I Became an All-round Artist

Gu Dong rushed straight to Lin Yuan's office as soon as she returned to the company. Her expression was hard to read—somewhere between excitement and worry. "Representative Lin, we have a new order today. They’re allowing you to choose the singer and be involved in the recording process."

“Oh.”
Lin Yuan’s reaction was characteristically calm, as his mind was on a more pressing question: “How much?”

Gu Dong was momentarily taken aback. She pulled out the file she received and hesitantly said, “The price hasn’t been officially discussed yet, but perhaps you should first take a look at the song requirements to see if it’s suitable. This order is quite unique, and honestly, I don’t recommend you accept it…”

Just then, the phone rang.
Gu Dong placed the file on the desk, apologizing softly, “Let me take this call.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

The call was from Fan Longhe. Since Xianyu's ability to write a new song was now linked to Fan Longhe’s career future, he was more anxious than ever. Without preamble, he asked eagerly:

“Is Mr. Xianyu willing to take the order?”

“I just got back to the office…”

“Well, hurry and ask him!”

Gu Dong awkwardly replied, “I’m asking now, but I must ask, what is your company willing to pay for this project?”

“Two hundred… No, three million!” Fan Longhe gritted his teeth. “That’s the highest price I can authorize. If your company isn’t satisfied, I’ll have to talk to my superiors, but don’t hold out much hope. Three million is already a top-tier price in the market, especially since we only want the theme song's rights.”

Fan Longhe was desperate, skipping any negotiation process because this matter was far too important to him.

Hearing the price, Gu Dong’s heart pounded. This was the first time in her career she'd encountered such a high-paying client!

No, this wasn’t just her first. It would be the biggest deal the branch office had ever landed!

She reconfirmed, “Three million?”

Lin Yuan glanced up at her and quickly responded, “I’ll take it.”

Gu Dong’s eyes widened, and she hurriedly covered the phone. Her voice trembled as she whispered, trying to remain calm, “But Representative Lin, you haven’t even seen the song requirements yet. Their deadline is really tight. You should check if it’s feasible first…”

“It’s feasible,” Lin Yuan replied.

Seeing her still hesitating, Lin Yuan casually picked up the document and glanced at it. After three seconds, he repeated: “It’s feasible.”

Three seconds!
Gu Dong couldn’t help but facepalm.

But since Lin Yuan had spoken, she could only sigh in resignation, releasing the phone and calmly telling Fan Longhe, “Mr. Xianyu accepts the order.”

“Great!” Fan Longhe was thrilled.
Although he didn’t know if Xianyu could write a better song, just agreeing to the order was a good start. At least, it meant he still had a chance to compete with Luo Qi.

His worst fear had been that Lin Yuan would see the tight deadline and refuse the job outright. In that case, Luo Qi wouldn’t even have to act—Fan Longhe would’ve been forced to admit defeat right there.

“Oh, right!” He suddenly remembered something, adding quickly, “I can send over a few lyricists to help coordinate since the song needs to be in Qi language. Mr. Xianyu might not be too familiar with it…”

“Alright,” Gu Dong agreed. “Shall we sign the contract tomorrow?”

“Let’s sign it tonight!” Fan Longhe was even more anxious than Gu Dong had anticipated.

“Okay,” she replied, though she still didn’t feel any excitement. After hanging up the phone, her anxiety resurfaced. She looked at Lin Yuan and said, “Representative, are you sure? Big contracts like this come with penalties. If we can’t deliver the song on time…”

“I’m sure.” Lin Yuan’s tone was steady.

He knew how hard it was for the company to land such a big deal, so he was taking it seriously. Besides, with his monthly salary already credited and a personal savings of over ten million, he was financially secure enough to handle any situation.

That evening, Fan Longhe arrived with a group to sign the contract.

This was a three-million-dollar deal, with a penalty of three hundred thousand in case of failure! If the song couldn’t be completed, Star Mang Music would have to pay them back that much, essentially turning this into a high-stakes gamble.

Gu Qiangyun’s hand shook as he signed, knowing that if this deal fell through, the already struggling company would be hit even harder.

After signing, Fan Longhe glanced around the room and asked, “Can I meet with Mr. Xianyu?”

“He’s gone home,” Gu Dong replied.

It wasn’t that Lin Yuan had left early—he had clocked out right on time, and Gu Dong had personally driven him home.

Fan Longhe nodded seriously, “Alright then. I’m counting on you for this.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Xianyu is very capable,” Gu Qiangyun reassured with full confidence.

Though, in reality, it wasn’t so much that Gu Qiangyun had faith in Xianyu—he just always said the same thing to every client. Even though his nerves were fraying, he couldn’t let the client see his unease.

After Fan Longhe left, Gu Qiangyun slumped into his chair. “How are we going to manage this? The deadline is so tight. Gu Dong, you’ve brought back a hot potato. If we hadn’t taken it, we might’ve lost the chance. But now that we’ve accepted it, I’m afraid we’ll get burned…”

“We’ll just have to grit our teeth and push through,” Gu Dong sighed. It was too late to back out now.

Before long, news of Lin Yuan signing the big deal had spread throughout the company, and the group chat was buzzing:

“Three million for a song?!”

“Thunder Entertainment really is a big company. This single order is bigger than many of our past deals combined!”

“Representative Lin is incredible!”

“Aren’t you all celebrating a bit too early? He only has a month to write a three-million-dollar song that meets their requirements. Do you really think we have a good chance?”

“Hey, let us dream a little. Don’t burst our bubble.”

“I’m not trying to burst your bubble. It’s the three-hundred-thousand penalty that’s freaking me out. If we can’t deliver, what’s going to happen to the company? I’d say our chances are less than 30%…”

“Don’t say that! The more you talk, the more scared I get. Are we going to go bankrupt? Will I lose my job?”

“But if this works, the company will hit the jackpot. We could coast for months! They say top-tier composers only take one big job every few years, and it sustains them for ages. Representative Lin’s on that path!”

“Alright, back to dreaming.”

“Honestly, I think Representative Lin took this deal out of necessity. After all, very few people can meet such demanding terms. While I admit this job is risky, if Thunder Entertainment slapped three million on my desk to write a song, I’d probably… still be too scared to take it!”

“Sigh.”

“It’s not just about courage. It’s about having the confidence and the skill. Writing a three-million-dollar song in just one month, and to their specific requirements? Even a gold-tier composer would struggle. And this is a custom piece—there are so many restrictions!”

“…”

Everyone in the company felt conflicted—torn between excitement at landing the massive deal and anxiety over the daunting challenge ahead.
There wasn’t much hope for success.

But the looming failure? That seemed all too likely.

It wasn’t that anyone doubted Lin Yuan’s abilities. After all, he had written Jianghu Smile at an astonishing speed, but no matter what the reason, that had to be a one-time fluke!

Songwriting is an art of precision. A three-million-dollar order means extremely high expectations. Completing such a piece in just a month? That’s practically hell-level difficulty!

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