Volume One: Rising to the Pinnacle Upon Debut Chapter Thirty-Seven: Reaching the Summit

On the night Snow Moon’s album was released, Chen Jing logged onto his Weibo, intending to post a message to promote her album. As soon as he logged in, he glanced at his follower count—over 110,000 now—not bad. After all, Chen Jing had never bought fake followers; these were all genuine fans, not bots.

Since he was promoting someone else’s music, not his own, Chen Jing took extra care in composing the post:

“Hello everyone! It’s been a while. I’m here again to recommend a song—no, this time, it’s an album! Former member of the Ethereal Girls, Snow Moon, has just released her debut solo album ‘Origins.’ All ten tracks were written and composed by me. The title track is ‘Crimson Vow.’ If you enjoy traditional-style love songs, you won’t be disappointed. And if you don’t like it after listening, you’re welcome to come and hold me accountable anytime.”

After editing, he attached the album link and clicked post.

The comments started pouring in immediately.

“First! I got here before anyone else.”

“Ha! Caught a live blogger, a once-in-a-lifetime event.”

“Shocking! The musical prodigy Chen Jing finally interacts with his fans.”

“Don’t go, idol! Chat with us some more.”

…

The comments quickly surpassed a hundred. Amused, Chen Jing read through the various messages from his fans, then decided to send another post.

“Come on, let’s talk about Snow Moon’s album tonight. Go listen first, then come back and give me your thoughts—they’re all my songs.”

“Wow! He’s here, he’s here!”

“Idol has spoken. Say no more, I’m off to listen right now.”

“Actually, it’s not just because you said so, but knowing you wrote every song, I have to check it out.”

“Exactly! I really love the songs you write, Chen Jing.”

“My favorite is ‘Birch Forest.’”

…

More comments flooded in. Chen Jing smiled at the enthusiasm and didn’t post again. After about the length of a song, he finally saw the kind of comment he’d been waiting for.

“Loved it! Everyone, stop commenting and go listen—you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

That must have been from a fan who had already listened to a track.

Someone immediately replied, “Did you finish listening? How is the song?”

“I just heard the title track ‘Crimson Vow.’ All I can say is Chen Jing truly deserves his reputation as a musical talent. But you’ll have to listen for yourselves to feel it.”

“You’re making me itch to listen! Who’s joining me for a listening session?”

“Me!”

“Count me in!”

“Let’s go…”

More and more people returned after listening, posting messages full of praise and encouraging others to give it a try.

Chen Jing quietly watched the comments, waiting patiently.

Finally, his fan club’s leader, Little Fairy, commented:

“Fan club, gather! Let’s all go support the songs our idol wrote.”

“First group reporting in!”

“Second group here, rushed so fast I lost a slipper.”

“Third group reporting—was in the middle of a bathroom break… forgot to wipe.”

“Ew, I just saw a comment that stinks of the restroom…”

Wang Youxuan had logged in too. Chen Jing had told her about Snow Moon’s album. Even though the comments were getting a bit off-topic, the discussion was lively, and the comment section was on fire.

After a while, Chen Jing left another comment: “Haha, it’s really lively in here. So, what do you all think of the album?”

“Oh! The blogger’s back!”

“I’m already on track seven—every song’s a masterpiece, love them all.”

“Snow Moon truly deserves to be the lead singer of Ethereal Girls. I thought I’d never hear her voice again after they disbanded, but she released a solo album! Thumbs up.”

“I’ve discovered a new world—Chen Jing’s songs plus Snow Moon’s vocals equals perfection!”

“Agreed! This combo is unbeatable.”

“To be honest, Chen Jing’s songs sound perfect no matter who sings them. Did you forget about ‘Aurora’ and ‘Thinking of You Thinking of Me’?”

“As expected, our musical prodigy Chen Jing really lives up to his name.”

“Enough said, I’m buying and adding the album to my collection. These songs are going on repeat for the next few days.”

“Only a few days on loop? I could play them for a month.”

“That’s because you’re still young. In a few days, the fourth round of Voice of China will air—then we’ll have new songs from Chen Jing to listen to.”

“Right on! Cheers to the big brother!”

After a few more comments and seeing that almost no one was bashing the album, Chen Jing felt reassured. He sent a private message to Little Fairy and then posted a final message:

“As long as you all like it, that’s enough for me. Thank you for your support! Get some rest, good night!”

After posting, Chen Jing ignored the pleas for him to stay, logged off Weibo, and shut down his computer.

Staring at the blanking monitor, Chen Jing dazed for a moment. It seemed Snow Moon’s album sales would turn out quite well. After all, this was the first album he had fully produced himself—he hoped it would achieve good results. He didn’t dare hope for record-breaking numbers, but aiming for the top monthly sales wasn’t out of the question…

In this way, many people first learned from Chen Jing’s Weibo that the former lead singer of Ethereal Girls, Snow Moon, had released her debut solo album. Some were drawn by Chen Jing’s songwriting and bought the album after sampling the tracks; others were Snow Moon’s fans supporting their idol. But what puzzled everyone was why Jingrun Entertainment hadn’t released any news or done any promotion for Snow Moon’s album—an utterly baffling move.

At Jingrun Entertainment, Wang Lu was furiously berating his staff.

“What’s wrong with your album publicity department? Do you still want your jobs? Snow Moon’s album, and you didn’t do any promotion at all! What on earth were you thinking?”

The person in charge replied aggrievedly, “President Wang, it’s not that we didn’t want to promote it—Snow Moon never asked us to. In fact, someone specifically told us not to over-promote her album, and since Snow Moon herself didn’t make a request, we just went along with it. We thought we could earn some goodwill that way. We had no idea you’d hold us accountable…”

Wang Lu sneered, “Just because Snow Moon didn’t ask, you think you can just skip the publicity? Do you have rocks for brains? Is this your idea of working for the company?” Wang Lu was a seasoned veteran who’d climbed the ranks over the years; he knew exactly what little games his subordinates liked to play.

Normally, if this had been any other artist’s album, Wang Lu might not have bothered, but was this an ordinary release? This was the debut solo album of the former lead singer of Ethereal Girls—of course her fans would buy it. And the entire album was produced by Chen Jing, whom Wang Lu himself had handpicked for his talent—lyrics, music, arrangements, everything, all by the so-called musical prodigy. Some might say Chen Jing was just a newcomer, inexperienced, so how could he possibly produce a quality album on his first try? To that, Wang Lu could only scoff. Besides, the album was greenlit by Lin Xi herself after reviewing the finished product. In this company, if Lin Xi was second in insight and ability, no one would dare claim first.

“Yes, yes, President Wang, this was my oversight. I’ll start making up for it right away.” The department head, realizing his mistake, dared not say more and just hoped to remedy things as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he might not just lose his chance at a promotion but his job altogether.

Cursing himself inwardly, he blamed his earlier lapse in judgment—falling for a few sweet words and agreeing to someone else’s request without fully understanding the situation. How foolish…

“Go. Make sure to use the highest-level promotional plan. Barring any surprises, our performance this month depends on this album.”

The department head was startled by how highly President Wang rated the album, but now all he could do was try to mitigate the impact and see if anything could still be salvaged.

Ever since Zhang Jingzhi started looking after Molly, Chen Jing was finally able to devote more time to the company. Aside from preparing for the fourth round of Voice of China, he began working on his own first album. He had also signed up for the International Street Dance Competition, and was dedicating a lot of time to practicing street dance for it.

One day, Chen Jing was in the dance studio practicing popping. Just as he finished a routine, he heard someone applauding. Turning, he saw Snow Moon watching him, her face full of admiration.

He paused and walked over. “Snow Moon, what’s up? Did you need something?”

She shook her head and said, “Thank you, Jing. Really, thank you.”

Chen Jing looked puzzled. “Huh? What’s this about? Why the sudden thanks?” Then, guessing, he smiled, “Wait—did ‘Crimson Vow’ hit number one? Or did your album win the monthly sales crown?” Since its release, the album’s performance had been steadily climbing, which reassured Lin Xi and the others. Chen Jing hadn’t paid much attention, but he kept an eye on things now and then.

Snow Moon nodded gently, a soft smile on her lips. “’Crimson Vow’ is number one on the charts, and the album took the sales crown.”

Hearing this, Chen Jing burst out laughing. “Congratulations, Snow Moon—double blessings!”

Snow Moon shook her head, looking at him seriously. “No, I should be the one thanking you. You did so much for this album. Without your music, it could never have achieved such results.”

In just one week, Snow Moon’s debut album had climbed to number one in monthly album sales. All ten songs entered the top 50 of the most popular music charts in China, and the title track, ‘Crimson Vow,’ dethroned the long-standing champion ‘Aurora,’ taking first place in its own right.