Huayu 2005: Chat groups are full of real celebrities

Jiang Bei swallowed hard and asked cautiously:

"So... what's Auntie's attitude now?"

Liu Yifei lowered her head, not daring to look at him, her fingers gently tugging at the hem of her clothes, and whispered:

"She yelled at me on the phone."

"She said I messed up all her plans."

"They even said I'm getting bolder and bolder, daring to make decisions on my own..."

Jiang Bei's last glimmer of hope instantly vanished.

"and then?"

"What else did you say?"

Liu Yifei's voice lowered even further:

"They also said... they want you to come over and explain things clearly."

What she didn't say was—

Asking Jiang Bei to go and act as a human shield was also her own idea.

It was purely to avoid my mother's wrath, so I temporarily dragged someone down with me.

Jiang Bei was even more guilty than she was at that moment.

This isn't a case of parents wanting to meet their business partners.

This is my mother-in-law... no, I mean my aunt is about to hold a court hearing.

Jiangbei immediately considered running away.

Is it too late to pack my bags and leave the capital overnight?

He stood there, silent for several seconds, before forcibly suppressing the urge to jump out the window.

Don't panic.

Don't panic.

Now that things have come to this, let's take a look at the results.

Strength can overcome everything!

Clinging to a last shred of hope, he turned to look at Liu Yifei:

"The song's performance should be alright, right?"

"The endorsement deals with China Mobile and Nokia have been signed, and the GG video has been filmed."

"Logically speaking, even if Aunt Liu is angry, she shouldn't be this angry, right?"

Liu Yifei didn't know how to explain, so she simply went to the computer and opened the entertainment section of Sohu, which she knew by heart.

"See for yourself."

Jiang Bei frowned, walked over and sat down.

When he saw it, even he was stunned.

A quick glance across the entire entertainment section of Sohu reveals that almost half of the content is related to Liu Yifei, indicating an absurdly high level of popularity.

But the art style is also ridiculously chaotic.

Those who praised her and those who criticized her were almost evenly split, and the two sides were locked in a fierce battle.

On the positive side, the headlines were increasingly sensational—

[Insider reveals: Liu Yifei's endorsement deal is a staggering 12530!]

[Liu Yifei becomes the first artist to release a song online, helping 12530 usher in the era of ringback tones!]

Liu Yifei's debut in the music industry is a huge success! Her new song has surpassed five million downloads!

Industry insiders say: Liu Yifei's new song's sales are comparable to tens of millions of physical record sales!

[Executives from China Mobile and Nokia jointly stated: Liu Yifei possesses both beauty and voice, making her extremely valuable commercially!]

[The song "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" is gaining popularity, with netizens praising Liu Yifei's singing as "even more beautiful than her appearance!"]

["Goodbye" becomes a popular single during the June graduation season, with students from many universities spontaneously downloading it as their departure ringtone!]

[The catchy tune "Darling" is all over social media; Nokia N90GG is a hit even before its release!]

[The "Fairy Sister's" crossover into the music scene sparks controversy; her three new songs are stylistically diverse, and industry insiders say her potential is underestimated!]

Jiangbei randomly clicked on one of the articles.

The main text is written in flowery language, but the gist is simply this:

Liu Yifei isn't just dabbling in this; she might actually be leveraging the momentum from 12530 and wireless music to make a name for herself in the music industry.

Scrolling down the comments, the sentiment was much better than he had imagined.

"The Brightest Star in the Night Sky is really nice to listen to. The voice is very clean and the more you listen, the better it sounds."

"Goodbye is so perfect for graduation season. The four of us in my dorm have been listening to it on repeat all day, and we almost cried."

"I initially thought she was just pretty, but I didn't expect her to sing so well."

"Darling is the real hit song, my head is just filled with 'da-ling da-ling da-ling' now—"

"Who would understand? My mom even set 'The Brightest Star in the Night Sky' as her ringtone!"

"I was indifferent to her before, but these three songs were really good, especially 'Goodbye,' they were amazing."

"Anyone else like me, listening to the same song 'GG' on repeat dozens of times?!"

Jiang Bei finally breathed a sigh of relief after reading these comments.

At least, the song got out there.

And it was a real, tangible effort.

The marketing campaign launched by China Mobile and Nokia was definitely worthwhile.

But before he could be happy for long, his gaze shifted and fell upon the negative articles, which were just as numerous as the positive ones.

[Liu Yifei suspected of falsifying her age and education; her resume faces further scrutiny!]

[Liu Yifei accused of "ungrateful and betraying the production team" for releasing her new song at the same time as the promotion of the soundtrack for "Chinese Paladin"!]

[Hu Ge stated in an interview that he and Liu Yifei are not close in private, suggesting that their former "on-screen couple" have seemingly severed ties!]

[A well-known music critic harshly criticizes Liu Yifei: Her voice is plain and her breath control is poor; she relies entirely on million-dollar autotune to artificially enhance it!]

From TV drama actress to online singer, has Liu Yifei been abandoned by the mainstream entertainment industry?

[Liu Yifei's new song's download numbers are questionable; the 12530 downloads may be inflated!]

[Liu Yifei's new song "Darling" is criticized for its incredibly limited lyrics, consisting of only one word, and is described as "utterly vulgar and cheesy."]

[Liu Yifei's "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" has been criticized for its mediocre melody; her foray into the music industry may make it difficult to shake off the "pretty face" label!]

[Is "Goodbye" a marketing gimmick during graduation season? Is it just hype or genuine talent?]

The more Jiang Bei looked, the deeper his brow furrowed.

He originally thought that as the three songs gained popularity, the previous miscellaneous negative comments would be gradually suppressed by the success of the songs.

The result was exactly the opposite.

The hotter the heat, the more fiercely the dirty water is splashed.

Moreover, it's clear that this isn't just a few isolated trolls, but rather someone systematically manipulating the narrative.

On the one hand, they keep rehashing old grievances such as "age, gender, education, connections, and ingratitude";

On the one hand, they portray "online song release" and "ringtone singers" as downgraded, devalued, and abandoned by the mainstream.

To put it bluntly, they want to push her hard in the direction of "unrealistic popularity, superficial fame, poor singing, and poor personality."

This smell... just one whiff and you know someone in the industry has done it.

And it's not just a small-scale affair.

Jiang Bei leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and his gaze gradually darkened.

He had underestimated the backlash that this wave of popularity would bring.

Liu Yifei is no longer just "controversial," she's now being put on the hot seat.

But conversely, it still comes down to the same point—

Black and red are also red.

If the data is truly solid, no matter how fiercely these smear articles are spread, they will only add fuel to the fire in the end.

With that in mind, Jiang Bei stopped looking at those messy news articles, closed the page, and familiarly accessed the 12530 official website backend.

"Alright."

Let's look at something more practical—

"How many ringback tones were actually sold?"

As he spoke, Jiangbei opened 12530.

The backend page refreshes.

His previously calm expression froze for a moment.

Then, he slowly sat up straight.

Liu Yifei stood behind him, and seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, she couldn't help but peek out:

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Bei didn't say anything, but simply moved the screen closer to her.

Liu Yifei looked down and was also stunned.

Several sets of data from the 12530 homepage backend are clearly displayed there—

"The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" has accumulated 382 million listens, 186 million downloads, and 43.5 ringtone activations.

"Goodbye" has accumulated 415 million listens, 208 million downloads, and 56.2 ringback tones.

"Darling" has accumulated 507 million listens, 291 million downloads, and 79.3 ringtone activations.

The three songs combined garnered over ten million listens and nearly seven million downloads.

The most outrageous thing is the number of ringback tones activated—

In total, more than 1.8 million times.

Let's say it costs three yuan per ringtone.

These three songs alone generated over five million in revenue in just two days after their release.

Moreover, this is only Liu Yifei's song.

It's still in the early stages of 12530's promotion and business has not yet been fully developed.

The room became eerily quiet for a moment.

After a long pause, Liu Yifei asked somewhat uncertainly:

"Is this... a lot?"

Jiang Bei slowly turned his head, his gaze towards her becoming somewhat complicated.

"Not many."

"That's outrageous."

He pointed to the screen, his voice becoming much more serious:

"Download numbers can be considered a benefit of free streaming."

"But ringback tones are different."

"This was purchased with real money by the user."

"And it's a continuous monthly subscription, the kind where you can see the phone bill being deducted."

"in other words--"

"This is not a false fever."

"This was a real, actual explosion."

Liu Yifei blinked, clearly still a little confused.

Jiangbei simply gave her a more straightforward explanation:

"Let's put it that way."

"The data from just the last two days is equivalent to you selling two million records."

"It's like they completely wiped out the 12530 business."

"If Li Xiangdong saw these numbers right now, he'd probably hug your photo and kiss it twice."

Liu Yifei burst out laughing.

But as soon as the smile faded, the confusion in her eyes deepened.

"Then why is my mom still so angry?"

"Logically speaking, the song became a hit, the endorsement deal was secured, and there weren't any problems with the company..."

"Even if she's unhappy, she shouldn't be this angry, right?"

Jiang Bei stared at the screen, remaining silent for a few seconds.

Then, he slowly exhaled, leaned back in his chair, and tapped the table with his fingers.

"Because in your mother's eyes, this matter has never been a question of 'whether it succeeded or not' from beginning to end."

He paused, looked at Liu Yifei, and said, word by word:

"Instead—it got out of control."

Liu Yifei was taken aback.

Jiang Bei was about to continue, telling her: No mother would want to watch her daughter being judged and criticized online by so many people—

The cell phone on the table suddenly rang.

Caller ID: Li Xiangdong.

Jiang Bei glanced at it and answered the call casually.

As soon as the call was answered, Li Xiangdong launched into a barrage of questions, like a firecracker going off:

"Xiao Jiang! Have you looked at the data?"

"Yifei's three songs are absolute hits! I just had a professional evaluate them, and their quality and market performance are on par with platinum records!"

"And our website, it's really been boosted this time too!"

"In just a few days, our daily active users (UV) have already reached five million!"

"It stormed into the top five on the music streaming platform!"

"I'm even tempted to swear on my idol a few times!"

Jiang Bei's eyes twitched as he listened, and he silently moved his phone several dozen centimeters away.

There was only one thought in my mind—

This guy didn't even bother to ask if anyone was around before making the call.

Liu Yifei was listening.

Sure enough, Liu Yifei, who was sitting next to her, vaguely heard the phrase "bowing to my idol a few times," and her face immediately turned red, with her ears turning pink.

This guy... has such a big mouth.