Chapter 279: Great Aftertaste

The livestream didn't last long; after arriving in the city center, Miss Luo Quan ended the broadcast.

Yuzhou is neither small nor large, but Miss Luo Quan was afraid that if she stayed on too long, fans would track her down.

After reaching the city center, Miss Luo Quan first took the light rail and then transferred to a taxi, arriving at her maternal grandparents' home.

The elderly couple lived in a residential building in an old-fashioned neighborhood, on the third floor, in a two-bedroom apartment.

In her childhood memories, she and her mother slept in one room, while her grandparents slept in the other.

Although it was a bit cramped, life was quite warm, and what's more, Seeing Wen Xia and his mother lived right across the hall; usually, the two families lived just like one.

However, Seeing Wen Xia's mother had moved away two years ago. At that time, Seeing Wen Xia had already earned quite a bit of money in South Korea and soon bought his mother a modern three-bedroom apartment in a better area.

When Miss Luo Quan video-called her grandparents, she had also mentioned wanting to get them a new place to improve their quality of life.

But the couple had rejected it outright, citing reasons like wasting money, not knowing anyone there, and it being inconvenient.

In fact, when her parents returned to Yuzhou previously, they had also brought this up, only to be refused with the same excuses.

So, no one mentioned it again. Considering that the couple wouldn't bear to spend the money if they sent it, her parents arranged for someone to send health supplements and clothes to the house every so often.

Miss Luo Quan hadn't told her grandparents she was coming home this time. She knocked on the door, and a white-haired old lady wearing glasses came out.

"Oh my, Xiao Quan!" Although she had only seen her once or twice on her phone over the past few years, her grandmother recognized Miss Luo Quan immediately.

"Grandma." Miss Luo Quan smiled and responded, dragging her luggage inside.

"No need to change your shoes, just come in like that." Miss Luo Quan's grandmother was all smiles, her figure looking slightly plump.

"Grandma, you've put on weight over the years." Miss Luo Quan sat on the sofa and smiled.

Her grandmother complained, "It's all your parents' fault. Since last year, they've been sending food home constantly. The shelf life is short, so if we don't eat it, it expires. Your grandfather and I have been living like it's Chinese New Year every day lately."

"That's for your own good, but you should still exercise more often. By the way, where's Grandpa?"

"He's playing chess at the park; he should be back soon." No sooner had her grandmother finished speaking than there was movement outside the door—the sound of her grandfather pushing it open:

"Why isn't this door closed?"

Her grandmother then remembered she hadn't closed the door: "Oh, Xiao Quan is back, I got so happy I forgot."

"Xiao Quan is back?" Her grandfather looked up abruptly, saw Miss Luo Quan on the sofa, and immediately broke into a smile: "When did you get back? Why didn't you let us know in advance?"

Miss Luo Quan smiled and said, "Just arrived. Nothing much going on, so I came back to Yuzhou to escape the heat."

"Back to Yuzhou to escape the heat?" Her grandfather wore a puzzled expression. "Your grandmother and I were just thinking about whether to go to Shuzhou to escape the heat, and you're coming back to your hometown to do it."

Miss Luo Quan explained, "It's mainly because I'm tired of staying in Jingcheng and wanted to change the scenery for a few days."

"I heard from your mother that you're not attending the University of Tokyo anymore and have returned to study in the country?" Miss Luo Quan's grandparents were old intellectuals and still placed quite a bit of importance on their granddaughter's education.

According to the couple's thinking, with their granddaughter's clever brain, wouldn't getting into Tsinghua or Peking University be as easy as looking at patterns on the palm of one's hand? Why insist on running off to Japan to attend the University of Tokyo? Was foreign education really better than domestic?

"I'm an exchange student, studying at the Shanghai Academy of Arts for a year. Whether I stay or return to Tokyo afterward depends on the situation."

"Doing art is fine too; it's easier to find work than linguistics." Her grandfather nodded. "It just so happens your grandmother bought meat today; tonight I'll make you your favorite shredded pork with garlic sauce!"

"Sounds great." Miss Luo Quan responded crisply.

While her grandmother prepared dinner, Miss Luo Quan chatted with her grandfather about many things in Tokyo, including her studies and extracurricular life.

Upon learning that their granddaughter had already become an internationally renowned female singer, the couple both appeared somewhat surprised.

Previously, they only knew Miss Luo Quan was singing and seemed to be doing quite well, but in just a few months, she had become internationally famous—the speed was something people simply couldn't have predicted.

After dinner, Miss Luo Quan chatted with her grandparents for a while longer before heading out to find a hotel.

The elderly couple originally wanted her to stay at home, but considering she usually needed to livestream or record songs, which would easily disturb their rest, she didn't stay.

Although Miss Luo Quan was frugal, she was never stingy when it came to food, clothing, housing, and transportation; if she had the means, she would definitely stay in the best.

Taking a taxi to a five-star hotel in the city center, Miss Luo Quan booked a presidential suite and paid for a month and a half in advance.

She would basically spend the next period of time here.

When checking in, she handed her ID to the receptionist, who recognized her.

Although she was a receptionist at a star-rated hotel, she was still as excited and shy as any ordinary fan in front of her idol.

After checking Miss Luo Quan in, she even volunteered to carry her luggage, which left the hotel waiter nearby feeling quite amused.

Miss Luo Quan appreciated the kind offer, but there was only one suitcase in total, there wasn't much inside, and since there was an elevator, she didn't trouble anyone else.

Compared to the presidential suite in Jingcheng, the one in Yuzhou still had a gap, though, of course, the price couldn't be mentioned in the same breath.

If it were the Jingcheng presidential suite, she really wouldn't be willing to stay for so long.

After putting down her luggage, Miss Luo Quan posted an update:

"I've arrived at the hotel now. I just checked, and there's a desktop computer in the room, though I don't know how the specs are yet. I'll go buy some props for the livestream later, and for the next period of time, I'll be doing some serious livestreaming for everyone!"

Come to think of it, Miss Luo Quan was probably among the most minimalist in the livestreaming industry, using just a mobile phone; fans had long been asking her to upgrade her equipment.

However, Miss Luo Quan had been quite busy at the time, with serious matters both domestically and abroad, so she hadn't deliberately gone to prepare these livestreaming tools.

But now that she would be staying in Yuzhou for over a month, with nothing to worry about, she could focus on livestreaming for her fans for a while.

In fact, for her, there wasn't much needed for livestreaming—nothing more than a clearer camera and a better-quality microphone. Other props exclusive to female streamers, such as beauty cameras, lighting boards, and sound cards, were unnecessary for her.

While Miss Luo Quan was placing orders for livestreaming props, a question related to her once again climbed to the top of the Some Zhihu hot list.

Because Bilibili requires review for video uploads, most news and information are delayed, making it one of the slowest platforms for receiving news among mainstream Chinese apps.

Whenever there's a major international event, Some Zhihu and Weibo are always the first to react.

And this time, the question was: How to view the list of songs selected for "The Top 100 Greatest Songs of the New Century by Rolling Stone"?

This list had actually started building hype last year, and its popularity had consistently been high, but if it were just a list, it wouldn't have reached over 20 million in popularity so suddenly.

It was mainly because Miss Luo Quan's songs were selected, and quite a few of them at that.

Once the question was posed, respondents swarmed in immediately. For such a happy occasion, everyone's enthusiasm for answering was quite high:

"I won't go into detail about the status and credibility of 'Rolling Stone' magazine in the world music scene; after all, it's a music magazine that has ranked number one in the world for decades.

In fact, 'Rolling Stone' magazine had already done a similar list at the beginning of this century, but it evaluated the great songs, albums, and singers of the last century.

The last century was an era where various genres of modern music erupted; that era had too many founders and creators. No matter how hard the singers of this century work, they are building on their foundations—they are successors, not pioneers.

Therefore, in terms of status, there are almost no singers in this century who can be mentioned in the same breath as those of the last century, so that list was a medal, a recognition, but perhaps somewhat unfamiliar to the general public.

However, 'Rolling Stone' magazine was clearly aware of this, so last year they announced they would evaluate the Top 100 Greatest Songs of the New Century.

Although less than a fifth of this century has passed, the list itself is not fixed; it will be continuously screened and eliminated.

And for the singers of this century, the significance of this list is absolutely countless times more important than any Billboard chart. If one can make the list, it's no less than winning a Grammy, perhaps even more so!

As far as I know, good singers abroad are paying high attention to this list. The level of Western pop music over the past year has also improved to a visible degree; the most intuitive feeling is that there is much less rap full of vulgarity.

And even the rap that can make the list is absolutely a rare masterpiece. The representative figure is Gao Liang's; Miss Luo Quan's younger brother's status in the American rap scene is currently rising in a straight line, vaguely showing signs of being the little emperor of the East Coast.

To put it mildly, the appearance of this list has given Western pop music a major shot in the arm, directly or indirectly spawning quite a few masterpieces.

The emergence of a large number of excellent works and singers has also greatly threatened the status of the old singers from the beginning of the century. Many classic songs that were initially thought to be able to make the list are now becoming precarious.

This is the current state of the Western music scene after the appearance of this list.

Talented newcomers are emerging one after another, the status of those established veterans has been hit hard, and the eyes of almost all musicians are focused on this list.

Grammys happen every year, and their influence is declining year by year. But this list—there's only one per century, and there are only so many spots. Let alone being able to stay on it, even just staying on it for a short time is absolutely an incomparably glorious thing.

And among countless newcomers, Miss Luo Quan is undoubtedly the most shining new star. Six of the ten songs on the 'Love' album made the list, namely 'Time to Say Goodbye', 'Scarborough Fair', 'Yesterday Once More', 'My Heart Will Go On', 'Call Me Maybe', and 'Rolling in the Deep', with song rankings at 1, 8, 35, 40, 61, and 82 respectively.

That's right, you didn't read it wrong: a Chinese person ranked first on a list made by foreigners!

Not only these 6 songs, but the songs she produced for the Philharmonic Orchestra and Gao Liang also made it onto this list.

One person occupying nearly one-tenth of the spots—this is a unique performance on the list, especially the 'Love' album, which is simply the god-tier album with the highest quality in recent years, bar none!

I have never seen an album that can accommodate so many elements, all while keeping a single theme.

But Miss Luo Quan achieved this, and without making people feel it was repetitive; such creative power is truly extraordinary.

In my opinion, Miss Luo Quan has gained high recognition from those academic types abroad this time; otherwise, it would be impossible for so many songs to make the list. Those guys hate young, attractive singers the most. If her strength wasn't solid, I'm afraid they wouldn't even glance at Miss Luo Quan!"

Next answer:

"You ask me how I view it? I'll view it on my knees.

Even now, there are still people in the country questioning Miss Luo Quan about this and that, not knowing that her status abroad is already higher than anyone can imagine.

Many musicians feel that Miss Luo Quan's 'Time to Say Goodbye' is a work that truly equates pop music with art. This song has been slaughtering various charts around the world for several weeks, played on loop by various television and radio stations countless times; it is a work recognized by the whole world.

Yet there are still people in the country nitpicking about whether Miss Luo Quan's Italian accent is standard or which syllable has an accent.

Come to think of it, it's quite fortunate that even in such poor soil, a musician as world-renowned as Miss Luo Quan can still be born.

It shows that we do have talent, but because of the environment, many talents have been buried. But fortunately, we have Miss Luo Quan!"

Two answers, lifting Miss Luo Quan to a quite high position.

But this wasn't killing with praise, but rather stating facts.

Miss Luo Quan's songs indeed achieved such great results on the list; for Chinese musicians, it is absolutely a first.

You have to know, this isn't just comparing with the United States, but comparing on a global scale, and the judges also come from all over the world, so the standards are absolutely objective and fair.

But even so, apart from Miss Luo Quan, not a single Asian person made the list.

The key is that people have no objections to these songs on the list; music has no cultural differences in terms of melody, and whether it's good or not is expressed very intuitively.

And this also reflects just how precious Miss Luo Quan is, occupying eight spots on the list.

She is now not only the pride of Chinese pop, but also the pride of Asia.

And after this list was released, the most intuitive impact on the music scene was that the sales of the 'Love' album showed an upward trend again, with total sales already heading toward 35 million.

In fact, starting from 25 million, 'Love' had already been setting world records.

Before this, the best-selling album in the world had only sold 25 million, and 'Love' increased this record by a full 40 percent.

And with the appearance of this list, attracting a large group of music lovers again, Miss Luo Quan is expected to double this record within the next year or two!

If she achieves that, Miss Luo Quan's international reputation will reach a truly terrifying level! ===== CHAPTER 280 =====