Chapter 153: Four Champions
It was another summer morning. Zhou Huichang got up early, got ready, and then called to her younger brother to go downstairs for breakfast together.
"Why are you two up so early today?" Seeing that these two lazybones, who always sleep until the sun is high in the sky when they have a holiday, are acting out of character today, the neighbors eating at the tea restaurant immediately teased them.
"My cousin's album is officially released today, of course we have to go support it!" Zhou Huichang replied somewhat indistinctly while stuffing French toast into her mouth.
"Oh... is that the song that Meili sang at the charity gala last night? She sang so beautifully. It's rare to hear songs like that that don't focus on love and romance these days!" An elderly man with glasses, who looked like a learned old scholar, put down his newspaper and praised her highly.
"That's right, that's right, this album will definitely include the song 'If I Were a Myth'!" The slightly chubby middle school student sitting next to the bespectacled old man nodded repeatedly. "Recently, I've been waiting for the radio to play Sister Meili's songs every day. She released several singles this time to climb the charts, and this song 'If I Were a Myth' has already won two radio station number one spots last week!"
"If we put in a little more effort to support her this week, maybe Sister Meili's song can win the championship on four different channels!"
The slightly chubby middle school student clenched his fist, then pleaded with the bespectacled old man next to him, "Grandpa, I want to support Sister Meili! Could you give me some more pocket money? If I buy another album, Sister Meili will have a better chance of winning the championship!"
"Alright, alright, I'll give you the money to buy another one, as a way of supporting Meili." The old man with glasses remembered that his grandson had only put in a little more effort to study because he liked Li Sishi, the top student in the ten-award-winning class. In addition, Li Sishi was the "shining light of their neighborhood," so he readily took out the money to show his support.
"Zhu Zai, what four champions are you talking about? Didn't Meili win two championships, one third place, and one second place in the beauty pageant?" Looking at the grandfather and grandson, an old woman who knew very little about radio rankings asked in confusion.
"Oh dear, Auntie Qi, this 'Four Stations Champion' competition isn't a beauty pageant, it's a singing competition!" The slightly chubby middle school student, nicknamed Zhu Zai, turned around and patiently explained to Auntie Qi, "These 'Four Stations' refer to the four music charts in Hong Kong: Hong Kong Commercial Radio's '903 Professional Recommendation', Hong Kong Radio's 'Chinese Song Chart', Metro Radio's 'Metro Pop Chart', and TBL's 'Top Ten Songs Chart'!"
"Yes, and because the Metro Radio Hit Chart was only established last year, it started last year."
That's how the concept of a song topping four stations came about. Zhou Huichang's smile widened as she recalled the first song to top four stations. "The first song to top four stations was Leo's 'Which Day I Haven't Thought of You'... And so far, no other male or female singer has won a song to top four stations. If my cousin's song also tops four stations, that would be wonderful!"
CP fans are always good at imagining and shipping sweet moments. When it comes to such glorious moments, if the two characters receive the same honor or award one after the other, it can make them so happy they could die on the spot...
Most importantly, a song that becomes a number one hit on all four major music award ceremonies is generally considered to be extremely popular and successful during a certain period of time, and is welcomed by a wide range of music fans. This is not only an important indicator of a song's performance at the major music award ceremonies early next year, but it may also be secretly added to the judging criteria for various awards.
As Li Sishi's cousin who has lived in the same room for a long time, Zhou Huichang naturally understands her cousin's singing voice and love for music.
Unfortunately, my cousin was too busy last year and didn't have time to settle down and release an album, which resulted in her only managing to win some consolation prizes and minor awards at various music award ceremonies at the beginning of this year. But things are different now. With my cousin's talent and the quality of her album, she will definitely win some awards at the major music award ceremonies next year!
Of course, as her cousin, she also had to mobilize all her friends and classmates to help and support her, striving to sell as many copies as possible to help her cousin achieve a new sales record!
My cousin's first single went triple platinum; with this new album, shouldn't we at least aim for a quadruple or even quintuple platinum finish?
“You agree, right, Guangzai?” Zhou Huichang nudged her younger brother, who was picking at his breakfast, with her elbow. “Zhu Zai is so supportive of his cousin, you’ll definitely contribute all your allowance, right?”
"Huh?" Zhou Huiguang snapped out of his daze and nodded vigorously. "Definitely!"
"What are you daydreaming about? Are you worried about future plans?" Zhou Huichang frowned.
"Yes, I still haven't figured it out..."
Zhou Huiguang nodded again.
Compared to the carefree Zhou Huichang, Zhou Huiguang is still worrying about what to do after graduation.
Although the exam results haven't come out yet, Zhou Huiguang is fairly self-aware enough to know that he most likely won't get into university. So, what should he do next—go out to work or listen to Li Sishi and try the path of a professional athlete...?
Neither of these two options seemed to offer any clear long-term future, which troubled him greatly.
He started playing sports halfway through his studies to get into a good school. Although he enjoyed it, he couldn't outrun professional athletes who had trained since childhood. However, the path of becoming a professional athlete went against his parents' conservative and traditional thinking, which not only his parents but also he himself felt was very risky.
Even though he had told Lei Shenglin, his neighbor, when he was a child that he wanted to learn from him and play football together in the future, starting from Hong Kong, breaking out of Asia, and going to the world—he was young and didn't think much of it when he made such a boastful promise without thinking much of it. But when such an opportunity actually came to him when he grew up, he actually hesitated.
“Sigh, what are you hesitating about? Even your cousin thinks it would be good for you to try out the training. What can you do now that you’re out working?” Zhou Huichang saw things clearly. “And the most important thing is, what do you actually like and what do you want to do?”
Although there were some ulterior motives behind letting her younger brother join the team, the family is now not only well-off but also has the resources to take risks. Zhou Huichang hopes that her twin brother can find a future path that he truly loves and can strive for with all his might.
“Your cousin can’t take care of us forever, and besides, you’re eighteen now, all grown up. It’s time for you to learn to make your own decisions,” Zhou Huichang advised.
"Let me think about it some more..."
Zhou Huiguang sighed, and when his gaze fell on his watch, he immediately jumped up. "How come it's already 8:45?!"
"Oh dear, it must be because you were taking your time changing your shoes and insisted on choosing some brand-name sneakers..." Zhou Huichang glanced at her watch and was also startled, so she quickly tidied up.
"It's more like you were dragging your feet while changing clothes, insisting on wearing a dress you made yourself... So these two are truly siblings from the same mother, their mutual excuses are just like two peas in a pod."
"If you don't come out soon, I'm leaving first!" Zhu Zai, who had already put away the money and put on his backpack, was waving goodbye at the entrance of the tea restaurant.
The three young people rushed onto the bus, which was usually not crowded with young people on weekends, but was now packed to the brim.
Relying on their ability to squeeze onto buses, honed in low-class areas like Liaojie, the three managed to board. After exchanging words along the way, they immediately discovered that most of the young people on the bus were heading to the same destination as them.
"That song is really good and easy to sing. Last night, my wife and I..."
"My six-year-old daughter even sang along to the charity gala!" Seeing the puzzled looks from some uninformed people, the bus driver chimed in, "Look at the crowds on this route today! Normally, we'd be lucky if it was even half full, but today it's packed!"
"We're Ah May's biggest fans!" said a female student who was struggling to hand out small pink flags to others. "Ah May has finally had time to release a new album, and we'll definitely support her to the end!"
In the past, Li Sishi didn't have time to release albums, and the movies and TV series she filmed weren't ones where she could fully carry a role. Even if the results were good, she only had good public image but few loyal fans. So, in the previous battle between the two Heavenly Kings' CP, these solo fans were beaten so badly by the CP fans and the solo fans of the two Heavenly Kings that they couldn't even make a sound...
Things are different now. Li Sishi may finally be able to give it her all this year. In addition to this brand new album that will be officially released soon, she also has the leading role in a classic martial arts drama and the leading role in a fantasy movie. This is undoubtedly a series of great news for fans who are very worried about their idol's career.
Anyone with common sense would understand by now that this year is definitely going to be a year of great support for Li Sishi. And how far she can go on this foundation of public favor depends not only on the support of the company and behind-the-scenes staff, but also on the full support of her first-generation fans!
Last week, thanks to their efforts, Li Sishi's song topped the charts on two radio stations!
As for this week, Lee Si-sze herself has already started performing at charity galas.
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Moreover, they received a lot of positive reviews. If they call on their friends and work harder, wouldn't they be able to make their idol the second winner of the four-channel champion song and the first female singer to win the four-channel champion song?
How wonderful! Our idol failed to win four beauty pageants because of those pointless unspoken rules. Now, with four competitions underway, if we work hard, we can win four championships for her. Wouldn't that be a way of making up for some of the regrets?
To support Li Sishi and other dedicated solo fans, they even secretly reached out to CP (couple) fans to help boost sales...
The thought that they have become somewhat impure in order to achieve their idol's success still leaves some fans feeling helpless about abandoning their original intentions—but there's nothing that can be done about it. To achieve good results in today's fiercely competitive music scene, in addition to their own efforts, they also need to maintain good relationships with all parties involved.
After offering themselves some solace, the solo fans sighed and walked into the mall, clutching their little pink flags.
Unexpectedly, what greeted them was a large group of people on both sides of the pink-decorated shopping mall plaza, who seemed to dislike each other.
Looking at the Chen Shi CP fans on the left, each holding a small red flag in one hand and a small pink flag in the other, and then looking at the You Suo Si CP fans on the right, each holding a small blue flag in one hand and a small pink flag in the other, the solo fans, who were holding only one small pink flag and whose numbers were less than half of the CP fans, almost fainted—
The first "battle for beauty" in the ice room seems to be replayed before my eyes once again today.
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