Chapter 108: "Clear Skies" (Please Subscribe)
The halftime break ended, and the young men from Liaoning charged onto the court with roaring energy, each brimming with unstoppable momentum, determined to seize the first game of the finals.
The Liaoning fans on the sidelines cheered with all their might, urging the players on.
But at the start of the third quarter, Guangdong unleashed a sudden 10-0 run, leaving the entire Liaoning team stunned. Their previously rising spirit plummeted like a waterfall.
Liaoning’s shots turned ice-cold, as if possessed by the Mamba curse, wildly missing shot after shot. In stark contrast, Guangdong’s every attempt found the net effortlessly. Zhou Miao watched in bewilderment—what on earth was going on?
In the end, after collapsing in the third quarter, Liaoning gave up the fight and lost the first game of the finals 94 to 105.
Zhou Miao shook his head in disbelief. With such a weak performance, winning was never going to happen. He packed up his things and prepared to leave; after all, his goal of promoting his album here had already been achieved.
After the game, many netizens joked that Zhou Miao had actually ignited Guangdong's fighting spirit—after all, the lyrics of his song "Superman" were quite provocative.
As for the battle between Zhou Miao and Wang Limin, most netizens assumed it was a prearranged performance and didn’t discuss it much.
However, many people mistakenly thought "Superman" was a track from Zhou Miao’s new album, forcing him to clarify on social media.
“‘Superman’ was a song I wrote last minute for the CBA finals performance. It’s not included in my new album,” he explained.
Goodness, just casually writing a song and it becomes a huge hit—how humiliating for those singers who still don't have a signature song to their name.
Though the song lacked depth, its bold and flashy lyrics won the favor of lighthearted netizens, quickly going viral on short-video platforms and earning the nickname “the ultimate show-off anthem.”
Riding this wave of popularity, Rainbow’s official Weibo launched a second round of album pre-release unlock events. Just like before, once five million requests were made, the second track of the album would be unlocked.
Seeing the skyrocketing number of requests, Zuo Qiu asked, “Have you really thought about opening pre-sales? The hype is at its peak right now.”
Zhou Miao shook his head. “No need. Pre-sales just borrow sales from the fans in advance. Those who want to buy will do so eventually. There’s no need to worry about the hype. Releasing songs one at a time will only build the buzz.”
He was very confident in the quality of this album. If it still didn’t sell well, it would mean that the Chinese music scene was truly beyond saving.
“Which song will you release next?” Zuo Qiu asked.
“Sunny Day.”
……
In a college dorm room, a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses entered, carrying a thermos. He was alone in the room, the silence almost lonely.
He poured boiling water into a cup of instant noodles, tore open a sausage, bit it into pieces, and dropped them into the noodles.
He grabbed a book to press down the noodles, then opened the latest update of “Mountain Bandit King,” taking a sip of his iced cola, which still carried a chill. Life was good.
“Ding~” A new message popped up on his phone.
“Are you there?” A girl saved under “Her” sent a message.
The boy immediately straightened up, his heart pounding wildly—this was the first time she had messaged him first.
He quickly replied, “Here.”
“Can you click this for me? Thanks.”
She sent a link. The boy clicked it to find it was Zhou Miao’s album pre-release request page, with over 4.9 million requests already made.
He clicked to help and replied, “Done. So you like Zhou Miao? Actually, I like him a lot too.”
He quite liked to criticize him and was among the hundreds of Zhou Miao’s night-owl haters.
“Thanks,” she responded.
It was clear she had no interest in continuing the conversation.
The boy scratched his head in frustration, then sighed helplessly and opened her Moments to scroll through her posts.
She had just posted a new status: “Ah!!! The second song is finally unlocked!”
He didn’t understand how such a deliberately teasing and silly event could attract so many people. He really couldn’t fathom what those star-chasing girls were thinking.
Shortly after, she shared a song called “Sunny Day” on her Moments.
He glanced out the window at the steady drizzle. Not the best day to release a song called “Sunny Day.”
With nothing else to do, he casually clicked on the song.
Soft guitar notes began, a fresh and flowing melody slowly filling the dorm room.
Though initially annoyed, he suddenly quieted, quietly turning up the volume.
“The little yellow flower of the story
Has been drifting since the year it was born
The childhood swing
Sways with memories all the way to now
rui sou sou xi dou xi la
sou la xi xi xi xi la xi la sou”
……
As he listened, he closed his eyes involuntarily, nodding gently along with the melody.
Though a somewhat sorrowful love song, it evoked a faint but profound sense of emotion and contentment.
Suddenly, he recalled that afternoon in middle school, resting face-to-face with the girl at his desk. He had stared at her peaceful sleeping face for a whole hour and a half—a serene expression he still found unforgettable.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“On a windy day, I tried holding your hand
But the rain gradually
Poured down so hard I couldn’t see you
How much longer must I wait to be by your side
Until the day the sun shines again
Maybe then I’ll feel a little better”
……
The song was titled “Sunny Day,” yet he never saw that clearing moment.
Reluctance, longing, helplessness—all mixed into the melody, a story that didn’t belong to him yet lingered in his heart long after.
Perhaps because we have all been young once, and have all truly loved someone with passion.
The song finished playing, but the boy took a long moment to come back from the rush of memories.
“Damn! The noodles are all soggy now!” A hefty loss.
He took a sip of water to soothe his dry throat and shared “Sunny Day” to his Moments. He wanted to write something, but found words unnecessary.
In the end, he said nothing and simply reposted the song—but when he refreshed, he found his entire feed flooded with “Sunny Day.”
In just one day, the comments on the song surged past two hundred thousand—and that number kept growing at a terrifying rate.
“Sunny Day” was neither Zhou Miao’s most technically skilled song nor the most intricately arranged. It carried no flashy packaging or forced dramatics—just a simple vocal that moved countless listeners to tears.
That night, the phrase “Sunny Day” trended on social media, overshadowing even the major news of a celebrity divorce.
Seeing the flood of comments promising to buy his new album, Zhou Miao smiled with satisfaction and noted down those names.
If they didn’t buy it later, he would personally send each one a scolding message.
7,017,000