This is a win for Little Fruits.
Bingtang Xueli Biscuit keeps a strict schedule, she's usually in bed by ten thirty for beauty sleep. Tonight had a tiny accident, she binge watched a show and lost track of time. It wasn't good, it was awful, and she kept watching with a "show me how much worse you can get" mood. When it ended, she felt doubly stupid for wasting time on it.
Even candy couldn't fix her mood. She scrolled Weibo and, just like that, two fresh posts jumped out.
It felt like she'd just cracked a pistachio. Her mood flipped in a second. She even pictured herself snagging a personally signed album and got giddy.
She clenched both fists, then quickly relaxed them. She didn't actually dance around, her personality's a bit restrained.
Plenty of Little Fruits did dance tonight. First, they don't need resellers now, which saves a little money and brings the album faster. Second, the fans felt heard, like their opinions actually mattered.
The Orange Home forums flooded with new threads. One said if All Nations, Vol. 1 had a Chinese version, sales would jump by a few hundred thousand. Later in the same chat it became three million. The more they talked, the higher it got.
The conclusion sounded wild, but it wasn't pure hot air. On Douban, All Nations, Vol. 1 sits at 9.8, with "631k listened," "36k listening," "57k want to listen."
The score doesn't mean much. Douban's music ratings are way less reliable than its film ratings. Old users know the trust order goes albums, then books, then movies, then dramas at the top.
The "listened" count, though, does sketch heat. Take Lin Xia's bragged 440k sales album, Douban shows under 100k "listened."
There's also a dedicated #SoundsTerrible topic on Weibo. Any big name drops an album, loads of people jump in to say it's bad. Music taste's personal. Your celestial melody is someone else's noise. Lots of folks never accept heavy metal, ever. All Nations, Vol. 1 got tons of discussion, but most landed at mid to high praise.
Some comments still called Little Fruits "pushy," sure.
Seven-Class Transmigrator: [Brother Jiu don't worry, I'll buy at most three, one to play, two to collect.]
A Cold Gleam First, Then Trap Chu In A Cage: [Don't rush a new album, patch Chinese versions of the older ones first.]
Poseidon's Dad: [Right, especially Little Fruits Are Sweet, it's for us, but as a Little Fruits I can't even grab a physical. I'm tired, world end please.]
Benbo'erba: [I almost got distracted, @Aiguo company when's the reprint, or a premium edition?]…
If you force a summary, the leeks Chu Zhi carefully raised for four or five years have cultivated themselves. They're cutting themselves now, nobody can stop them.
Crimson Youth, a boy group that's been lukewarm for two and a half years, stared on with scarlet eyes full of jealousy.
Fans begging to spend money and you keep demurring, how coy.
If it were their fans saying "not enough albums," they'd print as many as it takes. One collector's edition, one deluxe, one classic collector's, and if that's not enough, a classic deluxe collector's.
"Chu Zhi's just a little better looking and a little more talented, right? How's he still hot after four or five years, and getting hotter," the lead singer Nan Kui said. "Isn't fandom all about chasing the new and ditching the old?"
He bit down hard on the word "old." He felt like they were the "old," which made him even more annoyed.
"He didn't just stay hot four or five years. He went overseas and the last album sold over ten million," the main dancer Guang Xi said in a thick voice, like something was stuck in his throat.
"He'll run out of juice sooner or later. This time he said lower your expectations even before release. That means he's done," Nan Kui said. "Good songs aren't cabbages. He wrote that many, how's he got more in him."
The others were cracking too. Their group's peak album hadn't even broken 300k. They couldn't even see the tail lights.
Crimson Youth's slide looked, on the surface, like it was because they pushed underage fans to bulk buy albums and got publicly called out. The core problem was no strong songs. They lived off novelty and hype, and the heat fell fast.
"Even if he runs out of juice, his accumulated popularity crushes ours," the captain Dong Chen said quietly. "We've got no way out. Instead of fretting over Chu Zhi, think how we get this team out of the ditch."
Faces shifted from jealous to grief stricken. Five kids with the look of men on a dead end road.
"We've been abandoned."
"The company's cut our resources, we've got no way out."
"If we keep waiting, we'll get locked out."
They acted like the company treated them horribly.
In reality, no company abandons its cash cow, except maybe Kangfei Entertainment. Crimson Youth had been given plenty. Nan Kui, Dong Chen and the rest could feel their own decline, but besides moaning and panicking, they hadn't done the work.
"How about my last proposal," Dong Chen asked suddenly.
"I can put in five million, but I'm singing most of the lines," Nan Kui said. "I'm lead vocal, I already sing the most."
"Three million," Guang Xi said. "I want it to be a dance track."
"I don't have much, one million."
"Only one million here."
They wanted to pool money to buy a Chu Zhi song. Five guys raising north of ten million, that's a sky high price for the song market. Their goal was clear, they wanted a trash can anthem, the kind that blows up anywhere. Give them one more shot and they'd claw back to the top.
They didn't consider one thing. Chu Zhi might not write that kind of song anymore.
Back online, since Aiguo answered Little Fruits once, they couldn't ignore the second ask, "reprint the older albums." The core team discussed it and promised to reprint at a special time.
That back and forth between company and fans made other agencies drool, like Wowjiwowji and Sun River. If someone's gotta carry the burden of fans lining up to give money, why not them.
The peanut gallery argued hard.
"The first official team that lets fans listen free, stay alive long enough and you'll see all kinds of frogs."
"I'm not a fan, but I've heard a ton of Chu Zhi's songs. I want a physical to collect."
"The two Chu Ci albums are worth paying for. When's part three? Didn't you say Chu Ci trilogy?"
"Am I the only one staring at the new Chinese album news? Hurry it up for grandpa."
"Lower expectations? I'm extra hyped now."
"I wasn't hyped, but because Chu Zhi said lower it, I am. Am I sick?"
…
When did he promise a Chu Ci trilogy? He had no idea.
He'd already tugged most of the new China style tracks last time. Even if he still had Lantingxu, it's not enough for a full album. A trilogy with only two parts is normal, right? Like how the Four Heavenly Kings somehow ended up with five.
"Classmate Chu Zhi, how many years have you been in this world," Chu Zhi, on the right, asked softly.
The Emperor Beast jogged to the right and answered, "almost six."
"So you've had several Spring Festivals off. It's fine if we skip the break this year, right?"
"It's not fine. Not working for New Year's is sacred."
"People should try new things sometimes. What's wrong with a little experiment?"
"Everything's wrong with it."
Right, his first attempt to PUA himself failed. Turns out during the New Year he only wants to eat and laze.
No choice but Plan B. He started sweet talking himself. Work hard this New Year, and next year start the holiday early, rest more, rest well.
He barely convinced himself. Don't call him childish. Doing something with resistance versus with acceptance gives very different results. Even self rationalization beats none.
New Year brings a sea of meetings. He already holds positions in a bunch of associations, then the ministry meetings pile on.
Meetings aren't hard, not compared to ad shoots. Sitting forever is the annoying part. It feels like your butt's getting pressed flat.
Welcome to 2025.
He spent the holiday making the Chinese album, and no, he didn't starve. If not for certain artifacts, he'd probably have put on ten pounds.
He put together thirteen tracks. A few aren't the absolute ceiling, but the system's digging turned up songs that fit him, like Those Flowers, A Lifetime With You, As Summer Flowers, Blue Lotus, Sunflower, The Earliest Me, She And She And She, Wounds Of War, Three's A Crowd, Melody, Give Me A Song's Time, Dark Day, Little Love Song.
There's a little scheme in the list. A Lifetime With You has the line, "so many people loved your face when you were young," which makes people think of the poem When You Are Old. As Summer Flowers points straight to Stray Birds. Time to lay some groundwork.
Touring has sold well, and his poetry collection Circuits crushed globally. With the "21st century Divine Comedy" buzz, and his bigger name, sales doubled the last one. The Jerusalem Prize looks very possible this year. If the stars align, they'll take a shot at the Nobel later. If not, the Jerusalem Prize's weight is enough. It's biannual, winners are, in xianxia terms, half step grandmasters.
Efficiency stayed high, more than half recorded.
"Shancheng, Rongcheng, Yangcheng, Spring City, Magic City, the capital, all those arenas are fine. I think we should discuss Fuzhou and Ho Chi Minh City again," he said.
First work of the year, the team prepped plans for all fifty five venues. The Emperor Beast chose the bigger cut, over thirty domestic shows and over twenty overseas, a true heavyweight challenge.
"Fuzhou's arena's too small," he said. "There should be a bigger one."
It's the provincial capital of Fujian. No way it's that shabby.
"There's a Seafood Olympic Sports Center, can seat eighty thousand," Niu Jiangxue said. "But it's booked."
"All of July to December," he asked. "Arenas can't be that busy."
"August's free, but that scrambles the routing and costs time and money," Niu Jiangxue said.
He thought about it. A concert isn't a solo job. There's a lot to balance.
"Thirty thousand's too small. Sister Niu, see if we can reshuffle to get the big one," he said.
"I'll try," she said.
"If Ho Chi Minh City's tight, we can consider Hue or Haiphong," he added, then remembered something. "Let me make a call, might help."
"Go for it," she said. She knows how wild his network gets.
He called Minister Phan in Vietnam. At the last celebration, the minister insisted their "noses" looked the same. He's a smooth talker, and they'd swapped contacts.
For the head of Vietnam's foreign ministry, securing an arena is a soft pitch. One call later, not only did the Ho Chi Minh Sports Center free up dates, the rent got a discount.
"Done. I'll reserve the three best seats," he promised, then nodded to Niu Jiangxue.
Nice. She gave a mental thumbs up.
"Almost forgot, tell Damai and PiaoNiu this is strict real name sales. Kill scalping. Same for overseas ticketing, do whatever we can to choke scalpers," he said.
"I'll triple underline it," she said.
They wrapped venue talk, and she stepped out.
About thirty minutes later, Director Cameron called. No extra small talk, straight to business.
"Eating well and sleeping well daily. You," Cameron asked. "You in good health?"
"No problem."
"I'll get in early. See you then."
He hung up. Premiere time.
Never Sinks locked June 11. It looks like a nothing date, but it fits the North American slate.
Hollywood's fully commercial. Release calendars split into spring, summer, fall, winter, and holidays. Spring, summer, and Christmas make up about seventy percent of the yearly box office. June 11 is right in the summer slot.
With the date set, Fox fired the global marketing engines. If it doesn't break even, they're flirting with bankruptcy, so they tapped a gold standard producer for the campaign, someone who's launched hit after hit.
As star, investor, composer, and theme singer, he'll shoulder Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America promo.
That means a lot of appearances.
"Promo eats time," he sighed. "Hope we don't lose money."
[Unsinkable will be the highest total return project for the host,] the system chimed in.
"Oh," he said. If the system says so, he's genuinely excited for June.
By late February, with New Year's flavor still lingering, he flew to Los Angeles to tape the season premiere of The Masked Singer.
===
1. "那些花儿" (Nàxiē Huār, "Those Flowers")
Singer: Pu Shu (朴树)
2. "一生有你" (Yìshēng Yǒu Nǐ, "A Lifetime With You")
Singer: Shui Mu Nian Hua (水木年华)
3. "生如夏花" (Shēng Rú Xiàhuā, "As Summer Flowers" / "Life Like Summer Flowers")
Singer: Pu Shu (朴树)
4. "蓝莲花" (Lán Liánhuā, "Blue Lotus")
Singer: Xu Wei (许巍)
5. "向日葵" (Xiàngrìkuí, "Sunflower")
Singer: Xu Wei (许巍) or Dài Penpen (戴佩妮) (Both have famous songs with this title)
6. "最初的我" (Zuìchū de Wǒ, "The Earliest Me")
Singer: Zhuang Xin Yan (庄心妍)
7. "她和她和她" (Tā Hé Tā Hé Tā, "She And She And She")
Singer: Jin Wenqi (于贞 Ingrita) (from the rap group)
8. "战争之殇" (Zhànzhēng zhī Shāng, "Wounds Of War")
Singer: Vae (许嵩)
9. "三人游" (Sān Rényóu, "Three's A Crowd")
Singer: Khalil Fong (方大同)
10. "Melody"
Singer: Tao Zhe (陶喆)
11. "给我一首歌的时间" (Gěi Wǒ Yì Shǒu Gē de Shíjiān, "Give Me A Song's Time")
Singer: Jay Chou (周杰伦)
12. "阴天" (Yīntiān, "Dark Day" / "Gloomy Day")
Singer: Karen Mok (莫文蔚)
13. "小情歌" (Xiǎo Qínggē, "Little Love Song")
Singer: Sodagreen (苏打绿)