Chapter 54 - 51: Group of Death 1
Qin Continent is vast, with numerous cities.
Lin Yuan’s current location is called Su City, one of the most prosperous main cities in Qin Continent, while his hometown is a place called Cloud City.
Six hours by high-speed rail.
Lin Yuan finally arrives in Cloud City.
“See you when school starts.”
Jian Yi and Xia Fan, who travelled with him, say goodbye to Lin Yuan.
After saying goodbye to them, Lin Yuan doesn’t head home immediately. Instead, he takes a bus to a shopping mall and buys a bunch of things –
They are all gifts for his mother and sister.
After leaving the mall, Lin Yuan, carrying bags of various sizes, finds it inconvenient to take the bus, so he opts for a taxi instead.
His home is on the southern side of the county.
A place like an urban village.
When he arrives at the familiar house in his memory, Lin Yuan knocks on the door, which is opened by a pretty girl in a fluffy pajama.
“Sis.”
Lin Yuan greets with a smile, this is his sister, Lin Yao. She is very pretty and, like Lin Yuan, inherited the best from both parents. She’s a senior in high school this year.
“Bro.”
The girl nods with a smile.
Lin Yuan walks into the house, changes into slippers, and calls out to the house, “Mom, I’m back.”
“You’re finally back.”
His mother comes out wearing an apron, her hands stained with blood, “I’m making red braised fish for you.”
“Great.”
Lin Yuan brings the purchases into the house and hands a set of clothes and shoes to his sister, “These are your gifts.”
“Thank you.”
Lin Yao takes Lin Yuan’s gift, opens it to find a pink down jacket, and frowns, “1 don’t like pink.”
“Then what color do you like?”
Lin Yao answers without a second thought, “White.”
Lin Yuan takes out another set, “Like this one?”
Lin Yao looks at Lin Yuan in surprise. “Mom said you’ve made a fortune and she didn’t lie. Can you give me a hundred to buy a learning materials set? I have a discount coupon. It was originally a hundred and twenty, but it’s twenty off for every one hundred spent.”
“Sure.”
Lin Yuan agrees quickly, “1 also got a discount coupon for a grilled fish restaurant at the mall. We can go there for a meal.”
Lin Yao nods, “Hmm.”
The mother watches the siblings interact, amusement tinged with a touch of exasperation, “No wonder people said you two had weird personalities when you were kids…”
“Why?”
Lin Yuan and Lin Yao look at their mother in unison.
The mother waves off their question with a smile. Even though both siblings are of a quiet temperament, unlike their vivacious eldest sister, she knows that the bonds between her three children are strong.
Lin Yuan sits on the couch to rest.
Lin Yao, who is currently in her senior year, is doing some work at the table.
This is a two-bedroom house, the lighting isn’t the best and the decor and furniture are very basic. For instance, the couch Lin Yuan is sitting on has several holes in it. Although the house might be simple, it’s very clean and well-kept.
1’11 buy a house when I get my salary.
The thought crosses Lin Yuan’s mind.
Soon, the meal is ready. Lin Yuan had called his mother before he came back, so the lunch is quite a feast, with four dishes and one soup.
Braised fish in soy sauce, sweet and sour spare ribs, spicy chicken, vegetable stir-fried mushrooms, and a bowl of tomato and egg soup.
“Let’s eat.”
The three of them sit around the table, and the mother laments, “Your sister’s holiday hasn’t started yet. If she were here, all these dishes would be finished.”
Lin Yuan nods.
Their sister is the best eater in the family.
Compared to that, Lin Yuan and Lin Yao are more picky eaters. They just prefer meat.
The mother reminds with a smile, “Eat more vegetables.”
Hence, Lin Yuan and Lin Yao, in perfect agreement, pick out a leafy vegetable, split it into two halves with their chopsticks and eat it.
Mom grinned and said, “Yao Yao, your brother has started making money now, so anything you need in the future, you can ask your brother.”
“Okay.”
Lin Yao’s eyes lit up and she turned to Lin Yuan, “Bro, can you help me eat this plate of greens?”
“The eaters are the heroes!”
Lin Yuan refused, “They say people who eat greens stay young. I have a friend who often eats greens, so he’s forever eighteen.”
Lin Yao:
Lin Yuan reminded, “He’s forever eighteen.”
Puzzled, Lin Yao asked, “Bro, are you cracking a joke?” She had a vague sense that Lin Yuan was trying to be funny, but his tone and the atmosphere didn’t quite match.
Lin Yuan didn’t respond, but he regretted a little, thinking that he wasn’t funny, but that senior Sun Yao Huo had a low sense of humor. He had no resistance to his jokes.
Lin Yuan started his vacation early, but all departments of Starlight were still bustling with work.
The Talent Department.
Jiang Kui had finally finished recording “Balloon,” and was delightedly reporting her achievements to Zhao Jue.
Just then.
01′ Zhou appeared in the Talent Department and found Zhao Jue, “There’s some bad news. We might need to adjust our Spring Festival plan.”
“What happened?”
Zhao Jue furrowed his eyebrows.
01′ Zhou sighed, “This Spring Festival, the company planned to have ten songs, one of which has encountered a problem. The Auditing Department found out that the melody of our song is very similar to a song from Chu Continent.” “Plagiarism?”
“Not plagiarism. I know the composer, he must have accidentally heard that song and unwittingly wrote a similar melody. This kind of thing has happened in the Composing Department before.”
“Can’t we just have nine songs for this year then?”
It’s quite common for composers’ works to have similar melodies, especially pop songs, which often use similar chords.
“No.”
01′ Zhou fretted, “All the promotional resources for this song have been arranged. If we pull this song, it would be such a waste. But we can’t just slap any song on, otherwise it would waste such a good promotional opportunity.” “So whose song should we use instead?”
The two look at each other, then simultaneously turn their heads to stare at the bewildered Jiang Kui.
“Me?”
Jiang Kui’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Realizing what the two mean, she began grumbling, “‘Balloon’ is the song 1 planned for March…”
“I understand.”
Zhao Jue sighed,”The quality of ‘Balloon’ is quite good, and releasing it in March might push it up the charts. But the problem is, we are still one song short for February.”
“But February is death month, so many first-line singers are competing.”
Jiang Kui whined, death month meant the competition for chart spots in February was extremely intense. The only reason why “Big Fish” didn’t place high was because it was launched in December’s death month.
That’s how terrifying the death month is!
Songs that could top the charts in other months might not even make it into the top ten if released in February.
“Yes, that’s true.”
01′ Zhou consoled, “But we need one more song for February, and the quality of your song is quite good. What if it becomes a hit?”
Zhao Jue nodded.
Jiang Kui:
She didn’t dare to ask or say anything.
She was powerless against their decisions, and could only use Lin Yuan as a shield, “You guys talk to Teacher Admirable Fish.”
“I’ll make a call.”
01′ Zhou began to speak and dialed Lin Yuan’s number. At the time, Lin Yuan was shopping with his sister for study materials. After hearing the matter over the phone, he agreed:
“Sure.”
01′ Zhou ended the call, “Lin Yuan has no problem with it, so let’s hap… cough, we’ve made our decision.”
Even Teacher Admirable Fish has given in?
Jiang Kui’s eyes showed a glimmer of despair.
Why do I always get stuck with the death month?
Indeed, ‘Balloon’ is a great song which could likely perform well if launched in March.. But releasing it in February’s death month, isn’t this a recipe for disaster?