Chapter 41: Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Emperor Star Descends

Taipei, Da Zhong Station Front First Road Audio Store.

After eating breakfast, Gao Geshan chewed on a toothpick, shuffled lazily downstairs, pulled on a baseball cap to hide his balding scalp, then drove his old sedan—long his faithful companion through countless travels—to the store entrance.

As an old-timer who had witnessed the golden age of Taiwan's record industry, he had long grown accustomed to not complaining, but instead seizing every possible chance to make money by stocking more CDs and cassette tapes of popular singers.

There was no choice: if you wanted to profit from selling records these days, you had to race against pirates.

Typically, the peak sales window for any album was the first two to three weeks after release, because after that, pirated cassettes and CDs would sprout like mushrooms after rain, squeezing out legitimate sales.

This wasn't because pirates had morals and waited for the originals to get a taste before taking the meat—it was simply because it took time to record and mass-distribute pirated copies of a new official album.

Plus, two to three weeks was enough time to tell which album or song had truly caught fire.

Pirates chased profit; songs that didn't sell were treated as scrap material, and only if they could be bundled with hit songs on a single CD or cassette did they count as ancestral merit and triple-life fortune.

After opening up and placing his new batch of Sun Yanzi albums in the most prominent shelf spot, Gao Geshan finally sat back contentedly in his comfortable old boss chair.

Taiwan's hottest new artist this year: Sun Yanzi.

Since her explosive debut in June, her self-titled album had sent every record store owner in Taiwan into a frenzy, frantically ordering stock from Warner.

This was all money.

The boss sighed, and moments later, the store's speakers began playing Liu Ruoying's deeply narrative singing—

"Later, I finally learned how to love,"

"But you were already gone, vanished into the crowd,"

"Later, I finally understood through tears,"

"Some people, once missed, are gone forever~~"

The Golden Melody song "Later," released in early 2000, still dominated every major chart despite having been out for over half a year.

Every older store owner in every record shop played this song nonstop.

It had a story.

This song had a story—and so did they all.

The ceiling fan whirred loudly as Gao, having cracked open a beer, was lost in memories of his first love, when several figures entering the store snapped him back to reality—

All appeared to be young, strong college students; the leader was a boy with a Guo Fucheng-style center part.

"Boss, do you have 'Zhou Yi'?"

"'Zhou Yi'? Shouldn't you be looking for that in a bookstore?"

For a moment, Gao Geshan was confused—he didn't sell feng shui services.

"Not that Zhou Yi—a singer named Zhou Yi just released an album called 'Zhou Yi.'"

Seeing the boss still clueless, the center-part boy hurriedly added: "The guy who had a two-week rumor with Xiao Yaxuan—the junior brother Sun Yanzi always talks about."

At that, Gao suddenly remembered and slapped his knee: "You mean him? Yeah, yeah, yeah—I remember, I got stock from Warner."

Immediately, Gao adjusted his baseball cap, stepped past the prominent Sun Yanzi shelf, and walked toward a less visible corner.

Soon, four brand-new albums appeared in his hands: "These?"

The center-part boy glanced—on the album cover was an impossibly handsome man, the kind his girlfriend would scream to buy his photo book and posters.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah—that's him! How much, boss?"

"Cassette: 35, CD: 82 (NTD). Which one do you want?"

"CD with the MV—three copies."

"Alright."

Watching the college students pay so readily, the boss, sensing opportunity, placed the remaining CD on the counter and asked: "Students, is this guy popular? Why did you come all the way here specifically for his album?"

"Popular? Not super, but I heard his song yesterday at a classmate's place—his MV and music felt totally new, unlike anything I'd ever heard before."

"I couldn't get enough, so I came to buy a few. I asked at several stores before finding yours."

Looking at the man on the album cover—his hairstyle, outfit, and overall look strikingly fresh, sharply distinct from today's pop stars—the center-part student excitedly bid the boss farewell and hurried his friends out.

Soon after, several more groups came in to buy albums by Ren Xianqi, Liu Ruoying, and Sun Yanzi.

Among the customers, two female college students buying Xie Tingfeng's album spotted the previously discarded Zhou Yi album on the counter—

The album's almost time-transcending look and striking handsomeness instantly pierced the heart of one girl who had come with a friend to buy music.

"Is this the Zhou Yi who had the rumor with Xiao Yaxuan?"

"Yeah, I think so—this face… yep, that's him."

"He looks so hot! No wonder Xiao Yaxuan's obsessed—his body looks great too. If I were Xiao Yaxuan, I'd just lock him up."

"Yeah, yeah, he's even hotter than Xie Tingfeng."

The girl beside her, holding Xie Tingfeng's new album, nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking grain.

It wasn't that Xie Tingfeng wasn't handsome—it was just that Zhou Yi's face and look were too dazzling: "Boss, give me two copies of 'Zhou Yi' too."

"????"

Are girls buying albums this recklessly now?

Confused, Gao Geshan watched the two girls leave, chattering excitedly about exactly how and why Zhou Yi's face on the cover was so ridiculously handsome, his expression thoughtful.

He didn't understand youth trends, but he understood good looks.

Zhou Yi's handsome, well-proportioned face—even a picky middle-aged man like him couldn't find fault. Hang up a few big posters, and wouldn't that draw in a crowd of girls who just love good looks?

Instantly, Gao dug out his bulk shipment from Warner: over sixty cassette tapes, twenty CDs, and some free posters.

He wouldn't put them in the prime spot to steal Xie Tingfeng's spotlight, but at least he'd place them where customers could spot them at a glance.

For safety, he opened one cassette to listen—what songs were on this album? Then—

"Those who've forgotten their names, follow me—now let's worship happiness,"

"Those who've dropped their burdens, follow me—spread it, build an era of joy~"

"To which era does happiness truly belong?"

"70, 80, 90, or still Generation Y..."

What the hell is this singing???

The boss, whose brows were locked tight, heard this with a head full of question marks.

Can this kind of song make money?

Is this money too easy to earn?

Giving a glance at the Zhou Yi album he had set out, as if hating iron for not becoming steel, Boss Gao muttered curses: "What a waste of such good looks; turns out singing is just a waste of space."

So, after a rational analysis, Boss Gao, who had just ordered another batch of Sun Yanzi albums through the Warner channel, sat back contentedly on his comfortable boss chair to drink beer and practice health preservation.

Based on his years of experience selling records, he feared this Zhou Yi album was just the kind of leftover scrap; being able to sell these things off using that face without getting stuck with them would already be a victory.

Two days later, same time, same place.

"Boss, four copies of the 'Zhou Yi' CD, two boxes of 'Zhou Yi' cassettes!"

"Boss, I want the 'Zhou Yi' CD too, two copies, and give me two boxes of cassettes as well."

"Boss, three copies of the 'Zhou Yi' CD, five boxes of 'Zhou Yi' cassettes!"

"Boss..."

"Boss..."

Young voices overflowing rose and fell within the not-so-large speakers; Boss Gao, who had made a precise judgment two days prior based on his years in the industry, wished he could slap himself twice right then and there—

Damn it! I was too rash!

Looking at the group of young people waving cash before him, Boss Gao only felt his blood pressure surging up, up, up.

If he could, he would have tied up that singer named Zhou Yi and recorded songs live on the spot for immediate release.

In just two short days, the 'Zhou Yi' album, which he had thought was just leftover scrap, sold out explosively, so that now, facing these young people who had rushed over upon hearing he had the 'Zhou Yi' album, his eyeballs were almost turning green from staring.

This is all money, damn it!

"Sigh, sorry, sorry, my 'Zhou Yi' CDs and cassettes are all sold out."

"Really sorry, my 'Zhou Yi' is sold out."

"Really sorry, 'Zhou Yi' is sold out..."

Welcoming and sending off batch after batch of customers waving cash, watching the duck meat right at his mouth fly away, this feeling made Boss Gao feel worse than being killed.

So much so that today he had already developed a subconscious reaction; as soon as he saw young people entering the store in groups, he would blurt out, "'Zhou Yi' is already sold out."

Then he could see the young people who had just stepped through the door reveal a face full of disappointment, shake their heads, and retreat outside.

Damn it, my fists are hard!

If this can be endured, what cannot be endured!

Facing the awkward situation where money was flying everywhere but not into his own pockets, in extreme anger, Boss Gao furiously dialed the phone of the upstream channel: "I'm not saying this, but when exactly can your boss supply me with goods? Can you give me a definite answer!

"It's been two days, I'm sold out, do you know that?! I just want three hundred CDs, three hundred boxes of cassettes, is that so hard?!

"If it really doesn't work, giving me one hundred of each is fine too!"

"Really sorry, Mr. Gao, our boss is actively coordinating with the Warner channel. Warner has also given assurances; they are currently working overtime to press the albums."

"What is such a big company as Warner doing?! Don't they know to stock up more when their own singer releases an album?!"

At this very moment, Warner General Manager Zhou Jianhui had become the target of curses from countless record store owners across the island.

If you can't even make money when you have it, you deserve for Warner to be on Mount Riluoxi!

"Boss, we have done our best; Warner initially stocked 50,000 copies of Zhou Yi's album, and now they are working overtime..."

The channel company staff, who had heard countless complaints over these two days, could hear people calling to urge faster shipment in their dreams at night; they had already developed a muscle memory reaction and numbly opened their mouths to explain.

For a large record company, at the beginning of a singer's album release, they would set an expected target, then formulate the initial, mid, and late-stage album stock quantities based on this target to prevent inventory pile-up.

It's not that if you expect a certain sales volume, you simply stock that many copies at the start; the risk is too great, no one would do that.

Taking a double platinum album of 100,000 copies as an example, the record company might initially stock around 40,000 copies, then adjust the progress at any time based on market reaction.

Generally speaking, record companies doing this is no problem.

But the problem is, Warner encountered an unusual person—

"Crazy, crazy, crazy, nearly 50,000 copies sold in three days; am I crazy or is this world crazy?"

Zhou Jianhui, who was constantly monitoring the sales progress of the Zhou Yi album, felt his understanding of the Mandarin music scene severely impacted.

How is Zhou Yi's album performance even more fierce than Sun Yanzi's?

Sun Yanzi, at least, did over 40,000, nearly 50,000 in a week; Zhou Yi did it in three days, is he human?

How much can it sell in a month, how much in a year; Zhou Jianhui already dared not think about it.

He knew Zhou Yi's album was very novel for the Mandarin music scene, but he never expected the acceptance ability of today's young people to be so high.

The first batch of people buying the album, converted from the popularity of Xiao Yaxuan and Sun Yanzi, directly became the best promoters for the rapid spread of the Zhou Yi album's reputation.

This huge explosion came even more unexpectedly than Sun Yanzi's; Warner hadn't even had time to launch a push for request rates on the major radio stations across the island.

The "floating" popularity Zhou Yi had stirred up on the island previously, at this moment, was entirely converted into substantial driving force. Under the circumstances where the mainland market didn't even know him, Zhou Yi, as a mainland native, actually exploded in popularity on the island first.

The 'Zhou Yi' album has eleven songs; in just three days since release, four songs—'Happy Worship', 'Have to Love', 'Give Me a Song's Time', 'Hate the Dream of the Red Chamber'—forcefully squeezed into the top twenty of the island's major music charts and KTV request lists—

Among these, the two songs 'Happy Worship' and 'Have to Love' were still climbing upwards at rocket speed!

From twentieth, nineteenth to fifteenth, thirteenth;

Then both songs squeezed into the top ten, starting to battle the gods on the various charts.

Zhou Yi accomplished all this in just five days.

In this scorching early July, Zhou Yi's era-transcending song interpretation style and styling, in a posture almost like a god descending, gave the entire island music scene a harsh lesson!

Before this, no one had successfully combined hiphop elements, but Zhou Yi blended them just right; the rhythmic beats and bright melodies were directly hailed as classics by the new millennium generation seeking novelty, passed from mouth to mouth.

On the charts, Warner's two new talents—one Sun Yanzi debuting in June, one Zhou Yi debuting in July—directly detonated the entire Mandarin music scene, without any warning!

The most direct reaction this brought was that Zhou Yi's album sales on the island once again skyrocketed crazily!

"Congratulations on the album's huge sales, Zhou Yi, you're a star!"

Before the floor-to-ceiling window of the Warner office, Sun Yanzi, so excited she grabbed Zhou Yi and shook him wildly, shouted her congratulations, her smile on her face exceptionally brilliant.

Zhou Yi, who had expected to become famous but equally hadn't imagined becoming famous so quickly, also wore a smile from the bottom of his heart; this way, he could return to the mainland in a few days to promote and chart with even more peace of mind.

Two days later, after the weekend passed, Zhou Yi directly landed at number one on the weekly charts, top ten on the monthly charts, and top twenty on the quarterly charts across the island of Taiwan in the new week following the chart update.

And the one he had kicked out of the top twenty on the major quarterly charts was "Dong Qi Lai" sung by his senior brother from the same sect, Guo Fucheng;

and the ones he had kicked out of the top ten on the monthly charts were "Midsummer Fruit" by Karen Mok and "Faith" by Song Qingge, the Prince of Love Songs, Zhang Xinzhe.