Chapter 422: The power of the Lucky Halo!
The song was great!
The singing was also really good!
But what surprised Zhang Ye the most, was that after the release of the single, the results had not turned out as he imagined. Compared to the release of "Wishing We Last Forever", it lacked quite a bit. With Zhang Yuanqi's popularity and appeal, as long as the song was good, it would be normal for the song to climb to the top 10 of the mainland's music charts, or even the aggregated national music charts throughout the entire country, and half an hour after the single was released, "Woman Flower" had indeed entered the top ten of the national charts. The real-time pre-order sales of the CD had reached 18,000. It it were any ordinary singer, such results would be to die for, but for Zhang Yuanqi, this was just above average. It was okay, but nothing truly outstanding. After all, Zhang Yuanqi was no ordinary singer. Many years ago, she had once reached the peak of the music industry as a Heavenly Queen.
Number of plays: 1.3 million.
CD pre-order sales: 18,000.
Weibo trending position: #5.
It was ranked 5th on the mainland's music charts.
On national music charts (including Hong Kong & Taiwan), it was in 9th place.
Although the results were still improving and various figures from other aspects were also increasing, the increment had not been as quick as it ought to have been. There was quite a bit of resistance.
Zhang Ye knew that this was mainly because of the Spring Festival Gala's effect. The premiere of the song "Woman Flower" was during the Spring Festival Gala. It had a favorable effect as the viewership ratings for the gala were astronomical. It had helped to spread the song too quickly and had a profound effect. For Zhang Ye to become a C-list celebrity this quickly was also due to the credit of the gala, but there was a saying in stock markets. After a burst of momentum, all that would be left over would be nothing. "Woman Flower"'s energy might have finished its spurt on the night of the gala. After being on a stage with such publicity, it was bound to be lacking in subsequent momentum. This caused Zhang Yuanqi's new single to enter an awkward state.
What was he to do?
This was a difficult situation.
Zhang Ye had hoped that he would be able to gain another large chunk of reputation points through the release of this single. He did not expect that it would turn out this way. The difference between his initial expectations and the current situation was huge. It seemed like it was too difficult to grasp what the market was thinking. No one could have predicted this.
Rao Aimin looked at the rankings and said, "What a pity."
Zhang Ye said, "Yea, a lot of people already heard "Woman Flower" during the Spring Festival Gala. Even though Sister Zhang released this new single, some of them wouldn't be tempted to give it another listen. If they played it, they would know that this version is very different from the one they heard at the gala. The singing style, music style, and feeling it conveys are completely different. Hai, I feel that it still boils down to the marketing publicity.... but then again, I can't say that. The main reason is that there's no more talking point to market it with."
It can't be ignored that Lee Anson's emergency publicity stunt to rescue his image had been carried out quite well. An injured person performing had attracted all sorts of headlines. Together with the incident two days ago, even though it put him in a negative light, it still put him in the spotlight and gave him the attention. A lot of people, who liked Lee Anson very much and those who hated him greatly, were having heated discussions about him on a Weibo post. Thus, any thoughts on Old Zhang's new song were therefore diverted.
No way!
He needed to do something!
Firstly, it was for the sake of the new song that he composed and wrote. Secondly, he didn't want that grandson of a Lee Anson to come back from the dead. If a person like him were to bounce back, how many more of his countrymen would be cheated of their money! Oh right, didn't he just gained the right to use the "Lucky Halo" item? Why don't we give it a try and see what sort of outcome this luck would bring?!
Thinking of this, Zhang Ye opened up the game ring's interface to access the merchant shop when Rao Aimin was not paying attention to him. He took a deep breath and then quickly activated the "Lucky Halo"!
[Item Activated].
[Lucky Halo is in effect].
A halo, that was not unlike that of an angel’s, suddenly appeared over Zhang Ye's head. It emitted a bright glow, but this glow was not visible to others in the house. Both Rao Aimin and Chenchen could not see it.
A second passed by -- 10,000 reputation points deducted.
Another second passed -- another 10,000 reputation points deducted.
This was too costly. Zhang Ye's heart was bleeding and he felt his heart wincing, but he still did not turn it off. Because just a few seconds of luck right now would not produce any outcomes. Luck was a cumulative process, so how could he depend on just one second worth of luck. Its effect might take place at an unknown time and at an unknown place, and this was not something within Zhang Ye's control. Because no one could control the outcome, it was better to leave it on for a while longer!
......
At the same time.
Suzhou, at a certain place, at a certain venue.
The concert was in full swing. The audience turnout below stage might have been less than half, but those that were present were the most hardcore of fans. The atmosphere was very passionate and countless of them waved their light sticks in the air to cheer for Lee Anson. Some of the girls even cried as they saw Lee Anson in bandages and using a crutch to support himself. Their hearts almost broke as they shouted and screamed at the top of their lungs!
Actually, as long as it was anyone who was present at the Spring Festival Gala, they would know that Lee Anson was not so seriously injured. At most, his face had been a little bruised. There was no need for him to be bandaged up like a dumpling. He was obviously putting on an act, to show how pitiful he looked.
He had just finished performing his tenth song.
"Anson-oppa! You're the best!"
"We will support you forever!"
"Anson-oppa! I love you!"
"You need to hold on, Anson-oppa!"
"Don't sing anymore! Sob, sob, sob! Hurry and recuperate!"
"Yea, Anson-oppa! We are heartbroken just seeing you like this!"
But Lee Anson stood on in the middle of the stage, looking like he was enduring his injuries and smiling in pain. He said in Mandarin, "Thank you everyone."
When he said that, it attracted a wave of cheers.
Following that, Lee Anson said, "네, 다음 노래가...'너'!"
A translator backstage said, "The next song is 'YOU'!"
After translating this, the translator put down her microphone, as there was nothing more for her to say.
The backstage technical staff members got busy. They each had their own roles to fulfill, either tuning, equipment handling, lighting, or stage arrangement.
"Don't push!"
"Let me through!"
"Are the lights ready?"
"Why are they not moving? Oh, there it goes!"
"Play the music!"
A backstage staff member was busy handling his job. For some reason, the machine he was using to play the music on had suddenly failed. It seemed like it had hung.
"Quickly!"
"It's beginning soon, play the music!"
That staff worker was panicking as he tried to get the machine to work. He kept tapping on the machine hoping to get it to work but to no avail. He resorted to switching the output from the computer instead and hurriedly chose the music to play!
This time, it worked!
The music started!
But what made the backstage staff all freeze was that the music playing was not for "YOU". Instead, it sounded like a familiar melody, but not something anyone of them could recall where they had heard it before!
The audience was stunned!
Lee Anson also froze. F**k, what song was this?
However, some in the audience managed to remember what song it was. Their faces lit up with excitement!
This song wasn't an instrumental piece, and in fact had lyrics. The first verse immediately rang out throughout the venue!
"I have a flower."
"It grows within my heart."
"A bud waiting to bloom.....for the longest time."
It's "Woman Flower"!
It was Zhang Yuanqi's new cover of "Woman Flower"!
Lee Anson was dumbfounded. The backstage staff were also dumbfounded. Your sister! How did it become this song!? Who's controlling it?
"The machine is faulty!"
"The computer has hung!"
"Damn! What's wrong with all the equipment? Stop it immediately! Quickly, stop it!"
"It can't be stopped. The computer has crashed!"
7-8 of them came together and got busy, standing around the faulty machine and computer to investigate. This venue had been around for more than a decade now, and the equipment was getting old and regularly had problems, but a problem as big as this had never happened before. Even if it had played the wrong song, it should not have been a big problem, but the issue here was why of all songs, it had to be "Woman Flower". This was the song that was written and composed by Zhang Ye, who had beaten Lee Anson up!
"It still can't be stopped!"
"Oh God, why did the machine have to break down at this time!"
"Stop it, quick! We can't have this playing anymore, turn off the power source!"
An audience member below the stage suddenly burst into laughter and because of him, a few others, who did not really like Lee Anson, also began to laugh. Lee Anson, who had recently been beaten by Zhang Ye, had his solo concert interrupted by Zhang Ye's song! This was too much! Lee Anson could not be rid of Zhang Ye's presence! This was probably the most embarrassing thing in the world right now! Lee Anson's face became green!
He could no longer perform anymore!
Lee Anson turned around and walked off stage, heading directly backstage!
Meanwhile, the melodious song was still being played.
"I have a flower."
"It grows within my heart."
Suddenly, all the lights at the venue went off. The power source had been cut as per the backstage staff's control!
But one second later, all of the power returned. This concert venue actually had a backup power source and had automatically restarted!
"No one understands true love."
"The weeds of the land, are growing throughout the hills."
"Narcissism is but the most heart aching."
Off stage, everyone was going crazy!
Lee Anson and his team went crazy as well!
Everyone listened to Zhang Yuanqi's new version of the song. Some of them had heard this song before during the Spring Festival Gala, while others had changed channels that night when they saw Zhang Xia and Zhang Yuanqi appear on stage and had not heard this song before. Now that this song was playing and they were all left with no choice but to listen, many of them were stunned. They suddenly realized how moving this song was and how it touched their hearts! Some were hearing it for the second time now and began to realize how charming the song was. Some art could only be appreciated with a second look.
No one understands true love? Countless of people were already saying that Zhang Yuanqi could not make it anymore and was fading as a singer, but who could have known about Zhang Yuanqi's passion for music?
The weeds of the land, are growing throughout the hills? This phrase could even be taken as a sarcastic remark to Lee Anson!
Narcissism was but the most heart breaking...... no one understood her and claimed that she was getting old. Could this Heavenly Queen, who had once been so revered, be the only one who could appreciate herself?
Once!
Twice!
"Woman Flower" was being blasted out at the concert venue!
Finally, after about 10 seconds into the third play did the song finally stop!
......
On the other side.
Jiaomen, Rao Aimin's house.
Zhang Ye deactivated the "Lucky Halo" as his reputation points no longer decreased. It had stopped at around 30 million. This activation of the "Lucky Halo" had lasted for 13 minutes. At the beginning, he had 35.5 million reputation points. His reputation had also increased a lot after the release of today's episodes of "Zhang Ye's Talk Show". If he were to calculate, his usage of the "Lucky Halo" had cost him a total of 8 million reputation points!
8 million!
This halo was damn freaking expensive!
In the future, unless it was a last resort, he really could not use it again!