"You idiot!"
Wang Siyi wrinkled her pretty nose, then scrunched up her whole face. She put down her phone and decided to ignore him.
At noon, Wang Siyi's new album, Longing, went live right on time. Since the company hadn't promoted it, there was no advertising for it on any music platform.
Only her devoted fans knew that Wang Siyi's new album was coming out at noon: those who followed her on music platforms, or had seen the announcement on Weibo.
Besides that, the offline promotions Wang Siyi and Chen Baozhu had done all over the place during the past week had also helped, albeit only a little.
The little post Li Changle had seen that morning was one result of Wang Siyi's efforts to promote the album offline.
However, such reports were generally published by small media outlets or self-media bloggers, so their exposure was limited.
All in all, at noon today, many people had no idea that a singer named Wang Wanjun had released a new album.
But she still had devoted fans. For instance, Ruyi, a junior editor at Chinese Web Novel Platform, was one of her most die-hard fans.
"Ah, Sister Wanjun's released a new album!"
Ruyi was delighted to see Wang Wanjun's new album. The last time she'd seen her, she'd looked so down. How long had it even been since then? And now her new album was out.
Without hesitation, Ruyi paid for and bought the whole album. Wang Wanjun had been in the industry for three years.
She'd released one album a year, making this her third. The lead single from her first album was "If," Wang Siyi's most widely known song.
The other two albums had done somewhat worse. If the fourth album wasn't as good as If—
it would be hard for her to reach the popularity of a top-tier singer. But that was just the opinion of ordinary netizens.
To her devoted fans, every one of Wang Wanjun's songs was just as wonderful as the rest. They had no doubts at all; their fan bias was at full strength.
Ruyi put on her headphones and pressed play. The first song was the lead single, "Red Bean." Its delightful intro came through the headphones, making her heart start to dance along with the notes.
After the brief intro came Wang Siyi's ethereal, sweet voice.
Before we've even had a chance to feel it, the season when snowflakes bloom~
We'll understand even more if we tremble together.
Ruyi was already entranced. Such a beautiful voice, such heart-stirring lyrics—this song was unbelievably good!
Without hesitation, she put it on repeat and played it again. This time, she paid special attention to the lyrics.
At first, she'd only thought the song was lovely, and that several lines were really well written. But on the second listen, she focused on the lyrics, and when she saw the names in the credits, she froze.
Lyrics: Li Xiaoyao
Music: Li Xiaoyao
Arrangement: Li Xiaoyao
Production: Yang Caiqian
Vocals: Wang Wanjun
Ruyi checked to make sure she hadn't misread it. The lyrics, music, and arrangement were all by someone named Li Xiaoyao. This—
Great God Xiaoyao didn't just write novels—he wrote songs, too? And he'd written such a beautiful song for Sister Wanjun!
This... to Ruyi, it looked just like love.
Were they together?!
He'd written lyrics that were so sweet and filled with longing. Was it because Sister Wanjun was planning to make a comeback, and Great God Xiaoyao had specially written this song for her?
Listening to the song and shipping the couple, Ruyi felt that life was just wonderful. Their love was so romantic!
Without hesitation, she shared "Red Bean" in the fan group and on her Moments. This song deserved it!
It was even better than Wang Siyi's "If." Ruyi wasn't the only one who thought so.
There had been no platform promotion for Wang Siyi's new album, nor had the company arranged any behind-the-scenes publicity. But she was a mid-tier singer, after all.
Wang Siyi had a good reputation among casual listeners. As long as she didn't get exposed for secretly being married, tax evasion, falsifying her academic credentials, or some other scandal, her fanbase would remain solid.
So she had plenty of followers on Weibo and music platforms. They started buying the new album and boosting its rankings of their own accord, and many left comments.
"First!"
"Checking in!"
"She finally released an album. I remember the last time Wanjun released one was... well, the last time."
"Tears! My Wanjun finally released an album!"
"My wife released an album!"
"Replying to the comment above: I've never met someone so shameless! She's obviously my wife."
"Holy crap, 'Red Bean' is insanely good!"
"'Red Bean' is so good. It's the first song this year that I've put on repeat."
"Has nobody noticed the lyrics? They're so beautifully written."
"+1, 'Red Bean' is seriously good. I've already added it to my repeat playlist."
"'Red Bean' is really good, but why didn't I see anything online about Wanjun's new album? If my friend hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known."
"I hereby declare that 'Red Bean' is already one of my top ten songs of the year."
"You're not alone."
Wang Siyi and Chen Baozhu looked at the number of people who had paid for the new album. Sales were lower than for either of the two albums she'd released over the previous two years.
But they weren't worried at all. Sales had already exceeded their expectations.
And they were still growing, albeit slowly. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the movie came out later, this album release shouldn't cause any problems.
The company had thrown all its resources into promoting each of her previous two albums. Every time she released a new song, it had been a huge event.
This time, there had been no fanfare—just one announcement on Weibo about the new songs. Wang Siyi was already very satisfied with these results.
And judging by the fans' comments, almost nobody had left a bad review for "Red Bean." That showed just how well it was being received.
With a lead single like "Red Bean," even if the other songs on the album were only average, it wouldn't stop Longing from selling well.
Meanwhile, as Su Yanying listened to "Red Bean," jealousy filled her heart. She lost control of her emotions and shouted in the company office:
"Why? Why is it always her?!"
"What makes her so lucky every time? Why can she always find such great songs?!"
"If I sang this song, it would do many times better than it's doing for her now. Damn it, where did she even get this song? Why didn't I hear a thing about it?!"
Su Yanying glared darkly at her manager and said:
"Go find out how she got this song. I want songs like this, too!"
Her manager, standing opposite her, replied helplessly:
"This song didn't come through the company at all. The whole company had no idea she was releasing an album before it came out. Where are we supposed to ask?"
"I don't care! Why does she get all the good songs? I stole Yang Caiqian's songs, so why has another Li Xiaoyao appeared? I refuse to accept this!"
"Where exactly am I inferior to Wang Wanjun? Why does she get all the good songs?"
"No, there's one person who definitely knows she was releasing a new album!"
Thank you to everyone who sent gifts and Monthly Tickets. I'm deeply grateful! I have no way to repay you, so all I can do is save up chapters and give you a massive update when it goes on sale.
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