Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Epic Dream Collaboration

The lingering warmth of summer had not yet faded when October arrived, bringing autumn with it. A week before the new Golden Autumn Arts Festival, Mei Fang and his friends faced the preliminary round of the NOIP selection exam.

The format of the NOIP preliminary round was a written test, focusing on computer basics and programming skills.

For coding legends like Mei Fang and Lin You Xi, these questions were child’s play. They barely spent any time preparing and easily completed the test. As they left the examination room, they complained to each other:

“To be honest, did we overstudy for this preliminary round?”

“It doesn’t matter; we’ll need it for the final round…”

Between the NOIP preliminary and final rounds was the Golden Autumn Arts Festival. This year marked the first public year of Xia Yuan and Mei Fang’s relationship. At the opening ceremony, Xia Yuan dropped a bombshell—she released her latest single, “A Little Sweet,” on the day of the arts festival.

“A Little Sweet” was one of Wang Sunong’s representative works from the three giants of Penguin Music. Like “Plain Face,” it was a duet love song, filled with affection. It perfectly matched Xia Yuan and Mei Fang’s current passionate relationship. Although Mei Fang didn’t prepare much, it wasn’t difficult for him.

Releasing a single at the arts festival essentially revealed Xia Yuan’s true identity. Rather than letting others leak it, Xia Yuan decided to upload it herself to gain popularity.

With the help of Wan Chaoxiong and Xiang Bingbing, who were gradually becoming core members, the new arts festival video was uploaded to the C Station platform’s homepage, promoting both the single and Xia Yuan’s live performance at the arts festival. For Xia Yuan’s fans, this was shocking news. Lin You Xi, proud of her stable C Station, was flooded with traffic, causing the site to crash. Lin You Xi and Mei Fang had to work through the night to maintain the website.

[This song is so sweet!]

[Is it embarrassing to like such songs at our age?]

[I really like this song. I’m going to use it for my Wang Situ meme video!]

[What kind of freak would do that?]

[Wang Situ: Take an apple and give it to the beloved Zhuge.]

[Wow! They’re really from Jiangcheng No.1 High School! They’re good-looking, have nice voices, and are female geniuses. What kind of angelic couple are they?]

[It’s true. I was there! Yuan Bao is a girl in our neighboring class!]

[She and Fang Bao have known each other since kindergarten!]

[Wow, is that really true? Do such amazing couples really exist? It must be from a novel!]

[Liu Cixin: 6]

[Who is Liu Cixin?]

[Have you not read the sci-fi novel *Three-Body*? In 2012, I can’t allow anyone to not have read *Three-Body*!]

[This is what Yuan Bao looks like! Cuter than I imagined. Perfect!]

[Can someone please edit out the guy next to Yuan Bao? He’s really distracting.]

[What’s wrong with Fang Bao? I think he’s also handsome!]

[Exactly! I find Fang Bao’s collarbone very sexy.]

[How could you see his collarbone from so far away…]

[Don’t say bad things about our Fang Bao. Come fight me offline!]

[I declare Yuan Bao as the National First Love!]

[Sob, no one cares about Xi Bao…]

[I still think Fang Bao doesn’t match Yuan Bao. Unless he’s the C Station lady!]

[No way, no way, it’s already 2012. Are people still questioning whether Yuan Bao is the lady?]

[I refuse. Where’s Xi Bao? Show me! Xi Bao is the lady!]

With the massive traffic boost from C Station, Xia Yuan’s new single “A Little Sweet” broke the daily play record on Penguin Music on its release day, topping the new music chart. Xia Yuan earned the title of “National First Love.”

Xia Yuan had remained calm about such popularity since last year, only occasionally sharing interesting comments with Mei Fang and Lin You Xi.

Xia Yuan was still the same person, except for her physical development. Her mannerisms and interactions hadn’t changed much since she entered high school.

Although Xia Yuan was cute before, now, with the光环 of a popular singer, she seemed distant to students who weren’t familiar with her. They approached her cautiously, which Xia Yuan didn’t enjoy but also saw as a barrier against unwanted advances.

Xia Yuan’s single release achieved remarkable success, aligning with Mei Boss’s plans.

The timing of the release was delicate. She didn’t want to waste her current popularity and thus recorded a thank-you video during this wave.

Unlike last time, Xia Yuan dressed casually this time. In the thank-you video, she planned to appear together with Mei Fang. The first two minutes would be Xia Yuan speaking solo, with on-the-spot improvisation.

“Ta-da! Hello, everyone on C Station!”

Xia Yuan ran into the camera from off-screen and waved at Xiang Bingbing, who was holding the camera: “Today is our first official meeting. This is Yuan Bao. Should I add ‘desu’ this time? Haha… whatever.”

Xia Yuan scratched her head, embarrassed. “In short, my new single topped the Penguin Music chart on its first day. I never expected such enthusiasm. Thank you all for your support. I will continue writing better songs for you!”

“I guess many of you know my real identity. There were many controversies after my last release. So, I uploaded a video from the Jiangcheng No.1 High School arts festival. This is to end some rumors or disputes. Please don’t let this cause unpleasantness.”

“As for my thoughts on debut… I’m still in high school. Writing and singing are just hobbies. Currently, I plan to focus on my studies. Commercial collaborations are too early for me. I generally decline them. Please don’t disturb my private life. Let’s keep the good things on C Station and online!”

“Then…”

Xia Yuan glanced at Wan Chaoxiong’s cue card. “Two minutes are up? Afang, Afang, come here! It’s your turn! Don’t be shy, come on—”

Mei Fang was pulled into the camera by Xia Yuan, their playful banter evident.

He coughed slightly, then smiled at the camera, “Thank you for always taking care of Yuan Bao. We didn’t expect to top the newcomer list so quickly.”

Mei Fang rubbed his hands, embarrassed. “Though we want to thank our fans, we are students and have no money. After much thought, we decided to give away 10,000 copies of our recent game as a thank-you gift!”

“Afang, you said it was too early. We haven’t introduced ourselves yet!”

“Oh oh… forgot to introduce us. Besides helping Yuan Bao with performances, my main club activity is game development. We founded a studio called Similu at school. Yes, you might have heard of it on C Station. That’s Similu Games. I am the producer.”

“In fact, we’re working on a brand-new game. Internationally, it’s called an indie game. Our previous games were lightweight and quirky. Our new game is about a girl’s journey. I’ll share the trailer shortly. Interested friends, participate in our activities!”

Xia Yuan swung Mei Fang’s arm, showing her girlfriend’s sweetness:

“Listen, listen. The music for this game was designed by me and my friends. The game has been listed on STEAM Greenlight. Interested friends, check the URL below for more information! If you can, please support our new game!”

Within a minute of posting the video, numerous comments started flooding in. The video contained one shocking revelation after another, leaving viewers unsure where to start being amazed.

[Fang Bao! He’s actually the producer of my favorite Chinese game studio, Similu Studio!]

[Wow, I love *Kingdom*!]

[I’ll go watch the trailer first!]

[What’s STEAM? What’s Greenlight?]

[Such a cute Yuan Bao actually makes games! My goodness, this little sister is so attractive to guys!]

[From today, I’m Yuan Bao’s forever dog!]

[What an epic dream collaboration!]

(End of Chapter)