Lu Zhixian closed the chat box with Lin Shiya, lay down on the bed, and started thinking about it.

A duet.

Since he promised her, he couldn't stand Gezi up. But the problem was, what to sing?

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into the system space.

The familiar translucent panel unfolded in his mind, and the popularity point balance in the top right corner flickered.

He glanced at the number and was stunned for two seconds.

This wave from the concert had pushed his popularity points to an absurd level.

The fermentation of the ratings from Live Scene, Zheng Heming's repost, and the overwhelming discussions on social media platforms were all pouring popularity points into his account.

He wouldn't have dared to even imagine this number before.

"I'm basically a filthy rich tycoon now."

Lu Zhixian typed a few keywords into the search bar of the system's music library.

Duet. Male and female.

The results list refreshed, with dense rows of song titles spanning several pages.

He scrolled through them one by one.

Ones that were too sweet wouldn't work; they didn't match Lin Shiya's style. Ones that were too sorrowful weren't necessary either.

He needed a song that could showcase both of their vocal strengths without feeling forced.

When he reached the third page, a name jumped out at him.

"the rose in the palm".

Lu Zhixian's hand stopped.

He clicked on it, and the system automatically played a thirty-second preview. The melody flowed through his mind; the male part was soulful but not greasy, while the female part was explosive yet delicate.

"This is the one."

A confirmation box for the exchange popped up from the system.

Lu Zhixian's lip twitched.

Expensive.

Because the quality of the song was right there—the melody, arrangement, and lyrics were all top-tier—the system's pricing was never lenient.

But what was his current net worth?

Without even blinking, he made the exchange.

The system notification sounded, and the complete information of the song—lyrics, music, arrangement, and scores for all vocal parts—flooded into his mind.

Lu Zhixian digested it for a few seconds and went through the whole song in his head.

A good song. An absolutely great song.

Having Lin Shiya sing the female part of this song was practically tailor-made.

After exchanging for this song, his popularity points dropped a notch, but the balance was still considerable.

Lu Zhixian stared at the number for two seconds.

When you have too much money, your hands start to itch.

When was the last time he did a lucky draw? It seemed like it had been a while.

Occasionally, good things could be pulled from the system's lucky draw pool; although the odds were pitiful, what if?

He opened the lucky draw interface.

A hundred-draw streak.

"Come on."

[Congratulations on obtaining the skill: Master Chef]

Lu Zhixian: "..."

Master Chef.

He was here to do music; what was the point of giving him a Master Chef skill? Was he supposed to change careers and join a cooking competition?

Whatever, he'd just treat it as a life skill; at least he wouldn't have to order takeout every day in the future.

Second round.

[Congratulations on obtaining: Intermediate Combat Mastery -> Fighting Master (Skill Upgrade)]

Lu Zhixian stared at this prompt for several seconds.

Fighting Master.

He originally had Intermediate Combat Mastery, and this time it was directly upgraded to the Master level.

Was it useful? Yes, but it had absolutely nothing to do with music.

What he needed now was something like an Advanced Music Director talent, but the system gave him Fighting Master.

Was this for him to enter the ring or become a bodyguard?

A bunch of random junk.

With every draw, Lu Zhixian's face grew a shade darker.

Out of a hundred draws, not a single one was related to music.

"Again."

This time it was even more ridiculous.

Three consecutive duplicates—he already had Beginner Calligraphy, and the system gave him two more, with a prompt: "Skill already exists, automatically converted into a small amount of experience points."

A small amount of experience points.

Basically thrown away.

Lu Zhixian took a deep breath.

"One last time."

The moment the result came out, he really wanted to smash the system panel.

Among the hundred rewards, the most valuable one was "Intermediate Photography Skills".

Intermediate Photography Skills.

After three rounds of hundred-draws, plus what he spent on the song, his account balance had shrunk by more than half.

What did he get? A Master Chef skill, a Fighting Master upgrade, an Intermediate Photography skill, and the rest was all filler trash.

Lu Zhixian exited the system space, opened his eyes, and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"My luck is truly abysmal."

He rolled over and glanced at the time on his phone. 4:00 PM.

Forget it, you can't force these lucky draws. At least Fighting Master was somewhat practical, even if he couldn't think of when he'd use it for now.

Master Chef, on the other hand, could be put to use immediately.

He lay there for a while, going over his upcoming schedule in his head.

The hype from the concert was still fermenting, and various invitations and collaborations were pouring in from all directions, leaving Old Zhao overwhelmed.

But all of that could wait; for now, there was only one most important thing.

Go to the Magic City and find Lin Shiya to record that duet.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Old Zhao.

"Help me book a high-speed rail ticket to the Magic City for the day after tomorrow."

Old Zhao replied instantly: "Going to the Magic City? For what?"

"Recording a song."

"With whom?"

Lu Zhixian typed two words, deleted them, thought for a moment, and retyped.

"I'll tell you when I get there."

Old Zhao sent a question mark but didn't press further. Having worked with Lu Zhixian for so long, he had learned one thing.

When this boss said "I'll tell you when I get there," don't ask anymore, just wait.

Three seconds later, Old Zhao sent another message: "Do you want me to come along?"

"No need, I'll go by myself."

"Then should I arrange someone to pick you up at the airport... I mean, the station?"

"No need for that either."

Old Zhao sent a crying face emoji and didn't say anything else.

Lu Zhixian put down his phone, sat up from the bed, and stretched.

His shoulders were still sore, but much better than in the morning.

He walked into the living room and, as if possessed, turned into the kitchen.

He opened the fridge; it was empty, with only two bottles of mineral water and a carton of expired milk.

He looked at the fridge, then at his own hands.

Master Chef Skill (Intermediate).

The skills given by the system weren't a joke; once obtained, they were directly etched into his muscle memory, just like when he got the Master-level vocal techniques—certain things he didn't know before, he suddenly knew how to do.

He closed the fridge and took out his phone to open a delivery app, but this time he wasn't ordering takeout, he was ordering ingredients.

He ordered a bunch of vegetables, meat, and seasonings, to be delivered in half an hour.

Once the ingredients arrived, Lu Zhixian stood in front of the stove and tied on an apron.

With the knife rising and falling, his vegetable-chopping movements were smooth and fluid.

He was a bit dazed himself.

Before, he could even burn scrambled eggs with tomatoes, but now his knife skills were sharper than a restaurant chef's.

This system really delivered on its skills, no ambiguity at all.

Forty minutes later, three dishes and a soup were laid out on the table.

Sweet and sour pork ribs, dry-fried green beans, steamed sea bass, and seaweed egg drop soup.

It looked good, and the taste... He picked up a piece of rib and tried it.

"Holy crap. This is drop-dead delicious!"

It was so good that he was stunned.

With this Master Chef level, he could probably be a head chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

He sat at the dining table with his bowl, scrolling through his phone as he ate.

The discussion about the concert on social media hadn't died down; instead, it had surged again because of that photo Lin Shiya posted.

All sorts of speculations were flying around.

"Are Lin Shiya and Lu Zhixian going to collaborate?"

"Did you guys notice? When Lin Shiya posted that photo, Lu Zhixian was the first one to like it."

"I reasonably suspect they're cooking up something big."

Lu Zhixian saw the last one and almost spat out his soup.

You actually guessed right.

After finishing the meal, he washed the dishes; the neat freak attribute that came with the Master Chef skill wouldn't allow a single drop of oil on the stove.

After tidying up the kitchen, he went back to his room and pulled up the score for "the rose in the palm" from the system, going over it carefully twice.

He simulated the key passages of the female part in his mind using Lin Shiya's vocal timbre.

The compatibility was extremely high.

The female part of this song required repeated switching between softness and explosiveness, which was exactly what Lin Shiya was best at.

As for the male part, he could handle it himself.

He exported the demo of the song using the system, saved it to his phone, and then sent a message to Lin Shiya.

"The song is ready. I'll let you hear it in the Magic City."

Lin Shiya replied after a minute.

"What's the style?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

"...Can't you just be straightforward?"

"No, this is called building anticipation."

No reply from the other side.

Lu Zhixian chuckled and locked his phone screen.

The day after tomorrow, the Magic City.

—

Two days later.

The high-speed rail departed from the Capital, a five-and-a-half-hour journey.

Lu Zhixian wore a baseball cap and a mask, sitting in a window seat in business class. The brim of his hat was pulled low, and "the rose in the palm" was playing on a loop in his earphones.

The scenery outside the window changed from the North China Plain to the Jiangnan water towns, and the gray skyline slowly receded.

The system panel was open on his phone screen, with the popularity point balance hanging prominently in the top right corner.

Compared to before the lucky draw, it had decreased by nearly half.

It was painful.

But on second thought, although the Fighting Master skill couldn't be used now, there was no telling when it might come in handy.

In the entertainment industry, any kind of trouble could pop up.

As for the Master Chef...

He looked down at the photo of yesterday's meal in his phone's album. The ribs were glossy, and the sea bass was fresh and intact.

Fine, at least he could cook for himself from now on.

The announcement for the high-speed rail entering the station rang out.

"Dear passengers, the train is about to arrive at the Magic City."

Lu Zhixian took off his earphones, put away his phone, put on his bag, and stood up.

People were coming and going at the exit; he blended into the crowd and walked out, and no one recognized him. This outfit was low-key enough.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Lin Shiya.

"Arrived."

The reply from the other side was almost instantaneous.

"I'll send you the address for Shengyue Culture. See you at the recording studio tomorrow morning at ten."

"OK."