Chapter 31: Production Talent

Lin Xiyue and Xia Jinnian wandered around South Street again, a place they already knew like the backs of their hands.

There wasn’t anything new to see, yet somehow they never got tired of it.

Was it because of all the childhood memories, or because of the person walking beside them, or perhaps both?

“At any rate, you’re the one who has to think about that stuff.
You’re the producer—whatever you write, I’ll sing.
I’m too lazy to use my brain, ehehe~”

When they parted ways, Lin Xiyue had brought up the topic of the next single, and that was the answer she got.

Which only made her headache worse.
That was basically the same as saying nothing at all.
She didn’t even have the slightest clue where to begin.

She wasn’t even sure what her current skill level was.
So a few days ago, under her mom’s guidance, she uploaded her favorite among the fan songs she’d composed in the past.
Just to see what score it would get.
It should be coming out soon.

Even after getting into her mom’s car, Lin Xiyue was still thinking about it in the passenger seat.

“Whatever I write, she’ll sing it?”

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

“In other words… the wife follows the husband?”

“What are you muttering over there, Yueyue?”

Xu Wei asked curiously, and Lin Xiyue immediately sat up straight, vigorously shaking her head.

“No, no! Mom, I was… thinking about the new single!”

“Oh?
Any ideas yet?”

“Not yet, Mom.
I’m stuck on the theme already.”

“Then let me give you a tip.
If you really don’t know what to write, just write about love—you can’t go wrong.
In our industry, there are only two kinds of songs: love songs, and everything else.”

“But…”

“But what?
You want to say you’ve never been in love?
That’s fine.
No one’s asking you to write those tragic love ballads about life and death.
A sweet little love song, or something about those small, ambiguous heart-flutters—that’s totally fine.”

“Wouldn’t it feel a bit insincere?”

“Silly girl, songwriting is an art.
No one’s going to whip out a magnifying glass to inspect you.
Just write boldly~”

“Is that so…”

Lin Xiyue lowered her head, thoughtful.

If that was the case…
Could she write about her and Xia Jinnian’s story, then embellish it a bit?

It seemed she suddenly had some ideas…

When she got home, she was exhausted from the day out, and with work tomorrow, she took a shower and went to bed early.

*************

The next morning—

Lin Xiyue woke unusually early today.
First, she would most likely see the score for the fan song she uploaded.
Second, she seemed to have gained a bit of inspiration.
Third, it was payday.

She wasn’t short on money, but the sense of accomplishment from receiving her first paycheck was still very real.

So the young Miss Lin dragged her best friend along, happily trotting to the finance office to settle the accounts with the company accountant.

“Xia Jinnian, monthly salary—ten thousand yuan.”

The accountant handed a slip to Xia Jinnian.

“This is your pay stub.
The funds have already been transferred to the bank account you registered on hiring.”

Xia Jinnian accepted the slip with excitement, then glanced at the transaction text message on her phone.
Her emotions surged, hard to calm.

For an ordinary family, earning over ten thousand a month was not easy.
Let alone that this was her very first paycheck.

“My turn, my turn!”

Lin Xiyue handed over her employee ID, rubbing her hands while waiting for her pay stub.

“Lin Xiyue, monthly salary—thirty yuan.
Hm?!”

The accountant thought she had miscalculated.
She froze for a long moment before looking up.

“Um… Miss Lin, there must be some mistake.
I’ll recheck your numbers when I get back.
I’ll issue it to you this afternoon—”

“No need.
The number is correct.
And she only worked half a month, but I even counted it as the full thirty days.”

Xu Wei leaned casually against the doorway of the finance office, smiling faintly at the stunned accountant and her daughter, who seemed to have figured things out.

Lin Xiyue sighed.
Right—she had completely forgotten that Jinnian’s salary was deducted from hers.

Looking at the enormous figure of thirty yuan on her pay stub, the girl was on the verge of tears.

Her mom hadn’t even deducted the entire amount.
She still gave her one yuan per day so she wouldn’t be working for free—how very kind of her.

“Thank you, President Xu~”

She forced a smile at her mother, who returned a professional business smile.

“You’re welcome.
Keep working hard next month too, Producer Lin~”

After leaving the finance office, on their way to the recording studio, Xia Jinnian couldn’t stop laughing the entire time.

She knew her friend was this miserable because her own salary had been taken out of it…
But she just couldn’t help laughing.
What could she do about it?

“Stop laughing!
You have to treat me to lunch!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll treat you to pork trotter rice—hahahahaha!”

“Wuuu… Is all our many years of friendship only worth one bowl of pork trotter rice?”

Lin Xiyue looked utterly defeated.

Tears fell onto the pork trotter rice.
She swore she’d earn ten million.

Still joking around, the two of them entered the recording studio.

This recording studio was basically reserved for them now.
Other artists had to queue for the other studios.

Anyone with eyes could tell: Xu Wei clearly intended to make these two girls the company’s leading stars.

And the artists had no complaints.
If Lin Entertainment truly managed to rise again, then the artists who stayed during its downfall would certainly be rewarded too.

Once inside, Lin Xiyue turned on the computer, logged into the company’s Fanxing account, and began searching for the evaluation record.

Fanxing’s evaluations weren’t unlimited.
After all, the industry experts weren’t free to play with you anytime.
Each entertainment company only had a set monthly quota.

But the one thing Lin Entertainment wasn’t lacking now… was evaluation slots.
Because the number of high-quality works that needed evaluation was far fewer than the quota for a B-rank entertainment company.

“‘Forbidden Love,’ score 1590, rating C.
Lyrics and composition: Lin Xiyue.”

The score for the fan song appeared on the screen.
Lin Xiyue nodded.
This was exactly what she expected.

In fact, because it was a fan song, the lyrics tended to be niche and obscure, which dragged the score down a bit.
If she wrote for broader audiences, she could score even higher.

A score of 1590—that was already above the midpoint of C-rank.
She had written plenty of songs of similar quality.
Putting together five C-rank works to qualify as a C-rank producer wouldn’t be difficult at all.

In Country C, the entertainment industry was so developed that producer certification had become quite lax.
Many talentless amateurs tried to join the field.

As a result, eighty to ninety percent of so-called “producers” stayed D-rank their whole lives, only capable of making things that barely counted as “songs” to scrape money.

She had already surpassed that entire group.

Compared to Xia Jinnian’s talent in singing, Lin Xiyue’s talent in production seemed no weaker.