During the Mid-Autumn Festival, all major TV stations and various variety shows held activities, making it impossible to fit everything into the twenty-some trending search positions.
One moment it was Bluewind’s stage performance on CCTV’s Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, next it was some top star singing in a high-end branded outfit on Nanxing Satellite TV, then a drama crew celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival on set by distributing mooncakes…
The trending topics list was a battlefield of stars, changing every few minutes.
The comedy scenes of guests collectively dressed as rabbits on the variety show “Red-Blue Competition” stayed in the top ten trending searches for an hour before dropping off. Tonight’s competition was truly fierce—staying for an hour was already impressive.
Xu Baichuan said: “In the entertainment industry, whenever you get popular, you’ll definitely attract hatred and fans who can’t stand you. As long as you don’t make mistakes yourselves, those anti-fans can’t make significant waves.”
He paused, turning to look at everyone: “So, the most important thing is to cherish your reputation, maintain integrity, and don’t give people anything to use against you. You’re all still young—focus your energy on your careers.”
All five nodded.
Which star who made it in the entertainment industry hadn’t been criticized or attacked? As long as they didn’t make any fundamental mistakes, a few taunts from anti-fans wouldn’t have much impact.
***
As September came to an end, Xu Baichuan’s phone was ringing non-stop.
The viewership for FTM’s appearance on “Desperate Escape Room” was increasing crazily, showing trends of breaking historical records. The two episodes of “Red-Blue Competition” also had extremely high popularity, becoming the top two most-viewed episodes in the show’s history.
The producer of “Desperate Escape Room,” President Yang, sent an invitation with a performance fee five times higher than before, hoping FTM could appear as guest stars for another episode.
Unexpectedly, Xu Baichuan declined politely.
Xu Baichuan smiled and said: “Our FTM’s schedule is completely full. I’m really sorry, but we can’t accept variety shows for the rest of this year. Perhaps we can collaborate next year, next season?”
Fully booked until the end of the year?! President Yang was shocked—it seemed FTM was truly popular recently. He quickly said: “Then let’s schedule for next season!”
FTM’s variety show performances had excellent results, and this fresh boy band had almost become “fat meat” that could boost any variety show’s ratings.
Many programs wanted to snatch them up. After all, newcomers wouldn’t demand high appearance fees—they were economical yet popular. Who wouldn’t want to invite them?
Besides the “Desperate Escape Room” production team, producers from several other variety shows also called Xu Baichuan expressing interest in collaboration.
That afternoon, Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun came to the company together to practice dancing. Passing by the meeting room, they heard their manager on the phone.
“Oh, Director Zhou, hello. Next month? I’m really sorry, our schedule is completely full, and we temporarily can’t accept variety shows. Let’s collaborate another time… Yes, yes, let’s stay in touch.”
Xu Baichuan came from the corridor, saw Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian, raised his eyebrow, and said helplessly: “Why is it you two again?”
Previously, before their debut, Xu Baichuan was arguing with the leadership on the phone here and the two overheard. Today they happened to encounter him again.
Fang Yinnian smiled and said: “We don’t have classes this afternoon, so we came to practice dancing.”
Mo Xun asked: “Brother Xu, aren’t you usually in Building A?”
Xu Baichuan explained: “I came to the fifth-floor meeting room, planning to gather you all for a meeting after dinner.”
Mo Xun asked with confusion: “I just heard you decline the invitation, saying our schedule is full next month?”
Fang Yinnian also became curious: “Have we accepted a new variety show for October?”
Xu Baichuan said: “Of course not. The same type of game variety show that requires out-of-town recording, wasting an entire weekend—not worth it.”
He walked up to Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian and said: “I won’t accept any more variety shows for you until the end of the year. Do you know why?”
Fang Yinnian said expectantly: “Is Teacher Yu coming back?”
Xu Baichuan smiled and said: “That’s right. I initially arranged for Teacher Yu to come in October. He’s returning to write songs for you. In the coming months, your main tasks will be recording songs, practicing dance, and filming MVs.”
“Appearing as guests on variety shows helps with popularity, but you already have limited time for singing and dancing practice outside of classes each week. Your foundations aren’t solid enough yet—we can’t neglect the essentials.”
“When the timing is right, I’ll create a dedicated FTM group variety show to retain fans attracted from various channels.”
The manager’s decision was actually what they wanted as well.
Recording variety shows was manageable if they were local in Jiangzhou, requiring only half a day. But out-of-town recordings meant flying back and forth over an entire weekend.
They still had to attend classes at school, and their time for dance practice and vocal lessons was already limited. If they spent weekends running around recording variety shows, they couldn’t properly practice these two essential skills.
Even in other boy bands where everyone had trainee foundations, they still needed a month of closed-door practice for one song’s choreography. This was especially concerning for their team with Tang Che and Fang Yinnian, two members who were particularly weak at street dancing.
If they neglected the basics, would they have to pursue a path as variety show personalities?
Fortunately, their manager was rational and hadn’t lost sight of their original purpose despite the viewership allure. Even with FTM’s consecutive success on two variety shows, he wasn’t rushing to continue booking more appearances.
Having the producer in place for October was what truly mattered.
Because what FTM lacked most right now was their own original works.
What Fang Yinnian anticipated most was Teacher Yu’s arrival.
Yu Ziluo, a well-known music producer in the industry, had been invited by Xu Baichuan to write songs for FTM. Soon, FTM would have their own original songs!
Fang Yinnian couldn’t contain his excitement.
Seeing Yinnian’s beaming smile, Xu Baichuan couldn’t help but ruffle his hair: “I know you don’t want to do variety shows—you’d rather sing, right?”
Fang Yinnian nodded earnestly: “Yes, singing is our main profession.”
Xu Baichuan said: “Teacher Yu will arrive in Jiangzhou on October 1st and will meet with you all to discuss details. When he creates albums for singers, he tries to showcase their unique characteristics—that’s why I had to wait for him.”
Xu Baichuan paused, then said: “Since you two are here, we won’t need the evening meeting. Please convey my message to your teammates.”
“After Teacher Yu returns during the National Day holiday, he’ll write songs for you. In the meantime, put all your effort into improving your dancing.”
“Once Teacher Yu finishes writing the songs, Achi will quickly produce the choreography, and you’ll begin practicing FTM’s original group dance.”
“The group dance will be challenging, so prepare yourselves mentally. Especially Yinnian and Tang Che—you two need to catch up quickly, understand?”
Fang Yinnian immediately said: “Understood. Tang Che and I are practicing extra every day. We’ll definitely work hard to keep up.”
Xu Baichuan felt reassured and walked away in good spirits.
That evening, Mo Xun relayed the manager’s message to their teammates.
Fu Fei smiled and said: “Our manager is quite unique! He insists we pursue the vocal group path, and even when our variety show popularity rose, he didn’t continue booking more?”
Tang Che said: “Variety shows waste too much time. There’s not much point in playing games every day when my dancing still isn’t good enough.”
Fang Yinnian agreed: “Exactly. Our time is already very tight. Let’s focus on practicing our harmonies and dancing from now on.”
As five unknown newcomers, they had to follow their manager’s decisions about which shows to appear on and what activities to participate in.
Fang Yinnian was very grateful that FTM had found a reliable manager.
Perhaps there was another indispensable presence in FTM’s team spirit—their manager Xu Baichuan, who had overcome opposition to group the five of them together as a “vocal group.”
Without Xu Baichuan, FTM would never have successfully formed.
Tang Che asked: “The music producer Brother Xu arranged is called Yu Ziluo, right? I’m not very familiar with him. Yinnian, do you know him well?”
“Yes, I’ve collected many songs written by Teacher Yu.” Fang Yinnian opened the music player on his phone and found a playlist from his collection containing over a hundred songs—all written by Yu Ziluo.
Mo Xun was surprised: “You really like this producer?”
Fang Yinnian nodded: “Yes. Different music producers have their own styles. Teacher Yu’s songs are especially outstanding in emotional expression.”
Speaking about this, Fang Yinnian’s eyes brightened: “His songs always hit straight to the heart with just the right melody and lyrics. He’s a very sincere producer.”
“However, he previously focused on writing ballads. I’m not sure what style he’ll create for our boy band’s original songs.”
A boy band needed to accommodate every member. Mo Xun was strong in dancing, Tan Junwen had rap advantages, and FTM was a harmony group—writing songs that showcased good harmonies was quite demanding for a producer.
If their manager hadn’t invited the renowned Yu Ziluo and instead found some random producer to write their songs, Fang Yinnian wouldn’t have such high expectations.
Since they had invited such an excellent producer, Fang Yinnian hoped Teacher Yu could write songs that better suited FTM’s unique characteristics.
All five members were full of anticipation.
Mo Xun said decisively: “During the seven-day National Day holiday, let’s stay at the company for intensive training. The three of us will teach Tang Che and Yinnian dance hands-on to help them master the basic movements quickly.”
Fu Fei said excitedly: “Once the choreography is ready, we’ll start practicing the group dance. Knife group dances are the coolest, but everyone has to be perfectly synchronized!”
Mo Xun and Fu Fei had trainee backgrounds and were experienced in boy band dancing. They could master the movements the fastest.
Tan Junwen’s dancing barely reached a score of 60, while Tang Che and Fang Yinnian failed to pass. In a five-person group dance, Mo Xun and Fu Fei would need to carry the other three—achieving overall synchronization would still be quite challenging.
As National Day approached, everyone felt a sense of urgency.
In recent days, Tang Che and Fang Yinnian had been extending their practice time progressively later. From initially returning at 11 PM, the two now tacitly practiced until midnight before returning to the dormitory.
***
At noon on October 1st, Yu Ziluo’s flight arrived in Jiangzhou, and Xu Baichuan personally went to the airport to pick him up.
Yu Ziluo smiled and patted his shoulder: “Baichuan, sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve been extremely busy lately.”
Xu Baichuan said: “No need for formalities, Teacher Yu. Let’s go eat first. I’ll introduce you to the young men.”
Yu Ziluo said: “I’ll need to listen to them sing in detail to determine each person’s vocal range and timbre, and then think about how to compose.”
Xu Baichuan said: “No problem, I’ll arrange that when we get back.”
At 12:30 PM, the van pulled up at the restaurant, and Xu Baichuan led Teacher Yu into the private room reserved in advance.
The five members of FTM were already waiting there.
A middle-aged man of about 45 years old, wearing casual pants and a black short-sleeved shirt, walked in behind their manager.
He was about 175cm tall, slightly overweight with a noticeable double chin. When he smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits, giving him a very kind and approachable appearance.
These behind-the-scenes professionals in the entertainment industry rarely appeared in public. Although Fang Yinnian was a big fan of this producer, he had never seen Yu Ziluo’s photo before.
He curiously observed this senior figure.
Xu Baichuan introduced him: “This is Teacher Yu Ziluo.”
All five immediately bowed at a 90-degree angle in perfect unison: “Greetings, Teacher Yu!”
Yu Ziluo smiled warmly and said: “Well, look at this group of five handsome young men—very good-looking! Youth is wonderful, faces full of collagen. At my age, I could be their father, haha.”
Xu Baichuan laughed and said: “That’s true. They’re about the same age as your daughter. By the way, your daughter Cancan is studying abroad, right?”
Yu Ziluo said: “Yes, at the Lausanne Music Academy in Europe. She studies violin. Ah, that girl has absolutely no interest in singing.”
The Lausanne Music Academy in Europe, a TOP-3 world-renowned music school, was also Fang Yinnian’s dream institution.
Although the teachers at Jiangzhou Music Academy were excellent, Lausanne was an internationally famous school that had produced many world-renowned composers and performers, with even stronger faculty resources.
Fang Yinnian had considered furthering his studies at this school in the future, but he hadn’t researched Lausanne’s specific admission requirements in detail. Besides, now that he had joined a boy band, his academic plans couldn’t be based solely on personal considerations.
Yu Ziluo noticed that one of the five young men was secretly observing him. The young man had clear, bright eyes and was very good-looking. When their eyes met, he lowered his head shyly.
Yu Ziluo smiled slightly and walked over to sit beside Fang Yinnian.
Fang Yinnian was somewhat nervous, gently clenching his fingers under the table.
Xu Baichuan said: “Let’s eat first.”
As the servers began bringing dishes, Yu Ziluo glanced at Fang Yinnian and said kindly: “I’ve seen FTM’s profile. You’re Fang Yinnian, right?”
Fang Yinnian immediately sat up straight: “Yes, Teacher Yu.”
Yu Ziluo laughed: “Don’t be nervous. Why are you sitting so straight suddenly, like you’ve been called on by a teacher?”
Fang Yinnian smiled embarrassedly: “I-I really like the songs you’ve written, Teacher Yu. Meeting you for the first time makes me a bit nervous.”
Yu Ziluo was surprised: “Really? How many of my songs have you heard?”
Fang Yinnian said: “Over a hundred.”
Yu Ziluo: “…”
He had unexpectedly encountered a die-hard fan?
It was quite rare. Not many young people nowadays could sit still to listen to music, and they might not even listen to all songs from the same singer, let alone a producer.
Most people don’t pay attention to behind-the-scenes producers.
When a song plays, the names of lyricists, composers, and arrangers at the top are most easily overlooked by listeners.
Listeners more easily remember the singer. Yet Fang Yinnian remembered the producer and specifically listened to songs by the same producer—why?
Yu Ziluo suddenly became very interested in the young man before him and asked with a smile: “Having heard so many, which song of mine do you like the most?”
Fang Yinnian said: “I like ‘Time Postman’ the most.”
Everyone else at the table exchanged puzzled glances, as none of them had heard of it… Who sang this song? It seemed incredibly obscure.
Yu Ziluo’s hand froze slightly.
He looked at Fang Yinnian and after a moment asked with a half-smile: “Why do you like this one? It’s a song from over a decade ago, very obscure—probably not even a thousand saves. Where did you dig it up from?”
Fang Yinnian explained: “I searched by the producer’s name and found this old song of yours. I really love the arrangement—the string opening unfolds a magnificent canvas. After listening, it feels like completing a romantic journey alongside the creator.”
Everyone: “…”
Fang Yinnian, your flattery skills are truly unmatched.
However, Yu Ziluo seemed pleased with the compliment, barely able to contain his smile: “Ah, you really know how to praise people.”
Fang Yinnian smiled, his eyes curving, and looked at the senior figure earnestly: “I really love this song and often listen to it. Teacher Yu, do you still have the song’s stem tracks? Could you share them with me for study?”
Xu Baichuan: “…”
Yinnian directly asking for stem tracks was actually quite abrupt.
A finished song is created by merging numerous stem tracks. Some complex songs have dozens of accompaniment tracks, and without the original audio sources, it would be impossible to recreate the authentic arrangement.
For music producers, stem track files are equivalent to a painter’s original layered images used for coloring—not something easily shared with others.
Audio sources are copyright files highly valued by music companies. Forget giving them to others—even singers themselves, once their contracts end, would need to file lawsuits or pay money to obtain their own songs’ audio sources.
Of course, teachers can provide their works to students for learning purposes. But the issue was that Yu Ziluo wasn’t exactly Fang Yinnian’s teacher.
They were meeting for the first time.
Perhaps Yinnian didn’t understand these industry rules? Just as Xu Baichuan was about to speak to ease the awkwardness, Yu Ziluo smiled and said: “Sure, give me your email address, and I’ll send them to you later.”
Fang Yinnian said excitedly: “Thank you, Teacher Yu!”
Yu Ziluo asked: “Do you have arrangement software on your computer?”
Fang Yinnian nodded: “Yes, I do.”
Yu Ziluo asked as if casually: “With such interest in composition and arrangement, are you planning to write songs yourself in the future?”
Fang Yinnian blushed slightly: “Yes, I really enjoy writing songs. I tried writing a few in high school, but they weren’t very good.”
Yu Ziluo said kindly: “You can show them to me.”
Hearing this, Xu Baichuan finally understood what was happening—Teacher Yu apparently liked Yinnian, and Yinnian wanted to learn music composition. The two seemed to have good chemistry talking together.
Without proper guidance, one could certainly figure out how to write some songs independently, but such works would inevitably lack maturity. Systematic learning could help creators better refine their works.
Xu Baichuan took the initiative and said: “Teacher Yu, you see, our Yinnian is your loyal fan and is so eager to learn music composition. Perhaps you could spare some time to give him some guidance?”
Fang Yinnian was startled. He was already thrilled just to receive stem files from an industry expert. To have the expert personally mentor him? He hadn’t dared hope for that.
Yu Ziluo smiled and asked: “Yinnian, do you really want to learn?”
Fang Yinnian nodded vigorously: “Yes, teacher!”
Yu Ziluo thought for a moment and said: “I’ll be in Jiangzhou for the second half of the year. Let’s add each other as contacts—you can come to me directly with questions in the future.”
Fang Yinnian quickly and happily took out his phone to add him.
Yu Ziluo smiled and said: “By the way, I’m still looking for a final disciple. Would you be interested in becoming my apprentice?”
Fang Yinnian froze.
Mo Xun quickly leaned over and whispered in his ear: “The teacher wants to take you as a disciple. Shouldn’t you serve tea to your master?”
Coming back to his senses, Fang Yinnian excitedly stood up. Mo Xun, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, brought him a teacup.
Fang Yinnian poured tea and respectfully bowed: “Master, please drink this tea!”
Yu Ziluo was amused by him.
What an adorable newcomer.
Over the years, Yu Ziluo had written hundreds of songs. Sometimes, to match a singer’s album theme, he would write mainstream catchy songs—after all, such songs easily became popular and made more money.
But among all his works, his personal favorite was actually “Time Postman,” the one Fang Yinnian had mentioned.
Fang Yinnian said listening to this song was like completing a romantic journey with the creator. In fact, that was exactly what he had written during a journey years ago.
At that time, Yu Ziluo was just 20 years old, carrying his musical dreams from a beautiful remote town to pursue his career in a bustling first-tier city.
He had only a few hundred yuan for living expenses.
Fortunately, he sold this song for 2,000 yuan to an unknown small singer, resolving his financial difficulties.
This song held a very special meaning for him.
After becoming famous, Yu Ziluo bought back the copyright to this song. The original singer had long since left the industry, so this song was only included on music platforms as “Producer Yu Ziluo’s” track.
Almost no one listened to it.
He didn’t know why Fang Yinnian would dig out this extremely obscure song from so many others.
He just felt that, at that moment…
He and this young man had established a mysterious soul resonance.
Fang Yinnian must be someone full of dreams and willing to seriously study music, which is why he could understand what his song was trying to express.
He was willing to accept this earnest and adorable apprentice.
Yu Ziluo had a feeling that this clever young apprentice would someday achieve musical accomplishments no less impressive than his own.
Seeing the young man earnestly holding the tea before him, Yu Ziluo smiled and accepted Fang Yinnian’s tea, took a sip, and said, “From now on, study diligently with me. I will teach you all the knowledge I possess.”
“But the path of creation isn’t easy. Beyond hard work, it also requires some talent. You’re still young—take it slow.”
“Thank you, Master!” Fang Yinnian was so happy he wanted to run downstairs and do laps.
Yu Ziluo was truly an elite among elites. Top singers begged him to write songs, and his schedule was extremely difficult to book. Yet he had accepted him as his final disciple?! It seemed as unreal as being hit by a lottery jackpot.
Watching this scene, the four teammates were all very happy for Yinnian.
They weren’t interested in writing lyrics or composing music, nor did they have talent in those areas. But Fang Yinnian was quite interested, and having an industry master as his teacher would make his future path smoother.
Having a songwriter in a boy band was extremely impressive—in the future, Fang Yinnian might even write songs for FTM himself.
**
The meal was extremely pleasant. Fang Yinnian was overjoyed, and Teacher Yu was also in good spirits. He had initially thought idol group members wouldn’t have much musical appreciation, but unexpectedly found a precious disciple during this trip to Jiangzhou.
After the meal, Xu Baichuan arranged for everyone to go to the recording studio.
The five performed a harmony section in front of Teacher Yu, and each person also sang some exercises separately, allowing Teacher Yu to better understand their vocal characteristics and range as reference for songwriting.
The afternoon passed quickly.
Yu Ziluo generously gave a thumbs up: “Your five-person harmony exceeds my expectations—it’s truly excellent.”
He had previously heard their cover of “Won’t Forget,” the harmony-version adaptation, which was no less impressive than the original version he wrote for Xie Shiqi.
After a period of practice, FTM’s harmonies had become more mature, and some minor vocal issues from their debut had greatly improved. Clearly, Teacher Qiao had been extremely strict with their vocal training during this time.
Their fundamentals had become much more solid.
The five were all delighted to be praised. Fu Fei boldly asked: “Teacher Yu, what type of song are you planning to write for our original track? So we can prepare ourselves, hehe.”
Yu Ziluo thought for a moment, then smiled and said: “Since you’re a vocal group, the first song will be about music, titled ‘For the Music’—as my gift celebrating FTM’s formation.”
The five: “!!!”
Wow! Their first original song would actually match their group name—this was unprecedented in Chinese entertainment.
Teacher Yu was so wonderful, actually customizing a song for them!
This song would definitely become their signature work.
FTM, a vocal group, with their debut original song called “For the Music”—born for music.
##
