The Butterfly Theater had been packed recently, with everyone working around the clock for three shows a day: morning, afternoon, and evening.
Faced with the sudden influx of traffic, everyone was dumbfounded.
However, Jiang Hua still went to work at the theater during the day and wrote at night. The only change was that he couldn't use the main entrance now.
But Douyin had gone crazy. Jiang Hua's 11 songs were like a storm.
All kinds of traffic-chasing videos were made, directly sending Jiang Hua's album to the top of the hot search rankings.
In just a few days, the topic of videos made using his songs exceeded 300 million views.
As for Wang Kai's album, it seemed to have sunk into the sea, basically not making any waves.
On the song popularity rankings, unsurprisingly, "Flowing Sand" rushed to the top.
But to listen to the complete song, one had to go to NetEase Cloud Music. This wave could only be described as NetEase Cloud Music winning big.
The sales of Jiang Hua's album directly broke the 20 million mark.
But when everyone was looking for Jiang Hua, he had hidden away, only posting a video.
He didn't even livestream anymore. How could this be?
"Jiang Hua, someone's looking for you."
Li Yunxiao found Jiang Hua backstage. When he wasn't performing, he was either in the practice room or hiding backstage.
Who knew how many fans came to see him, but he refused to meet any of them. He was too harsh on his fans.
"Who is it? Just tell them I'm not here."
"It's Boss Zhang from NetEase Cloud Music. He said you would see him."
Damn, so it was the big boss who came.
Boss Zhang walked in with his secretary and paused when he saw Jiang Hua.
So young, really too young.
"Mr. Jiang, hello hello. We spoke on the phone before."
Jiang Hua put down the erhu in his hand, stood up, and shook hands with him.
"Boss Zhang, there's no need for you to come in person. A phone call would have been fine."
Boss Zhang laughed, "It's only right. I'm also your fan."
Haha, this was too flattering.
Jiang Hua pointed to the stool beside him and said apologetically, "Boss Zhang, conditions are limited. Please have a seat first. I have another show later. I'll invite you to watch the opera in a bit."
"No problem, no problem. I really enjoy listening to opera."
The two chatted for a while. Jiang Hua knew the other party's intention was to prevent Jiang Hua from being poached.
Who knew how many new members NetEase Cloud Music had gained these past few days?
Jiang Hua's album could be listened to by members, but downloading and such required purchasing the album.
After chatting for a bit, Jiang Hua brought Boss Zhang to the theater.
Teacher Mao appeared at the door. Jiang Hua quietly asked, "Teacher Mao, are there any tickets left? I need two internal tickets."
"Internal tickets? For whom?"
"Boss Zhang from NetEase Cloud Music."
"Ahem."
Even Teacher Mao was speechless. NetEase Cloud Music was one of the domestic giants, a music website under the Pig Factory.
She looked at Boss Zhang behind them and hurriedly greeted, "Ah, Boss Zhang, sorry for the poor hospitality. It's all Jiang Hua's fault for not informing me in advance. I'll arrange it right away."
Boss Zhang smiled, "Teacher Mao, I grew up listening to your Yue Opera. Sorry for the sudden visit."
Jiang Hua patted Boss Zhang's shoulder.
"Haha, we just had a great chat and became good friends. Teacher Mao, please make arrangements. I'll treat you to dinner later. I'm going to get ready first."
Hey, this guy ran off. How presumptuous.
But Boss Zhang wasn't angry at all. This was what friends were like.
Among the musicians he knew, Jiang Hua's interpersonal interactions were frank, not overly humble or arrogant.
A very down-to-earth person.
"Boss Zhang, this way please."
To be honest, it was Old Zhang's first time listening to Yue Opera, and it was quite novel.
As soon as he sat down, his secretary whispered, "Boss, remember to get me an autograph later. I didn't even dare to speak just now. Oh my, he's so handsome."
Seeing his secretary act like a fangirl, Old Zhang shook his head. If he remembered correctly, this secretary had a boyfriend.
But the scene was really explosive, not at all like a traditional opera setting. It was basically all young people.
"Ah, Jiang Hua!"
Someone shouted, and the entire venue erupted.
Jiang Hua wanted to sneak to his position. He had been delayed by Old Zhang just now, and all the musicians were in place except for him.
But halfway there, the lighting technician found it amusing and shone a spotlight on him.
He stood there, and the entire theater burst into laughter.
Jiang Hua awkwardly turned around, waved at the audience, and quickly returned to his position.
So embarrassing.
"Haha, boss, I want to take a picture with Jiang Hua. Too cute."
Even Old Zhang couldn't help but laugh. It seemed opera wasn't as serious as he had thought.
This kind of contrast was really attractive to fans and further solidified his thoughts. He had to revise the contract.
Give a higher amount to retain Jiang Hua. In the future, Jiang Hua would be the face of NetEase Cloud Music.
As long as Jiang Hua continued to produce albums of the same quality, in just 2-3 years, the market share eaten away from NetEase Cloud Music would be recovered.
Beating QQ Music, he dreamed of it. Ten years ago there was still a chance. Now he would thank the heavens just to retain his own market share.
...
The performance ended, but the fans were reluctant to leave.
There was no choice but to close the doors and release Jiang Hua.
Jiang Hua took a third curtain call with the actors and shouted into the microphone.
"Go home, I'm off work too."
"Okay, hubby."
A reckless fan shouted, and the entire venue burst into laughter.
Teacher Mao shook her head backstage. Young people these days were really hard to understand.
You try to get them to leave nicely, but they don't listen.
Jiang Hua shouts once, and they all obediently leave like children.
Right, was this called gap moe?
The fans slowly left. Jiang Hua sighed and said to the performers, "Did I quietly steal your thunder? I'm really sorry. I'll treat you to hotpot in a bit."
"Ah, really? Jiang Hua, you're the best. I hope you steal our thunder more often in the future."
Hahaha, it was Li Yunxiao the little foodie again. Since he was treating Old Zhang to dinner anyway, he might as well treat everyone.
Recently, he had been stealing everyone's spotlight. He even felt that the people in the art troupe were becoming distant from him.
As soon as they got off work, everyone went to the hotpot restaurant together.
Jiang Hua walked together with Old Zhang.
He finally understood why Jiang Hua joined the art troupe. There were too many pretty girls.
"Old Zhang, let's have hotpot later."
Teacher Mao smacked Jiang Hua. "What Old Zhang? How disrespectful."
The atmosphere was too good.
"It's fine. Old Zhang it is. I like this form of address."
They hadn't walked far when a few fans recognized him.
"Ah, Jiang Hua, can you give us an autograph?"
Jiang Hua hurriedly made a shushing gesture at them.
They immediately lowered their voices and asked again carefully.
Jiang Hua had no choice but to sign a few to deal with it.
Teacher Mao and Boss Zhang stood to the side and joked, "I used to be the top star of the art troupe, but not anymore."
Jiang Hua rubbed his head and walked up to Teacher Mao. "Teacher Mao, you will forever live in my heart, urging me to grow."
"I'm not dead yet."
...