Lin Wanqing’s response caught him off guard. “Sorry for dragging you down.”

  Xu Nuo scratched his head. This girl was pretty interesting. Honestly, the sales were already impressive—three days of promotion, plus the two days from the graduation ga, wasn’t much time at all.

  Breaking 500,000 in two hours could hardly be called a failure.

  Her rival, on the other hand, had a full month of promotion with resources on a whole different level.

  Xu Nuo mulled it over. He wasn’t exactly a big name yet—his help with promotion wouldn’t do much.

  Though he was certain Lin Wanqing would come out on top eventually, a temporary setback still stung.

  Especially with the other side spouting off arrogantly.

  He pulled out his phone to browse reted info. The snippet of *The Wind Rises* posted on the school’s official site had hit 30 million views. If things kept up, it’d break 100 million by month’s end.

  A spark lit in Xu Nuo’s mind as he flipped through his contacts.

  Last time, Zhang Feng had given him his number, telling him to call anytime he needed something.

  After a moment’s thought, Xu Nuo dialed tentatively.

  The call connected quickly, and Zhang Feng’s hearty ugh came through. “Xiao Xu! What’s up?”

  That tone—there was hope!

  Xu Nuo exchanged a few pleasantries, congratuting him on the graduation ga’s success this year, before casually mentioning if he could help promote the new song *The Wind Rises*, which had gone live at noon.

  “No problem,” Zhang Feng agreed without hesitation.

  A small favor like this? He didn’t mind doing it.

  Especially since Xu Nuo had practically saved the ga. The result? Not only did Zhang Feng get praised, but higher-ups were even considering promoting him to vice principal.

  His rivals had been avoiding him the past couple days.

  Even his thinning hair seemed to hold on a bit stronger.

  In high spirits, Zhang Feng immediately arranged for the official Weibo to post a promo.

  Modu Media University: “Celebrating 80 years, Modu Media has nurtured countless outstanding singers and producers. We’ll keep pushing to cultivate more talent.

  The song *The Wind Rises*, performed by our distinguished alum @LinWanqing and written, composed, and arranged by our distinguished alum @Promise (Xu Nuo), is now live. Download it today!”

  The post cleverly retweeted the earlier video with 30 million views.

  It tagged both of them and even included a link.

  It was better than Xu Nuo had imagined—a full-service package, downright thoughtful.

  Xu Nuo reacted fast, hitting like, comment, and retweet in one smooth motion.

  [Ding! Congratutions, host—popurity points have reached 100,000.]

  Xu Nuo’s face lit up. Finally, another 100,000! That meant a Memory Capsule.

  Another ace up his sleeve. Besides the unreleased *That Fleeting Year*, he could snag one more song.

  Modu Media’s Weibo steadily climbed the trending list.

  As a school that had produced plenty of stars, it had clout. Celebrities started retweeting it.

  No competition for them—helping out was no skin off their backs.

  In the office, Lin Wanqing frowned. “Sister Liu, did you ask Mr. Wang to boost promo?”

  “No,” Liu Shun said, equally baffled, scrolling through comments. “It’s Modu Media pitching in.”

  “Weird. Getting the school to promote isn’t easy, let alone them doing it on their own.” Though puzzled, Lin Wanqing didn’t dawdle—she hit the like-comment-retweet trifecta.

  “Xiao Qing, could it be Xu Nuo’s doing?” Liu Shun said, like she’d stumbled onto something big.

  Lin Wanqing paused. “No way. He could get the school to promote?”

  “But look—less than three minutes after the school posted, Xu Nuo retweeted.”

  “Maybe he just happened to see it,” Lin Wanqing said, still skeptical of Xu Nuo’s influence. “The school’s official account rarely posts stuff like this.”

  “True,” Liu Shun nodded, agreeing.

  A big star might pull it off, but Xu Nuo, fresh out of school? No way he had that kind of pull.

  Whoever’s doing it was, the effect was solid.

  By 6 p.m., sales broke a million.

  Overtaking Chen Xiaoman.

  In just six hours.

  *The Wind Rises* had been gaining ground that afternoon anyway, but the school’s promo sealed the deal, flipping the tables instantly.

  Chen Xiaoman woke from a good nap to find the tide had turned completely. She was on the verge of losing it.

  Her bold midday tweet now felt like a whip cracking across her face, stinging hot.

  “Sistet Li, what happened?!”

  Sister Li wiped sweat from her brow. “Modu Media University’s official account stepped in to promote.”

  “Hmph. Rally the fans again.”

  Soon, Chen Xiaoman’s fanbase sprang back to life. Official shills jumped in, hyping hard.

  They were dead-set on squeezing every st penny from the fans.

  Her song’s sales climbed, even overtaking *The Wind Rises* twice during the surge.

  Day one was a back-and-forth tug-of-war.

  The gap showed on day two.

  Diehard fans gave their all—money and effort—but their wallets weren’t bottomless.

  After two brief overtakes, the gap widened fast, and her momentum crumbled.

  Chen Xiaoman raged in her office, her earlier swagger gone.

  “Lin. Wan. Qing!” She gritted her teeth, eyes bloodshot, itching to tear her apart.

  Losing wasn’t the end of the world.

  Fans wouldn’t think she was lesser than Lin Wanqing—a single win or loss didn’t define you.

  Who hadn’t lost before?

  The problem was her arrogance—acting like victory was assured before the dust settled.

  And that loudmouth Weibo post.

  She hadn’t named Lin Wanqing as a defeated foe, but the screenshot said it all.

  Too te to delete now—screenshots were everywhere.

  Clinging to a shred of hope, Chen Xiaoman opened Weibo.

  The trending headlines made her vision blur.

  #Arrogance or Overconfidence? Chen Xiaoman’s New Song Crashes

  #Lin Wanqing’s New Song Tops the Charts!

  #*The Wind Rises* Hits #1 on New Song Chart, #11 on Hot Sales

  #Chen Xiaoman vs. Lin Wanqing: Head-to-Head Defeat

  #Who’s the Next Diva Contender?

  Each headline stabbed at her, making it hard to breathe.

  The worst blow? Lin Wanqing never directly responded.

  Her only moves these past few days were promoting the song and retweeting Modu Media’s post.

  When Chen Xiaoman’s song led, fans saw it as Lin dodging a fight.

  Now, after the comeback, with no response still, the narrative flipped—netizens praised her composure, calling it the mark of a true leader, above petty squabbles.

  The more Chen Xiaoman read, the angrier she got. She grabbed her ptop and smashed it to the floor with a loud crash.

  A 10,000+ yuan notebook, trashed.

  Her manager silently cleaned up. She was used to this.

  (End of chapter)