CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 45: OPENING A NEW VEST AGAIN!

"Qingqiu, did you get another computer?"

As soon as Li Chunhua returned and entered Xu Qingqiu’s office, she noticed an extra monitor on the desk and curiously asked, "You never used the old one. It just gathered dust. Why did you buy another one?"

Xu Qingqiu hadn’t spoken yet when Yiyi couldn’t help laughing and said, "Sister Hua, that’s just a monitor, for watching the surveillance feed."

"Surveillance? What surveillance?"

Xu Qingqiu didn’t need Yiyi to explain. She turned from the monitor and said, "I had someone install a few cameras. I plan to see who’s been delivering the songs."

"What? Qingqiu, why didn’t you discuss it with me first?"

"Discuss what?"

"The camera installation, of course! Why install surveillance?"

"I obviously want to know who has been delivering the songs."

"But..." Li Chunhua hesitated. "But what if that person doesn’t show up again because of this? Have you considered that?"

Li Chunhua didn’t say it explicitly, but everyone understood her point.

All the songs Xu Qingqiu had performed so far were handled solely by the mysterious Youmeng. If the installation of surveillance scared Youmeng away, she might not have any new songs to sing.

If she were lucky, she could ride her current popularity and find someone else to write songs. But if not, her popularity might gradually decline after the current hype died down.

After all, she was just a singer with decent singing skills—purely a singer, not a creatively-inclined star.

Without new material to support her, no matter how well she sang, she would fade into obscurity.

This wasn’t like the old days; one song could no longer sustain a career for a lifetime.

In the era of the mobile internet, things changed daily. Everything was rapidly evolving, and the entertainment industry was no exception—the turnover was incredibly fast.

No work could maintain popularity forever, and no one could live off one song for a lifetime anymore.

After Li Chunhua finished speaking, the office fell silent. Xu Qingqiu looked out the window and said somberly, "Sister Hua, I understand what you mean. But don’t you want to know who Youmeng really is and what their intentions are?"

"I know I really need their songs, but if this situation remains so unclear, I’d rather not use them."

"Not use them? That’s easy for you to say! But have you thought about the consequences if you don’t have new songs?"

"I have," Xu Qingqiu replied. "Worst case, I’ll just leave the stage. That’s better than living in constant fear."

Li Chunhua widened her eyes, looking at Xu Qingqiu as if she were a stranger.

"Qingqiu, do you really think that?"

"Do you believe leaving the industry will solve everything?"

"And what about them? If you just walk away, what happens to everyone else who depends on you?"

Xu Qingqiu kept avoiding Li Chunhua’s gaze, but her tone remained firm as she said, "The royalties from the previous songs will arrive soon. I can distribute that to everyone. I don’t need a penny for myself; it can be their compensation."

"Fine, never mind them. What about you? What will you do?"

The office fell into a prolonged silence.

Neither Li Chunhua nor Xu Qingqiu wanted to compromise, yet neither wanted to say anything too harsh. They remained at a deadlock.

In the end, it was Li Chunhua who relented.

"Forget it. I know how stubborn you are. Since it’s already come to this, let’s think of something else. I’m really at my wit’s end with you."

Hearing the resignation in Li Chunhua’s voice, Xu Qingqiu slowly turned to look at her. Gradually, a smile she could no longer suppress spread across her face.

Realizing this, she quickly wheedled Li Chunhua, "Sister Hua, I knew you were the best! I’m sorry, but I really want to know who Youmeng is. Please don’t be mad, okay?"

"Alright, alright, get out of my sight! Just looking at you annoys me. When will you ever change that stubborn streak of yours? After all these years, your mulishness hasn’t lessened one bit! Someone’s giving you such great songs for free, and you’re still not satisfied. Why *must* you know who it is?"

"Sister Hua, my conscience is uneasy."

"Fine, fine, Miss Xu. You have your principles and your bottom line. I’m the greedy one, is that it?"

With that said, they had no choice but to seriously discuss how to handle the aftermath if Youmeng didn’t appear again.

"So, what’s the plan?" Li Chunhua asked. "We can’t *really* quit the industry, can we?"

At this, Li Chunhua gave her another glare.

"Oh, Sister Hua, I was just saying that in anger. Honestly, I don’t know either. How about we try to acquire some songs?"

"Acquire how? Haven’t we tried before? Have you seen any established songwriters sell to us? The submissions we get are either from unknowns or are poorly produced. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack, isn’t it?"

"That old fox Ye Zhonghuai probably hasn’t softened his stance. If we go looking to acquire songs now, we’ll get but a pittance at most."

At this, Li Chunhua sighed. Baise Entertainment felt like a huge mountain hanging over their heads.

Logically, how could such a high-ranking second-tier company have the power to impose a blockade on the entire songwriting world?

Yet, they had managed it, which was something Li Chunhua and Xu Qingqiu still couldn’t understand.

Despite this, Xu Qingqiu still clung to a shred of hope.

"Sister Hua, how will we know if we don’t try? It’s been so long, and there hasn’t been any movement from them. They didn’t even make a move when I was on the show. What if it’s possible now?"

"Sigh... alright, let’s give it a try," Li Chunhua conceded. "Actually, with your recent resurgence in popularity, I was already considering helping you release a new album."

"Previously, I planned to use a song from Teacher Youmeng as the lead single, and then see if we could acquire a few others. But now, the prospect of getting more from Youmeng seems bleak..."

At this, Li Chunhua couldn’t help but glower at her again.

"Whatever. Let’s try first and see what happens."

Chu Tian was oblivious to everything happening in the office. He sat at his desk, lost in thought.

In fact, his consciousness had already sunk into the System.

System? Why is my Reputation Points limit still one million? Didn’t I draw a novel from the lottery?

[DING! Please read the task prompt carefully.]

Task prompt? Wasn’t it just about obtaining a work? No, I remember it wrong. It’s about *releasing* a work! That’s right! It needs to be published!

He quickly understood. It looked like he still had to write the novel and post it online. That should be simple enough. Isn’t it just a matter of publishing? Find a website, register an account, and upload it, right? Besides, the System didn’t specify any particular level of success.

With this in mind, he immediately searched online for novel websites. He found the largest and highest-ranked one and directly registered a new account.

The information required wasn’t complicated; he directly used his own details.

As for the pen name, he pondered for a moment. He already had the artistic name Youmeng, so he couldn’t use that for his pen name; it would be too easy for his cover to be blown.

Eventually, Chu Tian, reflecting on his own experiences which felt as ephemeral as a fleeting dream, directly entered ’Nanmeng’ as his pen name.

Youmeng and Nanmeng. They sounded somewhat similar yet distinct. I figure most people wouldn’t connect the two names, yet their similarity makes them catchy and easy to remember.

He clicked ’Confirm,’ and the next step was to create the new work.

Since he had never written a novel in either of his two lifetimes, he could only follow the prompts step by step. When he reached the step for the work’s title, he tried typing ’Candle in the Tomb,’ and it was validated.

But he was stuck on the genre.

[Martial World][Divine Path][Modern][Military][Republic of China][History][Powerful Martial Arts][Western][Western Martial][Mystery]...

Why are these categories so strange? They seem quite different from what I saw in the other world...