Entertainment: The microphones are here, why is everyone so silent?

8 a.m.

After finishing breakfast, Ye Chen arrived at Tinghua Island.

"Brother Chen! Did you see that? We're on the hot song chart!" Xu Hong exclaimed excitedly.

As soon as he woke up, he saw Ye Chen's song in the top five of the hot song chart!

That excitement is still crazy to this day!

He never expected this!

Ye Chen's three "alternative" songs are surprisingly popular!

This result is absolutely phenomenal!

"Look, look!" Xu Hong opened the YunTeng Hot List. "Silence is fourth on the hot list, Moonlight is second, and Hard to Recite Sutra is fifth!"

"And another thing! 'Left Finger Pointing to the Moon,' promoted by 'Voice of Dreams,' has directly topped the trending charts!"

Xu Hong smacked his lips.

It seems the trending topics list has almost become Brother Chen's private domain.

Ye Chen looked at the screen on Xu Hong's phone and nodded slightly.

He could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He believed that the song's explosive popularity was inevitable.

Before trying it out himself, he was still worried that these three "alternative" songs would not be well-received.

Based on this, it seems that the other songs are also a sure thing!

"I'm going to get back to work," Xu Hong said to Ye Chen before leaving.

At that moment, the assistant pushed open the door and came in carrying a tablet:

"Teacher Ye Chen, here is the 'undercover' QQ number you requested."

"Okay, thank you."

Ye Chen took the tablet and sat down on the sofa.

He was "freeloading" the company's throat-soothing tea while browsing the comments section of the "Morning Sugar Mic-Grabbing Support Group".

This is because he was worried that the new song would be too difficult and have a very different style, which would cause fans to resist, feel disgusted and leave the fandom.

Therefore, he deliberately asked his assistant for the "insider account" to monitor the fans' approval of the new song.

Or, in his words, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and I'll make things incredibly difficult for you!"

At this moment, the group chat was filled with groans of despair:

"Oh no, my entire karaoke playlist is wiped out! I can't add a single new song! How am I supposed to uphold my family's honor in the karaoke room now?!"

"I practiced Sanskrit 'The Difficult Sutra' all night long, and now my neighbors think my family is running a Sanskrit crash course. They even asked me if I could sign up for a group purchase."

"Before: the moment the intro started, the microphone was mine! Now: the moment the intro starts, I'm like a complete idiot! Who can understand this difference?!"

"Chen Tang has changed! He's no longer the one who hands us the microphone! Now he's shutting us out and adding eighteen locks on top of that!"

"Fine, I declare that I'm giving up the fight and will just be a quiet speaker, providing background music for Brother Chen's new song."

"..."

After checking several fan groups, all I saw were complaints!

Yes, that's complaining!

Their resentment was as strong as that of submariners who had just returned to port!

Ye Chen was very satisfied with this.

Let's have a massive sing-along by ten thousand people!

Let us make you love physical microphone grabbing!

"Teacher Ye Chen, it's the fans in the main group who love to steal your microphone the most," the assistant complained from the side.

Entertainment companies typically employ various methods to monitor public opinion.

This "undercover" operational strategy is handled by the junior assistant.

She is naturally very familiar with her fans.

"Then I'll see if these karaoke enthusiasts can successfully cover this song."

Ye Chen smiled and clicked into the "Chen Tang Grab Mai Zong Group".

"I don't care! At the next concert, there has to be at least one song that we can all sing along to! Otherwise... otherwise we'll just have to hold up signs and sit in silence while he sings!"

"Long-time fans are furious! Our core advantage, 'everyone's a karaoke enthusiast,' is being lost! Our standing in the industry is in grave danger!"

"Is Ye Chen trying to ruin us?! He's about to retire, and he releases such a difficult new song! He's going to kill us!"

"He was determined not to let us take the microphone from him! So before retiring from the scene, he brought out the ultimate imperial weapon!"

Just when the main group was about to completely descend into chaos, the group admin PDD stepped in.

"Alright, stop arguing! Learning the song is the most important thing right now!"

As soon as he appeared, the group chat became much quieter.

The familiar profile picture and username startled Ye Chen.

PDD?!

PDD, whose fan club is offering a million-dollar prize?!

He's my fan?!

Instantly, Ye Chen had a bad feeling!

As expected, PDD spoke up:

"If we can't learn it, we can only obediently listen to Ye Chen sing! Does that mean we, as Ye Chen's fans, are ruined?!"

"So, we just have to learn the song! Let's stick to the usual rules: whoever can sing the whole song will move to the first row of the inner area and have a physical contest to grab the microphone! The rest of you will organize a big sing-along for Ye Chen!"

His words immediately inspired countless group members.

"That's right, only the strong deserve to enjoy the first row!"

"For no other reason than to get a seat in the first row of the inner section, we can't give up singing!"

"PDD is right! For the glory and dignity of us Morning fans! We must rise to the challenge even when there are difficulties."

PDD sent a satisfied emoji:

"Because this song is quite challenging, I will be changing the previous 'Singing Friends Competition' to the 'Morning Sugar New Song Cover Challenge'!"

The first twenty successful challengers will receive a reward of 5,000 RMB! The first place winner will receive a direct reward of 10,000 RMB!

"There are also popularity-based red envelope giveaways, so tune in to my Douyin live stream now!"

wow——

A flood of excited emojis appeared in the group chat.

PDD's move of "a generous reward will surely attract brave men" was absolutely perfect!

Ye Chen felt that PDD was truly a remarkable person.

To be able to build a business from self-media, one is indeed an operational genius!

Ye Chen also used the "Insider" account to move to Douyin (TikTok): "Cover song challenge? I want to see what kind of tricks you guys can come up with."

Less than half a minute.

PDD created a Douyin live stream room for the "Chen Tang Cover Song Challenge".

It only took two minutes.

Tens of thousands of people flooded into the live stream!

Almost 99% of them are Ye Chen's fans!

Suddenly, it became the number one streamer on the platform's live streaming chart.

On the screen.

PDD, the group's administrator, watched the live stream's popularity soar.

His grin stretched from ear to ear—this wave of attention is definitely in the bag!

Group admin, right?

Moreover, Ye Chen has always paid for his own information collection, push notifications, and fan management.

Gaining some traffic, that's perfectly reasonable, right?

"Ye Chen's new song challenge, now begins! Read the rules yourself, first warrior, connect via live stream!" PDD's voice was excited.

"Wow, it's quite presentable." Ye Chen said with interest on the company sofa.

Studio.

The first brave soul stepped onto the microphone and chose "Moonlight".

Amidst a barrage of cheering comments.

The Warriors' first words were: "Yo, light~ color~~"

[Get out of here! Next!]

[Did he come here drunk? Six words, not a single one in tune!]

[Dude, are you sent by the other side to smear us?!]

When others sing off-key, they're off track; you're dismantling the track altogether!

PDD swiftly "hugs" someone off the mic: "Just to clarify, don't waste everyone's time if you don't have the skills! Second place!"

"PDD, I choose 'The Difficult Scripture'." The second warrior stepped up.

Then, he began to sing in fluent Mandarin: "Laugh at you and me for wasting all our scheming~"

After a two-second silence, PDD interrupted, "...Bro, this is a Cantonese song!"