That meant Wu Mu's "Farewell" was a hit again.
...
In a certain small county town, a bored office worker named Xiao Wang was scrolling through Douyin.
Then he stumbled across a video of Wu Mu singing uploaded by a user. Even through the phone screen and the TV, he was still captivated by the emotions in the song.
After searching for Star City TV to watch the original live performance, he was even more blown away.
*How is this person so incredible at singing?*
*Wu Mu? Didn't I see something about him a while ago, wasn't he a fallen idol?*
*Turns out he's actually a great singer.*
He couldn't help but search for the song Wu Mu had just sung on the music platform.
The new song "Heavenly Queen" wasn't available, but Wu Mu's best-selling album "Farewell" was at the top of the list.
*His earlier released song? You have to pay to listen to it? Over 3.6 million sales?*
Xiao Wang hesitated for a moment, thinking that with such high sales, it couldn't be bad, so he went ahead and bought a copy.
After listening to it, he felt a bit disappointed, *Wasn't it far from as good as that previous song?*
However, he wasn't extremely disappointed. The songs in this album were a bit flavorful upon careful reflection, offering a touch of positivity and warmth that just neutralized the e-mo feeling after listening to "Heavenly Queen."
...
In a coastal small town, a retired teacher opened the door to her homebody daughter's room with a phone in hand.
"Ni'er, download some of this person's songs for me. I don't know how to do it."
The homebody daughter, currently gaming with friends, didn't dare slack off. She immediately paused her game to take the phone.
She glanced at it.
"Mom, why are you downloading this guy's songs? He's just a scummy idol, and his songs are awful."
The homebody daughter was puzzled. Her mother asking for some classic old songs made sense, but downloading songs from a fresh idol?
*How did her mom become even trendier than her? Is she also a fan?*
Her mom rolled her eyes at her, "His songs are far better than the giggling stuff you listen to every day. Just download it."
"Alright, alright, you're the boss."
The homebody daughter pouted, connected the phone to her computer, and began searching for Wu Mu's songs to download.
Then she found out, "Hey, can't download them. His songs aren't free, they all cost money."
"How much?"
The homebody daughter checked, "The best-selling album 'Farewell' is 12 bucks for six songs."
"Then download that one. You pay for it."
Now the homebody daughter couldn't bear it, "Mom, spending money on this guy's songs is such a waste. They're really bad, not worth it."
"Have you heard them yourself?"
"I haven't listened, but it's well-known that his songs lack quality. They just scam fans for money..."
Her mom cut her off, "You haven't listened to them, and you know they're bad? You're making such a fuss over twelve dollars?"
"Hey, it's not that I don't want to pay. Fine, fine, I'll download it, okay?"
The homebody daughter wasn't short of twelve bucks. She just genuinely thought spending money on his songs wasn't worth it.
But what could she do when her mom liked it?
She reluctantly downloaded the songs and listened to what twelve dollars got her.
After listening, they weren't as terrible as expected, but where were they good either?
Anyway, she felt they weren't worth the money.
But her mom seemed quite pleased, nodding continuously, "These songs are so positive. What difficulties could kids possibly not overcome?"
...
Meanwhile, across the country, countless people who finished listening to "Heavenly Queen" went online to search for Wu Mu's songs and then bought "Farewell."
The quality of the "Farewell" album definitely couldn't compare to "Heavenly Queen," but everyone wasn't too disappointed. Instead, they found "Farewell" quite heartwarming and healing, just enough to neutralize the gloom left by "Heavenly Queen."
Someone posted about this online, and the hashtags #WuMuFarewellHealing# and #WuMuHeavenlyQueenAddiction FarewellDetox# were quietly gaining popularity.
In the production team of Star City, at the Beach Resort.
Wu Mu and the others had finished watching the show and were eating at the resort's restaurant.
It was only when He Jie reminded him that he learned about this situation.
Seeing that the sales of his "Farewell" album increased by hundreds of thousands and continued to climb, he just knew the system father was at work again.
The one billion Performance Card he received from the Starter Gift Package could add up to 8.3 million sales to his "Farewell" album. After the fan reduction incident, it added over 200,000 in two days.
After that, it entered a stable period, adding 10,000 to 20,000 sales daily, having sold about 2.6 million copies so far.
At that rate, it would take a year or two to fully use up the balance.
The system clearly wasn't going to drag it out that long, so taking advantage of the buzz around Wu Mu's "Heavenly Queen," it gave him another marketing push.
Wu Mu understood this in his heart, but He Jie and the others didn't. They were all envious, "Wu Mu, your 'Farewell' keeps hitting the hotspots; it always comes across these good opportunities."
Mo Mo was also envious, but she had another perspective:
"Actually, it's not surprising that Wu Mu's album often picks up on hot topics. I've listened to all of Wu Mu's work, and while the other albums are quite ordinary, 'Farewell' has quality."
"The lyrics may seem plain, but they're incredibly sincere, and the melody carries an uplifting power. It's the kind of music that grows on you."
Wu Mu looked at Mo Mo in surprise. He hadn't expected her to have such a high opinion of the "Farewell" album.
However, she had hit the mark. The other albums from his former self were all released for the sake of releasing, designed by the company to make money.
But "Farewell" was a labor of love from his former self.
At that time, his former self was noticed by that wicked woman Liu Lan, signed, and groomed for debut, gradually gaining some fame.
With a deeply loved "girlfriend," a life moving away from aimless beginnings, and a batch of fans online who liked him, everything was on track.
It was both a farewell to the past and a commemoration of it that led him to create the "Farewell" album.
You could say "Farewell" was of average quality, but you couldn't doubt the genuine effort his former self put into it.
Every word and note held no forced rhymes or sound-favoring fillers, just pure sincerity from his former self.
His former self never intended to make money from these songs, so he didn't even involve the company, releasing them directly to the music platform.
And because the company wasn't taking a cut, Wu Mu used the Performance Card for this album.
Undoubtedly, the live singer-songwriter showcase had brought Wu Mu significant gains.
It not only halted his downward spiral towards obscurity but also seemed to gradually accumulate new fans.
Of course, hoping for the return of his former 'wife fans' was pointless since they'd all turned into outright haters.
They might forget him if Wu Mu exited the scene without making waves for a while.
But if he were to stage a comeback, it would only make them despise him more.
After all, a cheating "ex-boyfriend" only becomes more revolting the better he does.