November 7th.

Taking advantage of the school’s weekend break, Zhao Jue drove to Qinzhou Art Academy to pick up Lin Yuan and head to Starlight Entertainment to handle his transfer to the composition department.

Carrying his textbooks for his major courses, Lin Yuan sat in the front passenger seat this time.

On the way, Lin Yuan listened to music. The song playing in the car was “Life Like Summer Flowers,” set on single repeat mode.

For the past week, whenever they were in the car, Zhao Jue listened to this song. Surprisingly, she never got tired of it and occasionally hummed along with the melody in a good mood.

This song probably holds a special significance for Zhao Jue in her life.

“By the way,” Zhao Jue suddenly said to Lin Yuan as they were about to reach the company, “Although ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’ is in second place, its download growth over the past week has surpassed the first place. So, after today’s morning meeting, the company officially decided to compete with Sand Sea for the top spot on the Newcomer Chart!”

“Second place?” Lin Yuan was a bit happy to hear this.

Zhao Jue was at a loss for words. She wanted to emphasize to Lin Yuan: Could you please pay a little more attention to the performance of your own song?

In the end, Zhao Jue held back. She just gave Lin Yuan a heads-up: “However, the situation with the first place is a bit special, so I’m not sure we can succeed.”

Lin Yuan nodded. He didn’t know that Starlight initially didn’t plan to compete for the top spot with “Life Like Summer Flowers,” as the first place had a strong presence, and the cost of competing was too high.

But…

Lin Yuan’s song was indeed impressive, with download growth consistently higher than the first place. Additionally, Zhao Jue found a company executive who could make a decision on this matter and used her persuasive skills to say:

“We can give Sand Sea a hard time!”

This was Zhao Jue’s cunning strategy. If she directly said she wanted to increase resources for “Life Like Summer Flowers” to compete for the top spot, the executives might not agree. After all, it’s just a new song by a newcomer, and spending too much on promotion might not be cost-effective.

But if doing so could trouble Sand Sea? The executives hesitated only briefly before agreeing. Spending a bit more money to annoy a competitor was worth it. After all, the three major entertainment companies in Qinzhou were not harmonious, and Sand Sea and Starlight had always been at odds.

The specific reasons were lost to history. In any case, competitors worldwide are always rivals.

Most importantly, after this decision was made, the entire internet was abuzz with promotions for “Life Like Summer Flowers,” creating a buzz for the song!

Upon arriving at the company entrance, Zhao Jue tossed the car keys to the approaching security guard and led Lin Yuan directly to the composition department.

“Hello, Sister Zhao.”

“Hello, Sister Zhao.”

As they walked through the company, more staff greeted Zhao Jue than Lin Yuan had seen on his first visit, and everyone was more enthusiastic.

Some people also glanced at Lin Yuan. However, Lin Yuan looked very young, and unless they had seen him in person, few would associate this college student-looking guy with the recently talked-about “Xian Yu.”

The elevator stopped at the 10th floor. Soon, they arrived at the composition department.

Standing at the entrance, Lin Yuan took a look at the internal environment of the composition department. It was larger than he had imagined, with a spacious and elegant interior, exuding a cultural atmosphere.

The desks inside were spaced far apart, with rows of bookshelves in between to ensure privacy. The shelves were filled with various music-related books.

This work environment reminded Lin Yuan of the school library, very comfortable.

“Sister Zhao.”

The head of the composition department, Old Zhou, was already waiting at the door with a beaming smile. But when he saw Zhao Jue and Lin Yuan, his smile slightly faded, and he asked:

“Where’s Xian Yu?”

The members of the composition department also paused their work, curiously looking towards the entrance. They had been informed in the morning meeting that the composer of “Life Like Summer Flowers,” Xian Yu, would be reporting to the composition department today, and they were all curious about what Xian Yu looked like.

“Isn’t he right here?” Zhao Jue elegantly introduced Lin Yuan.

Old Zhou was momentarily stunned. He had naturally seen Lin Yuan following Zhao Jue, but judging by Lin Yuan’s appearance, he thought this was a new artist Zhao Jue was bringing in, not the legendary Xian Yu.

Zhao Jue smiled happily. She understood Old Zhou’s surprise. When she first signed Lin Yuan, she was confident because Lin Yuan not only had an extraordinary singing voice but also a face so attractive that it was hard not to admire. With such qualities, he was destined for stardom.

Because of this, even Zhao Jue hadn’t expected Lin Yuan to possess such outstanding composition talent, capable of writing a song like “Life Like Summer Flowers.” If his voice hadn’t been ruined, he would have been a child greatly favored by the heavens.

At this moment, not only was Old Zhou surprised, but the members of the composition department were also collectively astonished, exchanging bewildered glances.

This boy, with the appearance of an idol artist, was actually Xian Yu?

“Haha!” Old Zhou’s smile suddenly broadened, and he warmly approached Lin Yuan, extending his hand: “Welcome, welcome!”

Xian Yu being young? For Old Zhou, this was not a bad thing but rather a great one, because the younger Xian Yu was, the more it indicated his immense talent!

He just needed to give Lin Yuan room to grow! In the future, when Lin Yuan gained more experience, he might be able to write even better songs than “Life Like Summer Flowers.” So, after the initial surprise at Lin Yuan’s youth, Old Zhou’s mood improved even more!

“Thank you,” Lin Yuan said, shaking hands with him.

Zhao Jue reminded from the side: “Old Zhou, this kid’s real name is Lin Yuan. He’s currently a sophomore in the composition department at Qinzhou Art Academy, so he won’t be able to come to the company when he has classes. I need to make this clear in advance. Also, in terms of treatment, I hope Lin Yuan is treated the same as others in the composition department.”

“No problem,” Old Zhou readily agreed. “Our composition department has had students on contract before. Besides, everyone in the company knows that the composition department is the most laid-back department. There are a few master composers here who don’t come to the company more than five times a year. What can I do about them? I just have to keep them happy.”

Zhao Jue frowned: “Don’t use foul language in front of the kid.”

Old Zhou chuckled, nodding repeatedly, but he was secretly moved. It was the first time he had seen Zhao Jue so protective of someone in the company. It seemed Lin Yuan was a precious gem in Zhao Jue’s eyes.

However… If this kid could continue to write songs of the caliber of “Life Like Summer Flowers” in the composition department, he could certainly become a precious gem under Old Zhou’s protection.

Don’t underestimate Old Zhou. As the head of Starlight’s composition department, Old Zhou had considerable prestige. After all, the company’s top master composers were all employed in this department. It’s just that these high-level master composers rarely came to the office.

Don’t ask why; they were out seeking inspiration. As long as these master composers could write songs that generated enough revenue for the company each year, even the company’s boss wouldn’t have any complaints about their absence from the office.

“Alright then,” Zhao Jue patted Lin Yuan’s shoulder and advised, “From now on, you’re part of the composition department. If you encounter any issues, you can come to me. If you need a ride to the company, just call me. If I’m available, I’ll pick you up. If not, I’ll send someone to get you…”

“Are you entrusting him to me?” Old Zhou laughed. “Alright, Xiao Zhao, with me, Brother Zhou, here, you can rest assured and go about your business!”

Zhao Jue: “…”

You calling yourself “Brother Zhou” is fine, given your age. But as soon as I hand over the talent, I go from “Sister Zhao” to “Xiao Zhao”?

Too real.

She turned around, waved her hand, and headed towards the elevator. Lin Yuan also waved at Zhao Jue, even though she had already turned away and didn’t see it.

Next, Old Zhou had Lin Yuan sign a few contracts. The contracts contained numerous clauses, and Lin Yuan only focused on the key points. For example, the base salary for the composition department was 10,000 yuan per month, with additional earnings from song royalties. Also, while composers retained the copyright to their works, the company had the right of first refusal.

These were standard industry contract terms, and Starlight had a relatively good reputation in this regard.

After spending half an hour reviewing and signing the contracts, Lin Yuan officially became a member of Starlight Entertainment’s composition department.

“This is your seat,” Old Zhou said, selecting a window-side seat for Lin Yuan. It was one of the best seats in the company, offering a view of the outside scenery.

Seeing Lin Yuan sit down, the other members of the composition department felt a pang of envy.

“That’s Master Yang’s seat.”

“It doesn’t matter. Those capricious master composers in the department don’t come to the office anyway. It’s just that even if the seat is empty for years, it won’t be our turn to sit there.”

“…”

Subsequently, Lin Yuan opened his backpack, which he had brought to the company, and took out a few books to read. After all, he had exams coming up.

The other members of the composition department, who had graduated years ago, were secretly watching Lin Yuan. When they saw the books he took out, they thought they were mistaken, and some even rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Because the three books Lin Yuan took out were: “Basic Composition Consolidation,” “Theory and Practice of Composition,” and “Simple Chord Explanation.”

“Um…”

“Seems like…”

“Second-year courses…”

Lin Yuan was unaware that people behind him were watching. He was seriously reviewing content that might appear on his exams, softly reciting:

“Whichever note is in the highest voice of a chord, that chord is in that melodic position.”

“The three melodic positions of major and minor chords are the root position, the third position, and the fifth position.”

“In practice, neither dense nor open arrangements of major and minor chords allow for voice crossing, where the tenor is higher than the alto, the bass is higher than the tenor, or the soprano is lower than the alto.”

“…”

Is this the Xian Yu who wrote “Life Like Summer Flowers”?

Faced with this somewhat peculiar scene, the atmosphere in the composition department suddenly became strange. Then, everyone simultaneously experienced a contradictory mix of “inferiority” and “pride.”