Chapter 9 Unexpected Joy
The online variety show had a timeliness incomparable to the variety shows of TV stations. Since it did not need to be sent to the relevant department for review, the production time was greatly shortened. The {Scare☆Surprise} episode recorded on Saturday morning released a one minute teaser that evening. The program enjoyed a high popularity on the Internet, and the preview had 100,000 hits within a day.
This episode was the anniversary program of {Scare☆Surprise}. The promotion had started a month ago, and the slogan "Powerful Mysterious Actor Joins" had successfully whetted the audience’s appetite. It was not until Saturday night that the program team lifted the veil and released the carefully edited trailer.
Compared to the previously spoofed coarse street strangers, this clip showed a completely different program style: A male artist with a fair and clear complexion and a little foolish smile sat in the waiting room, while holding the guitar and humming softly. His agent stood nearby clapping his hands to help with the beat. The next scene showed another dressing room where a group of staff surrounded a man with heavy make-up on his face, only exposing a pair of eyes. Strange accessories were scattered everywhere. The two different scenes were constantly interspersed. One side showed a young man with hope, and the other side was a mysterious prankster...
The last scene was of a dressing room. Someone outside the camera range asked: "A moment ago when Ling Xi left, I watched you turn and look in his direction. Are you soft-hearted?"
The man sat in front of the vanity table, his back facing the camera, and replied in a low voice: "It should be said that when I saw him in the elevator, I was already soft-hearted."
It was this familiar voice that made fans impassioned.
An Ruifeng's personal fans on the Internet immediately exploded. Some people wondered if Prince Ruifeng could play pranks. Some said that although they were not fans of the spoof show, they would definitely watch the upcoming episode. Some people scolded: “What is Prince Ruifeng’s agent upto for food? He also accepted this bad variety show with such a high degree of controversy? Won’t it bring down the prince’s reputation?”
Apart from these discussions, there was also a small group of people silently pouring into a mysterious CP building, covering their faces cutely. Their meng CP had actually scattered sugar. Although it was a sugar glass[1], it was still very sweet and they ate it very happily.
When the program was officially aired, Ling Xi was guarding the video website, and had opened his Weibo page. The program crew probably felt guilty about Ling Xi, because all his edited scenes showed his best side. They had forcibly shaped him from a happy-to-escape dog into a strong man...
It could no longer be called a forceful increase of his IQ and EQ. It was more of a forceful enhancement of his species...
Every time Ling Xi refreshed the page, the number of fans, @, and comment reminders in the upper right corner of his Weibo were all doubling. He stared at the small yellow bar in the upper right corner, his hands shaking in excitement.
He belonged to the category of singers who "everyone has heard his song, but just can't match his face with his name", and sometimes the attention paid to him was not as good as that of newcomers who had debuted in the last one or two years. Forget about other things. Even his Weibo fans were not as many as An Ruifeng's agent!
But now! His Weibo fans had quadrupled after the show was broadcast, and the comments were largely positive. Wu Youpeng was extremely happy. He twirled Ling Xi around twice, his voice choked up: "Ling Xi...you…You made it!"
Eleven years ago, he found the quiet singing boy in the underground passage, and it was he who led him into this circle. He was the tree planter and also the tree protector. Of course, he sincerely hoped that the young sapling could one day become a towering tree.
This setback had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Being invited to the {Sunday Live} show was akin to walking on thin ice filled with hope. On the one hand, they cherished this opportunity, on the other hand, they were afraid of not meeting the requirements of the program... Suddenly, the situation had developed in an unexpected direction. How angry Ling Xi was at that time, how lucky he was at present.
Who could have imagined that a notorious prank show would unexpectedly let him jump from a little 18th tier artist to a 12th tier artist.
During the performance, Ling Xi stood on the stage of his dreams holding the guitar, dressed in a neat T-shirt and jeans, looking clean and energetic. Soft light fell from the ceiling on top of his head, and the fine hair set off his young face. His eyes were full of hope, and the soft guitar sound accompanied his singing like a lover's whisper, the tune melodious.
Although the song came to an abrupt end at the climax due to An Ruifeng's prank, listening to the first half was enough to make people realize that it was an excellent song.
Suddenly, Ling Xi’s name and his song "Zero" appeared on the hot search lists of major search engines. Because of Ling Xi’s sudden popularity, the upper management of the brokerage company, who hadn’t bothered about him in a long time, called to show their care and concern. Wu Youpeng flung back a casual "Thank you, Ling Xi was pleasantly surprised" and hung up.
The comments on Ling Xi’s Weibo were mainly divided into four categories: the first category praised him as fair and handsome, and said that they did not pay attention to him before, but had become fans of his genuine temperament in the show; the second category swore at the variety show for their disregard of the feelings of artists; the third category were An Ruifeng’s fans who were on a sightseeing tour, arrogantly telling him "You must not blame my husband"; the fourth category was the tsundere faction expressing, "I didn’t expect the artist I like to suddenly become famous overnight, I feel you are no longer the same"......
Even Zhu Linlin, who had always been at odds with him, ran over and left a hypocritical message.
@Zhu Linlin is a little princess[V]: After waking up, I found that someone’s fans have quadrupled from being the same as mine. Congratulations.
Ling Xi accomplished his ambition of being a nasty person by quickly reposting this Weibo.
@Ling Xi 007[V]: Yes, now our Weibo fans add up to one million.
Zhu 'Petty' Linlin deleted her Weibo immediately.
Ling Xi was happy with himself for seizing total victory. Just then, his mobile dinged with a text message. The hot actor who had just exchanged contact numbers with him, had sent his greetings.
An Ruifeng: As soon as I came out of the gym, I heard from Xu-ge that the effect of this show is very good, and many people are paying attention to you. I bought a few of your albums. "Zero" is very good. I hope I can listen to you sing it to me in person. I promise I won’t interrupt you again. I am very sorry I couldn’t listen to the song on the show. Please accept my sincere apologies.
PS: Now our Weibo fans add up to 20 million :)
Ling Xi: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ Is this your so-called sincere apology?
※※※
After experiencing these inexplicable ups and downs, Ling Xi was once again confiscated of all modern electronics, and the deadline was getting closer and closer. Wu Youpeng ordered him to write the ending song of "Jian Jue Tianxia" within the specified time. There were also a lot of follow up steps like touch up, music arrangement, recording, harmonizing, etc. Each step took a lot of time, and he couldn't tolerate any delay.
But unlike the last seclusion, this time the melody seemed to be in Ling Xi’s head. As long as he held a pen, he could record those wonderful notes.
The inspiration was sudden, but there were also traces to follow--The protagonist of "Jian Jue Tianxia" had a mediocre talent, but was lucky to be accepted by his master. However, the happy days lasted only for a few years. The Demonic Cult coveted the treasure owned by their sect, leading to a tragic massacre. After the protagonist escaped by chance, he fell off the cliff like the hero of every fantasy novel, obtained a mysterious “Immortal Buddhist Teachings” scroll, and cultivated into an unrivalled immortal……
Come on, now replace the protagonist with Ling Xi, replace the renowned sect with {Sunday Live}, replace the massacre with {Scare☆Surprise}, and finally replace the mysterious scroll with the surge in popularity......
--Did this story suddenly become familiar?
Ling Xi recalled the story of the hero’s journey from happiness to hardship to awesomeness in the script, and merged it with his own experience. It was as if he had suddenly unblocked his meridians[2]. Inspiration came in an instant!
This time without Wu Youpeng's urging, he took the initiative to lock himself in the study, and in just three days, he composed a very beautiful melody. The song was brisk in the beginning, had twists and turns in the middle, and a grand ending, which was closely in harmony with the script. His lyrics were excellent, and a few words had been taken directly from the script, which fit the plot of the story and expressed the emotions accurately. He forwarded the lyrics and music to the director and screenwriter before the recording. Both of them repeatedly praised him and gave him great affirmation.
Soon, the song was sent to a professional arranger. According to the director's requirements, the music would be performed using the traditional instruments--Erhu[3], Guzheng[4], and Yangqin[5]--trying to create a sense of ethereal elegance.
Ling Xi had rolled up his sleeves for battle. The past few days, he had been trying to spiritually cultivate his moral character and adjust his state, in a hurry to record the song once the arrangement was done. He had a hunch that this song that expressed his true feelings would definitely become popular in the light of the popular TV serials, and he could just take advantage of this trend to rise to a higher level.
…At least it must add up to more than 21 million fans with An Ruifeng.
To his surprise, he waited home for a few days, but did not get the notification asking him to record. Instead, he waited to get a call from the lead actor's agent.
The other party said straightforwardly that they thought the ending song written by Ling Xi for "Jian Jue Tianxia" was very good, and since he was also a member of the crew, they hoped he would give them face and let the lead actor sing this ending song.
The price was negotiable.
Footnotes:
[1] A brittle(and edible) transparent form of sugar that looks like glass. Implying something is bittersweet.
[2] Common trope in fantasy novels. Once the protagonist unblocks or cleanses his meridians, he/she suddenly becomes powerful.
[3] Chinese 2-string fiddle.
[4] A large zither with 13 to 25 strings.
[5] Dulcimer--a hammered string musical instrument.
Chapter 9 Unexpected Joy
The online variety show had a timeliness incomparable to the variety shows of TV stations. Since it did not need to be sent to the relevant department for review, the production time was greatly shortened. The {Scare☆Surprise} episode recorded on Saturday morning released a one minute teaser that evening. The program enjoyed a high popularity on the Internet, and the preview had 100,000 hits within a day.
This episode was the anniversary program of {Scare☆Surprise}. The promotion had started a month ago, and the slogan "Powerful Mysterious Actor Joins" had successfully whetted the audience’s appetite. It was not until Saturday night that the program team lifted the veil and released the carefully edited trailer.
Compared to the previously spoofed coarse street strangers, this clip showed a completely different program style: A male artist with a fair and clear complexion and a little foolish smile sat in the waiting room, while holding the guitar and humming softly. His agent stood nearby clapping his hands to help with the beat. The next scene showed another dressing room where a group of staff surrounded a man with heavy make-up on his face, only exposing a pair of eyes. Strange accessories were scattered everywhere. The two different scenes were constantly interspersed. One side showed a young man with hope, and the other side was a mysterious prankster...
The last scene was of a dressing room. Someone outside the camera range asked: "A moment ago when Ling Xi left, I watched you turn and look in his direction. Are you soft-hearted?"
The man sat in front of the vanity table, his back facing the camera, and replied in a low voice: "It should be said that when I saw him in the elevator, I was already soft-hearted."
It was this familiar voice that made fans impassioned.
An Ruifeng's personal fans on the Internet immediately exploded. Some people wondered if Prince Ruifeng could play pranks. Some said that although they were not fans of the spoof show, they would definitely watch the upcoming episode. Some people scolded: “What is Prince Ruifeng’s agent upto for food? He also accepted this bad variety show with such a high degree of controversy? Won’t it bring down the prince’s reputation?”
Apart from these discussions, there was also a small group of people silently pouring into a mysterious CP building, covering their faces cutely. Their meng CP had actually scattered sugar. Although it was a sugar glass[1], it was still very sweet and they ate it very happily.
When the program was officially aired, Ling Xi was guarding the video website, and had opened his Weibo page. The program crew probably felt guilty about Ling Xi, because all his edited scenes showed his best side. They had forcibly shaped him from a happy-to-escape dog into a strong man...
It could no longer be called a forceful increase of his IQ and EQ. It was more of a forceful enhancement of his species...
Every time Ling Xi refreshed the page, the number of fans, @, and comment reminders in the upper right corner of his Weibo were all doubling. He stared at the small yellow bar in the upper right corner, his hands shaking in excitement.
He belonged to the category of singers who "everyone has heard his song, but just can't match his face with his name", and sometimes the attention paid to him was not as good as that of newcomers who had debuted in the last one or two years. Forget about other things. Even his Weibo fans were not as many as An Ruifeng's agent!
But now! His Weibo fans had quadrupled after the show was broadcast, and the comments were largely positive. Wu Youpeng was extremely happy. He twirled Ling Xi around twice, his voice choked up: "Ling Xi...you…You made it!"
Eleven years ago, he found the quiet singing boy in the underground passage, and it was he who led him into this circle. He was the tree planter and also the tree protector. Of course, he sincerely hoped that the young sapling could one day become a towering tree.
This setback had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Being invited to the {Sunday Live} show was akin to walking on thin ice filled with hope. On the one hand, they cherished this opportunity, on the other hand, they were afraid of not meeting the requirements of the program... Suddenly, the situation had developed in an unexpected direction. How angry Ling Xi was at that time, how lucky he was at present.
Who could have imagined that a notorious prank show would unexpectedly let him jump from a little 18th tier artist to a 12th tier artist.
During the performance, Ling Xi stood on the stage of his dreams holding the guitar, dressed in a neat T-shirt and jeans, looking clean and energetic. Soft light fell from the ceiling on top of his head, and the fine hair set off his young face. His eyes were full of hope, and the soft guitar sound accompanied his singing like a lover's whisper, the tune melodious.
Although the song came to an abrupt end at the climax due to An Ruifeng's prank, listening to the first half was enough to make people realize that it was an excellent song.
Suddenly, Ling Xi’s name and his song "Zero" appeared on the hot search lists of major search engines. Because of Ling Xi’s sudden popularity, the upper management of the brokerage company, who hadn’t bothered about him in a long time, called to show their care and concern. Wu Youpeng flung back a casual "Thank you, Ling Xi was pleasantly surprised" and hung up.
The comments on Ling Xi’s Weibo were mainly divided into four categories: the first category praised him as fair and handsome, and said that they did not pay attention to him before, but had become fans of his genuine temperament in the show; the second category swore at the variety show for their disregard of the feelings of artists; the third category were An Ruifeng’s fans who were on a sightseeing tour, arrogantly telling him "You must not blame my husband"; the fourth category was the tsundere faction expressing, "I didn’t expect the artist I like to suddenly become famous overnight, I feel you are no longer the same"......
Even Zhu Linlin, who had always been at odds with him, ran over and left a hypocritical message.
@Zhu Linlin is a little princess[V]: After waking up, I found that someone’s fans have quadrupled from being the same as mine. Congratulations.
Ling Xi accomplished his ambition of being a nasty person by quickly reposting this Weibo.
@Ling Xi 007[V]: Yes, now our Weibo fans add up to one million.
Zhu 'Petty' Linlin deleted her Weibo immediately.
Ling Xi was happy with himself for seizing total victory. Just then, his mobile dinged with a text message. The hot actor who had just exchanged contact numbers with him, had sent his greetings.
An Ruifeng: As soon as I came out of the gym, I heard from Xu-ge that the effect of this show is very good, and many people are paying attention to you. I bought a few of your albums. "Zero" is very good. I hope I can listen to you sing it to me in person. I promise I won’t interrupt you again. I am very sorry I couldn’t listen to the song on the show. Please accept my sincere apologies.
PS: Now our Weibo fans add up to 20 million :)
Ling Xi: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ Is this your so-called sincere apology?
※※※
After experiencing these inexplicable ups and downs, Ling Xi was once again confiscated of all modern electronics, and the deadline was getting closer and closer. Wu Youpeng ordered him to write the ending song of "Jian Jue Tianxia" within the specified time. There were also a lot of follow up steps like touch up, music arrangement, recording, harmonizing, etc. Each step took a lot of time, and he couldn't tolerate any delay.
But unlike the last seclusion, this time the melody seemed to be in Ling Xi’s head. As long as he held a pen, he could record those wonderful notes.
The inspiration was sudden, but there were also traces to follow--The protagonist of "Jian Jue Tianxia" had a mediocre talent, but was lucky to be accepted by his master. However, the happy days lasted only for a few years. The Demonic Cult coveted the treasure owned by their sect, leading to a tragic massacre. After the protagonist escaped by chance, he fell off the cliff like the hero of every fantasy novel, obtained a mysterious “Immortal Buddhist Teachings” scroll, and cultivated into an unrivalled immortal……
Come on, now replace the protagonist with Ling Xi, replace the renowned sect with {Sunday Live}, replace the massacre with {Scare☆Surprise}, and finally replace the mysterious scroll with the surge in popularity......
--Did this story suddenly become familiar?
Ling Xi recalled the story of the hero’s journey from happiness to hardship to awesomeness in the script, and merged it with his own experience. It was as if he had suddenly unblocked his meridians[2]. Inspiration came in an instant!
This time without Wu Youpeng's urging, he took the initiative to lock himself in the study, and in just three days, he composed a very beautiful melody. The song was brisk in the beginning, had twists and turns in the middle, and a grand ending, which was closely in harmony with the script. His lyrics were excellent, and a few words had been taken directly from the script, which fit the plot of the story and expressed the emotions accurately. He forwarded the lyrics and music to the director and screenwriter before the recording. Both of them repeatedly praised him and gave him great affirmation.
Soon, the song was sent to a professional arranger. According to the director's requirements, the music would be performed using the traditional instruments--Erhu[3], Guzheng[4], and Yangqin[5]--trying to create a sense of ethereal elegance.
Ling Xi had rolled up his sleeves for battle. The past few days, he had been trying to spiritually cultivate his moral character and adjust his state, in a hurry to record the song once the arrangement was done. He had a hunch that this song that expressed his true feelings would definitely become popular in the light of the popular TV serials, and he could just take advantage of this trend to rise to a higher level.
…At least it must add up to more than 21 million fans with An Ruifeng.
To his surprise, he waited home for a few days, but did not get the notification asking him to record. Instead, he waited to get a call from the lead actor's agent.
The other party said straightforwardly that they thought the ending song written by Ling Xi for "Jian Jue Tianxia" was very good, and since he was also a member of the crew, they hoped he would give them face and let the lead actor sing this ending song.
The price was negotiable.
Footnotes:
[1] A brittle(and edible) transparent form of sugar that looks like glass. Implying something is bittersweet.
[2] Common trope in fantasy novels. Once the protagonist unblocks or cleanses his meridians, he/she suddenly becomes powerful.
[3] Chinese 2-string fiddle.
[4] A large zither with 13 to 25 strings.
[5] Dulcimer--a hammered string musical instrument.
