Chapter 26: You're Just Jealous!

At six in the evening, Yida Film and Television in the capital city.

At that moment, Wu Chaoyang was personally leading the public relations department employees in working overtime, all to keep the buzz around Garen's song "Chang'an, Chang'an" alive!

Although they weren't the last to learn about this, they still found out quite late. In fact, it was Liu Xiahui who first got the news, shared it, and tagged both Wu Chaoyang and the PR director, Yang Shaoyu, which finally got the department moving.

The best window for hype had already half passed.

But that didn't stop Wu Chaoyang and Yang Shaoyu, seasoned veterans in PR, from executing their plans.

Just past eight that night, forums and message boards exploded with posts about Garen and "Chang'an, Chang'an," swarming like locusts. Comments rose sharply, thanks both to paid internet agents and the masses unaware of the true story.

On Microblog, the topic's read count soared past one hundred million, firmly securing a spot in the platform's top three trending topics—but it couldn't climb any higher.

Second place belonged to a news story from a Southeast Asian country called Philbine, about a male star from the Hanbang ethnic group, Song Chenxian, who died in a car accident along with his boyfriend, Jin Taiyong, hailed by his nation as the pride of Hanbang.

First place was also from Philbine, but this time involving the Sakura ethnic group: their chieftain married a maid forty years his junior, causing a global sensation.

One story exposed a death and a coming out, another shattered conventions with a marriage—no matter how dramatic Garen’s news was, it simply couldn’t compete.

So being in third place was only natural.

At nine o’clock sharp, the veteran domestic video site Kiwi Fruit launched over a dozen of the latest, hottest news videos, among them coverage of Garen and "Chang'an, Chang'an." Not only was it labeled "explosive," it became the top headline.

Just after midnight, the site’s weekly original entertainment show "Kiwi Fruit Direct" also featured Garen’s news.

Other sites’ original variety shows included it too: for example, "Total Entertainment" on Tuku Web, "Entertainment Report" on Souhou Web, and "Entertainment Boiling Point" on Feiteng Web.

Overnight, news about Garen was everywhere.

Yida’s music production department worked late into the night, using parts of "Chang'an, Chang'an" from the video to produce an instrumental track, preparing to release a single straight away. With this song, Garen’s participation in two upcoming music festivals would be even more impactful.

Early next morning, Yida's economic department sent a steady stream of good news.

Garen's first demo single, "Gardenia Blossoms," had claimed the top spot for new songs on Hago Music, with total plays exceeding one hundred thousand and peak simultaneous listeners reaching two thousand three hundred.

The speed of its rise to number one was entirely thanks to Hago Music buying exclusive online play rights for seven tracks from Garen’s new EP at fifty thousand yuan each—a sky-high price for a newcomer. Now that Hago had them, it fueled publicity; from the moment the deal was struck, Hago began aggressively pushing "Gardenia Blossoms," especially via the "Random Listen" feature, which played it once every five songs.

Additionally, a live broadcast contract with Five-Star Music Live was negotiated at one million two hundred thousand yuan for two years.

That morning, Garen’s roadshow in Zhengzhou was filmed live by Maile, streaming directly to the Five-Star Music Live section.

Before the broadcast, Garen posted about it on his Microblog.

He hadn’t expected much attention, but as soon as the message went out, replies flooded in, growing at a frightening pace.

"Wow! Garen is going live again—this hasn’t happened since the Pepper Live days!"

"Yeah! Even though Garen’s a newcomer, hearing he’s going live gives me the feeling of a superstar making a comeback!"

"Five-Star Live? What’s that place?"

"Above, the poster provided a link—can’t you check it yourself?"

"I’m going to get some sunflower seeds—the first seat on the live stream is mine!"

"I’m already here, why hasn’t it started? What time does it begin?"

"……"

Seeing these replies, Garen was a bit stunned. He refreshed his homepage—

My god! His follower count had shot past sixty thousand—such rapid growth!

He checked his follower list and suddenly understood.

Among these fans, eight out of ten had their address listed as Chang'an. Clearly, they’d followed him because of "Chang'an, Chang'an."

The live broadcast began as Garen took the stage. He performed five songs, including "Chang'an, Chang'an" and "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky."

When he sang "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky," many new fans who had seen the [A Song Saved a Life] news report felt a jolt of recognition.

Ah! So Garen is the singer who saved someone with his music?

Old fans were especially proud; someone wrote in the barrage, "Every song my Garen sings causes a sensation. Each one is meaningful—if it’s not saving someone, it’s dedicated to a city. Truly meaningful!"

Another chimed in, "Garen’s in Zhengzhou now—won’t he perform a new song dedicated to the city?"

"Yes! I’m looking forward to it! I’m from Henan!"

"Probably not, right? He’s already sung five; the announcement said he’d visit two cities each day, five songs per live show—this should be it."

"Sigh! So disappointing!"

"……"

Zhengzhou, at the roadshow venue.

Beside the stage, in the singers’ lounge.

The singers were sitting in groups, chatting among themselves.

One singer browsed his phone, scrolling through Microblog, and clicked his tongue, "Wang Yang! That Garen guy is something else—yesterday his 'Chang'an, Chang'an' stirred up a whole wave of online discussion!"

Wang Yang, the singer he addressed, was the trendy idol who’d remarked at lunch the day before that Garen’s songs were simplistic. Now, as he watched Garen on stage, he regarded him coldly, a resentment simmering from who knows where.

"Hmph!" Wang Yang sneered, "He must have paid for internet agents. If my company promoted me like that after I debuted, I’d be far better than him!"

"But…" The other singer said awkwardly, "But his songs are well-written. Don’t hold a grudge over yesterday, Ah Hu and his friends meant no harm! Besides, Garen wrote a song before going on stage—none of us can match that!"

"Bah!" Wang Yang spat, curling his fingers in a disdainful gesture and pointing across at the other singer, "Liu He! Are you doing this on purpose? Are we not teammates? How can you side with outsiders against your own?"

"But, but…"

"No buts!" Wang Yang flicked his hair. "I won’t comment on his song quality, but I refuse to believe he could write a song even half an hour before going on stage!"

Liu He fell silent, deciding not to say anything more.

But Ai Ya, who’d been listening for a while, scoffed, "Tch, you just never believe in anyone else’s ability!"

"Hey!" Wang Yang glared, but seeing it was Ai Ya, he shrank back and forced a smile, "Haha, Ai Ya, I know you’re close to him, but when it comes to right and wrong, friendship doesn’t count—it can’t sway people’s perceptions!"

Ai Ya frowned, "Why are you so fussy, like a woman? Pathetic!"

"Hey! Who’s pathetic?" Wang Yang protested defiantly, "When Garen finishes, if he can write a song on the spot—a prompted one—I’ll concede! Ai Ya, will you pass that message on to him?"

"Fine, I’ll relay it, but whether he bothers competing with someone as brainless as you, I couldn’t say!" Ai Ya chuckled lightly.

"You…" Wang Yang pointed at Ai Ya, then snorted and sulked.

Liu He nudged him quietly, "Enough, Wang Yang! Why are you so fixated on this? It won’t do you any good!"

"I’m just angry!" Wang Yang huffed.

"You’re jealous!" Liu He shot back.

Wang Yang instantly bristled, "Who’s jealous? Me, jealous of him? Ha, ridiculous! I’ve at least been in big competitions—him? Just a bar singer who got a TV theme song and thinks he’s special? Laughable! Nowadays, even bumpkins can pretend to be big shots!"

"Sigh!" Liu He shook his head, "That’s enough, I won’t argue with you."

They were muttering when suddenly the host, Old Wang, rushed in, legs pressed together, face contorted in pain. "Uh… can someone cover for me as host for a bit? I can’t take it—stomach ache, it’s coming, coming right now!"

"Wang, I’ll cover for you! Go quickly!"

A female singer hurried over and took the microphone.

Old Wang pursed his lips and waved, squeezing out, "Xiao Li! Thanks! I’ll buy you dinner later! I can’t hold on—I gotta go!"

With that, Old Wang dashed toward the public restroom.

Xiao Li shook her head, about to step on stage, when Wang Yang stood up and called out, "Xiao Li, wait!"

"What is it?" Xiao Li glanced back in confusion, "Garen’s almost done—what is it, hurry up!"

"Hehe," Wang Yang said, "Xiao Li, let me host for a bit, alright? I could use the practice!"

"You?" Xiao Li eyed him skeptically, "Are you up for it?"

"Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? You know I’m always talkative!"

Wang Yang stepped forward to grab the mic.

Xiao Li didn’t argue, simply handed it over, "Fine, go ahead!"

"Hey! Thanks, Xiao Li!" Wang Yang said, shooting Liu He a sly grin as he turned.

Ai Ya had been watching the whole scene; seeing Wang Yang’s expression, she stood and said, "Wang Yang, you’re not planning to…"

"Exactly!" Wang Yang declared loudly, then dashed toward the stage before anyone could stop him.

He turned on the microphone, mimicking Old Wang’s style and laughed, "Ha ha, everyone in the audience, did you enjoy Garen’s performance?"