The following days.
Major dia outlets reported the news of Xian Yu becoming the Maestro everywhere.
Lin Yuan kept shuttling between various banquet engagents.
With good news, one had to treat others to a al or send out red envelopes.
This seed to be a glorious tradition at Blue Star.
And becoming the Maestro was an occasion that certainly couldn't escape social interactions.
Lin Yuan didn't resist this, or else he wouldn't have accepted them one by one.
That day.
Lin Yuan finally faced the last banquet.
The gathering of the Maestros.
The invitation was sent out by Zheng Jing and Yang Zhongming.
And the eting place was the sa club where Lin Yuan had t Lu Sheng before.
The club was nad "Wisdom".
Obviously.
This Wisdom club was a gathering headquarters for so well-acquainted Maestros.
"In the future, you can co over whenever you want. Our chairman is one of the shareholders of this club, and the other shareholders are the bosses of several large entertainnt companies at Blue Star. So all the facilities here are provided free of charge to Maestros. Without a Maestro's lead, ordinary people have no way to get in, no matter how rich they are. The identity of a Maestro is the only pass to get here,"
Zheng Jing explained to Lin Yuan with a smile.
Lin Yuan curiously surveyed his surroundings.
He hadn't paid much attention the last ti he was here, but now that he looked around, he realized that the club was decorated very luxuriously and subtly, built entirely around the the of music. As he walked along the corridor, he saw rooms filled with various musical instrunts, including top-notch sound equipnt and other expensive-looking items. There were also high-end food and drinks available for the taking, or one could ask the waitstaff for assistance.
"How does the club make money?"
Zheng Jing couldn't help but laugh at Lin Yuan's question:
"This is a private gathering place for a group of Maestros. Just the resource itself is worth a fortune. Moreover, apart from the Maestros, occasionally so people looking for collaborations with Maestros manage to get in through relevant channels. They have to pay each ti they co here, considering they might strike a big deal. Not to ntion, the bosses of the companies the Maestros belong to are already shareholders here. Take our chairman's shares, for instance. Do you think the chairman would charge you?"
"I see."
Maestros have their own world.
It wasn't until Lin Yuan officially beca a Maestro that Zheng Jing and Yang Zhongming could bring him into this circle.
This was normal.
People from different levels have different circles. Certain communications can only take place among people in the sa field and at the sa level. Otherwise, it's like talking to a wall.
"This is the case in Zhong Continent as well."
Zheng Jing said with a smile, "Each place has its circles. This club is the exclusive circle for Maestros of Qin Continent. Maestros from other continents have their own eting spots. Now that I've brought you in, many people are quite looking forward to you joining."
With that, Zheng Jing pushed open a room door.
As Lin Yuan entered, he imdiately saw several familiar faces.
Yin Dong.
Ye Zhi Qiu.
And Lu Sheng.
Including so other Maestros that Lin Yuan had interacted with on the variety show "Our Song".
"Xian Yu, welco,"
a Maestro said with a smile as he spoke up.
"Hello,"
Lin Yuan recognized the man, Maestro An Xin, whom he had encountered once in a previous season's charts.
The other Maestros also showed friendly smiles, all turning their attention to Lin Yuan as soon as he entered.
"Xian Yu!"
Lu Sheng wasn't shy, and as soon as he saw Lin Yuan, he stood up and said with a smile, "Congratulations on becoming a Maestro. You don't have to feel constrained here, there are no special rules; it's just about sitting down, eating, and chatting together."
Lin Yuan was taken aback and nodded.
The room was spacious, with different tables and sofas where everyone was chatting in small groups.
This place was completely different from the other banquets he had attended before.
"Feel free to sit anywhere,"
Lu Sheng lead Lin Yuan to a table.
Zheng Jing and Yang Zhongming joined them at the sa table.
Another Maestro at the table was listening to music with headphones on. Seeing the others, he took off his headphones and said with a smile:
"Xian Yu, hello, I'm Chen Hexuan. We've interacted before."
"Hello."
Lin Yuan realized that he had dealt with quite a few Maestros, most of which involved battling it out on the seasonal charts.
"Still fiddling with your crappy headphones, huh."
Lu Sheng said with a smile, clearly familiar with Chen Hexuan.
Chen Hexuan pouted, "If I'm being paid, I have to do the job. These headphones are pretty good, I'll send you a pair once they're released."
"Chen Hexuan has the best ears among the Maestros."
Seeing Lin Yuan's curiosity, Yang Zhongming spoke up to explain, "This new pair of headphones developed by Nai Technology was tested by him; they wanted him to provide feedback for the tech departnt to make improvents."
"That's impressive."
Lin Yuan exclaid, surprised. Could Maestros earn extra money like this?
"I'm not as impressive as you are."
Chen Hexuan laughed, then turned to Lu Sheng, "You listen too, does the bass part for the male vocals lack sothing?"
"Hmm."
Lu Sheng put on the headphones to listen for a while and began discussing with Chen Hexuan.
"Without dinner parties, things here are simple, we all help each other out."
Seeing Lin Yuan still curious, Yang Zhongming continued to explain, "Like at that table to the south, Yin Dong is discussing his new song with Ye Zhi Qiu and others, seeking their opinions; or at the north side, Liu Rui is asking people to write a song for her niece, after all, Maestros aren't necessarily adept at all styles..."
"Basically, this is a mutual aid society," Zheng Jing said. "Here, you can see so collaborative intentions from companies. The pay is good, and the goal is to invite the Maestros present to help write songs, just like on that big screen on the wall behind you."
Lin Yuan turned his head to look, and it was true.
The big screen advertised offers of a certain amount of money for a Maestro to co forward and tailor-make a new song for so company's artist.
There was also a ga company seeking a Maestro to take on the ga background music.
Other offers for custom-made songs from different continents were abundant as well.
Even so advertising companies were collecting music for their comrcials here.
Zheng Jing said, "If you're interested in a collaboration, just let the waiter know, and they will contact the parties and our company for you."
Lin Yuan understood.
Lu Sheng seed to have finished his discussion with Chen Hexuan and looked toward Lin Yuan, "There's another thing. Here, if soone wants to release a new song, they'll notify in advance, except for the 'Battle of the Gods,' ya know. This way, everyone can avoid overlapping and prevent the competition among Maestros from getting too fierce. This is only for Qin Continent's Maestros, though. We don't need to coordinate with the other continents; we'll just roll up our sleeves and get to work."
Lin Yuan: "..."
No wonder the number of Maestros releasing songs each season is limited.
Turns out it's mostly pre-arranged among the Maestros of different continents.
"By the way."
Yang Zhongming suddenly added, "The 'Battle of the Gods' at the end of the year has confird that there will be composers from Zhong Continent aiming to snipe, and there are two of them—one should be in pop music, the other in classical piano. Climbing to the top with a piano piece isn't easy, so that should be about getting a professional reputation. Your biggest competitor on the seasonal charts is still pop music."
"Two?"
Lu Sheng was a bit stunned, then snorted, "That's ruthless, sending out two just to stop Xian Yu's twelve successive championships?"
"Xian Yu's recent prominence is too much."
Yang Zhongming said, "If it were not for his record as Blue Star's youngest Maestro after eleven consecutive championships, they probably would have only sent one."
"Actually, it's no different than facing one person."
Zheng Jing told Lin Yuan, "I know the one responsible for the piano piece. He's into the classical piano style. It's quite difficult for that genre to top the seasonal charts, so he's aiming to beat you on professional acclaim, as the barrier to appreciating classical piano is quite high. But it doesn't matter if we lose in terms of acclaim as long as we secure a ranking. However, you should really watch out for the other one—a top-notch Maestro from Chu Continent, Ito Makoto. After entering Zhong Continent fifteen years ago, he hasn't been back to his holand for a long ti. His return this ti is definitely for you."
"Hmm."
Lin Yuan nodded thoughtfully.
A pop song, and a classical piano piece?
Lu Sheng suddenly laughed, "They still underestimate him. Ito Makoto is less proficient at writing pop songs than at pure music. They definitely thought you had no more tricks up your sleeve, so they ca up with this lineup they consider to be a safe bet. But if you can produce another song that's not weaker than 'Blue and White Porcelain' their plan won't be hard to deal with. The key is that you're accurate with the timing of your final move."
"As good as 'Blue and White Porcelain'?"
Lin Yuan considered it. Would 'Nocturne' qualify?
Different people would give different answers, but what's certain is that both songs are first-tier masterpieces of Director Zhou. 'Nocturne' ringing out on a stage to accept awards is no joke—it's the most awarded song among all of Director Zhou's works, without any equal.
As for the classical piano piece... what about adding Chopin's 'Nocturne'?
Combining the two, it's not simply a matter of one plus one equals two.
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ps: The 'Battle of the Gods' strategy is 'Nocturne' plus 'Nocturne.' Actually, so people guessed it. Among all of Director Zhou's works, my personal favorite is this one, unfortunately, I didn't get to write about it in the previous books. As for the symphony and the like, that requires being in Zhong Continent to play; releasing it now would be a bit premature.
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