Explosive Popularity

A few days later at the Chicago Music Festival, Mira's popularity skyrocketed by the hour. The moment she entered Grant Park, the reporters who had been waiting for a long time swarmed her. The photographers' long lenses and flashes went off incessantly. Even the accompanying promotional staff from SBK hadn't anticipated this level of intensity, so Song Ya and Al hurriedly doubled as bodyguards, holding back the crowd from both sides.

"Mira! Mira! What is your take on the protest from the South African embassy?"

"Mira! Do you have time for an exclusive interview? I'm a reporter for the Chicago... Tribune!"

"Is it true that white supremacists have sent you death threats, Mira?"

"Mira! Stop and say a few words!"

"Mira, look here!"

"Mira! What are your thoughts on the current situation in the Middle East?"

"Mi..."

After escorting Mira backstage, Song Ya rubbed his sore shoulders. "The situation in the Middle East, what the hell..." The two of them exchanged a helpless smile.

Not long after, a representative from the distribution department of Columbia Pictures arrived. He spoke with Mrs. Jovovich privately for a long time before pulling the SBK promotional staff aside to find Song Ya.

"APLUS, your relationship won't be made public, right?" he asked Song Ya.

"That's correct." Song Ya gave a firm answer. He had already discussed this with Daniel; there was no benefit for a teenage idol in this era to go public with a relationship, and that was the case worldwide.

He then proposed, "Would you be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement? At least until The Blue Lagoon finishes its theatrical run. Because of Mira, Columbia Pictures has decided to increase the promotional budget for this film, and we must ensure there are no accidents."

"Talk to my manager. I agree in principle."

Song Ya called Hayden over.

When Hayden arrived, he brought along an executive from the William Morris Agency who was also there to find Mrs. Jovovich; they wanted to secure Mira's management contract.

"Mrs. Jovovich, at this rate, your energy alone won't be enough to handle Mira's management affairs. We at William Morris have a long history, and in terms of professionalism..." The executive began to lay on the sales pitch.

"Let me hear your terms. I just received a call from CAA as well," Mrs. Jovovich proudly dropped the name of another top-tier American talent agency.

"Of course, let's talk in private."

Watching the two walk away, Hayden said to Song Ya with no small amount of annoyance, "I should have made my move sooner. Now... sigh! Why didn't I think of that earlier!"

Song Ya smiled. CAA, huh? It seemed that when he negotiated his next contract with Hayden, it would be necessary to learn this trick from Mrs. Jovovich.

"Hey, APLUS, you got a minute? Let's talk." Delay approached him at that moment.

The two found a quiet spot, and Delay was very direct. "A+ Audio, why wasn't I included? It was my idea, and I put in the work. I thought you would bring me along."

"It's like this."

Song Ya had actually considered giving Delay a position when he started the company, and even offering a small share wasn't out of the question, but he was later stopped by Song Asheng. "My accountant advised me to use this company for legitimate tax avoidance, so... you know, it's not convenient to have other shareholders. Besides, I don't plan on making this company big for the time being. There aren't many new synthesizers I'm planning to get, and for this recording of To de Klerk alone, SBK only paid less than a thousand dollars in licensing fees for the two sounds. That's not even enough to cover the cost of registering the company. Would you want to join me in losing money?"

Delay thought about it and nodded. "Alright, I accept your explanation. Sorry, APLUS, I'm a straightforward person; I just said what was on my mind. I'm just a bit lost about the future. You know, Mira is about to become a star, and this song doesn't have a place for us band members. It's yours, it's Mira's, it's not ours. We're just accompanists who get paid per performance. SBK can replace anyone they want."

Song Ya understood his frustration and smiled, extending a fist. "It's fine, I like your personality. A rock-and-roll youth, right? Haha, Delay, whenever you don't want to do this anymore, come find me."

Delay smiled sheepishly and bumped his fist. "Thanks, APLUS."

"Mira, get ready! Fifteen minutes!" The music festival staff came in to notify them, and Delay and the others hurriedly began their pre-performance preparations.

As soon as Mira stepped out from backstage, Song Ya heard a tsunami-like roar of cheers from outside.

"Ya Li, thank you!"

Mrs. Jovovich's pager hadn't stopped ringing all day. After finishing a call, she was extremely excited, and her address for Song Ya had even changed to a nickname. "The song you gave Mira saved us, and it saved my husband. The bank just suddenly agreed to continue lending to his company."

Song Ya frowned deeply. "That song was for Mira, Mrs. Jovovich. You cannot continue to use her money without restraint."

"I know, Mira's father just had bad luck..."

Mrs. Jovovich's pager rang again.

When Mira turns eighteen, I must convince her to break free from these greedy parents, Song Ya secretly planned.

Every day at the music festival, the welcome Mira received was more enthusiastic than the day before. By the fourth and final day, her momentum even surpassed all the rock bands in attendance—and one had to remember that this festival was primarily for rock fans. Every time she sang "Fuck You," the audience's response was as synchronized as if they had been trained. To please the crowd, the organizers begged her to perform an encore.

The fashion and entertainment circles that had been drifting away seemed to suddenly remember this person existed. Mrs. Jovovich received constant invitations. By the morning of the third day, the pager in her hand was gone, replaced by a Motorola brick.

The SBK promotional staff were also exceptionally excited. All remaining promotional tours were canceled; the invitations from across the country were already enough to give them plenty of options, meaning all subsequent activities would be paid, and the asking price was not cheap.

"I'm exhausted!"

After Mira finished her encore and came backstage, she pouted and complained, "There's this stalker who screams 'Fuck You' at me from the front row every day. Can we have the police arrest him?"

"My dear!" Mrs. Jovovich rushed over to hug her, jumping up and down like a little girl, shouting, "Do you know whose call I just received? Anna Wintour! The editor-in-chief of Vogue!"

After sending them off to the airport, Song Ya returned to his new home alone.

He opened the door, and next to the small basket for his keys sat the latest issues of Billboard and Rolling Stone. He picked up Billboard, turned on his newly purchased Sony television, and settled into the comfortable leather sofa.

The "Trinitron" technology made the picture on the TV very vivid. It was playing the national sitcom: Growing Pains.

Song Ya had no interest in the TV shows of this era, so he just left it on, flipped to the singles chart, and scanned it briefly.

Thrift Shop hadn't fallen out of the top fifty yet, currently sitting at forty-four. He heard that the studio version by Old Joe and Little Lowry had been finished at SBK and would be released next week to save the market.

To de Klerk had jumped from seventeenth to third in one week, ranking behind The Power by SNAP!.

And at number one was none other than Vision of Love by Mariah Carey.

"Boring..."

Song Ya suddenly felt he had lost his goal. He lazily wandered back to his room, sat at his desk, and opened a calculus exercise book. Soon, the joy of solving problems made him involuntarily obsessed, completely lost in the work.