At the Global Chinese Music Awards, Lu Chen had already lost Best Producer in the first round.
Best Lyrics had slipped through his fingers as well.
With two of his six nominations gone, things were starting to look ominous. The old curse of the hot favorite failing seemed to hang over the National Center for the Performing Arts, casting a shadow over everyone rooting for him.
If he lost Best Composer too, Lu Chen might end up leaving empty-handed despite arriving in full glory.
Some people would certainly love to see that happen, but his fans would be devastated.
When Liu Gangsheng pulled the card from the envelope, the atmosphere in Lu Chen's Whale TV livestream became so tense it was suffocating. Even the bullet comments had thinned out, and barely anyone was sending gifts.
Then, a second later, they got their first real surprise of the night.
"The winner of Best Composer is..."
"Lu Chen!"
Lu Chen!
It really was Lu Chen!
He had defeated four formidable rivals to take home the Best Composer award.
Thunderous applause erupted throughout the venue.
Looking back at the Chinese pop scene in 2016, there truly hadn't been a more outstanding singer-songwriter than Lu Chen. His talent for original music had been astonishing. It hadn't merely carried his own career to new heights, it had also left a massive, lasting impact on the entire industry.
Lu Chen had written plenty of songs throughout 2016, including no shortage of classics. "Jiangnan" was just one representative work, and it didn't even show the full extent of his ability.
Best Composer was an award he absolutely deserved.
The people applauding Lu Chen weren't just audience members and fans. The other four nominees were clapping as well, and quite a few people even stood up to congratulate him.
Meanwhile, Lu Chen's livestream on Whale TV completely exploded.
"YES! BEST COMPOSER!"
"Say no more. I'm sending an aircraft carrier! Nobody stop me!"
"At a moment like this, only throwing Fish Balls can express how I feel."
"My Chen is unstoppable!"
"Don't get too excited yet. This is only the beginning. There are still three major awards left!"
"Hahaha! I called it! I knew he'd win Best Composer!"
"Keep it up, Lu Chen!"
Along with the flood of bullet comments came a downpour of Fish Balls, with one aircraft carrier after another dominating the screen.
Aircraft carriers were Whale TV's most expensive gift, and they weren't coming in ones or twos. Wealthy fans were sending them in streaks of several, dozens, or even more.
The craziest fan hit a hundred-send combo.
In other words, the user with the ID "Lu Chen's Biggest Fan" had tipped him a hundred thousand yuan in less than a minute.
Ever since Lu Chen entered the film and television industry, he'd had much less time to interact with fans through livestreaming. It had been a long time since anything like this had happened.
Lu Chen's enormous success through livestreaming had also drawn the attention of many celebrities to the platform's massive fan market. Whale TV had signed several idols during 2016, and a number of them had become extremely popular, posing a real challenge to Lu Chen's status as Whale TV's number-one celebrity streamer.
But tonight, a single Best Composer award was enough for Lu Chen to effortlessly prove that his position on Whale TV was still untouchable.
In just a few minutes, the gifts he received surpassed one million yuan, setting a new Whale TV record.
Lu Chen hugged Chen Fei'er, then Tan Hong and Liao Jia.
These two senior heavyweights of the music industry had given him plenty of advice and help over the years. The fact that his path through the pop scene had gone so smoothly owed a great deal to friends like them.
Amid the continuing applause, Lu Chen walked onto the brilliantly lit stage.
"Congratulations!"
Liu Gangsheng handed him the trophy with a broad smile, then pulled him into a warm hug.
Lu Chen nodded firmly. "Thank you!"
Liu Gangsheng patted him on the back and stepped aside, perfectly happy to let Lu Chen have the spotlight.
Holding the heavy golden trophy in his hands and facing thousands of guests and audience members, Lu Chen stood before the microphone with emotions surging inside him.
Gradually, the applause faded.
Every eye in the venue turned toward him.
Lu Chen gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking.
"First of all, I'm very honored to be here tonight at the Global Chinese Music Awards. I'd like to thank the organizing committee for giving me this recognition and support."
"And most importantly, I want to thank the organizers for arranging for Brother Gangsheng to present this award to me. He's always been one of my idols, so thank you, Brother Gangsheng!"
Another round of enthusiastic applause filled the hall.
The livestream camera focused on Liu Gangsheng. The Hong Kong superstar smiled and clasped his hands together in acknowledgment, looking as gracious as ever.
Lu Chen continued, "Over the past year, I've written a lot of songs. 'Jiangnan' is a very special one to me, and I'd like to thank the judges for recognizing it and showing it so much appreciation."
"In the coming year, I'll keep working hard and try to create even more, and even better, music."
"Thank you, everyone!"
With that, he bowed deeply.
Under even louder applause, Lu Chen carried the trophy back to his seat.
Chen Fei'er smiled at him. "Pretty happy, aren't you?"
Lu Chen grinned. "Very. Here, you can share in it too." He handed her the trophy.
Chen Fei'er took it and nearly dropped it. Her eyes widened. "It's so heavy!"
The trophy for the Global Chinese Music Awards closely resembled the old Asian Chinese Music Awards trophy and continued to use the familiar name "Golden Lark."
Compared to the original Golden Lark, though, the redesigned version was much more elegant. The lines were smoother, and the singing lark spreading its wings looked almost alive, as though it were about to soar into the sky.
But the design wasn't the biggest change. The trophy itself had become far more valuable.
The old Golden Lark had been made from hollow copper with a gold-plated exterior. Not only was it light, but the plating also tended to fade over time.
The new trophy, however, used a solid copper core with multiple layers of gilding. Each one contained more than fifty grams of gold, while the base was inlaid with gemstones and small diamonds.
The production cost was extremely high. That was why even awards like Best Group, which could have several winners, came with only a single trophy for everyone to share.
Earlier in the evening, Chen Fei'er had been nominated for Best Stage Performance, but unfortunately she hadn't won.
Between the two of them, they had ten nominations in total, and Lu Chen was the first to actually bring home a trophy.
"Don't get too smug." After letting Lu Chen show off for a moment, Chen Fei'er lifted her chin proudly. "I'm not going to lose to you!"
The next award was the Media Choice Award.
And amusingly enough, both Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er had been nominated.
This time, the two of them were rivals.
(End of Chapter)
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