Chapter 21: Ace Composer

The next day.

8 AM.

Lin Yuan had just arrived at the company when he was called into Old Zhou's office. "The 'Dance of the Fish Dragon' commission from Qi Prefecture is confirmed. They have officially chosen your composition. Also, their movie is scheduled to premiere next week."

"Next week?"

Is it too soon?

Old Zhou explained, "Originally, there was no rush, but the film market in Qi Prefecture's area is highly competitive. They probably adjusted the schedule urgently to avoid a major film's release. The post-production of the film was already completed, and the promotion has been ongoing. They just needed a good piece of music to complement it, and now that the music is ready, they want to start screening immediately. It's quite normal."

"I see."

"After the movie premiere, the company will officially release the soundtrack for 'Big Fish.' I'll talk to the resources department and make sure they promote it well. Regardless of how the movie turns out, I believe this song will be a hit."

"Thank you."

Lin Yuan left the office.

Twenty minutes later, Old Zhou also left his office, clapping his hands enthusiastically to attract the attention of his department members.

Someone asked, "Boss, what's going on?"

Old Zhou had a smile on his face. "The commission for 'Dance of the Fish Dragon' is a done deal. We've signed a contract with Qi Prefecture's team, so you guys don't have to rush to compose the music."

"It's a done deal?"

The group of people looked at each other in surprise and started discussing it.

"Who managed to pull it off?"

"This is incredible!"

"They secured a deal that even more than ten ace composers couldn't get?"

"Moreover, isn't the speed of composition too fast? How much time has passed?"

"Which genius from our composition department did it?"

"Could it be a Music Dad's work?"

"..."

Some even teased Lin Yuan, "Xiaoyu, your 5 million is gone. It seems 'Dance of the Fish Dragon' isn't meant for you."

"Haha."

Wu Yong patted Lin Yuan's shoulder and smirked, "Keep working hard."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Then they all looked at Old Zhou, hoping to get answers from him. "So who in our composition department is so amazing? Boss, don't keep us in suspense."

Old Zhou hesitated for a moment, just enough to build some suspense. But before he could speak, a voice from outside interrupted.

"Who ordered the coffee?"

Lin Yuan raised his hand. "I did."

He had placed the order when he was still in Old Zhou's office.

Several delivery guys had come, each holding a tray of coffee.

One of them said to Lin Yuan, "There are a total of eighty-six cups. Please check."

Eighty-six cups.

That was the exact number of people in the composition department on the tenth floor today.

Lin Yuan nodded. "Thank you."

Seeing so much coffee, Wu Yong was astonished. "Lin Yuan, why did you order so much coffee? Did you open a coffee shop?"

"No."

Lin Yuan replied succinctly, "I'm treating everyone."

Wu Yong couldn't help but laugh and say, "What kind of play is this? Why are you suddenly so generous, treating us to coffee?"

As if remembering something, Wu Yong's laughter abruptly stopped.

Everyone in the room also quieted down, looking at Lin Yuan with suspicion.

Clearly, they also recalled that someone had teased Lin Yuan, saying that if he secured Qi Prefecture's commission, he should treat everyone to coffee. Could it be...

"It's something I promised."

Lin Yuan explained, his principle being that he would keep his promises, even if these coffees were quite expensive.

Huh?

Eh?

The members of the composition department on the tenth floor were in a state of shock, staring at each other in the spacious office.

"What are you waiting for?"

Old Zhou said, "Start drinking."

Although the atmosphere he had built was disrupted by the delivery guys, the current situation seemed particularly amusing.

"What the heck!"

After an extreme silence, there was an outburst of excitement. Lin Yuan became the center of attention, and the entire composition department was filled with exclamations:

"Is it really Lin Yuan?"

"Did you hit the jackpot on your calculator?"

"This isn't a newbie; he's a god!"

"Lin Yuan... Oh, I mean, Teacher Xianyu, I bow to you!"

"Who said before that Lin Yuan was a newbie? Step forward, this is clearly the new god of our composition department!"

"Don't pretend, Old Wang, it was you!"

"I didn't... you... how dare you insult my innocence... You're all newbies, your whole family are newbies!"

"Teacher Xianyu, forever our god!"

The way everyone looked at Lin Yuan had changed, and no one could see him as just a lucky newcomer anymore.

This newcomer was incredibly strong!

Of course, they didn't forget about the coffee.

Lin Yuan felt the pain as these coffees had almost emptied his bank account. Figuring out how to survive for the rest of the month was a real challenge, and the main reason was that Lin Yuan had forgotten to plan ahead, forgetting how much he would need to spend this month. He had to be more careful in the future.

...

Qi Prefecture's "Dance of the Fish Dragon" commission was a challenging task for the entire composition department on the tenth floor.

What if they couldn't complete this commission?

Clearly, although Old Zhou wouldn't seek help from other companies, he would have to involve other floors if they couldn't finalize this deal.

After all, Old Zhou wasn't just the boss of the tenth floor; he was the boss of the entire composition department. He had to consider the department as a whole.

Nobody on the tenth floor wanted to see this happen.

Although the company's composition department was a single entity, Old Zhou was the common leader. However, there was still competition among the various floors.

The "Dance of the Fish Dragon" request from Qi Prefecture was assigned to the tenth floor. If they needed assistance from members on other floors to finish it, it would make the tenth floor seem incapable. The composition department on the tenth floor would then struggle to maintain their pride when interacting with colleagues from other floors.

From this perspective, Lin Yuan was the hero of the tenth floor.

For this reason.

When Lin Yuan was about to leave, a senior student named Zheng Han, who also graduated from the same academy as Lin Yuan and had been friendly to him during the meetings, invited Lin Yuan to have dinner. He even personally drove Lin Yuan back to the school.

"Thank you."

As Lin Yuan was about to get out of the car, Zheng Han suddenly spoke up.

Lin Yuan was taken aback.

Zheng Han smiled and said, "During the last meeting, I told you that over ten ace composers on the tenth floor had their commissions rejected, but there's something I didn't tell you."

"What is it?"

"I'm one of the fourteen composers whose commission was rejected."

"Did I take your commission?"

"I wouldn't call it 'taking' my commission. If I couldn't complete an order, it's because my own abilities were lacking. However, I also didn't want the commissions meant for our tenth-floor team to be given to composers from different floors. So, on behalf of everyone on the tenth floor, I appreciate your help."

Lin Yuan said honestly, "I did it for myself."

Zheng Han's smile remained, "Everyone is doing it for themselves, but if this commission fails, the number of commissions that come to the tenth floor in the future will decrease, and everyone will have a hard time."

"Oh."

So this was the root of why the tenth floor didn't want to give up the "Dance of the Fish Dragon" commission. Everyone wasn't just doing it for the honor and reputation of the tenth floor, but for real benefits.

In other words, the more commissions each floor received, the more opportunities their composers had. If the "Dance of the Fish Dragon" commission had originally been assigned to another floor, Lin Yuan wouldn't have had a great chance of getting it, unless the other floors also couldn't handle it.

But the composition department had many talents. Most of the time, each floor could handle the commissions they received, and there were very few commissions that couldn't be handled by the entire floor.

Zheng Han said: "This is the reason why many floors have a Music Dad in charge. Although some floors do not have a Music Dad in charge, they have more ace composers... So, on average, each floor is about the same in terms of strength."

Lin Yuan nodded.

It seemed that there was intense competition in the company.

Zheng Han seemed to read Lin Yuan's thoughts and continued, "It's not that our company has fierce competition; it's the whole industry that's highly competitive. There are too many people in Qin Prefecture involved in music. I hope that in the future, you'll become one of our ace composers on the tenth floor."

"Yes."

Lin Yuan nodded again.