Close to lunchtime, Professor Lin hurried back home.

Originally he hadn’t planned to come back for lunch, since he had things to do outside.

Lin Wanqing’s father, Professor Lin, was a full professor at the Jin University Music Academy, but aside from teaching, he also had some extra side income.

In this respect, professors all over the world are the same: if you rely solely on a university salary, it’s only a bit better than an average worker’s wages. If you want a better life, you have to find other ways to make money.

Like giving talks at other schools, working as a part-time visiting professor, and so on.

And for Professor Lin, because he was a Jin University professor and also an expert in Guqin, he had even more ways to earn money.

Recently, he’d been scoring the vocals for a domestic horror film, basically composing one of its theme songs.

But he kept feeling it didn’t fit, that he couldn’t capture the right vibe.

And this domestic horror film wasn’t far from its scheduled release date, so he had to get it done as soon as possible.

However, the new semester had just started, and he had to put his energy and time back into teaching.

"Old Lin, why do you look so worn out?"

Lin Wanqing’s mother knew her husband had his own studio, which collaborated with other companies.

Whenever she had time, she would also go over to help out at the studio.

"That horror movie, A Chinese Ghost Story, the theme song and vocals I did for it just don’t match, and the effect is really bad. I don’t want to just phone it in and damage my own reputation and the studio’s reputation."

"Old Lin, you can’t rush that kind of thing. Go wash your hands, call Wanqing out, and get ready for lunch."

Professor Lin went to change out of his suit and tie, then walked to his daughter’s bedroom door and knocked.

"Dad, you’re back?"

"Sweetie, time for lunch."

"Dad, come look at this. I didn’t expect the plays to break a million in just half an hour."

Plays?

Could it be a piano piece his daughter composed herself?

If so, that’d be great!

Professor Lin felt a bit gratified and asked, "Sweetie, is it a piano piece you composed yourself? Why didn’t you let Dad listen to it first?"

"Dad, no, it’s a Guqin vocal piece, and it’s not mine. Ye Qiu gave it to me. Listen and see what you think."

Actually, after Lin Wanqing polished it, it no longer gave people that hair-raising, goosebump-inducing feeling.

But it still felt very different, like it went straight to the heart.

Professor Lin listened for a while, and the more he listened, the more surprised he became.

"Hey, what are you two doing in there instead of coming out to eat?"

Inspiration?

It really was inspiration.

Professor Lin suddenly felt that the female voice in this piece was a perfect fit for the vocals in that horror movie.

"Sweetie, you really are my good girl."

Professor Lin instantly relaxed.

On the way out to eat with Lin Wanqing, his face was still full of joy.

However, these days any creation involves copyright and patents; you can’t just use someone else’s work casually like before.

"Sweetie, those two vocal clips are really good. I want to use them in a part of the movie. Do you think that’d be okay?"

"Dad, I already said they’re not mine, they’re Ye Qiu’s. Ask Ye Qiu yourself."

Ye Qiu’s?

Professor Lin almost forgot.

They really were given to Lin Wanqing by Ye Qiu.

"Then call Ye Qiu for me and ask. I’ll probably be really busy this afternoon."

"Dad, don’t tell me you’ve run out of inspiration and even have to borrow Ye Qiu’s stuff for this."

"Of course not. It’s just that I feel Ye Qiu’s work and that girl’s vocals are a better fit."

Just from listening, he could tell the atmosphere and the vocals inside were a perfect match.

Seeing the look in her father’s eyes, Lin Wanqing went ahead and called Ye Qiu.

At this time, Ye Qiu had already returned to Peach Blossom Source Villa Community. At the villa, he was getting ready to have lunch with Xiaomai.

Seeing that it was a call from Lin Wanqing, Ye Qiu asked, "What’s up?"

"Ye Qiu, here’s the thing. My dad’s studio wants to use those two recording clips of your vocals."

"If they want to use them, just use them," Ye Qiu said directly.

"But they’ll be used for profit. Aren’t you going to ask for any copyright or patent fees?" Lin Wanqing asked in surprise.

"I don’t care about that little bit of money."

"Then... will that Miss Jia have any objections? I’m worried she’ll sue my dad for copyright infringement or something."

"I’ll give her some money when the time comes."

"That’s good, then."

After hanging up, Ye Qiu felt a bit amused. So Professor Lin actually wanted to use that recording as film music.

If he knew that it was actually a female ghost singing for real, he’d probably be too scared to use it at all.

"Dad, Ye Qiu agreed. He said he doesn’t care about that bit of money."

"We still need to sign a contract. How could I just use it outright? The credits will list Ye Qiu and Miss Jia. By the way, what’s that Miss Jia’s full name?"

"Dad, how would I know? Ye Qiu never said."

In the eyes of Lin Wanqing’s parents, Miss Jia was just a young woman with the surname Jia. As for her real name, only Ye Qiu knew.

Still, with such a talented Miss Jia, she should be pretty famous in the music scene, right? But when the couple thought about it, they realized they’d never heard of any big name with the surname Jia.

Anyway, Professor Lin didn’t have time to dwell on that now. With actual material to work from, things were definitely much easier than when he had nothing.

He planned to head back to the company right after lunch, get everything done, and send it to the film side.

After Professor Lin left, Lin Wanqing still felt something was a little strange.

But she went back to her room and checked her computer. The two recordings she’d uploaded had already surpassed five million plays, and shares had topped three hundred thousand.

There were also well over a hundred thousand comments.

Judging from the comments, basically everyone thought the vocals were amazing, but they also felt very scary. They guessed this must be some horror-movie soundtrack, otherwise why would it have that kind of background?

Why did so many people feel that way?

Lin Wanqing couldn’t figure it out.

She could only conclude that Ye Qiu really did know a lot of people, and powerful ones at that.

"Ye Qiu, you’re incredible!" Lin Wanqing called Ye Qiu again and said.

"How do you know if you haven’t tried?" Ye Qiu had just finished lunch and gone back to his room. Seeing it was a call from Lin Wanqing, he answered directly.

Haven’t tried what?

Out of nowhere, Lin Wanqing had no idea what Ye Qiu was talking about.

"I’m talking about those two recordings, the piece you did with that Miss Jia. They’re super popular online right now."

"Oh, that’s all? I thought it was something else. Don’t bother me while I’m gaming."

Ye Qiu had thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be just this little thing.

He hung up directly and continued playing his game. He wasn’t planning to go back to Jin University that afternoon.

Though he did wonder which young lady he should go visit later in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Professor Lin returned to the studio. Together with the studio staff, he worked overtime to extract material from those recording clips and the background, then polished it up and sent it to the film side.

Soon, after the film company received it and listened, they were extremely satisfied.