin Yanyu also had that feeling.
"Susu, this whale has been really popular lately," Lin Yanyu broke the silence.
"What whale?" Su Yu snapped out of his daze and put down his phone.
"See, it's a whale painted by a master painter named Chang Yu. It suddenly became popular online. This whale isn't imaginary, it's real. It's called Alice, known as the loneliest whale in the world because its voice is only at 52hz, which other whales can't hear. So for decades, no other whale has paid it any attention." Lin Yanyu clicked on the video.
The video showed an oil painting of a giant blue whale in the deep sea. Judging by the painting skills, it was absolutely top-tier. And that profound sense of loneliness made one feel a suppressed emotion welling up from the bottom of their heart upon seeing it.
According to the painting's description, this was a special whale discovered in the US. Its vocal frequency was very low, and for decades, it had been alone, with no company from other whales.
After this artwork was released, it resonated with many netizens.
Thus, it exploded in popularity online.
Then, many netizens left comments below, mostly expressing empathy for the lonely whale.
"Actually, Master Chang Yu was painting himself, wasn't he? After all, he's very similar to this whale."
"Like having no family or friends?"
"If I couldn't communicate, I'd probably be depressed to death!"
"The whale already has a sense of deep-sea solitude, and it can't even communicate with its own kind. How tragic!"
"Imagine if, in reality, everyone suddenly ignored you one day, what would that feel like?"
"I really hope it can find a companion and be saved!"
In today's society, people are already very lonely. Most people even rely on the internet to communicate. If no one responds online, most people would probably collapse.
Moreover, many people live in their own worlds and are rarely recognized by others. It can be said that everyone is lonely.
"He is indeed very lonely..." Su Yu sighed after watching the video.
He didn't know if he was sighing for the whale or for himself.
He had to admit that although he was radiant now, there had always been a sense of loneliness in his heart, perhaps it should be called a sense of belonging. Because he didn't originally belong to this world, this was his deepest secret, and a secret he couldn't share with anyone else.
Fortunately, he still had the companionship of his family and friends.
In this world, without Lin Yanyu and his parents and friends, even becoming the world's top entertainment star would not bring any sense of belonging.
The most important thing for a person to live is family and friends. Therefore, Su Yu cherished these people dearly.
"Susu, what's wrong?" Lin Yanyu asked softly.
"It's nothing. Let's sleep. We have a program to attend tomorrow."
After an unknown amount of time, Su Yu put down his phone, took a deep breath, and turned off the bedside lamp.
In the darkness.
He kept his eyes open.
Staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
The bedroom was quiet, with only Lin Yanyu's breathing. The warmth emanating from Lin Yanyu beside him gradually calmed his heart.
Actually, this was just him being overly sentimental. Many people envied his current life.
He had caring parents and relatives, and such a beautiful and understanding fiancée.
As long as they were all well, he would have a sense of purpose, and thus, he wasn't lonely.
"Susu, after you get the 'Era Music King,' will you continue to release songs?" Lin Yanyu suddenly spoke in the darkness.
Su Yu chuckled, "I don't know."
He didn't know either. Now he possessed the cultural treasure trove of the entire Earth, and songs were inexhaustible.
But after winning the 'Era Music King,' releasing more songs seemed meaningless. After all, although he liked money now, he genuinely wasn't short of it. Not to mention Xinghui was constantly bringing him money, even his copyrights had reached a terrifying level.
It seemed he no longer had many pursuits.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. We'll see then. Besides, you're still young," Lin Yanyu said with a smile, feeling the atmosphere was a bit heavy.
"Mm, we'll see. And it's not certain if you'll win the 'Era Music King' championship," Su Yu said, rubbing her head.
"If it really comes down to it, maybe your fans won't want you to win, so you'll still have motivation," Lin Yanyu grabbed Su Yu's hand and placed it on herself.
Su Yu chuckled, "If that's the case, we won't be able to have our private time. We didn't have enough fun at the designated competition location this time. After it's over, we'll go on a world tour again, just for fun, without worrying about anything else."
Although the trip to Cuba was still quite sweet, traveling with work inevitably made him a bit uncomfortable, especially with a camera following him. There was no sense of private time at all. Therefore, Su Yu just wanted the competition to end soon so he could finally have a good rest and then go see the world properly with Lin Yanyu.
What happens in the future will be discussed in the future. Moreover, the finals of the 'Era Music King' this time should unlock all the remaining memory seals, and it was hard to say what the situation would be then.
"I'll do whatever you say," Lin Yanyu turned her body and hugged Su Yu tightly.
In the darkness, Su Yu lowered his head, looked at Lin Yanyu in his arms, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"It's so good to have you."
Lin Yanyu's delicate body trembled. Although she didn't know why Su Yu said that, she hugged him tighter.
With a soft voice, she said, "Let's sleep."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
...
The next day.
Lin Yanyu had to participate in a variety show and got up very early.
When Su Yu woke up, it was already ten in the morning.
After a simple wash, he was about to head to the garage to drive to the recording site of 'Love Song King.'
The performance of 'You Must Be Happy' from the previous episode was undeniable in the domestic entertainment scene. With his current prestige, he was sure to secure first place on the love song chart. What was surprising was that it even broke into the top thirty on the overseas Era Music Chart.
Although there were many negative comments, it was still the same old rhetoric, like he didn't deserve it or it wasn't good.
However, to reach the top thirty on the Era Music Chart with a sad love song was already a very good achievement.
It indicated that the name 'Listening Rain' was already known to many people overseas, and they were interested in Listening Rain's new songs.
This was enough for Su Yu.
After all, the 'Era Music King' had only just begun its first season, and having this much popularity overseas was a good start.
"I'll choose Xiao E today too."
Su Yu sent a message in the group chat.
There were three episodes left for Love Song King. Apart from the last episode for Gong Ju Ren, Su Yu would still choose Jiang Xiao E for these two episodes.
This way, after Love Song King ended, Gong Ju Ren should be qualified for a King nomination. Jiang Xiao E's popularity could also continue until the release of 'A Chinese Odyssey,' and the theme song of 'A Chinese Odyssey,' 'A Love for a Lifetime,' was definitely a bombshell song. While it couldn't guarantee Jiang Xiao E a King nomination, Su Yu believed it would propel her popularity to its peak in the Chinese music scene. At this point, releasing another song should be enough.
This year's Era Music Ceremony should be held at the end of the year.
It would be right after the 'Era Music King' concluded.
Since it was suspended for a year last year, it meant that this year, including Lin Yanyu and Zhang Wei, Su Yu and the singer group would likely win so many awards they'd be overwhelmed!