Chapter 13: The Last Chance

"Oh, is little Su off to make a submission?"

"Good luck! Do your best to win this project!"

"If you do, our team two will benefit from it too!"

As Su Chen stepped out of Liu Wenxiong's office cubicle, he ran into the others who had just finished gossiping in the meeting room.

One of the senior composers looked at Su Chen with exaggerated surprise. Though the words sounded encouraging, the tone dripped with mockery.

"That's right! Inspiration comes like a burst dam—impossible to hold back!"

"You can't be stuck, can you?"

"A burst? That's serious!"

"Sounds like a medical problem—you should get that checked out!"

Su Chen wasn't one to tolerate this kind of person. Once, he might have stayed silent; twice, he would let it go. But if you kept pushing, you only got worse.

Not only did this guy never rein himself in—he just got bolder each time.

"Pfft!"

Nearby, Dong Xiaojie was drinking water. The moment she heard this, she couldn't help spraying it out, drenching Su Chen.

"Sorry, sorry, I... cough, cough..."

She whipped out a tissue to help Su Chen as she apologized, still unable to stop coughing and laughing.

The rest didn't react as obviously, but quite a few were secretly snickering.

This particular man always acted high-profile, seeming brash and forthright on the surface. But the things he did often left people disapproving. Two-faced—one way in public, another in private. He made fun of others behind their backs all the time.

Now, with Su Chen, the newcomer, he was openly mocking. Ever since Su Chen joined, whenever there was ridicule in the composition department, it was almost always instigated by him, with the others just echoing along.

"You—!"

Su Chen's retort left him speechless; he could only grunt in frustration and fall silent.

"Oh, I'll be working all night tonight—I've got to finish a song."

"Eight hundred thousand—that's enough to buy a house back home!"

"You've got to have dreams! Who knows, maybe it'll be me!"

Seeing the tension, Chen Yang tried to smooth things over.

With that, the atmosphere immediately lightened.

"Haha! Good luck, Xiao Chen. And you too, Su! Young people are sharp—it’s easy for you to come up with something."

Others chimed in as well.

Chen Yang smiled and said no more. He still had confidence in his song.

Inside his cubicle, Liu Wenxiong anxiously tugged at his hair. Realizing that the top of his head was nearly bald, he quickly smoothed the hair on both sides of his receding hairline, trying to cover the shiny scalp with what stubborn tufts he had left.

How hard it was to come up with a good song! Right now, with over thirty people in the company's composition department split into two teams, there were only five silver-level composers in total—three in Team One, two in Team Two.

They used to have Lao Jie, a gold-level composer, to hold the fort, but he'd jumped ship. Now, trying to carry a project like this was truly difficult! Especially when it came to big projects—the competition was fierce.

Every piece they sent to the client was rejected, one by one. Not good enough! Too high expectations!

But there was nothing to be done—the client was king, after all. And this time the client was an internationally renowned director.

Given the current situation, all hope was pinned on Mr. Wang's strategy: a hefty reward, in hopes that someone would produce a masterpiece.

As he pondered, Liu Wenxiong also listened to related songs online, hoping for inspiration or a shortcut. Even if he had to spend some money, as long as the company's reputation could be saved, it would be worth it.

The value of a song wasn't just in the song itself. If they could leverage Director Li Chengnian's fame to push the song to a certain level of popularity, the company would not only regain its standing but also revive its fortunes.

He sat there pondering until late at night—yet came up empty-handed.

Rubbing his tired eyes, he stretched, ready to head home. At this point, all he could do was leave it to fate.

Just as he was about to get up, his eye caught the sheet music Su Chen had handed in. He hesitated, then, almost against his will, picked it up for a look.

Just one glance!

Hmm? His heart skipped a beat.

A nine-tailed fox’s perspective?

He read on.

The lyrics were excellent! Far superior to Lao Jie’s work.

Just the lyrics alone took the edge. And the melody?

Liu Wenxiong had started as a composer before moving into management. Though he hadn’t composed in years, his fundamentals were still strong.

He tried humming along, following the sheet music.

A masterpiece!

This was Su Chen’s work?

But he’d only had ten-odd minutes!

Genius?

His hands trembled with excitement as he held the page, but he couldn’t care less about that now.

He burst out of his office cubicle, looking in Su Chen’s direction.

There were still a few composers burning the midnight oil, clearly motivated by the day’s announced reward.

"Where’s Su Chen?"

One person looked up sleepily in Su Chen’s direction and replied, "He should be off work by now!"

"Do you need something from him? Should I call him?"

Liu Wenxiong waved it off and hurried straight to Kong Qishui’s office.

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The next morning, just as Su Chen finished clocking in and was about to sit down, he saw Liu Wenxiong waving at him with a beaming smile.

"Su, come to my office for a moment!"

It felt like a gentle breeze on the face.

"Hey, what’s gotten into Old Liu today? Did I just see him smile? Was I seeing things?"

"You weren’t seeing things—I saw it too."

"Is the sun rising in the west? That smile looked just like my neighbor, Old Wang! So kind and friendly!"

"Maybe he’s been possessed?"

One of the composers joked.

"I think so!"

Once Su Chen sat down in the office, Liu Wenxiong couldn’t hide his impatience.

"Su, did you write this piece?"

Su Chen nodded in response.

"In just ten-odd minutes?" Liu Wenxiong asked in disbelief.

"No, I saw a story when I was in college, and later, inspired by it, I wrote this song. When I saw the 'Strange Tales' project, it felt very fitting, so I decided to use it."

Su Chen thought it best to stay humble.

"Ah!"

Liu Wenxiong let out a long breath and nodded. It was both as he’d expected, and a little disappointing.

"Last night, I showed this song to Director Kong and Mr. Wang. They both agreed—it fits the film’s theme perfectly, and the quality is outstanding. It’s every bit as good as Lao Jie’s song."

"I saw you’d left for the day, so I didn’t disturb you."

"Today, your main task is to record a demo of this song and get it to the production team as soon as possible! This might be our last chance."

Su Chen nodded. "Of course, I’ll cooperate fully!"

He knew the process well—for a client, you typically recorded a simple demo. It didn’t have to be fully arranged, but the lyrics and melody had to be clear.

"Come on, follow me!"