How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 457 Pre-sales Begin

Zhang Wen's Weibo post immediately attracted the attention of countless netizens, and his attitude towards Li Lehua and the Golden Melody Awards also caused a huge uproar online.

"Holy crap! Teacher Zhang is so magnanimous! Li Lehua beat him, scolded him, and stabbed him in the back, and he just forgave her like that?"

"Teacher Zhang, have you been threatened by Li Lehua? If so, please send a smiley face."

“My family members don’t understand. The line ‘I don’t need mine’ is so cool. It reminds me of what Teacher Zhang said at the Golden Melody Awards ceremony: ‘The Golden Melody Awards are nothing special.’ This is a true talent. He doesn’t care about these empty titles at all.”

"Teacher Zhang is so kind to Future Girls. He stood up for the group when they were being suppressed before, and now he not only helped them win back the award, but also spoke up for them. I'm so touched!"

"Li Lehua has apologized and offered compensation, and he must be regretting it now. This is a classic case of shooting yourself in the foot."

"..."

The comments section was filled with support for Zhang Wen, jokes about Li Lehua, expressions of sympathy for Future Girls, and even satire of the Golden Melody Awards. Compared to their previous anger, netizens' emotions were noticeably more stable at this moment.

Just as everyone was discussing it enthusiastically, Zhang Wen's Weibo was suddenly updated again, starting with five words: Let strength speak for itself.

Below is a promotional poster for Future Girls' new album, which is called "The Best of Us".

The new album includes Future Girls' debut song "The Best of Us," as well as four other new songs.

It is worth noting that all five songs clearly state "Lyrics/Composition: Zhang Wen".

In other words, all the songs on the album were written by Zhang Wen.

Below the poster is a link with a simple and direct caption: "Future Girls' new mini album is now available for pre-order. Stay tuned."

This Weibo post was like a bombshell, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of fans.

"A new album? Future Girls released a new album so soon? I'm going to buy it right away!"

"Let your talent speak for itself? Is Teacher Zhang trying to slap the Golden Melody Awards in the face?"

"Resist the shady dealings, support Teacher Zhang, support the future girls!"

Because Zhang Wen is currently generating a lot of buzz, the news that Future Girls' new album is available for pre-order quickly spread across the internet.

Countless people clicked the link to pre-order Future Girls' new album.

Many of them weren't even fans of Future Girls; they weren't there to listen to their songs, but simply to support Zhang Wen and Future Girls who had suffered injustice.

They saw their own reflections in Zhang Wen and the future girl.

I wish that when I encounter injustice, someone would stand up for me!
It was with this idea in mind that the album pre-order link received over 10,000 visits in just over ten minutes, and the number of pre-orders increased dramatically.

An hour later, the New Year's Eve galas carefully prepared by various TV stations were broadcast one after another, and Zhang Wen's Weibo was updated again.

This is a screenshot of pre-order data for an album. The number of pre-orders has exceeded 50,000, and sales have directly surpassed one million.

The caption remained simple: "Thank you for your support. We won't let you down."

This Weibo post once again topped the trending searches, with the topic "Future Girls' new album pre-orders exceed 50,000" quickly climbing into the top ten trending searches. Netizens also left comments in the comment section, expressing their anticipation for the album's release while also making light of the situation.

"If Li Lehua saw these figures, he would probably be envious again."

Meanwhile, Li Lehua, sitting at home, looked at the ever-increasing album popularity and pre-order data with a gloomy expression, as if a storm was about to break.

She asked Zhang Wen to issue a statement, but she didn't expect that he would take advantage of the situation to generate buzz and use the buzz to promote Future Girls' new album, which made her feel like she had been tricked.

"Zhang Wen, you really have some tricks up your sleeve!" Li Lehua said through gritted teeth, staring at her phone screen.

She even suspected that the secret filming was a publicity stunt for the pre-orders of Future Girls' new album.

Do not!
Perhaps they had already made up their minds when they met Tian Boyang and Sun Shiping in Shenzhen.

This is much more effective than spending money on advertising.

As the night deepened outside the window, people turned their attention to the New Year's Eve gala.

With so many TV stations broadcasting New Year's Eve galas, viewers were overwhelmed and didn't know which one to watch. They kept switching channels, stopping when they saw a singer they liked and changing the channel when they heard a song they didn't like, giving them the feeling of an emperor choosing his concubines.

As they switched gears, many people suddenly stopped at China Television.

As the intro began, the five members of the Future Girls group appeared on stage in matching white miniskirts, their light and lively dance steps instantly capturing the attention of the entire audience.

The news of Future Girls' alleged involvement in the Golden Melody Awards scandal has been ongoing for a week, and even people who don't usually pay much attention to music have heard about it.

Fans naturally wouldn't miss their idols' performances, while those who had never heard Future Girls sing before wanted to see just how good the artists targeted by the Golden Melody Awards really were.

The Future Girls performed "The Best of Us," their debut song written for them by Zhang Wen. The song has a brisk and infectious rhythm, showcasing their youth, vitality, enthusiasm, and confidence. The lyrics also resonate with their experience of never giving up despite facing suppression and shady dealings.

The members' dance moves were perfectly synchronized, and every glance and gesture was full of tacit understanding, demonstrating their strong ability to control the stage.

In an instant, the screen in the live stream room was filled with comments.

"Future Girls' stage performance was amazing. 'The Best of Us' truly deserves to be the song of the year. I never get tired of listening to it."

"The lyrics of 'The Best of Us' really touched me. Walking through thick and thin together... isn't that a true reflection of them? Teacher Zhang is such a good writer."

"Golden Melody Awards organizing committee, come and take a look! This is the Best Newcomer Group that you've unfairly vetted!"

"..."

Many casual viewers were captivated by Future Girls' stage performance and followed the trend to search for information about them. When they learned that their new album was available for pre-order, they clicked the pre-order link without hesitation.

Suddenly, pre-orders for Future Girls' new album surged again.

As the New Year's bells rang, 2026 arrived.

As the New Year's Eve galas of various TV stations come to an end, the popularity of Future Girls has been ignited.

According to real-time data from the album pre-order platform, the number of pre-orders has exceeded 150,000, and sales have soared to over four million.

More noteworthy is that the growth in booking data is not limited to the domestic market. According to the platform's backend data, the proportion of bookings by overseas users has climbed from 2% before the gala to 11%, which not only consolidates the domestic market but also enhances brand awareness abroad.

Of course, such success is mainly due to the influence of China Television. Countless overseas Chinese got to know the Future Girls group through China Television's New Year's Eve Gala, which boosted pre-orders for their new album.

Zhang Wen wasn't asleep at the moment; he was sitting in front of his computer, editing a promotional video for Future Girl.

Although pre-orders have begun, there is still a week before the official release of the new album.

During this week, it is essential to maintain the popularity of Future Girls in order to achieve better album sales and enhance the group's commercial value.

Unfortunately, Future Girls didn't have their own publicity team. He had to shoulder the burden of maintaining the buzz after the New Year's Eve gala and pushing up album pre-orders all by himself. Zhang Wen posted the edited video online and asked Jiang Xin to buy publicity for the group. By the time he finished all of this, it was already dawn outside.

With the arrival of daytime on New Year's Day, booking data saw another small peak.

After seeing clips of Future Girls' performance on the China TV New Year's Eve Gala, many people have joined the ranks of those who want to watch the show.

By 9 a.m., the number of reservations had exceeded 220,000, marking another milestone.

Zhang Wen took a nap for an hour, and then rode in Bai Lu's business car to the residential area where Zhao Tong and the others lived.

Today I'm taking the five of them to a commercial event for a brand they endorse. On one hand, it's to repay Sister Hong for inviting them to be brand ambassadors before the group became famous. On the other hand, it's to promote ourselves and increase the group's approachability and popularity with the general public.

As soon as the car came to a stop, the five members, carrying backpacks, walked briskly over. Upon seeing Zhang Wen, they greeted him with smiles and said in unison, "Good morning, Teacher Zhang!"

"Good morning, get in the car quickly." Zhang Wen waved to the five people outside the car, signaling the driver to open the car door.

As soon as she got into the car, Su Jin couldn't wait to take out her phone, hold it up in front of Zhang Wen, and said with bright eyes, "Teacher Zhang, look, our new album pre-orders have exceeded 220,000."

Cheng Sisi said with a happy expression, "Teacher Zhang, I was staring at the platform data all night, I was so excited I couldn't sleep."

“Me too,” Zhang Jiajia excitedly echoed.

"Teacher Zhang, do you think our new album can break 500,000 copies during the pre-sale period?" Zhao Tong asked expectantly.

"That's too conservative!" Zhang Wen said, gesturing to the driver to start the car. "My goal is to sell one million copies in pre-orders, and then sell a total of two million copies after the official release."

"What? So many?" Zhao Tong was surprised, and the other four were also dumbfounded.

Take last year for example, only eight people sold albums that exceeded one million copies, and those that sold more than two million copies could be counted on one hand.

They are just a new group, and they have only been around for less than three months. How could they possibly have sold so many albums?

It's just idiotic dreams.

They discussed this last night. Cheng Sisi's goal was 500,000, Chen Silu's goal was 600,000, and Zhao Tong's goal was the most, but it was only 800,000.

Two million?
Just hearing that makes my liver tremble.

"Teacher Zhang, you're not joking with us, are you?" Su Jin asked.

"Is it a lot? I don't think so," Zhang Wen said casually.

"Two million isn't enough? Teacher, do you think we're superstars like Sister Li? We're still newcomers," Zhao Tong said with a wry smile.

“Tang Yi is also a newcomer, and her first album sold over two million copies. I only helped revise a few songs on her album, but all the songs on your album were written by me. If it doesn’t sell two million copies, wouldn’t that damage my reputation?” Zhang Wen said emphatically.

"..."

Zhao Tong and the others were speechless.

Tang Yi is hailed by the media as a once-in-a-decade super newcomer, how can she be compared to the others?
I thought Zhao Tong's claim of selling 800,000 copies was already wishful thinking, but I didn't expect Teacher Zhang to be even more ruthless. He truly lives up to his reputation as a teacher.

Half an hour later, the van arrived at the underground parking garage of the shopping mall where the event was being held. In addition to the person in charge of the event, Zhang Wen was surprised to see Sister Hong and her nephew Sun Di.

"Sister Hong, what brings you here?" Zhang Wen asked in surprise after getting out of the car.

It's just a brand promotion event; there's no need for the boss to attend in person, right?
"I heard from Xiaodi that you were coming too, and I was bored at home alone, so I came along. You won't think I'm in your way, will you?" Yang Yuhong asked with a smile.

"How could that be? You're the brand owner, our big spender. It's our honor to have you here," Zhang Wen said earnestly.

“You’re so good at talking, little brother.” Yang Yuhong smiled even more happily.

The event coordinator stood aside with a forced smile; with the boss around, she had no right to speak.

"Alright, Mom, stop talking. The event is about to start, and we still need to style their hair and makeup," Sun Di interjected.

He is now the exclusive stylist for Future Girls, and he is responsible for the group's image when participating in variety shows and New Year's Eve galas. This commercial activity is no exception.

Seeing her son's ambition, Yang Yuhong immediately said, "Alright, alright, Mom won't say anymore, let's go." Then she led the way towards the elevator.

The group arrived at the lounge provided by the mall, and Sun Di immediately got to work, selecting clothes for Zhao Tong and the others to wear to the event while instructing the makeup artist on what kind of makeup to give the five of them.

As the boss, Yang Yuhong could only stand aside at this moment, but when she looked at her son, her eyes revealed satisfaction.

In her opinion, this was much better than playing drums and piano.

“Little brother, do you know what? Last night I saw Xiaodi looking at a fashion magazine. It’s the first time in ten years that I’ve seen him looking at a fashion magazine at home.” Yang Yuhong whispered to Zhang Wen beside her, “Thank you.”

"It's mainly because Xiao Di is excellent. Every time he designs a look for a future girl, he receives unanimous praise from the outside world," Zhang Wen said after hearing this, praising his nephew profusely.

Praising your child in front of their parents is never a bad thing.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuhong immediately beamed and began to flatter him, saying, "I watched Future Girls' performance at the New Year's Eve gala last night, and they performed exceptionally well. They're very popular right now, so it seems I'm the one who benefited."

Zhang Wen knew that Sister Hong was referring to the endorsement deal, so he said, "This shows that you have a keen eye, Sister Hong. You were able to see their potential when they first debuted, which is equivalent to being an initial investor."

When dealing with clients who are willing to pay a premium, you must maximize your emotional value.

Yang Yuhong's smile grew even brighter.

When she invited Future Girls to be the spokesperson for her own clothing brand, it wasn't because the group had potential, but because of Zhang Wen himself.

However, she was also happy that the other party said that.

"Oh, right." Yang Yuhong suddenly seemed to remember something, her smile fading as she said, "I heard you've been having some trouble lately?"

"It's nothing," Zhang Wenfeng said casually.

"Little brother, please don't stand on ceremony with me. I have some connections in your entertainment industry," Yang Yuhong said.

As a clothing company, she inevitably sponsors some movies and TV series, so in addition to the fashion industry, she also knows many people in the film and television industry.

"Thank you, Sister Hong. I won't stand on ceremony with you." Zhang Wen said, then deliberately lowered his voice and whispered, "Actually, I was the one who orchestrated all of this to promote the group's new album."

Yang Yuhong was slightly taken aback, then gave the other person a thumbs up.

This publicity stunt is brilliant!

……

(End of this chapter)