Chapter 85: "Ghost Blows Out the Light" Sold Out!

All the songs for the new album had been fully recorded and were now undergoing final mastering and post-production mixing. The cover and promotional material designs were in their last stages as well, and in just three days, the album would be sent to the factory for pressing.

The record company planned an initial print run of fifty thousand copies. After all, this was his debut album, and sales were still a complete unknown.

Meanwhile, online pre-orders had already begun. Both Rainy Day Music’s official page and Jiang Lun’s microblog had pinned the pre-order link at the top. In the first twenty-four hours alone, pre-orders had reached an astonishing thirteen thousand copies.

Given the current downturn in physical album sales, this figure was remarkable. Though it wasn’t earth-shattering, breaking ten thousand had made it the talk of the music industry.

Nowadays, buying a physical album isn’t just about acquiring a CD. The real draw for fans is the bundle of small gifts—autographed cards, photo cards, souvenir bracelets, and so on.

On Rainy Day Music’s sales website, Jiang Lun’s new album came in two versions.

Version A included the album, an autographed greeting card, a commemorative bracelet, a pin badge, and a set of photo cards, all for 130 yuan. More than twelve thousand people chose this deluxe set.

Version B included only the album and a set of photo cards for 45 yuan, and fewer than a thousand people opted for it.

Seeing these numbers, Jiang Lun couldn’t help but marvel at how much cash fans seemed to have these days. Most of them were after the gifts and didn’t mind spending extra money; those truly interested in the music alone were pitifully few.

Meanwhile, the music video for the lead single, “Love Before the Common Era,” had debuted on the TV music charts, claiming the top spot on its very first day.

The video featured Jiang Lun and a rookie actor from the film company. The visuals were simple, mostly showing him walking the city streets, singing, interspersed with scenes of a young woman in the library, before shop windows, and in a museum. Special effects added an air of mystery and fantasy.

At the video’s end, as the music fades, the two meet at the museum entrance, their eyes meet, and the film ends.

The video itself didn’t cause much of a stir, but the music did, sparking widespread discussion.

“What kind of music is this?”

“It’s really good, but he sings so fast—I had to keep my eyes glued to the subtitles!”

“He sings so fast! Is this rap or R&B?”

“Jiang Lun’s new song is so distinctive!”

“Daring enough to challenge rap with its melody and R&B with its speed—impressive!”

And so on—the comments poured in. Music critics quickly joined the fray.

A prominent critic from the account “Live Music” wrote a lengthy post:

“Today I listened to the lead single from Jiang Lun’s new album, ‘Love Before the Common Era.’ The song carries a strong sense of fantasy, merging exotic flavors, Western trends, and Eastern subtlety. It weaves the history and civilization of ancient Babylon into a unique imaginative space that lingers in the mind.

Returning to the beautiful legends of Mesopotamia, the lyrics even mention cuneiform script—a bold and creative touch. I’ve heard Jiang Lun’s pop-rap before, but this track is different. The opening lines feel like rap, but overall, the melody is strong! I hesitate to pigeonhole its style, and will leave that to other experts.”

Soon after, Wang Kai of the Central Academy of Drama’s musical theater department also posted a long commentary:

“Jiang Lun surprises yet again, transforming history into music. Previously, we heard ‘Fireworks Are Easy to Fade,’ adapted from the story in ‘The Annals of the Temple.’ In this song, ‘Love Before the Common Era,’ we hear references to the Code of Hammurabi, the Tigris River, the Mesopotamian plains, cuneiform script—all tongue-twisting terms that symbolize Babylon. The goddess Ishtar, in particular, stands out. In local religion, she holds the highest rank among goddesses, presiding over many domains, one of which is love…”

He concluded by saying he eagerly anticipated the full album, curious what other songs it might contain and what new surprises awaited him.

Wang Kai, truly a professor, gave a detailed explanation of the knowledge embedded in “Love Before the Common Era.” Only after reading his post did the fans truly understand.

“Oh! So the song is packed with so much meaning—it’s far from simple.”

With the new album poised for release and the nationwide promotional tour about to kick off, another event was set to precede even the album launch: the physical publication of “Ghost Blows Out the Light.”

The first volume had passed official review and obtained a publication number, with all distribution handled by Open Book Press under Yida’s banner.

News of the novel’s publication swept the internet almost overnight.

What was the most anticipated novel of the first half of the year?

It had to be the legendary “Ghost Blows Out the Light.” Its legend wasn’t merely in the story itself, but in the mystery surrounding its author.

After much speculation and a few false leads, it was finally confirmed that the author was none other than Jiang Lun, the singer. After Jiang Lun’s meteoric rise on Starlight Show, the book’s hit count on Qichuang Online soared to a record-breaking one million in a single day.

No one else in the field could compare.

Jiang Lun’s foray into novel-writing inspired many small and medium-sized websites. Take Xin Hua, a site that struggled for traffic—a month’s hits there couldn’t match Qichuang’s in ten minutes.

But seeing the “Ghost Blows Out the Light” phenomenon, they had an idea. They hired a minor celebrity, a third-tier model with a few bit parts to her name, to write a book for their site.

She couldn’t write? No problem—just plagiarize! They patched together passages from a dozen popular women’s palace novels, cobbling together a so-called “celebrity” novel.

Then they hired an army of online promoters—hundreds of thousands—to hype the book on every forum, message board, and social media platform.

Thus, the former third-tier model was transformed into a celebrated writer, frequently appearing at major literary events. Many men, who’d never read her book, were won over by her alluring looks alone.

But the paper couldn’t cover the fire—her plagiarism was eventually exposed. She became a pariah, cursed and denounced by all. Yet, infamy is still fame; she simply shrugged, left the literary scene, and her value as a model soared several times over.

On the release day of “Ghost Blows Out the Light,” banners flew in bookstores across the country:

—Pioneer of tomb-raiding adventure novels, founder of a new genre: “Ghost Blows Out the Light” is launched with great fanfare!

Jiang Lun’s microblog also announced the release—though Mac was the one who posted it for him.

Fans on social media were still deep in debate about the new song and album, fiercely arguing over the genre of “Love Before the Common Era,” when suddenly the bombshell announcement of “Ghost Blows Out the Light” dropped.

Stunned, they checked and rechecked the post, and then excitement exploded anew. In less than ten minutes, shares surpassed fifty thousand, and comments climbed steadily.

Many rushed to bookstores; the moment the new book hit the shelves, it was gone within minutes.

Some were genuine readers, eager for the story. Others were fans simply wanting a keepsake.

Within twenty-four hours, “Ghost Blows Out the Light” was sold out in many major city bookstores.

Even as the buzz around “Love Before the Common Era” had yet to die down, the sellout fever of “Ghost Blows Out the Light” swept in.

This craze spread from social media to other online platforms, and then from the internet to the streets.

“Hey man, have you heard ‘Love Before the Common Era’? It’s incredible!”

“Pff, that’s old news! Everyone’s talking about how ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ is sold out!”

“What?”

…

“Ugh, I missed the first batch of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’—who knows when I’ll get a copy.”

“Huh? It’s sold out where you are? Over here, hardly anyone’s buying; the books have been on the shelf all day!”

“Really? Can you buy one and mail it to me? I’ll pay for shipping!”

“No way! Mailing from Harbin to Chongqing would take half a month. The second batch will probably be out by then!”

…

“No way—my grandma actually bought a copy of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’!”

“What happened?”

“Well, the old lady went out today, saw people snapping up the book in the store, thought they were buying gold, so she grabbed one too!”

“So keep it and read it!”

“I already read the first volume online! But a physical book is worth keeping—might as well save it as a memento!”