Rebirth from the Ashes - Chapter 365
Chapter 365: Fu Qingli’s Curse
Shen Xi shook her head helplessly, finished the last question, and closed the book. She looked at Song Wenye. “Lil Ye, I know you’re thinking about Qi Xiu, but with Qi Xiu’s ability and the quality of his album, do you think fans would need to sell their souls and throw their money at him to increase sales?”
How long could those bulk buying last anyway? Su Muyan’s fans would bulk buy albums to increase sales. In the opening hour, they would buy all they could to break sales records and it was indeed impressive at 200,000 copies.
However, there were only so many copies fans could buy, then sales would start to dwindle. The rest of the sales growth would depend on those who would not care if the singer was handsome and only listened to the quality of the songs.
If fans said that the album was a hit and out of the charts, it did not count. It would only count as a hit song if a random person on the streets said that it was good.
For example, “The Smiling Nation”. The entire cast, the main and even supporting actors, as well as the team behind the scenes, were all commended for their achievements by passersby and fans alike. That was true virality.
Therefore, the most important thing was not the fans, but the common people. As long as the quality was good enough, it would attract passersby and no fear that no one would buy it.
“I agree.”
“Seconded!”
“Sister Xi is right. Qi Xiu doesn’t need the help of fans to increase sales. Song Wenye, doing so is just an insult to his professionalism, ya know?”
The group was finally able to righteously refute Song Wenye. However, they would still support Qi Xiu because he was their new favorite idol. Sister Xi also liked this singer and his songs were good, so they were willing to spend money on his album.
Moreover, helping Qi Xiu top the charts was helping Shen Xi too because Qi Xiu defeating Su Muyan was a slap in the face for the Su family. Thus, it was all the more reason to support Qi Xiu.
“I’ll buy a hundred physical albums.”
“I’ll buy five hundred!”
“I’ll take a thousand!”
The group began to report how much they would buy.
Shen Xi rubbed her temples with some headache. She knew that they had already thought about these quantities and could not be stopped, so she did not say anything since this was their good intention.
Finally, Song Wenye tallied the numbers. The minimum was one hundred and the most was a thousand, so it added up to 53,000 physical copies.
“During our break next weekend, we’ll take these albums to the office and distribute them to passersby for free!” Song Wenye announced.
They could not use so many albums anyway, so distributing them to passersby would be good publicity for her beloved Qi Xiu.
Shen Xi reminded her. “Change the location.”
If they distributed the album for free at their office entrance, passersby would just think that they could not sell their album and had too much inventory. The media would have a field day with this and hurl mud at them again. These good intentions would have come to naught.
Song Wenye was too happy to care and was willing to do anything for her idol. She nodded in agreement. “Then let’s go to the West Street Square. There’s always a crowd over there!”
West Street was the fashion hub of the Capital and always had a crowd. 50,000 albums or even 100,000 albums could be distributed within minutes.
After school, Shen Xi went to the National Library to look up some information. It was a special journal on medical care that was not for loan. By the time she finished, it was already dark outside.
Song Wenye accompanied her. While Shen Xi was reading, she was sleeping next to her. She somehow sensed that Shen Xi was done and woke up yawning. Her eyes were sparkly. “Xixi, there’s a roasted lamb restaurant on Zhongnan Street. Let’s have dinner before we head home!”
“Okay.” Shen Xi was hungry too. She told her parents that she would be back late and would not be having dinner at home because she expected Song Wenye would want to have dinner together.
The National Library was near the university town. At this hour, most university students finished their dinner and would head to the library if there were not enough seats at the university’s library.
Song Wenye liked people watching. When she saw so many good-looking university students, her eyes were glowing. She suddenly pointed in front and shouted, “Xixi! Look over there! That’s my first love!”
Shen Xi looked over and saw a young man.
The young man was wearing a white shirt and black pants. His body was lean and he looked like a handsome main character that stepped out from a comic book.
Song Wenye ran over.
However, the man was gone in a flash and hid behind a tall bookshelf.
Shen Xi looked at the man’s movements and had a deep and cold look in her eyes. She walked over to catch up with Song Wenye. “Your first love?”
That young man had an extraordinary temperament and walked with very light footsteps. He was highly trained and was not an ordinary man.
“I didn’t catch up to him again…” Song Wenye stomped her feet and looked regretful. She said to Shen Xi, “That time when you had a dance competition, I met him at the TV station. He said that his name is Xuan Yuan.”
Shen Xi pulled her away. “Well, forget about him. Let’s go!”
Song Wenye was persistent and looked around twice, but still could not find him anywhere. “He’s probably a college student from a university nearby!”
‘He’s so good-looking!’
Shen Xi asked her. “Did you fall in love with him at first sight? Or do you only miss his face?”
Song Wenye replied without much thought, “Of course, I miss his face! How can I be so superficial to fall in love at first sight…”
Shen Xi knew that Song Wenye was a sucker for hunks. Whenever Song Wenye saw an attractive person, whether male or female, she could not walk away. She thought of something suddenly and asked, “Hey, did you contact Yu Yuanxi lately?”
Song Wenye snorted angrily and her voice was several decibels louder. “Why would I contact him?”
‘Hmph! I won’t contact him. Who wants to contact him?’
Shen Xi smiled and asked, “Why? Did he offend you?”
Song Wenye’s eyes wandered a little and she did not know where to look. She just said casually, “He’s busy filming.”
Yu Yuanxi only called her the day he entered the set to tell her that he had arrived, then he never contacted her again.
‘Who even wants him to contact them anyway?’
Shen Xi smiled and did not ask more for fear that she would get scolded if she asked the wrong question.
Zhongnan Street was just two intersections away from the National Library. The stores near the library sold books and stationery, so it was not very crowded.
The two of them were walking and talking when Shen Xi’s eyes were suddenly drawn to a man by the side of the road.
Song Wenye followed her gaze and saw the man squatting on the ground with his back to the. She could not see the man’s face and asked, “You know him?”
Shen Xi thought Fu Qingli was haunting her. She would run into him everywhere she went. She shook her head and prepared to walk past him without looking at him. “No.”
Fu Qingli, who was squatting there, sensed something and turned his head to stare at her. His thin lips parted slightly and his voice was crisp. “Shen Xi.”
Shen Xi dragged Song Wenye away and hypnotized herself that she did not see that man.
When Song Wenye saw the man’s handsome and perfect face, she abandoned all her principles and ran over to the man.
Fu Qingli stood up and strode over to Shen Xi with his long legs. His mind was in a mess and he felt severe, unbearable pain in his stomach, so much so that he lost the ability to think.
Shen Xi just wanted to run, so that he was out of sight, out of mind, but she did not know how he got in front of her so quickly and blocked her path. His deep, cold eyes were fixated on her.
She sighed and conceded, so she looked up and said, “Fu Qingli, are you done…”
When Fu Qingli met her eyes, the layer of permafrost that never melted over the years seemed to crack again a little.
He looked at her and hooked up his lips into a small arc. His voice was very deep and incredibly gentle. “Shen Xi…”
Shen Xi finally noticed that something was wrong. His face was sickly pale and his lips were purple. His eyes were bloodshot and he was so sick that he lost his mind and smiled at her. When he called her name so gently, it was enough to give her goosebumps.
However, before she could speak, Fu Qingli’s tall body collapsed on her, like a big mountain that fell on her.
Shen Xi hugged him and wanted to curse. ‘F*ck, what kind of sh*tty luck is this?!’
She managed to escape the dinner party, but in the end, she could not escape Fu Qingli’s curse!