fictionpage Chapter 386 Two or More Tickets
Chapter 386 Two or More Tickets
After "Lady Shexiang" was released, the data was beyond what "good" could describe.
After posting the message, Lu Ran took a shower. When she came back, she found that her phone was burning hot from all the messages.
In the work group, Zhou Mingzhe sent three messages, Lao Wang sent five, and Xiao Yang sent more than a dozen, followed by a string of emojis.
TUTU's backend notifications kept popping up one after another, like firecrackers going off during Chinese New Year.
"Mr. Lu, are you on a road trip or launching a surprise attack?" Zhou Mingzhe said in the group chat. "You should at least have given us a heads-up so the operations department could prepare. Instead, you just sent it out like a firecracker, catching us completely off guard."
Lu Ran replied with a "hehe" emoji.
He glanced at the data on TUTU and saw that "Lady Shexiang" had surpassed five million views.
It garnered five million views in less than an hour after being posted.
He knew what this number meant in the music industry, but he knew even more that it was definitely the highest record for the first hour of a single's release since TUTU's inception.
The song that was originally ranked number one on the new song chart was a new song by a young idol who debuted through a talent show. Lu Ran glanced at the song title and had never heard of it.
The second place is a sentimental ballad by a veteran singer, and the third place is an old song that Shen Yuege released last month.
When "Lady Shexiang" came out, it pushed all the top three down by one place.
The first place went to "Lady Shexiang", the second place to that young heartthrob, the third place to a veteran singer, and Shen Yuege's old song dropped to fourth place.
However, "Lady Shexiang" is a song by Lu Ran and Shen Yuege, which means Shen Yuege has returned to number one.
Shen Yuege came out of the shower, her hair still dripping wet. She glanced at the phone screen and a smile played on her lips: "You pushed her out of the running?"
"It's not crowding, it's overcrowding. Fair competition."
"You call this fair competition? You're a game developer releasing a song, what about the professional singers' dignity?"
"I'm a professional songwriter too. Songwriting and game development don't conflict. Jay Chou also acts in movies, who says a person can only do one thing?"
Who is Jay Chou?
"Nobody, just someone obsessed with love."
Shen Yuege didn't press the matter further and picked up the hairdryer to dry her hair.
The hairdryer hummed as Lu Ran scrolled through the comments section, occasionally chuckling out.
"What are you laughing at?" Shen Yuege asked, turning off the hairdryer.
"There was a fight in the comments section. One person said this song was the best duet of the year, another said last year's best song was also written by Lu Ran, and yet another said the song from the year before last was also written by Lu Ran. The three of them started arguing, and the argument went on for dozens of floors."
"and then?"
"Then someone replied, 'Stop arguing, Lu Ran himself doesn't even know how amazing he is.' That person was me."
Shen Yuege glanced at him and shook her head: "You really are a talent."
"I'm telling the truth. How long have I been writing songs? And they've been following me back to the year before last. Will some ten-year-old fans suddenly appear in a few days?"
As soon as Lu Ran finished speaking, a new comment appeared on his screen:
"A ten-year veteran fan of Shen Yuege here uninvited~"
...
Lu Ran continued scrolling through the comments section out of boredom.
One comment has been pushed to the top, with over 100,000 likes: "I'm from Guizhou Province, working in Shanghai. I cried when I heard this song. Not because the song is so good, but because when I heard the line 'The Wumeng Mountains connect to mountains beyond mountains,' I felt homesick. I've been in Shanghai for eight years, only able to go back once a year for Chinese New Year. I used to think my hometown was poor, so I wanted to leave. After leaving, I wanted to go back, and now that I can't go back, I feel my hometown is better. That's just how people are, never satisfied. Thank you, Lu Ran, for helping me write about my hometown in a song."
Lu Ran read the comment twice, but neither liked it nor replied.
Some things don't need to be liked; just leave them there.
Children who have been away from home for a long time will always have the thought of returning home.
He scrolled down a few more comments and saw one from a local in Wumeng Mountain: "I'm from Weining, and I grew up by the Grass Sea. When I was a kid, I used to row boats and catch fish in the Grass Sea every day, but I didn't think there was anything special about it. Later, when I went to university in another city, I talked to my classmates about my hometown, mentioning Wumeng Mountain, Grass Sea, and the Hundred-Mile Azalea, but nobody knew about it. Now, finally, someone is helping us promote it. Lu Ran, you are a benefactor to us people of Guizhou Province."
Lu Ran was startled by the word "benefactor" and quickly handed her phone to Shen Yuege to see: "Look, someone said I'm a benefactor."
Shen Yuege glanced at it and smiled: "Then you can be their benefactor. Anyway, you've already written the song for them, the rest is up to them."
The two chatted for a while longer, then Shen Yuege yawned and said she was sleepy. Lu Ran turned off the light, and the two lay down.
Shen Yuege stretched her foot over and placed it on his calf. This time it wasn't cold; it was warm.
"Lu Ran".
"Um?"
"What do you think Director Liu is doing now?"
"He's probably listening to music. After all, this song is about his territory, if he doesn't listen to it, who will?"
Shen Yuege chuckled in the darkness, then closed her eyes without saying anything more.
Lu Ran stared at the starry sky outside the car window for a while, not thinking about the song, but about a comment he had just seen while browsing the comments section: "If this song had come out earlier, I could have gotten ten more points when I wrote about 'My Hometown' in my college entrance exam essay."
My friend, your idea is quite unique, but I understand how you feel.
...
The next morning, Lu Ran was woken up by her cell phone ringing.
He groggily reached for his phone, glanced at the time—it was already past 8 a.m.—and saw that the caller ID showed an unfamiliar number with the location listed as Bijie, Guizhou Province.
"Feed?"
"President Lu! It's me, Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang from the Wumeng Mountain Culture and Tourism Bureau!" The voice on the other end of the phone was as excited as if he had won the lottery.
"Xiao Zhang? What's wrong? What happened?"
"Nothing's wrong! Nothing's wrong! It's good news! It's fantastic news! Mr. Lu, don't hang up yet, let me have our Director Liu tell you!"
There was static on the other end of the phone, and someone was shouting, "Director, Director, come quick!" Then Director Liu's voice came through the receiver, sounding even more excited than Xiao Zhang's.
"President Lu! President Lu! Your song, your song..." Director Liu's voice choked up, and Lu Ran heard him sniffle. "Your song is so good. I listened to it all night last night, crying every time I listened. It scared my wife, she thought something had happened to me."
Lu Ran leaned back on the pillow and smiled: "Director Liu, please don't get agitated. It's just a song."
"This isn't just about one song!" Director Liu's voice rose another octave. "President Lu, you might not know this, but after your song was released last night, the number of visits to our scenic area's official website increased twentyfold. Before, we only had a few hundred people viewing it a day, but last night there were over five thousand people online simultaneously, and the server almost crashed. The tech team was called back to work overtime in the middle of the night, and they haven't left yet."
Lu Ran was stunned for a moment.
He anticipated that the song would have some impact, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.
I thought the butterfly effect would take a long time to take hold, but who knew it would happen so quickly.
"And there are still tickets," Director Liu continued. "This morning, as soon as we started work at eight o'clock, long queues formed at the ticket windows. It's the off-season here; normally, selling a few hundred tickets a day is considered good. But today, by ten o'clock, we've already sold over two thousand. Over two thousand, Mr. Lu! That's the level of a peak season weekend. It's only ten o'clock now; there's still plenty of time."
"That's good. It means the song is effective."
"And there's something even more outrageous," Director Liu said, his tone becoming incredulous. "This morning I received a text message from a travel agency, asking if our scenic area accepts group bookings. Previously, those travel agencies wouldn't even give us a second glance, thinking Wumeng Mountain was too remote and not well-known. Today they've come knocking on our door. Isn't that amazing?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "Director Liu, I've written the song for you, and I've helped you generate buzz. But you'll have to figure out the rest yourself. When tourists come, you need to provide good service. Don't let them come and think the song is great, but then find it's just... nothing special. How am I supposed to help you promote your business in the future?"
Director Liu's voice became serious: "President Lu, rest assured, I've remembered your words. We've been continuously upgrading the scenic area's infrastructure and training our service personnel. Don't worry, Wumeng Mountain won't let you down."
"I'm not afraid you'll embarrass me. I'm afraid you'll miss this opportunity. It would be such a waste not to seize such a great opportunity."
"We've got it! Mr. Lu, you just wait and see. Come back to Wumeng Mountain in three months, and I guarantee it will be completely different."
Lu Ran chatted with Director Liu for a few more minutes, mostly exchanging pleasantries. After hanging up, Shen Yuege lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes sparkling.
"More than two thousand tickets were sold?"
"Didn't you hear? Over two thousand tickets. Off-season. In just one morning."
Shen Yuege leaned back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling, and suddenly said, "This song of yours might really change the fate of many people."
"A song can't change anything. But a song plus a reliable cultural and tourism bureau, plus a group of people willing to work hard, plus a tourist willing to come—all these things combined can change something."
Why are you talking like you're giving a report today?
"Because I'm in a good mood today."
"Let's go, heading to Sichuan Province!"
...