Chapter 168: Chapter 168 - 159: Peach and Plum Trees Everywhere—1

Translator: 549690339

Two hours later, a puzzled Xue Liang returned to the Composition Department. His colleagues instantly surrounded him, their faces full of curiosity:

“What did Mr. Lin want with you?”

“You were gone for quite a while!”

“This is the first time Mr. Lin has summoned someone from our department!”

“Mr. Lin isn’t the emperor, why are you using the term ‘summon’?”

“I think ‘summon’ is very fitting, it suits Mr. Lin’s status.”

“That’s true.”

After some chattering, everyone turned to Xue Liang again: “A-Liang, why are you quiet?”

“I…”

Xue Liang looked at everyone, opened his mouth, and after a long time, finally spoke: “I am learning composition from the teacher.”

Everyone was surprised: “The teacher?”

Xue Liang seemed somewhat distracted: “Mr. Lin is my teacher, he said he will instruct me in composition in the future…”

“Really?”

“No wonder you were gone for so long.”

“Mr. Lin taught you for two hours?”

No one saw that coming.

But what was even more unexpected for Xue Liang was that, as he recalled the class, he was filled with awe: “Mr. Lin is too…”

“What?”

Everyone stared at Xue Liang.

After thinking for a while, Xue Liang failed to come up with an appropriate adjective, and it was only when people were about to lose interest and disperse that he finally said: “I believe there is no one in the world who understands composition better than Mr. Lin!”

Everyone: “…”

Then, everyone burst into laughter.

The head of the music department patted Xue Liang’s shoulder: “You are a special one among us because you have never systematically studied composition. So, your professional level is a bit lacking. There’s no doubt that Mr. Lin, as the ace composer, has a more profound understanding of composition than anyone else in this room. But to say that there’s no one in the world who understands composition better than him is a bit of an exaggeration. Aside from Maestro, no one would dare claim to be an unrivaled composer.”

Xue Liang kept silent.

He wanted to tell the group that he had been working hard to improve his knowledge of composition every day and that he had almost self-studied through the university’s composition course.

He wanted to say:

Mr. Lin is on the same level as Maestro!

But he knew none of them would believe him. Only he knew what he had gained from his two-hour study with Mr. Lin!

“It feels like Mr. Lin has fooled Xue Liang.” One of the composers joked.

Xue Liang suddenly felt irritated, he looked at the man and said, “That’s because you don’t understand Mr. Lin!”

“I knew it.” The colleague laughed even harder.

Xue Liang clenched his fist, suddenly calmed down, casually glanced at the man and said, “You’ll understand it later.”

“What?”

The man suddenly became unhappy as well. Xue Liang’s demeanor made him uncomfortable, so he sneered: “Just because you studied with Mr. Lin for a few days, you’ll become a master with supernatural powers? Oh, will you also get a three million deal like Thunderbolt Entertainment? You might have the highest turnover rate in the company, but if I remember correctly, the biggest deal you’ve made had a down payment of only two hundred thousand, right?”

“Joking is joking, but you’ve crossed the line.”

The head frowned, gave the man who had a row with Xue Liang a stern look, then patted Xue Liang’s shoulder: “Study hard, this is a rare opportunity. Mr. Lin selected you because he believes in you the most.”

“Alright.”

Xue Liang nodded vigorously.

The one who had a row with Xue Liang sneered, but did not continue to argue.

Deep down, he was just a little frustrated that Mr. Lin chose to mentor Xue Liang instead of him.

Lin Yuan found it interesting to teach composition because when he activated the Yang Zhongming Task Card, his memories remained clear.

So, while he was instructing Xue Liang, he also had a feeling that he was learning himself.

The character card worked in mysterious ways.

Even though he was teaching others, he felt like he was also teaching himself.

Unfortunately, during the teaching process, he couldn’t enjoy the Teacher’s Halo, Xue Liang reaped all the benefits of it.

“Did my Teacher’s Halo level increase?” Lin Yuan asked the System.

The System replied: “Host’s Teacher’s Halo effect has been increasing slowly, but it has recently stagnated because the host hasn’t taught for a very long time.”

Lin Yuan understood.

He knew that the System was referring to his teaching painting at Qin Art. During that time, Lin Yuan’s Teacher’s Halo effect increased quickly.

“The problem is…”

Lin Yuan frowned: “I am currently teaching only one student, and in total for this task, I’ll teach only three people. Under such circumstances, it will be very difficult for me to continue to increase the Teacher’s Halo.”

“The host has misunderstood.”

The System responded: “The Teacher’s Halo not only increases as the host’s teaching range expands, but also with the quality of the host’s teaching. In other words, even if the host only teaches one person, if the host can elevate this person to a certain level, the Teacher’s Halo will also get a boost effect, perhaps even level up!”

Lin Yuan valued the Teacher’s Halo a lot.

Because teaching can earn him money.

He should technically be charging Xue Liang too.

But since this is a System task, and considering Xue Liang is technically his subordinate, Lin Yuan didn’t feel comfortable bringing up the matter of charging a fee.

But what Lin Yuan didn’t realize before was that teaching just one person can also increase the Teacher’s Halo.

He asked in his heart: “Taking Xue Liang’s example, does the system mean that if I can teach Xue Liang to become a brilliant composer, the effect might not be worse than if I taught a group of composers?”

“That’s correct.”

That’s the strategy of using elite troops!

If Lin Yuan had known this earlier, he would have seized a person with good talent and cultivated him for experience.

Like at Qin Art before, for instance.

He could have focused on teaching Zhong Yu more, and cultivated him into a true master of painting!

It’s like grinding in online games.

Fighting dozens of small monsters provides a hundred experience points, but if you encounter an elite monster, killing just one could also provide the same experience points!

“I understand now.”

Lin Yuan was slightly annoyed: “Why didn’t you say this before?”

The System surprisingly hesitated for a moment: “Because the host has never enjoyed the pleasure of exploring the System, the host only likes money, and sees everything through the lens of money.”

Can the System also taunt?

Lin Yuan grew even more irritated.

Who says he only likes money?

He also likes pudding jelly, ice cream, egg yolk…

And tea.

“Realizing it violated protocol probably, the System quickly compensated: “Actually, the System has a new function that the host has not discovered yet.

The System originally intended to let the host discover and develop it on his own. However, seeing as the host only thinks about the System when he wants to make money, the System has decided to provide hints.”

“What hint?”

“Another reason for the System to encourage the host to take on disciples is that once the disciple reaches the graduation standard, their published works would also generate Prestige Value, which will be added to the host’s account. The System wishes the host will one day have a large group of successful apprentices.”

“Why didn’t you say this earlier?”

Lin Yuan became anxious: “If you had told me earlier… wouldn’t everything have been fine… Why didn’t you…”