I Became an All-round Artist

"You have received a transfer of 74,087 yuan to your bank account ending in 9527. Your new balance is 74,783 yuan."

It was December 5th.

Lin Yuan received this notification along with a message from the company’s finance department: "Your share of the revenue from 'Life as Summer Flowers' and your monthly salary from the Composition Department have been deposited. From now on, on the 5th of every month, the song's revenue share and your base salary will be credited to your account. If you have any questions, please contact the finance department."

Finally, the payment had arrived.

Lin Yuan felt a surge of happiness.

The arrival of December signified the official end of this year's Newcomer Season.

Thanks to the large-scale promotion launched by the company in mid-November, 'Life as Summer Flowers' had surpassed 500,000 downloads, exceeding the champion results of previous Newcomer Seasons. This achievement underscored the quality of Lin Yuan's work.

After deducting nearly 10,000 yuan in taxes, Lin Yuan was left with over 60,000 yuan.

Together with his 10,000 yuan base salary, his bank account now boasted over 70,000 yuan—despite the fact that, strictly speaking, he hadn’t even been with the company for a full month.

This was probably the company’s way of offering new employees a little extra benefit.

In his previous life, a newcomer’s song wouldn’t have sold for this much, let alone earned ongoing revenue.

In the coming days, as long as people continued to pay to download 'Life as Summer Flowers,' Lin Yuan would continue to earn royalties from the song.

No wonder there’s a saying in the composing circle: "A good song can feed you for life."

Even if Lin Yuan never wrote another successful piece, the royalties from 'Life as Summer Flowers' would be enough to cover his basic living expenses.

But, as always, there's a caveat.

The downloads for 'Life as Summer Flowers' would inevitably decrease over time, as every work reaches a saturation point with its audience. So, the revenue he earned from this song would gradually decline.

That’s why releasing more songs is always a good idea.

More fame, more money.

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but look forward to the future royalties from 'Big Fish.'

The company had paid over 5 million yuan for the rights to the song, with Lin Yuan’s share alone amounting to over 600,000 yuan. Add to that the download revenue, and the potential earnings were certainly promising.

Now, it was time to do something he had been longing to do ever since crossing over to this new life.

First, Lin Yuan made a call to Zhao Jue to ask for a favor.

Then he took a deep breath, recalling how the original Lin Yuan used to talk to his mother, and, once he was ready, he called his mom, who was working as a music teacher back home.

The phone rang, and soon, a slightly weary voice answered, "Xiao Yuan, are you short on pocket money again? Mom will transfer some to you right away."

"No," Lin Yuan quickly replied. "I have some good news to share with you."

Before he could finish, a strange voice interrupted from the background, "Chen Jin, the shelves on the east side are empty. Take the list and restock from the warehouse..."

The call abruptly ended.

Lin Yuan could easily imagine his mother’s hurried attempt to hang up.

Five minutes later, she called back, her voice lowered, "The signal was bad earlier."

"Mom," Lin Yuan felt a sudden pang in his heart, "You don’t have to pretend. You’re working a part-time job again, aren’t you?"

"It’s just that there wasn’t much to do at school today," she said, a bit sheepishly. "You know, I’m just a music teacher. The math teacher, Mr. Huang, took my class again, so I came out to find something else to do. Better than sitting idle."

Lin Yuan was displeased, "Why does the math teacher keep taking your class!"

His mother laughed, "Don’t say that. The Chinese teacher likes to take my class too."

Lin Yuan sighed, "Are you sure your body can handle this? Have you forgotten the time you had to go to the hospital for an IV after juggling three jobs at once?"

"I’m just helping out at the supermarket... By the way, what was the good news you mentioned?"

His mother deftly changed the subject.

Lin Yuan didn’t call her out on it, "I transferred to the Composition Department, and I wrote a song that became popular last month. I earned 100,000 yuan."

"100,000 yuan? From writing a song?"

His mother’s tone was more alarmed than pleased, "Don’t lie to me! Tell me, did you do something wrong? Xiao Yuan, don’t be afraid, just tell Mom… You didn’t sell an organ, did you!?"

There was a hint of tears in her voice.

Lin Yuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, "How did we get there? I really did make some money from writing a song. 'Life as Summer Flowers,' have you heard of it?"

"It sounds familiar… I think someone played it in the office… Is that your song?"

"It is."

"You’ve never been good at lying. Is it really your song?"

"It’s really my song. My pen name is Xian Yu, and the singer is a senior of mine."

"You… you…"

"If you don’t believe me, I can have my company’s leader talk to you. You know I signed with Star Mang when I was a freshman, right? You even kept my agent, Sister Zhao’s, number. She wouldn’t lie to you."

"I believe you… I believe you… So what about the 100,000 yuan…?"

"I’ll keep two or three thousand for myself, and I’ll send the rest to you. You don’t need to work part-time anymore. I have money now; you don’t need to support me."

"Send it to me, send it to me."

His mother’s voice trembled a bit, "Mom will save it for you. In case your illness acts up again, we’ll have money for treatment, and we won’t have to bother our relatives."

"No," Lin Yuan said, his throat tightening. "I want you to use it to pay off our family’s debts. You’ve spent so much money on my treatment over the years, but you’ve never told us how much you borrowed."

"It’s not urgent… Mom will pay it back. As long as I’m alive, not a cent will go unpaid, and I’ll even calculate the interest!"

"Here’s the thing," Lin Yuan felt a lump in his throat, "This song will keep earning money in the future. Plus, I’ve now transferred to the company’s Composition Department, and my monthly salary is, well, a bit over… two thousand yuan. So the money I’ll make will be enough to cover my medical expenses. Please, just tell me how much we owe."

"A little over ten thousand."

His mother tried to sound casual.

"I’m serious."

She hesitated before admitting, "Around twenty thousand."

"You have received a transfer of 74,087 yuan into your bank account ending in 9527. Your current balance is 74,783 yuan."

On December 5th, Lin Yuan received this notification. At the same time, he got a message from the company’s finance department: "The download royalties for your song 'Life Like Summer Flowers' and your monthly salary from the composition department have been credited to your account. Going forward, on the 5th of each month, your song download royalties and base salary will be deposited into your bank account on time. If you have any questions, please contact the finance department to verify the accounts."

Finally, the money came in.

Lin Yuan felt a bit of happiness. The delay in December marked the official end of this year's newcomer season. Thanks to the company's large-scale promotion in the middle of the month, the final download count for 'Life Like Summer Flowers' exceeded 500,000, completely surpassing the champion results from previous years' newcomer seasons. This achievement also indirectly highlighted the quality of Lin Yuan's work.

After nearly 10,000 yuan was deducted for taxes, Lin Yuan was left with a little over 60,000 yuan. Coupled with his 10,000-yuan base salary, his bank account balance finally reached over 70,000 yuan—

Even though Lin Yuan hadn't technically been employed for a full month.

This might be the company's way of offering benefits to newcomers.

If this were in his previous life, a newcomer’s song wouldn’t sell for anywhere near this amount, let alone the fact that Lin Yuan still had residual income from the song.

In the days to come, as long as people continued to pay to download 'Life Like Summer Flowers,' Lin Yuan would receive a steady stream of royalties from the song.

No wonder there's a saying in the composition world: "A good song can sustain you for a lifetime."

Even if Lin Yuan couldn’t write another hit song in the future, the royalties from 'Life Like Summer Flowers' alone could basically cover his living expenses.

But of course, as the saying goes, 'The download numbers for 'Life Like Summer Flowers' will gradually decline since every work goes through a phase of initial popularity followed by saturation.' Therefore, earning more by releasing more songs is always a good strategy.

Not only would it bring reputation, but also income.

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but look forward to the future royalties from 'Big Fish.' The company's cut alone from the five-million-yuan commission was over 600,000, and combined with the download royalties, the earnings would definitely be substantial.

Next, he could finally do something he had always wanted to since his time traveling here.

Lin Yuan first called Zhao Jue and asked for a favor. Then, after taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself by recalling how the original Lin Yuan used to interact with his mother. Once ready, he called his mom, who was working as a music teacher back home.

The phone was quickly answered.

On the other end was a slightly weary voice: "Yuan, do you need more allowance? Mom will send it to you right away."

"No," Lin Yuan hurriedly said, "I have some good news to tell you."

Before he could finish, he heard a stranger’s voice through the phone: "Chen Jin, the shelves on the east side are empty. Could you take the order to the warehouse and restock?"

The call was suddenly disconnected.

Lin Yuan could imagine his mom's flustered attempt to hang up the phone.

Five minutes later, she called back, speaking in a low voice: "The signal was bad just now."

"Mom," Lin Yuan’s heart ached a little, "Stop pretending. You’re definitely doing another side job."

"Well, the school didn’t have much going on today," she replied, somewhat guiltily. "You know, I’m just a music teacher, and today’s class got taken over by Mr. Huang, the math teacher. I figured I’d find something else to do instead of just sitting around."

Lin Yuan frowned, "Why does the math teacher always take your classes?"

His mom chuckled, "Don't say that, even the Chinese teacher likes to take over my classes sometimes."

Lin Yuan sighed, "Can your body handle it? Don’t you remember when you had to juggle three part-time jobs at once and ended up in the hospital on an IV?"

"I’m just helping out at the supermarket..." She quickly changed the subject, "By the way, what was the good news you wanted to tell me?"

Lin Yuan didn’t press her, "Well, I transferred to the composition department, started learning how to write songs, and last month one of my songs became a hit. So, I earned 100,000 yuan."

"100,000? From writing a song?"

Instead of being happy, his mom sounded panicked, "You’re not lying to me, are you? Tell me, did you do something wrong? Yuan, don’t be afraid to tell Mom if you’re in trouble... You didn’t sell an organ, did you!?"

Her voice was almost breaking into tears.

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, "Where did that come from? I really did earn money from writing a song. It’s called 'Life Like Summer Flowers.' Have you heard of it?"

"It does sound familiar... I think someone at the office played it once... Did you write that?"

"Yes, it’s mine."

"You’ve never been able to lie, is it really your song?"

"It really is. I composed it under the name Xianyu, and the singer is a senior of mine."

"You... you..."

"If you don’t believe me, I can have my boss talk to you. You know I signed with Xingmang during my freshman year, right? You even kept my agent Zhao Jue’s number. She wouldn’t lie to you."

"I believe you... I do... But what about the 100,000 yuan?"

"Out of the 100,000, I need to keep 20,000 to 30,000 for emergencies. The rest I’ll send to you. Please stop doing side jobs, listen to me! Pay off the debt first! You don’t need to pay it all back, just keep 20,000 to improve your life a bit. I’ll send more money soon; I recently wrote another song that should bring in a good amount."

"Hey," his mom chided gently, "You’re getting a bit cocky now. You got lucky with one hit song, and now you think you can make every song a success? You’ve just started learning how to compose."

"I’m confident."

"Alright, alright, if you’re confident... But I need to give some of this money to your sister and tell her the good news. She just graduated and is having a tough time. Her phone is five years old and she hasn’t been able to replace it." It sounded like she was seeking Lin Yuan’s approval.

"I’ll take care of that."

Lin Yuan laughed, "I’ll let her know and buy her a new phone. She’s been looking after me for years, so give me a chance to pay her back."

"You have a point."

His mom felt guilty toward Lin Yuan’s sisters because of him. Both girls had sacrificed a lot: "But don’t forget, okay?"

"Got it."

They talked for another half hour, during which Lin Yuan repeatedly urged his mom to stop doing side jobs, before reluctantly ending the call.

After hanging up, Lin Yuan opened his mobile banking app and transferred 73,000 yuan to his mom.

Her response was swift; she even sent a voice message through the contact list: "Save the rest for yourself, okay? That’s two or three thousand yuan; don’t spend it recklessly."

"I know."

Lin Yuan replied with a smile.

Of course, he mentioned earning 100,000 yuan to ease his mom’s mind, and he also exaggerated his base salary of 20,000 yuan for the same reason.

In reality, he had only a little over 1,000 yuan left.

But even that would be enough to last him until next month.

…

After receiving the money, Lin Yuan’s mother, Chen Jin, still felt uneasy.

For a woman who had never given up on treating her son’s illness, 100,000 yuan meant more than just money!

She hesitated for a moment before calling Zhao Jue to ask about Lin Yuan’s situation.

Only after confirming everything did she finally feel a bit more at ease.

Standing in the warehouse, she stared blankly for a long time before tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, startling the worker next to her: "What’s wrong?"

Chen Jin wiped her tears, "I’m just happy."

The worker smiled, "What kind of good news could make you cry from happiness?"

"Do you listen to music?"

"What?"

"You should listen to the song 'Life Like Summer Flowers,' it’s really nice!"

"Huh?"

The worker looked puzzled, "Uh... okay... sure..."