Chapter 38: Chapter 38: He Zhuoqun

Even working as fast as she could, there was no way for Jiang Qin to finish recording so many songs in a single afternoon.

It was also during the recording session that she remembered she’d promised to pick singers for two of her songs.

So, she hurriedly went online to check the messages on her Light Computer.

Meanwhile, on a Third-class Planet, a certain male was in his university dorm, anxiously checking his Light Computer over and over.

He waited for a long time, but there was still no reply.

He ended up waiting for a full day.

He Zhuoqun was starting to give up hope. He slumped dejectedly against the wall, feeling as if all the strength had drained from his body.

When his two roommates returned and saw him like this, they immediately started to taunt him. “Well, well, looks like you got rejected, huh? We told you, even if that singer wants to sell a song, she wouldn’t look twice at someone like you from a Garbage Star. Even if she were willing to sell to you, could you afford it? And you still went and asked, just setting yourself up for humiliation. You think everyone in the world is like our professor? That they’ll be nice to you just because your pathetic grades are a little bit good?”

“Haha, he’s not bad-looking. If you’re broke, you can always go sell yourself to some old man~”

“Oh, get real. Even old men think people from the Garbage Star stink.” The boy who spoke made an exaggerated show of pinching his nose.

The boy beside him also fanned the air with his hand, acting as if he really smelled something unbearable.

He even complained, “We’re so unlucky, getting stuck in the same dorm as you. The stench is killing me.”

Humiliated by his two roommates one after another, He Zhuoqun didn’t say a word. He just leaned against the wall, doing his best to endure it.

He knew it was useless to argue, no matter what he said.

They looked down on him for being from the Garbage Star, so they would always find something to accuse him of, trying to make him feel inferior so he would give up and go back where he came from.

’I fought so hard to test my way out of that place. How could I possibly go back just because of a few harsh words?’

“Tch, how boring. He’s like a mute. Coward!”

“Let’s go. Grab your things and let’s head downstairs. No point wasting time on him.”

After getting in a few more digs at He Zhuoqun, the two of them hurried away.

He was left alone in the dorm, left to savor the bitterness.

He had thought leaving the Garbage Star meant he had a chance, a hope for the future. But after getting out, he discovered the world wasn’t nearly that simple.

’My origins hold me back from everything.’

Even though his grades were good enough to earn some favor with his professor, it was useless. Everyone else ostracized him.

They never included him in any of the projects.

So every time they were assigned to groups for mechanical repairs, he never actually got to touch the machines.

’The professor might not have noticed the first or second time, but after it happened so many times, how could he possibly not know?’

The professor just wasn’t willing to stick his neck out for a poor male from the Garbage Star.

He Zhuoqun knew that if he stayed here, what he could learn would be limited. In the future, he would likely never be able to enter the Mechanic profession.

Without any hands-on experience, his resume would be completely blank.

Combined with the bullying from his classmates, he would probably have a very hard time finding a job on this planet in the future.

’Did I come all this way to study just to end up back on the Garbage Star?’

He wanted to leave, to stop wasting his life away here, but he didn’t have the means to go anywhere else.

At least here he had a place to live and could earn a little money working part-time jobs nearby.

In a life that felt like a dead end no matter which way he turned, he stumbled into Jiang Qin’s livestream and heard her song, “Nameless People.”

He felt as if the song’s lyrics were written just for him.

In truth, his greatest passion since childhood wasn’t repairing machines—it was singing.

But a child trying to survive on the Garbage Star couldn’t afford to have hobbies. Everything he did was for the sole purpose of staying alive.

That’s why, from a young age, he would sneak off to learn how to repair machines.

After he was discovered, he couldn’t go back. Instead, he started rummaging through the junkyards for discarded items to bring home and disassemble.

He would repair or modify them and then sell them.

His father saw his talent and, gritting his teeth against the hardship, managed to send him to school.

After many years of hard work, he was finally admitted to this university on a special exception, all because he had modified a housekeeping robot in a way that lowered its manufacturing cost.

He Zhuoqun’s only wish was to earn enough money to get his father off the Garbage Star.

As for his mother, she had been a pure-human female whose health was so poor that she passed away giving birth to him.

As night fell, he became certain that no reply was coming. He finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and broke down, choking back sobs.

’It’s just so hard to be alive…’

DING-DONG.

Just then, a notification alert chimed—one he had set for a special follow.

And on his Light Computer, there was only one person he’d set for that kind of notification: Jiang Qin!

His father didn’t own a Light Computer, and he had no friends, so he had never used the special follow feature before.

Overjoyed, He Zhuoqun scrambled to open his Light Computer.

Sure enough, there was an unread message.

Jiang Qin: Hello, I’ve received your reply. Here is a draft of the contract from my end.

You can take a look to see if the terms are acceptable. If not, we can renegotiate. If they are, please meet with me on the Star Network tomorrow at 8:00 AM to discuss it further.

He Zhuoqun hurriedly accepted the contract.

The contract stated that the copyright for the song would remain with Jiang Qin. He would only possess the performance rights, and forty percent of any profits generated would go to Jiang Qin.

Jiang Qin had no idea what the standard royalty split was for Interstellar songs, but she decided this would be her rule from now on.

It would apply to everyone, whether they were a newcomer or a huge singer with a massive fanbase.

It was too difficult to judge on a case-by-case basis, and she really didn’t want to waste energy haggling.

Take it or leave it. Although she was eager to harvest reputation value to meet the requirements for the next system upgrade, it wasn’t as if she absolutely had to work with any one person in particular.

If one person didn’t work out, she’d just find another.

With so many people in the Interstellar era, as long as her songs were good enough, she would always be able to find someone suitable to sing them.

As for her share of the profits, she planned to donate one-tenth to an aid organization for the Garbage Star, one-tenth to an aid organization for pure-humans, and another tenth to sponsor impoverished music students. Only the final tenth would be her own.

Although her songs were all purchased from the system, and she’d already paid the price, she was ultimately doing all of this for her own benefit.

Therefore, she wanted to use the money to do good deeds where she could, treating it as a way to accumulate good karma for both herself and for everyone else.

***

A few minutes after Jiang Qin sent her message, she received a reply.

The person she’d chosen for “Nameless People” had already agreed.

She still hadn’t heard back about “Joy is enough” or “Once You.”

She wasn’t worried. After arranging to sign the contract with He Zhuoqun on the Star Network the next day and sending him the backing track and sheet music, she gathered her things and prepared to head to work.

She pulled open the door.

Her new bodyguard, Shi Lichuan, was sitting on the sofa on guard duty, a security feed displayed on a screen in front of him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep