As the song ended, Gu Xingyi took a deep breath to calm himself before standing up and walking out of the recording booth.

Everyone outside was still staring blankly at him.

And then—

Applause burst out, unrestrained. Lin Guodong stepped forward excitedly to shake Gu Xingyi’s hand, his eyes burning with passion.

"Xiao Gu! That’s exactly the feeling! I don’t think we need to look for a lead singer anymore—why don’t you just do it?"

"I have a feeling this song is going to stir up a wave of attention for everyday heroes online! That’s exactly the effect we want! Those who quietly dedicate themselves in the background deserve this!"

Hearing such high praise from the old man, even the battle-hardened Gu Xingyi couldn’t help but blush a little.

But he still shook his head and sincerely said to Lin Guodong, "Grandpa Lin, I don’t think I should be the lead singer. I actually have a better idea—would you be willing to hear it?"

Lin Guodong frowned. A better lead singer than the composer himself?

Sure, there were plenty of good singers out there, but he didn’t believe anyone could understand the heart of the song better than Gu Xingyi.

Seeing Lin Guodong’s obvious reluctance, Gu Xingyi didn’t keep him in suspense and quickly shared his idea.

"Here’s the thing, Grandpa Lin. I think this song would be better sung by children. Their voices are clearer and more ethereal, and having the flowers of the motherland sing a tribute to unsung heroes will hit even deeper emotionally."

Lin Guodong’s eyes widened at the explanation.

My god! This guy’s a genius! Why didn’t he think of that? Children naturally carry a sense of innocence and warmth. Pairing that with the video material they’d gathered—it would hit straight to the heart!

Brilliant! No wonder he had such a good feeling about this young man.

Lin Guodong’s gaze grew even more intense, and even the middle-aged staff behind him looked like they’d just been struck by lightning. They stared at Gu Xingyi in disbelief.

They had selected all this footage from a massive archive to match the song, but just couldn’t settle on a vocalist. And now Gu Xingyi had solved it with a single suggestion.

"Xiao Gu! You’re truly a rare talent! Would you be interested in working at Huayin? Don’t worry—we’d never waste your abilities here!"

Lin Guodong was seriously trying to recruit him. He wanted Gu Xingyi by his side. Letting talent like this stay out in the wild was such a waste!

"No, no, no! Grandpa Lin, I’m just a salted fish. I’m already more than satisfied being able to help out with this project!"

Gu Xingyi waved his hands repeatedly. No way—he knew exactly how much he was worth. He was just standing on the shoulders of giants and giving feedback.

After all, what left the deepest impression on him in his past life was this very song being sung by a group of children.

"......"

Lin Guodong was speechless. Salted fishes are this amazing now?

But he didn’t insist. Gu Xingyi was here, and he wouldn’t be going anywhere. If an opportunity came up again in the future, he could always reach out.

"Alright! Everyone has their own path. But, Xiao Gu, make sure to contribute as much as you can on this project! And if there's another chance to work together, we’ll talk then!"

"Come with me—let’s take a look at the footage. See if you have any ideas."

Lin Guodong beckoned and led him to another studio. This one was for editing. All the video clips went through a selection process here before being edited into the final MV.

Once inside, the staff began enthusiastically introducing the content. Gu Xingyi looked at the monitor in front of him, its screen flashing through clips—each one featuring anonymous heroes quietly doing their part.

He was stunned. He hadn’t expected there would be so many clips—and many of them would end up being cut. That made him a little sad.

To him, every person shown in this footage deserved to be honored and remembered.

Almost like he could read his mind, Lin Guodong patted Gu Xingyi’s shoulder.

"Xiao Gu, don’t feel bad. This is their duty to begin with. No one will remember their individual names from the video, but they represent a group. As long as the audience walks away with gratitude in their hearts—subtly influenced to remember that this society has people like them—then that’s enough."

"Honestly, they should be thanking you. Your song, Only Ordinary, fits the taste of today’s young people while conveying this message. We old folks can’t write songs that connect like this anymore. But we were afraid they’d be forgotten, which is why we tried collecting submissions in the first place."

Lin Guodong sighed, then smiled at Gu Xingyi.

"Thankfully, you gave us exactly what we wanted. You’ve shown me that today’s youth still carry a burning passion in their hearts. That’s more than enough!"

Gu Xingyi looked at the old man, then back at the screen full of flickering images. He was truly moved. No matter the world, there were always such lovable people.

"Grandpa Lin, I don’t have any issues with the footage. And as for the video production—I’m not an expert in that field. That part will have to rely on you and your team."

"Honestly, I can’t wait to see the finished video!"

He spoke earnestly. He believed the final product from this group of professionals would resonate even more deeply than the version he remembered from his past life.

"Great, great! We’ll get it done as quickly as possible. No later than the end of July. By then, this wave will definitely sweep across all of Huaguo!"

Lin Guodong beamed at Gu Xingyi’s words.

"Oh right—Lin girl told me you’ve got a Douyin account too, right? A million followers? And you’ve released two songs already? When this MV drops, we’ll co-create it with your Douyin profile too! You’re a key contributor to this project, after all!"

Gu Xingyi was dumbfounded. How did this come back to him?

He thought his name would just go under the lyrics and composition credits. He hadn’t expected they'd even co-publish it on Douyin. Clearly, the old man was really backing him!

And a video released by Huayin? The views alone would be massive. The exposure could bring in enough revenue to feed him for a month straight.

Of course, Gu Xingyi had no reason to refuse. He felt even more grateful to Grandpa Lin in his heart.

"Then I’ll thank you in advance, Grandpa Lin!"

Gu Xingyi thanked him sincerely.

Lin Guodong waved it off, like it was all well-deserved.

After wrapping up the topic, the rest of the people in the room continued discussing production details. A lot of technical terminology flew around, so Gu Xingyi simply stayed quiet and listened.

By the time he stepped out of Huayin’s headquarters, it was already 1 p.m.

His brain felt totally fried. Once those folks started talking work, they became completely unstoppable—like a room full of workaholics.

In the end, it was only thanks to Yang Chenglin acting cutesy and insisting on lunch that they managed to escape.

Originally, Lin Guodong wanted Gu Xingyi to join everyone at the Huayin cafeteria and keep participating in the afternoon discussions, but Gu Xingyi excused himself by saying his brain had already turned to mush.

As someone from a different field, he really couldn’t contribute any more.

The two of them walked out of Huayin side by side. It had been clear earlier, but now a light drizzle had started falling.

"Gu Xingyi! Don’t you think you owe me a meal? You’re co-creating with Huayin! You’re gonna get rich!"

They walked through the rain toward the parking lot. Yang Chenglin, unusually playful, stuck out her tongue and teased him.

This onee-san was becoming less and less like an actual onee-san!

Gu Xingyi raised an eyebrow.

"You, with your big family and business empire, still wanna fleece a humble commoner like me? Have you no shame?!"