Chapter 72: The Boss Of The Chinese Music Scene
Click click.
Sounds came from the shredder.
Xiao Liu stood by silently.
Director Zhang walked in, giving a thumbs up: “Chi Ye, you’re bold!”
Chi Ye: “…”
“Has filming started?”
“No no, we just broke for lunch, what’s the rush.”
Director Zhang rubbed his hands like a fly, beaming: “I came here for something I want to discuss with you…”
“Add money, or no deal.” Chi Ye said expressionlessly.
Director Zhang: “…”
“Look at you, I haven’t even said it yet…”
“Isn’t it just writing OST for Circulation?”
Chi Ye gave a sideways glance: “The moment you pucker your butt…”
“In elegant terms, Teacher Chi.” Director Zhang frowned: “Normally, your lady at home didn’t teach you manners? Shouldn’t she, with her education…”
Chi Ye: “…”
“Alright then, it’s settled. I’ll give you a little something later.”
Director Zhang pulled a Deceive God, Chi Ye looked at him without speaking.
As said long ago, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west, don’t bully the young dreamer!
Of course, Circulation was also his most cared-about project right now, so Chi Ye didn’t pretend too much and quickly settled the “price” with Director Zhang.
Then, he looked at a stereo: “Lend me the stereo later.”
Director Zhang: “?”
“What are you doing? Live KTV?”
Chi Ye: “What are you talking about, I charge for singing now.”
Everyone: “…”
Chi Ye paused, explaining: “I heard Sister Qianzi was ‘eavesdropping’ yesterday, even cursing my sales volume to others… I’m preparing to satisfy her curiosity now.”
Director Zhang: “???”
“Qianzi?”
He took a moment to react, then spat out: “Sweet-talker!”
“Fine… but just to be clear, this is your personal action, has nothing to do with our film crew!”
Chi Ye didn’t speak, just wanted Qianzi to hear.
—Besides, these past few days he’d gotten familiar with Teacher You through Director Zhang’s connections, so why not go see how the senior was doing?
Yes… he was just that vindictive.
One o’clock, Deep Sea film crew broke for lunch.
A burst of “beautiful” music pierced the ears like demonic sound once again.
Everyone froze, turning back.
They saw Chi Ye holding a small speaker playing his own song, cheerfully walking over to greet Teacher You: “Teacher You, I’m here to see you.”
Teacher You’s face twitched, the tool-man director beside him looked speechless.
Buddy, that move was too slick.
They instinctively looked toward Shi Jinwei not far away.
Shi Jinwei was silent for a moment, set down her “luxury meal,” turned, and headed to the RV.
“Hey, Sister Shi, Sister Shi don’t go, I still have something to tell you.”
Chi Ye saw Qianzi turning clever and trying to run, so he hurried after, turning up the volume: “Only after leaving you did I realize… those smiling eyes~”
“……!!”
Shi Jinwei stumbled, shuddered all over, didn’t notice the uneven ground underfoot, tripped, and nearly fell.
“Sister Shi, are you okay?”
The assistant hurried over to support her, glaring fiercely at Chi Ye.
Chi Ye innocently: “Teacher Shi, be careful, don’t get mad over low sales volume, take care of your body, everything will be fine, stay safe.”
Shi Jinwei: “…”
Her body shuddered again.
“I have something to do now.”
She ignored Chi Ye, looking seriously at the assistant: “I want to block his mouth.”
Assistant: “…”
Hurriedly pulled her back, glared at Chi Ye again, then the two returned to the RV together and shut the door.
The “hateful” sound finally stopped, and Qianzi felt a bit better.
“How could… it shouldn’t be, how could his sales volume be this high…”
She dropped the pretense, incredulous… well, unwilling to accept.
Then she got angry: “Hua Yichen that trash is one thing, but why does he surpass me?!”
“How long have I been singing, how long has he? Both idols, can he compare to me?!”
“Most disgusting is, he’s always rubbing it in my face to provoke!! What was Jin Xia thinking, picking such a thing!”
Assistant: “…”
Waited until Qianzi had vented enough, then comforted: “Yes yes yes, this Chi Ye is no good… indeed, Jin Xia was blind!”
“But Sister Shi… on sales volume, should we privately boost ours a bit…”
The assistant probed: “Otherwise, losing to someone like Chi Ye… feels too embarrassing.”
But after venting, Shi Jinwei returned to normal, her Pliers Voice husky and sexy: “Boost what? My career focus has never been music… no need.”
“Actually, his EP quality is barely passable.” Shi Jinwei paused, adding: “But this person, this kind of person, I’ll never acknowledge in my life!”
“…So we just let it go?”
“I just saw big fans organizing… tell them to stop, don’t waste money, support me next time.”
“Alright.”
…
Shi Jinwei was arrogant but not irrational.
But things were different for Hua Yichen.
He got crushed!
He, the Father of the Chinese Music Scene, yyds, actually crushed by a former nobody who didn’t even deserve a name in front of him!
He remembered not long ago at the New Year’s Eve Gala, Chi Ye didn’t even qualify to speak on stage, could only shamelessly grab screen time using Jin Xia’s microphone.
While he got to perform right before midnight, and past 12, was the first “grand finale” guest on the Mango New Year’s Eve Concert!
What star power are you, what star power am I?
You dare crush me?!
He had 27 million in 24 hours, Chi Ye 41 million in 24 hours…
He worked hard for nearly a week, finally reaching 36 million with fans’ follow-up efforts… Chi Ye 41 million in 24 hours…
Fuck, how will the industry see me now?
Father position at risk!
The more Hua Yichen thought, the more frustrated, turning to instruct the assistant: “Keep organizing fans, rich or not, all boost!”
Assistant: “…”
“Brother Hua, fans are out of money… we really sold a lot this time, and several of our albums are on the all-time total chart, he hasn’t even entered that, no need to get upset.”
“What do you know?” Hua Yichen frowned: “This isn’t about upset, it’s about star power!”
“My star power can lose to Yu Yan, to Shi Jinwei, but absolutely not to him!”
Hua Yichen waved: “Even headquarters is struggling because of him? Bleed a little, we absolutely can’t lose this time.”
“…Alright, I’ll communicate.”
Seeing Hua Yichen’s firm attitude, the assistant nodded and left.
“What level were you before? What level am I? You still want to crush me?!”
Hua Yichen muttered inwardly.
He’d already decided, if worst comes, find a shady guy to hex Chi Ye.
Fuck, is the Father of the Chinese Music Scene that easy to surpass?
…
The Father of the Chinese Music Scene was furious, Yue Na side was equally “furious”.
In just one day, because of Chi Ye’s release, they faced full-net mockery + dissatisfaction from Penguin partners again.
More importantly—seeing Chi Ye rise was worse than killing them!
You’re nothing here, but go out and suddenly become a “talent,” aren’t you taking my life?!
Plus Hua Yichen’s album sales this time were indeed crucial.
So, from the second day, Yue Na started using their “money power,” Hua Yichen’s team also went all-in urging fans.
Boost, keep boosting my bro! Must surpass Goujian!
Hua Yichen’s long-stagnant album sales began showing clear upward change.
Gradually approaching the 40 million sales mark.
Originally, if everything went according to Yue Na and Hua Yichen team’s plan, with their strength and foundation, surpassing Chi Ye would be no problem.
Because after Chi Ye hit 41 million, it clearly entered a bottleneck period.
—Bystanders at most buy one copy, some due to various reasons and popularity, jumping on the bandwagon.
More Chi Ye fans had reached their buying limit.
Even super fans like Global Warming, second generation rich who’d become Chi Ye superfans, had spent hundreds of thousands, even millions… couldn’t buy more.
But no one expected, at this juncture, Chi Ye’s real CP Yang Zi suddenly stepped up!
Teacher Yang Zi really loved it, yesterday during Reboot’s fermentation period, he hesitated and missed peak heat.
But today, Reboot sales hit bottleneck, yet popularity fully fermented—Chi Ye Studio started pouring in massive marketing funds!
Douyin, Xiaohongshu and other platforms were filled with pleasant edited clips, sparks turning into prairie fire.
Yang Zi finally joined.
He directly posted his Reboot purchase record on Weibo.
Still ## framing all hot words about Chi Ye and Reboot, familiar move.
Then the caption:
@Yang Zong【《Reboot》 is so good! @Chi Ye! Supporting my good bro’s EP album!! I personally bought a hundred copies, but I feel that’s far from showing my support for the quality of my bro @Chi Ye’s EP, so, all employees under my company, go listen, my treat! Come to me for reimbursement!】
As soon as said, Yang Zong indeed soared up hot search with the heat, grinning ear to ear.
Netizens below shocked:
「Yang Zong, this generous?」
「Crying, my best father-son CP!」
「Who’s dad, who’s son?!」
「Teacher Yang Zi please don’t rub randomly, Teacher Chi and Xia Xia are the pair.」
「No, before Teacher Chi explains 《Smiling Eyes》 clearly, CP fans only recognize #Yang and Chi Fish#!」
「6.」
Yang Zi’s move rode the traffic while instantly fueling Reboot’s popularity.
And he wasn’t lying, really fulfilled the “promise” on Weibo.
Reboot sales rose again.
Meanwhile, Rise’s good teammates who’d been quiet couldn’t sit still!
Captain this hot, even that old man Yang Zi can rub, why can’t we?!
Zhang Ji Zhua acted faster than Jiang Mou this time, went live first: “《Reboot》, best EP in recent years, as expected from my captain!”
Then, as “insider” on one of the hottest topics: “Definitely live singing, definitely his own songs! Because I was there when captain wrote them!”
Everyone: “?!”
“Like 《Sunlight in the Crack》, I remember it was an early autumn night… me and captain eating Xianming chicken feet… oh right, ad time, captain ate my Xianming chicken feet, throat got comfy, that’s why his singing got good…”
He started making up on the spot.
Jiang Mou saw, panicked!
You were there?
You were there my ass!
Eating NM Xianming chicken feet!
Unexpected after time apart, Chicken Feet leveled up, so good at rubbing heat!
He immediately went live: “Captain’s album, I bought a hundred copies too! Not for anything else, just for our team spirit! Chi Ye is Rise’s team spirit!”
“As for some saying they saw captain write live… ate chicken feet, feet scratched throat, slippery, made him sing… no one really believes that?”
“That day it was clearly me and captain together drinking the fake wine from link three in my live room… um… honestly, several lines in 《Sunlight in the Crack》, captain got inspiration from me… why, sigh, I had a bullying history too…”
Everyone: “…”
Another expert?!
Just as everyone marveled at another expert.
Yang Zi was displeased!
Fuck, is it easy for me to rub Chi Ye once?
Why do you Rise guys always mess with me?
He and team urgently discussed, finally went personally with a guitar, shot a short video singing 《When You》.
Posted on Weibo—Chi Ye can sing to fire, why can’t I?!
Title: 【Tribute to my good bro @Chi Ye】
Onlookers curiously clicked, then puked one by one.
In the video, Yang Zi smirked crookedly, staring at lens: “When your eyes squint smiling~ when you drink cola when you nag~ I like you, know or not~”
「Reject sexual harassment, police called.」
「Finally get why Chi Ye sings well, he passed the bad to you.」
「Plaintiff: Chi Ye, defendant: Yang Zi.」
「Yang Zi you’re advanced black bar? What crap did you sing?」
「Please don’t ruin 《When You》, my filters shattered.」
「Bad, Yang Zi found confidence!」
Even Chi Ye couldn’t resist replying under Weibo comment: 「Please join in roasting, thanks.」
Yang Zi: “?”
But not mad, because the video went viral!
In half a day, with Yang Zi and Rise teammates’ “assists,” influencers reacted, starting covers of songs from 《Reboot》.
Most don’t want to buy albums, but want to listen.
What to do?
Can’t hear original, listen to covers first.
At this moment, a song’s singability value showed.
Songs on Chi Ye’s 《Reboot》 all highly singable, plus Chi Ye’s extra marketing—good quality means he dares what Hua Yichen doesn’t, quality holds up, riding “image contrast” heat, people buy in!
So once started, the unpredictable happened.
Hua Yichen watched his just-over-40 million soon surpassed by Chi Ye skyrocketing past 50 million.
Shi Jinwei watched Chi Ye in under two days overtake her over-week 55 million sales.
Not over.
Third day, 60 million.
Fourth day, 65 million…
Fifth day, 《Reboot》 sales officially broke 70 million, entered all-time total chart top twenty, surpassing Hua Yichen’s highest debut album…
That was his fans’ only boastable album.
That day, some gossiping netizen commented under Hua Yichen’s Weibo: 【No time to miss Father of the Chinese Music Scene, now taking stage—Grandpa of the Chinese Music Scene（Ye）!!】
Chinese Music Scene: With you all, it’s my fortune!
