For Lin Yuan, working in the Composition Department was just a change of scenery for his exam preparation, and his behavior of openly studying for the exam at work was not something that raised eyebrows within the department—after all, it was considered part of the job.
Composers need to improve themselves, right?
Though Lin Yuan's improvement was rather focused on the basics.
After the weekend, Lin Yuan returned to the campus, and in mid-November, he was finally confronted with his professional course exam.
Inside the examination room, tension hung in the air.
As the exam papers were distributed, the invigilator's gaze was as sharp as a knife: "Remember, the classroom has surveillance cameras, and my vigilance surpasses even those cameras. The consequences of cheating should be crystal clear to all of you."
"..."
The examination room fell into silence.
Lin Yuan paid no mind to the invigilator's threats and self-praise. He had prepared thoroughly, and when he first skimmed through the paper, he already felt confident.
Because the last big question on the paper was just as Professor Huang predicted: "Life Like Summer Flowers."
Why would he fail!?
Lin Yuan was delighted, and he began writing with a sense of determination.
The exam lasted for an hour, but he completed the entire paper, including "Life Like Summer Flowers," in approximately forty minutes. After spending an additional ten minutes reviewing his work, Lin Yuan felt that he had a good chance of success. He stood up and handed in his paper.
The moment he exited the classroom, bathed in the warmth of the midday sun, Lin Yuan already had his sights set on another bronze treasure chest.
However, even as Lin Yuan anticipated another bronze chest, Qian Xingyu's manager, Old Liu, found himself rather agitated that day.
This unease stemmed from the Newcomer Rankings, where the download numbers for the top two songs had drawn unnervingly close.
The leading song, "It's Love," had garnered 225,000 downloads.
The runner-up, "Life Like Summer Flowers," trailed closely with 214,000 downloads.
Suddenly, Starlight Entertainment had embarked on a vigorous promotional campaign for "Life Like Summer Flowers," aiming to unseat the first-place song.
Old Liu had detected the impending crisis and promptly alerted Qian Xingyu, urging him to intensify the promotion of his song.
Initially, Qian Xingyu hadn't taken the situation seriously.
The gap between the two songs had been substantial, and despite "Life Like Summer Flowers" experiencing a more significant increase in data, Qian Xingyu, as an exceptional newcomer, didn't perceive himself as a typical newcomer.
Until now.
Watching "Life Like Summer Flowers" rapidly gain ground, with the gap between the two songs narrowing to such an extent that even the typically self-assured Qian Xingyu began to feel a pang of anxiety. "How is he catching up so quickly?"
"There's something strange about this song."
Old Liu clenched his teeth and said, "Don't worry. We have a live broadcast event scheduled later. When you go live, use your influence to rally your fans. With your level of popularity, we should be able to widen the gap again."
"Alright, I'll do it."
Unlike his nonchalant attitude from last week, Qian Xingyu was very cooperative today.
Half an hour later.
Qian Xingyu started the live broadcast.
This live event was quite costly, and the company had put in a lot of effort to organize it. The number of participants was quite significant, with not only fans but also many casual viewers from the live-streaming platform. It was indeed an excellent platform for promotion.
After greeting the audience.
Qian Xingyu couldn't wait to start his promotional mode. "Have you all listened to my first song, 'It's Love'? It's currently ranked first on the Newcomer Rankings! If you haven't listened to it yet, please give it a try. And for those who have already heard it, don't forget to click and download to support me."
"Support!"
"Definitely supporting!"
"Go, Xingyu! We your fans are always your strong support!"
"..."
Watching the barrage of comments appear on the screen, Qian Xingyu's smile gradually grew brighter. This should do the trick.
But no, he couldn't let his guard down.
There was indeed something mysterious about Starlight's song. Qian Xingyu decided to play it safe. For the next few minutes, aside from interacting with fans and viewers as required by the event, most of his focus was on promoting his song.
However.
With just five minutes left in the live broadcast, Qian Xingyu suddenly saw a comment that read, "Qian Xingyu's been overtaken."
Who was this hater?
Why insult him unjustly?
Qian Xingyu felt a bit angry.
Soon, the moderator banned this hater from the chat.
But within seconds, a new barrage of comments appeared, and there were so many of them that the moderator couldn't keep up:
"Qian Xingyu's been overtaken."
"The first place on the Newcomer Rankings has changed hands."
"Qian Xingyu, you're in second place now."
"Oh my, 'Life Like Summer Flowers' is amazing."
"It's a disaster, it's a disaster."
"Surprising or not? Expected or unexpected?"
"Your first place has been overtaken by the second place."
Qian Xingyu finally realized that it wasn't someone attacking him; the comments were clearly discussing the Newcomer Rankings.
"I've been overtaken?"
"I'm in second place?"
He was left speechless in front of the camera.
His manager, Old Liu, knew that continuing the live broadcast would be a disaster, so he rushed in front of the camera and said with a smile, "Thank you, everyone. Xingyu's live broadcast has come to an end!"
With that, Old Liu had the broadcast cut off.
"Whew."
Old Liu patted his chest and turned to Qian Xingyu, only to find that Qian Xingyu had already opened the Newcomer Rankings on his phone and was looking at the latest data:
First place, "Life Like Summer Flowers," with 233,000 downloads.
Second place, "It's Love," with 231,100 downloads.
Indeed, the first place had been overtaken, and it happened right when Qian Xingyu was live streaming.
"A live-streaming disaster."
This phrase echoed in Old Liu's mind.
This was a huge blow to the artist.
He opened his mouth, wanting to console the young Qian Xingyu, but he saw Qian Xingyu staring at him with a deep, contemplative look and asking, "Old Liu, do you think I still have a chance?"
For some reason, Old Liu felt a sudden chill in the air and reluctantly said, "The company probably won't invest too much in a newcomer's season. It's not your fault, and we've done everything we could."
...
The moment Starlight overtook Sahara, many people received the news immediately, and the industry was abuzz with discussions.
[]: "Did they really overtake Sahara?"
[]: "That was intense!"
[]: "Starlight is making quite a commotion."
[]: "This year, Starlight is probably the first choice for graduates from elite universities."
[]: "How did Qian Xingyu lose?"
"..."
At the moment when Qian Xingyu reached the top of the Newcomer Rankings on the first day, no one had ever thought that the real powerhouse was hidden in the less conspicuous third place.
And in the composing department of Starlight.
All eyes were involuntarily drawn to the empty seat by the window.
It seemed as if they could once again see "Xianyu" quietly reciting the sophomore basic course in their minds.
...
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 number one on the Newcomer Rankings!"
"I already know."
Since yesterday, there had been constant discussions about Sun Yao's song winning the Newcomer Rankings in the dormitory and the class, and Lin Yuan couldn't possibly be unaware of it.
"That's right, keep it up."
Although Lin Yuan's reaction was very calm, Zhao Jue was used to it by now, so he just encouraged Lin Yuan a few words and then hung up the phone. Afterward, he danced around happily in his office.
When Lin Yuan arrived in the classroom, he received his exam paper and grade report. The moment he saw them, he heard the system's voice in his mind: "You have entered the top twenty-five in the class. Congratulations, host, for completing the system task!"
Following that, words appeared before Lin Yuan's eyes:
[Task Reward: One Bronze Treasure Chest]
With this, Lin Yuan now had two unopened bronze treasure chests. He decided to save them, as it was like saving money, and he found it quite enjoyable.
After looking at the grade report, Lin Yuan realized that he had not only completed the system task but had exceeded it. His score had placed him at the thirteenth position in the class!
"Mainly because the questions suited me," Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The exam unexpectedly included an analysis of "Life Like Summer Flowers," which was practically giving Lin Yuan points.
However, when Lin Yuan looked at his exam paper, he was stunned.
For the final question, the analysis of "Life Like Summer Flowers," which carried a maximum of twenty points, he had only received eight points!
The high score on other questions boosted his overall grade. Yet, for this particular question, he had scored the lowest.
As he reviewed his classmates' exam papers and they glanced at his, everyone was puzzled.
"Lin Yuan, impressive!"
"I've seen you revising a lot recently, and the results are astonishing. You actually got thirteenth place."
"Huh?"
"The questions at the beginning had extremely high accuracy, but for the final question, 'Life Like Summer Flowers,' your score is a bit lower. Otherwise, you could have made it into the top ten this time."
"What a shame."
"It seems like you didn't prepare for this question. The teacher did say that 'Life Like Summer Flowers' would likely be on the test."
"You probably didn't understand this song."
Classmates shook their heads, feeling that losing points on this question was unfortunate. Some suggested that Lin Yuan should seriously listen to and understand the interpretation of the lyrics and composition of "Life Like Summer Flowers"...
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan's smile suddenly froze.
He stared at the large red X marks on the exam paper for the analysis of "Life Like Summer Flowers" and fell into deep thought.
This time, it seemed that even the system couldn't bear to watch anymore and couldn't help but console Lin Yuan with one sentence: [This question indicates that Professor also doesn't understand 'Life Like Summer Flowers.']
Lin Yuan: "Then who does?"
System: [The person who graded the exam.]