No wonder it was only an epic title. As for Enchanting Voice, Chu Zhi had seen it once before. Since he already knew what the reward was, there was no need to look further.
Among all the buffs, sound-based abilities were the most helpful for his singing career. But the truth was, the number of sound buffs wasn't very high. The ones he hadn't drawn yet included [Ethereal Sound], [Rhythm Sound], [Motor of Fury Sound], and [Enchanting Voice]. Out of those, the ones Chu Zhi wanted most were Rhythm and Enchanting.
"This time's prize pool, only Enchanting Voice interests me," Chu Zhi hinted to his system buddy.
When it came to the erhu, Chu Zhi only knew of the musician Abing. Who was this Hua Yanjun? He looked more closely.
Ah. He felt a bit embarrassed for speaking too loudly earlier. Hua Yanjun was Abing's real name.
Chu Zhi chose a blind box that looked pleasing to the eye and opened it.
—Golden Legend—
[Enchanting Voice]
"Ho, system brother, you really are my brother from another mother," Chu Zhi said.
[This is the third time you've said that,] the system replied.
Uh… was that so? No point sweating the details.
As the saying goes: strike while the iron is hot. If luck comes, ride it.
The second prize pool was much better than the first. At least two rewards in it were things Chu Zhi truly wanted: a custom album voucher and the legendary title, Child of the Sun.
"Open the blind box!" Chu Zhi shouted in his mind.
[Title: Mad God of the Crowd]
[Mad God of the Crowd: Legendary Title. Among people, you are the Mad God. The larger the crowd, the stronger you become!
Attributes: When performing before 100, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 100,000 people, different buffs will automatically activate.]
Not bad at all. For concerts, it was a god-tier skill.
"I already have the Immortal Wine. Now with Mad God of the Crowd, how is any other singer supposed to compete? On stage, I'll be invincible." Chu Zhi sighed at how lonely invincibility felt.
Still, Child of the Sun would have been better. Too bad he hadn't pulled it.
With eighteen draws left, he decided to save them.
A little tip: after drinking, always eat something, even if you don't feel like it. It helps with hangovers.
After fifteen hours in the air from Kennedy Airport to Pudong Airport, he finally returned to China.
At the same time, another major event was happening.
On April 15, The One Gazed Upon by Gods was officially released on all domestic platforms.
Penguin Music: [The Album That Conquered Europe and America]
Kugou: [The Man Fed by God Himself—Chu Zhi]
NetEase Cloud: [If You Miss This, You'll Miss Too Much]
Kuwo, Migu, and other platforms naturally joined in. Full promotion everywhere.
"Who else can be like brother Jiu? No one, I tell you, no one!" At that moment, Liu Fusu was in Shanghai. He had put on a bit of weight compared to when he was in Amsterdam.
He used to be lean enough to show abs. Now, his six-pack had fused into one.
"Even though brother Jiu said in front of the camera that fans could listen to the album for free, if he hadn't released the English version, no one would've blamed him."
"Yet he still uploaded a free version online. Tsk, he spoils his fans too much."
Liu Fusu had already pre-ordered three physical copies from Amazon, though they hadn't arrived yet. For now, he used NetEase Cloud to get a taste.
The Nights,Waiting for Love, Wake Me Up,Enemy, and Roar
One after another, the songs made Liu Fusu leap off his bed.
With a loud "thud," his weight and the force nearly broke the bed frame. Thankfully, it was sturdy.
Yes, even though it was already two in the afternoon and he had been awake for a while, Liu Fusu had only just gotten out of bed. He listened to all ten tracks on the album at least twice. Fired up, he suddenly wanted to pilot a battleship and bomb the Yasukuni Shrine.
"I swear I'll beat this addiction. I won't relapse again!"
The courage in the songs infected him. His chest swelled with a surging passion that demanded release.
"Today, one hundred sketches! Damn it, grind, grind, grind!"
He logged into his NetEase Cloud account to leave a review.
Shijiu Yingge: [After listening, I immediately drew one hundred sketch assignments.]
From the nickname, it was clear Liu Fusu had once been a literary youth. He still kept the habit of reading poetry daily.
But sketching was exhausting. His sudden burst of motivation was like an oasis in the desert, drying up fast.
After only two sketches, he dropped his pencil. Enough for now. Time to rest and do something else.
He picked up the poetry collection he had brought back from the Netherlands: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.
He especially loved these lines: Do not go gentle into that good night / Old age should burn and rave at close of day / Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Often, he would connect this poem to the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was a die-hard Soviet fan.
"Nanhuai's poetry is incredible. I love this spirit of 'better broken jade than intact tile.'"
"And this author must be Chinese. I checked the pen name—'nanhuai' isn't any known foreign word." Liu Fusu muttered to himself.
In English, it should be written as Huainan, but since there are multiple possible Hanzi (淮南, 槐南, 怀南, etc.), it's not certain which one is intended.
He spent the afternoon reading, but still felt his phone was more entertaining.
He pulled it out again to check his idol's album stats. As expected, number one across all platforms.
Fan comments poured in:
"I just finished five sets of math tests."
"I was feeding my donkey when I played the song. The donkey and I locked eyes for a few seconds. From its gaze, I could tell it wanted to ride me onto the highway."
"I always knew Jiu-yé's English songs would sound amazing. Right? Right?"
"As a complete outsider, I'll say this: no wonder it topped the Billboard 200."
"I thought only Lü Bu was unrivaled under heaven. But whose soldier is this?"
[More >>]
"Whose soldier? Are you kidding me? Among men, he's the Red Hare. Among horses, he's the Ragdoll. Did you really think that saying was fake?" Liu Fusu felt proud, as though his own honor was being praised.
He rubbed his nose. A habit he had never had before. Ever since quitting drugs, his nose always itched.
"Speaking of which, Jiu-yé's new album is definitely crushing that North American pop princess Gibaldi."
The One Gazed Upon by Gods had already been on sale in Europe and America for a month. Though albums didn't drop off like films after their theatrical run, without new hype, sales would slow to just a few hundred per week.
As Liu Fusu said, 1.26 million copies sold in Europe and America, 2.94 million in Asia within two weeks. Over 4 million globally, easily surpassing Gibaldi.
Gibaldi's total sales were only 1.54 million. In Asia, her first week was just 320,000, and she never got past that hurdle.
If Liu Fusu sounded calculating, the reality was that William Morris Agency was even more so. As one of Hollywood's top agencies, how could their artist lose to an Asian star?
They began throwing money into promotion across Asia. The three biggest markets were Japan, South Korea, and China.
Japan: "Do you have the new Ragdoll album? Sold out? Only Gibaldi's left? Forgive my bluntness, but if a record store doesn't stock Ragdoll, does it even deserve to exist?"
South Korea: "I've heard too many European and American albums. I want to hear Professor Baek's new album. If you don't have it, I'm not buying."
China? Nothing to add. It was Chu Zhi's home ground. Physical album stores were rare. Everything was online sales.
So the agency's marketing was useless. Even as one of Hollywood's Big Three, they could only watch as Chu Zhi's name spread inside and outside Hollywood.
Niu Jiangxue and the others were delighted. With global sales proving themselves in raw numbers, they held the upper hand. Of course they were happy.
Short video creators and marketing accounts were just as excited. Every one of the ten songs could serve as perfect BGM.
Hollywood companies were eyeing Chu Zhi. But so were others.
"Brother Zhan, what do you think of my idea?" Zhou Yiyu asked, trying to flatter his manager.
"Not much," Brother Zhan shot him a glance. "Hearing your plan makes me want to die laughing. How do you even come up with this stuff?"
Zhou Yiyu: "…"
Same old story. Brother Zhan always said the opposite when being sarcastic.
"With Jiu-yé around, isn't winning the championship guaranteed?" Zhou Yiyu said. "Brother Zhan, you can't doubt Jiu-yé's popularity."
"Who said I doubt his popularity?" Brother Zhan almost wanted to crack open his artist's skull and check what nonsense was inside.
He said, "I mean, you really are a genius. Making it to the finals was already thanks to fan votes and the company's push. With Teacher Ming Zhi and Teacher Guan Xiaozhai competing, you want to be the champion?"
Ming Zhi was a national team singer. Guan Xiaozhai had sung for three of CCTV's new Four Classics series, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin.
With those two in the mix, aiming for champion? Brother Zhan's look screamed: And you think you're worthy?
"Their skills are good, sure. But in I Am a Singer, popularity is also key," Zhou Yiyu insisted.
He had become a minor rising star, his path paved by that trash-hit song in the trash can. Everything since then had gone too smoothly. The "badminton boy" was starting to float.
It was natural. When thousands flattered you daily, anyone would get inflated.
Zhou Yiyu's sense of reality was slipping. In almost every respect, he had changed. Only one thing stayed the same: Chu Zhi YYDS.
Looking at his artist's brimming confidence, Brother Zhan sighed inwardly. With more than a decade of experience in the industry, he knew advice would fall on deaf ears.
"So, have you thought about how to invite Jiu-yé? Even though Aiguo Company has a strategic partnership with ours, even President Huang couldn't convince him. What do we have to offer?" Brother Zhan decided to approach it from another angle.
Zhou Yiyu's confident expression froze. On reflection, they weren't even in the same company anymore. Even the bond of senior-junior disciples was gone. What reason did he have to invite him?
Money? Don't joke. Penguin Video had waved 180 million yuan at him for a new show and been refused.
Friendship? Sure, Zhou Yiyu had played badminton with Chu Zhi many times. But that wasn't enough.
"Then let's switch to another guest singer. Lin Xia, maybe. Barely acceptable." Zhou Yiyu muttered as if he had suffered some great grievance.
Lin Xia was still a top star, hardly an easy guest to invite. Where did this aggrieved tone even come from?
"I'll give it a try," Brother Zhan replied, unwilling to say more.
===
淮南, Meaning: Literally "south of the Huai River."
槐南, Meaning: "South of the pagoda trees" (槐 = pagoda tree, a tree often planted in courtyards, schools, or temples).
怀南, Meaning: "Embracing the south" or "cherishing the south" (怀 = to cherish, to embrace, to long for).