Chapter 135: Which is Better?
The set setup for the next scene would take a considerable amount of time, giving Li Sishi ample time for lunch. However, she still habitually finished her lunchbox as quickly as possible, then sipped her water and looked at Shang Hanyou, who was still picking at the grass clippings and seeds on his body.
"By the way, you're going to be holding a world tour soon, right?" Li Sishi thought for a moment and then asked casually.
Shang Hanyou nodded: "Yes, but this requires a long preparation time and can't be rushed."
“That’s true. As far as Chinese singers are concerned, you are definitely the first to have a tour of this level.” Li Sishi looked at him with some envy: He is indeed a new generation of powerful superstar, and with the arrival of the global village era, this young man with both strength and luck has been able to build on the past and reach a new peak in the field of music that his predecessors had all hoped for but never managed to reach.
"Good luck," Li Sishi said, extending her hand. "I don't know when we'll see each other again."
"If you can work a little harder in the music industry, you'll definitely see me in the quarterly auditions for Jade Solid Gold." He smiled and patted Li Sishi on the shoulder encouragingly. "There are four opportunities a year, keep it up!"
"There's hope. This version of the theme song for 'The Romantic Swordsman' is arranged for me and Zou Huayan to sing together. You'll definitely see my new song released after the summer vacation." Li Sishi brushed off a few grass seeds stuck to her shoulder, somewhat speechless, but her eyes were full of confidence.
"With such a solid foundation and the collaboration with a powerful figure, I believe I'll see you again sometime soon." Shang Hanyou nodded, then winked at Li Sishi and said with an air of experience, "However, even if you're 99% sure, don't show anything beforehand, because nothing is 'certain' until you win the award."
Just like him, because he wasn't signed with TBL, even though his album sales were among the top every year, he could never win the "Most Popular Male Singer" award, which measures the popularity of male singers.
However, this award, which relies entirely on popularity rankings and vote-getting, faces immense pressure not only from above but also from his fans. Hou Beihua, who excels in acting and has also transitioned into singing, and Ling Chen, whose popularity spans a wider audience than his main focus on the music scene, are both incredibly capable and have huge fan bases. For him to snatch the "Most Popular Male Singer" award from these two is even more difficult than competing against all other contenders for the Golden Melody Award.
Even though the Gold Song Award, presented at the end, is the most prestigious award in the Jade Solid Gold Awards Ceremony, this award...
It leans more towards those with real talent, and all the male and female singers' award-winning songs are competing together, so the result will be determined by a comprehensive evaluation.
In terms of popularity among male singers in the same gender category alone, the "Most Popular Male Singer" award is the highest honor that male singers strive for.
Therefore, even though he has won many Golden Melody Awards over the years, he still feels a bit resentful about the "Most Popular Male Singer" award - however, this is also a relatively well-known "unspoken rule" in award ceremonies.
In this era of great change and abundant talent, no one can win both of the most prestigious awards at the same time. Therefore, if you win the Golden Melody Award, you can't win the Most Popular Male Singer Award, and vice versa. This is an unspoken understanding among everyone.
“You don’t need to be so discouraged. After all, there are just too many people and not enough awards to go around. When these awards become worthless in the future, I think you might not even want them anymore.” Li Sishi sighed. “Even award ceremonies have big and small years. Between fighting your way out from a group of strong competitors and finally emerging victorious, and being ‘the one everyone wants’ with a group of people who are clearly inferior to you, I think you would rather choose the former.”
"Of course, if everyone around me is clearly inferior to me, there's no point in me competing." As someone who bridges the gap between the past and the future, Shang Hanyou had witnessed the gradual fading of the previous generation of three kings and one queen from competitive awards, so he nodded with deep feeling.
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"The reason those seniors left back then wasn't because they had won enough awards, but because they wanted to give newcomers some room to grow."
"Otherwise, I might still be overwhelmed by the pressure." Although he and the other three members of the Four Heavenly Kings clearly squeezed the living space of male artists of the same period, there are always a few people who stand at the top and become the mark of this era. So although he sometimes feels sad about this, he does not feel that he regrets it.
After all, the entertainment industry is also a place of fame and fortune. One can rise to the top with both talent and luck, but this is the result of one's unremitting efforts.
If someone thinks that their rise to power means they've squeezed out others, then they won't stay in that position for long.
At their peak, they exert all their strength to ride the wind and climb to the summit of their dreams, enjoying the magnificent scenery. Then, they gradually begin to let go of fame, fortune, and struggles to pursue their dreams—this is the convergence of different paths between the previous and current generations.
"You've only been in this position for a short time, and you're already thinking so far ahead?" Li
Sishi couldn't help but laugh.
"It's lonely at the top!" Shang Hanyou sighed. "You've seen the chaos caused by those fans before, which made it so that Huazai and Leo rarely have a chance to meet, and both sides are still a bit awkward..."
"That's true. Those two have really been affected by this incident quite a bit." Li Sishi recalled the chaotic fan behavior at last year's awards ceremony and couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
But then again, just how high were the throwing skills of those fans at midnight? It's one thing to throw all sorts of things at regular concerts and season selection events, and another to throw glow sticks at rival artists at award ceremonies, but for the Four Heavenly Kings to be invited to perform at the Great Hall of the People and still manage to break through the crowd to throw heart-shaped balloons at midnight... that's truly astounding.
“You’re still on the rise, so you probably won’t encounter this level of chaos yet. The only thing you need to avoid is the paparazzi.” Shang Hanyou finished the last piece of bitter melon cake and looked at you again with unusually serious eyes. “You still need to pay attention to your daily behavior. Although you may not think it’s a big deal, some people tend to overthink it.”
"Especially since you have the identity of a 'rich girl,' do you remember? Sometimes when I joke around with you, it gets written that I don't want to work hard anymore. If it were someone else, it would definitely be a scandal like 'a third-rate male celebrity is trying to curry favor with a beautiful woman in order to avoid working hard for twenty years'..."
Hearing him read such a gossip headline with such emotion in the voice that sold the best album in Hong Kong, Li Sishi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Hey, hey, isn't this a bit too exaggerated?"
"I don't want to exaggerate, but it's really the truth." Shang Hanyou looked like he had a terrible memory, as if he had actually been written about like this to arrive at such a heartfelt conclusion.
“But when I joke around with you, we’re sometimes closer than I am with many other people, right?” Li Sishi gave him a half-smile.
“Hey, how can I be the same as you? We’re ‘good friends,’ and now that I’m in this position, I’m not afraid of what newspapers and magazines write, because whatever they write won’t affect me much,” he replied, his tone both unconvincing and confident.
Speechless at his double standard reply, Li Sishi remained silent for a while before finally raising her hand to pat his shoulder: "Okay, I'll try to be more careful in the future."
Waving goodbye to him at the crossroads on the way down the mountain, Li Sishi finally suppressed her smile: Tsk, although what he said later about paying more attention to daily behavior did make some sense, that was only on the premise that there was no ambiguous feeling between the two of them...
If we add the vague feelings between the two, then the other reason is that the one who runs fast doesn't want any competitors to sneak ahead and secretly accelerate their progress without his knowledge.
It's pitiful to be a busy, overworked office worker. Even if you meet someone you're a little attracted to, you still don't have time to properly cherish and pursue them. You can only try to squeeze in a few moments to check up on them...
However, his approach of occasionally revealing his affection for her while consistently trying not to cause her any trouble was quite tactful.
Although this behavior is somewhat like a stray dog pitifully begging for shelter...
Amused by her own imagination, Li Sishi gently smoothed her long hair that fell to her chest, turned around, and went back to continue preparing for the shoot with light steps.
The filming went fairly smoothly today. As it was getting dark, the director announced that the day's work was finished and everyone could go home and rest.
Although tomorrow is an extremely early shift, being able to go home to wash up and rest is undoubtedly great news for everyone who has been stuck in TV City for several days and then has come all the way here to climb mountains and eat dust.
After removing her heavy makeup, wig, and clothes, Li Sishi let out a long sigh of relief: "I feel like I'm finally back in modern society!"
“Yes, yes, I think so too!” Lu Yutong, who was closest to her, hitched a ride home in her nanny’s car. The two of them joked and played around a lot on the way, and the whole car was filled with laughter.
"But let's get to the point, which do you think is better?" Whether it was because the girl who studied abroad from a young age had a more direct way of thinking or because she had a really unique and quirky imagination, after a few laughs, Lü Yutong suddenly brought up another topic.
"Which one is better?" Li Sishi didn't react for a moment.
"Leo and Hanyou! Which one do you like better?" Lü Yutong took out the stickers in her hand. "The other day when I went out to eat at the nearby ice cream parlor and tea restaurant, all the students were arguing about who you were more compatible with and who you had more chemistry with..."
"Probably because I was wearing a baseball cap and looking down when I passed by, they mistook me for a student from another school and gave me homemade stickers from both sides."
"Let me choose a CP to support..." Lu Yutong smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons. "If we were still filming 'Mr. Morning,' I would definitely choose Leo. But now that song isn't sung anymore, and it just so happens that I saw Hanyou come all this way to see you today..."
"It might sound harsh, but I have to say it—he looked just like that stray dog I used to feed when I was studying away from home. He was so well-behaved and adorable, and his eyes would light up at the slightest hope of being responded to..."
"So, someone like me who has the advantage of being close to the source and getting the 'information' first, I've decided to ask the person's opinion before taking a stand; that would be safer..."
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