Chapter 93: Promotion to Gold Medal Composer

The morning of November 1st.

Star Orange Entertainment.

Everyone was gathered in the office area, waiting for the release of the results.

The spacious area, left vacant after the failure of a major film project, was now being put to good use.

No one knew where Wang Yan had found such a gigantic display screen, but he had someone install it on the wall of the empty space. It looked genuinely impressive—full of ceremony and anticipation.

Of course, he’d only dared make such a spectacle because he’d already predicted the rankings in advance. Otherwise, if they made such a fuss and failed to make the list, wouldn’t that be utterly humiliating?

Time crept by, minute by minute.

Everyone held their breath.

At last, noon struck.

The data refreshed automatically.

The October “Everyday Melody” Power Rankings were announced.

1. “A Thousand Melodies” — Total sales: 17.81 million
2. “Next Station: Queen” — Total sales: 15.66 million
3. “Worldly Smoke and Fire” — Total sales: 13.94 million
4. “Dignity” — Total sales: 12.64 million
5. “Sunset and Evening Breeze” — Total sales: 12.48 million
6. “Birds and Cicadas” — Total sales: 12.22 million
7. “A Dream Never Woken” — Total sales: 11.09 million

The results matched the predictions almost exactly.

The eighth and ninth spots were taken by two other top-tier singers.

Xi Siyuan, with just her main single, landed at number ten.

“Yes!”

“We did it!”

Thunderous applause erupted throughout Star Orange Entertainment.

We won...

We...

Though the real triumph belonged to Qin Pei and Su Chen, their excitement was undiminished.

Having five songs simultaneously appear on the Power Rankings was an unprecedented achievement.

And this success was sure to elevate the company to a new level.

They were all part of the company, after all. They understood what it meant to share in this glory.

As for whom they had beaten, no one really cared. The triumphant shouts were nothing more than a product of the atmosphere.

That wasn’t important!

What mattered was that their team occupied half of the Power Rankings Top 10.

Apart from congratulating Qin Pei, everyone now regarded Su Chen with even greater fervor.

Outsiders might not know, but they certainly did.

Tang Guo was Su Chen!

With the two songs given to Jiang Yan, all seven songs Su Chen had written made the list, monopolizing the top seven spots.

This was nothing short of terrifying!

To call it a chart massacre would not be an exaggeration.

A genius of this caliber, so closely tied to them—the loss of Lao Jie earlier seemed utterly insignificant by comparison.

The afternoon of November 1st.

The celebrity rankings were released.

Under the composer category, in the list of Gold Composers, Tang Guo’s name now appeared in bold.

Different from the others, there was a rare note appended after Tang Guo’s name:

“Rookie King of the Composer Chart, August 2023. In less than four months since debut, composed ten songs, every one making the charts, not a single failure—fully deserving of Gold Composer status!”

In just a few short lines, Tang Guo’s achievements were laid out in their entirety.

It was only then that the general public realized the magnitude of Tang Guo’s accomplishments!

With such high praise from the official ranking, Tang Guo’s standing as a Gold Composer became all the more valuable.

Su Chen was quite satisfied with this outcome.

Submitting five songs to compete was already a risky move. Even if all five charted, it would only just meet the requirements for promotion to Gold Composer.

Whether he’d be promoted still depended on the official evaluation by WeiWave.

He hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly in the end.

This was indeed a pleasant surprise.

“From now on, Su Chen is the company’s number one. You all have to treat him like royalty, understand?” Wang Yan, elated beyond measure, announced loudly. After several months, Star Orange Entertainment had finally welcomed another Gold Composer—one of such high caliber, no less.

The crowd responded with laughter and applause.

They all knew Wang Yan was exaggerating. The company could never be entirely dictated by a single person, even one as talented as Su Chen.

Nevertheless, his words made it clear just how highly Su Chen was regarded.

In truth, even without such declarations, they would have shown Su Chen special respect.

He was a veritable gold mine—no one wanted to miss out.

They were eager to curry favor, never to offend.

Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an gazed at Su Chen with adoration. The others’ eyes were equally ablaze.

Even Wu Di, normally so proud, showed subtle changes in his expression, leaving Su Chen a little uncomfortable.

“We’re all colleagues here, nothing special! Let’s just carry on as usual,” Su Chen said, though no one would ever treat him as they had before.

With each new achievement, they would only grow more respectful.

That was simply human nature.

After reviewing the composer rankings, Wang Yan instructed his assistant to switch to the singer category.

The singer rankings ranged from first to fifth tier, the lower the tier, the more names on the list.

To save time, Wang Yan had his assistant search the second-tier list for Qin Pei’s name.

That was their goal.

If Qin Pei couldn’t be found among the second-tier singers, the ranking would hold little meaning for them.

There were nearly a hundred names on the second-tier list.

Scrolling down from the top, they soon found Qin Pei’s name.

To their surprise, Qin Pei wasn’t at the bottom, but had shot straight into the mid-lower range of the second tier.

Though still some distance from the top singers, merely entering the second tier with her debut was a dazzling achievement.

Qin Pei’s eyes were red as she thanked every friend who congratulated her.

When it was Su Chen’s turn, she opened her arms and gave him a huge hug.

Together with “White Fox,” a total of six songs had turned her fortunes around.

And all of it was thanks to Su Chen.

Warm and gentle, Su Chen dared not linger in the embrace. He gave her a light pat on the back and let go.

Suddenly, remembering something, he turned to Wang Yan and smiled.

“President Wang, I’ve fulfilled my promise to the company!”

Wang Yan was momentarily taken aback, then realized Su Chen was referring to the promise he’d made during the dispute about writing songs for Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an.

Somewhat embarrassed, Wang Yan said,

“Su Chen, that was just a joke back then—you still remember it?”

“No need to take it seriously...”

But Su Chen replied earnestly,

“President Wang, if I made a promise, I’ll keep it!”

Su Chen’s serious tone made Wang Yan’s heart jolt.

Now that Su Chen was a Gold Composer, he was effectively a free agent and could end his contract with the company at any time.

Was Su Chen hinting that he was leaving?

The thought made Wang Yan panic.

“Su Chen, you... you mean—?”

Seeing Wang Yan’s hesitation, Su Chen instantly guessed his concern.

He shook his head with a smile.

“Don’t worry, President Wang. I have no plans to leave for now.”

Wang Yan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But he wasn’t completely at ease.

This sentence was like a seed planted in his heart, ready to sprout anxiety at any moment.

Was there any way to keep Su Chen for good?

Wang Yan racked his brains, searching for a solution.