Beijing, Zhongsheng Records Headquarters.

  Liao Liao pushed open the door and came in, plopping down on the sofa with a worried look on his face.

  Then her assistant, Huang Wenjuan, also pushed the door in, took a look at her, and didn't dare say anything. She ran to the water dispenser first, got a cup of warm boiled water, and carefully placed it on the tea table.

  "What did Director Zheng say?" she asked.

  "No way!" Liao Liao said.

  Huang Wenjuan uttered an "oh" and didn't dare ask further, carefully walking over to sit beside her.

  Since Liao Liao released her first single, she has been assisting Liao Liao. After a year of getting along, they are both in their 20s and have similar personalities, so their relationship is quite good. Moreover, she also knows that Liao Liao's recent mood is not very good.

  Her first single sold well, especially with her unique voice and wide vocal range, which was highly praised by the music critics. As a result, the company actively arranged for her to release an album, even the boss personally gave her 800,000 yuan in production costs, only slightly less than that of the four top artists in the company. They were completely treating her as a future star and cultivating her. Many people in the company were gossiping about this behind her back, saying all sorts of things. However, it has been more than eight months since the album was prepared, and they have collected 50-60 songs, but the album is still far from being finalized - only five songs have been officially confirmed!

  At this rate, it would be considered efficient if the album production can be completed by the end of the year!

  All sorts of gossip have been circulating in the company for a long time. To be honest, those waiting to see her make a fool of herself far outnumber those hoping for her success, and by a huge margin!

  Who wouldn't worry if they were in this situation?

  To be honest, even Liao Liao himself admits that President Zheng has been quite generous to him. Moreover, he is also very aware that the attention from the company's high-level executives, the support of album producer Zhao Jie, and the 800,000 yuan production budget personally approved by President Zheng are all opportunities for his own rise that are hard to come by.

  There are only two reasons for this.

  First, Changsheng Records is only a mid-sized record company in the industry. Although the so-called "Four Big Names" each have at least one platinum album, all four are male singers. Before Liao Liao joined, none of the female singers in the company could make a name for themselves, so the company's development was actually severely deformed.

  Secondly, the current structure of the company, apart from Zheng's leadership, is dominated by three people: Art Director Du Xiaoming and Deputy Directors Zhao Meifeng and Sima Jie. They are known as the "three chariots" of the company, overseeing nearly twenty singers. However, among these three leaders, Du Xiaoming alone has control over three out of four top-tier artists, making him overly powerful. Sima Jie only has influence over newly signed artists and has little authority otherwise, making it difficult for him to compete. Zhao Meifeng, on the other hand, still wants to compete because she has a platinum-level artist under her management.

  After Liao Liao signed, only one single was released to test the waters, and then he was favored by Zhao Mei Feng. Not only did she help him get 800,000 yuan in production costs from Zheng Zong, but also personally took on the role of producer for Liao Liao's new album, showing a clear attitude of wanting to vigorously promote Liao Liao.

  The problem is, Liao Liao obviously isn't someone who listens very well.

  And when it comes to choosing songs, she has her own unique standards that no one can persuade!

  So her album tanked.

  She won't compromise on something that doesn't satisfy her, no matter what the producer says, she'd rather die than give in!

  …………

  The two people didn't speak, and the rest room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

  After a while, Huang Wenguan couldn't hold on anymore and had to take the initiative to speak up, saying: "Or, Liao Liao sister, you can slightly lower your standards?"

  Liao Liao turned his head and glanced at her with a distracted expression.

  "You see, the company has helped collect so many songs already, and only five of them are usable? I know, I know, your standards are high and you're picking out the best ones. But look, we can't just keep stalling like this, I've recently heard that not just people in the company, but even Zheng Zong and Du Dongjian, they all have some opinions about you, if we drag this on any longer, I'm afraid that..."

  Liao took a deep breath and got up from the sofa, pacing back and forth in the rest room.

  She stood up, and Huang Wenjuan also quickly followed suit, saying: "Anyway, we already have five excellent songs as the foundation, and they were all personally selected by you. Any one of them can guarantee high quality, so... how about this? For the remaining five songs, let's just pick a few that are roughly similar from the mediocre ones, first fill up the numbers, release the album, and then worry about it later?"

  Liao Liao turned around and looked at her, apparently also having some feelings.

  What is the situation in the company now, Huang Wenjuan knows, she knows even more.

  Moreover, she also knew that continuing to drag it out like this wouldn't work, and who knows, one day President Zheng might get unhappy and directly cancel the album project, at which point it would really become a joke.

  Then she nodded to Huang Wenjuan to continue speaking.

  Huang Wenjuan received an encouraging signal, and her confidence suddenly increased. She hurriedly continued: "When our album is released, with the five well-made tracks as a foundation, the sales will not be bad at all! By then, when it's time to release the next album, you'll have the sales of the previous one to rely on. Even if it takes three years to produce, no one will dare to gossip!"

  This line of thinking is obviously very reasonable.

  Liao Liao nodded at first, but soon she couldn't help shaking her head.

  At the same time, that anxious feeling appeared on his face again.

  Pacing back and forth in the rest room, her eyes met those of the little assistant, full of expectation. She suddenly said: "I just wonder, to find a good song, why is it so difficult?"

  Although she was just a small assistant, after all, she had become familiar with the situation. Once the conversation started, her courage also increased slightly. At this time, Huang Wenjuan couldn't help but curl up her mouth and say, "I'm telling you, sister, we've already received 73 songs, and you don't know how many people in the company are eyeing them covetously! I even heard someone blowing wind to Director Du, saying that we're monopolizing so many songs without using them. It's better to give them to other singers! If it weren't for Zhao sister blocking the way, I estimate that except for those five songs, the others would have been snatched away long ago... Everyone wants to grab them, and they're not even top-notch!"

  Liao Liao shook his head and said, "You don't understand!"

  She took two more steps and said, "There are some good songs in those lyrics, but the problem is... I always feel like something's missing. So, if we say there are a few good songs, that's okay, but if we say they're masterpieces... no way!"

  "Mianmian teacher's song "Yin Tian" isn't a masterpiece? He is a big shot in the lyrics and music industry, it's said that even Zheng Zong personally came out to fight for this song. In the company, there are the most people keeping an eye on this song!"

  Liao Liao shook his head, "That song is too petty and not suitable for me. You don't understand, I've already told Zhao Jie that I didn't want to sing it, she's reserving it for someone else, it has nothing to do with me!"

  Huang Wenjuan was at a loss. She knew that this would involve internal personnel and resource struggles within the company, which was not something she, as a small assistant, could comment on. So, she avoided talking about it and only said: "But now, we really don't have any other songs to choose from! You just went to find Zheng Zong, didn't he say no?"

  Liao Liao walked back and sat down, saying helplessly: "Director Zheng said that the songs we can find are just these. If I'm still not satisfied, let me go out and invite songs myself!"

  Huang Wenjuan was speechless upon hearing this.

  Let yourself be invited to sing... isn't that just letting go and ignoring you?

  Although she has only been an assistant to Liao Liao at the record company for a year, Huang Wenjuan still has some understanding of the music circle.

  To be strict, this circle is not big.

  Top producers and songwriters in the circle often have fixed collaborators, and those producers usually only produce albums for a few or even just one person. Similarly, top lyricists and composers tend to prioritize showing their works to old acquaintances first, and only if they confirm that the style doesn't fit will it be circulated among major music companies and record labels, like the song "Rainy Day" by Momo that Zheng personally came to ask for earlier.

  Moreover, it is said that those top-notch producers, fixed partners of lyricists and composers, once they reach a certain level, are no longer just taking the basic manuscript fees and production fees. They can even participate in the sales distribution of the album.

  So, in the music industry, it's common for a popular singer to have a powerful producer and a relatively fixed circle of lyricists and composers behind them.

  So, there are so many good things, but too few can be circulated out.

  Of course, it's not that there are no good works by lyricists and songwriters who haven't reached that level. Among the best works that appear in this circle every year, those top-notch lyricists and songwriters account for at most half of them, while the remaining half will be some ordinary authors who occasionally burst with inspiration, or even new authors.

  But the problem is, first of all, those good works may not necessarily be available for you to choose from. By the time you know about them or hear about them, they have already been reserved or bought by someone else, and some have even been released as records. Secondly, even if a song is delivered to your company as soon as it's created, can the person selecting songs really pick it out in the first instance? In this circle, there are many good works that were overlooked at first but later discovered!

  And once a work becomes popular, it is obvious that the status of the lyricist and composer will immediately rise, and it will not be easy to find them to invite them to sing again.

  To put it bluntly, even if someone has a good work, they will first provide it to top singers. On the one hand, they hope to sell it at a higher price; on the other hand, they also hope to use the popularity and strength of top singers to make their own work more popular.

  So, for a newcomer like Liao Liao, how many chances will she have to get works that satisfy or even surprise her? Especially... her requirements are so high!

  Too commercialized... no thanks.

  Lyrics and melody that don't meet certain standards... no good.

  Things that don't conform to one's own aesthetic style and taste... are not wanted.

  So, in eight months' time, out of 73 songs, she only chose four. Adding to that one song selected from her own dozens of works, they barely made up five songs.

  Want it again... none left.

  Producer Zhao Jie couldn't find her, and even Zheng Zong, the big boss, let her go with the flow.

  …………

  After walking a few more steps in the house, Liao Liao suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Huang Wenjuan, asking: "Do you have paper and pen?"

  Huang Wenjuan was taken aback for a moment, then immediately pulled out her work log and a neutral pen from her pocket and handed them over. Then she saw Liao Liao take it, flip to a blank page, hesitate for a moment, and start writing.

  Huang Wenjuan was initially a bit excited, thinking that she had suddenly come up with inspiration, but when she went closer to take a look, it turned out to be one name after another.

  She scribbled down a dozen or so in one breath, and then slowed down, thinking for a moment before writing another name or two - after all, Assistant Huang Wenjuan had been doing this for a year now, and even if she had known nothing about the music circle beforehand, she would have picked up some knowledge by now.

  All lyrics and music were written by them.

  And they are all well-known lyricists and songwriters in the circle.

  She was taken aback.

  After more than ten minutes, the notebook had already written dozens of names, as Huang Wenjuan knew, the top songwriters in the circle were almost caught off guard.

  Then, with his left hand holding a notebook, Liao Liao started biting his pen.

  She bit for a while, then crossed out one name on her notebook. She bit again, and another name was crossed out.

  In no time at all, twenty-odd people were reduced to just seven or eight.

  Huang Wenjuan glanced over and soon figured it out: those who were destined to not receive the song, had retreated or semi-retreated, or had already received someone else's work but didn't plan on using it - like Mianmian - these people were all crossed off by Liao Liao.

  After thinking for a moment, Liao Liao spread out the book on the tea table and said, "It's them!"

  Huang Wenjuan had a feeling of impending doom and asked: "Sister, what are you trying to do?"