Chapter 155: The Ultimate Prize

The 15th Golden Melody Awards concluded successfully.

This year's Golden Melody Awards truly lived up to the description of gods clashing.

From our future perspective, nearly every nominated album had a substantial number of supporters.

Every song on each album was a fan's "heart meat."

To emerge victorious among so many albums in this godly battle was unquestionably a sign of the Golden Melody Awards judges' professional recognition and the fans' admiration and love.

Cheng Chen received five nominations at this year's Golden Melody Awards and won four major awards.

Among them was the most influential award: Best Mandarin Male Singer, also known as the "Song King" title.

He defeated powerhouse veterans like Zhou Dong, Wang Li Hong, and Chen Yixun.

He stood shoulder to shoulder with Song Queen Wang Fei, and even surpassed all other contestants in total award count.

He naturally became the biggest upset and strongest dark horse of this year's Golden Melody Awards.

Cheng Chen's win as Song King and his other three major awards quickly went viral across the Mainland and Jiangnan.

Sometimes, merely mentioning an award doesn't stir much feeling among the public.

For example, the Golden Melody Awards—even within Tai Sheng—don't attract much attention.

Of course, this mainly applies to ordinary people, not fans.

In the Mainland, it's even more extreme: even fans might not know about this award.

After all, there's a strait separating the two sides; despite some development in the internet, it still feels distant to ordinary people.

A simple example: when you hear a song, you think the melody is nice and the lyrics are poetic.

Just looking up the song's title is already good enough—you might not even remember the singer's name.

How could anyone care what awards the singer won?

But this time was different: Cheng Chen was the Mainland's sole representative at the Golden Melody Awards.

Cheng Chen, who comes with built-in popularity, drew attention from Mainland media as soon as the nomination list was announced.

In past Golden Melody Awards, Mainland media would just mention in passing that someone had won some award.

After all, it didn't involve us—we'd report it just to witness the musical feast.

Ordinary people would see the news and think, "Oh, so he won an award…"

Then nothing more—news reports were just tiny blocks or a few brief sentences.

With little information and limited space, ordinary people assumed it wasn't a big deal and didn't care.

But this time, Cheng Chen truly "got involved in something huge."

Some media even rushed to Tai Sheng ahead of time to secure connections and enter the venue for live streaming.

Of course, with their equipment and conditions, they could only do text-based live updates online.

Yet even so, a large crowd gathered early in the live stream room to watch.

Most of them were Cheng Chen's fans, along with a few ordinary people drawn by media hype.

As the live text synced with the Golden Melody Awards ceremony, some comments added explanations about how professional the awards were.

They detailed the award's prestige, explained the history behind every category, and listed how fierce the competition was and what representative works each nominee had.

Thanks to these informative comments, onlookers gained a detailed understanding of the Golden Melody Awards.

Finally, they suddenly realized:

"Oh, so Cheng Chen is this amazing—he got nominated for so many awards? That's truly hard!"

Then everyone waited eagerly, anticipating which awards Cheng Chen would win.

When the live stream announced Cheng Chen had won each award one by one,

Not just fans—even the onlookers were thrilled.

Our Mainland singer defeated contestants from five Asian regions.

Swept all four major awards and was crowned Song King—this… created history!

Absolutely an unprecedented achievement!

This absolutely had to be reported—everyone had to know!

Sweeping the four major awards, ultimately crowned with the title of Song King, this... has made history!

Could still dominate in Tai Sheng!

Thus, through word-of-mouth among media, fans, and the public, and amplified by the internet,

Headlines like these appeared:

"Creating History! First Person to Sweep Four Major Awards at the Golden Melody Awards—Cheng Chen, Undoubtedly the Song King!"

"Who Else Can Match This Honor? His Songs Received Unanimous Recognition from Golden Melody Awards Judges!"

"In the Chinese Music Industry, Our Mainland Is No Longer Absent! The Face of Mainland Music!"

"This Is the Idol We Should Chase! He Conquered the People of the Island with His Talent!"

《What other honor could possibly compare? His songs received unanimous recognition from the Golden Melody Awards judges! 》

"Shocking! Tai Sheng's Number One Beauty Voluntarily Offers Herself to the Mainland Heavenly King!"

Cough, cough—this last news report actually referred to Lin Zhiling appearing to rescue Cheng Chen on Star Avenue…

Similar sensational entertainment news kept emerging, each with extremely high click rates.

Even more outrageous:

"Golden Melody Song King and Song Queen Have a Deep Connection—Private Exchange Reveals Song Queen Wang Fei Admits She's Been Conquered, Shouting 'Song King Cheng Chen Is So Amazing!'"

Similar gossip and entertainment news kept emerging, and each one garnered exceptionally high click counts.

Even more outrageous was:

"Golden Melody Award's Song King and Song Queen Have a Deep Connection: Private Exchange Leaves Song Queen Wang Fei Utterly Conquered, Shouting 'Song King Cheng Chen Is So Amazing!'"

Regardless of everything, Cheng Chen's win this time was a nationwide celebration for all Mainland media.

They pulled out all the stops to hype Cheng Chen, blowing him straight to the heavens!

After all, before this, Mainland singers had never participated in Hong Kong and Taiwan music awards, and they had built up too much "resentment."

Now, all of it was vented through Cheng Chen's win!

Awesome!

Of course, the Mainland media's celebration and self-indulgence stirred up dissatisfaction from Hong Kong and Taiwan media.

This dissatisfaction was mostly directed at the Golden Melody Awards committee.

Even Taiwan media, usually known for their gentle, naive, and sweet style, now showed a rougher side.

They directly insulted the committee until it couldn't even lift its head.

Fine, you give a Mainland person five nominations—that's acceptable.

But you go and award him both Song King and Best Album Producer?

Five nominations, four wins—then why not just give him everything?

Wouldn't it be better to make it perfectly complete? Oh, are you trying to drive OCD patients to suicide with this?

This is the Taiwan media's usual tactic: when angry, they speak sarcastically, using irony to mock and berate.

Some media even elevated this matter endlessly to a political level.

They loudly accused the committee of bad intentions, of kowtowing to the Mainland, and other such remarks.

Of course, the committee still upheld its fine tradition of "taking abuse without retaliation, taking blows without fighting back."

After every award ceremony, they always face backlash from media or fans of singers who didn't win.

Even some singers personally show up to question and attack the committee—this is common.

This time was just more intense, but thankfully still within control.

Of course, where there's criticism, there's also support.

In fact, when Cheng Chen's album was first released in Taiwan, many Taiwan media outlets competed to report on it.

The Chinese-language music scene has long been dominated and controlled by Hong Kong and Taiwan, but in recent years it's faced pressure from Japan and Korea.

Many young people no longer enjoy mainstream Chinese pop, turning instead to their neighbors in Japan and Korea.

Singers' album sales have declined to varying degrees.

Then, Cheng Chen's "Hua Liu Wan Jiang" emerged suddenly, giving many people hope for the rise of Chinese-language music.

All ten songs are saturated with China elements; both lyrics and arrangements are exquisitely crafted.

Not only did it inspire many music professionals, but it also gave media hope for the Chinese-language music scene.

It even caused many fans to redirect their attention back to Chinese-language music.

One could say, the significance of the release of "Hua Liu Wan Jiang" far outweighs its explosive sales.

Of course, its sales were even more absurdly unmatched!

Given this situation, many Taiwan media outlets considered Cheng Chen's four major awards entirely reasonable—even well-deserved.

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After all, his album's meaning, sales, and fame across Asia, along with all its data,

completely crushed the other four singers nominated in the same categories.

So what if he won four awards?

Some media even openly supported Cheng Chen.

They declared the committee was stingy—nominate five and take five, that's all, don't show regional discrimination!

Committee: You're so high and mighty, you're so great, go ahead and insult me!

Some celebrities also publicly supported Cheng Chen, like Jia Jingwen, Jiao Enjun, Wang Fei, Su Youpeng, and A Du.

Of course, they weren't dumb enough to bluntly say Cheng Chen deserved the awards—they still had to live in Taiwan.

They merely congratulated Cheng Chen through interviews or online, offering indirect support.

Cheng Chen's win allowed audiences across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong to feast on the drama.

Media clashed with sword and dagger; fans supported or opposed—there was a clear sense of an impending "great battle."

This was naturally because some Taiwanese singers' fans resented a Mainland person winning such prestigious awards in their own region.

So, certain singers' fans went online to the Mainland to publicly insult Cheng Chen.

But Cheng Chen's fans weren't to be trifled with—they hadn't enjoyed much glory alongside him.

Yet when it came to "online brawls," they were terrifyingly skilled.

Their massive fanbase and astonishing combat power quickly crushed the haters, forcing them to flee in disarray.

No matter how the outside world debated, Cheng Chen had no time to care…

"Thanks, let's meet up back in Jingcheng."

"Hahaha, lucky win—I'll treat you when we get back!"

"Alright, let's get together when we have time—I'll treat you to dinner then!"

After hanging up, Cheng Chen apologized to the woman across from him:

"Sorry, those are just old friends calling to congratulate me on my win."

Sitting across from him was Lin Zhiling, dressed in a deep-V long dress.

"It's fine—this is totally normal. If no one called to congratulate you, I'd start doubting your character, hehe."

Lin Zhiling's voice was sweet and girlish, sounding cute and playful without being fake.

Her slightly curled long hair fell over her shoulders, giving her a gentle, elegant appearance.

She really knew how to dress—her shoulder-baring, glittering long dress, with its round neckline, accentuated her slender, fair, and elongated neck curve!

The cinched waist of her long dress perfectly accentuated Lin Zhiling's sensual waistline and slender little waist.

It set off the magnificent curves of her upper body beautifully.

And the slit design at the hem highlighted her straight, slender, sexy long legs.

Her 173-centimeter model figure was nothing short of a devilishly proportioned perfection.

Combined with that exquisite baby face, Zhi Ling absolutely fulfilled every man's fantasy.

Listening to her coquettish voice, paired with that devilish figure and baby face, it's hard not to let one's mind wander.

"Hehe, is that so? I still have to thank you for helping me out on Star Avenue today, otherwise if it got back to the Mainland, people would probably laugh me to death."

Cheng Chen said with a smile.

Actually, walking the red carpet doesn't necessarily require having a female companion by your side.

It's just that this time Cheng Chen attending the Golden Melody Awards, to outside observers, was already a "lonely" figure on his own.

Walking the bustling red carpet alone, it was inevitable that people would find him a bit pitiful.

"I didn't really help that much, it's just that Min Min and I are good friends.

I promised her I'd look out for you at the Golden Melody Awards, but honestly you didn't really need me to do anything.

After all, no one dares to laugh at you, right, Golden Melody Heavenly King, hahaha."

Lin Zhiling was very articulate, with high emotional intelligence; if anyone else had said those words, it might have sounded like flattery.

But when she said it, there was no such effect at all—it only made her conversation partner feel like a spring breeze.

She was a woman who knew when to lower herself, a woman who inspired the desire to conquer.

"That's too much, it's not as exaggerated as you say. Come, cheers!"

Sitting by the river, Cheng Chen raised his glass toward Lin Zhiling and said.

"Cheers, congratulations on winning the award."

Lin Zhiling said with a smile.

The two clinked glasses.

It was the first time either of them had met the other; everything Cheng Chen knew about Lin Zhiling came from information filtered through later-generation media.

Although this topic queen carried many secrets, including things like marrying a Japanese person.

But when it comes to drinking and dining, what's there to be picky about? Cheng Chen didn't care about that.

Or rather, he was simply sitting in a foreign place, sharing the river breeze with a beautiful woman.

No need to dwell on things that haven't happened yet or are just rumors.

After both had drunk a little, the floodgates of conversation opened between them.

Of course, Cheng Chen still understood the principle of not saying too much to a stranger.

What they exchanged were some problems each had encountered in their own fields—as far as the results of the conversation went, it was still quite pleasant.

"Earlier on the red carpet I said I'd treat you to a meal after the awards ceremony was over, hahaha, this meal is me keeping that promise.

Tomorrow I'm leaving Tai Sheng and heading back to Jingcheng, probably won't be coming back for a while.

Next time you go to Jingcheng, I'll definitely throw you a welcome feast, hahaha, let's leave it here for today!"

Cheng Chen said with a cheerful laugh.

"Ah, leaving so soon? I was still hoping to take you around Wan Bei properly, what a shame…"

Lin Zhiling's exquisite little face was full of regret.

Her reluctant appearance made Cheng Chen think of the later-generation term "green tea."

Not that Lin Zhiling was a green tea—she was simply speaking from the heart.

It's just that Cheng Chen only seemed to remember that men all quite liked this type…

After the two parted ways, Cheng Chen hurried back to the hotel to rest.

The next day, he took a flight from Tai Sheng back to Jingcheng.

He had no idea how his flight information had been leaked.

When he arrived at the airport, despite being fully disguised, he was still recognized by the media.

"Cheng Chen, what are your thoughts on this trip to Tai Sheng?"

"Some people say you've made history—what's your view on that?"

"What does it feel like to win the award? Can you share?"

"Someone says they saw you on a date with Tai Sheng's number one beauty Lin Zhiling—do you have anything to say about that?"

"Cheng Chen, may I ask…"

The reporters' questions ran the gamut, with the attitude of "if you don't answer my question, I'm not letting you leave today."

Seeing he couldn't dodge it, Cheng Chen simply accepted the interview, though with a set time limit—when the time came, he would definitely leave.

After all, so many people surrounding him was causing quite a burden on the airport…

……