Chapitre 12: Chapter 11 Do You Think I Still Have A Chance?_1
Working in the composition department for Lin Yuan was really just switching locations for his pre-exam reviews, and no one in the department had much to say about his blatant exam preparation at work—
After all, it was part of the job.
Composers need to self-improve, you know.
Although Lin Yuan's self-improvement was a bit too basic.
After the weekend was over, Lin Yuan returned to campus, and in mid-November, he officially faced his professional exam!
Inside the examination hall.
As the test papers were distributed, the proctor's gaze was sharp as knives, "There are cameras in the classroom, and my eyes are even more piercing than the cameras. You are all very clear about the consequences of cheating."
"..."
The examination hall fell silent.
Lin Yuan didn't pay any attention to the proctor's threats and boasting; he had reviewed so thoroughly that he felt confident after just one quick scan of the test paper.
Because the last major question on the test was indeed "Life Like a Summer Flower," as predicted by the professional course teacher.
How could he lose riding a flying dragon?
Lin Yuan was very pleased, and he wrote as if divinely inspired.
The exam was one hour long, and after about forty minutes, he had finished the entire test paper, including "Life Like a Summer Flower." He spent another ten minutes double-checking his work and felt he had secured his success before standing up to submit his paper.
The moment he stepped out of the classroom.
Bathed in the noon sunlight, Lin Yuan was already looking forward to the treasure chest.
While Lin Yuan was looking forward to another Bronze Treasure Chest, Qian Xingyu's manager Ol' Liu was feeling somewhat agitated today.
Because on today's emerging artist chart, the download numbers for the top two were getting incredibly close!
First place, "Is Love," downloads, 225,000.
Second place, "Life Like a Summer Flower," downloads, 214,000.
Starting from last week, Starlight Entertainment had suddenly spent a lot of money promoting "Life Like a Summer Flower," obviously aiming to topple the first place.
Ol' Liu felt a sense of crisis at that time and immediately notified Qian Xingyu to ramp up song promotion efforts.
Qian Xingyu, however, didn't take it seriously.
The gap between the two songs was still significant, and even though "Life Like a Summer Flower" had a slightly higher growth rate in downloads, Qian Xingyu didn't really consider himself a newcomer at heart.
Until today.
Watching "Life Like a Summer Flower's" downloads skyrocket and the gap between the two songs narrow to this extent, even the confident Qian Xingyu began to panic, "How is he catching up so fast?"
"This song is a bit evil."
Ol' Liu gritted his teeth, "No worries, we've got a live streaming event coming up. When you're live, just rally the fans, and with your influence, we should be able to widen the gap again."
"Okay, okay."
Different from last week's indifference, Qian Xingyu was very cooperative today.
Half an hour later.
Qian Xingyu started his live stream.
This live streaming event was quite expensive, and the company had put a lot of effort into organizing it. The number of participants was considerable, with not only fans but also many passersby on the streaming platform, making it a great promotional platform indeed.
After greeting the audience.
Qian Xingyu couldn't wait to start promotional mode, "Have you listened to my first song 'Is Love'? It's currently ranked first on the emerging artist chart! Friends who haven't listened yet, remember to go listen, and those stars who have heard it, don't forget to click download to support Xingyu."
"Support!"
"Definitely support!"
"Go Xingyu! The stars will always be your strong backbone!"
"..."
Watching the barrage of comments streaming across his screen, Qian Xingyu's smile slowly blossomed; this should resolve the issue, right?
No, he couldn't relax yet.
That Starlight song was indeed a bit evil; Qian Xingyu decided to play it safe. So, for the next few minutes, besides interacting with the fans and the audience as per the event's requirements, he focused mainly on promoting his song.
However.
With five minutes left in the live stream, Qian Xingyu suddenly saw a comment, "Qian Xingyu is busted."
Where did this hater come from?
Why slander someone out of the blue?
Qian Xingyu felt a bit angry inside.
Quickly, the hater was muted by the room manager.
But within a few seconds, new comments emerged, and there were so many that the room manager couldn't mute them all:
"Qian Xingyu is busted."
"The leader of the emerging artist chart has been replaced."
"Qian Xingyu, you're second now."
"Wow, 'Life Like a Summer Flower' is amazing."
"The car has overturned."
"Surprise, surprise?"
"Your first place has been overtaken by the second."
"..."
This time Qian Xingyu realized that it wasn't someone trash-talking him, the comments were clearly about the emerging artist chart.
Busted?
I'm second now?
He froze in front of the camera.
Knowing that continuing the live stream would be witnessing a disaster, Ol' Liu rushed in front of the camera, smiling, "Thank you, everyone. Xingyu's livestream is over!"
With that, Ol' Liu immediately had someone shut down the live stream.
"Phew."
Patting his chest, Ol' Liu turned to look at Qian Xingyu, but found that Qian Xingyu had already opened up the up-and-coming chart on his phone and saw the latest data:
First Place, "Life Like A Summer Flower," with 233,000 downloads.
Second Place, "It's Love," with 231,100 downloads.
The first place was indeed taken, and it happened right during Qian Xingyu's live stream—
"The live stream backfired."
This phrase popped into Ol' Liu's mind.
It was a massive blow to an artist.
He opened his mouth, wanting to offer some comfort to the young Qian Xingyu, but then he saw Qian Xingyu gazing at him with a solemn look and asking:
"Ol' Liu, do you think I still have a chance?"
For some reason, Ol' Liu felt a chill in the air and toughed it out, "The company probably won't invest too much money for the newbie season. This isn't your fault; we've done all we could."
...
The moment Starlight overtook Sand Sea, many people received the news right away, sparking widespread discussion in the industry.
"Really surpassed them?"
"That's brutal!"
"Starlight is on fire this time."
"Starlight is probably the first choice for this year's graduates from top colleges."
"How did 'Riding Faces of Dragons' lose?"
"..."
When Qian Xingyu topped the up-and-coming chart on the first day, no one ever considered that the real big shot was hiding in the less conspicuous third place.
And in the composition department of Starlight.
All eyes, as if by some unspoken agreement, turned to the empty seat by the window.
It was as if they could once again vaguely see "Xian Yu" quietly reciting sophomore year fundamental course material.
...
The next day, as Lin Yuan was on his way to the classroom to check his grades, he suddenly received a call from Zhao Jue, "Congratulations, you're first on the up-and-coming chart!"
"I already know."
Since yesterday, people in his dorm and class hadn't stopped talking about Senior Yao Huo's song topping the up-and-coming chart. It would have been hard for Lin Yuan not to know.
"Not bad, keep it up."
Although Lin Yuan's reaction was muted, with past experiences, Zhao Jue had gotten used to it, so he simply encouraged Lin Yuan a bit before hanging up the phone, then danced around with joy in his office.
Upon reaching the classroom.
The moment the exam papers and report cards were distributed, the System's voice echoed in Lin Yuan's mind: "Your grade has entered the top twenty-five of your class. Congratulations, Host, for completing the System task!"
Then, subtitles appeared before Lin Yuan:
[Task Reward: A Bronze Treasure Chest]
Now, Lin Yuan had two unopened Bronze Treasure Chests. He decided to save them, much like saving money—it felt quite enjoyable.
He glanced at the report card.
This time, Lin Yuan had exceeded the System's task—his grade was impressively the thirteenth highest in the class!
"It was mainly because the questions suited me," Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The exam had covered "Life Like A Summer Flower," which was practically handing Lin Yuan free points.
But when Lin Yuan looked at his own exam paper, he was stunned.
The final question, an analysis of "Life Like A Summer Flower," was worth twenty points, yet he had only scored eight!
His high paper score was because he had done well enough on the other questions.
BGM played in his mind:
Little friend... do you have so many question marks...
Lin Yuan couldn't help but take a look at the papers of a few classmates nearby, only to find that almost all of them had scored over ten points on the question about "Life Like A Summer Flower," with his score being the lowest.
Lin Yuan was looking at others' papers.
Others were also looking at Lin Yuan's paper.
Mainly because Lin Yuan's usual grades weren't outstanding, it came as a surprise that he managed to secure the thirteenth spot this time around.
"Lin Yuan, well done."
"I've seen you revising a lot lately, the results are remarkable, making it to thirteenth."
"Huh?"
"Your accuracy rate is extremely high on the initial questions, it's just this last one about 'Life Like A Summer Flower' where you scored surprisingly low. Otherwise, you could have been in the top ten."
"What a pity."
"Looks like you didn't prepare for this question in advance. Didn't the teacher say it would most likely be about 'Life Like A Summer Flower' this time?"
"You don't understand this song."
His classmates shook their heads, feeling that it was such a shame to lose points on this question. Some even advised Lin Yuan to seriously listen to "Life Like a Summer Flower" again, to properly grasp what the lyricist and composer were trying to convey...
At that, Lin Yuan's smile froze.
He stared blankly at the big red crosses on the paper concerning "Life Like A Summer Flower," lost in thought.
This time, even the System couldn't bear to watch and took the initiative to comfort Lin Yuan, "This question shows that even the examiners don't understand 'Life Like a Summer Flower'."
Lin Yuan: "Then who does?"
System: "The person who graded the papers."
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone