I Became an All-round Artist

Lin Yuan was unaware of Zhao Jue   's predicament.

 

After finishing his recording, Lin Yuan lost interest in the Newcomer Season. He decided to focus on another task from the system:

 

**[Rank in the top 25 of the class in the next professional exam]**

 

This was a task related to academics, and exam scores were crucial. So, starting from the very next class, Lin Yuan entered "Top Student Mode."

 

**Learning brings me joy.**

 

Professional exams usually involve written tests, with many knowledge points requiring rote memorization. Therefore, apart from taking detailed notes in class, Lin Yuan spent his spare time studying his professional textbooks intensively.

 

The Composition Department focuses heavily on theory. After days of studying, Lin Yuan’s mind was filled with terms like "Counterpoint and Fugue," "Harmony Explanation," "Modern Compositional Techniques," and even "Orchestration."

 

Despite the monotonous nature of this routine, Lin Yuan surprisingly didn’t find it tedious. Instead, he felt a sense of fulfillment every day.

 

At night, when he was too tired from studying, he would call Summer Fan and Jian Yi to take a stroll on the playground, enjoy the evening breeze, and chat casually. It was quite relaxing.

 

While walking on the playground, Lin Yuan's phone suddenly vibrated. He checked it to find a message saying, “The Newcomer Season starts tomorrow. ‘Life Like Summer Flowers’ is registered. May the stars guide you!”

 

**Newcomer Season?**

 

Lin Yuan was surprised. “Is today the last day of October? Tomorrow is November?”

 

In his intense focus on his studies to complete the system task and hopefully unlock another bronze chest, he had completely forgotten about the Newcomer Season.

 

“Technically,” Jian Yi said, “The annual music industry Newcomer Season starts after midnight tonight!”

 

Perhaps because it was related to his field of study, Summer Fan excitedly added, “These days, everyone in our music department has been discussing this, especially in our Vocal Department. Even our teachers have been talking about it in class. This year, our senior, Sun Yaohuo, is debuting during the Newcomer Season. He even contacted the school, asking the juniors to vote for him and help him with the charts… You should remember Sun Yaohuo, right? We worked together before when you were still in our department.”

 

Lin Yuan’s expression became awkward. “I remember.”

 

To keep a low profile, Lin Yuan had asked Sun Yaohuo not to reveal that he was the lyricist and composer for “Life Like Summer Flowers.” It seemed Sun Yaohuo had indeed kept it secret.

 

Hmm?

 

Jian Yi tilted his head, noticing Lin Yuan's peculiar expression. He then exchanged a glance with Summer Fan, as if they both understood something.

 

Both remembered that Lin Yuan had previously asked them for advice on releasing new songs, and Summer Fan had even suggested he contact a company manager to register for this year’s Newcomer Season…

 

It seemed Lin Yuan had not succeeded.

 

Thinking about it, the standards for joining the Newcomer Season were indeed very high. Despite Lin Yuan’s vocal talent and excellent voice conditions, he didn’t have much natural talent for composition.

 

Besides, if he wasn’t lacking confidence, he wouldn’t have asked for advice in such a roundabout way.

 

To spare Lin Yuan any disappointment, the two friends silently decided not to bring up the topic tonight.

 

Lin Yuan was unaware of his friends’ thoughts. He was relieved they didn’t press him about the Newcomer Season, as he wasn’t good at lying to people he was close to.

 

And so, each went back to their dorms with different thoughts.

 

…

 

The Newcomer Season starts at midnight on November 1st, and countless people stay up late for it. However, Lin Yuan was so exhausted from his studies and in poor health that he couldn’t stay awake until midnight. He went to bed at ten o’clock.

 

But while Lin Yuan couldn’t wait, others could. For example, night owls who enjoy listening to music and browsing on their phones.

 

Zhang Chen, a second-year music student at Qinzhou Art Academy, was one such night owl.

 

At midnight, Zhang Chen put on his best headphones and opened his favorite app, [Yu nhai Music], ready to discover new songs from this year’s Newcomer Season.

 

“I hope this year doesn’t disappoint.”

 

As a music enthusiast, Zhang Chen owned four pairs of headphones, ranging in price from 1,500 to 10,000 Yuan, all purchased with money he earned from part-time jobs.

 

He started listening to the recommended songs on the app.

 

To be honest, the recommended songs were quite good, as they were new releases from major companies, and their quality was assured. Otherwise, it would be a waste of resources.

 

But the problem was…

 

These songs only stayed at a decent level.

 

As an audiophile, Zhang Chen’s ears were extremely discerning, and most ordinary songs didn’t appeal to him.

 

After listening to twenty-one songs, only three were added to his backup playlist.

 

Zhang Chen’s account had been active for ten years.

 

There were two playlists under his account.

 

The top one was the treasured playlist, and the bottom one was the backup playlist.

 

The treasured playlist contained twelve songs accumulated over ten years, each considered a classic by Zhang Chen. He might never delete them and would periodically listen to them again.

 

The backup playlist had more songs, and their inclusion was more frequent. These were songs Zhang Chen liked in the short term but would eventually get tired of and remove.

 

After listening to a few more songs, Zhang Chen felt a bit tired. Just as he was about to sleep, he was suddenly attracted by a fleeting new song recommendation. The recommendation said:

 

“Life Like Summer Flowers is radiant; death is serene like autumn leaves.”

 

This sentence was beautiful.

 

So beautiful that Zhang Chen hesitated to click on the link to listen, fearing that the song might not live up to the elegance of the recommendation.

 

But curiosity got the better of him, and he clicked on the song titled “Life Like Summer Flowers.”

 

As the music started, an incomprehensible language hummed through the headphones with an incredibly detailed sound quality. It was hard to describe the sensation.

 

It was like a wave crashing over, awakening Zhang Chen’s tired auditory senses. He was almost breathless as he listened intently to the main melody of “Life Like Summer Flowers”:

 

“Uncertain of how long I’ve slept in the darkness,

Uncertain of how difficult it is to open my eyes.

I came from afar,

Just in time for you to be here too.

Obsessed and lingering in the human world,

I am wild for her…”

 

It was somewhat melancholic, somewhat regretful, yet with a hint of hope and longing. The emotions from the song blended with the lyrics, drifting in the sea of melody.

 

Zhang Chen’s breathing gradually calmed.

 

But beneath the calm, there was a peculiar emotion swelling in his chest. When the music picked up a bit and the first chorus began in an exceptionally serene manner:

 

“I am this dazzling moment,

A fleeting flame across the sky.

I came for you, disregarding everything.

I will extinguish and never return.

I am here,

Right here,

As brief as a shooting star,

As radiant as summer flowers…”

 

Zhang Chen felt almost dazed.

 

The song seemed to encapsulate the bloom and withering of life, making him think of the connections between people and between people and the world.

 

At this moment, he experienced an emotional release. His throat tightened slightly, and he found himself choking up in bed in the middle of the night, as the song reminded him of an old friend.

 

Like him, the friend was also a music enthusiast.

 

They once worked together during the summer, splurging on headphones and listening to music with obsessive passion.

 

But unfortunately, as he entered the best art academy in Qinzhou, his friend couldn’t make the cut due to insufficient cultural scores and gave up on music as a lifelong dream. Their paths began to diverge.

 

Did friendship truly cease to exist with time and lack of contact?

 

With tears in his eyes and a sense of countless thoughts flooding his mind, Zhang Chen listened as the song gradually came to a stop:

 

“A journey of spring,

A journey of thorns,

As brief as a shooting star,

As radiant as summer flowers.

This is a world where one cannot linger too long…”

 

This indeed was a world where one couldn’t stay for long. So why not choose to be as brilliant as summer flowers? In this one lifetime, may you not live in vain.

 

“Download.”

 

Although non-paid songs could be listened to for free five times a month, Zhang Chen decided not to listen further. He wiped his tears and clicked to download the song directly.

 

The standard price for songs on Blue Star:

 

Downloading a song costs just one Yuan.

 

After downloading the song, Zhang Chen’s lips curled into a slight smile. He added “Life Like Summer Flowers” to his treasured playlist, which hadn’t been updated for three years. Today, this playlist welcomed a new song.

 

Then Zhang Chen checked the song information.

 

Seeing the name of the singer in the performance section, Zhang Chen was momentarily stunned. “It’s actually our school’s Sun Yaohuo singing?”

 

Recently, Sun Yaohuo’s name had come up frequently in discussions about the Newcomer Season on campus.

 

But Zhang Chen was more interested in the lyricist and composer, especially the composer. He found the name in the composer section as well:

 

“XianYu .”

 

Who was XianYu ?

 

It should be a stage name.

 

Zhang Chen noted the name and planned to pay more attention in the future. He then opened his chat app, found the contact he hadn’t spoken to in over half a year, and shared “Life Like Summer Flowers” with them.

 

No need for words.

 

Words are too pale

 

.

 

The music should convey everything.

 

…

 

In the same city, many people were also downloading “Life Like Summer Flowers” or listening to it repeatedly. It was quite well-received.

 

Due to the Newcomer Season’s emphasis on album sales, which were considered one of the most significant indicators of success, this new song didn’t have the advantage of a strong launch. However, it still managed to gain some attention.

 

Just like an ordinary star that shines in the night sky, the song captured a lot of attention. Even though its brilliance was still small, its trajectory was quite beautiful.

 

And thus, this song added one more “cherry blossom” to the glorious autumn night of the Newcomer Season.

 

Lin Yuan was still sleeping soundly and had no idea about the harvest he’d already received.

 

---

 

**New Terms**

 

- **Top Student Mode:** Mode where one excels in academic studies, focusing intensely on learning and exam preparation.

- **Yu nhai Music:** A fictional music app where new songs are released and shared.

- **Treasure Playlist/Backup Playlist:** Terms for playlists where treasured songs are kept permanently, and backup songs are temporarily stored.

- **XianYu :** The stage name of the composer for “Life Like Summer Flowers.”