Superstar Ch.45.1

Chapter 45.1: Casual Attractiveness Ab*se

Xie Xizhao led Yun Pan toward the composition room.

Yun Pan jogged behind him, feeling both excited and a little uneasy. “Brother, isn’t this… not quite appropriate?”

He knew a bit about lyric writing and understood that such things were protected by copyright.

Since Xie Xizhao had said he would pick a song, it was inevitable that he would bring out his unpublished compositions. Even if not all of them, it would still be a significant number.

Letting him listen just like that… Yun Pan—

Yun Pan felt that Xie Xizhao was being far too generous.

But Xie Xizhao simply said, “It’s fine.”

Yun Pan remained worried.

Xie Xizhao pulled him closer and walked inside with a calm expression.

He was telling the truth, but this wasn’t something he could explain.

—He couldn’t exactly tell Yun Pan that he had completed more missions than the number of bridges Yun Pan had crossed in his entire life. Any composition from his inventory in any world could sustain him here for a lifetime.

Not to mention, he could continue composing.

The composition room was on the top floor, and as they went upstairs, they ran into Xia Ruiyan.

Xia Ruiyan was talking to Jiang Wenhai about something. The latter’s expression was neither particularly good nor particularly bad, but when he looked up and saw Xie Xizhao—

Jiang Wenhai’s expression immediately became somewhat complicated.

Xia Ruiyan, however, showed no reaction. He greeted Xie Xizhao as usual, “Xizhao.”

Then he turned to Yun Pan with a smile. “Where are you taking our Panpan?”

Yun Pan remained silent.

During lunch earlier, Xie Xizhao had already noticed Yun Pan’s expression.

He and Ji Yan had speculated before that the relationship between these two wasn’t great, and now their guess was confirmed. It wasn’t surprising, but no matter how many times he heard Xia Ruiyan’s tone, Xie Xizhao still found it repulsive.

So he answered directly, “The composition room.”

Xia Ruiyan had just come from there.

“Room 2 is available; the rest are full,” he drawled lazily.

Xie Xizhao replied, “Thank you.”

His tone was distant yet polite, leaving no room for fault.

After saying that, he turned to Yun Pan. “Let’s go.”

Yun Pan snapped out of his daze and quickly trotted after him.

He could feel the gaze lingering on his back, but he didn’t dare to turn around. Pressing his lips together, he quickened his pace and walked up to Xie Xizhao’s side.

Behind them, Xia Ruiyan withdrew his gaze.

He mused, “Even taking him to the composition room—seems like they’re quite close.”

Jiang Wenhai hesitated for two seconds.

He had been distracted just now, but not because of Yun Pan.

Xia Ruiyan glanced at him, snapping him back to reality. He then replied, “Panpan has a soft personality, easy to like.”

Xia Ruiyan let out a faint scoff.

Soft? More like stupid.

He didn’t bother commenting further on the matter. In truth, he didn’t really care about what Yun Pan was up to. He simply said, “Wenhai, thanks for this time. I’ll transfer the payment to your account later—it’ll come from mine, so don’t worry.”

Jiang Wenhai’s lips twitched slightly.

Yet, when he heard Xia Ruiyan mention payment, he let out a quiet breath.

“It’s nothing, just a small favor,” he said.

Compared to before, his expression had noticeably softened.

“Don’t worry,” Xia Ruiyan paused for a moment. “Although the debut spots in Super Rookie are limited, I’ve checked with the company—next year, they’re planning to launch a new group. You have a strong chance.”

“Once you debut,” he added meaningfully, “there’ll be plenty of chances to make money. Your family will be easier to deal with too.”

If this had been Jiang Wenhai’s first year in Wenyang, he might have felt a flicker of excitement upon hearing those words. But now, all that remained in his heart was numbness.

He said, “Got it, Brother Yan. Thank you, Brother Yan.”

Xia Ruiyan let out a satisfied “Mm,” and walked downstairs with him.

—

On the other side, Xie Xizhao arrived at the door of Composition Room 2 and swiped his ID card.

With a soft “beep,” the lock recognized his identity and automatically unlocked. Yun Pan followed him inside, and as soon as the door closed behind him, it locked again. The sudden sound startled him, but once he recovered, he looked around with curiosity.

It was his first time in a composition room.

“A composition room is different from a regular practice room,” Xie Xizhao explained. “That’s why the production team put security measures in place.”

“There are only five in total, so space is limited. We got lucky today.”

In truth, Super Rookie had far more talented contestants than the audience imagined. Xie Xizhao had already come across a few unfamiliar trainees with promising skills. But debuting required both ability and luck.

And beyond that, there was something even crueler—audience appeal was practically a matter of superstition.

Yun Pan nodded. “Got it.”

He wasn’t very familiar with this place, but since Xie Xizhao said they were lucky, he felt lucky as well.

Then he heard Xie Xizhao ask, “Can I ask you something?”

Yun Pan: “?”

“I already submitted a report.” Xie Xizhao smiled slightly.

Yun Pan froze for a few seconds.

Then he remembered what Xie Xizhao had said back in the practice room.

Xie Xizhao had promised, “Next time, I’ll try to ease you into it before asking sensitive questions.”

Suddenly, Yun Pan’s eyes burned slightly.

‘No.’

He told himself.

‘Yun Pan, you’ve grown up now. You’re an adult. You can’t just cry so easily anymore.’

With this thought in mind, he struggled for half a minute, forcibly holding back the tears welling up in his eyes. Only then did he softly say, “Brother, go ahead and ask.”

Xie Xizhao asked, “You don’t like Xia Ruiyan?”

As he spoke, he plugged a USB drive into his laptop.

He had backed up all his demos so he wouldn’t have to keep carrying his computer around.

Yun Pan stiffened.

After a brief pause, he answered, “…No, I don’t like him.”

Xie Xizhao glanced at him.

Yun Pan pressed his lips together and added, “Brother, you shouldn’t interact with him too much either.”

Xie Xizhao said, “I don’t like him either.”

He hesitated, wanting to ask why, but Yun Pan abruptly changed the subject. “Brother, your computer is ready.”

So Xie Xizhao swallowed his question.

Yun Pan’s expression was complicated.

Usually, he seemed simple and innocent, but at this moment, the naive child had transformed into a lonely youth, his face a mix of detachment and struggle.

Xie Xizhao was silent for two seconds before looking away.

Everyone had things they couldn’t talk about.

Back in the practice room, Yun Pan had told him everything about his nightmare-filled childhood, yet now he was avoiding the topic. He truly didn’t want to talk about it.

If he didn’t want to, Xie Xizhao wouldn’t force him.

After all…

He did a quick mental calculation.

There was still some time before the finals.

At the very least, during this period, they would still be together.

With that thought, he didn’t dwell on it any longer and said, “Let’s listen to these. I picked out a few demos in my head just now—I want to hear your thoughts.”

He opened a hidden folder and dragged out a few files.

Xie Xizhao’s desktop and file organization were typical of a science student.

That is—everything was meticulously arranged, files neatly sorted by date and content, with a completely uniform naming format. It was clean, structured, and instantly comprehensible, much like his usual style of dressing.

He had selected a total of six demos.

When Yun Pan heard that number, his eyes widened in shock.

And by the time Xie Xizhao had played them all, Yun Pan felt like his soul was about to leave his body.

If Ji Yan were here and saw Yun Pan’s expression, he would have instantly recognized a kindred spirit. He’d probably clap his hands together and say, “Yes! That’s the reaction! Give me more!”

It was the kind of reaction one might have upon seeing a ghost.

Or rather—upon seeing a god.

Yun Pan was starting to think that Xie Xizhao might actually be some celestial being who had fallen from the heavens.

Six demos, four distinct styles.

Two were mainstream pop tracks featuring melody rap, one was folk, one had a band-style arrangement, and two were classic boy group songs.

And that was just Yun Pan’s rough classification after a single listen.

Each demo was so mature in composition that it was difficult to pin them to a single genre. If anything, they all shared one defining characteristic—they were Xie Xizhao.

Yes.

It was only now, after listening to these demos, that Yun Pan finally understood—Xie Xizhao himself was a genre.

His debut stage song, The World, was still the most-played performance on Super Rookie. It hadn’t started out as the highest-ranked, but over time, it had climbed its way to the top.

By the time the production team realized it, it was already reigning at number one.

And its audience extended far beyond just the fans.

In the live comments of this performance, similar remarks frequently appeared:

[This song is way too addictive. What show is this?]

[Is this a new-generation singer? I love this style so much. Is there an official release of this track?]

[Ahhh, does this guy have a tour or something? I want to go!]

Compared to the overly dramatic comments often seen in some videos—like “As a passerby, I think XXX”, the kind that could contend for an Oscar—these genuine onlooker reactions, though a bit naive, clearly reflected one thing:

This stage had broken out of its niche.

And—

Yun Pan thought.

If these demos were ever released publicly, the misunderstandings would only deepen.

From The World to the songs now stored on Xie Xizhao’s computer, they were all connected by an invisible red thread named Xie Xizhao—different in style yet seamlessly cohesive, with a core identity that always traced back to him.

Stripping away his idol status, he was already a competent and mature producer and songwriter.

Yun Pan zoned out for too long.

Xie Xizhao tapped the table.

That finally snapped him back to reality.

He sincerely said, “…They’re all really good, Brother.”

“I think any of them would work.”

“No,” Xie Xizhao replied shamelessly. “I called you here to help me choose. You have to pick one.”

Yun Pan: “…”

So childish.

After thinking for a moment, he softly said, “I… I think I like the third one best.”

The third one.

Xie Xizhao’s gaze landed on the screen, thoughtful.

He said, “Looks like we don’t need a third person to cast a tie-breaking vote after all.”

Yun Pan lifted his head and blinked.

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