I Became an All-round Artist

Although the mention of February sends shivers down the spines of Qinzou's singers, it's a month that fans eagerly anticipate, as it always brings some amazing new songs.

Especially now, with the winter break in full swing, students have plenty of free time. So, on this night marking the transition from January to February, all the night owls who love music were out in full force.

The traffic on all of Qinzou's major music platforms was through the roof, and the new songs being promoted were receiving impressive listening stats. After browsing through the promotional lists, someone in a small online group said, “Jiang Kui just released a new song! It’s being promoted on Dami Music with a banner!”

“Who's Jiang Kui?” another person asked.

“The one who sang ‘Big Fish,’” someone replied.

“Oh, right! That girl has a really beautiful voice!”

“What’s the name of the song? I'll check it out.”

“It’s called ‘Balloon.’”

“‘Called Balloon’?”

“C'mon, that's such an old joke from eighty years ago!”

“…”

While many people might not recognize Jiang Kui’s name, when you mention “Big Fish,” it rings a bell for everyone. The song is popular among younger audiences, and because of its fame, many were willing to give Jiang Kui's new song a try.

When they clicked on “Balloon,” many listeners were surprised. The music’s intro had a very distinct, unedited deep breath, which immediately caught their attention.

“Isn’t this a bit much?”

That was the first thought that came to many people's minds. It wasn’t that they disliked the sound of breath, but they felt that the singer was exaggerating it—after all, it’s just a song, does it really need such dramatic breathing?

However, before they had a chance to stop listening, the next part of the song hit them like a storm:

“Black, white, red, yellow, purple, green, blue, gray, yours, mine, his, hers, big, small, round, flat, good, bad, beautiful, ugly, new, old—every style and color for you to choose from…”

What the heck?

In that instant, many listeners felt like they couldn’t catch their breath, subconsciously taking a deep inhale alongside the singer.

“Hiss…”

The singer took another deep breath, and this time, the melody shifted dramatically. The background music, supported by rapid piano notes, mimicked a drumbeat: “Flying high, the farther the better; once the string is cut, it’s dead. Its short life is just about being happy; love it, that’s all that matters. The smaller it gets, the more it shrinks, until it’s nearly gone, but still proud.”

What is going on?!

Many people were left speechless.

The voice in their headphones suddenly sounded effortless: “If you don’t want to say it, then stop. I don’t want to hear it, won’t listen anymore. Let all the promises be like balloons, floating away, I won’t care, I won’t mind—let them go.”

As the main verse ended, many listeners found themselves unexpectedly breathing a sigh of relief. No one thought the deep breath at the beginning was unnecessary anymore. It was clear: this song was born to challenge a singer’s lung capacity!

“Poor singer…”

Someone suddenly typed that in the music group chat, just as the song’s tempo slowed down: “The balloon floats into the clouds, into the wind, ending its life; the balloon floats into love, into the heart, slowly fading away.”

“Adding my sympathy for the singer!” another replied.

“Is this song just showing off skills?”

“No, it’s purely showing off lung capacity.”

“Hey, I dare you all to try singing along...”

“Hahaha, I tried! After the first verse, I felt like I was going to pass out. I need a break.”

“I couldn’t make it either.”

“I ran out of breath halfway through.”

“…”

Then, a cheeky member of the group commented, “According to experts, if you can't sing the first line of ‘Balloon’ in one breath, you're kidney-deficient.”

Everyone quickly deleted their messages.

“I can do it!”

“So can I!”

“Not a problem!”

Suddenly, everyone was feeling confident again. A few brave souls even sent voice messages of themselves attempting the first verse. And without fail, every single one of them took a deep breath before starting.

As far as the melody goes, the song is pretty easy to remember. After listening to it a couple of times, most people could hum along. However, in 90% of the voice clips, things quickly descended into chaos toward the end, leaving the listeners wondering if they might pass out from lack of oxygen.

“This is hilarious.”

“After hearing your attempts, I feel like I should call an ambulance for you all.”

“It sounds easy at first, but trying to sing it myself nearly killed me. Maybe if I lower the key, I stand a chance.”

“Okay, I admit defeat.”

“Do singers these days have to master holding their breath before anything else?”

“…”

The chat was buzzing with activity, and soon enough, the song's comment section exploded as well: “This song is the ultimate killer for wannabe karaoke stars!”

“You can only sing this at noon, because morning and night, you'll be out of breath.”

“I’m a vocal coach. I think I’ll use this song for my class tomorrow.”

“I have to learn this song! I’m going to show off at karaoke once school starts!”

“Hah, if your lung capacity isn’t at least four or five thousand, don’t even think about it.”

“No, you’ll need lungs the size of your whole torso to sing this.”

“They should have named this song ‘Oxygen Deprivation.’”

“I think ‘Out of Breath’ would be a better title.”

“Wow, the first line almost knocked me out! After singing, I felt dead inside.”

“…”

By this point, no one was discussing the quality of the song anymore. Everyone was focused on the difficulty of singing it and sharing their own attempts.

Some people say that music is about emotions. This song, however, made the listeners active participants.

By the next day, Lao Zhou arrived at his office and immediately checked the new February song chart. To his shock, “Balloon” was ranked seventh!

What?

Am I seeing things?

Lao Zhou rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing. February, much like December, is notoriously competitive in the music industry.

Why? Just take a look at the lineup of singers releasing music in February—twelve top-tier artists, including two music kings and one queen.

Yet, there it was—Jiang Kui, a relative newcomer, with her song “Balloon” sitting at seventh place!

“My goodness…”

One deep breath from Jiang Kui had managed to topple so many industry heavyweights.

Sure, “Balloon” was a decent song, but with the fierce competition in February, this result was beyond impressive!

Just then, Lao Zhou overheard someone in his department shout, “Look! Xianyu’s new song is trending!”

Lao Zhou quickly opened Tribe, a popular social media and networking platform in Qinzou, known for spreading viral topics. Only content with very high engagement can make it onto the trending list.

And there it was, at number ten on the hot search: a trending topic about “Balloon.”

#BalloonChallenge#

When he clicked on it, he found countless short videos of users—some even professional music streamers—attempting to sing the song as a challenge.

Some nailed it, while others nearly passed out, but one thing was clear: every content creator who participated in the challenge was gaining massive attention, and the comments from their followers were overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

“What are you waiting for?!”

In the artist department, Zhao Jue practically shouted at the managers, “Get your artists to join the Balloon Challenge on Tribe immediately!”

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