Chapter 117: Chapter 114: Top Hundred_i
Translator: 549690339 |
The Chief Editor of Silver Blue Books was tormented, a torment accompanied him throughout the whole month of June. He hoped desperately it was a matter of paranoia, for if his worries came to pass, the torture would be even worse – As for Lin Yuan, his life remained the same.
He even started writing the second volume of “Zhu Xian”. Open-ended commitments weren’t a good habit; they would affect Lin Yuan’s income. At least in terms of money-making, Lin Yuan was still very diligent.
However, one can’t be making money forever.
For instance, Tribe Literature recently contacted Lin Yuan and intended to commission another short story from him, but Lin Yuan declined. He only had two short stories left, which he wanted to save because the price for this new short story wasn’t going to be a loss for him.
His reason for the refusal was:
Lack of inspiration for a short story lately.
He used the same excuse to decline Silver Blue’s magazine department’s request; the only thing that kept him on the fence was that both sides were offering a similar price. He didn’t know which platform to choose to maximize the benefits.
Both fell for Lin Yuan’s tall tale.
In the eyes of a normal person, it would seem strange if a writer were to constantly have new inspirations, especially since the short stories Chu Kuang releases are always so classic. A classic work signifies the difficulty of creation, who could effortlessly produce such masterpieces?
Classic novels are not as common as cabbages.
This was another reason why Lin Yuan turned down the two short stories. There are limits to genius; if Lin Yuan started releasing dozens of classic songs customized by the system, the public would likely be scared rather than surprised.
So, Lin Yuan was not in a hurry.
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He indeed lacked prestige value.
But panicking wouldn’t help either.
On the other hand, Xia Fan was still busy with her competition. The June tournament of “Bloom” had a tight schedule. She had taken quite a few days off, but the vocal music department wasn’t giving her a hard time. While the school didn’t endorse students stepping into the entertainment industry at such an early age, it didn’t outright stop students either.
On one day in mid-June,
Lin Yuan and Jian Yi accompanied Xia Fan to the “Bloom” competition again. This was the second time after the auditions that the two accompanied her to a competition, mainly because the competition held significant weight, determining whether Xia Fan would make it into the national top too.
Xia Fan was slightly traumatized.
She had competed twice before but didn’t make it into the top too; she was always just a sliver short of winning. Lin Yuan and Jian Yi tried to boost her confidence, hoping that she could break her own limits today. Only by making it into the top too could she have the chance to appear in front of the audience in Qin Continent.
Just like the auditions,
The atmosphere at the location was bustling.
The competition for the top too spots was underway simultaneously in various major cities. While there were a hundred spots, only five from Su City would be selected. Each city had to contribute a certain number of competitors, so the competition that Xia Fan faced was quite stiff.
“I’ll go to the… backstage for a moment.”
Xia Fan scurried off as soon as Lin Yuan and Jian Yi arrived at the venue. The two finally caught on this time — Xia Fan definitely went to the restroom!
This was a signature behavior of Xia Fan’s.
Whenever she was nervous, she felt the need to use the restroom. If she was extremely nervous, she would need to defecate. If she was moderately nervous, urinating would suffice. And if it was mild nervousness, she would just squat in the restroom for a bit. It wasn’t that Xia Fan had shared this with them — as a girl, she would have been too embarrassed. They merely concluded this through observation and did not dare to mention it in front of her.
What if they got murdered?
This time, it should be a small one, right?
That would indicate she was only moderately nervous.
A moderate amount of nervousness could be beneficial for the competition. Although Xia Fan performed late into the event, when it was her turn to go on stage, Lin Yuan and Jian Yi could tell that her state was acceptable — at least she was not clamping her legs together in a way that suggested she needed to use the restroom.
“Wait for me, whether for my chilling beauty or for me…”
The song Xia Fan chose for the competition for the top too was “Easy to Ignite and Explode”. Lin Yuan himself chose this song for her. It suited Xia Fan’s voice pretty well as she inherently possessed a bold and uninhibited personality akin to a man’s. She rushed into a basketball game brawl even faster than Lin Yuan. If she wasn’t so buoyant, she wouldn’t get along so well with two guys.
She sang the song with ease.
As the song ended, the audience broke into enthusiastic applauses. After a brief discussion, the four judges awarded Xia Fan a spot in the top too from Qin Continent. The applause became even louder.
“She’s becoming a star.”
Jian Yi suddenly remarked, somewhat pensively.
As a performing arts student, Jian Yi’s dream also resided in this entertainment industry. Seeing Xia Fan getting better and better, he felt the urge to make strides too. However, it generally takes longer to gain fame in acting than in singing.
Lin Yuan nodded.
As one of the contestants in the top too of Qin Continent, Xia Fan was likely to be covered by the local Su City media since she was likely to appear on television in the near future, bringing glory for Su City.
“Lin Yuan.”
Jian Yi turned to Lin Yuan, his expression somewhat serious: “In the end, how far Xia Fan goes depends on herself. She can’t rely on you forever. You just need to support her when necessary.”
“I’ll try my best.”
Lin Yuan replied.
Jian Yi wanted to say more, but after considering for a moment, he decided against it. He secretly hoped that Lin Yuan could always help Xia Fan. However, he didn’t want Lin Yuan to sacrifice his own career for that. He stammered: “I actually…”
“I know.”
“What do you know?”
“Whatever it is, I know.”
Lin Yuan smiled naturally.
Jian Yi rolled his eyes: “I actually think that neither you nor Xia Fan has a personality that suits the entertainment industry. You can navigate your way because you’re behind the scenes, but Xia Fan may have to step into the spotlight in the future. That’s my only concern.”
“I understand your concern.”
“Aren’t you worried?”
Lin Yuan didn’t say anything. By now, Xia Fan had finished her performance and several reporters quickly started interviewing her. Lin Yuan and Jian Yi didn’t approach her until the interviews were over. They then celebrated with Xia Fan. Jian Yi asked her with a smile, “How does it feel to advance into the top too?”
“I need to use the restroom.”
Xia Fan darted off again and was nowhere to be seen.
All Lin Yuan and Jian Yi could do was give each other a look.
For a while after this, Xia Fan had no competition, but she practiced even harder every day. She had to go through the top 100, then 80, then 50, and so on in the competition. Although the schedule wasn’t as tight, the competition was intensifying.
The composition department was also tense.
Given that the remaining time in June was rapidly diminishing, there wasn’t much time left to prepare for the annual assessment. Since this year’s annual assessment was of unprecedented significance, everyone was giving it their all and didn’t dare to relax for a moment.
Lin Yuan decided to submit his works along with everyone else.
After all, “Initial Dream” had already been recorded. He didn’t need to refine his works further. According to the teacher’s instructions, as long as he handed in his works before the deadline at the end of the month, the school would arrange for professionals to review them in July.
However, Silver Blue Books made some moves.
“YangFeng” sent a message to Lin Yuan, informing him that the initial print run for the first volume of “Zhu Xian” would be one million copies. This number was ten times greater than the initial print run of Lin Yuan’s first work, raising Lin Yuan’s expectations for the sales of this novel!