Chapter 75: Please, Don't Be My Mindless Fan

Beijing, Zhongguancun. In the editorial department of Huang Yi Company, the largest news portal in China.

A young girl in an intern’s uniform darted into the office, grabbing her supervisor’s arm and shouting excitedly:

“Sister Yao, Sister Yao, good news! The investor and second male lead of ‘Meteor Garden,’ Gu Cheng, will participate in a media interview about music and the internet industry tomorrow! Can we get approval for plane tickets to Qiantang for the interview?”

The journalist being pulled was named Yao Shuting, about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Nowadays, the top entertainment reporters were still working at TV stations and magazines, so at a portal site like Huang Yi, someone her age was already considered senior.

“What’s all the fuss? Listing a bunch of titles—just say Gu Cheng, everyone knows who he is.” Yao Shuting snorted, putting on airs for her assistant. “Plane tickets are expensive. If we really go, we’ll just take the overnight sleeper train.”

The intern’s shoulders drooped instantly. “Huh? The reporters from Sohut Entertainment next door all fly…”

Yao Shuting’s lips curled up. “Planes are fine, but then I’ll go alone. You stay here.”

“In that case, let’s take the sleeper…” The intern surrendered immediately.

After a night on the sleeper train, they arrived in Qiantang the next day. Checking the map, Yao Shuting discovered that the so-called “Chengpin Audio” and “Dingdang Web” were located in the suburbs.

And upon arrival, it was truly shabby. Two shells put together, still less than a single floor of an office building; some offices hadn’t even been renovated.

Yet, despite being such a rundown place, the news of a press conference and willingness to be interviewed drew entertainment media and tech sections from all over the country, scrambling for headlines.

There was no helping it—Gu Cheng was such a mysterious figure, so famous now, yet he didn’t participate in any commercial activities.

Other stars at the peak of their fame would have managers repeatedly remind them: Don’t lose yourself, don’t over-expose, don’t accept every endorsement just for quick money. Appear too often and people get tired of you…

Gu Cheng, on the other hand, went for hunger marketing to the extreme.

Yao Shuting thought she’d arrived early, but the conference hall was already packed. Colleagues from Sohut and Sina were there, and print media like ‘Southern City Entertainment Weekly’ had claimed seats early; the rest were TV stations.

“Gu Cheng’s coming out! So handsome.”

“Ahhh… He’s not just a star, he’s the epitome of a successful man.”

Amid the excited cries of the women, Gu Cheng strode into the spotlight. Early June weather, air conditioning on inside, he was dressed formally in a suit and tie, looking nothing like an entertainer.

A group of female entertainment reporters, utterly lacking the composure of media professionals, gazed at him with the infatuated eyes of young female office workers or student fangirls.

Gu Cheng took his place at the podium, unbuttoned his collar, and smiled as he began to speak:

“Thank you all for coming today. Initially, I only wanted to invite a few tech channels to discuss how ‘Dingdang Web’s’ innovative business model will impact the music industry. I didn’t expect so many media friends to respond, so we expanded the press conference. Everyone will have a chance to ask questions today.”

“Huh? Is today Dingdang Web’s press conference? I thought it was about the drama…”

A group of entertainment reporters pouted, clearly unhappy. Most of them had rushed from all over the country at the news of a press conference, never paying attention to the organizer’s wording—or even if they did, they assumed the organizer was just being coy.

Yao Shuting reacted much the same, muttering, “They don’t even say if he’ll take new roles or release an album, just trying to brush us off…”

Gu Cheng scanned the crowd, intending to ignore the complaints and get to business. But when his gaze landed on Yao Shuting, he heard her grumbling and noticed the Huang Yi logo on her microphone.

His first pot of gold had come from boosting Huang Yi Company’s market value on the eve of their Nasdaq listing. Though Boss Ding would never say it outright, the event was recent enough that Gu Cheng still felt a bit guilty around people from Huang Yi, so he was extra polite.

He asked courteously, “Miss, did you have a question just now? Please, everyone else, let’s allow the Huang Yi reporter to ask first.”

The entertainment weekly and TV station reporters instantly quieted, shooting Yao Shuting murderous looks.

She blushed deeply. “I… I just wanted to ask Mr. Gu if you have any new acting projects coming up? Or perhaps plans to enter the music industry? As far as I know, although the opening song for ‘Meteor Garden’ doesn’t list a singer, we interviewed Ms. Chai Zhiping, and she confirmed that the song is your original soundtrack.”

Her information wasn’t the most comprehensive, but she was reasonably well-informed. After she posed her question, some seasoned reporters cast disdainful glances, but most looked eager to hear the answer.

Gu Cheng smiled gently. “I’ve already released an album—over half a month ago. No commercial promotion whatsoever, so it seems many in the industry are still unaware.”

Yao Shuting was stunned. “What? You’ve released an album? But no news from any distributor at all.”

Gu Cheng replied as if it were obvious, “Of course, because we didn’t involve any offline distributors. The album is exclusively available for online purchase on ‘Dingdang Web,’ titled ‘Meteor Rain.’ You can search for it there. So far, about two thousand copies have sold nationwide.”

“Only two thousand? That’s dismal!” Yao Shuting and the other reporters had the same initial reaction.

Despite the weak copyright situation, a superstar like Jay Zhou could easily sell a million albums a year domestically; even so, two thousand in two weeks was abysmal. Usually, breaking ten thousand in the first week is needed to rank in the top three during slow seasons.

“Daring to spend nothing on promotion—no ads, no soft articles—and it flopped. Serves him right for being so arrogant,” some reporters with ties to distributors or famous music critics thought maliciously.

But the next moment, they had no time for such thoughts. Gu Cheng quickly steered the conversation back to the day’s main topic, resolving their doubts.

“So, the main purpose of inviting you here is to promote ‘Dingdang Web’s’ newly launched ‘Genuine Audio Thousand Cities Online’ pre-order plan. From today, Dingdang Web has entered a closer strategic partnership with Legendary Entertainment. Leveraging Legendary Entertainment’s thirty thousand affiliated internet cafes nationwide as payment and logistics nodes, we aim to deliver the most cost-effective, precise, and convenient audio services to music lovers across the country. The plan will feature nationwide coordination, zero warehousing, zero inventory…”

Gu Cheng outlined the plan he and his cousin had devised. Most reporters grasped the basics, but many, unfamiliar with e-commerce, failed to see its brilliance.

Isn’t it just selling CDs online? How’s that different from Li Guoqing selling books online?

However, as Gu Cheng delved deeper into the channel advantages, everyone’s expressions became more serious.

He spoke with commanding presence: “We used to think piracy was the only enemy of genuine music. Solve piracy, and genuine musicians wouldn’t starve. But is that really true? No. We see many creators of niche music whose works, due to low sales, may have only tens of thousands of listeners nationwide.

Because so few consumers are willing to buy their music, legitimate record companies won’t publish it. Piracy channels, covering too small an area, don’t bother to steal this music. So creative pieces that truly resonate with niche audiences end up lost and unheard.

I believe the greatest benefit of an online music pre-sale platform is breaking through the sparse physical distribution of consumers. Previously, in each county, only a dozen people had niche demands—aggregated nationwide, there might be tens of thousands. With this collective demand, low-cost CD production becomes feasible. Legendary Entertainment’s thirty thousand internet cafe channels can physically connect these scattered needs.”

“The founder of E-BAY created it because, after searching all over Los Angeles, he couldn’t find the specific style of niche jewelry box he wanted as a wedding gift for his wife.

I founded Dingdang Web for a similar purpose—I want a niche music lover not to be restricted just because they live in an underdeveloped county in the west, or because only a handful of people in their county share their interest, to the point that even pirates won’t bother to cater to them. Now, they just need to go to their local internet cafe, open the website, pay the cafe owner cash, tell them what they want to buy, then go home and wait three days. Next time they visit, their music will be waiting for them.”

“E-commerce is about doing business that traditional commerce cannot—business that, in the old model, is too dispersed to be gathered, business that, due to high transaction costs, merchants would never bother with. That’s the spirit of e-commerce, not simply fighting brick-and-mortar stores on price.

Mr. Lu Xun said we should use the ‘doctrine of taking,’ sharpen our eyes, activate our minds, understand what we want, and then get it ourselves—not be swept along by trends, forced to accept some trash just because it’s cheap and pushed in front of us.

We at Dingdang Web are here to ensure that, including myself, no one is forced to abandon their interests or spiritual home just because they’re too niche, that no one is compelled to go along with the masses. Dingdang Web fights for the spiritual freedom of the Chinese people!”

After finishing, Gu Cheng’s face was slightly flushed, clearly showing his actor’s passion and immersion.

He paused to sip his tea, his tone dry: “I hope you’ll report our new plan today, so that more creators, who can’t find fans for their music, will hear about us and reach out. We’re willing to provide them this extra channel for survival.

As for my own album, there’s no need to promote it further. I appreciate and respect every genuine fan of my music, but I don’t want brainless followers, nor do I want anyone to buy my album just because it’s trendy without truly understanding me.”