Chapter 118: Code Name: Dominate the Charts!

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As Cheng Chen's first album this year, and his masterwork meant to elevate him to godhood.

Nearly all entertainment media in the Mainland gave him their front-page headlines.

Not only that, even newspapers unrelated to entertainment—finance, current affairs, sports—came to ride the wave.

In other Asian countries and regions, such as Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand, the impact was also felt.

Especially in South Korea, since rumors had long circulated that this Huachuan album was created to counter Hallyu.

This left South Korea deeply embarrassed: their Hallyu had not yet fully conquered Huaxia, yet they were shattered by Huachuan.

On the streets, young people wore headphones, nodding their heads and humming "Bencao Gangmu."

Teenage girls wept while watching "Yanhua Yileng."

After interviews, many young people said Cheng Chen should re-record all songs from this album in Korean.

Meanwhile, Japan, with its full-blown otaku energy, labeled Cheng Chen's new album in entertainment papers as "The Emperor's Heavenly King."

Among current-generation singers popular in Japan and Korea, no one besides Cheng Chen achieves such success.

Carefully considering it, Gang Sheng, once the glorious and brilliant hub of Huaxia's entertainment industry,

had repeatedly borrowed melodies and compositions from Japanese music.

Like the songs we all know: "Qian Qian Que Ge," "Hou Lai," "Hong Ri," "Yueban Xiao Ye Qu."

Now, as the Mainland music scene rises and Gang Sheng's declines,

Cheng Chen and his "Huachuan" have brought great honor to Huaxia's music industry.

Today, Huaxia is actively aligning with the world, eager to draw international attention to its own culture.

It hopes to showcase itself comprehensively—in both economy and culture.

Yet foreign ideas and culture are continuously invading Huaxia.

At this time, the domestic environment in Huaxia was largely "foreign-cult worshiping."

People believed imports were superior, that listening to foreign songs was inherently better than listening to Chinese.

As if unaware that Michael Jackson was just a country bumpkin…

Now, Cheng Chen, with his "rooted and pure" background, flies the banner of "Guofeng."

He not only makes the Chinese people pay attention to Huaxia culture, and think about Huaxia culture,

but also takes it beyond borders, letting foreigners see the profound heritage of five thousand years of Chinese civilization.

Thus, Cheng Chen was invited three times to CCTV to share insights, inspirations, and experiences behind composing these lyrics and melodies.

They also gave a general review and forecast of Cheng Chen's album performance (so far).

They also shared reports from foreign media about Cheng Chen.

And urged more creators to draw upon traditional culture left by our ancestors, to display their talent and carry it forward.

Cheng Chen vaguely felt pushed into becoming the flagbearer of "Huaxia Cultural Promotion."

Yet he did not resist—having this identity would at least reduce some obstacles when he did other things…

…

On May 20, "Huachuan Wanjiang" was released.

Upon release, all major music charts underwent a dramatic transformation.

In just one week, Cheng Chen claimed six of the top ten spots.

Old Man Cheng, this battle was absolutely 666!

The chart is as follows:

#1: Cheng Chen "Qinghua Ci"

#2: Cheng Chen "Yanhua Yileng"

#3: Cheng Chen "Sanguo Lian"

#4: Cheng Chen "Bencao Gangmu"

#5: Cai Yiling "Kan Wo Qi Shi Er Bian"

#6: Cheng Chen "Yueguang"

#7: Zhang Jingxuan "Duan Dian"

#8: Cheng Chen "Qian Bai Du"

#9: Twins "Xia Yizhan Tianhou"

#10: Zhou Xun "Piao Yao"

…

Seeing this chart, everyone gasped—only one week since release, six songs dominated the charts.

Is this even humanly possible? Even the Four Heavenly Kings era never reached this level!

Yet Cheng Chen's fans remained unsatisfied!

"Our boss's album has ten songs—

six on the chart is nothing!"

"Brothers, help our boss climb the charts!"

"I declare, the Chinese music industry has changed forever!"

Thus, these fans, rooted in their stronghold Huaxia Blog, spread across major websites, forums, chat rooms, and more.

Under the banner of "Cheng's Army," they pooled all fan power and coordinated unified chart-boosting efforts.

Fans were ecstatic, as if undertaking a monumental feat.

Everyone's enthusiasm was ignited, determined to place every song from Cheng Chen's album on the charts.

This mission.

Codename: Kill the Chart!

……

Cheng Chen's fans loudly declared their intent to kill the chart, provoking a united attack from the fans of the other four singers still on the list.

The chart had only ten slots total; one less meant one singer's removal.

Of course, not everyone was as insane as Cheng Chen, who directly placed six songs on the chart at once.

So other fans were also fighting for chart positions—well, fighting just to stay in the top ten, and if lucky, climb one more rank.

Among them, Twins' fans were the most frenzied.

After all, these "two sisters" were beautiful and sang sweetly, and were heavily promoted by Ying Huang.

For this reason, Ying Huang personally entered the fray, organizing fan support teams to launch a fierce assault on the chart.

At 5:30 a. m. on May 30, Cheng Chen's "Rain on Qingming" rose one more spot, displacing Xun Ge'er's "Drifting."

Xun Ge'er was, after all, an actor; his release of "Drifting" was merely a casual side project.

Unfortunately, he ran into Cheng Chen, the "Killing God," and was knocked off the chart within half a day of the "Kill the Chart" campaign beginning.

But her fans were laid-back; for them, an actor's crossover song making the chart was already more than enough.

Moreover, a significant portion of Xun Ge'er's fans were also Cheng Chen's admirers.

Losing to your own people? No shame!

Now the pressure fell on Cai Yiling and Zhang Jingxuan.

One was a long-established diva, famous for hot songs and dance performances with a massive fanbase.

The other possessed a rich, mellow voice and was regarded by fans as the Prince of Love Songs.

Especially the former—her fanbase had tremendous staying power and held a higher ranking.

Cheng Chen's fans mustered all their strength, and only on the second night of the Kill the Chart campaign did they push Zhang Jingxuan off the list.

But in terms of results, the fans had already given their all.

With the current achievements, Cheng Chen was already satisfied; besides, the success of an album was measured by final sales.

Having all ten songs on the chart was certainly an achievement worthy of Cheng Chen's pride—but not essential.

For this reason, Cheng Chen personally intervened, posting on his Huaxia Blog to urge fans to be rational and chart responsibly.

He also offered heartfelt thanks to the fans for their hard work.

"Aaaah! The boss has appeared in person!"

"So frustrating! Just two spots away! Boss, we're sorry to you!"

"Frustrated! Frustrated! Frustrated……!!!"

Cheng Chen's blog comment section was once again flooded with fan comments, the entire space thick with overwhelming frustration.

Uninformed observers might have thought Cheng Chen's new album had failed, suffering a Waterloo.

Other singers, upon seeing this, nearly cried.

Fuck, is this even livable? Ten chart slots, and you've taken eight.

And you're still frustrated???

If it were me, I'd wake up laughing in my sleep!

Unfortunately, people at the time still didn't know the other meaning of the word "Vernacular."

Otherwise, they'd have spat, then shouted, "Vernacular!"

Just as Cheng Chen's fans believed ten songs on the chart was hopeless, the turning point finally arrived…

On June 10, Cheng Chen's interview on CCTV was released.

When asked why he chose to create an album entirely of "Sinofusion" songs,

Cheng Chen stared intently into the camera, his expression solemn, his voice resolute:

"The rise of Chinese culture leading the world is my dream."

"Boom!"

These words were like a bomb dropped into a calm sea, instantly triggering a tsunami of outrage.

Viewers who watched the episode were stunned, their scalps tingling.

After the program aired, many mainstream media outlets used Cheng Chen's statement as their headline.

News stories poured out, clearly outlining China's current cultural predicament.

In film, music, dance, and other arts, our country was not far behind.

But internationally, we were far from the top tier—even lacking qualification to break through.

Thus, for Chinese culture to leave its borders, reach the world, and lead it, there remained a long road ahead…

Immediately after, many media outlets used Cheng Chen's "Huachuan Wanjiang" as a case study.

They presented all the trends and impressive data his songs had sparked abroad.

The final conclusion: it wasn't that our culture was weak—it was simply that no one had yet fully unearthed it.

Fortunately, in music, someone had already taken the lead—and achieved remarkable results!

Some outlets even carefully analyzed the traditional cultural allusions, traditional instruments, and musical scales embedded in the lyrics of Cheng Chen's ten songs.

Many finally realized: the songs they were listening to were actually incredible.

Their songs contained so many elements of traditional culture.

Cheng Chen's music had sparked a sensation abroad and carried Chinese voices onto the global stage.

A profound sense of pride and spontaneous admiration filled every heart.

Only now did the onlookers realize: every one of Cheng Chen's songs contained treasures left by our ancestors.

Today, supporting Cheng Chen's songs is our humble contribution to the rise of Huayu music!

All those love songs mean nothing beside the rise of Huayu music.

What? You say Cheng Chen's songs are also about love?

That's metaphor—using blue-and-white porcelain to express love! Tell me, isn't blue-and-white porcelain a treasured legacy from our ancestors?

What? You say Cheng Chen's hip-hop is a foreign element?

Don't you even read the song titles? It's called "Bencao Gangmu"!

Thus, under domestic promotion, many passionate fans began joining the chart-pushing campaign.

These people may not be as united as Cheng Chen's fans, but there are simply too many of them.

……

Finally, at 6:20 a. m. on June 20th, all ten songs from Cheng Chen's new album appeared together on every major music chart.

On every chart, the artist column in the top ten all read "Cheng Chen."

That day, Cheng Chen's name echoed throughout the entire Huayu music industry, and even foreign media began reporting on it.

That day also marked exactly one month since the album's release, with sales officially surpassing 1.5 million copies.

The media went wild with coverage, and the entire industry took notice.

Across the Taiwan Strait, throughout Asia, and even in Europe and America, eyes turned toward this phenomenon.

After all, no singer had ever achieved such dominance on the charts—it was unimaginable.

Many renowned music critics now trembled as they wrote their reflections:

"A new era has arrived—a new era belonging to a man named Cheng Chen!"

Debut album, godhood achieved!

A new king descends!

If before, calling Cheng Chen "Heavenly King" was meant as a joke or sarcasm,

then a million sales in a month and sweeping every music chart left everyone speechless.

He had become the true Heavenly King of the music industry!

Cheng Chen's name remained atop every chart for two full days.

Only then did the charts begin to slowly change.

Songs previously locked at eleventh and twelfth place began surging into the top ten.

The charts belong to no single star, nor to any Heavenly King.

Wherever people gather, competition and elimination are inevitable.

But Cheng Chen was already satisfied—after all, for two whole days, every chart belonged entirely to him alone!

About a week later, the massive chart-pushing campaign centered on Cheng Chen finally came to an end.

Of course, Cheng Chen had asked Tianhai Records and Xinghuo Entertainment to actively suppress further promotion.

After all, excessive oversaturation would provoke backlash from others.

As the saying goes, fame brings trouble; having monopolized public attention for so long, if they didn't cool it down, they'd be targeted by haters.

Cheng Chen stepped forward again to thank everyone who had worked for him.

He also quietly held a ceremony for Yan Danchen's official joining of Xinghuo Entertainment.

This joining ceremony should have been held earlier, but Cheng Chen had been too busy recently to spare the time.

With his current fame, anything he did attracted massive attention.

So, after obtaining Yan Danchen's consent, this so-called "quiet" joining ceremony was truly quiet.

Only Xinghuo Entertainment staff were present; no media were invited, not even anyone from Tianhai Records.

After joining Xinghuo Entertainment, Yan Danchen was immediately promoted to Xinghuo's "Number One Female Artist."

What could be done? Xinghuo had only one artist besides its boss, Cheng Chen.

Of course, this sole artist was special enough.

After all, not everyone could climb into Boss Cheng Chen's bed.

"Mmm…"

In the morning, Yan Danchen gazed at Cheng Chen with sultry eyes.

The celebration ceremony for Yan Danchen's joining, though quiet, was far from simple.

Hmm… so grand that the boss himself hosted her that night.

Sensing Cheng Chen's restless hands, Yan Danchen seized them, shot him a glare, and said:

"Don't fool around~"

"You're awake so early? Just sleep a little longer."

Cheng Chen wrapped his arms around her slender waist, mumbling drowsily.

"You little pig, it's already nine in the morning—time to get up!"

Cheng Chen kicked off the covers, dazedly murmuring:

"Now I finally understand the line: 'Spring nights are short, the sun rises high—henceforth, kings no longer rise early for court…'"

Yan Danchen laughed softly and said:

"My little Heavenly King, if you don't rise when the sun is high, be careful—the people below will impeach you."

"Seductress! I, the monk, shall subdue you!"

Cheng Chen suddenly shouted loudly, and amid Yan Danchen's startled cry, the two fell back asleep.

……