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The day before the "Ordinary Road" commercial launched across major media platforms, at 8:00 p.m. on April 24, the China Original Music Chart released its official rankings for the final week of April.
Seven songs from Chen Fei'er's new album made it onto the list simultaneously, including six written by Lu Chen: "Flower Woman," "Your Eyes," "I Crossed the Ocean to See You," "Hello Tomorrow," "Meeting," and "Crowded Sea."
Among them, the album's title track "Flower Woman" debuted straight at No. 1, while the highly praised "I Crossed the Ocean to See You" ranked third.
In just over a week, Flower Woman had sold over a million copies, so its songs charting on the Original Music rankings was only natural. But the fact that its lead single debuted at the very top still sent a ripple of shock through the industry.
It was only a matter of time before all ten songs from the album appeared on the chart, and even beyond the title track, several other songs still had room to climb higher.
Once again, the "Queen of Love Songs" was about to become the "Queen of the Charts."
That forced people in the entertainment industry to take a hard look at the man standing behind this Heavenly Queen, Lu Chen.
His first album, My Old Classmate, had once achieved the same legendary feat, with every track charting simultaneously. Songs he'd written for other artists and bands, like Wandering Band and MSN, had also dominated the charts, often taking the top spots as if it were nothing. And now, with Chen Fei'er's new album added to the list, Lu Chen's success seemed almost unstoppable.
His sheer talent and consistency were enough to make others envious, yet too powerful to even compete with.
And so, a new wave of voices began to circulate within the circle, calling for a revision to the chart's rules.
The proposed change centered on limiting "chart domination." Under the new rule, no more than three songs from the same album could appear on the list at once, only the top three performers by data. This, supposedly, would give other independent singer-songwriters a fairer shot.
In truth, this wasn't the first time such talk had come up. Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er weren't the first artists whose entire album had charted, years ago, some of the biggest names in Chinese pop had achieved similar results.
But in recent years, domestic original music had grown weaker, and while it wasn't rare for several songs from one album to chart, it had been a long time since anyone's entire album made it. Naturally, those calls for rule changes had died down.
Lu Chen's meteoric rise in the pop scene had clearly struck a nerve with some people.
He was simply shining too brightly.
And soon enough, those murmurs, passed along by a few familiar mouths, reached Lu Chen himself.
He merely smiled in amusement.
The Original Music Chart was meant to honor creativity and encourage originality. Making the list helped increase an artist's influence and boosted sales, all good things.
Having an entire album chart at once was certainly an achievement, but if they wanted to change the rules, that was fine too. The chart was important, yes, but not that important. His position in the music world no longer depended on rankings.
The true measure of worth was the fans' recognition.
So, if some people wanted to tweak the rules, even if it was clearly aimed at him, he didn't mind. At worst, he'd just limit himself to writing three songs per album next time.
After all, rarity makes things precious. Too many great songs in one release wasn't necessarily ideal.
But while Lu Chen was unconcerned, someone else was furious.
"They're just jealous, plain and simple!"
Chen Fei'er's voice came through the phone, brimming with anger.
"Some people just can't stand seeing others do well, they have to stir up trouble."
She didn't name names, but in the entertainment industry, success always attracted controversy. When someone shines too brightly, there will always be those who can't stand it, even if they can't stop you outright, they'll still find petty ways to make your life difficult.
The rumor spreading through the entertainment circle this time looked, on the surface, like an attack on Chen Fei'er, but in truth, the arrow was aimed straight at Lu Chen.
Chen Fei'er was furious.
"Charting depends on talent and hard work! What's the point of changing the rules?" Lu Chen comforted her with a calm smile. "Don't worry about others. As long as we do our part well, that's enough."
In the entertainment industry, there are countless things you simply can't take too seriously. If you let yourself get entangled in every bit of gossip, you'll only end up exhausted. For rumors that come out of thin air like this, the best response is to just ignore them.
And even if the rules were changed, so what?
Of course, it wasn't that Chen Fei'er really cared about whether her songs ranked high or not. She didn't crave that kind of recognition to begin with. What upset her was that those so-called "rule changes" were clearly meant to target Lu Chen.
"Calm down. How about I come to Huacheng to see you?"
At the moment, Chen Fei'er was in Huacheng, the capital of Guangdong Province, promoting her new album and attending several endorsement events.
"Come to Huacheng to see me?"
Her attention was instantly diverted, and her voice lightened with a laugh.
"Really? Heehee, aren't you busy?"
She knew he was probably just trying to cheer her up, but that didn't stop her from feeling delighted.
"Busy, of course!"
Lu Chen sighed.
"The new drama's about to start filming, and I still haven't gotten the whole crew together yet."
This time, the production of 'Full House' was far more complicated than 'Autumn in My Heart'. There were more companies involved, which meant more coordination issues. And since part of the shoot would take place in South Korea, plenty of arrangements had to be made in advance, otherwise, even small delays could cause serious problems.
"You could at least say you'd come see me no matter how busy you are,"
Chen Fei'er said with mock irritation.
Lu Chen gave himself a symbolic slap on the cheek, he really couldn't win with her sometimes.
After a few playful hmph hmphs, Chen Fei'er suddenly asked, "I heard you're not planning to work with Sister Fang Hui anymore?"
Lu Chen sighed. "I was actually just about to tell you about that."
Chen Fei'er and Fang Hui also had a good relationship. There had recently been some disagreement over contract details, and Lu Chen hadn't told her earlier because he didn't want her to get distracted.
But apparently, some rumors had already reached Chen Fei'er's ears.
So, Lu Chen told her everything, from start to finish.
When he was done, Chen Fei'er frowned slightly.
"Sister Fang doesn't strike me as a greedy person. Could it be her agent causing trouble?"
Lu Chen said quietly, "I don't know."
He strongly suspected that Fang Hui's agent was behind the issue, but he hadn't called her to confront it directly; that wouldn't have been appropriate. Not for him, and not even for his sister, Lu Xi, to handle.
Because if the problem did come from Fang Hui herself, asking her about it directly would destroy their friendship completely.
Lu Chen was a sentimental person; he didn't want things to reach that point.
Chen Fei'er understood immediately.
"I get it. Then let me give Sister Fang Hui a call."
It was a call Lu Chen couldn't make himself, but coming from Chen Fei'er, that was fine.
Lu Chen thought about it and didn't stop her. No matter what the truth was, the matter needed a resolution. And sure enough, after their call at noon, Fang Hui showed up at the studio that very afternoon.
As soon as she saw Lu Chen, the first thing she said was: "Lu Chen, I fired my agent!"
(End of Chapter)