Chapter 52: Who Do You Think You Are?

"Star Orange Entertainment's new composer Tang Guo has claimed the top two spots on August's rookie chart a week ahead of schedule—astounding talent!"
"'White Fox' is also by Tang Guo? Three high-quality songs on the charts in less than a month—unprecedented!"
"Who exactly is Tang Guo? Where did Star Orange Entertainment find this genius?"
"In just one month, three songs have surpassed twenty million downloads—Tang Guo deserves the title 'Rookie King' of the composing world."
...
Rookie King!
Ever since a certain media account coined the term and it went viral, other media outlets quickly adopted "Rookie King" to describe Su Chen.
For a time, the internet was abuzz with discussion.
"Who is Tang Guo? Why have I never heard of them?"
"Is there nothing left to report? Why not just give us tomorrow's weather forecast?"
"Speechless! Posting nonsense all day long!"
...
Soon, someone recognized that Tang Guo was the composer behind "White Fox," "Boundless Sky," and "The Prose Poem My Father Wrote."
"My god! So these songs were written by Tang Guo—truly impressive!"
"My favorite is 'Boundless Sky.' Every time I listen, I'm fired up. Tang Guo really is a genius composer."
"I love 'White Fox.' I cried for ages listening to it!"
...
In a single day, Su Chen's microblog account gained 200,000 followers.
When he opened his phone and saw the numbers, he was still unsure what was going on.
It was only after browsing the comments that he understood the reason.
He frowned.
Naturally, he was pleased about the surge in followers!
This meant his future song promotions would start off with much stronger numbers.
But being labeled "Rookie King" left him uneasy!
Unlike many young people who would be elated over such a title, Su Chen considered it a burden.
He had witnessed too many cases of over-hyped praise in his previous life.
Though he feared nothing, he preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble.
He looked through the articles posted by those media accounts. Very few were factual; most used scraps of truth as bait, padded with even more fabricated content.
After being shared and reshared, reality and fiction became indistinguishable.
Like the reports about him—some even claimed he was Star Orange Entertainment's secret weapon, cultivated over many years and only deployed in times of crisis.
They went on to analyze Star Orange Entertainment's current difficulties, concluding that the company must be in dire straits to unleash such a trump card.
Are they writing fantasy novels here?
Su Chen shook his head.

No matter how many mouths he had, he couldn't clarify all these rumors, so he simply stopped bothering to respond.
-------------------------------------
The next day, Su Chen's microblog followers grew to 350,000.
On the third day, they reached 650,000.
The composition department director, Kong Qishui, hurried over, visibly excited.
"Su Chen, did you see the reports online?"
Su Chen nodded indifferently.
"I saw them."
Kong Qishui grinned.
"Who would've thought these media accounts could actually be useful?"
Su Chen paused, surprised.
"Did you arrange for the coverage?"
Kong Qishui waved his hand, explaining,
"No, no, we composers have always kept a low profile. Who would bother to report on us?"
"And composers never really get much attention!"
"This all started when one media account published a viral article, and the others just followed suit."
"I never expected it would ultimately benefit us!"
Su Chen frowned.
He understood that the company would undoubtedly welcome this development.
But he had always disliked unnecessary complications—why stir up trouble for no reason?
Kong Qishui, oblivious to Su Chen's expression, continued,
"No one has ever been called 'Rookie King' before."
"You're the first—it's a new precedent!"
"It'll make your future song promotions much easier!"
"Anyone who follows a composer must be a true fan."
"Since you don't appear on screen, they're drawn solely by your talent!"
"Just look at this..."
Kong Qishui opened his phone to show Su Chen, but halfway through, he suddenly frowned.
His hand froze mid-motion.
"What's wrong?"
Su Chen asked, curious.
"This could be trouble!"
Kong Qishui pushed his phone in front of Su Chen.
It was a new notification!
Kong Qishui had already clicked it open.
The screen displayed a post from a verified account:
"When there are no tigers in the mountains, the monkeys become king!"

Below the text was a repost of a media article hyping Su Chen.
Apparently, this blogger had commented on the article and shared it on their own microblog.
"It's Mu Qingyun!"
Kong Qishui spoke gravely, then explained Mu Qingyun's background to Su Chen.
He was a relatively well-known music critic in the industry.
Once a music producer with little achievement, he switched to music criticism and became famous.
He often shared music theory online and commented on popular songs.
His sharp words were notorious!
He had even made contestants cry on television—more than once.
Yet somehow, he gained popularity, with followers several times Su Chen's current number.
"This guy has real influence."
"I'm worried this might affect you negatively."
After hearing Kong Qishui's explanation, Su Chen's expression darkened.
He couldn't recall ever provoking this person.
In his past life, he had little patience for such critics.
Some were nobodies, with no achievements to their name, yet they could sit on judging panels or online, pontificating about others.
They spouted seemingly reasonable opinions, stirred up public debate, and attracted fans, thinking themselves important.
Looking at Mu Qingyun's previous posts, his critiques had always targeted songs or singers.
This was the first time he had aimed at a composer—himself.
Su Chen never wanted the "Rookie King" title, and he knew it would bring trouble.
But since when did someone like this get to pass judgment?
If it was just netizens, Su Chen would be powerless—there were too many, and you couldn't possibly track them down.
But this was a famous blogger, openly targeting him online.
To Su Chen, this was a challenge.
He picked up his phone and, under Kong Qishui's astonished gaze, reposted Mu Qingyun's microblog.
He added a single sentence:
"Who do you think you are?"
Sent.
Instantly, the internet erupted.