Chapter Twenty-One: Where Is This Background Music Coming From?

In the video, the images glide by, changing every five seconds.

The second image: The girl begins to fend for herself at the age of five, venturing up the mountain to chop wood.

The third image: She cooks for herself, her face blackened by smoke.

The fourth image: She eats while reading a book.

The song fills the air:

“I know, I’ve always had a pair of invisible wings,
They carry me, soaring above despair~~~”

Though young, the girl is not crushed by life; instead, she begins her own stubborn journey.

The fifth image: Whenever she has time, she draws, sketching her dreams.

The sixth image...

The seventh image...

She has broken down.

She has felt despair.

She has endured countless hardships and pain, yet she presses on.

“Don’t think about how others bask in the beautiful sun,
I see the sunset change every day,
I know, I’ve always had a pair of invisible wings,
They carry me, give me hope.”

Most children her age have parents and live good lives.

But she feels no envy.

She finds beauty in her world: she sees wildflowers while chopping wood, feels the gentle breeze while working the fields, senses the fierce heat of the flame while tending the fire...

She grows stronger.

The fifteenth image: At twelve, she is admitted to a prestigious middle school.

The sixteenth image: At fifteen, she enters the best high school in the county.

...

The final image: At eighteen, this year’s college entrance exam, she scores 601, earning a place at a top-tier 211 university, becoming the county’s sole student at a key institution.

In the photo, the once ugly duckling has blossomed into a beautiful swan.

“I finally see all my dreams blooming,
Chasing youth,
How clear the singing rings out,
I finally soar,
Gazing with my heart, unafraid,
Wherever there’s wind, I’ll fly as far as I can~~~”

The song, starting gentle, suddenly rises, powerful and resonant, as if a surge of warm energy crashes into Zhou Peng’s heart, making his skin prickle with goosebumps.

Watching the girl’s step-by-step growth.

Witnessing her triumph over hardship.

Seeing her finally succeed.

Zhou Peng feels an urge to cry.

“Wuu wuu~~~”

Why is there a real story in his motivational video?

How could someone as fragile as him withstand such an emotional blow?!

Zhou Peng wipes his reddening eyes.

Suddenly, he freezes.

Something’s not right... had he overlooked something?

He’d seen plenty of similar inspirational videos before, and such plots had long flooded the internet, so why was he so moved today?

Was he growing more sensitive?

“I finally soar,
Gazing with my heart, unafraid,
Wherever there’s wind, I’ll fly as far as I can,
Invisible wings make dreams last longer than the sky,
Leave a wish for my imagination~~~”

The song grows ever more powerful, its ringing strength seeming to fill the whole world with sunshine.

Zhou Peng listens, eyes closed, full of emotion.

But soon!

He snaps his eyes open, finally realizing what he had missed, understanding at last why he felt so vulnerable today.

“Where did the background music come from?!”

This song?

This background music?

Zhou Peng realizes the reason for his emotional fragility.

It’s not because he’s too sensitive.

Although the video itself is inspiring, what truly moved him was the background music.

Its penetrative power is overwhelming!

Even now, the song—brimming with strength and hope—lingers in his mind, filling him with warmth and energy.

“Is it a hallucination?”

Zhou Peng swallows.

He’s listened to countless songs, but few have ever struck his heart so deeply.

To prove he wasn’t imagining things,

He opened several mediocre motivational videos and paired them with this background music.

A miracle happened.

Originally ordinary videos suddenly changed atmosphere, their depth elevated several levels with this song.

Even though Zhou Peng was prepared, he still felt his scalp tingling.

“This song...”

His throat suddenly feels parched.

When was this song released?

Not only himself—even the two thousand veteran detectors in “Discoverer No. 1” failed to notice it.

In Zhou Peng’s view, this song was likely released long ago but overlooked—such things are common in the music world. Many great songs go unnoticed at release, only to explode years later.

Like in Wang Mo’s previous life on Earth:

Miriam Yeung’s “Kisses Everywhere.”

Phoenix Legend’s “Lady Shexiang.”

G.E.M.’s “Peach Blossom Promise.”

And so on... all songs that gained fame years later.

His eyes settle on the bottom of his phone, spotting the song’s title: “Invisible Wings.”

By force of habit,

Zhou Peng immediately opens the cloud network and searches for the song.

Soon, “Invisible Wings” appears before him.

“Release Date: September 5, 2023...”

Reading aloud, his eyes go wide.

The fifth.

Wasn’t that just a couple of days ago?

A new... new song?

“Damn!!!”

Zhou Peng kicks his girlfriend away as she approaches.

Then,

He moves at lightning speed, opening the “Discoverer No. 1” group.

“Brothers, my administrator...”

?

??

???

The group is full of question marks.

[Great Wings Withdrawn a message and cast a Forgetting Spell on you.]

“Brothers, check out this song!”

Zhou Peng steadies himself, then shares the cloud link for “Invisible Wings,” along with the inspirational video he just watched.

Replies flood in quickly.

[Little Bird]: “Peng, you haven’t given up yet?”

[I Love Peng]: “Respect for Peng’s diligent digging, but it’s already the 8th. All the good songs should’ve been found by now. Take care, don’t burn yourself out.”

[Rice in the Sand]: “Stop struggling, September brings no surprises.”

[Happily in Pain]: “Haha, Peng still searching for songs? Sorry, looks like I’ll keep being admin this month.”

But only a few minutes later,

Suddenly,

The group explodes with messages.

The surge rivals the discovery of “No Matter,” perhaps even surpassing it.

“Peng, where did you find this song?!”

“The voice’s power made my hair stand on end.”

“I cried watching the video.”

“Music plus video—it’s a tearjerker bomb.”

“I never cared for motivational songs, thought them overdone and hollow. But this one truly touched my heart.”

“I have a pair of invisible wings, carrying me past despair... Hearing that line, my eyes filled with tears.”

“……”

Of course, after the excitement fades,

Everyone looks at the song information: a new release!

Finally, someone shouts in the group voice chat: “Who’s so reckless? A song that’s instantly a classic, released on September 5th?!”

Isn’t that squandering its potential?

Many agree.

Released on September 5th, and the singer isn’t new, only eligible for the new song chart. In everyone’s eyes, its chances of topping the charts are slim.

Zhou Peng adds: “Definitely reckless. I stumbled on it by accident through Douyin. The post only had a dozen likes at the time—if not for luck, I would’ve missed it.”

[Pencil Box’s Secret]: “You read it wrong, didn’t it have hundreds of likes?”

[Covered Rice is Delicious]: “You’re all mistaken, wasn’t it over a thousand likes?”

[Little Bird]: “Stop guessing, I just checked: 3,280 likes.”

Hmm?

Zhou Peng reads the comments, stunned for a moment.

He frowns, hastily reopens the short video he’d watched:

Likes: 5,022.

Comments: 1,289.

Favorites: 2,980.

Shares: 3,219.

He refreshes several times, each time seeing the numbers leap dramatically.

Suddenly, Zhou Peng’s mouth goes dry.