The Author Couldn't Be Bothered to Think of One

Zheng Minhong took out a gilt-edged business card and handed it to Chen Ze. "Xiao Chen, I'd like to formally invite you to be my company's honorary fashion designer. You won't have to do anything normally, and you won't have to come in and clock in. Your only job will be to draw up designs whenever inspiration strikes. The pay is twenty thousand yuan a month. What do you think?"

Perhaps she felt bad about buying more than a dozen of Chen Ze's designs for only a little over a million yuan. Zheng Minhong felt somewhat guilty and wanted to make it up to him this way.

"Thank you, Auntie Zheng, but I can't accept a reward I haven't earned. I'll pass on being an honorary fashion designer!" Chen Ze knew full well that eating someone else's food left you unable to speak freely. Even if it was only a title, he didn't want to be subject to any restrictions.

Although he still had many clothing styles from his previous life in his head, he didn't want to sell them for money either. With the system, he couldn't possibly be short of money in the future.

"Let's leave it at that for today. I'll head back first," Chen Ze said.

"All right! Factory Director Wu, see Xiao Chen home yourself!" Zheng Minhong said.

After watching Chen Ze leave, Zheng Minhong said to Zheng Yanxi, "Yanxi, that classmate of yours is no ordinary person!"

"Oh? Why do you say that, Mom?" Zheng Yanxi asked, puzzled.

"I can tell he has plenty more novel clothing styles he hasn't drawn yet, but he knows when to quit while he's ahead."

Zheng Minhong felt a little regretful, then continued, "He knows how to be content and when to advance or retreat. He's nothing like someone his age should be, much less a young man."

"Yes, I also think he's different from all the other boys. It's such a strange feeling!" Zheng Yanxi gazed dreamily in the direction Chen Ze had gone.

"Yanxi, do you like him?" Zheng Minhong asked.

"I... I do like him a little!" Zheng Yanxi's face turned bright red, but she didn't deny it.

"If you like him, go after him. It's hard to find boys as outstanding as him these days. I like him a lot too. If you can win him over, I won't have to worry about you anymore," Zheng Minhong encouraged her.

Zheng Yanxi shook her head dejectedly. "I can tell he doesn't think of me that way."

Seeing how downcast her daughter was, Zheng Minhong was a little frustrated that iron wouldn't turn to steel. "How will you know whether you can succeed if you don't try? Back when I pursued your father, everyone at school agreed he was a heartthrob. And what happened? Your mother won him over in the end! To pursue a man, you need to be bold, attentive, and thick-skinned. You don't even have the courage to go after him, and you're sitting here sighing. Do you think he'll just run into your bed on his own?"

"No, it's different. I can tell he'll be hard to win over, really hard!..."

"You! You useless thing!"

Chen Ze naturally had no idea what the two had said after he left. At that moment, he was excitedly counting the balance on his phone: 1,355,246.5 yuan! That was the 1.2 million he had earned today plus the hundred-odd thousand his novel had made over the past few days.

"Oh ho~ I'm a millionaire too! Haha!" He rolled around excitedly on the bed. After quite a while, he seemed to remember something and suddenly sat up!

What had happened today made him realize the importance of copyright! The various things he had brought over from his previous life didn't exist in this world. If he ended up in a lawsuit over copyright someday, that wouldn't be something he wanted to see.

"That's right, the song!" At present, aside from Battle Through the Heavens and clothing styles such as qipaos and hanfu, the only thing he had brought over from his previous life was My Old Classmate, which he was about to perform.

Thinking of that, he hurriedly opened this world's copyright registration website and uploaded the melody of the entire song My Old Classmate. The registration was completed shortly afterward.

"Done!" He reminded himself to register the copyright in advance for whatever he wanted to copy in the future.

"Classmate Song Ruoli, you need a slight vibrato at the end here. It'll sound a little better that way!"

In a classroom, Chen Ze and Song Ruoli were rehearsing the performance they would soon put on. They had rehearsed almost every day for the past few days and had already developed a considerable rapport.

Chen Ze had discovered that music in this world had no singing technique called "vibrato" at all. People sang entirely according to personal preference and the length of their notes. Whether a song sounded good was judged entirely by its melody and the singer's voice. Music in this world seemed to be in its infancy, unlike music in his previous life, which had developed to a relatively mature stage, with each category having its own distinctive singing techniques.

"Oh, how do I do the vibrato? I don't understand!" Song Ruoli said.

"Here, I'll show you." Chen Ze took the harmonica and began to play.

"Like that. Got it?" Chen Ze asked.

Song Ruoli looked at the harmonica, her face slightly red. She had just played it, and now Chen Ze had played it too. Did that count as an indirect kiss?

"Oh, I'll give it a try!" Song Ruoli said.

"Right, just like that. Practice it a few more times and you'll get the hang of it," Chen Ze said.

"We're performing onstage tomorrow night. Let's practice a few more times and try to take first place," Chen Ze said encouragingly.

"This song is so beautiful. I've never heard it before. Is it your own composition, Classmate Chen?" Song Ruoli asked.

"Mm!" Chen Ze didn't seem willing to say more.

"Wow, you're amazing, Classmate Chen! You can even write songs!" Song Ruoli said, her face full of admiration.

"Hehe, you flatter me! You're amazing too, Classmate Song. You can play so many instruments!" Chen Ze praised her in return.

After rehearsing for over an hour, the two said goodbye and went their separate ways. The graduation party was tomorrow night, so this was their final rehearsal.

"What a coincidence, Campus Belle Chen!"

At a corner, several people blocked Chen Ze's path. To be precise, there were three girls and one boy. The boy was the one who had spoken.

"Can I help you?" Chen Ze asked indifferently.

"I hear Campus Belle Chen plans to sing a song at the graduation party?" the boy continued.

"Who are you?" Chen Ze's tone was still indifferent, revealing none of his emotions.

"Who am I? You're actually asking who I am? I'm Zhao Xiaolei, the one whose place on the campus belle rankings you took!" Zhao Xiaolei's face turned green with anger. He hadn't expected Chen Ze not to know him at all.

"Oh ho, it's you! What do you mean by bringing people to block my way?" Chen Ze asked with interest. He didn't believe the other party would dare lay a hand on him on campus.

"I came to tell you that it just so happens I'll be singing a song too. I'll prove through my own ability that I'm better than you!"

"That's it?" Chen Ze said, somewhat speechless.

Seeing Chen Ze's unconcerned expression, Zhao Xiaolei's face darkened further.

"I'll definitely beat you! I'll let everyone know that I'm the most fitting choice for campus belle, not you!" Zhao Xiaolei said with a dark expression.

"All right, all right, you're the best. The campus belle spot is yours!" Chen Ze squeezed past the group as he spoke and walked away.

He really didn't know what to say about the men of this female-dominated world.

"Campus belle? Hehe, whoever wants to be one can have it!" Chen Ze said disdainfully.

Watching Chen Ze walk farther and farther away, Zhao Xiaolei trembled all over with anger, his rouged cheeks turning even redder.

"Xiaolei, it looks like he doesn't take you seriously at all!" The speaker was one of the three girls, all of whom were Zhao Xiaolei's admirers.

"That's right. Want me to teach him a lesson?" another girl said.

"No need. Tomorrow I'll beat him fair and square!" Zhao Xiaolei said.

During morning self-study, Chen Ze was engrossed in his history textbook.

Zheng Qiang, sitting at the next desk, nudged him on the shoulder. "Classmate Chen, how's the practice for your performance going?"

"Not bad!" Chen Ze replied indifferently without even turning his head.

"I heard the other campus belles have all picked performances they're good at." Zheng Qiang wore an expression that practically said, "Go on, ask me."

"Oh, what performances?" Chen Ze turned around, looking interested.

"The number one campus belle, Luo Wenwen, is performing a dance. The number two campus belle, Li Wenhao, is playing the piano. The number three campus belle, Wang Binbin, is doing the same as you and singing a song," Zheng Qiang said, rattling them off as though counting his family treasures.

"Oh! Looks like quite a few people are singing!" Chen Ze said indifferently.

"Classmate Chen, why aren't you worried at all?" Zheng Qiang asked.

"What good would worrying do? I'll just do my best!"

"Mm! You're right. You really have a good mindset, Classmate Chen!"

System, I want to use a credit loan to purchase advanced singing skills! Chen Ze said silently.

"Ding~ This is the host's first time using a credit loan. No interest will be charged for the first month."

"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for obtaining advanced singing skills. The host's remaining 15,000 empathy points have been deducted. The host still owes this system 485,000 empathy points. Please repay them soon."

Chen Ze felt an itch in his throat, followed by a cool sensation. It seemed the system was modifying his vocal cords.