Chapter 11: Yu7 CP

Central Star System, Interstellar Institute of Literature.

Shu switched off the terminal and sat down to the side, feeling dejected and saying nothing.

The Wordweaver, Star Anchor, noticed something was off, paused what she was doing, and asked, “Shu, what’s wrong? Didn’t you just finish watching the first episode of ‘Interstellar Singer,’ the show you’ve been looking forward to? Why do you look so disappointed? Wasn’t the program exciting?”

Shu hesitated, wavering for a while before finally saying, “Teacher, I was really happy right after I finished the first episode. The interactions between the singers were moving, but…”

“But?”

“Why is everyone’s attention focused on the gossip about S-77 and Yu Huaiyin? They’re clearly just genuine musical kindred spirits, not at all what everyone is imagining… that kind of vulgar…” Shu trailed off, unable to finish.

The Wordweaver, Star Anchor, was momentarily taken aback, then laughed. “It seems you haven’t read a single page of the book I asked you to look at last time.”

“I did read it,” Shu protested reflexively, though his voice grew much quieter and guilty, “Well… I read the table of contents…”

“You…” Star Anchor sighed helplessly. “Tell me, after watching the first episode, what are your thoughts?”

Shu thought back and said, “The contestants all get along very well. Everyone admires Yu Huaiyin, and they’ve all been conquered by his music.”

“Exactly.” Star Anchor tapped the table. “That’s precisely where the problem lies.”

Shu was completely lost. “Problem? What problem?”

“Did you notice? You used the word ‘conquered.’” Star Anchor guided him patiently. “Among these six contestants, except for Qing Wu, they all come from different high-level star systems. In other words, on ‘Interstellar Singer,’ they’re representatives of the advanced star systems. And now, all these representatives have been conquered by Yu Huaiyin. What do you think that means?”

Shu’s eyes flew wide open, his face turning pale. “The aesthetic standards of the advanced star systems have shifted, and the cause of all this—Earth… will…”

“That’s right.” Star Anchor sighed. “And another thing—have you checked Earth’s civilization recognition rate lately?”

“No. But after everything that’s happened recently, Earth’s recognition rate should have risen quite a bit…” Shu spoke as he opened the internal database, then froze. “Why is it still at 10%?”

Suddenly, something occurred to Shu. He jerked his head up, staring at Star Anchor in alarm. “Teacher… could it be…”

“Yes. So it’s not that Earthlings don’t want to—it’s that they can’t.” Star Anchor’s expression turned grave. “Every step Earth’s people take is like walking on thin ice.”

·

To celebrate the resounding success of the first episode of “Interstellar Singer,” Feng Jingyu invited Cen Lan and Yu Huaiyin over for hotpot at her place.

“Huaiyin, right now your CP with 77 is really popular. How do you feel about that?” Feng Jingyu looked at Yu Huaiyin with a mischievous grin.

“It’s fine. This partner is presentable enough,” Yu Huaiyin replied without even looking up.

Faced with Yu Huaiyin’s complete lack of reaction, Feng Jingyu instantly deflated.

“Wow, that’s such a straight-man response. So boring.”

“Heh.” Yu Huaiyin let out a cold chuckle.

Feeling wronged, Feng Jingyu turned to Cen Lan. “Sister Cen Lan, look at him—how did he suddenly become so unfun?”

Cen Lan smiled and placed a shrimp ball in her bowl. “It just means he’s figured out how to deal with you.”

“Hmph.” Feng Jingyu, cheeks puffed in indignation, popped the shrimp ball into her mouth.

At that moment, Feng Jingyu’s terminal beeped with a file transfer. She opened it, and her eyes lit up.

“Great, Aunt Yu finished the song I asked her to write last time.”

“My mother?” Yu Huaiyin was instantly alert. “Why did you ask her to write a song?”

Feng Jingyu’s eyes sparkled as she replied smugly, “Obviously because I wanted a sweet, romantic love song. Could someone like you, who’s never been in love, write one?”

“You…” Yu Huaiyin was so infuriated that he couldn’t even speak.

Satisfied, Feng Jingyu put down her terminal and happily picked up her chopsticks to eat.

“Once I write some sweet lyrics, I guarantee anyone who hears this song will want to fall in love. Then, with the video I’ll edit to go with it…” Feng Jingyu’s face was full of anticipation. “I can already imagine the future frenzy, hehehe…”

Listening to Feng Jingyu, Yu Huaiyin foresaw his own tragic fate.

·

Two days after the first episode of “Interstellar Singer” aired, a new video suddenly appeared on the homepage of Autumn Whisper on the StarNet.

The account Autumn Whisper now wielded extraordinary influence on StarNet—every update sparked massive discussion.

Previously, it had popularized the concepts of “palindrome” and “retrograde canon,” propelling “Cycle” to the top of the charts. Immediately after, four more videos were released, giving detailed introductions to representative palindromic works from Huaxia civilization, drawing countless scholars in droves. Now, with Autumn Whisper finally updating again, everyone wondered—what would this new video contain?

Curious, the masses clicked on the video titled, “Yu Huaiyin X S-77 | Yu7—Our Meeting Destined Us to Fall in Love.”

The first scene of the video was the iconic moment when S-77 and Yu Huaiyin first met. The footage was slowed down, and with the background music, it carried a sense of fate. Then came various clips of their interactions, edited from official videos, accompanied by perfectly chosen lyrics, making the interstellar audience feel as if they were watching a sweet romantic drama. The video ended with a backstage scene after Yu Huaiyin’s performance in the first episode of “Interstellar Singer.”

S-77 hugged Yu Huaiyin tightly. The background music faded, allowing viewers to clearly hear S-77’s words.

“This feeling—my heart being fiercely wrenched—so this is sadness? It hurts so much…”

Yu Huaiyin let S-77 hold him, gently ruffling the silver hair of the person in his arms, and said, “Only by understanding sadness can you perceive happiness.”

Hearing this, S-77 smiled radiantly at Yu Huaiyin. “Then I must be very happy now.”

After watching the video, the interstellar audience’s first reaction was, “Oh my god, you can do that?” Once the shock wore off and they savored the scenes, their thoughts shifted to, “These two are really sweet—are they actually together?” And finally, they arrived at a single conclusion: KSWL.

·

Spurred on by the massive influence of Autumn Whisper, countless “Yu7” CP videos sprang up like mushrooms after rain across every platform on StarNet. With all kinds of intentional and unintentional guidance, many new ways to “ship” the couple emerged—eye contact analysis, slow-motion movement breakdowns, psychological analysis, and so on. The variety was dazzling, leaving people thoroughly entertained.

But the most popular videos were still the reaction types. Their view counts were second only to the CP edit compilations.

Watching all this familiar content, Feng Jingyu felt a bit of her old fandom life return.

But for her, this was still far from enough.

“This is just the beginning…” Feng Jingyu murmured, eyes fixed on the ever-changing data on the virtual screen. “A new storm has already appeared—how could we stop now? Aliens, are you ready for the next round of wild upheaval?”

Cen Lan’s virtual call request popped up, and Feng Jingyu answered directly.

“Good thing you uploaded the video quickly. The Interstellar Review Committee just gave us a warning to be mindful of the impact—nothing more.”

·

When the Review Committee came looking for them, Cen Lan had already prepared for the worst. Unexpectedly, the situation took a turn—the “Yu7” phenomenon drew everyone’s attention, and even a few committee members privately asked Cen Lan about Yu Huaiyin and S-77.

Cen Lan only replied, “The wise see wisdom, the benevolent see benevolence,” and those committee members left satisfied.

Feng Jingyu just smiled at this. “S-77’s status is special enough, so we were able to achieve exactly the effect we wanted.”

“Did you already have this plan in mind when you first saw S-77 and Yu Huaiyin meet?” Cen Lan recalled that on the day the singers assembled on Earth, among the series of instructions Feng Jingyu issued, one was to contact Yu Huaiyin’s mother and ask her to help compose a song.

“Baby, guess.” Feng Jingyu winked at Cen Lan.

Cen Lan couldn’t help but laugh. “By the way, didn’t you ask me to get in touch with the small and medium star systems interested in working with us? I’ve screened them, and they’ve all given clear responses.”

“Wow, that’s great. ‘Interstellar Singer’ is just our appetizer—the main event is yet to come.” Feng Jingyu struck her favorite pose again, this time putting on a pair of glasses. “Everything is going according to plan.”

Cen Lan smiled again at this. “So you don’t need to keep an eye on ‘Interstellar Singer’ anymore?”

“The talents you picked are all excellent. The opening has gone very well—just let things develop naturally. What comes next is what really needs our attention. Ideally, the new program should start warming up a week after the final episode of ‘Interstellar Singer’ airs.” Feng Jingyu closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her gaze was full of unwavering determination for the future. “The door to a new world is about to open.”