Huayu: Starting from the top talent show

Chapter 266 Growing Pains

With the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart out, and ANA's annual advertising song "Flying Boat" officially launched, Shen Juan's company team can finally start a new round of overseas marketing and promotion work as originally planned.

First, Shen Juan’s amazing photos and god-level stage ending were spread virally on major overseas forums:

After all, there is a saying that goes like this.

Your image should always come before your ability, otherwise your ability will easily be underestimated or even ignored.

Especially in the entertainment industry where appearance is everything.

Therefore, the top priority is to rely on the most intuitive appearance advantage to increase the attention of foreign netizens to Shen Juan.

Just like how Kpop has been frantically marketing and bragging about their handsome Cha Eun-woo in the domestic entertainment industry, Shen Juan is also going to use his appearance advantage to torture others in the island nation of South Korea and Southeast Asia, and become a recognized handsome guy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Then the data are presented to show the achievements: reflecting the authority and market popularity of Shen Juan's works in North America, the world's pop music center and the world's largest record market.

Considering that everyone has different musical aesthetics, a song you think is nice may be considered tacky by others, and a song that others think is chill may not be appreciated by you.

Therefore, directly displaying the results is the best way to resolve disputes. Everyone is competing in a relatively fair market environment, and the winners and losers will be apparent from the list.

Then he released a live stage show: showing Shen Juan's stage charm and on-site stability, once again proving that he is not a studio singer who relies solely on audio editing to make a living.

Good-looking, accomplished, and not afraid of being exposed?

OK, this is already a mature singer who deserves the support and love of fans, so you can feel free to join her.

Finally, we summarize the praise and positive comments of overseas celebrities on Shen Juan and his works:

As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake, so the star effect must be used to attract local fans to pay attention to Shen Juan.

For example, after Milan's golden boy Pato came to the Chinese Super League to play football last year, he often expressed his love for Dilraba Dilmurat on social media. Through this "down-to-earth" image and personality, he gained the attention and love of many fans and passers-by.

For example, in all the major and minor sports events held in China this year, whenever there were foreign female athletes participating and when asked by the media whether they had any favorite Chinese stars, they basically answered in unison that it was Shen Juan.

After all, only in this way can we improve our popularity among passers-by and reduce the local people's resistance and rejection of outsiders.

Therefore, with this overwhelming publicity, Shen Juan's upcoming Japanese EP has become a hot topic of discussion among Japanese teenagers recently.

Although the rock-style pre-release song "Flying Boat" certainly cannot cater to everyone's aesthetic taste, and the popularity of the English album "Underrated" in the Japanese mainstream market is also quite limited, but Shen Juan's handsome face, which is a dimensionality reduction strike no matter which country he is in, is definitely worth their infatuation and chatting for three days and three nights.

As a result, some middle school students who usually don't pay much attention to entertainment news but don't want to be excluded by their classmates have been surfing the Internet to learn about Shen Juan and listen to his songs. This is so that when other classmates talk about him, they will be able to participate and ensure that they will not be isolated from the class.

At the same time, there has been heated discussion in China about Shen Juan’s recent new round of rise overseas.

On Bihu, a question-and-answer app that is becoming more and more integrated into people's lives, there is a very popular question.

[How do you evaluate the anomaly of Shen Juan's Billboard data, which was exposed that most of the sales streaming media were provided by Chinese fans? ]

A large number of fans, anti-fans, passers-by, and fans from the European and American music circles who were indifferent to Shen Juan all came out to answer.

The highest-rated answer says this.

[I admit it.]

BMA, VMA, AMA, American Teen Choice Awards. I secretly bought them all, so they gave Shen Juan nominations and trophies, and they also bought them for next year and the year after! So other fans don’t have to spend money, Shen Juan will still be the king next year and the year after!

Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Marlon Bieber, Bonsai and other big-name stars were also hijacked by me, which led them to publicly express their appreciation and recognition of Shen Juan on social media.

And what they said about the streaming media data being at least 60% inflated is also true, and he discovered it. I did buy so much, and it cost me hundreds of millions to buy an album with the highest global sales in 2018, and I also hired so many extras from different countries and regions at high prices to brag about Shen Juan online. Do you think it's easy for me?
By the way, I also bought Shen Juan a spot to perform at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the Super Bowl pre-music festival, the NBA Celebrity Game MVP, a speech at the United Nations, and the World Cup theme song.

Then I also bought YouTube, so the number of views, likes and comments is so high. I bought Google, so the search volume is so high. I bought Twitter, so there are so many number one trends. I also bought tens of millions of Instagram followers, so I can be so successful in the East Asian entertainment industry.

As a fan, I also paid out of my own pocket to get him coverage in fashion magazines and mainstream music media.

To sum up, I bought everything for Shen Juan, I paid so much for him, but I still haven't gotten pregnant with my child. This is simply unforgivable! 】

There is a lot of discussion online and there are different opinions.

Shen Juan, the person involved, was watching a growth-healing video on Douyin titled "Growing Pains", which was edited by his assistant and based on his ideas.

The background music is the new song "Good Things" by the limited group NINE PERCENT, which has not yet been officially released.

Because Shen Juan and Kiwi maintained a good relationship, when Kiwi asked him if he could help promote NPC's first album after its debut, Shen Juan hesitated for only a moment before agreeing, and found an assistant to start producing this popular IP short video, which was popular in the fan circle and almost every celebrity had a copy.

The content is nothing more than Shen Juan's childhood photos, amateur photos in middle school, the innocent and pure boy in the Star Asia period, the shining star in the Produce 101 period, the stubborn and confident self-confidence in the Rap of China period, and the pop superstar after the album release, all spliced together and flashing by quickly like a kaleidoscope.

The stunning looks coupled with the catchy chorus melody make the whole video look quite impressive.

This can be seen just from the fans' comments.

Many little spring rolls were moved to tears. They felt that Shen Juan had encountered so many hardships and setbacks along the way, which was really too hard and not easy. We must treat him well in the future and not let him get hurt again.

Therefore, Shen Juan feels that the "Growing Pains" series may become another celebrity trend started by him, just like the lightsaber transformation he played on TikTok before.

He is always at the forefront of the times.

Others can only play with what he leaves behind.

Then he opened WeChat again and began to reply to the unread messages of ordinary friends except the star-marked friends.

Zhang Juxing: [Brother Juan, my album is coming out soon. Can you help promote it on Weibo on the 19th? (Bow)]

Shen Juan knew that the album Zhang Yixing was talking about was the "Dream in the Rain Forest" which he claimed to have produced with a professional team in the United States.

The results are indeed good. "Original Time and Space" ranks first on the domestic digital album sales list, followed by NINE PERCENT and Wu Jiaheng's "Antares" in third.

It's just that no one listens to it except the fans.

Shen Juan typed back: [OK OK, I'll help you promote it on Weibo and Instagram, come on! (fist)]

Zhang Yixing was very excited: [Thank you so much! I will treat you to a meal next time you come back to Beijing, brother Juan!]

Shen Juan had nothing to say to his friend, but he did not think his publicity could help Zhang Yixing's album sales.

Even if more people help promote fan music, it is unlikely to attract many passers-by to pay to listen.

What's more, this is in China where piracy is rampant. It's already good enough if you can release an album without losing money. How can you expect to make a profit?
Do you think you are Jay Chou or Shen Juan?
Then he opened Lu Han’s WeChat again.

Ever since Guan Xiaotong added Lu Han on WeChat last time, the two have gradually started communicating online.

Although it’s not much, it’s at least much better than the previous relationship of strangers who never interacted with each other.

Lu Han: [Brother Juan, can you record a video? I need it for my concert, and it can also clarify to the outside world that our relationship is not as bad as they think.]

Lu Han is currently on his RE:X tour.

However, what is a bit embarrassing is that when the news that Shen Juan replaced Lu Han to star in "Better Days" was exposed, Lu Wei and his friends' way of saving face was that the filming of the movie was kept being postponed and Brother Lu had to prepare for his national tour, so they took the initiative to turn down the movie. As a result, they were tortured and humiliated by other fans, saying that they were the only toughest person in their bodies.

[Okay, but can you ask your assistant to write a paragraph for me to read? I have a scene to shoot later and don't have time to think about this.] Shen Juan would certainly not refuse such a simple request, after all, he is not Wu Jiaheng.

After receiving the message, Lu Han quickly responded: [Of course no problem! Thank you, Master Juan! (Bow)]

After exiting the chat window, he had a brief chat with Peng Yuchang who was filming in Xiamen, Ni Ni who was filming "Love and Destiny", Cai Xukun who was recently caught up in the Bazaar donation controversy, Jiang Peiyao who had just returned to Beijing from the filming of "Tropical Memories", and Li Yitong who said she cried in 600 of the more than 700 scenes while filming "Stories to Come".

Shen Juan finally dealt with Nazha's unread messages.

This sister has been unemployed at home since she finished filming "Storm Dance" at the beginning of this month. She sends Shen Juan cool photos or voice messages to harass him every now and then. Sometimes she even deliberately uses that particularly seductive voice to act coquettishly to Shen Juan. She looks like she has a high fever, and even the knowledgeable Shen Juan has to stiffen slightly to show respect.

Today is no exception.

I just sent a selfie.

Nazha: [How many points do you give today? ]

Shen Juan thought for a moment and typed back: [Six points.]

When Nazha saw that a friend she paid special attention to had replied to her WeChat, her smiling face instantly fell: [Six points? Are you kidding me?]

Shen Juan Mo De Emotion: [Five points.]

Nazha typed a string of ellipsis sadly.

Shen Juan smiled: [I will be returning to Beijing for a few days after the filming of the movie is finished. You seem to be so bored during this period. Do you want to go out for dinner together? ]

As a result, Nazha, who was originally taking the initiative, became reserved and shy again: [My goddess Audrey Hepburn once said this: But if the moon runs towards me, what kind of moon is it? I don’t want it, I want it to be always cold and bright, always hanging high in the sky, I will become good enough until I can touch it.]

[OK, then you can catch up slowly. ]

Shen Juan was speechless at the sudden appearance of this young intellectual. He had been speeding towards the finish line, but ended up backing up when he was almost there. He now couldn't understand whether Nazha was attracted by him or simply enjoyed the process and feeling of pursuing a man.

Seeing this reply without any emotion, Nazha on the other end of the phone thought Shen Juan was angry, and quickly typed to explain: [Don’t be angry. This is mainly too sudden. I have been pursuing you for so long and you have not been moved. Today, you suddenly agreed to have dinner with me. I am a little overwhelmed and need to think about it again.]

Shen Juan's speechlessness deepened.

[What else do you need to think about? Why are you chasing me? Isn't it just to have dinner with me? ]

Naza: [No, I was chasing after him and suddenly I became the heroine. I still find it hard to accept it at the moment! How about this, I will introduce my bestie to you first, you two can get to know each other briefly first, and I will wait and see. ]

Shen Juan was increasingly confused about this sister's magical train of thought. [Why did you introduce your best friend to me? Do you want to cheat on your best friend? Do you feel a sense of accomplishment by doing this?]

Nazha said righteously: [I am not a mistress! ]

Shen Juan couldn't agree more with this very self-aware statement. After all, it was clearly not her turn to be the mistress, so the role of the thirteenth mistress was more appropriate.

Nazha: [Also, I think you should reflect on yourself. As a man who has so many admirers in the industry, I treat you so well and have been pursuing you for so long. You shouldn’t be moved. You should chat with your brothers about gossip and tease me behind my back instead of asking me to be your girlfriend.]

Nazha: [Shen Juan, your character has collapsed! ]

Shen Juan: [.]

To be honest, Shen Juan is in a very complicated mood right now.

It had been a long time since he had experienced such abstract emotions from anyone else, emotions that were difficult to put into words.

Could this lady be the queen of dog-licking?

How come you become more and more addicted the more you lick? You're not happy if I don't give you the chance to continue licking, right?
What a weird thing.

On October 10, Shen Juan was filming the last scene of "Better Days" in Chongqing.

"Okay, I declare that the filming of "Better Days" has been completed!"

"Wuhu~Happy wrap-up!"

"Wrap-up party! Wrap-up party!" "Don't go home until you're drunk, everyone!"

After director Zeng Guoxiang announced the completion of the filming, the crew members immediately became excited and clapped and cheered.

Shen Juan also reached out to wipe away the remaining tears from the corners of his eyes, and hugged Zhang Songwen, who was smiling.

Although the film was finally finished, Shen Juan's mood was a little complicated.
Although this is just a movie and a fictional plot created by the original author and screenwriter, artistic processing often comes from real life.

Shen Juan knew very well that stories like this had happened in the real world, and they were certainly not just once or twice, they could be even more tragic.

But what can Shen Juan, an artist who seems to be very successful but actually has little influence, do in response to this social problem that is prevalent throughout the world?

All I could do was discuss with the director to see if I could record a propaganda video against school bullying and put it at the end of the movie as an easter egg, and use my social influence and fan appeal to do my part for the children who are being bullied in school.

At night in Chongqing, Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street is still bustling. It is not only the largest commercial area in Chongqing, but also one of Chongqing's famous fashion landmarks and a must-visit place for tourists to the city.

There are many shops selling all kinds of goods. It is a good place for tourists from other places to check in, and for local residents to go shopping, find delicious food and take a walk to relax.

Looking from the area around Jiefangbei, most of the first floors are filled with glittering first-tier luxury goods, so it is popular among many tourists with high spending power.

Zhou Ye didn't expect Shen Juan would bring her here.

Because there is a large flow of people here, this means that the risk of Shen Juan's identity being exposed increases exponentially.

Holding hands, they walked through the crowd, seemingly leisurely but actually nervously, strolling in the streets and alleys. When they came to a place with relatively less traffic, Zhou Ye asked curiously in a low voice: "Why are you so brave? Aren't you afraid of being recognized by others?"

"How can you not be afraid of being recognized by others?"

"Then why did you bring me here?"

Zhou Ye looked around vigilantly. It was hard not to worry about such a careless boyfriend.

"Sure enough, he still needs me too much~" The more she thought about it, the more proud she became, and the higher her tail lifted.

"Because what I'm more afraid of than being photographed by passers-by while I'm shopping in Chongqing with my girlfriend, who has a mysterious identity, is missing out on these beautiful memories that are worth savoring and cherishing in the future." Shen Juan stopped, turned around and looked at the cute girl in front of him, whose expression and posture inexplicably resembled a sniffing police dog.

So can Samoyeds also be police dogs?
"Then we can stand on the balcony, drink coffee, feel the warmth of the sun on our shoulders, and share with each other what we saw and heard tonight, as well as the feelings that we may not be able to say at the moment, or even realize at all."

Zhou Ye carefully imagined the scene described by Shen Juan in his mind, and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth slightly, "The sense of déjà vu of an old couple is a little too obvious."

Shen Juan raised his eyebrows, and his eyes, the only facial features not covered by the mask, curved into a gentle arc under the shadow of the hat brim, which Zhou Ye thought was particularly beautiful.

"Is not it good?"

"Okay!" Zhou Ye raised his tail proudly.

Shen Juan couldn't help but laugh.

"In fact, I came here once a few days ago alone, and no one noticed me at that time."

Already here? Without her knowledge? Was he scouting the place for today's date?

Zhou Ye's already good mood suddenly became even better, his steps became lighter, and he decided not to worry about the gossip he had been involved in recently.

"Actually, I've been here before, and more than once." Zhou Ye held Shen Juan's hand and walked side by side.

"When?"

"When I was little."

"All right."

"But after so many years, I come back to see the scenery I saw when I was a child, and I feel a little weird."

Zhou Ye looked at the magnificent Hongya Cave overlooking the Yangtze River in the distance. As night fell, this pleasant place, known as the real-life version of "Spirited Away", became even more splendid and beautiful under the shining lights.

"Although it is still beautiful, I always feel like something is missing. It is not as beautiful as I remember."

"Maybe it's because as time goes by, our memories will be constantly beautified by our brain?" Shen Juan replied.

"Maybe." Zhou Ye looked at the stilt houses built along the slope in an orderly manner, feeling inexplicably emotional.

"Do you think reminiscing about the past is like carving a boat in the long river of time to find a sword?"

"Do you think looking into the future is like quenching your thirst on the way forward?"

Zhou Ye turned her head in surprise and looked at Shen Juan who was smiling. She had never expected that her boyfriend would give such an answer. The comfortable feeling of having their brain waves perfectly matched was really surprising and addictive.

Shen Juan commented on himself with great joy: "Champion of the first year of hip-hop, even though I didn't make the bar just now."

Zhou Ye couldn't help laughing, her dimples were shallow, and Juan Juan was so cute even when she was narcissistic! What a treasure!

"So what was your mood like when you saw me and my roommate outside the venue?"

If Shen Juan remembered correctly, Xiaoye should be referring to what happened on the day he participated in the top four elimination round of "Hip-Hop in China". It seems that it was because of this incident that he became famous as the "fan-sprinkling genius".

"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?" he asked.

"I want to listen to everything!" Zhou Ye smiled brightly.

Shen Juan smiled slightly, "Well, to be honest, I was very surprised at the time, and also a little proud, because I didn't expect that even my classmates were my fans."

"What about lies?"

Shen Juan looked at Zhou Ye seriously, "Do you know why I want to hold hands with each of them?"

"Why?" The girl tilted her head curiously.

"Because I want to find a legitimate reason to hold hands with you in public, just like a shy high school student who gave a cake to everyone in the class in order to give a cake to the person he likes."

Although Zhou Ye wanted to pretend to be calm and composed as if nothing had happened to let Shen Juan know that he was not as easy to tease as he thought, in the end he couldn't suppress the joy that was rising in his heart and laughed out loud.

"Brother Qingfeng, I think I have discovered another unique skill of yours besides your good looks that allows you to travel the world and make friends everywhere."

"I don't know anyone with that title."

"What? You dare to do it but not to take responsibility, right?"

“I just don’t recognize the title.”

"Smelly scumbag"

Zhou Ye's long-held guess was initially verified, but surprisingly he didn't feel much emotion.

Maybe it was because I had heard about it before and was mentally prepared in advance, maybe it was because Shen Juan had already hinted at it and had taken precautions, or maybe it was because I met an amazing person in my immature youth who was enough to influence the rest of my life.
In short, she felt like she had willingly boarded a pirate ship and couldn't get angry at all.

The atmosphere gradually fell silent.

Shen Juan suddenly stretched out his hand towards her.

Zhou Ye looked down, pouted and thought for a while, then put his hands behind his back with a proud look on his face.

Shen Juan raised his eyebrows and waited patiently.

After a long while, Zhou Ye couldn't stand the relentless pursuit anymore, so she put her hand in his palm with dignity.

Shen Juan immediately clenched his fist tightly.

Then I held her hand and walked around Hongyadong, stopping from time to time, and took many beautiful photos of her.

Finally, we sat on the steps by the river.

"Last year, he was just a new idol who had just returned to China to develop his career. I didn't expect that he would become a world-famous superstar this year." Zhou Ye looked at Shen Juan. The cool breeze from the river in late autumn ruffled her hair. "Is your goal still the same as before?"

"It has never changed. It is not realistic to reach a high position simply by singing in the country."

To put it bluntly, in the era of traffic, only artists who have commercial value and can create profits for capital will be valued and favored by capital and have a high status.

As for singers, considering the weakness of the current Chinese record market, many singers release albums with the goal of breaking even. Even top singers who want to make money have to make music to "fill the family income" through various commercial performances and tours and other variety show endorsements.

Therefore, there is really not much future in pursuing a pure music career in the country, as the upper and lower limits are very low.

"That's it"

Zhou Ye held his chin up thoughtfully, "So who are the top male singers in the European and American music scene right now?"

Shen Juan thought for a moment, "Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Brontosaurus, Bonsai, Malone, Harry Styles."

There is no need to talk about that group of rappers. People in China are not interested in hip-hop and don’t like black people that much anyway.

Zhou Ye, who knew only a little about Shen Juan and the European and American music scene, continued to ask questions like a curious baby: "Have you reached their level?"

"As far as popularity in Europe and America is concerned, it's still early!" Shen Juan smiled, "But maybe in the near future, I will reach their level."

Then he added: "Anyway, I will try my best."

Zhou Ye looked at him with sharp eyes: "Yeah."

The two of them just sat there quietly, enjoying the night breeze and gazing at the ferry passing by on the river.

Zhou Ye suddenly said: "Juanjuan."

"Ok?"

"Don't you want to say something in this situation?"

"What?" Shen Juan was puzzled.

"Just those two words!"

"Two words? Which two?"

"Wow! Do I need to remind you of this? Think about it yourself!"

Shen Juan reached out and hugged Zhou Ye into his arms. After a long silence, he said uncertainly, "Love you?"

"Love you."