Chapter 157: How Did It Go Up Another Six Hundred Thousand Again?

Lin Lanxin, whose Douyin account goes by the name Student Lin Lan, ranks second to last in follower count among Zhou Yun's studio.

Like Gu Yisha, she was originally a gym member. When Zhou Yun was setting up the studio, she noticed Lin Lanxin's striking looks and signed her.

However, unlike Gu Yisha—who was a very confident girl—Lin Lanxin was different. Because of her pear-shaped figure and short stature, she tended to be rather insecure.

She only went to the gym hoping to change herself.

Maomao's real surname was also Lin, and after being pulled into the company chat by Zhou Yun, she realized someone shared her family name and proactively added Lin Lanxin as a friend.

And just like that, the three of them grew close.

Hearing Lin Lanxin's reply, Naihui nodded. That made sense; the big boss was currently in a period of rapid career ascent, so it was normal for him to be busy.

Seeming to feel that this answer wouldn't fully satisfy the two older girls, Lin Lanxin added, "Once he finishes his busy work and has time, he'll probably go back to the gym to work out."

Maomao didn't care much about these details. The three of them had already put on their volunteer uniforms, partly to check if the sizes fit, and partly to get used to them ahead of time.

Maomao's hair, which faded from white to a gradient blue, was extremely eye-catching. She felt that everything about herself was great, except for one spot that was just too small.

Whenever she turned sideways, she could see that Lin Lanxin was stretching her tight sportswear to the brim.

On a whim, she reached out a finger and poked it.

Lin Lanxin's body stiffened, her face instantly turning beet red, but she didn't make a sound. She had been paying close attention to Zhou Yun's side, and assuming Sister Maomao had accidentally bumped into her, she shifted her little stool a bit closer to Naihui for fear of crowding Maomao.

"Remember, once you get to the crew, you are just ordinary volunteers. Be polite to everyone. Address them properly as older brothers or uncles. Moreover, keep your eyes sharp for work; if the water runs out, carry more over, and when the boxed meals arrive, proactively help hand them out. Don't look down on this job—it can broaden your horizons, and later on, you might even get a chance to try playing a bit part..." Zhou Yun instructed once more.

Tang Zhichu listened for a short while before withdrawing.

Huang Zejun had arrived.

Tang Zhichu didn't interfere in these matters, but Zhou Yun's arrangements were quite reasonable.

With this group of influencers driving momentum, they might even consider selling online rather than selling the rights directly to a platform in bulk.

To fuel its growth, Douyin had indeed reached into the film industry. During the Lunar New Year last year, it had acquired the copyrights to many classic films and even launched a campaign where Douyin treated everyone to movies over the holiday.

In Huang Zejun's office, he poured Tang Zhichu a cup of tea.

Having not seen him for a while, Huang Zejun looked radiant and high-spirited.

He pressed Tang Zhichu down into his seat and, pointing at the computer screen, said, "Look at this! Tell me if this is impressive, tell me if it's awesome!"

On the computer screen was the desktop version of Douyin, lingering on Huang Zejun's personal account profile.

Follower count: over 3.3 million!

Tang Zhichu gave him a thumbs up. "Awesome!"

"Hahahaha! Didn't expect that, did you? Among all of us who came out of that dating reality show, aside from you, I've cashed in the most dividends. As for Yang Jiaxing, once I dropped this screenshot in our chat, he didn't dare utter a single peep!"

Tang Zhichu sensed an air of pent-up grievances finally being vented from Huang Zejun, and asked with a puzzled look, "Were you wronged on that dating show?"

Huang Zejun shook his head. "Not wronged, exactly, but it was just so damn foolish, you know? When I watched the show myself, during my dates with Jiang Lan, she was radiating unhappiness everywhere. And yet, I actually thought I was doing a fantastic job! I felt awkward for the longest time. But now I've figured it out—it really is awesome! Even though I was utterly oblivious to my own cringe, I was sincere! Look at that, the netizens could empathize with me, and my follower count is skyrocketing like crazy."

Tang Zhichu glanced sideways at Huang Zejun, then typed the words "Little Tang Who Can't Sing" into the search bar.

Tang Zhichu's account appeared in front of Huang Zejun. Follower count: 5.6 million.

"Huh? Just yesterday it crossed five million, how did it jump another six hundred thousand?"

Huang Zejun: "..."

"Brother Jun, what's going on here? I haven't even posted any new content. Is the backend broken?"

Huang Zejun shook his head. "Never mind, let's not talk about this."

Both of them took turns playfully blowing their own trumpets in subtle ways, and then they both burst out laughing with amusement.

"I watched the latest episode too. I didn't expect you guys to cross paths so early. Awesome! You beat Qiu Zhen openly, and secretly you even beat何书远 (He Shuyuan)..."

Tang Zhichu looked at Huang Zejun in surprise. "What kind of logic is that? Openly and secretly?"

Huang Zejun glared at him. "I'm not an idiot, you know. Besides, see for yourself."

Huang Zejun opened the latest newly released episode of the music variety show on the computer and flipped to the comment section.

This was the episode where Tang Zhichu performed "Bloody Love Story."

Ever since this music variety show began airing—or rather, ever since Tang Zhichu appeared on it—the comment section on Tencent Video, not even talking about the bullet chats, had become even more exaggerated than Weibo.

For any slightly decent comment, the number of likes was in the six-figure range.

This episode had generated particularly high internet buzz; two of the Trio of Tianhe were featured, along with Tang Zhichu.

"Stumbled upon this show and was completely blown away. I tried looking around the industry for male singers currently on par with Tang Zhichu, and the answer I got was: none. A song with over a hundred instances of phrasing above high C—what kind of level is that? Even as someone in the industry, I find it utterly preposterous. On top of that, he possesses the kind of flawless vocal pressure he displayed, combined with a flawless metal-core timbre. It's quite literally a commercially peak-tier singing technique..."

This comment was still relatively normal. Clicking deeper into the thread revealed that it was indeed written by an industry insider—a music conservatory professor.

He broke down Tang Zhichu's vocal technique in detail.

Analyzing it from three dimensions: vocal pressure, vocal cord thickness, and penetration.

Vocal pressure was harder to understand, referring to the differential pressure caused by breath soundwaves—to put it simply, fullness.

Generally speaking, the greater the vocal pressure, the more the underlying low-frequency overtones of the vocal line are reinforced, and the stronger the overall rhythmic groove of the vocals. It's a fundamental element determining whether vocals sound pleasant or not.

He stated that while one might find male singers capable of singing "Bloody Love Story" in Tang Zhichu's original key, there were virtually none at present whose vocal quality could match Tang Zhichu's level.

The main theme of the discussion for this episode was Tang Zhichu's vocal prowess. If Tang Zhichu went on Weibo, he would see a sea of professionals discussing precisely this.

In this episode, Tang Zhichu had broken through his circles purely on the strength of his musical performance.

It flushed out many veteran musicians from within the industry.

That was one aspect. On the other hand, some people were parsing every single detail of the show in roundabout ways.

Why did Tang Zhichu choose to sing such a massive vocal powerhouse track? Wasn't it to compete head-to-head on the same stage with Qiu Zhen and He Shuyuan?

When He Shuyuan and Qiu Zhen first appeared, they acted like they wanted to shake the mountains and awe the tigers, only to be slapped right back down by Tang Zhichu.

Even the fans of He Shuyuan and Qiu Zhen wouldn't dare claim their idols were superior to Tang Zhichu in terms of singing technique. If anyone tried, a flood of screenshots featuring critiques from industry insiders would immediately bury them.

Gratitude to the two brothers (Liuyun Cavalry) and (All The Heart) for their generous tips.

The Lunar New Year is approaching, and things keep piling up, making this a bit late.

(End of this chapter)