CHAPTER 88: CHAPTER 84: YOUMENG? WHAT IS THIS DELICIOUS THING?

After making up his mind, Chu Tian quickly extracted the several songs he now had from the system:

"Direction of Light,"

"Hello Tomorrow,"

"My Dream,"

"The Farthest Place I Can See,"

"Flower In The Wonderland,"

"Invisible Wings,"

and "Blooming All The Way."

That made seven songs. It was enough for an EP with one or two songs, or a mini-album with five or six.

In the era of CDs, most albums typically contained a standard ten songs, though sometimes there would be slight variations. Of course, there were also deluxe edition albums, usually ranging from twelve to sixteen songs.

Now, how many songs should I use? he wondered.

Forget it, who cares? As long as I give her the songs, that’s enough. Let her worry about what kind of album to release and how many songs it should contain, he thought.

With this in mind, he transferred all the songs to a single USB flash drive. It had to be this way. One song per flash drive would be far too conspicuous.

I have no idea where the system gets these flash drives from, but they never disappear after use. Xu Qingqiu has already accumulated several. Bringing over a whole bunch more would definitely draw too much attention. So, it’s better to consolidate them all, he decided.

Just as he finished sorting the songs, Chu Tian suddenly remembered the authorization letters. He had registered the copyright for all these songs. Without authorization, Xu Qingqiu couldn’t sing them.

So, he quickly began drafting the authorization letters, preparing seven copies in one go. Just as he was about to print them, he suddenly remembered the camera in the office.

Phew, that was close. I almost forgot, he sighed in relief.

The camera was right above his head, positioned so it couldn’t capture him directly. However, if he moved forward, it would see everything. I nearly slipped up after concealing this for so long.

It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to be secretive. Lately, however, Xu Qingqiu had been nudging him, both subtly and not so subtly, to enter the entertainment industry. She had been persistent even though his voice was currently as rough as a drake’s. If she found out he could also write songs, wouldn’t she make sure the whole world knew? Where would I find any peace then? The sheer number of calls requesting songs would probably drive me mad. To avoid trouble, it’s better to keep a low profile, just like now. If people can’t find me, not only will I be rid of the hassle, but all those overt and covert schemes will naturally disappear too. Without a target, who can they scheme against?

Heh! He mentally patted himself on the back for his wit. Just as Chu Tian was about to leave with his things, a thought crossed his mind, and the USB drives on the desk instantly disappeared.

Damn! These things can be recycled?

He had just seen a system notification and discovered the flash drives could be recycled. And they weren’t cheap either—one thousand Reputation Points each!

You should’ve said so earlier!

After recycling all the flash drives, he gathered his belongings and casually left the company. He went downstairs, grabbed a meal, strolled around for a bit, and conveniently found a print shop to print the authorization letters.

He took his time, returning leisurely about an hour later. He wasn’t lacking in counter-surveillance awareness, having read his fair share of detective novels in his previous life.

Outside the company building, he found an electrical cable, followed it to a junction box, and poured the bottled water he was holding onto it.

With a burst of electrical sparks and a POP, the power line immediately went dark and became unresponsive.

The circuit must have tripped, he knew.

The electrical design of modern office buildings is very strict. There’s a main circuit breaker for the entire building, each floor has its own safety switch, and the wiring on each floor is further divided into different zones. The advantage of this setup is that it facilitates troubleshooting and minimizes damage. Otherwise, if one company accidentally caused a blackout in the entire building by pouring water into a socket, it would be a real headache for everyone.

He had learned about this when he asked an extra question during the installation of the surveillance system. He’d even spent half a day helping out, never expecting this knowledge would come in handy.

After the power went out, Chu Tian returned to the company entrance. The access door had an offline mode, so the power outage didn’t affect it at all. He directly opened the door and went in.

To prevent the power from suddenly coming back on, he specifically went to the corner and turned off the surveillance system’s power supply. Only then did he open Xu Qingqiu’s office door and place the items inside.

Wait, that’s not right. I’ve left the items, but how will I get the money? I didn’t ask for money before, so I let that slide as returning a favor or giving a gift. But I can’t just let these go without payment, can I? I don’t care too much, but I’m not a pushover either. Using my own account is definitely unrealistic; bank transfers require real-name verification. But using Xu Qingqiu’s? That’s even less viable. Once it’s linked to mobile banking, SMS notifications would expose me. Cash? Besides the hassle, withdrawing money would still alert the account holder, unless it’s a small amount from an ATM. No one monitors those, but they still have cameras. Xu Qingqiu definitely checks the surveillance footage. I can’t just withdraw money in twenty-thousand increments every time I need cash, can I?

Unable to think of a good solution on the spot, he could only scribble a few lines on a piece of paper:

"Please consider the previous songs a gift from me; no need to worry about payment. For these new songs, we’ll split the profits 80/20—I get eighty percent, you get twenty. This is non-negotiable.

My share of the profits should be placed on a card and temporarily kept with you. Leave it on the desk. I will find a time to retrieve it.

Oh, and the seven songs come with letters of authorization. Feel free to use them without worrying about who I am. Just consider me a friend.

Additionally, there might be a few more songs to come. Stay tuned.

—Youmeng"

Looking at what he’d written, Chu Tian nodded in satisfaction. I’ve said everything I needed to, and the message is clear. As for how to actually get the money, I’ll have to figure that out later.

He also took out the authorization letters, signed them, and placed them on the desk, using the USB drive to weigh them down. Everything was just right.

Will my handwriting reveal my identity? Fortunately, as a transmigrator, I happen to have two different handwriting styles. In other words, I can write in my predecessor’s style and in the style from my previous life. One person with two handwriting styles—this disguise isn’t too difficult to manage at all.

After making sure everything was in order, he glanced around. The power was still out, so it seemed no one had noticed yet. He then turned the surveillance system’s power back on, carefully closed the door, and quietly left.

「The next morning.」

The first person to arrive at the office noticed the power outage and quickly found someone to fix it. It was a minor issue: the circuit breaker had just tripped. Flipping it back on was enough, as long as it didn’t trip again, which would indicate there was no electrical leak.

Just as they fixed the issue, Xu Qingqiu and Yiyi arrived, both in high spirits.

"Good morning, everyone!" Xu Qingqiu greeted.

"Good morning, President Xu."

"Sister Qiu, you look really beautiful today!"

"Hahaha, thank you. You’re so sweet," Xu Qingqiu replied.

While greeting others, Xu Qingqiu pushed open her office door, still chatting with Yiyi.

"Yiyi, I’m probably going to be tormented by Chu Tian all day today. Go downstairs later and buy us some good food; I don’t want to starve again~"

"Okay, Sister Qiu. What would you like to eat? I’ll go down in advance to buy it."

"Hmm, today, I feel like having honey glutinous rice with red beans, durian mochi with a bursting filling, strawberry boba yogurt, and also..."

Xu Qingqiu was hanging up her bag, enthusiastically listing her cravings, when she suddenly went quiet mid-sentence.

"And also what?" Yiyi prompted when Xu Qingqiu paused.

"Youmeng?" Xu Qingqiu murmured, her eyes fixed on something on her desk.

"Youmeng? What kind of food is that? Where can I buy it?" Yiyi asked, still thinking about snacks.

Yiyi hadn’t realized what was happening yet. Xu Qingqiu’s attention, however, had already shifted from food to the dream-like USB drive on her desk.