Rebirth from the Ashes

Fu Qingli felt suffocated for a while like he was about to vomit blood. He said with a sullen face, “Go back to the hotel.”

‘If I’m sincere, I should give her a hundred million? One hundred million?!’

The girl’s voice was like a demon constantly taunting his mind, mocking him over and over again for his self-righteousness.

**

Shen Xi took the 100,000 yuan given by Fu Qingli and donated it to Song Wenye as a contribution to Qi Xiu’s album. She refused to spend his money, so she would just use it for charity!

On Sunday when they finally had a break, they decided to distribute Qi Xiu’s album.

“Xixi, Xixi, Xixi!” Song Wenye called out to her. “Stop doing homework! The albums are ready. Let’s head to West Street Square to distribute them!”

The rest of the International Class looked at her and giggled.

Shen Xi closed her exercise book, packed her school bag, and went out.

The International Class students were excited to be able to hang out together. It did not matter what they were doing, they just felt that it was fun to be together. Besides, after the album distribution, they would go for dinner.

Shen Xi sat in the car and looked at the latest data sent by the Music Department for Qi Xiu’s album as well as the list of artists who would be attending the interviews next week. There were newcomers, indie artists, some D-listers, and even some C- and B-listers as well.

On the second day of the album’s release, at noon, Qi Xiu’s physical album sales overtook Su Muyan’s. They sold one million copies.

Moreover, the sales of the digital album, which already exceeded eight million copies, was another slap in Su Muyan’s face.

Besides the hot topics bought by Tianheng for Su Muyan, the rest were discussing Qi Xiu’s new album. There was no need for further publicity because Qi Xiu’s songs were self-promoting. Everyone enjoyed listening to good songs after all.

As for the charts, it was not as convincing as the actual sales because these charts relied on fans to boost the rankings.

All charts were manipulatable as long as there was sufficient money to pay someone to make some tweaks. It was a piece of cake to be on the list because not many artists would release their albums later in the year.

Su Muyan had some skills, but his achievements were fake and overestimated. A large part of the hot topics was from his fans and tabloid accounts that were bought out.

Su Muyan was part of the first wave of celebrities that relied on their huge number of fans. These idol singers were social media influencers and profit from fans buying their merchandise and products.

These people had one thing in common, which was their large fan base. These avid followers would organize events just to increase album sales.

In the years to come, this would become more common as many companies saw the opportunity and saw how far fans would go for their idols.

However, no companies cared about how these influencers would end up because they only wanted profits. If an idol group failed, then they just had to form another.

Some of these people were overwhelmed by fame and thought that they were superstars and the best. They were addicted to the illusion of prosperity and could not extricate themselves. They only realized their true strength once all this extravagance was removed and woke up to reality.

Some people used this opportunity to enrich themselves and change for the better. They were not frazzled by the immediate wealth and improved their ability and performance. Truly capable artists would not need fans to hold them up to be able to stand firm in the entertainment industry.

Cosmos Entertainment did not want artists who were blinded by fame. Instead, they wanted artists who had the strength and ability to improve and grow themselves.

Shen Xi also hoped that every artist signed by their company could discover themselves and get what they want during their time with them. She would do her best to help them.

“Sister Xi, we’re here. Let’s go!” Chu Ying shouted. She smiled and leaned closer to Shen Xi. “What are you thinking about? Care to share?”

“I was just thinking about how we must rely on our strength and capability. We shouldn’t rely on others.” Shen Xi returned to her senses and patted her shoulder. “When we’re left with nothing, the only thing we can rely on is ourselves.”

Chu Ying watched Shen Xi get out of the car and touched her head. ‘I don’t understand what Sister Xi is saying… It’s too philosophical. Let’s go distribute the albums!’

On Sunday afternoon, West Street was very crowded.

Chu Ying’s uncle, who is the owner of the Golden Tower Mall, told the mall’s security guards to help out with the unloading of the albums at the entrance’s big square.

There were more than 60,000 copies, so it was quite heavy. They prepared a banner to display in advance and soon, their little pop-up booth attracted many people.

Everyone was entitled to only one album and needed to line up.

In the midst of it, Song Wenye snuck out to buy two sticks of candied hawthorns, one for herself and the other for Shen Xi. The two of them then sat at the back to eat.

Shen Xi asked, “Why didn’t you buy one for everyone?”

Song Wenye said, “I only have two hands, so I can’t hold that many. They can buy for themselves.”

When they finished their candied hawthorn, Song Wenye handed Shen Xi a face mask and looked at her. “Put it on.”

Shen Xi was confused.

Song Wenye quickly put it on for Shen Xi. “You’re too striking if you don’t wear a mask. When you were at the booth earlier, so many people wanted to add you on WeChat!”

There were also a lot of disgusting perverted men who stared at them lecherously. She even felt like punching them.

Shen Xi nodded and looked at her. “You should wear one too!”

Song Wenye’s outfit was quite flashy today, and a lot of people also asked for her number.

She put on the mask and thought, ‘Some people are just too gross. I can’t stop them from looking at me since I’m so beautiful, but appreciating beauty doesn’t mean they need to be lewd!’

Shen Xi went over to distribute the albums and asked the others to go for a break. As soon as they changed shifts, she looked up and saw the person she least wanted to see, Fu Qingli.

He was wearing a black windbreaker with a black baseball cap that was pulled very low, deliberately trying to suppress his cold and domineering aura. He looked discreet.

However, the cap still could not conceal his handsome chiseled face. Many sharp-eyed girls saw him and looked at him in awe.

He stood next to the line, seemingly accompanying someone who was in line. That woman was gorgeous with big wavy hair and flaming red lips with a very sexy body.

The woman looked to be about the same age as him. She said something to him, to which he then responded with a helpless look.

Shen Xi was stunned. ‘What’s going on? This son of a b*tch Fu Qingli has a girlfriend? She’s also so pretty and sexy!’

Fu Qingli was talking to the woman and seemed to sense Shen Xi’s gaze. He then swept a cold gaze at her.

Shen Xi pretended not to see anything and continued distributing the albums as if nothing happened.

Soon, Fu Qingli and the sexy lady came to the front but were still two turns away from Shen Xi.

The lady looked at Fu Qingli and nudged him, then said in a soft voice just loud enough for Shen Xi to hear. “Do you know her?”

This guy was not normal today and had stared at this young girl several times with a weird expression. Usually, this man would never look at anyone or reward strangers with so much as a glance.

Shen Xi told herself not to care about his answer, but her damned heart still bore anticipation.