Chapter 8: StarNet

After yesterday’s lesson, Lin Xiyue set an alarm and got up early today.

And what day was it today?

It was the first day that the great Producer Lin officially started work.

Sitting in the passenger seat of the car, watching the scenery flash past the window, Lin Xiyue stretched lazily.

After returning home last night, she’d given some serious thought to the future of her family’s company.

At present, Lin Entertainment didn’t even have a single leading actress who could hold up the brand.
The company was full of mediocre talents, barely enough to keep things running.

Yet the importance of a popular leading star to an entertainment company was self-evident.
Otherwise, her parents wouldn’t have once staked all their resources on Lin Ziyu.

So she wondered—could she take one of the remaining artists in the company and go all in?

Perhaps there was some unspoken bond between mother and daughter, because Xu Wei, who was driving, was thinking the same thing.
Her trip to the company today was exactly for that purpose.

She had come to realize last night that staying complacent was not an option.
If the company didn’t show improvement—if it couldn’t reverse its decline—then even if she managed to scrape together ten million this year, what about next year? The year after?

For that reason, she’d even brought out the works she’d been saving as her last trump cards.

When the mother and daughter arrived at the company entrance, Lin Xiyue couldn’t help but glance several more times at the still somewhat lively Lin Entertainment building.
Before she’d jumped to her death in her previous life, this place had already been deserted for years.

“President Xu, Miss Lin, good morning—”

A young woman who looked like a secretary stood at the door, nodding politely to the two of them.

“Morning, Xiao Li. Go help Yueyue apply for a producer’s certificate. She’ll be joining our company.”

Xu Wei glanced at her daughter.

“And also, notify all our artists to gather for an audition.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Secretary Xiao Li quickly responded and went off to carry out the order.

Soon after, Xu Wei led Lin Xiyue to the president’s office.
Along the way, various employees greeted them warmly, and Lin Xiyue returned each smile cheerfully—she was in a rather good mood today.

“Yueyue, take a seat first. Mom’s going to start working. You can watch, and if you’re curious about something, just ask.”

After settling her daughter, Xu Wei sat down at her computer and began to type away.

Curious, Lin Xiyue leaned over to take a look.
She saw that her mother was busy operating something on a website called StarNet.

“Work rating: 3,150. Grade: B. What’s that, Mom?”

Lin Xiyue bit her finger thoughtfully.

It was a bit embarrassing to admit—back in her previous life, the great Young Master Lin had never cared about any of this stuff.
As a result, she was now completely clueless about the company’s business.

Xu Wei, however, wasn’t the least bit impatient.
After all, since her daughter was going to be a producer, she needed to understand the basics.

“This is StarNet. It’s the official website established and run by the government to manage all activities in the entertainment industry.”

“Information about artists, companies, works, single and album sales, real-time charts, news updates—everything is on here.”

“When a producer creates a song, they can upload the lyrics and composition to StarNet.
It’s then scored by a hundred vocal experts, veteran producers, and experienced listeners.
The total sum of their evaluations becomes the work’s final score.”

“The maximum score is 10,000 points.
8,000 and above is S-rank, 4,000 A-rank, 2,000 B-rank, and so on.”

Listening to her mother’s long explanation, Lin Xiyue didn’t get confused.
Her learning ability had always been top-notch.

“So this song, Meteor Shower, is yours, Mom?”

The girl pointed at the screen.
In the corner, the credits read:

Lyrics: Lin Cheng
Composition: Xu Wei

Her heart sank.
That meant this was something her father had written before he passed away—yet it had never been released?

“Yes,” Xu Wei smiled faintly. “Actually, this song is even older than you are.”

Her expression softened, tinged with nostalgia.

“Back when your father and I had just graduated, one night while watching a meteor shower, inspiration struck, and we created this song.”

“It has great sentimental value, so I’ve never been willing to give it to anyone to sing.
Not even that ungrateful girl…”

Hearing the words “ungrateful girl,” Lin Xiyue’s face darkened in anger.
She knew exactly who that referred to—Lin Ziyu.
The very person who had destroyed the Lin family.
Utterly unforgivable.

“But now, with Lin Entertainment in such dire straits, your mom has no choice but to bring out all her hidden treasures.”

Xu Wei gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Miss Lin, your producer certification has been completed.”

Secretary Xiao Li knocked on the office door and handed a card to Lin Xiyue.

The girl took it and looked it over.
Her photo was printed on it, along with the title:

‘Lin Xiyue – D-Rank Producer.’

Although D-rank was the lowest level of producer certification, it was still an official qualification that required a series of assessments.

Fortunately, Lin Entertainment was at least a B-rank company, which meant it received a limited quota each year to issue D-rank producer certificates internally.

“President Xu, I’ve already notified all the company’s artists for the audition. We can begin at any time.”

Secretary Xiao Li looked toward Xu Wei, who nodded.

“Got it. Xiao Li, take Yueyue around the company for a bit. I’ll head over to the auditions.”

And so, Lin Xiyue followed Secretary Xiao Li out of the president’s office.
As they wandered through the company building, the two chatted casually.

“Big Sister Xiao Li, what exactly is this audition about?”

“Well—generally speaking, when one of our producers creates a song with a high score but doesn’t know who would suit it best, the company holds an audition. Each artist records a short demo, and we choose the one with the best result.”

“So Mom’s song, Meteor Shower, is really high quality, then?”

“In my years here,” Xiao Li said thoughtfully, “I can tell you, very few works in our company’s history have come close to matching it.”

“But Mom said that according to StarNet’s scoring system, the full score is 10,000, and this one only has a bit over 3,000?”

Miss Lin chuckled.

Xiao Li smiled helplessly.
“Miss Lin must be joking. A score over 3,000 already puts it among the best of all B-rank works—almost reaching A-rank. Even for President Xu, who’s a B-rank producer herself, producing two or three B-rank songs a year is already exceptional—and most of those are barely above 2,000.”

Perhaps because this was the boss’s daughter, Secretary Xiao Li didn’t bother hiding anything.
She simply poured out everything she knew…