I Became an All-round Artist

The reader outcry over Biyao’s death was something Lin Yuan had anticipated. He had already prepared himself mentally when writing this part of the story. This moment marked a crucial turning point in the book. Zhang Xiaofan’s personality would undergo a radical transformation, leading him to leave Qingyun and join the Ghost King Sect under the alias of Gui Li, a character who embodies both righteousness and evil. The central plot moving forward would revolve around the conflict between good and evil, but at its heart, it was about the effort to resurrect Biyao, even though this effort was destined to fail.

Lin Yuan’s silence was also a way of not giving anything away. A response would be akin to a spoiler, and at least by not addressing the situation, he hadn’t completely crushed the readers' hopes. In any case, the uproar didn’t disrupt Lin Yuan’s daily life. He continued to train Xue Liang and focused on his mentoring duties. On weekends, he still reported to work as usual.

One day, when Lin Yuan arrived at the company again, Gu Qiangyun knocked on his office door. "Representative Lin," Gu said hesitantly after entering, "Of the four orders you didn’t select earlier, we’ve only managed to secure one—the 700,000-yuan order you have. The other three fell through."

“Why?” Lin Yuan was puzzled. He had gained some understanding of how the company operated, and he knew that orders where clients approached first usually had a high success rate.

Gu Qiangyun smiled wryly. “The clients behind those three orders specifically requested Xianyu, which is you, Representative Lin. They weren’t interested in working with anyone else in the company.”

Lin Yuan suddenly understood. No wonder the system wanted him to train a disciple. His presence at Xingmang Music didn’t fundamentally change the company’s predicament. The core issue was still the overall lack of talent in the composing department. If things were truly going to change, it would require more drastic measures.

"At least we managed to hold onto one order," Gu Qiangyun said with a sigh. "But the only reason they kept that order was because I told them Xue Liang is your disciple. So, I was thinking, even if Xue Liang can’t finish the work, you’ll have to step in. I’ll talk to him about splitting the order’s earnings with you..."

Gu’s words were carefully chosen. What he meant was for Lin Yuan to guide Xue Liang through the process. If successful, the order would still be credited to Xue Liang, but Lin Yuan would get paid. In turn, this would help Xue Liang establish a portfolio, making future orders easier to secure.

“No need,” Lin Yuan said. “Xue Liang is capable of completing this order.”

Gu Qiangyun paused, unsure how to respond. He thought to himself, "Are you overestimating Xue Liang?" But he didn’t dare voice his doubts, only cautiously asking, "And if he can’t?"

“I’ll step in.”

Since Xue Liang was his disciple, Lin Yuan would naturally step in if things went south. However, he genuinely believed Xue Liang could handle it. After all, Xue Liang had been learning quickly under his guidance.

“Alright then.” Gu Qiangyun was reassured by Lin Yuan’s promise. After hesitating for a moment, he added, “There’s actually another potential order I wanted to discuss with you.”

Lin Yuan looked up. “How much?”

“Three million,” Gu replied.

Lin Yuan was interested, but seeing Gu’s hesitant expression, he asked, “What’s the catch?”

“Well…” Gu Qiangyun chose his words carefully. “This order is from Qixing Entertainment. They’re looking to commission a custom song for their top singer, Shui Yun. The price is indeed three million, but this is a competing bid.”

Lin Yuan was confused. “What’s that?”

Gu explained, “A competing bid means the client has approached several companies for the same project. Whoever produces the best song wins the contract.”

“I see.” Lin Yuan nodded. “We can take it.”

Gu Qiangyun nodded in agreement but quickly added, “It’s possible, yes, but I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Lin Yuan looked at him, waiting for further explanation.

Gu Qiangyun elaborated, “Orders like this often involve many music production companies. The client, of course, will only choose one, even though they’ve signed contracts with multiple companies. The others essentially end up working for nothing. Even if their song is decent, unless it’s the best, the client will just pay a token fee of 100,000 yuan as a consolation.”

Lin Yuan summarized, “Casting a wide net.”

Gu Qiangyun nodded emphatically. “Exactly! Qixing Entertainment has hired five companies for this particular project. The winner gets the full contract, while the others just get the consolation fee.”

“So, we just need to win the contract,” Lin Yuan replied calmly.

Gu Qiangyun couldn’t help but laugh at Lin Yuan’s confidence. “Representative Lin, you’re talented and fearless, but with so many companies competing, who can guarantee their song will be chosen? Plus, this time you don’t have the freedom to pick a singer. The song must be custom-tailored for Shui Yun.”

“I know Shui Yun,” Lin Yuan said. Since arriving in Qizhou, he had familiarized himself with the music industry, and Shui Yun was a distinctive singer he’d listened to more than once.

While Lin Yuan did prefer the freedom to choose his singers, that was only because he didn’t want his songs to be mishandled. If the order was for a specific artist and the artist was genuinely talented, Lin Yuan had no issue with it. After all, selecting the singer was a core part of the client's requirements.

As long as the song wasn’t ruined, he was fine.

"Representative Lin," Gu Qiangyun said cautiously, "there’s one more issue with this order."

“What is it?”

Gu pursed his lips. “The other four companies in the running are all powerhouses. Two of them, Lone Wolf and Red Moon, are famous across Qizhou. Their reputations alone can crush us.”

Honestly, Gu Qiangyun felt a bit honored that Qixing Entertainment had even considered Xingmang Music. But he knew they had done so because of Xianyu, or Lin Yuan. Even so, Gu really didn’t want to take this order. After all, Lin Yuan was Xingmang Music’s most prized asset, and his time in Qizhou was limited. Why put him up against such formidable competition? Both Lone Wolf and Red Moon had their own star composers.

Lin Yuan, however, thought differently. “If we win this order and beat Lone Wolf and Red Moon, won’t that mean more future opportunities?”

Gu Qiangyun was speechless. It was a fair point. Who wouldn’t want to defeat Lone Wolf and Red Moon? But the problem was that Xingmang only had one Xianyu, while those two companies had multiple star composers. However, Gu didn’t dare voice his concerns, fearing it would seem like he had no confidence in Lin Yuan.

After a moment of hesitation, Gu finally said, “We can try, but I’ll need you to promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If this order proves too difficult, there’s no need to force it. We’re just testing the waters here. If the client chooses our work, great. If not, let’s not waste time—we can focus on other orders.”

“Agreed,” Lin Yuan said, completely unbothered. He wasn’t going to exhaust himself over one order, and he certainly wasn’t underestimating his competition—especially after using Yang Zhongming’s character card.

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