Chapter 24: Money Comes So Fast!

"That was close, I almost gave myself away." Lu Heng let out a sigh of relief.

Reflecting on what had just happened, he felt a wave of disappointment. Was he not handsome enough? She had insisted on shooing him away, even making him swap seats with Lin Yi. In truth, he had been quite taken with Zhang Siqi’s cousin from the moment he met her; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his heart had skipped a beat. After all, she was so radiant and beautiful.

It was just a pity that she wasn't interested in him, but rather in Lin Yi. Whenever he tried to start a conversation, her replies were always just a few words: "Oh," "Hmm," "Yeah," "Oh," or "Ah." A forced melon is never sweet, but the problem was he couldn't even force it—he didn't know where to begin.

"Lin Yi!" Xu Xiaotang exclaimed, waving excitedly as she saw Lin Yi approach.

"Hmm." Lin Yi sat down across from her.

Noticing Lin Yi take a seat, Gao Liwei frowned ever so slightly, silently cursing Xu Xiaotang for being such a busybody. Couldn't she just sit quietly until they reached their destination? Of course, he maintained his composure on the surface; he didn't want to leave Zhang Siqi with the impression that he was petty.

"Lin Yi, congratulations! I really didn't expect you to be the dark horse of our class, scoring a massive 738. Have you been hiding your light under a bushel all this time?" Gao Liwei teased with a smile.

"Not at all, just lucky," Lin Yi replied with a faint smile. For some reason, he felt that Gao Liwei’s smile was deceptive; there seemed to be a hint of hostility in his eyes. Hostility? He hadn't done anything to provoke him. Where was this coming from? Could it be jealousy over his college entrance exam score? That wasn't an impossible theory; after all, Gao Liwei was one of the top students in the class. Green-eyed monsters were not exactly rare.

"Ah, you're being too modest," Gao Liwei said, patting Lin Yi on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.

"Hmm," Lin Yi replied flatly. His relationship with Gao Liwei was, at best, average. Now that the guy was showing open hostility, Lin Yi had no desire to keep up the charade of pleasantries; he hoped to end the conversation as soon as possible.

Seeing Gao Liwei’s overly familiar act, Xu Xiaotang curled her lip in disdain. *Stop putting on a show, you hypocrite,* she thought. Throughout the journey, she had been sick of watching him fawn over her cousin. She didn't know if he was genuinely dense or just pretending, but couldn't he see that her cousin couldn't be bothered with him? Yet he remained thick-skinned. The worst part was that watching such shameless behavior was truly uncomfortable.

Seeing Lin Yi’s indifferent attitude, a flicker of rage crossed Gao Liwei’s eyes. *What a piece of work,* he seethed internally. *If it weren't for Zhang Siqi being here, I wouldn't even give you the time of day! Do you really think you're something special?* Gao Liwei had his own pride, and since the other party was so unappreciative, he saw no reason to continue the conversation.

***

"Lin Yi, hurry up and sing for me!" Xu Xiaotang hadn't forgotten her request.

Hearing her cousin, Zhang Siqi looked at Lin Yi in surprise and asked, "Lin Yi, can you sing?"

Before Lin Yi could answer, Xu Xiaotang jumped in. "Cousin, of course Lin Yi can sing! Look at the Kugou new song charts—the track at the top is the one he sang."

As she spoke, Xu Xiaotang unlocked her phone and showed the Kugou Music page to Zhang Siqi. "Look, Cousin, look at the picture and the caption: 'College Entrance Exam Top Scorer, Rising Singer Lin Yi!'"

Zhang Siqi looked closely at the image and then back at Lin Yi, her expression filled with shock. "Lin Yi, you’re incredible!" she gasped.

"Here, Cousin, this is the song he sang. Have a listen." Excited, Xu Xiaotang put the earphones on her cousin and played *Your Answer*.

Seeing this, Gao Liwei’s face darkened, his eyes flashing with anger. *Is there really a need to lick Lin Yi’s boots like that?* he thought. *He can sing? I can sing too, and I sing better than him!* Meanwhile, the subject of their attention, Lin Yi, was yawning out of boredom—skipping a nap was truly brutal.

Seeing that Zhang Siqi was still captivated, Xu Xiaotang grew even more enthusiastic. "Cousin, did you know? The theme song for *Nirvana in Fire* was written by Lin Yi, too!"

*Hmph, so he can write songs! I can write songs too,* Gao Liwei scoffed inwardly. *Wait, what did she say? The theme song for 'Nirvana in Fire' was written by Lin Yi?* Stunned, his expression shifted for a moment before he stubbornly told himself, *Pfft! Just because he can write a few songs? I can just buy them with money! My family has plenty of cash!*

*Nirvana in Fire*—Zhang Siqi’s eyes lit up. "Lin Yi, is that true?" she asked excitedly. She had been binge-watching the show lately, and she was deeply infatuated with Hu Ge’s portrayal of Mei Changsu and Liu Tao’s Princess Nihuang. The plot was brilliant, and the songs interspersed throughout the series were wonderful. She had even gone online specifically to download them.

"Huh?" Lin Yi, caught off guard, muttered vaguely, "What?"

"Did you write the theme song for *Nirvana in Fire*?" Zhang Siqi asked, full of anticipation.

"Oh, yeah, I did. I was a bit short on cash at the time, so I just scribbled down a couple of songs for the director," Lin Yi said, stifling another yawn.

*Hmph, poor brat!* Gao Liwei thought with disdain upon hearing Lin Yi's answer, feeling suddenly refreshed. *My family has plenty of money!*

Suddenly, a melodic female voice rang out: "A deposit of 3.2 million yuan has been credited to your bank account."

*Slap!*

The invisible blow landed squarely on Gao Liwei’s face, leaving it bruised and swollen. *This is just too damn insulting!*

Lin Yi paused, dazed for a moment. What had he just heard? A deposit of 3.2 million yuan? All his fatigue vanished instantly. Excited, he pulled out his phone to check the text message. *Oh my god, it really is 3.2 million yuan!* He had thought he was hallucinating. The message clearly showed the funds were from Kugou Music.

*He earned 3.2 million from just one song?* The money was coming in too fast! And this song would continue to generate royalties. As long as people listened and downloaded it, money would keep flowing into his account. It was no wonder so many people wanted to be stars and singers!

"Lin Yi... where did you get so much money?" Xu Xiaotang asked, swallowing hard, her voice stuttering. 3.2 million yuan? That was enough for her to buy so many clothes and dolls.

"It’s from the earnings of that song, *Your Answer*," Lin Yi replied honestly.

"A single song can earn that much money?" Xu Xiaotang’s cherry lips parted slightly as she stared at Lin Yi in disbelief.

"It depends. Only songs that are popular with audiences and fit the market make money. If every song could earn this much, wouldn't everyone be churning them out like crazy?" Lin Yi explained. In reality, some singers didn't make a dime from their releases; they ended up losing everything.

"Oh," Xu Xiaotang said, a look of sudden realization dawning on her. She then said with envy, "Lin Yi, you’re amazing. You’ve earned so much money while still so young. I still have to ask my parents for pocket money."

"It’s perfectly normal to ask your parents for money at this age," Lin Yi added silently to himself: *...in this country.*