Chapter 245: Ultimate Bombshell 《seven Miles Fragrance》
Sister Shang is the type of person who is typically a couch potato on the surface and also a couch potato in reality.
Of course, how much sincerity was in what she just said, perhaps only she herself knew.
But Chi Ye was certain that anyone who pursued acting, stardom, or the artist path, and achieved results, was not truly just lying around.
Lazy as Sister Shang is, her longest break was only a year or two… Ahem, she still had to unwillingly join a crew to film.
Does she really dislike working?
Probably.
Does she not want to achieve results, not want to make movies?
That’s definitely not the case.
The movie circle, ever since Sister Shang debuted, has always been a “pain point” and “black mark” for her.
Having served as the female lead in several big productions, after their release, they were all met with unanimous bad reviews and extremely dismal box office numbers. The young Sister Shang back then might have also fantasized about becoming an “international movie star,” dominating the scene…
But with repeated failures, she probably lost all desire to dominate the scene long ago, leaving only “elegant composure”…
The reason she accepted the script for 《Girl》 before could not be said to be purely out of consideration for Chi Ye, but it was also a 100% helpful gesture… She swears a million times that she truly did not expect 《Girl》 to achieve the results and momentum it has today.
After all, with a total investment of only one hundred million for a small-budget youth film, whether looking at historical performance, the cast lineup, or the genre, this was a small project with a visibly capped ceiling.
Yes, a small project.
A small project isn’t worth Sister Shang taking, even though she’s already lost her name in the film circle.
From project initiation to wrap-up, the small project did not attract any attention or ripples. Sister Shang’s team didn’t even consider how much box office this movie would make.
—Helping Chi Ye make money would be considered a success.
This was the thinking of Sister Shang’s team and agent.
The result…
Sister Shang sat indoors, blinking her guilty eyes, her gaze wandering aimlessly, avoiding making eye contact with Chi Ye.
Chi Ye watched her for a moment, then nodded: “I saw long ago that you’re not a diligent person.”
“…Then you’re so smart.”
Chi Ye: “…Forget it, but this is indeed an opportunity. Do some more research, and maybe you’ll venture into the movie circle again this time.”
If Sister Qianzi heard this, she would definitely scoff. If it were the Empress Dowager, she would hum and say that she brought him along.
But when it came to Sister Shang, it was completely different.
“Haha, I, Shang Youshu, act as I please. Why do I need to explain myself to others? Do you think I’m marketing myself?”
Sister Shang looked at Chi Ye: “Yes.”
Chi Ye: “…”
“Xiao Chi, you don’t understand. I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing it to earn more money in the future so I don’t have to work anymore and can lie flat forever.”
Sister Shang declared her “great ambition”: “At that time, I’ll eat barbecue three meals a day, and then have two hot pot meals. No one can stop me. I’ll strip naked on the beach and use my belly to… hmm…”
She suddenly stopped speaking because she realized the topic wasn’t suitable for deep discussion.
Chi Ye leaned in curiously: “Use your belly to do what?”
“Nothing, I misspoke.”
Chi Ye: “But your slip of the tongue is quite serious. I suggest you get it checked out properly.”
Sister Shang stopped talking, lowered her head, and began to “admire herself” again, muttering: “You should go quickly, I still need to appreciate my beauty for a while longer.”
Chi Ye glanced at her and stood up to leave.
“Hey, wait.”
Sister Shang suddenly called out to him: “What were you going to do? Do we have an activity later?”
Chi Ye was dumbfounded and confused: “No, I’ve said it several times, and you haven’t listened?”
“…I, I was listening to a novel just now,” Sister Shang chuckled awkwardly. “It just reached the climax… At a critical moment, I… I secretly listened for a while. Really, just for a moment… I remember everything you said later.”
Chi Ye: “…I’m releasing a new song to add more fuel to the movie.”
“Oh… Huh?!”
Sister Shang first nodded, then reacted with surprise: “New song? So soon?!”
“It was already prepared.”
Chi Ye waved his hand: “You can’t leave yet. After releasing the song, let’s see the effect. If the effect is good, we’ll have to try to tour a few more cities for roadshows to make the box office look better.”
“Little Shang, keep it up. Work a few more days, and I’ll marry you a boss’s wife.”
Shang Youshu: “…”
Chi Ye, if you had even a little heart, you wouldn’t say such a thing. You… you… Alright, then I’ll add a few more days!
Sister Shang, in a fit of anger, felt that helping others to the end was also helping herself.
She is now a “national white moonlight,” so she must maintain her composure, her composure!
“Xiao Chi, wait for me. I want to listen to the song… Xia Xia isn’t here, is she? If Xia Xia is here…”
“Sister, I’ve noticed you can still be a bit calculating.”
“Calculating? What calculating? Afternoon tea?”
“…”
While Chi Ye was speechless, he walked into the lounge and began operating his “new song.”
Two songs from the OST of the movie 《Girl》 have already gone viral: one is 《Sunny Day》, and the other is 《Those Years》.
As the saying goes, a hit person is preceded by a hit song. If the OST of a movie/TV series becomes a hit, it means the movie gains popularity and recognition. Of course… TV series are still a bit lacking, as bad movies can produce divine songs.
However, a bad movie usually only produces one divine song. It’s rare for one to produce two or three, or even more.
Moreover, 《Girl》 is not a bad movie.
Chi Ye wrote 《Sunny Day》 and 《Those Years》 for Girl before and during its release, respectively. The performance of both songs was explosive, each topping the hot song charts on the three major music platforms at different times.
However, it’s still not enough. 《Girl》’s theme has a limited ceiling. Even though it’s currently in the National Day Slot, and other movies are acting as foils, it still needs a certain boost to continue climbing.
This third song is the “boost” that Chi Ye had prepared.
“…《Qi Li Xiang》?”
Sister Shang saw the song’s title and instantly felt a sense of familiarity: “This… this song… I remember when we were filming, you seemed to have written this name down?”
“Did you decide to write this song back then? Or was it already written and you were just waiting?”
Chi Ye didn’t speak, just nodded.
Sister Shang was instantly impressed and a little “creepy”: “Xiao Chi, your intentions are like the male lead in 《The King’s Feast》 that I’ve read! You’re too cunning. Anyone who marries you in the future would have to prepare a hundred or eighty prenuptial agreements… otherwise, wouldn’t they be tricked to death by you?”
“Manually @ Xia Xia.”
Chi Ye: “???”
He had a face full of dark lines: “If you can speak, say more.”
Sister Shang smacked her lips: “I won’t say anymore, I’m afraid you’ll trick me.”
Chi Ye glanced at her: “Trick you out of what? Trick your little belly?”
“…Chi Ye! I have a temper too. If you continue like this, I’ll…” Sister Shang glanced around, then said “angrily”: “I’ll leave!”
Chi Ye turned around, already editing Weibo, and received the “MV” （《Girl》 Version） produced by the team.
“…Then I won’t leave if you don’t say anything.”
Sister Shang very naturally found an excuse for herself, then shamelessly leaned over: “Can I listen to it first?”
“I’ve posted it, you can listen.”
Chi Ye clicked publish, and Sister Shang paused, then grabbed her phone and opened Chi Ye’s Weibo.
In just this short moment, the retweets, comments, and likes on Chi Ye’s Weibo had already reached over 100,000.
She was slightly dumbfounded but was quickly captivated by the song.
《Qi Li Xiang》, she knew the name, but just by the name, she couldn’t see any connection to the movie 《Girl》.
“It’s still an MV?”
She realized this might be another 《Sunny Day》, but she wasn’t entirely sure in her heart… Mainly, can a song like 《Sunny Day》 just appear like that?
She clicked on the MV, and a pleasant prelude began, with the sound of cicada chirps and wind chimes.
Picture: The first meeting on a summer campus.
As the prelude cicada chirps gradually rose, the camera panned from the classroom fan to the tip of Shen Jiayi’s ponytail, and the bell-like clear guitar sound corresponded to the rustling of paper as she turned pages.
“This… this melody… it’s beautiful! Beautiful, Xiao Chi, you’re too talented.”
Sister Shang was not stingy with her admiration and praise, directly breaking the atmosphere that had just been brewing in the MV.
Of course, she broke the live atmosphere, while more of the audience who saw Chi Ye’s new song MV were immersed in it.
Because…
This song is damn good!
In the MV, before the lyrics began, a perspective of Zhou Ye sneaking glances at Shen Jiayi was inserted. Sparrows flew past outside the window, the girl poked Zhou Ye’s back with a pen, and her daily routine of handing him English notes, and him drawing a grimace doodle of Shen Jiayi in the corner of his textbook.
Chi Ye’s singing began:
“Sparrows outside the window chatter on the utility pole”
“You say this line feels very summery”
“The pencil in my hand moves back and forth on the paper”
“With a few lines, I describe who you are to me”
Sister Shang was slightly taken aback, looking at Chi Ye: “Holy crap, that’s strong?!”
Chi Ye: “…Can you shut up.”
“…Alright, it’s just that I didn’t expect you to take this movie so seriously…”
Sister Shang mumbled, and the MV’s subsequent lyrics once again confirmed her previous guess—this song, like 《Sunny Day》, was an OST that Chi Ye wrote for 《Girl》, because the plot details within it were almost exactly the same.
“The taste of saury, both the cat and you want to know” — Zhou Ye secretly photographed Shen Jiayi’s profile while she was feeding stray cats.
“The scent of first love is thus rediscovered by us” — The smell of the girl’s shampoo; Zhou Ye once said, “Your hair smells like oranges.”
“That warm sunlight is like freshly picked bright strawberries” — Morning sun, the boy promises the girl he will study hard and no longer be late.
“You say you can’t bear to eat this kind of feeling” — Years later, Zhou Ye couldn’t bear to forget this feeling, even at “her” wedding.
《Rock》 Marketing Outsourcing Company.
The person in charge listened to the song blankly for a long time, then suddenly cursed: “How are we supposed to market this?! Why does this Chi Ye have so many tricks?!”
“Is he studying marketing? Isn’t he an artist?!”
A female employee watched the MV and suddenly felt a bit sad.
“Rain falls all night, my love overflows like rainwater”
“Fallen leaves in the courtyard pile up with my longing”
“A few words of gossip cannot cool my passion”
“You appear on every page of my poetry”
“…”
“So beautiful.”
Xu Yingying looked at Shang Youshu in the MV, bathed in sunlight, and Zhou Ye walking beside her.
It was unclear whether she was commenting on the beauty of the people or the beauty of the song.
The two walked through the sunlit wheat fields, and as they walked, they suddenly “grew up.” As they walked, Zhou Ye was in a well-tailored suit, and Shen Jiayi, in a pure white wedding dress, stood at opposite ends of the red carpet, looking at each other.
Zhou Ye suddenly disappeared, leaving only Shen Jiayi alone.
The scene switched back to their teenage years, the writing on Shen Jiayi’s note—”Okay, let’s be together”—blurred by the rain.
As the MV reached its end, the subtitles appeared in calligraphy—”This song is dedicated to all the unexpressed Qi Li Xiang.”
The screen went completely silent, but the trending search platforms and the audience and movie fans who had watched the MV immediately exploded.
「Holy crap! Hu Ye! You’re stabbing me?!」
「They didn’t end up together, right? They never ended up together!」
「It’s over. It was better if this song hadn’t come out, but now that it has, it’s official proof that Zhou Ye and Shen Jiayi didn’t end up together.」
「It’s so good, brother, stop filming, keep releasing songs. You’re a Heavenly King of the music scene, why are you filming!」
「You must film! With that face, what else would you do if not film? Film with Sister Shang! While your prime is still here, film more for me, I want to watch!」
「I suggest that with their looks, they should film some restricted-themed material that can’t be discussed in detail… Cough, I’m a girl, I want to watch.」
「I’m a guy, I want to watch too.」
「…」
…
《Qi Li Xiang》 became popular.
It became popular without any surprise.
Because it was released at this time, both Chi Ye’s personal influence in the music scene and the current popularity of 《Girl》… How many people were paying attention to Chi Ye and 《Girl》?
To put it more bluntly, for this marketing to be effective, Chi Ye even brought up the hottest topic that had been debated since 《Girl》’s release—whether or not the male and female leads ended up together.
The core of 《Qi Li Xiang》’s suitability lies in enveloping regret with warmth—those summer cicada chirps, afternoon classrooms, tears in the rain, eventually becoming “beautiful chapters scattered in poetry,” an indelible negative in the memory of youth.
Therefore, its appearance instantly amplified this topic infinitely.
Leveraging its popularity, the song’s quality itself, and the movie’s buzz, it quickly ignited the entire National Day Slot, adding a final blaze to 《Girl》’s soaring success.
Don’t talk about whether it’s heartbreaking or not. The fact is, the more they market it this way, the more the movie fans and audience are unable to resist.
Even many movie fans who had watched 《Girl》, to confirm their suspicions, stubbornly and unwillingly continued to rewatch it two or three times.
On that day, the last day of the National Day holiday, 《Girl》 completely exploded, with its daily box office surpassing 250 million to reach 280 million, breaking N historical records for youth films in terms of highest and fastest single-day XX box office.
The total box office reached 1.3 billion.
It instantly surpassed 《Climbing Number One》, which was still “struggling,” and left its “fiery brother” Wu Jing of 《Wolf Warrior》 in the dust.
The industry was shaken, and the fans of Chi Ye and Shang Youshu celebrated like it was New Year.
Major cinema chains and institutions began to massively reallocate the screening slots of 《Climbing Number One》 to 《Girl》.
Thus, 《Girl》, on the last day of this year’s National Day Slot, at the very end, finally achieved a true “counterattack,” from initially attracting no attention to topping the overall box office charts.
