I Became an All-round Artist

Lin Yuan wasn’t particularly familiar with the situation in Qinzhou. After leaving his house, instead of heading to the company, he called Gu Dong to accompany him to the airport to pick someone up—Jian Yi had arrived in Qizhou.

Jian Yi’s school, Qi Art Academy, was starting tomorrow. Originally, Jian Yi had planned to head straight to the school for registration, but Lin Yuan had already thought about the situation and suggested, "Why don’t you stay with me? I’ve got a spare room."

Lin Yuan lived in a two-bedroom apartment. He stayed in the master bedroom, while the second bedroom was mostly empty. Having Jian Yi stay with him would be convenient, especially since they were only going to be in the area for a school year. With their campuses far from each other, meeting up every day could be difficult, so living together would make it easier for them to look out for one another.

"That sounds good," Jian Yi agreed after a moment of thought. Like Lin Yuan, he was an exchange student, only arriving in his third year. Staying in a dorm with strangers felt a bit off to him, so living with Lin Yuan seemed much more comfortable. "I’ll just need to inform my family."

Lin Yuan nodded.

During the drive, Jian Yi and Gu Dong introduced themselves, but since it was their first time meeting, they only exchanged a few words before the conversation shifted back to Lin Yuan. "Have you adjusted to life here?" Jian Yi asked.

Lin Yuan nodded in response.

Jian Yi chuckled, "I was observing things right after getting off the plane. Qizhou feels very different from Qinzhou. The architectural styles aren’t the same, and the locals here speak Qizhou dialect. I might have to pick it up."

Lin Yuan remained silent. He actually knew a bit of Qizhou dialect. Technically, it was close to Cantonese, a language he wasn’t completely unfamiliar with. His pronunciation wasn’t perfect, but he could speak it well enough to be understood by the locals.

"The internet’s different too," Jian Yi remarked as he browsed his phone. "Even though the internet connects all the regions, what people care about differs drastically. In Qinzhou, we use forums, but here in Qizhou, it seems like blogs are more popular. Though, to be fair, the two platforms seem quite similar in function."

Lin Yuan nodded again.

On Blue Star, there were eight major continents. Each continent was roughly the size of several countries on Earth, and although Blue Star was globally governed without any national divisions, the differences and competition between continents resembled that of countries in Lin Yuan's previous life. The common ground they all shared was that Mandarin was the official language of all regions.

This wasn’t surprising.

Each continent had its own culture and way of life, so there were clear distinctions. The governments of these regions likely wanted to maintain those differences. While the internet wasn’t isolated between continents, there were distinct guiding differences. If someone didn’t intentionally seek out information from other continents, they wouldn’t know much about them.

For example, searching for information about Xian Yu in Qinzhou would bring up all the latest news and developments right away. But searching for him in Qizhou would only yield basic information, like his works. Specific news was much harder to find. Lin Yuan couldn’t pinpoint why this was the case, but he suspected it had to do with the competitive dynamics between the regions.

...

The day after Jian Yi settled in, the Qi Art Academy officially started the new semester. Lin Yuan and Jian Yi went to their respective campuses for registration. The school had a specialized procedure for exchange students, and once everything was sorted, Lin Yuan was assigned to the third class of the Composition Department for juniors.

He wasn’t the only exchange student.

There were two others in the class besides him. However, when the teacher introduced the new exchange students, Lin Yuan was clearly the one who garnered the most attention and welcome. The biggest commonality between Qinzhou and Qizhou, aside from their official languages, was that everyone cared about appearances.

This seemed to apply across all of Blue Star and even to the two newly settled planets. When Lin Yuan entered the classroom, the girls' eyes noticeably lit up. The applause welcoming him was particularly enthusiastic.

After the usual introductions, Lin Yuan was seated toward the back of the classroom. His deskmate was a boy who, unlike the girls, wasn’t particularly excited but remained polite as he quietly introduced himself.

"I’m Tang Ming."

"Nice to meet you," Lin Yuan nodded, placing his bag down. Dorm students typically only carried their daily textbooks to class, but as a commuter, Lin Yuan had to bring his backpack each day. It was the same in Qinzhou, so he was used to it.

There were no formal lessons on the first day, and classes officially began the next day. Initially, Lin Yuan worried that the curriculum in Qizhou might differ significantly from that of Qinzhou, but after sitting through a few classes, he found that the progress was more or less the same. There wasn’t a huge gap, perhaps because the fundamental knowledge of composition was universal.

After a few days of adjustment, Lin Yuan had fully acclimated to his new routine.

While Lin Yuan attended classes, Xingmang Music was still actively seeking new orders. They managed to secure two potential deals, but just like before, negotiations fell apart as soon as the other parties heard Xian Yu’s requirements. The clients left in a huff.

"This isn’t sustainable," Gu Qiangyun sighed. Recently, three deals had fallen through—all due to Xian Yu’s involvement. Each had started with interest in collaboration, but every time, Xian Yu’s conditions had driven the clients away. Qizhou clients were notoriously difficult to work with.

"It really isn’t working," the department head agreed. "If things keep going like this for a few more months, how long do you think the company can hold on? We need to find a way to change the situation. Maybe we should lower our prices a bit?"

"No," Gu Dong objected. "Didn’t Lin Yuan say last time that low-priced deals are a waste of his talent? If we keep taking on cheap projects, what’s the point of having our ace on board? The real issue here is Qizhou..."

Suddenly, an idea struck Gu Dong. "Maybe we’ve been thinking about this all wrong. We’ve been chasing after small and medium-sized companies for orders. Why not go after the big players instead? Only the major companies are worthy of someone like Lin Yuan."

"Are you crazy?" the department head laughed bitterly. "We can’t even land deals with smaller firms, and you think the big ones will be easier? Big companies are far stricter when it comes to requirements!"

Gu Qiangyun also shook his head.

"That’s even less likely," he muttered.

But Gu Dong’s eyes gleamed. "There is one company we should try. It’s our best shot. If they turn us down, we might not find a better opportunity elsewhere."

"Which company?"

"Thunder Entertainment."

Both Gu Qiangyun and the department head’s eyes widened in shock. It seemed like Gu Dong was dreaming. Thunder Entertainment was one of the largest entertainment companies in Qizhou. They typically sourced all their music directly from Qinzhou and almost never collaborated with local music firms.

"You’ve forgotten something," Gu Dong smiled. "Thunder Entertainment has already worked with Xian Yu once before, and it’s not hard to guess that they were extremely satisfied with the results."

"You mean..." Gu Qiangyun suddenly caught on. Thunder Entertainment had produced the animated film Fish-Dragon Dance, for which Xian Yu had composed the theme song. It had been a huge success, a perfect collaboration.

"You’re talking about The Big Fish!" the department head realized, his voice tinged with nervous excitement. "Do you really think Thunder Entertainment would be interested? I never even dared to imagine landing a deal with them. Normally, they wouldn’t give us the time of day."

"We already have a foot in the door," Gu Dong stood up with determination. "I refuse to believe we can’t get through to them. They’re known for working with top-tier talent from Qinzhou, and now that a top-tier talent is right here in Qizhou, there’s no way they’ll turn us away!"

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