Chapter 161 - 161154: I'm Fine Again_l
In a coffee shop far from Thunderbolt Entertainment, Luo Qi stared at the lyricist sitting in front of him, “What did Xian Yu say?”
The lyricist shook his head.
He was one of the three lyricists who went to Starlight Entertainment today. Luo Qi asked him to gather information, “This Xian Yu is too arrogant, he directly refused to collaborate with the three of us lyricists, he wants to write the lyrics himself.”
“Does he understand Qi language?”
Luo Qi said in surprise.
The lyricist curled his lips: “His level is mediocre at best. His speech is full of hitches and glitches. He can barely manage to communicate with locals in the Qi language. To believe he can write songs in Qi language is just a dream. But as he refused us, we can only wait for him to finish writing the lyrics before seeing how they need to be changed. Perhaps we will have to rewrite everything. Anyway, Huang Da looked extremely unhappy then.”
“Great!”
Luo Qi was practically bursting with joy, but then realized he was showing his emotions too openly and held back his smile, “It seems Fan Longhe chose an unreliable teammate this time. With only a month left, and the opponent not willing to cooperate in songwriting, how will this task be completed?”
The lyricist shook his head again.
On the other side, Fan Longhe met with lyricist Huang Da. However, upon hearing Huang Da’s disgruntled claims that Xian Yu had refused his help with the lyrics that day, Fan Longhe’s expression instantly froze.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to help.”
Huang Da said: “He’s the one who didn’t cooperate.”
In Huang Da’s opinion, Xian Yu didn’t have the skills but still insisted on taking on a task he wasn’t suited for.
This was a common problem with many composers.
They liked to independently complete the lyrics and melodies.
If it were lyrics in Mandarin, it wouldn’t be a problem. The lyrics of “Big Fish” had proven Xian Yu’s songwriting ability. However, this time it had to be a song in Qi language.
How could someone with a rudimentary understanding of Qi language write a song?
Fan Longhe gave a bitter laugh, “Even so, once his music is sent over, if the lyrics are truly terrible, we should ask Mr. Huang to help correct them. I will try to convince him of this.”
“I’ll do my best,” Huang Da said.
As he stood to leave, Huang Da turned back to remind him, “If he submits both the melody and the lyrics too late, even I wouldn’t be able to compose high-quality lyrics in a short period of time. I hope Director Fan can understand.”
“I understand.”
Fan Longhe forced a smile.
Once Huang Da left, Fan Longhe’s face grew more helpless.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, he seemed to see the balance of victory tilting increasingly towards Luo Qi.
Now his only hope was that Xian Yu’s music would be good enough.
Good enough that a slip in the lyrics wouldn’t matter!
After all, time was really short.
This time constraint was a huge challenge for both songwriting and lyric writing.
And all eyes in the department were watching him now.
If he lost to Luo Qi this time, he would be completely excluded from the department’s important decision-making process for at least a year.
“The hope is getting dimmer.”
Fan Longhe stood up, feeling slightly dizzy under the not-so-strong sunlight above him.
What kept him from admitting defeat outright was probably the decreasing days left in this month.
Indeed, the days were dwindling, especially for Fan Longhe and Starlight Music. The sense of urgency was pervasive and constant.
Lin Yuan, the main party involved, was carrying on as usual, whether it was school or work.
Gu Dong had already given up hope.
Especially after seeing Lin Yuan working on other things while at work several times.
However, she only shared her thoughts with Gu Qiangyun, and didn’t pass the same sentiment to the others in the company.
She didn’t want to shake the morale of the troops.
Gu Qiangyun, on the other hand, hadn’t given up. He always insisted that “Lin Yuan is seeking inspiration.”
As for how much Gu Qiangyun himself believed in this idea, even he wasn’t sure.
He just didn’t dare to think in the same direction as Gu Dong, which was his experience and insight from managing the branch for many years.
It’s best to maintain a positive attitude before disaster strikes.
Dying in pain or dying with hope doesn’t make much difference in the intensity of suffering.
But.
As the end of the month neared, with the deadline for submission looming, Gu Qiangyun could no longer keep up his ostrich mentality.
What’s bound to come will come!
He finally gathered the courage and, along with Gu Dong, knocked on Lin Yuan’s door.
“Come in.”
Lin Yuan’s voice was as calm as ever. Calm enough to make him seem indifferent to being the person responsible for three million orders, calm enough to suggest that he had almost forgotten that he still had a task to complete.
At this moment, Gu Qiangyun couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration!
Such calmness and composure in the face of danger, truly befits the demeanor of a great leader like Mr. Lin!
If this were ancient times, such a person wouldn’t show much emotion even when standing at the execution grounds waiting for his beheading, right?
Compared to his own ostrich mentality which was nothing more than self-deception, that seemed much superior.
He took the initiative to brew a cup of tea for Lin Yuan and said with a reluctant expression, “Mr. Lin, we don’t have much time left…”
“What’s the date today?”
Having been busy writing his novel lately, Lin Yuan had completely forgotten about this matter. After all, all he did daily was head straight to the office. Gu Dong initially tried to remind him, but eventually gave up mentioning it.
What’s the date today?
Gu Dong silently glanced at Gu Qiangyun, his eyes filled with sympathy.
Gu Qiangyun almost didn’t make it through, but finally managed to come to terms with Lin Yuan not even remembering the date: “It’s the 26th of September.”
Something stirred inside Lin Yuan.
It was almost time.
Gu Qiangyun anxiously said, “Mr. Lin, we have never asked about the progress of your work due to fear of disturbing your state of mind. But now we really don’t have much time left. Hence, even though it might sound naggy to you, I still have to say it: at least come up with a song, good or bad, at least to show some gesture to Thunderbolt Music, right? I have said so much, just hope you won’t find it annoying…”
He rambled on for a few minutes.
Lin Yuan did not respond, but his facial expression, which couldn’t even be masked by his anger, made Gu Qiangyun comprehend three words:
He’s too annoying.
Of course, this was all Gu Qiangyun’s misunderstanding. Lin Yuan did not find him annoying, but rather wanted to thank him for reminding him of one thing:
“I can take new orders now.”
The expression on Gu Qiangyun’s face instantly became rather amusing. He gaped for a long while before finally stammering out: “Not even a semi-finished product?”
Wouldn’t there be at least an attempt of work?
Isn’t it a bit much to not even do a basic draft?
If only I had allowed those in the composing department to try writing a song, then at least we could’ve shown Thunderbolt Entertainment that we did make an effort, though we didn’t have the capability…
Lin Yuan looked up at Gu Qiangyun, “It’s already done.”
Gu Qiangyun’s thinking was abruptly interrupted.
Almost subconsciously, he asked, “What?”
Gu Dong, however, gazed at Lin Yuan somewhat blankly, with some fanciful questions suddenly popping up in his mind:
How come it’s done all of a sudden?
Didn’t you say this before?
Did I time travel back to the day when Mr. Lin first joined the company?
But I don’t remember the lottery numbers, did this happen as a chance given by God for me to change the past, to prevent the Thunderbolt’s order beforehand?
No, no…
Last time, Mr. Lin seemed to have said these four words in the group, but today he’s saying them in person. I probably didn’t time travel or rebirth.
But what happened after Mr. Lin said these four words last time…
Gu Dong’s breathing suddenly became a bit rushed!
Gu Qiangyun apparently realized something as well.
His expression, at that moment, like in a slow-motion movie scene, opened his mouth frame by frame, and his eyes widened, revealing the already clear lines of worry on his forehead..