Chapter 31 - Popular

Translator: Lynn

This year’s winter seemed exceptionally cold, with two snowfalls occurring in January alone.

At this time, it had been over a month since Jian Jie’s first album, “First Heartbeat,” was released. The album featured a total of eleven songs, mainly folk and pop. Six beautiful ballads like “Dream,” and two sentimental lyrical-rock songs, “Accident” and “Runaway,” comprised the folk songs. Additionally, to cater to the mainstream market, there were three popular love songs, including the title track “The First Heartbeat,” which was a duet with Fang Fei.

The choice of this love song as the album’s title was due to Jian Jie’s fanbase, primarily consisting of students and young women, making it a popular choice among his female fans. Jian Jie loved all of his works, so he had no objections to whichever name was chosen.

“The First Heartbeat” album made a huge impact on the Chinese music world upon its release. Music critics praised it as the most outstanding folk album since Lu Lin’s “Time.” The six folk songs were deemed beautiful, simple, and harmonious, exuding a modern fashion sense. Jian Jie was hailed as the best newcomer of the year.

The album also received enthusiastic responses from fans. Songs like “First Heartbeat” and “Escape” remained highly demanded on major radio stations, with fans praising “Escape” as a heart-wrenching song.

With such momentum, the album easily sold 500,000 copies within a month of its release, breaking the sales record set by Ding Jiangyu, a newcomer, and making Jian Jie the hottest newcomer in the industry.

Jian Jie’s success meant that the company no longer had to struggle to get him announcements. Program groups from various TV stations eagerly invited him to participate in their shows. Renowned magazines also wanted him to grace their covers or do exclusive interviews. This was the entertainment industry’s way—popularity brings in high ratings for shows, and people only pay attention when popular stars are involved. Naturally, programs and publications would praise the most popular artists, and once someone lost their popularity, they would be treated differently.

Jian Jie became the center of attention in the company, the top star. With his school on winter vacation, he had more time to promote the album. Whenever he attended an event, the company sent a makeup artist and costume designer to accompany him, and several staff members would accompany him in a nanny car to the events.

Seeing the arrival of Li Xiaoqi, Jian Jie’s exclusive agent, made Long Zichen feel a sense of crisis. Although Li Xiaoqi was an amiable uncle-like figure, Long Zichen was bothered by the prospect of another person taking care of Jian Jie.

Long Zichen, who had suffered from the “everyone wants to compete for Jian Jie” syndrome, was relieved when he learned that Li Xiaoqi was married. He tried to establish a good relationship with Li Xiaoqi to gain insights into various situations.

However, Uncle Li Xiaoqi didn’t take Long Zichen seriously, treating him as a producer who was a bit nervous but took good care of Jian Jie.

Despite not having experience with big-name artists before, Li Xiaoqi’s years of experience in the industry proved helpful. With his guidance, Jian Jie’s work in the entertainment industry became more smooth and organized. He no longer needed Long Zichen’s intervention in company matters, which left Long Zichen feeling somewhat empty and lonely.

Li Xiaoqi was supportive of the arrangement between Jian Jie and Fang Fei, as they made a great on-screen pair. Both of them denied any romantic involvement, but the hosts enjoyed teasing them, leading to funny reactions from Jian Jie.

On the internet, fans seemed to enjoy the pairing of the “golden boy and the jade girl,” and Long Zichen was irritated to see opposing comments about Jian Jie on fan websites and forums. He would often leave defensive comments and found himself embroiled in arguments with other fans.

On a snowy day after Jian Jie and Fang Fei finished recording a music program together, they came out of the TV station building to see a white landscape outside. Even though Jian Jie was dressed in a thick cotton windbreaker and a plaid scarf, he couldn’t help but shiver in the cold wind.

He, Fang Fei, and his assistant Zhou Jia quickly boarded the company’s nanny car. Zhou Jia had prepared some hot cocoa in a thermos cup, taking advantage of the car’s heater to keep it warm. He handed the cups to both Jian Jie and Fang Fei to drink. After a tiring hour of recording, dealing with the host, and singing while playing the guitar, they needed something to recharge.

“Thank you, Brother Zhou,” Jian Jie and Fang Fei expressed their gratitude as they took the cups.

“No problem,” Zhou Jia replied, “Xiaojie, you have another rehearsal at the company this afternoon and prepare for next week’s fan meeting.”

“Yeah,” Jian nodded.

Fang Fei, listening to their schedule, couldn’t help but envy Jian Jie. She had to run two radio announcements in the afternoon despite her album’s success. It was not as easy for her as it was for Jian Jie. However, she felt content because her partnership with Jian Jie had opened up opportunities for her, like appearing on today’s music show.

Jian Jie smiled and responded, “I have my limitations too. I can’t handle a show all by myself, so I envy you as well.”

Fang Fei playfully complimented him, saying, “Brother Xiaojie, you’re so adorable. Girls really adore you.”

Jian Jie seemed a bit puzzled by the way girls adored him. He didn’t fully comprehend their psychology and was uncertain about how to respond when fans expressed their passionate love for him. Many stars would respond with “I love you too,” but he felt a bit embarrassed doing so. Instead, he usually thanked them sincerely for liking his music.

Upon returning to the company, the doorman informed Jian Jie that Assistant Wang wanted to see him in the vocal music classroom. Apparently, Director Long was in a bad mood again. The doorman mentioned that Assistant Wang, who was Long Zichen’s new assistant, couldn’t handle Long Zichen’s anger just yet.

Jian Jie acknowledged the message and headed directly to Long Zichen’s location without going back to the lounge. He didn’t want to keep everyone waiting anxiously. Jian Jie felt a strong sense of responsibility, similar to that of a firefighter.

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