"What song should I write for her?"
The reason Huang Yifan agreed to write songs for Liu Siyu wasn't that he was overly kind, nor because he gave away songs whenever he saw a pretty girl.
After all, Liu Siyu had approached him through Teacher Huang. Refusing outright would be disrespectful to the teacher.
On the other hand, Huang Yifan had too many songs in his head. Giving her a few didn't mean much to him.
But these were all secondary reasons.
The main reason Huang Yifan agreed to write songs for Liu Siyu was selfish.
He wanted to use Liu Siyu as a stepping stone to get a look into the entertainment industry.
Come to think of it, this counted as another hobby of his aside from writing.
Music and film were things Huang Yifan also loved.
It was just that they were only hobbies. He had no intention of diving deeply into them. But with so many classic songs and films stored in his mind, letting them go to waste felt like a pity.
Since Huang Yifan didn't want to become a singer, supporting someone behind the scenes and making them famous sounded like a pretty good idea.
That said, Huang Yifan wasn't a saint, nor was he particularly generous. Truly classic songs were something he couldn't bear to give away. His connection with Liu Siyu existed only because of Teacher Huang. Without that, he probably wouldn't even bother with her. Want songs? Sure. Pay up.
But since Teacher Huang was involved, he couldn't just give her something mediocre either. Besides, if the songs were too bad and didn't make any impact after being released, it would be embarrassing for him as well.
After some thought, Huang Yifan chose a song from Chen Huixian in his previous life: 'How Much Tenderness, How Many Dreams'.
Don't get it wrong, this wasn't Long Piaopiao's classic 'How Much Tenderness, How Many Tears'. Though "dreams" and "tears" differ by just one word, 'How Much Tenderness, How Many Dreams' was a level below 'How Much Tenderness, How Many Tears'. Of course, even if it was a level lower, it was still a fairly decent Cantonese song.
He set 'How Much Tenderness, How Many Dreams' as the main track, then selected seven or eight other songs that were average, but slightly above average.
OK.
With ten songs, it was basically enough for an album.
Clapping his hands, Huang Yifan prepared to wrap things up.
Who would've thought that being a genius music producer could be this easy?
He couldn't help but laugh. Writing songs like this, basically cheating with a cheat code, felt incredibly satisfying.
Still, after laughing, Huang Yifan reminded himself to stay grounded. His future wasn't in music, nor in film. His path was to "explore the principles of the universe, understand the changes of past and present, and carry forward the lost teachings of the sages."
With that thought, Huang Yifan suddenly remembered that his star-level writer ranking hadn't improved for the past three years.
Maybe it was time to see if he could level up.
With that in mind, Huang Yifan logged into the Huaguo Writers' official website.
Qiushui's rank was 5-star.
Fanchen's rank, thanks to the strong sales of 'A Chinese Ghost Story' and 'The Peony Pavilion Girl', had also reached 5-star.
According to Huaguo's 10-star writer ranking system, there were two requirements to advance from 5-star to 6-star.
One requirement was total sales of 5 million copies. At present, Huang Yifan's 'A Chinese Ghost Story' and 'The Peony Pavilion Girl' have sold 900,000 and 2 million copies respectively. Combined, that was only 2.9 million, not enough to reach 6-star for now. However, although he hadn't met this requirement, he noticed another piece of information that could help him.
All writers above 2-star could go to the provincial writers association to complete real-name registration.
This real-name registration was interesting. On the surface, it simply meant going in person to register at the provincial writers' association. But on a deeper level, once registered, all pen names under that person would receive hidden bonus points.
These hidden bonuses were quite mysterious. The website didn't explain them in detail, only stating that all writers above 2-star, after real-name registration, could participate in corresponding cultural exchanges and activities based on their rank.
Now that was interesting.
Was participating in cultural exchanges a way to increase one's fame?
Did participating in cultural activities help spread academic influence?
Undoubtedly, yes.
Even if the effect wasn't huge, the hidden value in this area was significant.
Seeing this, Huang Yifan finally understood.
No wonder some members of the Huaguo Writers Association hadn't even sold 100,000 copies of their books, yet had reached the 5-star rank.
This was basically cheating.
Looks like he'd have to go register as well.
Even if he wouldn't stoop to their level, those hidden points were still worth getting.
…
The next day, Huang Yifan worked overtime, stockpiled a few chapters, then sent Liu Siyu the ten songs he had written. After that, he boarded a train to the provincial capital of Changnan.
Uh… why a train again?
Scratching his head, Huang Yifan still couldn't figure it out even after getting off.
Even though he was technically wealthy now, he didn't seem to have the mindset of a rich person.
Oh well. The provincial capital wasn't far. Taking the train only added a few hours, not a big deal.
Instead of finding the provincial writers' association himself, Huang Yifan took a taxi.
Like most taxi drivers, this one loved to chat. Probably bored from driving all day, he needed someone to talk to. As soon as Huang Yifan got in, the driver started chatting away.
"Where to, young man?"
"Provincial Writers Association."
"The Writers Association? Wow, didn't expect you to be a cultured guy."
"Haha, not really. I just wrote a little."
"No way. Let me tell you, I've admired writers since I was young. Especially Wu Yuantai, who wrote 'Journey to the East'. I respect him to no end. How did he come up with all those amazing stories? The Eight Immortals, Lü Dongbin, so handsome and powerful…"
"I like 'Journey to the East' too."
'Journey to the East' was basically about the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. While not as good as 'Journey to the West', it was still pretty decent.
"Sigh… but young man, there's something I want to say. Not sure if you'll get mad."
"Go ahead. I'm not good at much, but I'm pretty open-minded."
"Haha, alright then. Tell me, why is it that nowadays no writers can create works like 'Journey to the East'? I've talked about this with other driver friends too. We all think modern writers have big reputations, but hardly anyone reads their books. Like me, I haven't bought a book in nearly 30 years. So who are all these books being written for?"
The driver's words made Huang Yifan fall silent.
Of course, he didn't blame the driver. Even though his words hit the sore spot of all writers, they were still the truth.
Yes, Huaguo had so many writers, and they had written so many books. But who were those books actually for?
If it were someone else, they might argue that just because you don't read doesn't mean others don't.
But Huang Yifan didn't argue.
While middle-aged people like this driver were unlikely to buy books anyway, didn't this also prove that the world lacked true classics?
If there were works like the Four Great Classics, even elderly people would buy them, let alone middle-aged ones.
Thinking this through only strengthened Huang Yifan's determination as a writer.
In his lifetime, he must pass down the 5,000 years of cultural heritage from his previous world into this one.
Half an hour later, the driver dropped him at his destination.
Before getting out, Huang Yifan thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, driver. In the future, you'll definitely go buy books. I believe there will be at least one book worth buying."
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Glossary:
陈慧娴 –"多少柔情多少梦" (Chen Huixian – How Much Tenderness, How Many Dreams)
yt: https://youtu.be/03pboSgpfEY?si=fOxNQQtwYvgiNmeG
"多少柔情多少泪" (How Much Tenderness, How Many Tears)
yt Teresa Teng version: https://youtu.be/Nn17bM2OKnE?si=Jtk3R2kQbcpqME5c
yt Long Piaopiao version: https://youtu.be/I7h-QSb0Md0?si=HgnrLMwZuMCAb6GZ
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