My agency went bankrupt before I even got on stage.

The four of them each had their own plans for this song. Whether they sang it well or poorly was not important. What mattered was who they sang it with, so they tacitly reserved the center position for Lin Fan.

Li Xiaodong tried to convince him, "Brother Fan, it's really not that we're deliberately giving you the center position, it's just that this part is too high a pitch, none of us can sing it!"

Chen Xianwu chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Fan, you know how bad our singing really is. Only your voice can reach those high notes; we have no chance!"

Zhang Yi suggested, "Why don't we all try it out? Fan-ge, you'll see who can hit the high notes."

Lin Fan thought they made a good point: "Then let's try singing them all!"

Li Xiaodong was the first to go up. It has to be said that Li Xiaodong is fair-skinned and tender, and her voice has a youthful and sunny quality, making her quite recognizable.

However, with the activation of [Forced Skill: Never Sing Off-Key] and [Absolute Pitch], Lin Fan could tell from Li Xiaodong's very first words that the child's singing skills were really not that great!

Chen Xianwu's singing skills are a bit better than Li Xiaodong's, but unfortunately, he really can't reach the high notes!

Not to mention Zhang Yi and Wen Yang, apart from not singing off-key, they have nothing else to offer. Their voices are average, their singing skills are average, and their dancing and rapping abilities are also average, which is why they were chosen for the vocal group.

After all four of them finished singing, they all looked at Lin Fan with expectant, shining eyes. Lin Fan held the lyrics and suddenly didn't want to sing anymore!

These four guys deliberately set a trap for me! They know perfectly well that my only redeeming quality is my singing, yet they still deliberately gave me the center position! Do they really think I don't know what they're up to?

Lin Fan glared fiercely at Li Xiaodong and the other three.

Li Xiaodong was not afraid of Lin Fan at all, after all, he was a man with a "VIP" buff.

"Fan-ge, just give it a try! Even if it's not for yourself, it'll still be good for our group! Think about it, your singing is so good, even Teacher Ding praised you. With you here, this round is basically a pro carrying us!"

Chen Xianwu also said, "Brother Fan, please just let us win! The vocal group is already less competitive, and if a big shot like you has to hold back, then we simply won't be able to compete with the rap and dance groups!"

"Yeah, Fan-ge, please, please, we need a pro to carry us to victory! We want to win without lifting a finger!"

Lin Fan was utterly speechless. It turned out he wasn't the only one thinking about slacking off; these four were slacking off in a different way too! They were even grabbing his leg and yelling, "Please, Brother Fan, take us slacking off with you! After all, you're the professional slacker!"

"Alright, alright! Stop flattering me!" Lin Fan said helplessly. "That's settled then!"

……

With the second performance just around the corner, Zhang Xinlan finally arrived at the factory with a contract to purchase the cover song copyright. Lin Fan felt like he had been waiting forever, and thought that Zhang Xinlan had changed her mind and didn't want the cover song copyright for "Keep Walking in the Rain" anymore.

Lin Fan was unwilling to endure the pain of watching money slip away right in front of him.

Fortunately, Zhang Xinlan did not change her mind.

Zhang Xinlan borrowed a meeting room from the "Morning Star" program team, turned off the live broadcast camera, and handed the contract to Lin Fan and Lian Xiaoyu.

Yes, after receiving the news that Zhang Xinlan had come to Huahai Island, Lian Xiaoyu rushed to Dachang immediately. She had promised Lin Fan that she would help him sign a contract with Zhang Xinlan, so how could she go back on her word!

Even though she didn't actually know how to read contracts, Xiaoyu still had to bite the bullet and get it done! She tried to change Lin Fan's perception of her as "unreliable" and strive to show the image, temperament, and strength of a qualified agent who was on the path to excellence.

Lian Xiaoyu took the contract seriously and carefully reviewed it. Every now and then, she raised questions about some of the clauses and asked Zhang Xinlan's assistant to answer them. She looked very professional.

At least that's how it appears on the surface.

Zhang Xinlan and Lin Fan were chatting casually: "I heard Xia Yan asked you to write a song?"

Lin Fan was surprised: "You knew that too?"

Zhang Xinlan laughed and said, "There are really no secrets in the entertainment industry, and Xia Yan and I are good friends. She is currently on vacation at Huahai Island, so we just started talking about it."

Lin Fan suddenly realized why Lian Xiaoyu had arrived so quickly! It turned out she had learned from Xia Yan that Zhang Xinlan was coming and rushed straight to Dachang.

Zhang Xinlan asked, "How's it going? Have you got any ideas for the song for Xia Yan? I'm really looking forward to it. I believe that with your skills, a song tailored for Xia Yan will definitely be great."

Lin Fan thought to himself that two days had passed since Xia Yan asked him to write a song. Perhaps it was time to start revealing some information? Otherwise, it would be a bit intimidating to just hand over a song to Xia Yan without saying a word.

Lin Fan nodded and said, "I'm starting to get some ideas. If everything goes smoothly, it should be almost finished in a few days."

Zhang Xinlan was surprised. She had only asked casually, but she didn't expect to get such a bombshell out of her!

Is writing a song difficult? It definitely is, because you need to know an instrument, understand music theory, know chords, find rhythms, identify timbres, add grooves, write lyrics based on music, modify music based on lyrics, and so on. These are not things that can be done overnight. Most importantly, you also need inspiration.

Is songwriting easy? It is quite simple, because sometimes inspiration allows you to complete a song in a very short time. In a past life, a certain Zhou, a big shot, suddenly had an inspiration during a break at his concert's after-party and wrote a song in just over ten minutes—"Waiting for You After Class." Although fans criticized the lyrics for not being fancy enough, the song received over 10 comments upon release and won the Song of the Year award at a music awards ceremony that year.

Whether it's songwriting or any other creative endeavor, inspiration is a very important thing.

What exactly is inspiration?

In terms of songwriting, it can be a lyric that slips into your mind unintentionally, a melody that you hum casually, a rhythm that you get by chance, a timbre that you stumble upon on a synthesizer, or even a few extremely ordinary chord progressions. All of these can be considered inspiration.

Inspiration can ignite your desire to create and become the driving force behind your creative process.

However, when inspiration will come and whether you can seize it in time are unknown. You also need to have sufficient professional skills. After all, when inspiration comes, you cannot grasp it if you do not have sufficient musical expertise and professional qualities.

Inspiration is always a gift from heaven to those who are prepared.

Many composers and lyricists record their daily inspirations, savor and play with them at any time, and then combine them with other motifs to gradually create a complete work.

So when Zhang Xinlan heard Lin Fan's reply, she became quite excited: "That's wonderful! I can't wait to hear your new song! If you finish this song, you must tell me. If I don't have any other commitments at that time, I hope to hear Xia Yan's first performance of this song in person!"

Lin Fan chuckled dryly: "Definitely, definitely."