Chapter 12: Humble and Unpretentious

The potential of the song "Life Like Summer Flowers" exceeded the expectations of many industry professionals.

In the days that followed, the song's download count steadily increased, and Sahara Entertainment had no hope of making a comeback.

Starlight Entertainment had completely dominated the charts.

However, because the outcome of the Newcomer Rankings was no longer uncertain, discussions about Xianyu gradually died down within Starlight's internal circles.

Lin Yuan didn't really care about all of this.

For him, the most enjoyable thing these days was checking his reputation.

As the download count of "Life Like Summer Flowers" continued to rise, Lin Yuan's reputation had now reached 15,000!

However, he still had a long way to go to reach the one million reputation points required by the system.

Lin Yuan was aware that the popularity he had garnered from "Life Like Summer Flowers" would eventually reach its limit. To sustain and further enhance his reputation, he needed to find perfect opportunities to create new works.

...

On the 21st.

Another weekend arrived.

When Lin Yuan came back to work in the composing department, his colleagues had become accustomed to treating him in a more ordinary manner.

The department's boss, Old Zhou, had even assigned a more mature colleague to assist Lin Yuan.

This colleague, the mature one, was named Wu Yong.

Wu Yong had achieved some notable works in his career, although they didn't quite reach the level of "Life Like Summer Flowers." Nevertheless, he was productive enough to consistently meet the company's expectations.

In fact, around seventy percent of the composers in Starlight's composing department were of the same type as Wu Yong.

"Lin Yuan."

After Old Zhou asked Wu Yong to help Lin Yuan, Wu Yong warmly welcomed him, saying, "We're all colleagues here, so don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. You can call me Old Wu or just Brother Yong."

"Brother Yong, please guide me."

Of course, Lin Yuan could tell that when Wu Yong pronounced the words "Brother Yong," he put a clear emphasis on them. So he indulged Wu Yong's little wish.

In the corporate world of Blue Star, there was still a strong emphasis on seniority. However, if the difference in skill was too great between individuals, even a lack of politeness could be attributed to personality.

"No problem!"

Hearing Lin Yuan's address, Wu Yong's attitude became noticeably warmer.

Lin Yuan had recently gained fame as a young composer, making his name as a newcomer. Many who achieve early fame tend to develop a sense of superiority, but Lin Yuan seemed different. He was not haughty, just somewhat introverted and a bit reserved in speech.

"By the way, have you joined the group chat yet?"

Wu Yong smiled and said, "Share your phone number with me, and I'll add you as a contact. After that, I'll invite you to the group. All of Starlight's composers are part of this group, and not even the top executives can join. It's a friendly place; we chat occasionally, and every now and then, 'Music Dad' shows up. If you can get some advice from 'Music Dad,' you'll benefit a lot."

"Music Dad" is a broad term.

For Sun Yaohuo, Lin Yuan was the one he referred to as "Music Dad."

When a song is excellent, listeners often refer to the composer as "Music Dad." However, this is merely a form of praise.

Throughout the entire composing field, Lin Yuan's current achievements were far from being on the level of a true "Music Dad." A true "Music Dad" is a superstar in the industry, admired by the entire field!

At Starlight Entertainment, there were only a handful of people at that level, and you could count them on one hand.

...

Wu Yong added Lin Yuan's contact information and then invited him to join a chat group called "Starlight."

System notification: "Lin Yuan has joined the group."

The number of people in this group far exceeded Lin Yuan's expectations. Including Lin Yuan, there were a total of 953 members!

Seeing Lin Yuan's surprise, Wu Yong smiled and said, "All of these people are the company's composers. The Starlight Building has a total of fifty floors, and from the tenth to the twentieth floor, it's all the territory of our composing department. What you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. I'll take you around when you have time."

"Okay."

Lin Yuan thought about it and felt better. He had been too presumptuous, applying his Earth experiences to judge the situation.

This wasn't Earth.

Qin Prefecture was one of Blue Star's eight continents and was known as the music capital. Starlight was one of the top three entertainment companies in this music capital, so having over a thousand composers in the composing department wasn't unusual, especially when composing encompassed various genres and styles.

"Hmm, why is no one chatting?"

Wu Yong noticed that after Lin Yuan entered the group, only a few people had posted "welcome, new member" messages.

This made him a bit embarrassed.

He had just mentioned how great the group's atmosphere was, but now that a new member had joined, there were hardly any welcoming messages.

After some thought, Wu Yong said, "Change your nickname to 'Xianyu.'"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan did as he was told.

The moment he altered his nickname, the group chat sprang to life. It seemed like the prior quietness had completely vanished.

[]: "Is this really Xianyu?"

[]: "The one who created 'Life Like Summer Flowers'?"

[]: "Welcome, new member, welcome!"

[]: "Wow, it's Xianyu! Welcome!"

[]: "Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!"

To display their friendliness, someone even sent a large gift with the message "Welcome Xianyu," containing a generous 200 yuan!

"These people are just trying to gain favor."

Muttering in his heart, Wu Yong cleared his throat and said, "I wasn't wrong, was I? The atmosphere in this group... really is great."

Lin Yuan nodded.

He thought it was nice.

At this moment, someone in the group with the name [Zheng Jing] suddenly brought up Lin Yuan's username, saying, "Hey, Xianyu, I listened to 'Life Like Summer Flowers,' and it's really good."

[]: "Music Dad! Music Dad!"

[]: "Wow, hello, Sister Jing!"

[]: "Little Li is humbly welcoming Sister Jing!"

[]: "Today, I actually saw Music Dad making an appearance. Sob, I'm so lucky, three lifetimes of fortune. Sister Jing is mighty!"

[]: "In the front row, admiring Sister Jing's elegance!"

[]: "Sister Jing made an appearance today!"

[]: "I'm here to bask in Sister Jing's aura!"

As soon as Zheng Jing appeared, the atmosphere in the group went beyond lively and reached a boiling point.

"F*CK!"

Even Wu Yong found it challenging to contain himself. He was so excited that his hands were trembling. "Hello, Sister Jing, Music Dad is the best!"

Lin Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

In the original owner's memories, there was indeed someone named Zheng Jing, and she was undoubtedly a Music Dad. In Starlight and even across Qin Prefecture, she was one of the Music Daddies.

It wasn't just men who were called Music Daddies.

Even top female composers were referred to as Music Daddies.

Perhaps it was because "Music Mom" didn't sound as pleasing?

And Zheng Jing had written some songs that the original owner could sing.

So Lin Yuan asked Wu Yong, "Is Zheng Jing the composer of 'Red'?"

"Yes, that's her! The 'Red' is just one of her representative works. She also composed 'Blue' and 'White'! Five years ago, Zheng Jing's Color Trilogy directly elevated a singer to superstar status. Before singing Sister Red's songs, that singer was almost reduced to performing in bars! So, Sister Red is a legendary Music Dad in our industry. I've never seen her make an appearance before! You earned her praise, and I'm sure many people in this group are feeling envious right now!"

"Indeed, it's her."

Lin Yuan nodded, also mentioning Zheng Jing and replied, "Thank you. Your work is also excellent."

[]: "..."

Suddenly, silence fell over the group chat.

Wu Yong's excitement froze on his face, and his expression even looked a bit distorted. He stared at Lin Yuan, bewildered.

"Your work is also excellent?"

Is this... a compliment?

This is a compliment... right?

But why does it feel like something's off... What's wrong exactly...

Ah, it's definitely not right!

This is Zheng Jing we're talking about!

A true Music Dad!

When a Music Dad from the industry praises you, shouldn't you show the utmost respect, admiration, and humility, just like the rest of us?

Yet here you are, saying what?

What you're saying is that a bit of a stretch, isn't it?

Wu Yong was speechless. Inside, he was fuming. He could swear that everyone in the group had the same thoughts.

It's incredible that he thought Lin Yuan wasn't the type of young genius to be arrogant!

Where's the humility?

His level of arrogance was quite exceptional. It could even be described as "humble and unpretentious."

However...

While the group had become quiet, Zheng Jing didn't seem to find anything wrong. She replied to Lin Yuan once more, saying, "Looking forward to your new song."

Lin Yuan responded, "Yeah."

At that moment, the group chat fell even quieter.

Wu Yong had no idea how to describe Lin Yuan's behavior.

You say he's impolite, but when he's typing, his expression is seriously earnest, exuding respect for a big-time senior even though he's behind a screen.

This can't be faked, even though only someone right next to him could see it.

But if you say he's polite...

Just look at the few lines he typed—what kind of words are these!?

Do you even know who you're talking to?

Scratching his head, he finally grasped the root of the problem.

The conversation between Lin Yuan and Zheng Jing was like the interaction between two Music Daddies.

Lin Yuan's tone was so composed, as if he could sit on an equal footing with Zheng Jing, a Music Dad of her caliber!

But the problem was...

Compared to Zheng Jing, where do you stand?

What's even more baffling is that Zheng Jing didn't seem to be angry. It was as if Lin Yuan's way of speaking had no issues in her eyes.