Are you trying to force me to become a star?

Chapter 21, "Interviewing Awesomeness," Makes its Debut in the Martial World

"Holy crap, did my house collapse?"

Xu Jinyan could hardly believe his eyes. When he woke up, he subconsciously opened the system and saw that his negative emotion value had soared to 234567.

At first, he thought he had misread it and counted it three times before confirming that it was 230,000, not 23,000.

He quickly opened Weibo to see what went wrong. "I've only just entered this circle!"

The trending topic about Li Lianjie has subsided, but he searched for a long time and couldn't find anything related to him.

Just then, Yu Han burst in with breakfast, excitedly exclaiming, "Holy crap, Jin Yan! Champion, you're the champion!"

Xu Jinyan put down her phone and looked at him in confusion. His reaction time was too long. He won the championship the day before yesterday, so what's he so excited about now?

Then I heard him continue, "You beat Zhou Xingyu and took the weekly chart champion, that's amazing, and this is only your first song."

Weekly chart champion?

Oh, it's Tuesday today. The song rankings for last week will be announced at 8 a.m.

He quickly opened the Zhiyin app, and sure enough, the newly released list prominently displayed:

1. "Anhe Bridge" - by Xu Jinyan

2. "Sky" - by Stephen Chow

3. "Whispers" - by Xu Xiaozhu

4.…

So that's how it is; we've finally found the source of this wave of negative emotions.

Zhou Xingyu is a top-tier singer, meaning he has at least three songs with over ten million downloads and a considerable fan base. Last week's chart-topping hit was Zhou Xingyu's new song, "Sky."

Judging from the quality of the song, it should have been no problem for it to remain at the top of the weekly charts, but it was defeated by the newcomer Xu Jinyan.

Seeing the latest rankings, most listeners and even fans will only feel surprised and regretful, and will not have any negative emotions towards Xu Jinyan.

However, some fans, represented by toxic solo stans, cannot tolerate their idol being used as a stepping stone by a newcomer.

What's more, being number one on the weekly charts is such an important achievement for a singer. There are only a few of his own brothers, and he just had one taken away from him. It's utterly despicable!

The saying "one negative comment can make a hundred positive ones" truly applies to Xu Jinyan.

Those haters are really generous; anyone with less than 500 negative emotion points would be embarrassed to say they truly love Stephen Chow.

"Jinyan, your comment section is flooded," Yu Han said in a complicated tone.

Sure enough, his newly verified Weibo account, posted yesterday, was flooded with offensive comments targeting his new song "Huo Yuanjia":

"What are the lyrics? I can't understand a word of them. Does this singer even have any singing skills?"

"A melody pieced together from various sources, neither one thing nor the other, a complete mess."

"How were these lyrics written? They're just a bunch of random lines forced together for the sake of rhyming. Does they even have any depth?"

"Who on earth is listening to this kind of music?"

"..."

Yu Han said, "Be careful with your words. It's normal for people to criticize you in the entertainment industry. For every person who criticizes you, there's someone who likes you. You're on the right track."

Xu Jinyan nodded occasionally as Yu Han offered words of comfort, but she kept her eyes wide open, staring at the harsh comments on Weibo, her lips pursed, afraid of laughing out loud.

Looking at Xu Jinyan's "tight" lips, Yu Han sighed and comforted her with the words of advice his senior had given him during filming: "That's just how this industry is. You can't please everyone. Being a celebrity comes at a price. As long as you have a clear conscience, just avoid the negative attacks."

"I'm not going to avoid it." Xu Jinyan shook her head, her eyes full of longing.

Yu Han asked疑惑地问道, "Why didn't you avoid it?"

Xu Jinyan gave him a strange look: "Because I'm not afraid. Don't ask me why I'm not afraid, I'm just not afraid!"

Yu Han: "..." You're crazy.

……

……

"Xu Jinyan, first of all, congratulations on winning the weekly chart champion for the 21st week of 2015. This is also your first time achieving the weekly champion title."

Xu Jinyan is in a good mood and is currently being interviewed by what is said to be the interview that every singer who wins the weekly championship for the first time will be given.

"Thank you. Actually, I was quite surprised to achieve this. I am grateful for the recommendation from the Zhiyin platform and the support from our many listeners."

It was truly unexpected, because the platform's data calculation method is very complex. To ensure fairness, the platform does not calculate data from various streaming media outside the platform; it only looks at the number of new downloads and weekly plays on the platform.

Although there are only two data points, and the number of new downloads is obvious, the algorithm for playback count is very complicated. For example, the data of one person listening to a song ten times is less than the data of ten people each listening to it once; the data of one person listening to a song fifty times is almost the same as the data of one person listening to it five hundred times.

In short, he tried his best to avoid manipulating the charts, and his ability to win the weekly championship probably had an element of luck.

After the reporters finished their routine congratulations, they began asking questions that they were interested in.

"Some people call you the biggest surprise in the Chinese music scene in 2015. Your debut single topped the charts in its first week, and you did it all by yourself. This is an achievement that no singer has ever accomplished before. What are your thoughts on this?"

Xu Jinyan saw the negative emotions received in the system and confirmed that the reporter had been paid, but she didn't know whether it was from Fengtai or Zhou Xingyu.

Regarding this issue of excessive praise, Xu Jinyan pondered for a moment, then looked at the camera sincerely and said, "Thank you. 'Anhe Bridge' won the championship, and I've summarized it in a few points: First, I want to thank the country for its policy care and the protection and support for us creators; second, I want to thank the dual-track training system, which allows us art students to have our talents discovered from a young age; third, I want to thank the platform for its support, from the director to every staff member behind the scenes, who all attached great importance to this competition, thus giving us a pure debut stage; fourth, I want to thank the audience for their love; fifth, I want to thank my classmates who debuted at the same time, we learned from each other..."

As Xu Jinyan expressed her gratitude at length, the reporters were collectively stunned.

After Xu Jinyan finished expressing his gratitude, the reporters finally came to their senses and looked at him with a very complicated expression. He really was considerate in every way!

The reporter who asked the question opened his mouth but couldn't find anything wrong with it. He even thanked his opponent! He didn't even thank himself! This money isn't easy to get!

He thought for a moment, then changed his perspective: "The fact that 'Anhe Bridge' won first place in its first week is an achievement that has amazed the industry. So what kind of results do you think 'Huo Yuanjia' can achieve? Don't be overly modest, the quality of this song is obvious to all. Excessive modesty is just arrogance!"

He thought for a moment, "Third, I guess!"

The reporter asked excitedly, "Why did you come in third? Was it because you lacked confidence?"

Xu Jinyan smiled calmly and said, "It is precisely because one does not contend that no one in the world can contend with him. Whether I have the ability to win the championship? Heaven knows! But why would I choose third place?"

"Moderation!"

The reporter, seeing Xu Jinyan's Taoist-like demeanor, felt that was enough; any further attacks would come at a different price. He truly could kill the game with a single sentence!

The other reporters exchanged glances, confirming that Xu Jinyan was indeed suffering from the infamous "interviewing arrogance syndrome," and that her symptoms were already quite severe.

"Xu Jinyan, there are rumors that you will soon be joining Fengtai Group. Is that true?"

"Fake."

"So, are you interested in any companies?"

"Canglan Entertainment!"

……

……

Inside a student dormitory at Southwest University for Nationalities.

Watching Xu Jinyan earnestly thanking the heavens, the earth, the sunshine, and the air in the video, Tian Xiwei laughed until tears streamed down her face.

Then I heard him talk about the Doctrine of the Mean, and I suddenly realized that Xu Jinyan was actually this kind of person. It's really interesting.

"Hmm? Is he going to Canglan?"

As Xu Jinyan announced that her preferred company was Canglan Entertainment, Tian Xiwei silently pondered her choice. Graduation was just around the corner, and she had already received offers from the Big Four entertainment companies.

The conditions offered by each company were not bad, although they weren't exactly great either, but she was already very satisfied. If it weren't for this final competition, she wouldn't have had the chance to be picky.

I was hesitant before, but now I suddenly feel that it's not bad to be in the same company as Xu Jinyan, the guy who brought me good luck.