175: Chapter 175 Xu Qingya's fans surpass 100 million, Tang Yingxue gets anxious.

The second day of the National Day holiday.

On the set at Songjiang Middle School, the production crew was still working around the clock, but outside, the sky of the entertainment industry had turned upside down.

The view count for "as you wish" on major platforms was skyrocketing.

At 8:00 PM on October 2nd, the Tencent Music backend report showed: single-day views exceeded 80 million.

Douyin was an even bigger hotspot; in just two days, there were over 400,000 derivative videos about "as you wish," and the background music for all of them was dominated by this song.

Soldiers visiting home, veterans saluting on the street, a father and daughter saying goodbye at the train station.

Any tear-jerking subject matter was being attached to it; as soon as the chorus "And I will love the world you love" played, the comment sections were filled with tears.

The video with the highest view count was a short clip of a border guard standing sentry in the wind and snow.

In the footage, snow was flying, and thick frost had gathered on the soldier's eyelashes. When changing shifts, the two faced each other and gave a standard military salute.

The background music hit its climax right at that moment.

Less than ten hours after being posted, it had over 8 million likes, and the view count broke 100 million.

The top comment below had only eight characters: "The mountains and rivers are safe, and the world is at peace."

On October 3rd, the authorities got involved.

The CCTV News Douyin account posted an article with a very straightforward title: "One Song, Singing Out the Aspirations of Three Generations."

The video featured edited footage of various precious historical moments since the founding of the country, using the live audio version of Xu Qingya's performance at the National Day Gala as the background music.

Immediately after, Huaxia Daily reposted it.

The China Civilization Office reposted it.

People's Daily Online reposted it.

...

"as you wish" completely broke out of its niche, transforming from a pop song into a mainstream hit.

Jiang Fan sat on a folding chair on the set, holding his phone.

Director Ning Yuan was in front, giving acting notes to Shen Feng, while he looked down, swiping on his phone screen to open Weibo.

At this moment, the rate at which Xu Qingya was gaining followers on Weibo was even more exciting than the stock market.

Before going on stage at the gala on October 1st, Xu Qingya's Weibo follower count was still 81.8 million.

Now it was 2:00 PM on October 3rd.

Follower count: 102 million.

This number had far surpassed the line that had held her back for four years.

Tang Yingxue's follower count: 98.76 million.

Four years; Xu Qingya had been stuck in the third position for four whole years.

Now, one song and one gala had directly flipped that over.

It was already like New Year's in Xu Qingya's super-topic.

Major fans took the lead in holding giveaways—giving away lipstick, phones, and concert tickets—it was a scene of wild celebration.

In the top ten of the trending list, three entries were ranked high.

#The Four Heavenly Queens Landscape Has Changed# — Trending second.

#Xu Qingya's Followers Surpass Tang Yingxue# — Trending fifth.

#Xu Qingya's National Day Gala View Count Breaks One Billion# — Trending seventh.

Jiang Fan clicked on the second trending entry.

Inside, it was no longer as simple as two fanbases bickering.

Several major influencer marketing accounts had worked overnight to compile a comparison chart of various data points for The Four Heavenly Queens.

At the very top was Ye Anran, with all indicators maxed out, sitting securely in her position.

The main event was in the two columns below —

Total record sales: Xu Qingya 430 million, Tang Yingxue 410 million. Overtaken.

Golden Melody Awards Best Female Singer: Xu Qingya 2, Tang Yingxue 3. Lagging behind.

Total online followers: Xu Qingya 102 million, Tang Yingxue 98.76 million. Crushing.

Out of three core indicators, Xu Qingya led in two; with that chart placed there, the conclusion was too intuitive.

The comment section had already devolved into chaos.

"The Golden Melody Awards are the highest honor in the Chinese music scene! Without three Golden Melody Awards to back it up, what are you using to brag about being second?"

"Laughing to death, what is the concept of 100 million followers? How many people in the domestic entertainment industry have broken 100 million? Xu Qingya's song was specifically praised by CCTV; how is Tang Yingxue going to fight that?"

"Xu Qingya's fans, don't be arrogant. It's just a mainstream song; it would be just as popular if someone else sang it!"

"If you have the ability, let Tang Yingxue sing it then? It's someone specifically requested by CCTV; try swapping her and see what happens?"

"How many years has Tang Yingxue been coasting on that song 'light years'? Once Xu Qingya's 'as you wish' came out, 'light years' just couldn't compete."

"Wait until Xu Qingya gets her third Golden Melody Award, and then we'll see what you have to say."

Once a war in the fan circles breaks out, there is no such thing as reason.

Jiang Fan scrolled down two screens and closed Weibo.

The ranking battles in the entertainment industry have always been cutthroat; resources are limited, so if you go up, someone else has to come down.

He switched to WeChat and clicked on the pinned chat box.

[Jiang Fan: Congratulations, Diva Xu, you've hit 100 million followers.]

The "typing..." indicator on the other side flickered for a long time before sending a message.

[Xu Qingya: Stop being sarcastic. I just want to get back to Shanghai as soon as possible.]

[Jiang Fan: What time is your flight?]

[Xu Qingya: Landing at 9:30 tonight.]

[Xu Qingya: After finishing two follow-up interviews for CCTV, I'm leaving overnight.]

[Xu Qingya: What about you? Still on set?]

[Jiang Fan: Yeah.]

[Xu Qingya: Then I'll go back and wait for you.]

Before he could lock his phone, another chat box popped up.

It was Tang Yingxue.

[Tang Yingxue: Jiang Fan, you did this on purpose, didn't you?]

Jiang Fan's finger hovered over the screen; this woman must have seen the trending topics too.

[Jiang Fan: Teacher Tang, what do you mean by that?]

[Tang Yingxue: When you wrote "as you wish" for Xu Qingya, did you calculate that today would happen?]

[Jiang Fan: If I were a fortune teller, I'd be setting up a stall under the overpass by now.]

[Tang Yingxue: Cut the crap. My song is almost done recording, and I'm releasing it in the next two days.]

[Jiang Fan: You're in such a rush?]

[Tang Yingxue: Duh! I've been stepped on by someone! If I'm not in a rush, should I be applauding her?]

Beijing, the Recording Studio on the top floor of Tang Yingxue's Studio.

Tang Yingxue slammed a bottle of mineral water onto the table; a few drops of water splashed out onto the mixing console.

The recording engineer next to her was startled and hunched his neck, not daring to make a sound.

This song had been recording for three full days, and Tang Yingxue had been extremely hard on herself.

To find that emotion of feeling relieved yet regretful after missing out, she locked herself in the Studio, not even eating.

It wasn't until noon today that the final version was settled.

Tang Yingxue stared at her phone screen, her chest heaving.

Those comments on the trending list were stabbing at her lungs with every word.

She had climbed in this industry for twelve years, stepping on countless shoulders to firmly sit in the second-place chair.

Now she had been toppled by one song from Xu Qingya?

Absolutely impossible.

She looked down and typed rapidly.

[Tang Yingxue: I'm making the whole company work overtime on post-production; it will be released online tomorrow night at 8:00 sharp.]

Shanghai, on set.

Jiang Fan looked at the words on the screen.

[Jiang Fan: You can release the song. Just don't put my real name on the Arrangement.]

[Tang Yingxue: Why?]

[Jiang Fan: Xu Qingya just took off thanks to "as you wish," and if you turn around and release a song I wrote to hit back at her, Xu Qingya will tear me apart alive.]

[Tang Yingxue: Hmph, you're afraid too?]

[Tang Yingxue: I'm going to use it.]

[Tang Yingxue: I just want the whole internet to know that you, Jiang Fan, are not Xu Qingya's exclusive personal songwriter. You can write masterpieces for me too.]

Jiang Fan leaned back in his folding chair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Xu Qingya was landing at 9:30 tonight, filled with fiery excitement to share with him.

Tang Yingxue was releasing a song tomorrow night, clearly intending to use his hand to slap Xu Qingya in the face.

Caught in the middle, this bowl of rice was really hard to hold.

He stuffed his phone into his pocket, stood up, and brushed the dust off his pant legs.

"Jiang Fan, come over and watch this good show."

Director Ning Yuan shouted from the front.