“Here’s the thing!”
Old Sun cleared his throat and said, “The central government has rolled out a new policy. Apart from key projects that receive national support, some of the other shelved projects are now allowed to bring in private sector funding to conduct joint research with the institutes, with the results shared between both parties!”
Old Chen’s eyes widened. “Really? You’d better not be pulling my leg!”
“Why would I lie to you? The official documents have already come down. But… any research findings will still be mostly owned by the institutes. We can’t let certain private investors turn our research facilities into their own personal playgrounds!”
“Do you even need to say that?” Dean Chen’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “If this really works out, a lot of stalled research projects could be brought back to life.”
“See? Isn’t this great news?” Old Sun spread his hands and said, “From now on, don’t keep looking at me like I’m some kind of monster or class enemy!”
Dean Chen let out a cold laugh. “You old fox—you never make a move without a reward. Besides, even if you hadn’t told me about this policy, it would’ve been announced in a few days anyway. You went out of your way to come here and butter me up, so you must want something. Spit it out—what is it?”
Old Sun chuckled slyly. “You know, I really think you should’ve gone into politics instead of research! What a waste of your talents! But you’re right… I do have a favor to ask.”
“Go on!”
“The 13th Scientific Research Forum is going to be held in our Jiuyang City. Although the Jiuyang municipal government is the host, we’ll still need your institute’s cooperation. After all, this is a major event for the research community!”
Dean Chen raised an eyebrow. “The 13th Scientific Research Forum is being held here? How come I didn’t know about that?”
“The decision was just finalized. I came straight to you with the news the moment I got it!” Old Sun said solemnly. “This forum won’t just feature top domestic experts—there’ll also be many prominent figures from abroad. So we need to be extremely careful.”
Dean Chen’s expression turned serious. This really was a big deal!
If the 13th Scientific Research Forum concluded successfully, it would significantly elevate Jiuyang City’s standing both domestically and internationally.
And more importantly… drawing global attention would make it much easier to attract private funding to revitalize research projects, wouldn’t it?
This was a win-win situation.
After realizing this, Dean Chen smiled and said, “Look here, Old Sun, of course I’ll fully cooperate with this. Did you really have to make a personal trip? A phone call would’ve been plenty!”
Old Sun’s mouth twitched, and his eyes showed a hint of disdain.
A phone call? You’d have chewed me out over the phone!
Of course, Old Sun wasn’t going to hold that against him.
“Oh, by the way, what did you think of that poem I recited earlier?” Dean Chen suddenly asked.
“The poem? The one that goes: ‘Gripping the green mountain and never letting go, roots planted deep in broken rock; weathered by a thousand torments yet standing firm, let the winds blow from east, west, north, or south’?”
Dean Chen nodded.
“Don’t tell me you wrote it!” Old Sun said with a look of contempt. “I know exactly how much literary talent you have!”
“I’m just asking what you think of the poem. Did I ever say I wrote it?”
Old Sun pondered for a moment, then couldn’t help nodding.
“What a great poem! Truly excellent! That opening character ‘grip’ is so vivid and…”
Dean Chen quickly cut him off, looking thoroughly satisfied. “Alright, as long as it’s a good poem, that’s all that matters. Now get lost if you have nothing else to do—I’ve got other things to take care of!”
Old Sun was caught between laughter and tears. You were the one who asked me in the first place!
But… he really hadn’t heard that poem before.
Who could have written it?
“I’ll have to look it up when I get back. What’s gotten into Old Chen, suddenly taking an interest in classical poetry?”
——-
Naturally, Qin Lang had no idea about any of this. He was busy preparing for his very first album!
This would be both his and Qin Yunxuan’s debut album, so it had to be taken seriously.
And this time, his opponent was Wen Yixuan—a bona fide diva.
Although Qin Lang was confident in the classic songs from Earth, if he underestimated the talents of this world, he wouldn’t even know how he’d met his end!
The depth of any world’s cultural heritage should never be taken lightly.
And Wen Yixuan, having been a diva for many years, was certainly not someone to be underestimated.
Especially after Qin Lang had listened to all of Wen Yixuan’s songs—he now had a much clearer understanding of her abilities.
Her vocal technique was superb, her stage presence steady, her emotional delivery full and rich, and her skills polished to perfection!
She truly deserved her status as a diva-level singer. Although she wasn’t great at writing lyrics or composing, her heavenly voice far surpassed Qin Lang’s current level by an immeasurable margin!
Even though Qin Yunxuan had excellent natural gifts, and Qin Lang could bring out the best in her voice, compared to a diva like that, the storytelling quality in the vocals still fell a bit short!
“A formidable opponent. To go head-to-head with someone like her, I’ll have to give it my all!”
Qin Lang fell into deep thought.
“What’s wrong? Feeling stuck?” At that moment, Sister Lin sat down beside him and chuckled. “That’s rare—I haven’t seen you like this in a long time!”
With that, she even pulled out her phone and snapped a few pictures of Qin Lang.
Qin Lang was speechless.
“Come on, tell me about it. Whenever you ran into problems before, you’d always come to me,” Sister Lin said, putting her phone away with a smile. “Is it about the new album?”
Qin Lang nodded. “Yeah, I’m a bit worried about the new album. The biggest issue is that Wen Yixuan is also releasing songs at the same time, and she’s incredibly strong.”
“Looks like our little Xuanxuan hasn’t let her recent victories go to her head!”
Sister Lin reached out and affectionately ruffled Qin Lang’s hair, smiling. “You’ve been performing so brilliantly lately that I even started to wonder if you still needed me. Seeing you like this now, I’m actually relieved!”
Qin Lang huffed in frustration. “What do you mean by that? You think it’s a bad thing that I’m too capable?”
“Of course not! The more amazing you are, the happier President Yun and I are! But at the same time, we also worry more. You’re only in your twenties—you’re still a kid!”
“We want you to grow up quickly, but if you really grow up too fast and don’t need us anymore, we’d feel pretty lost.”
A soft light flickered in Sister Lin’s eyes. “Do you understand what we mean?”
Qin Lang nodded silently.
“Alright, let’s get down to business now. Are you having creative block? Did you run into some problem with the new album?”
Qin Lang’s face showed some distress. “My head’s all jumbled right now. I don’t even know what songs to write for the new album. Dozens of melodies keep echoing in my mind, and I have no idea how to choose!”
The smile on Sister Lin’s face faded.
