Chapter 235: When the Music Plays, Quit and Go Home to Lie Down

70,000.

More precisely, 73,647 copies.

Heaven knows, when he learned this number, Qian Jiang nearly had his heart leap out of his throat—

For a single with daily sales of only around 20,000, to sell over 70,000 in a full week was, for Qian Jiang—who had already grown pessimistic—like a heifer riding a jet—insanely awesome!

"Look closely at this sales curve: when 'A Yi's' song was released on November 26, its sales were relatively high due to pre-orders."

Beijing, Warner Meadow Building, Qian Jiang's office.

As the person handling all of Zhou Yi's affairs, Qian Jiang, after distributing the materials to Zhou Jianhui, Chen Zeshan, Zhou Yi, and Sun Yanzi, excitedly explained the graph on the first page—a heart monitor-like curve rising and falling like tides—

From the 26th to the 27th, it rose straight up, then plunged off a cliff, dropping straight to just a few thousand copies.

Then it sold less and less each day.

By November 30, the sales curve rose slightly; on December 1, it began falling again, even dipping below the 2,000-copy mark.

Then, on December 2, "The Lazy Song" suddenly came back from the dead—its sales curve, nearly at rock bottom, began a sharp upward reversal—

Like a massive bull stock surging, the single's sales skyrocketed from over 30,000 to more than 73,000 copies in a single day!

"In one day, nearly 40,000 single CDs sold."

Qian Jiang, speaking of this miracle, could barely hide his excitement: "And due to this sudden surge in popularity, 'A Yi's' song has successfully cracked the top 100 of the U. S. Billboard Hot 100!"

Though it was only number 99, at least it made the chart—proving Warner's spending on radio promotion wasn't entirely useless.

Though this first-week sales figure means little in the mainstream Western music market, if this momentum holds, selling 300,000 copies total shouldn't be a problem.

In the Western music industry, a single selling over 300,000 copies is already considered a success; singles that sell under 100,000—usually because no one buys them and the company buys them back—are garbage.

"I have a question."

Sun Yanzi raised her hand like a good student, puzzled: "If this was tied to the promotion of the 'Peak Performance 2' DVD, shouldn't the single's sales show a steady upward curve?"

"If so, why does this curve fluctuate so wildly? And since the DVD market is a slow, steady stream, how could there be a sudden daily spike of nearly 40,000 copies?"

"The company is still investigating the exact cause; the analysis report should arrive in two days." Qian Jiang, equally curious but without answers, could only shrug and wait.

Zhou Yi, however, while reviewing the printed weekly Billboard rankings, unexpectedly noticed an old song—and this old song ranked just above his own—

"All I Want for Christmas Is You."

Sung by the female artist Mariah Carey, it was released in 1994.

Because the song was specifically crafted for Christmas and carries an intense holiday atmosphere, since its release it has almost every year re-entered the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 during Christmas, sometimes even ranking quite high—this year included.

To put it simply, this song is essentially America's own "Gong Xi Fa Cai"—

Whenever the melody of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" begins playing through streets and alleys, every American knows the holidays are coming.

For Americans, Christmas is essentially their New Year.

And precisely because of this—

"Fuck you! I quit!"

United States, Washington, a human resources company.

A brown-haired white man, furious, slammed his resignation letter onto his supervisor's desk, glaring at the incredulous boss and unhesitatingly flipping him the middle finger: "I'm going home to prepare for Christmas. Got a problem with that?"

"..."

"..."

"What are you doing, John? Are you threatening me?"

"Threatening? No, no, no—I'm not threatening. I'm expressing my stance."

The white man named John shook his right index finger, rejecting his supervisor's assumption: "Since I'm unhappy at work, I might as well go home and rest properly—it's almost Christmas, after all."

After venting all the pent-up frustration of the past year to his supervisor, John walked out of the office feeling refreshed, leaving the company under the gaze of colleagues who watched him with envy, admiration, and confusion.

"What's wrong with John?"

"He listened to a song and suddenly wanted to rest, didn't want to work, so he just exploded today."

"Listened to a song?"

"Oh no, more precisely, two songs. After listening to 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' he kept dreaming of Christmas, then heard 'The Lazy Song,' which made his heart itch—so he just quit and went home."

"Said he barely escaped disaster, so he'd better enjoy a smooth Christmas before thinking about next year's job."

"...????"

Just because of a song, he wanted to quit and rest?

What kind of damn song has this kind of magic? Christmas is Christmas—nobody's stopping you—why quit so early?

Colleagues, murmuring inwardly, looked at each other, then, at quitting time, all put on their headphones and tried listening to "The Lazy Song."

The melody was lazy, the rhythm beautiful, the lyrics simple—plain, straightforward, yet precious for their sincerity—

Why, after all, do people have to work?

As young people who had recently experienced the 9/11 attacks, they were deeply moved at this moment.

The arrival of 9/11 had put the entire American public on edge; sensitive young people and middle-aged individuals had remained tense all the way to December, never once relaxing—

Now, when Mariah Carey's familiar "All I Want for Christmas Is You" echoed again in their ears, they felt they could no longer hold that tension.

The sudden increase in workload and mounting mental burdens made them yearn to escape reality, to escape the workplace—

This damn job? They didn't want to do it anymore.

Live for today, worry about tomorrow's mess later.

After all, what if another 9/11 happens?

If you die and your money's still unspent, wouldn't that be the most painful thing in life?

For this psychologically sensitive group, Zhou Yi's "The Lazy Song" was practically singing straight into their hearts.

Work?

Work, my ass!

I don't want to go to work anymore—either let me take leave, or I quit!

December 4th.

After the news "The Lazy Song Causes a Man to Quit" sparked minor buzz in Washington, John's bizarre resignation reason gained widespread approval from slackers.

Never doubt how vast America's slacker population is, just as you never doubt how hardworking China's students are.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" made them ache for the holiday; The Lazy Song's slacker trend perfectly matched their desire to unwind, drawing them in droves.

In America, after months of extreme tension, Zhou Yi's slacker song spread in an utterly unexpected way—

When the music plays, quit and go home to lie down!

Especially among the lower and middle classes affected by the 9/11 attacks: Spike was right—life's already a mess anyway, so better to empty your mind and live better for now.

Some enthusiasts even paired Maria Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Zhou Yi's "The Lazy Song" as the Two Anthems of Time Off.

The former announces that vacation is coming; the latter convinces you to quit or take leave.

"So… am I now known across America as the Lord of Leave-Taking?"

ps: Why do people have to work…

ps2: Due to work reasons, I'll adjust the update frequency these two days.

Today: one chapter. Tomorrow: three chapters.

The day after tomorrow: one chapter. The day after that: three chapters.

After that, I'll return to the normal update rhythm.

(End of Chapter)