Chapter Ninety-One: The Book Signing Event!

A shrill ring broke the silence. Jiang Lun glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Wu Chaoyang, so he answered at once.

“Hello, Brother Wu?”

“The pre-sale numbers are in! Take a guess—how many?”

Wu Chaoyang sounded thrilled, and Jiang Lun guessed, “Should be over fifty thousand, right?”

“Fifty-one thousand, two hundred and forty-two copies!” Wu Chaoyang laughed heartily. “Now I can finally breathe. As long as pre-sales clear fifty thousand, we won’t have to be quite so tense from here on out!”

Fifty-one thousand, two hundred and forty-two.

When Jiang Lun heard that number, he was genuinely pleased. If the pre-sale could sell that many, then he might have a real shot at the year-end album sales chart.

There were official charts from the Recording Association, and there were also unofficial rankings run by the major e-commerce platforms. The unofficial lists only counted albums sold through their own stores, while the official chart aggregated sales across traditional distribution and online channels. Pre-sale albums were included in the e-commerce distribution figures.

The chart was calculated with strict standards, so it carried real prestige. The top ten also received awards.

Last year, one male singer released an album and sold seventy thousand copies, enough to take tenth place. Of course, the year’s number one sold more than five hundred thousand copies—more than seven times that.

Countless singers had released new records in the first half of this year, but only six had crossed the fifty-thousand mark. The current leader, TFEX, had already sold more than six hundred thousand copies by the end of the first week in June. With numbers that outrageous, Jiang Lun had no hope of surpassing them.

Besides, newcomers generally did not even try to compete for that chart. On top of that, there were still many albums to come in the second half of the year. Of the ones Jiang Lun knew about, there were Liu Nan and Zhang Peiyu. They had been in the industry for years and had enormous fan bases. Their pre-sales would certainly not be weak, and selling several hundred thousand copies was not out of the question.

So if Jiang Lun wanted a place on that chart, a fifty-thousand pre-sale was still far from enough. How many copies the regular edition could sell would be crucial.

The regular edition’s sales were not visible yet, but market feedback suggested that compared with the pre-sale version, they were much weaker.

After all, the pre-sale edition came with gifts. Fans today were buying albums not to hear the songs, but to collect them. So if the regular edition had nothing special going for it, its first-day sales would certainly not beat the pre-sale version.

Still, the regular edition had one advantage: its sales period was much longer. From the moment it officially went on sale until the year-end cutoffs for the major charts, every sale during that time would count. That meant the promotional activities and autograph sessions in the second half of the year could not slack off for even a moment.

That afternoon, as one news report and review after another appeared, the praise for the album Positive Energy kept growing.

On Miblog, many friends sent their congratulations.

Liu Nan posted a picture of one hundred albums arranged neatly across a table, with the caption: “Wishing Brother Lun’s album huge sales!”

Zhang Weiyi posted an image with the caption: “I only bought one copy, so don’t be mad, Brother Lun! Wishing the album huge sales!”

Ai Ya and Wu Yusheng also posted photos, each showing one copy, along with their congratulations.

Zhao Rong posted a photo too. To Jiang Lun’s surprise, everyone in the crew had received one. The caption read: “I paid out of pocket to give one to everyone on the team, a total of three hundred and eighty-four copies! Brother Lun, remember to treat us later!”

Seeing that, Jiang Lun’s eyes reddened before he could stop them, tears spilling over. They were tears of joy. He immediately posted back: “Good brother! I’ll remember this kindness for the rest of my life!”

Cao Xiwen made a separate post on Miblog, sharing a makeup shot from inside a van, with a stack of albums in front of her. She wrote: “Director Zhao didn’t give me one, so I bought ten myself. Xiao Jiang, you’d better know what to do!”

As soon as she posted it, many fans began cheering and stirring things up in the comments, all of them speculating in a hundred different directions about what the relationship between Cao Xiwen and Jiang Wen actually was.

Reading those wildly imaginative comments, Jiang Lun felt helpless and embarrassed, so he quickly clarified that he had only made a cameo in City Beauty and had become friends with them that way. He also took the chance to thank the production crew for taking care of him.

In addition, Professor Wang Kai from the Central Academy of Drama posted a photo of himself smiling and holding Jiang Lun’s album, with the caption: “This old man will join in the fun too. I bought five copies of Xiao Jiang’s debut album. Wishing it great sales!”

Jiang Lun hurried to reply with thanks, and then suddenly remembered that Wang Kai’s birthday was at the end of the month. It looked like he would have to put some thought into a gift.

What he had not expected at all was that Zhao Liying and Guo Biting had also bought his album and sent their congratulations.

In Guo Biting’s photo, four girls were each holding a copy. Her caption read: “My friend dragged me out to buy an album. I thought it was some superstar’s new release, but it turned out to be Brother Lun’s album. Such a big thing and you didn’t even tell me in advance, so I only found out now! To punish you, I’ll buy one copy!”

Zhao Liying’s post showed only a picture of her lying sprawled on a desk, cheeks puffed out in annoyance. The caption read: “Jiang Lun!!! When will the pre-sale version arrive!!! I’ve been waiting so anxiously!!!” She even added a doge emoji at the end.

Jiang Lun had not expected Zhao Liying to buy the pre-sale version. He quickly replied that shipping had already begun that day and it should arrive soon.

When Zhao Liying’s fans saw her comment, the internet practically exploded.

“Oh my god... so our husband is a fan of Jiang Lun!”

“My goddess! You actually bought the pre-order version?”

“I just remembered that group photo from that day...”

“No way! Impossible! I don’t believe it!”

“Have him send you a full set, then? Newcomers are supposed to send albums to their seniors, aren’t they?”

“I listened to the songs on the album. Love Before the Common Era is pretty good!”

“I think Nunchaku is the real banger, ho-ho-ha-hei!”

“Someone upstairs, know your place!”

“...”

And under Jiang Lun’s reply, Zhao Liying’s fans also appeared, lining up neatly to vent their jealousy.

Zhao Liying must have seen the commotion too, because she posted again: “Jiangnan is a very nice song. Everyone should support it!”

One sentence from an idol, and the fans moved at once. That, too, helped Jiang Lun.

By now, Jiang Lun’s Miblog had more than 2.6 million followers. That number was not especially high; compared with top-tier stars who could easily have tens of millions, there was still a huge gap. Zhao Liying alone already had more than 30 million followers, but she had accumulated them over many years. Jiang Lun had only been in the industry for two or three months, so his popularity still had room to grow.

The next morning, at New World Square in the Capital.

This would be the venue for the first autograph session of Jiang Lun’s new album.

The capital could be considered his home base, and in recent days the song A Person’s Beijing had spread through the city’s major universities, where students had hailed it as the latest representative of campus folk music. It was widely loved and praised.

As soon as he stepped onto the stage, Jiang Lun opened with A Night in Beijing, beginning with a blazing rock arrangement. Today Chen Yingying was not there, so he handled the female vocal section himself.

When the crowd below heard him sing the female part on his own—and do it with such unexpected charm—they were completely stunned.

But once they recovered, the screams and cheers came endlessly.

Many passersby heard the singing and, eager to join the excitement, came over to become part of the audience. Whether they had known Jiang Lun before or not, they now knew him thoroughly.

After finishing the first song, Jiang Lun took the microphone and said, “Friends, thank you all for coming to my autograph session today. Those of you who bought the album can come to me for signatures later! I’m not very good at talking, so I’ll just sing instead!”

“Oh! Another one!” the boys in the front row shouted.

“I bought the album!” the girls near the stage waved the copies in their hands. They were all regular editions—some bought yesterday, some at the venue just now.

Seeing them, Jiang Lun gave them a ninety-degree bow.

“Thank you! The next song is for you all! You are my one and only!”

“Wooo...” Another wave of cheers rose up, and then the singing began. By the climax, a group of fans could already sing along:

“Baby, you are my one and only, two worlds both changed, how hard it is to go back and talk! I know for sure, you are my one and only, speaking my love to the phone alone, I really love you—”

When he reached that part, Jiang Lun held the microphone out to the fans who knew the words. They immediately shouted:

“Baby, I can’t love you any more...”

“Thank you!” Jiang Lun took the microphone back, smiling brightly. “I love you all too!”

After two songs, the real autograph session began.

The fans rushed to queue up, and more than a dozen security staff were sent in to maintain order, along with company employees who had come over. It took nearly ten minutes just to get the line organized.

“Jiang Lun! Can you sign my football too?”

The first person in line was a young man who had brought not only the album, but also a football.

Jiang Lun nodded. “Sure! Do you like playing football?”

“Yes!” the young man nodded.

“Then I’ll give you a little message too.”

With that, Jiang Lun wrote on the ball: For the future golden right foot.

The young man glanced at it and let out a breath of relief. “Good thing you didn’t write ‘for the future national team.’”

“Haha! How could I possibly write that?” Jiang Lun laughed.

The next fan was a girl who looked to be seventeen or eighteen. She was even wearing a backpack. After handing him the album, she asked, “Jiang Lun! I’ve liked you since you were on the challenge show. Can I have a hug?”

“That... of course.” Jiang Lun paused briefly in the middle.

After signing, he stood up with a smile and gave the girl a light embrace.

Who would have thought she would immediately turn to the girls behind her and say, “Take the picture! Quick, take it!”

Click, click...

Jiang Lun also agreed to every request the fans made.

An hour passed like that, and only a little over twenty albums had been signed out. The company staff came over at once to speak with him and asked him to focus on signing only, so they could save time.

Jiang Lun nodded, but even so the pace still could not get any faster. Whenever fans made a request, he really could not bear to refuse. As long as it did not take too much time, he agreed. In the end, after four hours in the morning, he had signed fewer than three hundred copies.