Chapter 171 - 162: Competition single_1
Lin Yuan was prepared for the reader revolt that was incited by Biyao’s death.
He had been psychologically prepared when he wrote this plot.
It is a turning point in the book, where Zhang Xiaofan undergoes a massive change in nature, leaves Qingyun, joins the Ghost King Sect, and assumes the alias Ghost, who is both righteous and wicked.
The subsequent main plot involves a battle between good and evil.
It’s also a process of resurrecting Biyao.
Even though this process is bound to fail.
However, Lin Yuan’s silence can also be seen as a form of indulgence.
Because a response would essentially spoil the plot, at least he hasn’t completely dashed the readers’ hopes.
This matter hasn’t caused any significant impact on Lin Yuan’s life.
In the days to come, he continued to train Xue Liang, committing to his apprenticeship task.
He went to work as usual on weekends.
One day, when Lin Yuan came to the company again, Gu Qiangyun knocked on Lin Yuan’s door once more.
“Mr. Lin.”
After entering the room, Gu Qiangyun hesitated for a moment, “Of the four orders you declined earlier, we only managed to secure one. The one worth seven hundred thousand that you have, we couldn’t secure the other three.” “Why?”
Lin Yuan was somewhat puzzled.
He had developed some understanding of the company’s situation by now.
So he knew that this type of business where the client took the initiative should have had a higher success rate.
Gu Qiangyun said with a wry smile, “Because the clients behind those three orders all specifically requested Xian Yu, that is, they wanted Mr. Lin to take the order. If you declined, the clients did not want any other composers from the company…”
Lin Yuan finally understood.
No wonder the System wanted him to train an apprentice.
The plight of Starlight Music wouldn’t change much due to his arrival.
The core issue was that the overall strength of the composition department of Starlight Music was inadequate.
In order to change this situation completely, some special measures were still needed.
“But fortunately, we managed to hold onto one order.”
Gu Qiangyun said helplessly, “However, the only order we did manage to secure was because I told them that Xue Liang is your student. They agreed to try a collaboration, so I thought, if Xue Liang fails on this order, you should help him out. I will discuss splitting the order with Xue Liang…”
Gu Qiangyun expressed his words rather tactfully.
His true intention was for Lin Yuan to offer a bit of guidance to Xue Liang’s composition.
If it worked out, the order would be attributed to Xue Liang, but Lin Yuan would receive the money. This way, Xue Liang would have some tangible work under his belt, which would make future orders less challenging.
“No need.”
Lin Yuan interjected, “Xue Liang is capable of completing this order.”
Gu Qiangyun: “…”
Don’t you think too highly of Xue Liang?
Of course, there’s no way Gu Qiangyun would dare to express this thought out loud. He tread lightly, “What if he can’t complete it?”
“I will step in.”
Xue Liang is Lin Yuan’s apprentice; Lin Yuan would certainly back his apprentice up. But Lin Yuan truly believes that Xue Liang can complete this order. Xue Liang has been learning from him recently and his progress has been extremely rapid.
“Alright.”
With this reassurance from Lin Yuan, Gu Qiangyun felt somewhat relieved.
He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Actually, there is another potential order that I thought I should mention to you.”
Lin Yuan looked up, “How much?”
Gu Qiangyun replied, “Also three million.”
Lin Yuan thought it was acceptable, but seeing Gu Qiangyun’s troubled look, he asked, “Is there a problem?”
“How should I put it?”
Gu Qiangyun weighed his words, “This is an order from Seven Star Entertainment. They want to custom-make a song for their top singer, Shui Yun, for three million. But this is a competitive order.”
Lin Yuan was startled, “What do you mean?”
Gu Qiangyun explained, “What’s meant by a competitive order is, the client collaborates with several companies at the same time. Under the same conditions, they will choose the song they like best.”
“Oh.”
Lin Yuan nodded, “Accept it.”
Gu Qiangyun nodded, “We can indeed accept it, but I don’t think it’s necessary to take it too seriously.”
Lin Yuan looked at Gu Qiangyun.
Gu Qiangyun analysed, “Because such competition offers are often taken by multiple music production companies at the same time, but the client is only one. So even though they sign contracts with several companies, they will finally choose to cooperate with only one company. The rest, on the other hand, turn out empty-handed.”
Lin Yuan commented, “Casting a wide net.”
Gu Qiangyun nodded repeatedly, “Yes, it’s the wide-net strategy. Seven Star Entertainment is planning to sign contracts with five B-side companies this time, with all five compete for the position. If they don’t choose our work in the end, our effort will be in vain. Even if our work is not bad, as long as it’s not the best, the client will only symbolically give a hundred thousand yuan as consolation.”
Lin Yuan said, “Then we just need to win the order.”
Gu Qiangyun couldn’t help but laugh at Lin’s response, “Mr. Lin is bold with high artistic talent and does not fear putting in efforts all for naught. But with so many companies in competition, who can guarantee their song will be chosen by the client? Moreover, you don’t have the freedom to choose the singer this time, because their purpose is to tailor a song specifically for Shui Yun…”
“I know Shui Yun.”
Lin Yuan had researched the market a bit after moving to the Qi Continent. Shui Yun was a unique singer; Lin Yuan had listened to more than one of her songs after his arrival.
Lin Yuan did prefer to freely choose singers.
That’s because he didn’t know who would sing the song in advance, and he was afraid the song would be ruined.
But if the artist for the project was specified in advance and this artist was of an excellent calibre, then Lin Yuan could accept it.
Because he could choose a song suitable for that specific singer.
After all, having a specific singer is often one of the requirements of the client.
All in all, as long as the song isn’t ruined, it’s fine.
“Mr. Lin.”
Gu Qiangyun stated nervously, “There’s another issue with this project that I need to discuss with you.”
Lin Yuan asked, “What?”
Gu Qiangyun grimaced, “Because among the five B-side companies chosen by Seven Star Entertainment this time, except for our Starlight Music, the others are quite powerful. Two of them are even well-known music production companies in the entire Qi Continent. One is called Lone Wolf, and the other is called Red Moon. You may not be familiar with them, but you just need to know that the power of these two companies is enough to crush our Starlight Music…”
To be honest,
Gu Qiangyun was somewhat honoured that Seven Star Entertainment even considered Starlight Music in its choice of partners.
However, he knew they were attracted by Xian Yu.
But Gu Qiangyun really didn’t want to take the project.
Because Xian Yu is Starlight Music’s treasure and his time in Qi Continent is limited.
Why let Xian Yu compete head-to-head with Lone Wolf and Red Moon?
Those companies also have ace composers!
However, Lin Yuan had a different perspective from Gu Qiangyun: “If we win this contract and beat Lone Wolf and Red Moon, will there be more requests for collaboration in the future?”
Gu Qiangyun:
That makes sense.
Who doesn’t want to defeat Lone Wolf and Red Moon?
But the problem is we only have you, Xian Yu, and Lone Wolf and Red Moon both have more than one ace composer!
He didn’t dare to say this, as it would seem like he didn’t have confidence in Mr. Lin.
But it’s natural for Gu Qiangyun to be uneasy when the opponents are Lone Wolf and Red Moon.
Although taking on this request doesn’t pose a loss if we don’t beat them, Mr. Lin’s time in Qi Continent is very limited.
If we fail this request, it will be a waste of Mr. Lin’s time in Qi Continent, which is what Gu Qiangyun doesn’t want to see.
Mr. Lin’s time is incredibly precious to Starlight Music.
“Let’s give it a try,” Lin Yuan said.
Seeing Lin Yuan had an idea, Gu Qiangyun didn’t continue to persuade him.
After all, even if the request isn’t completed, there isn’t a loss, they could even make some money from the consolation fee.
He said, “We can take the order, but Mr. Lin, you must promise me one thing.” “What?”
Gu Qiangyun said, “If the request is difficult to fulfill, there’s no need to stick with it, it would be a waste of time. Let’s treat it as testing our luck. It’s great if our work is chosen by the client, but it’s okay if it isn’t. Mr. Lin, you can take on other orders earlier.”
“Okay.”
Lin Yuan had no objections.
He wouldn’t stick to any order; he had a lot of money.
He didn’t underestimate everyone else, especially after using Yang Zhongming’s character card.
PS: I struggled a bit today, so it took me till now to churn out the third post. I aim to maintain the quality of my work, so I will stop here for the day and make up for it tomorrow!