Chapter 94: Nian Ge

ime, all the artists on stage around were beaming with congratulations. Under the scrutiny of the cameras, they kept clapping their hands incessantly. Those closer even nodded and bowed to the EXO mem..."Have you been influenced by anything while at JYP"

Because Pool Jingyuan is very busy usually, the two people's communication is generally initiated by Zhou Tzuyu sending messages. If the other party sees it and happens to be free, they will reply. If they are working, they might reply after some time, or they might be too tired or too late and simply not bother to reply.

It's quite rare for Ji Jingyuan to take the initiative to message someone. When Zhou Tzuyu saw the sender's name, she was secretly delighted. However, the content of the message left her somewhat puzzled.

What does it mean to say "uninfluenced even by JYP"

She hesitated for a moment, didn't think much and quickly tapped the screen to reply:

"No, what effect"

After sending the message, Zhou Ziyu stared at her phone, a look of dazed contemplation on her face. After a few silent seconds, she suddenly remembered something.

My friend Kong Xue mentioned before, during a meal, that several trainees from other companies who she knew were not doing well recently. Some had their treatment in the company downgraded, some were removed from the lineup that was originally expected to debut, and some were even directly kicked out by the company. They either have to give up and return to China or choose to start over at another company.

And according to her, the current situation is all due to the continuous departures of EXO's Chinese members. Some smaller companies saw EXO's predicament and **'s seeming helplessness, and became worried that their carefully cultivated idol groups might suddenly have members run away as well.

They are not a large-scale company like **. For many small entertainment companies, operating an idol group already requires all their energy, connections, and resources. Once someone leaves, the impact on both the group and the company is devastatingly difficult to bear.

At that time, Kong Xue swore to her that the trainees were dragged down because of those few people from XO, and even complained a couple of times with an exaggerated tone and resentful manner. Zhou Tzuyu had a pretty deep impression of this, but just now, seeing the news about Ji Jingyuan might have been a surprise, her mind went blank for a moment and she didn't think in that direction immediately.

Is he worried that I have been affected by this trend

Suddenly, Zhou Tzuyu reacted and understood what Chi Jingyuan's text message meant.

Before, the resentment that had been brewing inside him because the other person kept ignoring him suddenly vanished without a trace. A warm current surged from his chest to his brain, lingering in his eyebrows and at the corners of his mouth.

Púshǎn's eyes blinked, and the corners of his originally slightly pursed lips involuntarily curled up, looking very handsome.

She directly picked up her phone, wanting to send another message, something like "I know what you mean" or "It's no big deal, thanks for caring," anything really just to be able to chat with the other person for a while.

She had just picked up her phone and typed only two words when Chi Jingyuan's reply came:

"Alright, I'm off to film."

It was a very straightforward and to-the-point statement, indicating that the other person had come specifically to check in on her current situation.

Seeing this text message, Zhou Tzuyu, who was originally brimming with excitement and typing quickly, suddenly stopped. She opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then retracted all the words she had just typed.

This format of reply, Tzuyu is already too familiar with it. This means the other party has started working. Unless there's something urgent, she won't pay attention to whatever she sends. Either way, it will take a long time for her to reply.

She was just a little moved, and that's how the conversation ended. She felt a bit unsatisfied, so she hesitated for a while before typing a few more words and sending them.

How is Jingyuan Xi doing lately Is he/she doing well

Even though she knew the other party might not reply during work hours, she still frequently checked her phone for messages during her breaks in the afternoon. Her heart was restless and couldn't settle down.

It wasn't until almost 10 p.m. that Chi Jingyuan finally replied to his message:

"That's it then."

…………

On November 7, after EXO-K's five members completed the Lotte Family Concert alongside Ji Park Soo, they immediately boarded a plane and embarked on a journey to Mexico with their team. They are heading there to participate in the upcoming "Music Bank - Mexico Special."

To promote Kpop overseas and expand its influence, both television stations and artists are doing their best. Just the roundtrip flight of nearly forty hours is not something ordinary people can withstand, especially for someone like Ji Chang Wook who has a fear of flying and dislikes airplanes.

The key point is that I went to Mexico without any other itinerary. I flew for several hours, landed and went straight to rehearsals, recorded immediately and then flew back for several hours again. There wasn't a single moment of rest in between.

That's really something else.

As they took off, Ji-sung, who was absent from this trip due to filming, couldn't help but glance at the ceiling of the set. His gaze seemed to pierce through the entire building and into the sky, where he saw a plane sailing across the clouds.

He sincerely wished the other five members of K team all the best.

For some reason, my mood suddenly improved.

And Episodes 7 and 8 of "Unsound" were officially broadcast on November 7th and 8th.

With a total of 20 episodes, "Unsung" is now nearing the halfway point. The plot has also gradually reached its peak. After a period of effort and the help of section chief or colleagues, Zhang Klai has shed the immaturity and confusion he had when he first entered the company and shown obvious growth. When handling work in Sales Department 3, his talent has slowly emerged, displaying a charm that is completely different from the first few episodes.

Watching Zhang Kecheng, from a poor background, grow from an ostracized and alienated workplace newbie to a successful professional, gives viewers an unparalleled sense of identification, especially for many white-collar workers with similar experiences.

The ratings figures came out quickly, and the seventh episode's viewership stopped the downward trend of the previous episode, rebounding to 5.6%. The eighth episode set a new high at 5.9%, starting to challenge the 6% threshold.

This has only aired for less than half of its run and already boasts such pleasing viewership. At this rate, it's highly likely to break through the 10% barrier by the finale, a figure that is extremely difficult for cable channels to achieve.

By now, the drama production team and lead actors like Ji Jingyuan don't really need to put in extra effort for promotion. Fans of "The Untamed" have started actively recommending it to others, and discussions about the show are everywhere online. The buzz and positive reviews are truly remarkable.

As a result, the crew was energized and worked diligently, making the most of the momentum. The atmosphere on set was positive every day. YuSｈuGU.

After a long journey back to the peninsula from Mexico, K-team's five members didn't even have a day to rest before EXO's 10 members gathered with the company's team and flew directly to Japan. They are preparing for their upcoming three-day Fukuoka concert.

When Ji Jingyuan saw a few members of EXO-K on the plane looking listless and downcast, he felt a wave of relief. He thought to himself, "Good thing I didn't go. They look exhausted after this trip back and forth. If I had gone, I probably wouldn't be in any better shape."

The journey from the peninsula to Neon was not long, just an hour or two at most. After looking over their textbooks on the plane, they got off and boarded a large bus that had been waiting for them for quite some time. They returned to the hotel first to freshen up before heading to the performance venue to do sound checks and rehearsals.

After arriving here, Chi Jingyuan observed that the fans here in Japan didn't seem to be affected by EXO members' consecutive departures. Everything was the same as when they first started their activities earlier this year, still just as enthusiastic.

It's possible that Han or Tao aren't very well-known or popular here, or maybe there are other reasons. But it seems like the fans here give Park Ji-won a more intense feeling than recent domestic fans on the peninsula.

From the moment they got off the plane, there were many people waiting to greet them. Along the way, people followed their large bus all the way to the hotel. Even before the performance venue opened, there were already a huge crowd of people gathered, forming lines that stretched for three layers inside and three layers outside.

Before arriving at the hotel, several overly excited fans still tried to rush towards members like Ji Jingyuan and hug them. However, the quick-witted assistants quickly stopped them.

Looking at the fans who kept shouting his name as he was being led away, Ji Kyeong-won had a deeper understanding and feeling for the Japanese fans.

It seems that since ** has officially issued the announcement, y's path forward is now clear. They are no longer like during the previous period, seeming troubled and reluctant to communicate with others. Now, they appear to have let go of their burdens, looking much more energetic and reminiscent of their early days in the industry.

Although it's certain that many members may have some resentment and dissatisfaction towards y's departure, after all, everyone had anticipated this beforehand and made mental preparations. Besides, they've spent several years together and have gone through the difficult times of EXO's debut failure and inactivity together.

After this month's Neon tour, the other party should be officially returning to China. Even though there are a lot of grievances in their hearts, many members have put aside some negative emotions out of respect for this being the last group activity. At least on the surface, everyone has returned to how they used to be. Whether it's at the hotel or during rehearsals, they often laugh and joke around, and the atmosphere seems pretty good.

Of course, there are also some people who feel resentful and dissatisfied with him. They kept a cold face throughout the conversation and didn't participate in any of the topics. Their hostility was very obvious, but I guess they understood deep down, and were too lazy to say anything so they just pretended not to see it.

On November 11th, EXO held their concert at the Fukuoka Sea Hawk Exhibition Center. Nearly 15,000 fans attended the event. Even before the show began, the atmosphere in the venue was already incredibly electric, with a cacophony of cheers and screams that threatened to shake the roof off.

"Are you all still happy today"

After the opening and a few songs, they entered the chat segment. The 10 EXO members stood in a line at the center of the stage. Park Kyung-won held a microphone and smiled as he greeted the audience.

"Ahhh..."

The deafening screams made it impossible for him to hear what the audience was saying, but he definitely felt their enthusiasm.

Just like during their activities in China, EXO has prepared extensively for their concert in Japan, including having all the members study Japanese under the company's request. Several songs have also been given Japanese lyrics and will be performed at this concert.

Go to China to learn Chinese, and to Japan to learn Japanese. ** does a pretty good job of adapting to local customs.

Although there were Japanese language classes before their debut, and the company also had relatively strict requirements, after all, it wasn't their primary task, and no one else had the linguistic talent of Ji-yuan. To this day, except for Ji-yuan, the other members are basically only able to greet in Japanese. At most, they prepare one or two sentences beforehand, memorize the pronunciation, and then say them on stage.

Although this stuttering, unpolished language might surprise fans and make them feel like "the Oppa's really put in effort," what truly satisfies the audience from the heart and generates goodwill and recognition is a fluent and natural speech like that of Park Ji-sung.

Although the members' greetings were met with a warm response from the audience, it seemed somewhat superficial. It wasn't until Pool Kyung-won confidently introduced himself and EXO in fluent local language that the audience truly ignited.

Due to his highest fame and popularity, and his mastery of the best local languages, Park Ji-sung was also designated by ** company as the protagonist of this EXO Japan tour. Many announcements during the concert were made by him.

Originally, the company's plan was to arrange for a fluent Japanese staff member to translate the members' words and current events during the concert's intermission. However, after discussing it and checking Park Gyung-won's actual Japanese level, they abandoned this idea and directly entrusted the translation task of the concert to Park Gyung-won.

So, some of the funniest moments that happened during this concert were when the members spoke in Korean, and Ji-yeong was holding a microphone next to them translating at the same time. The neon-lit audience below found it very novel and exciting.

Most interestingly, even when other members were speaking, most fans' attention wasn't on them, but rather fixed on Ki Joo-won's face as he served as the translator.

I already liked him, and this authentic and fluent language just makes me want more.

"Thank you all so much for your support and love of EXO."

Looking out at the entire venue, countless silver-white cheering sticks in the hands of fans swayed nonstop, forming a brilliant starry river. Ji Jingyuan, holding the microphone, was also quite excited and waved his hand loudly; "

"

"Enjoy the present moment to the fullest."

…………

Excluding previous **town events and those with short durations, this marks EXO's first solo concert tour in Japan as a group. Both the members of EXO and their fans feel a lot of excitement and novelty about it.

As fans were reluctant to part with the beloved group, the first Fukuoka tour came to a successful end. However, Ikegami Gen and his team didn't have much time to rest as they had to perform for three consecutive days in Fukuoka. This presented both physical and performance challenges for them.

While EXO was focusing on their own neon concert, the 2014 Melon Music Awards (MMA) also opened at the Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena at 7 PM on November 13th.

This time, the MMA Awards Ceremony was attended by groups such as TAR, The Toy Music Band, and The Sun.

But all the artists under ** company were surprisingly absent.

Girls' Generation's return this year fell short of expectations, with a significant decline in performance. Considering their seniority, they wouldn't come to the ceremony for a mere show if they couldn't win a major award. Furthermore, after experiencing the controversy surrounding Jessica Jung's departure, they haven't fully recovered from the various disputes surrounding her exit from the group.

> The reason is that the Neon tour schedule doesn't allow for any free time. The concert times and the start of MMA completely overlap, so there's no time to attend even if they wanted to.

Tickets for a sold-out concert will not be changed unless there are unforeseen circumstances. Besides, EXO didn't have a schedule for a major award at this MMA, so they wouldn't come anyway.

As for ... even if they are from **, their current popularity is not yet at the level of appearing on MMA, unless they know in advance that they have won a rookie award.

It's a pity that some really talented newcomers emerged in 2014. YG's ner debuted four days and immediately achieved first place, which was simply jaw-dropping. Their title song "Empty" also performed very well on the music charts. Their debut results were far behind theirs.

Unless ** operations are running, they are still a bit far from the new people's rewards.

Even with popular artists like IU, Sunmi, and BEAST making appearances, a significant portion of fans believe that the absence of ** Entertainment artists made this year's MMA somewhat lacking in star power.

Now that we're in the final part of the second half of this year's MMA Awards, it's time to announce the remaining three major awards. All the audience members and attending artists are sitting upright, anxiously and excitedly watching the award presenters on stage.

EXO, who were not present at the event tonight, only received a TOP 10 award. They knew beforehand that they would win, so Kim Junmyeon and a few others recorded a VCR to thank the organizers and fans. Park Chanyeol did not participate because he was filming a drama.

Being only TOP10, the gold content is indeed a bit low. Basically, anyone who comes will qualify.

...and the internet popularity award went to beast, just moments ago the grand prize for album of the year was given to G.O.D., the legendary male group who made a comeback after nine years.

This senior male idol group made a comeback in full force this May, first releasing a 15th-anniversary single, followed by a return album "

" and a series of 15th-anniversary concerts. The Seoul concert on July 12th alone attracted 70,000 attendees, topping all online searches and creating a sensation. It truly showcased the immense influence of a generation's male idol group.

But now, after all, it is no longer the era of G.o.d. The sales miracles they once created, such as 2 million and 1.5 million, are already things of the past.

Time flies, and as for this year, although G.o.d's full comeback made a lot of noise, their album could only be said to have sold average sales. A month after their return, the G-chart sales reached only over 50,000 copies, having a gap compared to EXO.

This year's album award is mainly based on the overall sales of an album. Logically, EXO has no competition.

...that's all.

God being able to win MMA's Album of the Year award, besides EXO not being able to attend, there are probably some other reasons as well.

And now it's time for the award for Song of the Year.

Pei Suzy was dressed in a white long dress, sitting alone at the edge of the artist's seats. Her slightly curly long hair draped over her shoulders, paired with just-right makeup, made her very eye-catching. The cameras in the previous segment focused on her several times, each time causing a gasp from the audience.

Idols who can act as actors, no matter what else, are definitely more elegant than their peers in terms of temperament.

She didn't come with Issa today, the whole group only had her present, and she hasn't performed on stage from the beginning to now. Anyone can see why she's here for the award.

This year, the song "so" by Jiyoung and Suzy, released in March, was a huge hit. It completely outperformed both Girls' Generation and 2NE1 who made their comebacks two months prior in terms of digital sales, achieving astonishing chart results.

With a total of 58 records broken, it is the second highest in lon's history and the first since the revision.

With a cumulative total of 67 chart-topping records, it has set the record for the first time since the establishment of the Genie Chart.

For eight consecutive weeks, the song topped the Genie Chart, holding the number one spot for a remarkable 730 hours. It also secured the top position on the overall ranking (based on both online streams and downloads) for the first half of 2014.

As for other smaller music charts, it goes without saying.

Even half a year later, this song remains popular on the charts and can often be heard in many restaurants. This love song is truly a national favorite. Now it has become the most popular duet song in the region, without a doubt.

On Melon's yearly chart, "" also firmly suppressed the second-ranked Park Hyo-shin "" and the third Sun "Eye Nose Mouth."

There's still a gap in the middle, but it can be said that "so" has already secured the top spot on lon's year-end chart this year.

And the most intense competition for this year's top song award was between "so" and "eye nose mouth".

At this time, the award presenter, singer Yoon Sang, is on stage reading out the award speech:

"A song that won the highest award, created new records, and received a high approval rating."

"It's not about the singer but the song title being nominated. It doesn't rely on the singer's popularity or brand influence, nor promotional efforts. It's truly awarded based on the exceptional quality of the song itself."

"First, please see the nominees list."

Following Yin Shang's gesture, the large screen behind them began to play the candidates' VCRs.

"

‘Friday’s Meeting’, IU, feat. Lee Isaac.

" Let me know if you have any other translations you need!

"Eyes, nose, mouth, the sun."

"So, Suzy." Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

"Wildflowers, by Park Hyoshin."

"A Midsummer Night's Sweet."

It's a coincidence that the five candidates are exactly the top five from this year's Melon Chart annual list.

“Best Song Award in 2014……”

Yin Shang looked at the note in his hand and smiled mischievously at the camera.

At this time, several other candidates were already getting nervous. The hip-hop artist Na sat together, staring intently at Yin Shang on stage and the big screen. Their collaboration this time had surprisingly good results. This Grand Prize was an award neither of them had ever touched before. Naturally, they both really wanted to win it this time.

A few people next to ner were surrounding the company senior, Taiyang, holding hands and cheering each other on with vigor. They looked united and determined. In contrast, Taiyang, with his white hair, seemed very calm, like an old man lounging there leisurely, his aura of seniority evident.

& and Bae Suzy don't know if it was intentional or accidental, the two were sitting on opposite ends of the table quite far apart. At this time, they were both wearing gorgeous outfits and sitting there calmly, but their similar eyes revealed that deep down, they weren't as natural as they seemed.

Especially Bae Suzy, if Ji Chang Wook is watching the live stream, he can easily see her anxiety.

Seeing the atmosphere was already boiling, this time Yoon Sang didn't hesitate anymore and directly announced the winner in a loud voice:

The winner is...;ap;ap;ap; Suzy, for 《so》.

This novel is first released on .ffering a word of comfort:"However, the Peninsula itinerary isn't as tight as the one in Xia Guo. There are quite a few gaps for you to rest. Some less important announcements can also be delayed acco...