Chapter 96 Chapter 96
I made an appointment with Xia Qing to meet the next night. Before that, she went to school as usual.
There was only one course in the morning, "The Development of Modern Ethics," which was held over two periods. This course was not only open to philosophy majors, but was also included in the general electives, and any interested student could apply to take it. The lectures covered intellectual history, social structure, institutional criticism, and contemporary political ethics.
The lecturer is an old professor from the Department of Philosophy. He studied in Germany when he was young and taught at Heidelberg University for many years. He has published many books and has a great reputation in the academic world.
Ultimately, he chose to return to his roots and was recruited by Seoul National University as a distinguished professor in the Department of Philosophy. Consequently, attendance for this course remained high, regardless of semester. Even in the campus's largest lecture hall, seats were always available.
Lia arrived early and sat in the third row of the lecture hall.
She didn't know many of the students in her major well. After sitting down at her computer, she watched as students arrived in groups of two or three. Some looked familiar, others unfamiliar, but there were few she could greet directly.
As the classroom gradually filled up, she felt several reserved glances falling on her. School wasn't a vacuum isolated from the world. Even at Seoul National University, there were always students watching TV and browsing forums. Not to mention KPOP.
"STAR" is a national program, and even passing dogs would say a few words. Fortunately, most of these glances were just fleeting curiosity, not hostility. Lia didn't pay much attention to it, put on her headphones, and called up the course documents.
She began to review the content of the previous class. She had basically relied on recordings and PowerPoint presentations for the past two months. The course was fast-paced, with a lot of reading, and a long and challenging paper to submit at the end of the semester. Fortunately, she spent enough time outside of class to
When I actually sat down in class, I didn't feel out of touch. The professor, wearing thick reading glasses, clicked on a PowerPoint presentation and began his lecture, starting with 19th-century social contract theory and transitioning to the alienated structures of contemporary capital logic. His presentation was grounded in reality and simple to understand.
As she took notes, she suddenly felt a strong sense of disconnection.
She is one of the countless ordinary students in this building who are studying hard, trying to digest theories and prepare papers; she is also surviving in another industry with a completely different operating rhythm, and is always ready to face the judgment from the upper class and the public.
The ivory tower and the social machine simultaneously shaped her understanding of the world. She once thought the two could not coexist, but at this moment, they miraculously merged into one. Most people only live one life, or mainly one life.
And she walked alone on this double-track road, with no one in front or behind. * In the afternoon she went to the company.
Since the broadcast of "Yoo Hee-yeol's Sketchbook", various cooperation invitations have been pouring in more than ever before. She has to take time out every week to meet with Ha Ji-hye to confirm the various work information she received in the past week.
Some were submitted through the company's official email address, some were forwarded by other employees in the company, some were sent through her newly registered Twitter account, and some were sent through private messages on her YouTube channel.
She is currently in a very delicate situation. Strictly speaking, she is not an artist, but some of the invitations she receives are similar in nature to those of an artist.
She had no dedicated operations team, and apparently no one was proactively planning her "activity schedule." She was just starting out, and it had only been a few weeks since she received her first official offer.
Furthermore, she originally signed a production contract. While the contract clearly outlined her share of revenue from the various media outlets for her compositions, it simply stated, "If Party B participates in other activities unrelated to production, such matters shall be negotiated separately between Party A and Party B," regarding revenue from non-production filming, such as advertising and programming.
Baoheng's proposal was to draft supplementary agreements for each project, as there weren't many activities going on at the moment. All other matters would be decided by Lia herself. Unexpectedly, yet naturally, all decision-making power fell back on her.
He Zhihui can only help with preliminary screening.
She would compile the collected invitations into a list, initially excluding those with low brand value and non-music related, then print out the remaining content by type and wait until the agreed time to meet with Lia before submitting it.
As usual, the two met in the small round table conference room on the third floor. "This week, we received three types of collaborations: advertising, programming, and musician collaborations," Ha Ji-hye explained briefly as she handed over the documents.
Lia opened the first page and saw several familiar yet unfamiliar brand names listed.
Those names that once existed only in TV commercials and window displays are now neatly arranged on the front page of the table. The numbers in the quotation column are clear and calm, as if announcing in no uncertain terms - in just a few weeks, her value has changed again.
She still remembered the proposal Baoheng had handed her not long ago. Most of the brands listed were unfamiliar, and she had never even heard of them. But now, from fast fashion to lifestyle, all kinds of mainstream brands were available. It was as if the world had suddenly opened a door to her.
Even as someone who had personally experienced it, she still felt it was all filled with a sense of absurdity. She was both herself and not herself. She was very clear that she had not fundamentally changed.
She didn't suddenly become more talented or productive, and her physical strength and sleep quality even worsened. But after a certain critical point, she suddenly became an object that could be "deployed."
Her value, to a certain extent, does not depend on herself.
She's more like a product, valued by the market based on buzz and buzz. Her popularity, adaptability, and influence are translated into advertising returns, brand fit, and user reach—all converted into data, language, and contracts.
But she also vaguely realized that all this was more than just an empty shell. There must be something about her that no one else could replace or replicate. There must be something that only Lia Kim could offer.
It's not packaging, it's not communication, it's something more fundamental—a kind of inner creativity, willpower, or more generally, vitality itself. That's the part of this system that can't be manufactured or quantified.
It is also the only thing that can break free from the system, reverse the rules, and create miracles.
It was difficult for her to explain clearly what she had realized at that moment, but she knew that she had grasped that thing and she needed to keep going down this path.
"And this—" Ha Ji-hye turned to the next page, "Among the variety show invitations, only one music program meets your preferences, the rest are not suitable." "What is it?" "Show Me the
Money," a new show they're doing, they say, is a hip-hop talent show and they've invited you to be a judge. Ha Ji-hye hesitated, then added, "The show isn't very well-known yet."
Lia was slightly stunned, her eyes lowered in thought. "Are you really not considering other variety shows?" Ha Ji-hye couldn't help but ask. "I know you're not a celebrity, but popularity is really helpful for your future development."
She understood Lia's reasons for insisting on focusing on music, but she still felt that proper exposure was necessary at this stage—if only to open up more possibilities. Lia shook her head slightly.
She understood Ha Ji-hye's concerns. But her refusal wasn't out of some lofty belief that musicians should stay away from variety shows. She'd already determined that path wasn't feasible. The reason was simple: she didn't have the energy.
Her body showed signs of fatigue before she even wanted to: she couldn't sleep, didn't eat much, and had been working almost non-stop for school and the show over the past few months. She needed to rest and find her rhythm again.
"Me the Money"..." She paused, "Can you help me make an appointment with the PD of this show? I want to learn about the production direction."
Although the program itself is not well-known, otherwise they would not have asked her to be a judge, but after all, she has a backing and the resources are not too bad. Maybe she can find a way out. He Zhihui nodded: "Okay, I'll contact you later."
Then he scrolled down: "There are also several invitations from overseas musicians. I have sorted out their main information. This part has not been deleted."
"Thank you." Lia thanked him, took it and took a look, "I'll go back and take a closer look at it, and then I'll give you a reply." He Zhihui's style of doing things is far from that of a newcomer to the company.
She is organized and knows what is important. After just a few contacts, she quickly understood Lia's needs and how she would judge them. She was even able to prepare the priorities of the cooperation that she cared about in advance.
Collaboration with musicians is what Lia values most.
On the one hand, promoting collaborations domestically is often fraught with difficulties. South Korea is a country with a strong hierarchy between seniors and juniors, especially in the music industry. Even if experienced producers were impressed by her work, they might not be willing to lower their standards and collaborate. Furthermore, her YG label acts as an invisible barrier, completely separating her from the so-called "independent musician" community.
On the other hand, she has a distrust of the system itself - Korean pop music seems self-consistent, but in fact it is extremely dependent on an external evaluation system.
One of the important reasons why Bigbang's comeback "Alive" was an overwhelming success in the domestic market is that their performance on the Billboard charts broke the history of K-pop.
This subtle admiration, although not explicitly expressed, is extremely real - as long as it is recognized by the European and American markets, even if it is ignored in China, it will be re-examined. She vaguely realized that if she could break out of K-
Pop's existing framework, but perhaps establishing a stable creative network outside the system is the only way to achieve long-term success. The establishment of the YouTube channel is also partly an attempt under this logic.
At this point, Ha Ji-hye had basically completed her work. Lia suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, unnie. I've already made an appointment with President-nim next week." "If everything goes well, I should be very busy after this."
"Why do you suddenly want to meet the president?" Ha Ji-hye was stunned. "Lee Hi." Lia looked up. "I want to be her producer." She said it so calmly that Ha Ji-hye took a second to realize what she had said.
Lee Hi had just signed with YG. And Lia had been expected to do this from the beginning. She needed to express what she truly wanted to do through complete production, rather than just an occasional OST or single.
A song can be a sudden inspiration or a clever trick, but the construction of a complete album or an artist is systematic—the style, concept, narrative, and even the singer's voice, sense of language, and emotion must all be considered as an integrated whole.
That's the work of a producer. It's also the form of expression she's most interested in. She said it lightly, but it seemed like she was determined to succeed.
He Zhihui didn't ask any more questions. She just sat up straight and gathered the documents together. She suddenly realized that the girl in front of her was more than just talented.
There are so many talented people in this industry. She possesses vision and thinking far beyond her age—no, far beyond most people. She will become a big shot. Of this, He Zhihui suddenly became extremely certain.
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