I really didn't intend to make a living based on my looks.

Chapter 94 The Frenzy of Offline Shopping Spree

FAB Audio-Visual Store, Xidan Joy City.

This is one of the few large-scale audio-visual flagship stores in Yanjing.

The two-story building, covering nearly a thousand square meters, was once a pilgrimage site for countless music fans.

There have been long queues here for the release of albums by Jay Chou, JJ Lin, and Wang Leehom.

At SHE and Twins' autograph session, we squeezed through a wall of people.

But that was many years ago.

Now, the second floor has been converted into a digital accessories area, and the third floor has been rented to a milk tea brand.

Only a corner on the first floor remains, guarding a few rows of CD racks, like an old soldier who refuses to retire, holding the last line of defense.

August 26, 6:17 AM.

As dawn broke, the glass doors of Joy City in Xidan were still locked.

There were already people standing at the door.

The first person to arrive was a girl in a JK uniform, carrying a canvas bag and holding a mobile phone with a countdown displayed on the screen.

There are 3 hours and 43 minutes left until the sale begins.

Her name is Lin Xiaoman, she is sixteen years old and a second-year high school student at the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University. Last night, she climbed over the school wall and spent the night in a nearby internet cafe.

"Excuse me, are you here to buy Jiang Chen's album too?"

The second girl to arrive came over, carrying a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe), which looked delicious.

"Hmm!" Lin Xiaoman's eyes lit up. "Which group are you in?"

"East China voting, Orange Number Three!"

"I am number five!"

The two shook hands instantly, as if they had exchanged a secret signal.

As time went on, more and more people arrived.

Wearing Lolita dresses, Dr. Martens boots, pigtails, and pink hair.

Some were carrying schoolbags, as if they had just finished their morning self-study session.

Some were even carrying soy milk and fried dough sticks, eating while scrolling through their phones.

There was no one organizing or calling on anyone, yet people gathered from all corners of the city as if by prior arrangement.

At 7:30, the line had already stretched to the trash cans at the side entrance of the mall.

At 8:00 AM sharp, the line turned a corner and stretched out along the fire lane, disappearing from sight.

The passersby were stunned.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know, is it some celebrity holding an autograph session?"

"It doesn't seem like it. There are no banners or posters. Besides, who buys albums these days? You can just download them online."

"Then... concert tickets?"

"That's definitely not true. Concert tickets are sold on Damai.cn, who would queue here?"

Within the team, fans have already started exchanging information.

"I've prepared 500 yuan; I absolutely have to get an autographed copy!"

"I brought 800 yuan. I'll buy ten standard edition copies to give to my friends."

"Sister, don't go too far, leave some for us."

"Why should we keep it? Our idol is being attacked like this right now. If we don't boost sales, who will?"

"Exactly! Let those haters see what real money is!"

At 9:00 AM sharp, at FAB Audio-Visual Store.

As the shop assistant, Xiao Wang, yawned, he opened the door. Just as he inserted the key into the lock, he heard a commotion outside.

He opened the door, and was stunned—

The entrance was packed with people.

It was full of young girls, packed together like a school of koi fish waiting for the floodgates to open.

As soon as the door opened, everyone's eyes snapped to it, their gazes so intense they could melt the glass.

"What's going on?" Xiao Wang took a half step back, almost knocking over the display stand by the door.

"Jiang Chen's album! Is it on sale yet?" The girl in the JK uniform at the front asked on tiptoe.

"Jiang—Jiang Chen?" Xiao Wang's mind didn't quite register it. "Who?"

"Jiang Chen! 'Evening Breeze and Youth'!"

Xiao Wang then remembered that his boss had indeed mentioned yesterday that a batch of goods had arrived at the store, not from any famous singers, and that he should just find a place to put them.

He didn't pay attention at the time and casually stuffed it into a corner of the warehouse.

"Wait—wait a minute, I'll go find it—"

He turned and ran toward the warehouse, a disappointed sigh echoing behind him.

Five minutes later, Xiao Wang came out pushing a cart full of albums, his forehead covered in sweat.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, the crowd surged forward.

"A signed copy! I want a signed copy!"

"Give me five standard copies!"

"Hey sis, don't try to take it! I got here first!"

"Who cares if you get there first or first? First come, first served!"

The cashier was instantly surrounded by a crowd.

Xiao Wang frantically scanned the QR code, and the POS machine kept beeping.

Two shop assistants were temporarily pulled in to help, one to get the goods and the other to maintain order. Their voices were hoarse from shouting.

"Line up! Line up! We won't sell to those who don't line up!"

Nobody listened.

A girl in a Lolita dress leaned over the counter and reached for the autographed plaques on the cart: "That one! I want that one!"

"Why do you want that one? I want one too!" A pink-haired girl behind her got anxious, pushed forward, and grabbed the sleeve of her Lolita dress.

"I saw it first!"

"Just because you saw it first doesn't mean it's yours! I bumped into it first!"

The two started pulling at each other, and the autographed copies scattered all over the ground with a "crash".

The girl in the Lolita dress panicked, plopped down on the cart, and clutched the remaining autographed copies to her chest, exclaiming, "They're all mine!"

"You've gone too far!" The pink-haired girl's eyes were red-rimmed. "Leave me one!"

"No way! My brother is being attacked online; if I don't support him, who will?"

"Even if you support it, you don't have to take it all, right?"

The fans behind joined in the fight while trying to break it up.

We are a family, if you want to fight, go fight on the sidelines.

WeAreFamily————

In less than half an hour, the autograph board on the cart was empty.

The news spread throughout the ranks, and those at the back let out a wail.

"What? It's gone?"

"Why didn't you order more stock?"

"Exactly! We've only gotten this far in line!"

"Who would buy so many! Would it kill them to leave me one?!"

"Sister, don't go too far! Why buy so much? Are you going to eat it all?"

Xiao Wang wiped his sweat and raised his hands: "Don't worry, everyone! The autographed editions are sold out, but there are still regular editions! Lots of regular editions are available!"

"The regular version is fine too! Give me ten!"

"I want ten too!"

"Don't fight over it!"

Changzhou, Xinhua Bookstore.

This is the largest Xinhua Bookstore in Qishuyan District, located on the second floor of the downtown commercial street.

It's usually deserted, with the audio-visual section tucked away at the back, and the dusty CD racks looking like forgotten artifacts.

Today, however, it's unusually lively.

Bai Mengyan got up at four in the morning.

She rode that old-fashioned bicycle, pedaling furiously all the way from the railway neighborhood, almost wearing out the bell.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

She rushed to the entrance of Xinhua Bookstore, the strap of her overalls slipped down to one side, and her hair was blown around like a bird's nest by the wind.

She ranked first based solely on her abilities, and seven or eight girls followed, all of whom were students from nearby schools.

As soon as the door opened, everyone pushed and shoved, and she was the first to rush in.

"Jiang Chen's album!"

The shop assistant, a woman in her forties, was dozing behind the counter when she was startled by her shout and almost fell off her chair.

"What?

'

"Evening Breeze and Boy!"

"Oh—" The older sister rubbed her eyes, slowly stood up, "Just put on the shelf, over there—"

Before she could finish speaking, Bai Mengyan rushed towards the audio-visual section.

On the shelf, there was a small stack of both autographed and regular editions.

She was quick-witted and grabbed all the autographed copies into her pocket, and also snatched a dozen or so regular copies.

"Check, please!"

The older woman stared in disbelief: "Girl, you—you bought so much?"

"Support my brother!"

Bai Mengyan slammed the album onto the counter with an air of authority, "Twenty autographed copies, and thirty standard copies too!"

"Thirty-three sheets?"

"Yes! I have money!"

She pulled out a bank card, which contained her savings from the past six months, originally intended for buying tickets to Lu Han's concert.

but----

She has professional ethics!

When everyone in the group posts photos, it would be so embarrassing for her, a manager, to only buy one.

How can someone like that be a leader?

The fans who were queuing behind finally caught up, and their eyes turned red when they saw the pile of autographed books in Bai Mengyan's arms.

"Don't go too far!"

"Leave some for us!"

Bai Mengyan turned around, her face full of righteous indignation: "I want to support my brother! You guys don't understand!"

"You don't need to buy so many if you're just showing your support, do you?"

"Exactly! That's outrageous!"

Bai Mengyan retorted, "I'd love to! If you're really fans, buy twenty copies!"

The fans queuing behind looked at each other in bewilderment.

Suddenly someone asked, "Are you called Orange Number Two?"

Bai Mengyan said proudly, "That's right, it's me!"

"Wow—no wonder—"

"Orange Number Two! The Orange Number Two in the group!"

"No wonder he looked so familiar, turns out he's a big shot!"

Bai Mengyan was flattered and felt incredibly proud, her chin practically pointing to the ceiling, but she still pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "Keep it down, keep it down! It's all for my brother!"

"Hey bro, how many tickets did you buy?"

"Fifty copies!" Bai Mengyan held up five fingers. "Twenty autographed copies and thirty standard copies!"

66

Fifty sheets!

A collective gasp filled the air.

"My God, that's incredible!"

"Is this the level of management's competence?"

"No wonder they managed to get into the senior management group; their purchasing power and execution ability are incredible!"

"Orange Number Two, from now on you'll be my idol!"

Bai Mengyan's smile almost stretched to her ears, but she still tried her best to maintain the dignity of the management: "Ahem, this is all as it should be. My brother is being attacked by the entire internet right now, if we don't support him, who will?"

"That's right!"

"I want to learn from Orange Number Two!"

"I want five!"

"Me too!"

The older woman frantically scanned the code, secretly marveling at the situation.

Is this girl crazy?

Bai Mengyan strode out the door, carrying fifty albums like trophies.

The fans in line behind were still shouting, "Orange No. 2, remember to announce it in the group chat next time there's an event!"

Without turning her head, she waved her hand and said, "No problem!"

I rode my old bicycle, the bell jingling, and disappeared at the end of the street.

She was humming a song, Jiang Chen's new song.

"Let me look at you one more time, from south to north—"

She stopped abruptly halfway through humming.

"Pah! Bai Mengyan, wake up! You're a hater! A hater!"

But the bicycle bell rang cheerfully all the way.

Meanwhile, in Shanghai.

Mr. Zhou, the owner of a video store, was still dreaming when he was woken up by a phone call.

In his dream, he was selling roast duck, and the line stretched from Nanjing Road to the Bund. Business was booming.

"Boss! Boss! Wake up!"

"—What?"

"The store's packed! Lots of people! They want to buy Jiang Chen's albums!"

Old Zhou sat up groggily and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table: 8:40 a.m.

"Jiang Chen? Who?"

"It's an actor who released an album! We received fifty copies, and they sold out as soon as we opened! There are still people queuing up!"

Old Zhou's mind raced for a moment before he realized what was happening.

"Fifty tickets? Sold out already?"

"Sold out! Boss, hurry up and get more stock, or they'll start causing trouble!"

Old Zhou hung up the phone in a daze, sat on the bed, and looked at the gray sky outside the window.

His shop is near the City God Temple, 20 square meters, and the rent is 8,000 yuan a month.

Normally, the daily turnover is less than 200 yuan. I'm so bored that I spend most of my time watching Yang Mi dance in the Six Rooms.

Are there times when newly arrived albums sell out in seconds?

What year is this eve?

Guangzhou, Tianhe City.

At the entrance of a certain audio-visual store, the queue stretched from the third floor to the escalator entrance on the first floor.

A middle school student in a school uniform clutched a crumpled fifty-yuan note in his hand, which was his breakfast money saved up for half a month.

She stood on tiptoe, watching the throng of people ahead, silently praying: Don't sell out, don't sell out, don't sell out—

Chengdu, Chunxi Road.

In the audio-visual section of a bookstore, the CD racks that were originally piled up in the corner collecting dust were now in a mess.

As the shop assistant tidied up, she muttered, "That's strange, I've never heard of this singer before—"

A girl wearing glasses, holding five albums, asked: "Sister, do you have any more?"

"That's all. You took the last five."

"Yay!" The girl jumped up, as if she had won the lottery.

FAB Audio-Visual Store, Xidan Joy City.

At 2 PM, the standard version was running low on stock.

Xiao Wang's voice was hoarse, and his fingers were numb from scanning the QR code.

He glanced at the sales data on the computer screen, his pupils dilating in shock.

Three thousand seven hundred tickets were sold in one morning.

What does this mean?

Last year, the total number of albums sold by all the artists in this store combined didn't reach this figure.

The queue at the entrance showed no signs of shortening.

Later, when fans heard that the autographed version was gone and the standard version was almost gone too, they were so anxious they were stamping their feet.

"Get the goods from another store!"

"The other stores are gone too."

"What should we do then?"

"That's all—I'll buy it next time—"

"No!" A girl with pigtails suddenly burst into tears. "My brother is being attacked by so many people right now. I just want to buy an album to support him, why is it so difficult—"

Her crying brought tears to the eyes of several girls around her.

"Don't cry, don't cry, we'll wait together!"

"Even if we can't buy it today, we'll have more tomorrow! We'll come every day!"

Looking at the group of girls, Xiao Wang suddenly remembered a similar scene from five years ago, on the day Jay Chou's "I'm Busy" was released.

He was young then. When he first entered the store, he was jostled around by the crowd, but he felt full of energy.

and after?

Later, the record industry died out. When stars released albums, people would just listen to them online and that was it. Who would still queue up?

He thought that passion, that madness, that foolishness of waiting for hours for a name, had long been buried in the grave along with the CD.

Unexpectedly, he came back to life today.

He picked up the walkie-talkie, his voice hoarse yet tinged with barely perceptible excitement: "Warehouse! Urgently dispatch another five thousand sheets! No, ten thousand! Immediately!"

On this day, countless audio-visual stores, Xinhua bookstores, and FAB flagship stores in various cities were packed with Jiang Chen's fans.

They lined up in the early morning, climbed over the school wall, skipped work to ask for leave, and traveled across half the city.

They rushed to buy, argued, cried, and cheered, turning the dusty CD rack upside down, scaring the shop assistants so much their legs went weak, and waking the shop owner from his dream.

Online, it was a frenzy.

On QQ Music, within 17 minutes of its release, "The Wind Rises" topped the new song chart, followed by "Anhe Bridge" at number three and "Ideal Thirty Years" at number five.

On Kugou Music, all five songs entered the top ten of the hot songs chart within 43 minutes of their release.

The number of comments on "The Wind Rises" has exceeded 10.

The meme "Buy an album and get your brother a gift" is all over the internet.

On NetEase Cloud Music, within 1 hour and 12 minutes of its release, "The Wind Rises" topped the Rising Chart, New Song Chart, and Original Song Chart.

The top-rated comment: "As soon as the intro to this song started, tears welled up in my eyes."

Online sales were equally phenomenal.

Within two hours of its release, the album sold 230,000 digital copies on QQ Music, 180,000 on Kugou Music, and 150,000 on NetEase Cloud Music.

With the addition of 15 physical albums, total sales have exceeded 71 copies.

"The Wind Rises" swept across all the charts like a real hurricane.

It ranked number one on QQ Music's new song chart.

It ranked number one on the KuGou Hot Songs Chart.

It ranked first on NetEase Cloud Music's trending chart.

Baidu Music, Qianqian Music — these three words are at the top of the charts for almost every music platform you can name.

got windy.

The Weibo hashtag #TheWindIsRisingJiangChen# has garnered over 1 million views and over 800 million discussions.

The Orange Army taught the Chinese entertainment industry a lesson through their actions.

150,000 physical albums sold out in 2 hours and 8 minutes.

The online digital album sold 56 copies on its first day.

"The Wind Rises" topped the new song charts on various platforms for three consecutive days without anyone being able to shake its position.

They showed everyone through their actions.

Traffic isn't just data; it's real money.

Fans are not just numbers; they are living, breathing people.

This was the first time the Chinese entertainment industry had witnessed such a thing.

What is fan economy?

What is the ability to drive sales?

What does it mean to be a top influencer?

August 27th, the second day after the album's release.

The media's stance began to subtly shift.