Chapter 168 – Thank You Senior
Chen Guodong didn’t have many fans in the Inspur blog, only 200,000+, which can be regarded as a small V.
However, he is well known in the pop music world. He is a contributor1 to a number of music websites and magazines, and has a wide range of contacts in the circle. Therefore, there are a lot of star artists and industry celebrities who follow each other in the blog.
Once the “Silent Majority” was published, it got a lot of repost.
Music superstars Tan Hong and Chen Fei’er, Flying Stone Record Music Director Lin Zhijie, famous artist Zhang Zhirong, and pop radio host Shu Ping and other Big V have all given positive comments, forming a wider influence on the Internet.
On September 16, the next day, the three words “Lu Chen”, “You Who Sat Next To Me” and “Silent Majority” appeared on the homepage of Inspur blog at the same time.
There were also many bloggers who post on their blogs the short films they shot at their college orientation parties, which were basically live videos of student performers playing and singing songs in Lu Chen’s album.
A guitar, a handsome guy, a folk song…
Most of these videos were shot on cellphones, and the picture quality and sound quality were not good, but the atmosphere at the scene was good enough to show the popularity of Lu Chen’s original songs among the student community.
People in the industry were astonished to find that “Campus Folk Song”, a folk song category created by Lu Chen himself, has unwittingly gained wide influence with the release of his first album, and has been recognized by countless young people.
When Lu Chen promoted “Campus Folk Songs”, many people scoffed at it and even dismissed it as an act of sensationalism.
Now It was entirely possible to leave a strong mark on the historical books of domestic pop music!
Some entertainment record companies were keen to pay attention to this market and were planning to launch works of the same style.
Lu Chen’s Inspur blog has gained hundreds of thousands of followers.
Also, on September 16, the sales volume of “You Who Sat Next To Me” exceeded 300,000 on QQ Music!
Surprising everyone!
It is important to know that the sales performance of a singer’s albums on the website is mainly concentrated in the first week, especially in the first three days, and will definitely decline in the following days, or even have a big drop.
The reason is simple, online piracy is rampant with the hot sales of albums. A large number of it will appear on posts, forums and QQ groups for others to download for free, which can’t be contained at all.
Under such circumstances, even the works of superstars and celebrities, the downward trend is also irreparable.
“You Who Sat Next To Me” was put on the shelves of QQ Music on the 8th. By the 16th, It has been on the shelves for a full 8 days. It has already passed the prime sales period. Normally, the sales volume should be getting less every day and entering the late stage of accumulation.
But no one expected that this album to go against the trend and sold 50,000 copies on September 16, which was unbelievable and enviable – Your mother, this was too outrageous!
This miracle once again strongly proved Chen Guodong’s assertion about the “silent majority”.
Because by this time, there shouldn’t be many inherent fans of Lu Chen buying the album.
The success of “You Who Sat Next To Me” made Lu Chen’s originally declining popularity erupt again, and many entertainment agencies and advertisers have called or took the initiative to contact Lu Chen Studio for cooperation.
Performance, endorsement, buying songs… made Lu Xi so busy, and her cellphone hasn’t stop ringing all day long.
Of course, Lu Chen left all these matters to his elder sister.
He believed that his sister will be able to handle it.
As for Lu Chen himself, of course, it was impossible for him to be idle.
At 1 pm on September 17, he went to the Beijing Satellite TV Building to participate in the rehearsal of the National Day Party of the satellite TV station.
Beijing Satellite TV basically has four big parties every year. They are the Spring Festival Gala on the first day of the Lunar New year, the New Year’s Eve Party on December 31, the Taiwan National Day Party on June 8 and the National Day Party on October 1.
Among them, the Spring Festival Gala and the New Year’s Eve Party have always been the highlights of the TV station. Comparatively speaking, the scale and investment of the Taiwan National Day Party and National Day Party have been inferior, and the audience rating have not been high.
However, Beijing Satellite TV has a great influence in Beijing. Even for the National Day Party with low ratings, there are still countless actors and singers who desperately want to stand on its stage, even if they have to throw away their faces.
Lu Chen’s opportunity to take the stage at the National Day Party of Beijing Satellite TV was originally exchanged for his song “Life On A String”. And after he won the championship of “Singing China”, it was more reasonable that he was able to participate, and no one can gossip about it.
Otherwise, with his status as an independent new artist and with his personal connection in the circle, there was basically no way for him to participate.
Lu Chen still attached great importance to this National Day Party, so he rushed to the satellite TV building ahead of time.
With the invitation letter and ID card sent by satellite TV station, Lu Chen arrived at the T1 Studio of Beijing Satellite TV very smoothly.
This new studio was opened just two months ago and can accommodate 3,000 live audiences at the same time. The total stage area is 3,500 square meters, and it has advanced decoration and atmospheric facilities, which can be called the best in the industry.
Lu Chen has been here before, and knew the way.
There were already a lot of entertainers in the backstage of the studio. Lu Chen saw many familiar faces inside. They were famous singer stars in the circle. The lineup at this party was undoubtedly quite strong.
Under the arrangement of the TV station staff, he sat down in the reserved seat.
Similarly, in the backstage, the arrangement of the dresser’s position is very particular. First of all, the top big stars don’t mix in the big room. They have separate small VIP suites available.
Secondly, the first and second-line star idols occupy the space close to the entrance and exit of the stage and separated by a partition. The third, fourth, fifth and 18th lines are all arranged in a neat and unified position in the large dressing room.
As for other ordinary entertainers, such as backup singers and dancers, they basically can only stand at the corner, or even go to the circular corridor outside to wait for preparation. Even getting a drink of water is not easy.
Originally, when Lu Chen participated in “Singing China”, there were not many singers in the backstage, so the backstage was very spacious. Now the rehearsal situation of the party was completely different, and it was very busy and crowded.
The staff of the TV station have to use an electronic loudspeaker to speak, otherwise it will be difficult to hear them clearly.
After Lu Chen took his seat, he didn’t run around to add to the chaos. He took out his cellphone and began to play on his own.
His state of mind was very relaxed.
Because today was the first rehearsal, there was no need for makeup and dress change. It’s just about singing.
“Senior Lu Chen!”
Lu Chen had just opened QQ, there came a voice full of surprise: “You’re here!”
Lu Chen couldn’t help but turn around to look. He immediately smiled: “Xiaochu!”
It was none other than Mu Xiaochu who greeted him!
Mu Xiaochu is a sophomore at Beijing Foreign Studies Institute. She is only 19 years old this year and can be regarded as Lu Chen’s junior sister.
Don’t look at her sweet, charming, delicate, and shy personality. In “Singing China” competition, she had overcome all the difficulties in her way. With the sweet song “Small Town Nocturne”, she narrowly beat Bihai singing area challenger Gao Zhanpeng with a total score of 91.68, winning the fifth place in the national top 10. (TN: She was the fifth one to enter the national top 10.)
In the final national election, this girl with a sweet singing voice won the fourth overall place and was signed by Flying Stone Records.
Nearly a month later, Lu Chen was also very happy to see this junior sister, who was as beautiful and lovely as the girl next door. Lu Chen got up with a smile and asked, “When did you come here?”
Mu Xiaochu pursed her lips and said with a smile, “I just came here, together with Brother Zhang Xiaohai.”
It was only at this time that Lu Chen noticed a young man in black jacket was standing next to Mu Xiaochu.
The young man in jacket is 24 or 25 years old. He is a bit taller than Lu Chen. He looks handsome and fashionable, and has the idol temperament, but he looks a bit crafty.
“Brother Zhang…”
Lu Chen took the initiative to extend his hand to the other party: “Long time no see, how have you been?”
Zhang Haohai is also one of the top 10 singers of “Singing China”. He is a native of Shancheng and a Beijing drifter singer. He has strong singing skills and good at dancing. He won the third place in the final and also signed by Flying Stone Records.
Lu Chen and Zhang Haohai are not familiar with each other. Apart from the original competitive relationship, there is no resentment or contradiction between them. Therefore, Lu Chen was a little puzzled by the slightly hostile attitude of the other party.
“Singing China” was already over.
“I’m doing all right.”
Zhang Haohai lightly shook hands with Lu Chen and said, “But not as good as you, who already released an album.”
Lu Chen said with a smile, “it’s just luck.”
Since Zhang Haohai was neither salty nor indifferent, he will not use his own hot face to stick to the other party’s cold buttocks. (TN: He will not be enthusiastic to the other party since the other party is ignoring him.)
Mu Xiaochu said very seriously, “Senior Lu Chen, you don’t rely on luck, but on strength!”
“I bought several copies of your album and gave it to my classmates, and they all said it was very pleasant to listen to and they all wanted to see you!”
There was a shy smile on her face and she said softly, “When can I invite senior to have a meal together?”
Zhang Haohai’s complexion became a little dark.
Lu Chen immediately understood.
Zhang Xiaohai has an idea on Mu Xiaochu, and he was not happy to see the latter take the initiative to get close to him.
He shook his head secretly, but readily agreed: “No problem, you have my cellphone number, you can call me at any time, I will invite your classmates to dinner!”
Mu Xiaochu was pleasantly surprised: “Really?”
Lu Chen nodded seriously: “Of course, it’s true. As a senior, how can I deceive my junior sister?”
Mu Xiaochu was amused: “Thank you, senior!”
The two talked and laughed intimately, Zhang Xiaohai finally couldn’t stay any longer and said, “You guys talk, I’m leaving.”
Mu Xiaochu and Lu Chen nodded, but didn’t talk.
After Zhang Xiaohai left, the two looked at each other and smiled.
Lu Chen could see that Mu Xiaochu didn’t like Zhang Xiaohai, and it was just out of politeness and nothing more.
Mu Xiaochu said, “Thank you, senior.”
The same sentence, but the former and the latter have very different meanings.
_________
TN: Contributors are those who write articles for a particular field for news organizations. Contributor is an author who does not have a contractual relationship with a news organization, but frequently and automatically provides manuscripts in a certain field.
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