I Became an All-round Artist

Gu Dong was a person of action. After formulating her plan, she immediately drove to the headquarters of Thunder Entertainment, located in Yicheng, the largest city in all of Qi Province.

After parking her car, Gu Dong took a deep breath and walked straight into the company lobby. However, the receptionist quickly stopped her. The young woman at the front desk asked politely, "Hello, ma'am. Do you have an appointment with our company?"

"I don't," Gu Dong admitted, knowing that such a large company would typically require an appointment or a work permit to gain access. "I'm an agent from Star Mang Music. I'm here to discuss a potential collaboration with your company. Could you connect me with your music department?"

"Star Mang Music?" The receptionist seemed a little confused.

Gu Dong hurried to explain, "Our current representative is Mr. Xianyu. Your company produced the movie Dance of the Fish and Dragon before, and the theme song was composed by Mr. Xianyu."

"Please wait a moment."

That name seemed to carry some weight. The receptionist nodded and made a quick phone call. After a brief conversation, she put the call on hold and said, "Please wait here while someone from the music department escorts you to the eighth floor."

Gu Dong was excited! If Thunder Entertainment wasn’t interested, they could have easily turned her away at the reception. Letting her go upstairs was a sign that Xianyu’s name still carried influence within the company!

Five minutes later, Gu Dong found herself in a meeting room on the eighth floor. She was greeted by a representative from Thunder Entertainment, who smiled and introduced himself, "I’m Fan Longhe, Deputy Director of Thunder Music. Is Mr. Xianyu now in Qi Province? I hear he’s representing Star Mang’s local branch?"

"Nice to meet you, Deputy Director Fan!" Gu Dong greeted him nervously, her smile a bit strained. "Yes, Mr. Xianyu is currently acting as the representative of our branch here. We were wondering if your company would be interested in a new collaboration, given the success of your previous partnership."

"Of course."

Fan Longhe, being well aware of who Xianyu was, didn’t care much for Star Mang's branch itself, but he respected Xianyu’s reputation. "We were very pleased with his song Big Fish."

"So, what’s the next step?" Gu Dong asked, still somewhat inexperienced when it came to negotiating with such a major company. She found herself a bit flustered by how quickly the conversation was progressing.

"One moment."

Fan Longhe called in a subordinate to inquire about some details. Then, with a smile, he said, "Our company has a new drama in production. You might have heard of it—The Distance Between Us. The male lead is..."

"Tang Kai!" Gu Dong blurted out.

The drama had been heavily promoted, and Tang Kai was a top-tier actor in Qi Province. Anyone keeping up with entertainment news would have heard of it. "But isn’t the show about to air? Surely the songs have already been finalized?"

"They have," Fan Longhe confirmed with a slight smile. "But I’m not particularly fond of the current theme song. If Mr. Xianyu can write something better, we’re willing to replace it. We’ve already bought the rights to the existing song, so whether we use it is entirely up to us."

Gu Dong’s jaw dropped.

Xianyu’s influence was even greater than she’d imagined. Thunder Entertainment was willing to replace their theme song just for the chance to collaborate with him! Of course, that was contingent on him producing a superior track, but that didn’t seem too difficult.

However, the real challenge was...

Gu Dong hesitated, feeling a bit awkward. "We’d love to take this project, but Mr. Xianyu has one request. He wants to personally select the singer for the song and be involved in the final recording process."

Fan Longhe was stunned.

For a full minute, he said nothing, and just as Gu Dong started worrying that he might get upset, Fan Longhe unexpectedly smiled. "In all my years working in Qi Province, this is the first time I’ve heard such a request. But as someone from Qin Province myself, I think I can understand Mr. Xianyu’s stance..."

"Wait, you’re from Qin Province?" Gu Dong looked at him in surprise.

Fan Longhe shrugged. "Born and raised. I only moved to Qi Province later for work. So perhaps I’m the only one here who’d agree to this request. Being from Qin Province, I still keep an eye on things there—my family’s back home, after all. I’m also well aware of Mr. Xianyu’s talents, especially after he wrote the excellent Big Fish for us."

"So, does that mean..."

"Yes, I agree," Fan Longhe said, smiling.

Overjoyed, Gu Dong stood up quickly, bowing multiple times. Fan Longhe waved her off, saying, "Just keep in mind, even though I’ve agreed to this, the song must still meet our standards. We won’t accept anything less than the best."

"Of course!"

It was only natural for any client to demand high-quality work, and Gu Dong had no issue with that. "Thank you so much for choosing us! Please send over the specific requirements for the song, and I’ll notify Mr. Xianyu right away."

"One more thing," Fan Longhe added. "The drama is set to air in mid-November, which means Mr. Xianyu only has a month to write the song. Please make sure he’s aware of the tight deadline. You’re free to refuse if that’s not enough time."

"Only one month?"

Gu Dong hesitated. Typically, composing such a song would take several months. But considering how hard it was to secure this opportunity, she gritted her teeth and nodded. "I’ll inform him. We can discuss the terms later, right?"

"That’s fine."

Fan Longhe handed her some documents. "Here are the detailed requirements for the song. If Mr. Xianyu feels the timeline is too tight, we can cancel the collaboration. No hard feelings. If not now, we can always work together in the future."

"Thank you!"

Gu Dong felt reassured by this. Clearly, the company valued Xianyu’s talent, so even if this deal didn’t work out, future opportunities were still on the table. "I’ll be on my way, then?"

"Goodbye. I’ll see you out," Fan Longhe offered.

"Oh, no need!" Gu Dong waved him off, though Fan Longhe still walked her to the elevator. After watching her leave, he paused, then pulled out his phone to make a call. "Let’s have a quick meeting with the music department."

Ten minutes later, several staff members from Thunder Entertainment’s music division gathered in the conference room. Fan Longhe scanned the room and said, "Put a hold on the theme song for The Distance Between Us. I’ve just been in contact with Mr. Xianyu."

"Xianyu?"

"The guy who wrote Big Fish?"

There was a ripple of surprise around the table as the staff realized who Fan Longhe was referring to. Suddenly, they all fell silent, exchanging glances but avoiding eye contact with Fan Longhe.

Then, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat as they heard a woman’s voice, strong and commanding:

"I personally selected the theme song for The Distance Between Us. Does our Deputy Director have a problem with my decision?"

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