For Lin Yuan, working in the Composition Department was essentially just a change of venue for pre-exam review. No one in the department commented on his blatant exam preparation during work hours—after all, it was considered part of his job.

Composers need to improve themselves, after all. Although Lin Yuan’s improvement was rather basic.

After the weekend, Lin Yuan returned to campus, and by mid-November, he officially faced his professional course exams!

In the exam hall, as the test papers were distributed, the invigilator’s gaze was sharp as a knife: “There are cameras in the classroom, and my eyes are sharper than any camera. You should be well aware of the consequences of cheating.”

“……”

The exam hall was silent. Lin Yuan paid no mind to the invigilator’s threats and self-praise. After all, he had prepared thoroughly. As he scanned the questions on the test paper, he felt confident.

The final big question on the paper was indeed the one the professional course teacher had predicted: “Life Like Summer Flowers.”

How could he lose with such an advantage!?

Lin Yuan was delighted and wrote with inspiration. The exam lasted an hour, but he finished the entire paper, including “Life Like Summer Flowers,” in about forty minutes. After spending ten minutes reviewing, Lin Yuan felt confident and handed in his paper.

As he walked out of the classroom, basking in the midday sun, Lin Yuan was already looking forward to the treasure chest.

While Lin Yuan anticipated another bronze treasure chest, Qian Xingyu’s agent, Old Liu, was feeling a bit anxious today.

Because on today’s Newcomer Chart, the download numbers for the top two songs were incredibly close!

First place, “It’s Love,” had 225,000 downloads. Second place, “Life Like Summer Flowers,” had 214,000 downloads.

Since last week, Starlight Entertainment had suddenly poured a lot of money into promoting “Life Like Summer Flowers,” clearly aiming to dethrone the first place.

Old Liu had felt a sense of crisis at that time and immediately notified Qian Xingyu to increase the song’s promotion efforts.

However, Qian Xingyu was indifferent. The gap between the two songs was still quite large. Although “Life Like Summer Flowers” was growing faster, Qian Xingyu, as a special newcomer, didn’t really see himself as a rookie.

Until today.

Watching “Life Like Summer Flowers” data surge, narrowing the gap to this extent, even the confident Qian Xingyu panicked: “How is he catching up so fast?”

“This song is a bit strange.”

Old Liu gritted his teeth: “It’s okay, don’t we have a live broadcast event announcement later? During the live broadcast, rally your fans. With your influence, you should be able to widen the gap again.”

“Okay, okay.”

Unlike last week’s indifference, today Qian Xingyu was very cooperative.

Half an hour later, Qian Xingyu started the live broadcast. This live event was costly, and the company had put a lot of effort into organizing it. The attendance was considerable, including not only fans but also many casual viewers on the platform, making it an excellent promotional opportunity.

After greeting the audience, Qian Xingyu eagerly began his promotional mode: “Have you all listened to my first song, ‘It’s Love’? It’s currently ranked first on the Newcomer Chart! If you haven’t heard it yet, please check it out, and for those who have, don’t forget to download and support Xingyu.”

“Support!”

“Definitely support!”

“Xingyu, keep it up! The stars will always be your strong backing!”

“……”

Seeing the barrage of supportive comments, Qian Xingyu’s smile gradually blossomed. This should be fine, right?

No, he couldn’t let his guard down. Starlight’s song was indeed a bit strange, so Qian Xingyu decided to play it safe. For the next few dozen minutes, besides interacting with fans and viewers as required by the event, he focused mainly on promoting the song.

However, with five minutes left in the live broadcast, Qian Xingyu suddenly saw a comment: “Qian Xingyu has been overtaken.”

Where did this troll come from? Why slander someone out of nowhere?

Qian Xingyu felt a bit angry. Soon, this troll was muted by the moderator. But within seconds, new comments appeared, and there were so many that the moderator couldn’t keep up:

“Qian Xingyu has been overtaken.”

“The Newcomer Chart’s top spot has changed.”

“Qian Xingyu, you’re second now.”

“Oh wow, ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’ is amazing.”

“Overturned, overturned.”

“Surprised? Unexpected?”

“Your first place has been overtaken by the second.”

“……”

This time, Qian Xingyu realized it wasn’t someone trolling him; the comments were clearly about the Newcomer Chart.

Overtaken? I’m second now?

He was stunned in front of the camera. Agent Old Liu knew that continuing the live broadcast would be a disaster, so he rushed to the camera, smiled, and said, “Thank you, everyone. Xingyu’s live broadcast is over!”

With that, Old Liu directly had someone turn off the live broadcast.

“Phew.”

Patting his chest, Old Liu turned to look at Qian Xingyu, only to find him staring at his phone, looking at the latest data:

First place, “Life Like Summer Flowers,” 233,000 downloads. Second place, “It’s Love,” 231,100 downloads.

The first place had indeed been overtaken, and it happened while Qian Xingyu was live.

“Live broadcast overturned.”

This phrase appeared in Old Liu’s mind. This was a huge blow to the artist. He opened his mouth, wanting to comfort the young Qian Xingyu, but saw Qian Xingyu looking at him with a deep gaze, asking:

“Old Liu, do you think I still have a chance?”

For some reason, Old Liu felt a chill in the air and said with a stiff smile, “The company probably won’t invest too much money for a newcomer season. It’s not your fault; we’ve done everything we could.”

……

When Starlight overtook Sand Sea, many people received the news immediately, and the industry was abuzz with discussion.

“Did they really overtake?”

“That’s ruthless!”

“Starlight’s move is brilliant.”

“This year, Starlight is probably the top choice for graduates from major elite schools.”

“How could they lose with such an advantage?”

“……”

When Qian Xingyu first topped the Newcomer Chart, no one expected that the real big shot was hidden in the not-so-obvious third place.

And in Starlight’s Composition Department, everyone’s gaze was unanimously directed at the empty seat by the window. In their minds, they seemed to see “Xian Yu” softly reciting sophomore-level basic courses again.

……

The next day, Lin Yuan was on his way to the classroom to check his grades when he suddenly received a call from Zhao Jue: “Congratulations, you’re first on the Newcomer Chart!”

“I already know.”

Since yesterday, people in the dorm and class had been discussing Senior Sun Yaohuo’s song topping the Newcomer Chart, making it hard for Lin Yuan not to know.

“Not bad, keep it up.”

Although Lin Yuan’s reaction was calm, Zhao Jue was used to it after previous experiences, so he just encouraged Lin Yuan a bit before hanging up and then danced around in his office.

Arriving at the classroom, as the test papers and grade sheets were distributed, Lin Yuan’s mind was filled with the system’s voice: “Your grades have entered the top 25 in the class. Congratulations to the host for completing the system task!”

Immediately, subtitles appeared before Lin Yuan:

[Task Reward: One Bronze Treasure Chest]

Now, Lin Yuan had two unopened bronze treasure chests. He decided to save them, like saving money, which was quite enjoyable.

Looking at the grade sheet, Lin Yuan had exceeded the system task requirements, ranking 13th in the class!

“The questions suited me,” Lin Yuan thought. The exam tested “Life Like Summer Flowers,” practically giving Lin Yuan free points.

But when Lin Yuan saw his test paper, he was stunned. The last question, the analysis of “Life Like Summer Flowers,” was worth 20 points, and he only got 8!

His high score was due to high accuracy on other questions. In his mind, a tune played:

“Little friend… do you have many questions…”

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but glance at the test papers of a few classmates nearby, only to find that most of them scored over ten points on the “Life Like Summer Flowers” question, with him scoring the least.

Lin Yuan was looking at others’ test papers, and others were looking at his. Mainly because Lin Yuan’s usual grades weren’t outstanding, yet he ranked 13th this time, surprising everyone.

“Lin Yuan, impressive.”

“I’ve seen you reviewing a lot lately, and it paid off. You ranked 13th.”

“Huh?”

“The accuracy on the earlier questions is very high. It’s just the last question, ‘Life Like Summer Flowers,’ where your score is a bit low. Otherwise, you could have made the top ten.”

“What a pity.”

“It seems you didn’t prepare for this question. Didn’t the teacher say there was a high chance of testing ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’?”

“You don’t understand this song.”

Classmates shook their heads, feeling it was a pity to lose points on this question. Some even advised Lin Yuan to listen to “Life Like Summer Flowers” and understand what the lyricist and composer were conveying…

Lin Yuan’s smile froze. He stared blankly at the big red crosses on his paper for “Life Like Summer Flowers,” lost in thought.

This time, even the system couldn’t help but comfort Lin Yuan: “This question shows that even Pu Shu doesn’t understand ‘Life Like Summer Flowers.’”

Lin Yuan: “Then who does?”

System: “The grading teacher.”