Chapter Twenty-Four: The New King Ascends the Throne

By the end of March and the beginning of April, "Be'er Shuang," the second music video from the album *Cold to the Bone*, began airing across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia.

To the surprise of many, despite not being marketed as the second lead single, the video became a massive hit in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and across Southeast Asia. Its incredibly strong sense of rhythm, coupled with the dance sequence Lin Jianlu performed in the video, took the Hong Kong and Taiwan music scenes by storm. Younger audiences, in particular, grew even more fond of it than they were of the title track, *Cold to the Bone*.

Conversely, the music video for *Cold to the Bone*, which was being promoted in Japan and South Korea during the same period, did not achieve the same explosive success as *Be'er Shuang*. This finally convinced the team at Rock Records that Lin Jianlu’s insistence on using an electronic dance track to break into the Japanese and Korean markets was both insightful and well-founded.

No matter; their partners in those regions were quick to react, scaling back some of the promotion for *Cold to the Bone* to refocus on *Be'er Shuang*, while repeatedly requesting that Lin Jianlu come over for promotional tours.

In fact, on the very evening he had finished drinking with Luo Dayou and his circle, Lin Jianlu had already flown to Singapore for his scheduled promotional duties.

The market in Singapore is relatively small due to its limited population; even with a prosperous economy, one person cannot buy three copies of an album. However, the large Chinese population there, along with those in Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries, has historically been the primary destination for cultural exports from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Nearly fifty days after the album’s release, sales figures in Singapore—mostly reflecting the first five weeks—had already surpassed 100,000 units, trailing closely behind the pop trends of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Sales in Malaysia were nearing 70,000, while Indonesia was even more impressive at over 50,000. Thailand and the Philippines also showed sales of over 10,000 each—figures that, by traditional Hong Kong and Taiwan music industry standards, were considered exceptional. Leslie Cheung, who enjoyed immense popularity in Southeast Asia, typically sold about 50,000 to 60,000 copies in Malaysia and Indonesia at his peak. Jacky Cheung had managed to reach that figure with two albums, and his song "Kiss Goodbye" had even exceeded 100,000 in both Malaysia and Indonesia, representing the pinnacle for Hong Kong and Taiwanese singers in the region.

It was no wonder, then, that they were so eager to have Lin Jianlu visit for promotions.

Running through three countries in three days was exhausting. He skipped the Philippines and Thailand for now because he had to rush to Japan and South Korea. It was a pity that the schedule was too tight for lucrative commercial performances, but seeing the enthusiastic reception from local distributors and the excitement of the fans, Lin Jianlu knew that cashing in was only a matter of time.

After all, if you want to make money, you shouldn't complain about being tired. Once this round was finished, he could always come back!

Upon arriving in Tokyo, *Be'er Shuang* took the stage. The fan meet-and-greet, attended by over 3,000 people, was essentially a mini-concert. As soon as the beat of *Be'er Shuang* dropped, the high-energy singing and dancing sent the crowd into a frenzy. Rumor had it that many of them had come specifically to see Lin Jianlu dance live, and they left completely satisfied.

Backstage, Xue Zhongding couldn't help but say, "You'll be on the front page of every Japanese paper tomorrow!"

The promotional partners were incredibly supportive. They organized three fan meetings in Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo, totaling an estimated 6,000 attendees. Since the partners were just that—partners—they couldn't just hold free autograph sessions; these mini-concerts featuring singing and dancing required paid tickets. Although it only brought in about 3 million yen, Ge Fuhong noted that it converted to over 20,000 US dollars, or roughly 200,000 RMB.

The final stop of the tour was the Korean Peninsula. By the time he finished this leg, Lin Jianlu didn't know how much it had boosted album sales, but he knew he still couldn't head home. It was already April 26th, and in two days, the Hong Kong Film Awards would be held; he had been invited to perform "Ten Years."

Truth be told, Lin Jianlu was growing tired of the constant travel. He desperately wanted to return home to eat fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and tofu pudding in Nanluoguxiang. He had been away for over forty days, wandering through Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.

But there was no helping it. Ge Fuhong kept urging him, and even Gigi Leung called to ask if he could make it back to Hong Kong by the 28th—she had been nominated for Best New Performer and was very excited. He had no choice but to go back.

By this time, the album’s second lead single, "Fairytale," had already topped various music charts across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia following the airing of its music video.

Generally speaking, the Chinese music industry had long been confined to Hong Kong and Taiwan, with a bit of Southeast Asia added in. Because the market wasn't particularly large, there was a culture of "hit hard and fast." An album wouldn't stay popular for long, so to maintain their status and keep earning, singers had to be diligent about releasing new albums. It was standard practice for Hong Kong and Taiwanese singers to release two or three albums a year, not including EPs. Releasing four or five was considered truly industrious.

Only in the Western music industry—with artists like Michael Jackson, who faced the vast North American and global markets—could they afford to meticulously spend one, two, or even three years crafting a major album, followed by a slow rollout of chart promotions and a global concert tour. Their albums could sell heavily for a year, then continue to sell well for another, and then settle into a long-term sales cycle. A single album could easily exceed ten million in global sales, with Michael Jackson’s peaks hitting fifty or sixty million.

The Chinese music scene couldn't afford such a luxury; singers would starve.

However, Lin Jianlu’s momentum was too strong, and the album was genuinely excellent. After *Cold to the Bone* was released, aside from the occasional complaint about the chaotic style, the feedback from critics everywhere was overwhelmingly positive. Rock Records began to harbor bigger ambitions. Considering Lin Jianlu already had a baseline of 3 million units sold in mainland China, they wanted to try a long-term promotional strategy in Hong Kong and Taiwan—hence the second round of music videos.

They began to emulate the Western model, pushing lead singles and maintaining promotion for the album. As soon as the "Fairytale" music video aired, it immediately hit the top of the Golden Melody Chart, the Dragon and Tiger Chart, and every other major list. According to Xue Zhongding, shipments across Hong Kong and Taiwan suddenly started increasing again.

It was hard to speak for other places, but in Taiwan, *Cold to the Bone* had already secured a record: 170,000 in the first week, 260,000 in the second, 110,000 in the third, 120,000 in the fourth, 140,000 in the fifth, and 160,000 in the sixth. Staying at the top of the charts for six weeks wasn't the main point—the fact that it had sold over 100,000 copies for six consecutive weeks was terrifying.

It instantly shattered the record of three consecutive weeks of over 100,000 sales held by mega-hits like *Let Me Be Happy, Let Me Be Sad*, *Kiss Goodbye*, *A Dream of a Game*, and *Listen to Me*.

In less than two months on the market, total sales in Taiwan alone had reached 960,000. It had clearly passed the million-mark by the seventh week, and they were just waiting for the data to catch up—as for total shipments, they had already exceeded 1.4 million.

Of course, the record industry’s habit of inflating numbers for promotion was a given. Every week, the reported sales were slightly padded. By the time the sixth-week figures came out, they officially announced that *Cold to the Bone* had surpassed one million sales in six weeks.

This completely obliterated the record of eight months to reach one million sales set by Wakin Chau’s *Let Me Be Happy, Let Me Be Sad*—the gap was nothing short of a cliff. It shocked the entire Chinese music world.

The Hong Kong media reported, "The All-Around Talent is Unstoppable!"

At noon on April 27th, Lin Jianlu landed back in Hong Kong. Whether the news had leaked or if Duan or Ge had arranged it, the airport was packed with one or two thousand fans waiting to welcome him, as if they were greeting a new king ascending to the throne.

In the car, Ge Fuhong smiled and handed him a newspaper. "I didn't say a word!"

Lin Jianlu looked down to see an interview where Gigi Leung mentioned she wouldn't be walking the red carpet with Lin Jianlu, as she would be with her film crew, but added that Lin had promised to attend the awards ceremony.

Oh... Lin Jianlu understood immediately.

This was likely a promotional move by the Film Awards. The awards ceremony needed high ratings and revenue to continue running annually. Their advertisers and sponsors certainly wanted the news of Lin Jianlu performing to be leaked in advance to boost viewership.

The ceremony was on the 28th, so Lin Jianlu would likely have to return to Hong Kong by the 27th at the latest. To the fanatical fans of that era, waiting at the airport for two days was nothing.

Seeing their idol was worth it!

***

To avoid misunderstanding, I hereby declare: This book follows the development of real-life figures and events as much as possible. However, personal biases or unusual tastes are inevitable, so minor modifications and corrections to the fates of certain individuals have been made. Furthermore, as someone born in the 2000s, it is impossible to be 100% accurate despite my best efforts to research the past. Errors and misattributions are unavoidable. Please note that this work is entirely fictional; please do not treat it as historical record.

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