Entertainment: Starting with a Song of Rice Fragrance

A sarcastic remark came from a corner of the composition department.

Zheng Ning frowned and looked in that direction.

A thin, disheveled man in his early thirties, dressed in a wrinkled gray casual outfit, was typing on his keyboard without turning his head as he spoke.

"Liu Gang, stop with your sarcastic remarks. We're colleagues!"

Xiao Wang couldn't stand it anymore and shouted over there.

"Hehe, colleague."

The man said half a sentence in a sinister tone, then stopped and continued doing his own thing.

"Never mind him. That guy lost the last two deals to the people at headquarters, and now he's mentally unstable. He thinks everyone he meets is up to no good."

Xiao Wang patted Zheng Ning on the shoulder, comforting him.

"Hehe, it's okay. I'm not money, how could everyone like me?"

Zheng Ning chuckled, indicating that he had no problem with it; he had seen strange people like this before when he was in school.

"Cough cough..."

As they were exchanging pleasantries, the door to the small office in front suddenly opened, and a clear, crisp sound of someone clearing their throat came from inside.

"Ha, Minister Yang, it's been a long time."

Seeing this, Zhao Lu quickly walked over, laughing heartily as she extended her right hand.

"Hehe, Xiao Zhao, long time no see. Perhaps I should address you as Vice Minister Zhao now?"

Yang Weiqun is a middle-aged man who is almost 50 years old. He is a bit thin, but he takes good care of himself. His face looks quite full, but his hair is a bit gray.

"Hehe, no, don't call me that, let's talk about it during the Spring Festival meeting..."

Zhao Lu certainly wouldn't accept that title so casually, since the higher-ups hadn't finalized it yet.

"This must be Zheng Ning, our own big star from Shuncheng, right? I've heard so much about you."

Minister Yang smiled kindly and extended his hand to Zheng Ning.

"I wouldn't dare call myself a celebrity. Hello, Minister Yang. I look forward to your guidance in the future."

Zheng Ning, of course, dared not presume and quickly shook hands with him.

"Oh, I've listened to those two songs of yours countless times. They're incredibly well-written! And they even took the top two spots on the newcomer chart this time, which is a real boost for Feiyang!"

Minister Yang shook Zheng Ning's hand vigorously, his face full of joy and pride.

"And you even participated in the official singer's song chart in January of this year? I just listened to it. Your new song 'Seven Mile Fragrance' is quite nice. It feels like it's from the same lineage as 'Rice Fragrance,' but with subtle changes. The emotions are fuller and more joyful."

"Oh, you're listening to 'Seven Mile Fragrance' too?"

Zheng Ning was a little stunned. He turned his head and looked at Zhao Lu.

He thought the other person saying they liked his songs was just being polite!

To my surprise, the other person was actually listening!

"Surprised? I'm not just being polite. This song, 'Seven Mile Fragrance,' continues your previous style, but it feels more mature and composed. And I checked the download count—it's been downloaded 45780 times in just over three days, ranking 1187th on the January new song chart!"

"Oh? 1187th place? I've been resting these past two days and haven't paid much attention to this song. I was planning to check it out during my lunch break today..."

Zheng Ning was a little surprised.

This chart for January isn't a newcomer chart; it's where all singers from Xizhou release new songs.

After the newcomer champion ranking in December last year, its credibility and publicity have been well proven.

There are at least several hundred thousand singers in Xizhou, and at least a fraction of them are releasing songs in January.

So, if we calculate it that 20,000 to 30,000 people release new songs, there are definitely 20,000 to 30,000 new songs.

This is not the kind of playful squabbles that newcomers used to have; they are all serious, established singers with their own loyal followings.

Even so, in just over three days since releasing his song, he's already ranked in the top 20%...

Has the company already started its efforts so early?

He turned to look at Zhao Lu.

"We have indeed done some promotion, but we haven't really started to put in the effort yet... After all, the company has too many singers, and we simply haven't been able to keep up..."

Zhao Lu was also somewhat surprised. She had been busy for the past two or three days with the release of new songs by Yang Nana, one of her two A-level artists, and several B and C-level artists.

They hadn't even had a chance to focus their efforts on Zheng Ning yet, and she was about to return to Hengcheng headquarters after finishing up her newcomer champion list business. She had a lot of things to do, and it was impossible for her to only focus on one newcomer like Zheng Ning.

"Ha, that proves your songs really have appeal, and with the added reputation from the previous tie for first and second place on the newcomer chart, everyone wants to hear what kind of new work this guy who took first and second place will write?"

Minister Yang chuckled and patted Zheng Ning on the shoulder.

He had originally thought that even if Zheng Ning was signed by the company as a composer and lyricist, he would definitely work at the Hengcheng headquarters.

After all, that's an international metropolis, while Shuncheng is just a local metropolis. How can it compare to them?

But to my surprise, he stayed in Shuncheng and joined my ranks.

It seems that this year's task will be easier to complete than last year's.

"Alright, now that everyone knows Zheng Ning, let's get down to business."

After arranging a seat for Zheng Ning near the small office,

Minister Yang stood in the middle of the office area and spoke seriously to his subordinates.

"The order we received last October is still nowhere in sight. The client is very dissatisfied and demands that we deliver a final product by January 15th."

Yang Weiqun's face was filled with a serious expression, completely different from his previous cheerful demeanor, and he even gently patted the table.

"They said if we still can't produce it by then, they'll turn to Xinghai for help with the composition. If that happens, we'll not only lose a big contract, but Feiyang will also lose face in the music industry once again!"

"Those guys in Hengcheng will laugh at us for not seizing our opportunities, saying we're losers who were assigned here because we couldn't stand staying at headquarters!"

"Huh? How dare Minister Yang say something like that? Does he really not consider me an outsider?"

Zheng Ning was shocked, feeling as if she had heard something she shouldn't have.

"It's alright. You're one of us, and you're a native of Shuncheng. You know exactly how those 'upper class' people in Hengcheng view us."

Xiao Wang, who was standing nearby, patted him on the shoulder, indicating that these were all trivial matters, and that once he got used to them, he would know what kind of outspoken Minister Yang was.

"It's just a theme song for an animated movie, right? We've been working on it for two months, and we still haven't produced a song that satisfies them? Everyone needs to seriously reflect on this!"

"The price they're asking for isn't low either; it's a huge deal worth 600 million! According to the company's bonus system, if our composition department can secure this contract, we can get at least 120 million in bonuses!"

"I, Lao Yang, have made the decision: whoever lands this deal gets half of the 120 million yuan bonus, and I'll give them an A in their performance review this year!"

"But if we fail to win it and the people in the composition department at headquarters laugh at us, hehe..."

Minister Yang's face was as cold as ice.

"Then it won't just be a matter of not getting a bonus; everyone's going to get a C in their performance review this year."