I Became an All-round Artist

Chapter 7: Surviving the Aftermath



The class group chat was just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Compared to a small class chat, the forum of Qinzhou Arts Academy was buzzing with activity at the moment—

 

“Newcomer Season is officially here! Everyone, go support Senior Sun Yaohuo’s new song, titled ‘Life Like Summer Flowers.’ Here are the links to listen on various music apps.”

 

“This song is unexpectedly good.”

 

“Even those studying arrangement should support Senior. By the way, Senior's luck is quite something—this arrangement is pretty deep.”

 

“The composer and arranger are both this guy named ‘XianYu .’ This guy truly deserves the title of ‘Music God.’”

 

“The Composition Department is downloading to support Senior Sun Yaohuo. PS: I’m not inflating our department’s reputation, but this song is truly flying high thanks to the Music God.”

 

“Looking forward to the chart update at noon tomorrow. I wonder how high ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’ will rank.”

 

“Don’t worry, with the quality of this song, the ranking won’t be bad.”

 

“Who is this XianYu ? I’ve never heard of him before.”

 

“Company: What requirements do you have for the singer? Music God: Just have a mouth.”

 

“Fellow Vocal students say they don’t mind being tools; they just want to output crazily under the Music God’s direction.”

 

“A bunch of night owls, still not sleeping at this hour?”

 

“The long night is coming. From now on, I will guard until death. Tonight is like this, and every night will be the same.”

 

“Night my foot. If you don’t sleep, expect to die from sudden death.”

 

“……”

 

Every November, Newcomer Season is a feast for music students.

 

If a senior from the academy is participating, it becomes even more perfect.

 

Because of this, many alumni downloaded “Life Like Summer Flowers” without even listening to it, simply because Sun Yaohuo is a graduate of Qinzhou Arts Academy.

 

……

 

The next morning at 7:30.

 

Lin Yuan got up, had breakfast in the cafeteria, and then leisurely made his way to the classroom.

 

The first class hadn’t started yet.

 

Lin Yuan had already begun reading.

 

However, this morning’s atmosphere seemed different from usual. The students around him were not quietly playing on their phones as usual but were chattering away about something.

 

Lin Yuan frowned slightly.

 

This chatter was directly affecting his reading efficiency.

 

Naturally, as the conversations continued, their content inevitably seeped into Lin Yuan’s ears.

 

“Have you listened to ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’?”

 

The person asking was seated in the row behind Lin Yuan.

 

“Of course, I listened. I stayed up until two in the morning last night for this Newcomer Season, finished listening to the song, and downloaded and saved it. Now this song is quite popular on the school forum.” A young girl was lamenting her dark circles.

 

“The song is indeed good. The composition level is high, deserving of the title ‘Music God.’”

 

A boy wearing glasses responded proudly.

 

“Wake up, not every composer deserves the title ‘Music God.’ Even if you offered to give your work away to new singers, they wouldn’t want it.”

 

“This song’s style doesn’t quite suit my taste, but I admit the composition is impressive.”

 

“Nonsense, how can an electronic music fan like you appreciate folk music?”

 

“……”

 

So they were discussing ‘Life Like Summer Flowers.’

 

From the discussion, it seemed the song was receiving a good response?

 

Lin Yuan’s frown gradually relaxed as he forgave the interruption to his studies.

 

The girl who mentioned downloading the song said a song cost one Yuan. The company took 80 cents, the intermediary took 5 cents, and she ended up with 15 cents—

 

Lin Yuan suddenly thought that the girl who contributed 15 cents to him, despite her large panda eyes, was still quite pretty.

 

……

 

As the first day of Newcomer Season, November 1st was destined to be a special day.

 

On this day.

 

All the entertainment companies participating in Newcomer Season in Qinzhou were not likely to relax before the sharp noon opening of the Newcomer Chart.

 

Even after the Newcomer Chart was released.

 

If the new talents launched by the company didn’t meet the expected results of various entertainment companies, this low-pressure atmosphere might continue for a whole month—

 

Until the end of Newcomer Season.

 

And this tense and anxious atmosphere seemed even more pronounced at Xingmang Entertainment, to the point where even the greetings among colleagues seemed much quieter than usual from this morning.

 

Especially in some music-related departments!

 

This was largely due to the company’s dissatisfaction with recent newcomers' chart performance, which had led to several high-level executives losing their tempers.

 

The big boss had blown his top more than once.

 

Because of this, many related departments had their quarterly bonuses cut, so in order to improve everyone's conditions, the company earnestly hoped for a breakthrough this year.

 

Moreover, rumors had it that:

 

Chief Agent Zhao Jue    had made a military pledge in front of the higher-ups—this year the company must achieve a top three ranking on the Newcomer Chart, or she would request a demotion.

 

This was a big deal.

 

If the military pledge was not fulfilled and Zhao Jue    was demoted, it would be a significant personnel change at Xingmang.

 

After all, Zhao Jue    held considerable power.

 

As the subject of these rumors, Zhao Jue    had locked herself in her office since morning, lying back in her chair with her eyes tightly shut.

 

She was in a state of self-isolation, afraid to look at her phone or computer, because she lacked confidence in this year’s newcomers.

 

“Ding ding ding ding……”

 

Noon finally arrived.

 

The alarm today seemed especially sharp and piercing, pulling Zhao Jue    out of her self-imposed isolation.

 

“Let’s execute.”

 

Zhao Jue    opened her eyes, sighed, took a deep breath, and then turned on her computer.

 

Not only Zhao Jue   .

 

The entire Xingmang Entertainment, even the entire music industry, was now focused on the newly updated official chart:

 

The Newcomer Chart.

 

But when she saw the first name on the Newcomer Chart, everyone let out similar sighs, their emotions oddly aligned—

 

Newcomer Chart Number 1:

“Is It Love?” by Qian XingYu , composed by Li Ran, Company: Shanhai Entertainment.

Downloads: 88,500.

 

In previous years, the top spot on the Newcomer Chart would be fiercely contested among major companies, with intense competition.

 

But this year was different.

 

Qian XingYu , such a “newcomer,” was an extraordinary exception.

 

He had debuted with his first TV drama exactly one month before Newcomer Season, gaining instant popularity and bringing his own traffic.

 

What newcomer could compete with that?

 

People could only sigh: “With Qian XingYu  as a trump card, Shanhai Culture is likely to secure the top spot until the end of the month.”

 

Zhao Jue    was also feeling this way.

 

With a mix of envy and jealousy.

 

She then decided to look at the rankings from the bottom up.

 

After all, the Newcomer Chart only showed the top 100 rankings; it wouldn’t take long to go through them all.

 

As for the company’s newcomers not making it into the top 100?

 

That was a joke. Xingmang Entertainment was one of the top entertainment companies in Qinzhou, with unparalleled early resources. If the company’s newcomers couldn’t make it into the top 100 under such resources, they would have to pack their bags and leave.

 

Zhao Jue   ’s judgment wasn’t that bad.

 

At the 73rd position, Zhao Jue    saw the first name of a company newcomer, causing her to frown slightly.

 

At the 55th position, she saw the second company’s name and frowned even more deeply.

 

By the time she reached the 12th position, Zhao Jue    had already seen the company’s eighth name.

 

The 11th place wasn’t from the company.

 

So, only two names were left.

 

This meant that Xingmang Entertainment had two top ten rankings this year?

 

Biting her lip, Zhao Jue    began to look at the names in the top ten, and she saw the company’s ninth newcomer at the 9th position.

 

So, only one was left.

 

8th place… 7th place… 6th place… 5th place…

 

Finally.

 

Zhao Jue    found the tenth name.

 

Newcomer Chart Number 3:

“Life Like Summer Flowers” by Sun Yaohuo, composed by XianYu , Company: Xingmang Entertainment.

Downloads: 33,000.

 

Zhao Jue   ’s eyes widened, staring intently at the third place on the Newcomer Chart, her breathing quickened, and at this moment, she felt a sense of relief:

 

Top Three!

 

It was top three!

 

As the chief agent, Zhao Jue    naturally knew that XianYu  was the stage name of Lin Yuan, but she hadn’t expected that the person who ultimately saved her from the edge of the cliff was the same Lin Yuan who had nearly caused her downfall—

 

Fate truly is wondrous.

 

Ignoring the rankings of others, Zhao Jue   ’s smile turned confident again: “No one can knock me off now. As long as we hold on to Lin Yuan’s third place, I won’t need to be demoted!”

 

The consequences of demotion were too severe.

 

The house was a standalone villa with a mortgage.

 

Suddenly standing up from her seat, Zhao Jue    quickly made a call: “Immediately contact the heads of several music apps. I need their homepage recommendations, the highest specification Xingmang can get!”

 

“Okay… Congratulations, Zhao.”

 

The voice on the other end seemed to understand what had happened.

 

Zhao Jue    smiled: “Thank you. Your resources

 

 department needs to support us more. After all, this is just the first-day ranking.”

 

The first-day ranking doesn’t represent the final ranking.

 

There are still 29 days of competition left.

 

But for a large company like Xingmang, if they focus on defense, a top three ranking on the first day usually means there’s little chance of a crash. If necessary, there’s also the “Nine Protect One” strategy as a backup.

 

What is Nine Protect One?

 

It’s sacrificing resources from nine other songs to give “Life Like Summer Flowers” more exposure. This strategy is usually employed by smaller companies when they have a high-performing song.

 

Generally, Xingmang doesn’t need such a strategy, given that it’s not a small company.

 

After the first call, Zhao Jue    seemed to remember something and made another call: “Lao Zhou, does your composition department still need people?”

 

“Don’t joke, Xiao Zhao.”

 

A gruff male voice answered: “The company forced me to hire a bunch of new composers for the Newcomer Chart. This isn’t something you can solve with a sea of people. So don’t add to my troubles. We’re already overcrowded here.”

 

Zhao Jue    smiled: “What about XianYu ?”

 

The tone on the other end of the line immediately shifted: “Zhao, where is XianYu ? I can sign him personally. Our composition department is really short on staff right now!”

 


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