“The Original Dream.” Lin Shuwen subconsciously read the song’s title out loud.
“Wenjie, what did you say?”
“Nothing—nothing. Chuchu, let’s head back!”
“Okay.”
As soon as they got home, Lin Shuwen went straight to the piano.
She tried playing a snippet of the melody from the sheet music, and her eyes immediately lit up.
Lin Shuwen hurried to the study to copy down the lyrics and score.
The Chen sisters, meanwhile, were completely lost.
“Chuchu, did you guys get a new song from Teacher Huang?” Chen Junmiao asked.
“No! Wenjie wasn’t in great shape today and spent the whole time recording. After she finished, she offered to treat Teacher Huang to lunch, but he turned her down, and then we came straight back.”
“Then what was that music just now?”
“Could it be that Wenjie suddenly got inspired and wrote another song?”
Chen Junmiao rolled her eyes at that. “You think inspiration is like cabbages at the market—available year-round, whenever you stop by?”
She was proven wrong almost immediately.
The two sisters watched as Lin Shuwen walked out of the room with two sheets of paper and sat down at the piano.
She played a couple of short passages to get familiar with the melody, then began to sing while playing:
“If pride never got slapped down cold by the harsh sea of reality,
How would we ever learn how hard we have to strive
To reach the distant shores?
If dreams never fell off a cliff at the very last second,
How would we ever know that persistent souls
Have invisible wings?”
“Holy shit!” Chen Junmiao, who usually cared a lot about her image, couldn’t help but blurt out a curse after hearing the first verse.
“Sis, so this really is Wenjie’s original song.”
“Shh! Let Wenjie keep singing.”
But Lin Shuwen didn’t continue. She repeated the first verse several times, tweaking some clunky parts in Luo Ming’s transcription along the way.
Luo Ming knew he was just an amateur when it came to music—being able to jot down a rough score was already his limit. As for whether there were mistakes in it, he couldn’t guarantee anything.
So he’d told Lin Shuwen directly: if she found any awkward parts while singing, or anything that clearly looked off, she should go ahead and fix it herself.
To the Chen sisters, this just looked like Lin Shuwen was revising her own composition.
After singing it over a dozen times, Lin Shuwen nodded in satisfaction and moved on to the next section.
“Keep tears locked in your heart,
And they’ll bloom into flowers of courage.
When you’re down, you always feel the weight of loneliness,
How you long for someone who understands to offer warmth and a shoulder.
How glad I am that along this journey,
Our connection has run so deep.”
This part she only sang twice before moving on—clearly, there wasn’t much that needed changing.
Then came the chorus.
Both Chen Junmiao and Chen Sichu held their breath. After working with Lin Shuwen for over half a year, the sisters had developed a decent ear for music, and they knew that whether a song was catchy and memorable came down mostly to the chorus.
“Through the wind, rounding another bend,
Our hearts stay connected just like before.
The original dream, held tight in my hands,
The place I most long to go—
How could I turn back halfway?
The original dream will surely come true,
Only when that deep desire is fulfilled
Can we say we’ve reached paradise.”
After hearing the chorus, Chen Sichu’s face flushed with excitement. This song was genuinely great—perfect material for Lin Shuwen’s lead single.
Then Lin Shuwen sang the whole song through from the beginning.
After listening, only one thought echoed in Chen Sichu’s mind: “This album is locked in.”
Putting aside the song’s quality, the message it conveyed—a steadfast commitment to one’s dreams—was equally commendable.
Who hasn’t had an unspoken dream in their wilder, younger days?
That dream is the hope that keeps you going, the fuel that drives you forward, and the testament to your youth.
Hearing this song, Chen Sichu was reminded of her own old dream of becoming a writer.
She’d actually tried writing a novel in college, but after sitting there all day and barely squeezing out a hundred words, she had no choice but to give up.
“If only I’d heard Wenjie’s song back then—I might have stuck with it. Don’t you think, Sis—” Chen Sichu stopped mid-sentence.
Because she noticed her cousin was frozen in place, her eyes full of nostalgia.
Chen Sichu’s mouth dropped open. So her sister had a story to tell!
“Miaomiao, can you contact Sister Shan for me? Let her know I’ve got my album’s lead single.”
Lin Shuwen’s words snapped Chen Junmiao back to the present.
She acknowledged with a quick response and immediately called Sister Shan.
At that moment, Sister Shan was in a heated discussion with the company’s leadership over Lin Shuwen’s lead single.
“Mr. Zhu, you know Wenwen’s situation. Right now, she needs a quality album to solidify her position.”
“Sister Shan, it’s not that I don’t want to help. You’re a veteran here—you even have equity incentives. You know how long the company has been planning this girl group.”
“I understand that, but—ring-ring-ring~” The sudden phone ring cut her off. Sister Shan pulled her phone out of her bag, glanced at the caller ID, and saw it was Chen Junmiao.
“Sorry, Mr. Zhu—I need to take this.”
Mr. Zhu nodded.
Sister Shan pressed the answer button and stepped outside his office.
“Hello—Miaomiao, what’s up?”
“Sister Shan, Wenjie just wrote another song.”
“Another one?”
“Yeah. This one’s really good too—just as good as ‘Light Years Away,’ and the theme is also very meaningful.”
Sister Shan knew the Chen sisters well. If Chen Sichu had said this, she might have had some doubts, but Chen Junmiao was always steady and composed. If she said the song was solid, then the quality was definitely there.
This was exactly why Lin Shuwen had asked Chen Junmiao to make the call.
“So that means Wenwen’s got her lead single now?”
“Yes. That’s why Wenjie asked me to call you.”
“Good. Got it—I’m heading back now.” With that, Sister Shan hung up. She took a deep breath to suppress the slight smile creeping onto her face, then put back on her “I’m not leaving until the company gives us resources” expression and returned to Mr. Zhu’s office.
“Mr. Zhu, about—”
“Sister Shan, we’ve said all there is to say. In two months, our girl group will start their warm-up promotions in South Korea. They need at least five dance tracks ready, and right now the company genuinely can’t spare any more music resources.”
“Mr. Zhu, how about this—we won’t ask the company to write the lead single for us, but when it comes to promotional resources for the album, the company can’t shortchange us.”
Seeing that Sister Shan was no longer pushing for the lead single, Mr. Zhu quickly agreed: “Fine, fine! Sister Shan, rest assured—the company values Wenwen highly. If these two projects hadn’t collided, it never would’ve come to this.
Besides, the company’s short on music resources right now, not promotional ones. You can be 100% sure—the promotional resources won’t be cut one bit.”
