Entertainment: Starting with a Song of Rice Fragrance

That evening, after treating his two close friends to a big meal, Zheng Ning dragged his tired body home.

Sitting on his small bed, he opened his phone again and looked at the January song chart on Feixing Music Network.

At this point, half of January had already passed.

"Seven Mile Fragrance" ranked 758th with 178700 downloads.

"Tornado" ranked 821st with 168459 downloads.

"Hey, think about it, last month on the 25th, 'Rice Fragrance' had about the same number of views, but it was ranked 11th on the newcomer chart, tsk tsk..."

Zheng Ning was taken aback, but upon reflection, it all seemed rather reasonable.

Last month's "Rice Fragrance" benefited from perfect timing, location, and people. The perfect timing was when Feixing Group launched its new talent champion list, giving it a stage to showcase itself.

The advantage of location stemmed from his accommodating the locals. Many fans who came from the city's promotional videos for "Chengdu" contributed to the success of his song "Rice Fragrance" out of love for the city.

As for the "human element," it was the initial stage when the song needed to gain momentum that was seen by the popular internet celebrity Xiao Feiyan during a chance outdoor live stream, bringing him an initial wave of traffic.

But most importantly, it was just a competition between newcomers.

And Zhao Lu, the agent, went all out for her position as deputy minister, spending all the funds that could theoretically be provided to a B-level singer for a year in just one month.

In contrast, new singers from other companies are not so lucky. They have to rely on a pitiful amount of funding to climb the charts, so they naturally can't compare to him.

"Tsk tsk... Last month, it seems I underestimated all the heroes in the world. I thought that after my debut, I wouldn't be afraid of anyone, even among professional singers."

"Moreover, looking at the feedback for 'Seven Mile Fragrance' and 'Tornado,' they don't seem as intense as 'Rice Fragrance' and 'Chengdu.' Some listeners even said that the arrangement felt a bit awkward, and that their deliberate imitation of the singing style of the singer named Jay Chou in the original song provided by the system was described as unclear, with even the lyrics being difficult to understand..."

"I never imagined that Jay Chou's songs, which the system so highly praises, wouldn't even crack the top 100 on the official artist charts... Is this just a case of cultural incompatibility, or is it that we, the natives of this other world, simply don't have a strong affinity for his musical style?"

Zheng Ning shook his head and smiled wryly.

He still has an unopened music treasure chest.

But it's not really meaningful to release this month, since as a newly debuted singer, the company's publicity resources are already stretched thin.

If another song were released at this point, there simply wouldn't be enough money, manpower, or distribution channels to market it, and it might not even make it into the top 1.

After all, we've long since passed the days when good wine needs no bush. With tens of thousands of singers releasing songs at the same time, how can an unknown newcomer's song be known if no one promotes it?

"Alright, let's wait until the end of the month to open it, and then we'll put in a lot more effort next month."

"Ding!"

"A song of yours has been detected competing on the charts this month. The following task is hereby issued: [Show Your Talent]."

"Task objective: Get either 'Seven Mile Fragrance' or 'Rice Fragrance' into the top 100 of the music charts."

"Task Reward: [Random Song Chest] x1. If both songs are in the top 100, the reward will be doubled."

Special Note: A hidden reward will be available if you exceed the target for this task!

"Oh? System, I thought you'd forgotten about that!"

Zheng Ning clicked his tongue. Could it be that the system initially lacked confidence in him, but now that it sees that his performance is not bad, it has issued such a task?

……

At the same time, in Hengcheng, in Wang Yushu's luxury apartment.

"Sis, please help me! All you have to do is say something on your Weibo to support my brother's new song. You don't even need to mention the song title, and my song's ranking will skyrocket!"

Wang Yushu, who is cold and aloof in front of others, is like a completely different person when he calls his sister at home, acting like a spoiled child!

If Zhao Lu or anyone else were to see him like this, his aloof image would instantly shatter into pieces.

"No way! What kind of garbage are those songs of yours? They have no substance whatsoever, and they're just wailing and howling like ghosts. You have absolutely no taste!"

A pleasant woman's voice came through the phone, but her tone was even more aloof and impatient.

"Look at this song title, 'Love Without Limits'... What kind of lousy name is that? I'm telling you singers, can't you get rid of all those melodramatic love stories? Can't you sing something positive and uplifting?"

On the phone, Wang Yushu's sister complained with exasperation.

"Look at Zheng Ning, ah, his songs 'Rice Fragrance,' 'Chengdu,' and those two songs from this month, which one is as empty and vulgar as yours? His lyrics are profound, educational, and even healing. On the other hand, all that love stuff in your songs... hey, I don't even want to talk about it!"

Wang Yushu could only look helpless upon hearing his sister's words.

Please, sister, is it that I don't want good songs?

Am I not going to want a good song that is profound, educational, and can also heal the soul?

I can't get it!

We just can't get such great songs!

The songs you mentioned are all produced and sold by Zheng Ning himself. Unlike us ordinary singers, who have to rely on the company's seniority system to get a song, you don't have to be picky about what you get.

Many singers haven't even received any songs yet in January. I only managed to get one song by going through Sister Zhao's connections. I'm already lucky to have anything to sing!

This song hasn't even cracked the top 1000 yet, and it's only been downloaded a mere 8 times.

Wang Yushu was so frustrated that he had no choice but to ask his famous older sister for help.

Little did he know that his sister didn't want to pay any attention to him at all, and instead threw a bunch of criticisms at him.

How is he supposed to live?

"Oh dear, sister..."

"Get lost! Don't even think about using my fame to beat up your trashy song! It'll only tarnish my reputation! I'm warning you, don't go around telling everyone you're my brother and using my name to promote you, or I'll smash your head in!"

"Click".

After the tirade, the phone went dead.

"Sigh... How did I end up with such a temperamental older sister..."

Wang Yushu slumped onto the sofa with his hands limp, his eyes resting on the back of the sofa as he stared helplessly at the ceiling.

"This can't go on! My singing career has only just begun. How can I remain unknown like this? I was the third runner-up in the entire Western Continent talent show, after all!"