Entertainment: Starting with a Song of Rice Fragrance

The signing process went very smoothly.

The two got along very well.

One is a rookie editor who signed 10 contracts but only has a little over three.

One is a novice author who has never set foot in the world of fiction and currently only has one work from Earth.

Both novices were extremely careful with their words, afraid that they might accidentally say something wrong and offend the editor/author.

As a result, both parties felt that the other was a particularly kind and easy-going person, leaving a very good impression on each other.

Because you are a newcomer, you can only receive 7% to 12% of the copyright revenue from this book.

However, because the editor of Milk Tea and his superior, the editor-in-chief of Coffee, both thought the book was good, in order to give this "newcomer" who submitted his manuscript to them for the first time (in fact, they all thought it was Lao Deng reincarnated and using a pseudonym), after applying to the editor-in-chief, who was also Milk Tea's senior, they made an exception and increased his salary to 14%.

"Hehe, not bad, 14% royalties. Old Long's own book only got 7%!"

After closing the dialog box, Zheng Ning was quite satisfied with her results.

The other party promised to promote the book in advance and then conduct a small-scale trial sale.

According to the editor's optimistic estimate, his book should eventually sell 8 to 300 copies. At 15 yuan per book and 60 yuan for a set of four volumes, the estimated sales revenue would be close to 500 million to 5 million yuan. In that case, Zheng Ning would receive 42 to 70 yuan.

However, both of these novices expressed satisfaction with this number.

None of them expected that this book would cause such a stir and ripple in the global market.

……

"Zheng Ning, my teacher would like to invite you to dinner tonight."

On the morning of February 5th, just as Wang Xiaoyu started work, she extended an olive branch to Zheng Ning.

That's right, it's the name of a snack made by shaping olive pulp into a branch shape with other ingredients. It tastes sweet and has a distinct olive flavor.

"Your teacher? Invited me to dinner?"

After handing her a meat floss pastry, Zheng Lin asked curiously.

"Yes, didn't I mention it to you before? I'm a graduate of Shuncheng Conservatory of Music. My teacher, Ying Caihua, particularly admires your songs... Oh, by the way, he also has another identity: the famous music critic 'The Music Lover'."

"Oh? Ying Caihua is your teacher? Isn't he a famous musician? I remember that 'Enjoy Yourself Tonight' was his composition at the end of every Spring Festival Gala, right?"

"And he's the same music lover online who raved about my song 'Tornado'?"

"Yes, that's him."

Wang Xiaoyu chewed on the meat floss pastry Zheng Ning handed her, her cheeks twitching like a greedy little squirrel.

"Wow, such a big-name musician actually invited me to dinner, I'm truly flattered..."

"It was just a casual meal, and he wanted to talk to you about your new work. He was very interested in your song 'Dong Feng Po' and felt that it continued the ahead-of-time composition style of your previous songs. He wanted to talk to you about his creative experience."

"Hey, I, Zheng Ning, am just a newcomer. What merit do I have to catch the eye of this big shot..."

……

That's what he said, but he still went that night.

It's a North Asian-style restaurant near Shuncheng Conservatory of Music.

The environment here is excellent, and it's frequented by students and teachers from the college. Not only is the food authentic, but the musical atmosphere is also quite rich, with world-famous songs often playing.

"This is it. I'm just here tonight to freeload, so just pretend I don't exist."

After leading Zheng Ning to an elegant booth and nodding to her teacher, Wang Xiaoyu focused intently on the enormous steak on her plate.

"Hello, Professor Ying, I've long admired your name! I never imagined that I, a mere newcomer, would be valued by you..."

Facing this middle-aged man in his fifties with graying hair and wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

Zheng Ning was filled with respect and admiration.

However, even Director Yang of the composition department speaks of this industry giant who has written theme songs or ending songs for several famous works with great respect.

"Hehe, Xiao Zheng, you don't need to be so polite. I invited you here mainly to talk to you about your new song 'Dong Feng Po'."

Professor Ying was very kind and extended his hand to shake hands with Zheng Ning warmly before politely inviting him to sit down.

"I'd like to know how you came up with the idea to write such a retro-style song? And as far as I know, you also used an almost lost ancient compositional method, which only uses the five notes do, re, mi, sol, la, while abandoning fa and si, which are very important in general arrangements?"

Faced with Professor Ying's question, Zheng Ning secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, during this period, after publishing "Dongfeng Po", he frantically studied the ancient music theory of Xizhou, so that he was not completely ignorant when faced with questions from others.

"I also came across this unique arrangement while researching ancient music documents. After all, I wrote the ending theme song for Zhang Xiaogang's TV series 'The Legend of the Swordsman' back then, didn't I?"

Zheng Ning swallowed nervously. Fortunately, he had already thought about the origin of the song's story and had practiced how to respond, so he wouldn't have to make things up on the spot.

"Huh? No way, you wrote the ending theme song 'Kill the Wolf' for 'The Legend of the Immortal Swordsman' too?"

Professor Ying, who had been calm and kind, suddenly widened his eyes!

Somewhat bewildered, he braced himself on the table and half-stood up, staring wide-eyed at the boy in front of him who looked like a college student with a kind smile.

"you……"

He stopped speaking as soon as he opened his mouth, and Zheng Ning could clearly see that he wanted to say something but held back.

"Hehe, Xiao Zheng, you're a genius. I was watching this show with my wife yesterday and I mentioned that the song 'Sha Po Lang' is really good. It incorporates a lot of ancient Chinese elements into a modern pop song."

He adjusted his glasses, looking at Zheng Ning thoughtfully, his eyes revealing an undisguised appreciation and contemplation.

"I was still thinking about when I'd have a chance to talk to the songwriter, but I never expected this..."

"Heh heh, the author of 'Sha Po Lang' is actually the same person as the author of 'Dong Feng Po,' and both are talented young up-and-coming authors like you!"

Professor Ying's gaze swept across Zheng Ning's face, and the more he looked, the more he felt that this person was so talented yet so shy and low-key, unlike those newcomers in the industry who had just written two decent songs and were already so inflated by those singers that they didn't know who they were!

"Hehe, sorry to interrupt you, Xiao Zheng, please continue."

He smiled sheepishly and raised his hand in a gesture for others to continue.

"Hehe, that's actually the case. After I wrote 'Sha Po Lang,' I felt that although it contained some ancient style elements, it wasn't enough."

"As for what exactly is insufficient, I had no clue, so I thought about it for a long time until I recently read that musical literature about the five notes of the pentatonic scale..."

"Oh~"

Upon hearing this, Professor Ying nodded in sudden understanding.

"So you wanted to try blending this pure traditional Chinese style with modern songs to see if you could write pop music with a more ancient feel, is that right?"

"Not bad, young man, you're really good! To think of such a hardcore way to create a modern song!"

Now, Professor Ying's eyes showed even more admiration.

The thought even crossed his mind: "How come such a talented child didn't apply to a music academy and become my student?"

His desire to cherish and value talent burned ever brighter in his heart.

"Xiao Zheng, if I may ask, I heard from Xiao Yu that you're still a senior in college, right?"

"Oh? Yes, I study Computer Science and Applications at Shuncheng University. What's up, Professor Ying?"

There was a fragrant steak in front of Zheng Ning, but he couldn't enjoy it. He could hear Wang Xiaoyu next to him slurping and shouting with great satisfaction as he ate.

But with such a respected figure in the music industry right in front of him, how could he just focus on eating and drinking?

So he answered cautiously.

"Hey... actually, it's like this, I think it would be a real shame not to properly polish such a fine piece of jade like you..."

"Xiao Zheng, I'd like to ask if you'd be interested in studying under me, Lao Ying, as a graduate student?"