Chapter 2: Earthlings Don’t Lie to Earthlings

Yu Huaiyin worked with remarkable efficiency; just two days later, he sent over both the demo and the sheet music for the song, accompanied by a brief note: [Did my best with the lyrics]. After listening to the demo, Feng Jingyu finally understood what he meant by that message.

This man, it seemed, had invested all his skill points into music composition and singing. The lyrics, on the other hand, were plain as daylight—elementary school essays flowed more smoothly than his verses. Feng Jingyu shook her head with a smile and sent him a message.

[Would you mind if I rewrote the lyrics?]

Yu Huaiyin replied almost instantly.

[I don’t mind. I’ll credit you in the lyricist section.]

[Please use the name “Autumn Whisper,” thank you.]

After closing the chat, Feng Jingyu began to listen to the demo on repeat. She wasn’t a professional musician, but the moment she saw the sheet music Yu Huaiyin had sent, she immediately recognized the brilliance of the composition. Her eyes sparkled as an idea quickly took shape.

·

In her previous life, she had been a well-known content creator in the fandom community, and she hadn’t given up that passion in this life either—she continued to write. Lyric writing came as naturally to Feng Jingyu as breathing. Riding the wave of inspiration, she finished the lyrics in no time. After checking for typos, she sent the lyrics to Yu Huaiyin.

Upon receiving them, Yu Huaiyin couldn’t help but be quietly impressed. The lyrics drew on Su Shi’s “Autumn Lament in the Boudoir” from “Bodhisattva Barbarian: Palindrome for Four Seasons,” fitting the melody perfectly and showcasing the lyricist’s formidable literary skill.

After recording the song anew, Yu Huaiyin named it “Cycle” and sent the finished piece to her. Once he received Feng Jingyu’s affirmation, he followed her instructions and published the song on the music platform.

·

Once Feng Jingyu found Yu Huaiyin’s song on the platform, she opened a private chat group called “Let’s Show Those Aliens What We’ve Got.” Every member had been carefully selected by her—passionate, and, under her guidance, deeply versed in the workings of the domestic entertainment industry. They would be the crucial force behind her first step.

[@everyone, Target: Galactic Music Platform, new song “Cycle,” singer Yu Huaiyin.

Step one: Play, favorite, and share the song. In half an hour, I want to see it break into the Top 100 of the New Songs Chart. In three hours, it should be number one.

Step two: Control the comments. Flood the comment section with brainwashing lines like “Discovered a hidden gem,” “Instantly blown away,” “Is this some kind of celestial being come to earth,” etc. Don’t forget to like the comments.

Step three: Promote across all platforms. Clip the catchiest thirty seconds or less and spread it with trending hashtags.]

Almost instantly, the group chat was flooded with replies.

[Received!]

[Mission guaranteed!]

[No problem!]

Watching her fired-up companions, Feng Jingyu smiled in satisfaction.

It was time to show those aliens what the power of the masses really meant.

·

After uploading the song, Yu Huaiyin paid it no further mind and went back to composing. Feng Jingyu had told him to get the new songs ready as soon as possible, since he would soon be releasing a solo album.

But he had barely written the opening bars when his terminal began to vibrate incessantly, notifications pouring in from the Galactic Music Platform. Only then did Yu Huaiyin remember he hadn’t logged out of his account. But why were there so many notifications? When he opened the song page, he saw that the track, which had had zero data before, now boasted astonishing play counts. The platform itself had even sent a congratulatory message for breaking into the Top 100 of the New Songs Chart.

How had she done it? In just half an hour, it was already in the Top 100? Yu Huaiyin opened the comments section, which had already surpassed 5,000 comments, filled with praise like “Amazing!” and “A voice from heaven,” interspersed with a few bewildered remarks.

For once, Yu Huaiyin stopped composing and simply watched as the play count for “Cycle” continued to soar. Three hours later, “Cycle” had claimed the top spot, crushing all competition with overwhelming numbers.

At that moment, his mother sent him a message.

[Huaiyin, your partner is really something.]

Yu Huaiyin saw his mother’s message, opened it, and replied.

[She’s always been remarkable.]

·

The Earth Star Network Monitoring Department, usually so calm, suddenly erupted with alarm sirens.

Before the staff could react, another alarm blared. As if on cue, the third and fourth alarms sounded in quick succession.

“Why are there so many abnormal data spikes all of a sudden?”

Everyone began to investigate the source of the alerts. The department head, who had been in his office, rushed over—continuous alarms on the star network were no small matter. If this wasn’t resolved quickly, he’d be the one to answer for it.

“Where are these data coming from?” the head asked coldly.

“The Galactic Music Platform, and all the major social media sites,” a staffer replied, pulling up the relevant content for the head to see.

“‘Cycle’ is so good, come listen to ‘Cycle,’ Earthlings don’t lie to Earthlings, ‘Cycle’ is really amazing…” The head stopped reading aloud, and the whole room fell silent.

“Boss, what should we do?”

“Summarize all this content and report it up the chain.”

“Understood, boss.”

The head returned to his office and opened the Galactic Music Platform. “Cycle” was featured prominently on the homepage. He hesitated, then clicked play.

It wasn’t until a subordinate knocked on the door that the head hurriedly closed the song.

Yes, Earthlings really don’t lie to Earthlings—it truly was excellent.