The three hundred thousand albums online sold out within a minute!

Offline, countless record stores and audio-visual shops across the country were swarmed by enthusiastic fans. At the entrances of many large record stores, queues stretched far down the street. To meet the demands of so many customers, merchants even had to implement a purchase limit policy, with staff walking along the queues, telling fans: 

“Limit of three albums per person, limit of three albums per person.”

However, upon hearing this, many fans immediately wailed, “Three albums? I promised to get albums for four friends. How are five of us supposed to share three albums?!”

“Exactly, exactly. My friend just called me and told me she couldn’t get the online album, and asked me to buy five for her.”

“I met some fans when I was traveling in the UK. Rong Rong’s new album is only being released domestically today, and they asked me to help them buy it. I already promised them!”

All sorts of situations arose one after another.

“Rong Yan” was set to be released on July 14th, but this was only for Huaxia domestic release. The album would be released globally on July 20th. For online purchases, the shipping address had to be within China. This arrangement was made by Yang Changzheng, and Rong Xu and Luo Zhentao had no objections. Old Yang, being an experienced musician in Huaxia, prioritizing a domestic release was understandable. However, this caused distress for many international fans and those in different time zones abroad.

Luo Xi had long known that with Rong Xu’s current popularity, even if he wasn’t a singer, many fans would still be willing to buy his album. Rong Xu’s commercial appeal had always been strong. Previously, the potato chips he endorsed saw a 0.1% increase in sales in the quarter after his advertisement was launched! That brand of potato chips was already a bestseller in Huaxia with extremely high sales. Given the enormous base number, a 0.1% increase in sales was astonishing.

But even so, Luo Xi never would have imagined that 300,000 albums would actually be completely gone in one minute?!!!

Luo Xi immediately reported the matter to Luo Zhentao. Just as she finished speaking, before Luo Zhentao could react, Rong Xu suddenly asked, “One minute?”

Luo Xi nodded earnestly: “Yes, Xiao Xu, it was less than a minute. I just asked the e-commerce platform, and to be precise, all the albums were sold out at around 54 seconds.”

The handsome young man frowned slightly and said nothing more. Luo Zhentao, however, was astonished: “Generally speaking, many fans will rush to buy albums in the first ten minutes, but one minute is a bit too exaggerated. Luo Xi, please arrange to inquire carefully about the specific sales situation from the e-commerce platform, don’t let others take advantage.”

Online purchased albums could be refunded, and many haters would use this to cause trouble. Some rival celebrities would also seize this opportunity to make a big deal out of it. For example, a few years ago, when Lin Xuan wasn’t as popular, he had a concert where ten thousand tickets sold out in twenty seconds. For the current Lin Xuan, such an achievement was expected, but at the time, it indeed caused a sensation. However, within just three days, when these tickets were about to be shipped, a large number of refunds occurred. At that time, the ticketing e-commerce platform still allowed refunds, but so many refunds almost made Lin Xuan’s concert a joke, and it was widely reported by the media.

Now concert tickets are non-refundable, but albums can still be refunded. If Rong Xu were framed by others, intentionally buying in large quantities and then refunding them, it would be a huge blow to both Rong Xu and “Rong Yan.”

Without further ado, Luo Xi quickly contacted the e-commerce platform for clarification. An hour later, however, Luo Xi fell into deep thought.

Luo Xi: “…”

Luo Zhentao asked, “What’s wrong? Did the detailed sales data come out? Were there any ghostwriters who bought in large quantities at the same time?”

The young assistant silently turned around and handed her phone to Luo Zhentao. The latter was first stunned, then lowered his head to look at the phone screen, and then, after seeing it clearly: “…”

Both Luo Zhentao and Luo Xi fell silent. Rong Xu put down his phone, raising an eyebrow slightly: “What’s wrong?”

The agent and assistant, both surnamed Luo, handed the phone to him.

Rong Xu, upon seeing the phone’s content: “…”

【Lotus Paste Orange Filling: wuli Rong Rong’s new album, 10,000 copies get√~ Rong Rong chu~ chu~ chu~ chu~ (≧▽≦)/~ lalala [Image]】

The accompanying image was a screenshot from a phone, showing a backend purchase record for the “Rong Yan” album. The payment time was the third second after the album’s release, and the quantity paid for was…

‘10000’

Out of a total of 300,000 copies, the Orange Tycoon Fan alone bought 10,000! If there were twenty-nine more tycoon fans like this, they could simply buy them all, giving no other fans a chance to buy the album!

As soon as this Weibo post from Lotus Paste Orange Filling was published, it quickly received over ten thousand comments and reposts. All the Rong Xu fans who didn’t get an album dejectedly demanded comfort from Orange Goddess, while other fans who did manage to buy an album praised and liked it one after another.

【My heart aches, old friend, no wonder I didn’t get one. Orange is too much QAQ!】

【6666666, truly worthy of being the Orange Tycoon Fan~】

【I thought buying 1000 copies was already pretty awesome. I thought I could compete with Orange this time, but I didn’t expect Orange Goddess to buy ten times what I did… Very good, very powerful. I’ll just obediently not compare myself to a super rich fan, hahaha.】

The last comment was from another tycoon fan in the Rong Xu fan circle. Rong Xu currently has nearly 200 million Weibo followers, and his private fan forum also has tens of millions of fans. With so many people, it was naturally impossible for Lotus Paste Orange Filling to be the only tycoon fan; it was just that others weren’t as rich as Orange.

Since Lotus Paste Orange Filling announced that she bought 10,000 albums, several other tycoon fans also came forward, announcing their purchase quantities. The smallest number purchased was one or two hundred copies, while the largest was several thousand copies. An album costing close to a hundred yuan, buying 10,000 copies meant a million yuan; buying 1,000 copies still meant a hundred thousand yuan.

Not to mention the ordinary fans who bought a few albums, just combining the purchases of dozens of tycoon fans already accounted for fifty to sixty thousand albums. Therefore, it was absolutely possible for 300,000 albums to sell out within a minute.

Luo Xi sighed, “I can somewhat understand what these fans are thinking. After all, this is your first album, Xiao Xu, and who knows if you’ll release another album in the future. They must especially want to collect it. And among your fans… well, there are indeed many rich ones.”

Fans were mainly Luo Xi’s responsibility, Luo Zhentao only knew a little about them, but today he finally witnessed the power of the legendary Rong Xu fans. “Many friends used to tell me that Xiao Xu has strong commercial appeal, and I knew that, but today I finally understood how strong…”

Luo Xi nodded: “Hmm, Brother Luo, rich fans like Lotus Paste Orange Filling are just isolated cases, it’s mainly thanks to all the fans. I even chatted with a fan leader yesterday. She also guessed that Lotus Paste Orange Filling might buy a lot of albums, but none of us expected it to be 10,000 albums.”

“Hahaha, rich people are just willful,” Luo Zhentao said, turning to Rong Xu: “Xiao Xu, what do you think… uh…” His voice suddenly trailed off. Luo Zhentao looked at Rong Xu’s serious expression, and after a long time, tentatively asked, “What’s wrong, Xiao Xu, did something happen?”

Under the bright lights, the handsome and graceful young man’s brow was tightly furrowed as he carefully scrolled through Luo Xi’s phone. His gaze swept across Lotus Paste Orange Filling’s Weibo page, scrolling through her messages one by one, more focused and serious than ever before.

After a while, he sighed softly and turned to Luo Xi: “You’re closer to the fans, Sister Xiao Xi, did he spend a lot of money?” He used to only know the general concept but never specifically calculated how much the other party spent.

Luo Xi said, “She? Lotus Paste Orange Filling? She is indeed quite rich, and she spent a lot. What’s wrong, Xiao Xu?”

Rong Xu said nothing more, just nodded slightly.

---

By noon, the news of “Rong Yan” selling over 300,000 copies in one minute had spread across the entire internet.

#RongYan# and #RongXu# naturally trended, but what surprised everyone was that this time, #LotusPasteOrangeFilling# also trended! Many bewildered passersby clicked on this tag, expecting it to be a food tag, but after actually clicking in, they were amazed by the wealth of this tycoon fan.

【Amazing, truly a super rich fan!】

【Today’s fans are simply terrifying.

There were also some passersby who severely criticized such waste of money on idol worship: 

【With this much money, why not use it to be dutiful to your parents? Spending so much money, it definitely wasn’t earned by themselves, it must be living off their parents!】

But more people were unimpressed by this. No one had evidence to accuse the tycoon fan of living off their parents, and it was her own money; she could spend it however she wanted. Perhaps she spent even more money on filial piety to her parents and contributing to society?

In the evening, Luo Zhentao invited Old Yang and the MV producer of the album to a celebratory dinner. The group had a lively meal. Old Yang specifically reminded Luo Zhentao: “The first two days are the peak sales period for an album. Generally, if nothing unexpected happens, the sales from the first two days will account for ninety percent of the total sales.”

Luo Zhentao immediately said, “I know, Old Yang. We’ll release another batch of stock tonight.”

That evening, the members of Team Qin Fengfeng also privately congratulated Rong Xu.

【Lin Xuan: Jealous】

【Chu Qi: Jealous +1】

【Jennifer: Congratulations, Rong. When we meet tomorrow, you’ll have to be careful. Clemens might seize the opportunity to make you treat us.

【James: Huh? Jennifer, are you and Rong Rong promoting “3200 Miles”? You can already use the idiom “seize the opportunity.” Your Chinese has improved!】

【Hugh: Congratulations, congratulations. I heard about your 300,000 sales in one minute. Amazing, Rong Xu!】

【Wen Xuan: Don’t mind Lin Xuan and Chu Qi, they’re the only two singers in our group. Rong Rong, you’re like the waves behind pushing the waves in front, quickly knock them onto the beach. I support you entering the music industry, 2333.

【Xia Muyan: Congratulations, congratulations.

Before the official release of the “Rong Yan” album, many singers in the industry were awaiting its results. Rong Xu was the hottest rising star in Huaxia in the past two years, bar none. His achievements in the performing arts surpassed most artists, and now he was venturing into the music industry! He wasn’t a true rookie singer, but he had hundreds of millions of fans, and he also had hit movies with high box office revenues. Would he achieve the same remarkable success in the music industry as he did in the film industry? What kind of results would he achieve, and would he threaten many young singers?

In anxious anticipation, the answer was revealed.

On July 14, 2045, “Rong Yan” sold 98,000 copies offline and 510,000 copies online! The reason the online sales were only 510,000 copies was because it wasn’t until 7 PM that evening that the e-commerce platform reopened the purchase channels for “Rong Yan” album, this time releasing a massive stock of 500,000 copies, a truly generous move.

And after the first day, every minute, every second, the album sales of “Rong Yan” continued to climb. Even in the dead of night, many Rong Xu fans eagerly rushed to buy the album, simultaneously posting their purchase records in Rong Xu’s private forum, sharing them with other fans, and urging them to quickly go buy.

At this purchase speed, the sales on the second day would definitely be terrifying as well. Seeing this result, many young singers who had debuted only two or three years ago were completely dumbfounded.

“My debut single sold 110,000 copies, and I was already the rookie king that year. Sister Zhao, what should I do? I’ve been debuted for three years, and my albums sell at most three or four hundred thousand copies. Rong Xu’s first album already sold this much. He’s also the same type as me, we’re similar in age, and our styles overlap. I’m definitely going to be affected, I…”

“I, however, believe that Rong Xu won’t truly enter the music industry, but merely dabble in it. Don’t worry, sing well. As long as you sing well, I’ll handle the promotion.”

This was still a popular singer with a certain level of skill. Many singers who were already struggling on the poverty line became even more panicked. However, no matter what these young singers thought, with Luo Zhentao and Huaxia Entertainment in charge, they had neither the qualifications nor the guts to trip Rong Xu up. And those singers who did have the ability to trip him up either disdained to do so or saw no need to offend him.

The strong survive, true gold remains. As long as it is true gold, it will surely shine brightly. Having a strong opponent is a good thing; direct competition is what should be pursued.

---

By eight or nine in the evening, many fans who had purchased the album offline had already gone through the entire “Rong Yan” album. There were nine songs in total: the first eight were three love songs, two ancient-style songs, and three English songs, with the last one being the title track “Rong Yan.”

Most of the fans hadn’t received their albums yet, and those who bought offline couldn’t share the album’s contents with these fans. Because Huaxia’s copyright protection was quite strict, they were absolutely forbidden from uploading album content online. Even taking photos, to a certain extent, Huaxia Entertainment could win a lawsuit against them if they chose to sue.

Thus, this situation appeared online.

【Yu Qi Wei: Look, my newly bought succulents~ Aren’t they super cute, super cute, super cute? [Image]】

In this picture, a small pot of succulents was placed on top of a television. If one wanted to photograph the succulents, they would inevitably accidentally capture the television as well. Thus, all netizens saw a handsome and elegant young man on the television screen.

【Ahhhhhhh this must be the “Rong Yan” album! PO, we want to see your succulents! And see them again! 360°, we want to see the succulents from all angles ahhhhhh!!!】

On the internet, various illicit filming methods emerged endlessly and diversely, making Luo Zhentao both laugh and cry. “Actually, they can just take direct photos. It’s just photos, our Huaxia Entertainment wouldn’t be so petty as to forbid publicizing them.”

In the quiet car, only Luo Zhentao and Luo Xi were chatting animatedly. In the back seat, Rong Xu slightly lowered his gaze, scanning Lotus Paste Orange Filling’s past Weibo posts. After a long time, he opened WeChat and sent a message.

The next moment, a certain man on the other side of the ocean received the message.

【Rong Xu: I’m a little curious, what’s your salary for this movie “Limit”?】

A trace of surprise flashed in Qin Cheng’s dark eyes. He calmly replied: 

【31 million USD, 5 points profit sharing.】 

For world-class celebrities, salary is no longer the most important thing; they often sign revenue-sharing contracts. A salary of over 30 million USD is already among the world’s top, and besides that, Qin Cheng can also get a 5-point box office share. The higher the box office, the higher his earnings. If the box office exceeds 10 billion, the net profit figure would be absolutely astonishing.

Looking at the text on the screen, Rong Xu was slightly stunned: 

【You actually just told me everything so simply?】

【Qin Cheng: I invested in the film, 15 million USD.

【Rong Xu: …So you mean, that’s everything?】

The other end of the phone was silent for a long time before finally replying: 

【Mm, that’s everything.】

Rong Xu: “…”

Your investment isn’t even half of your own salary, and you have the nerve to call it an investment!

Qin Cheng didn’t ask Rong Xu why he suddenly wanted to know this question today. He first talked about the sales of “Rong Yan,” and then about the current filming situation. Twenty minutes later, after Qin Cheng sent a message saying “preparing to shoot,” the young man smiled faintly, his eyes curving, and sent a message back—

【Qin Cheng, I just did a quick search, and it seems you haven’t established your own charity foundation yet? I happen to want to establish one, and I’m inviting you. Are you interested in joining?】

This sentence was spoken very politely, completely unlike someone speaking to their lover. However, Qin Cheng didn’t find anything amiss. He understood that his young man was currently speaking to him from the perspective of a partner, and needed to be precise and objective.

However, he wanted to know more…

【Qin Cheng: Why suddenly mention this?】

【Rong Xu: You should also be going to the Berlin Film Festival next week, right?】

【Qin Cheng: …Mm.】

【Rong Xu: A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it ethically; a gentleman disperses wealth, and should also do so ethically. See you Monday ^_^】

Qin Cheng: “…”

At this moment, on the set of “Limit” in Canada, Xu Jin chatted with the producer for a while, then saw a certain man standing under the bright sun with a deep gaze, staring intently at his phone with a serious expression.

His slightly long hair was completely gelled back, revealing a cold and elegant face. He wore a black suit, perfectly outlining his tall and slender figure, strikingly similar to the mature and composed male lead in the script.

Xu Jin felt surprised and asked, “What’s wrong?” His expression is strangely serious…

The next moment, this male lead, who seemed to have stepped out of a movie, looked at his agent with deep eyes and asked, “A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it ethically?”

Xu Jin was stunned. After a moment, he suddenly realized: “Wait, what do you mean by that? I haven’t done anything that would trouble my conscience, so I’m not afraid of ghosts knocking on my door in the middle of the night. Are you perhaps implying that you’ve done something unethical yourself?”

Completely ignoring the other person, Qin Cheng walked towards the set, frowning and muttering, “A gentleman disperses wealth, and should also do so ethically… Have I done something unethical?”

A cold wind blew, and Qin Cheng slightly curled his fingers, raising his head to look at the snowy mountains not far away.

“…A little cold.”