Chapter Five: Golden Record

factors that brought them closer."Would you be able to introduce me I'd also like to be friends with Girls' Generation."Jung Eun Ji's eyes lit up, and she grinned widely."Inside, if you had a chance,..."Hey guys, did you see A new white Mercedes-AMG SLS AMG was parked in the parking lot downstairs. It's even the latest top-of-the-line 2014 Ck Series! I really like this car model and I even looked into it specifically. It's hard to buy locally, and the price is a bit too high."

"I really like this car model. The gullwing doors are really cool."

"How did so many luxury cars suddenly appear in our neighborhood Are they new residents"

In the evening, the door to the EXO dormitory opened. Several members who had gone out today to film a live advertisement and do promotional activities walked in, changing their shoes and excitedly chatting as they went, especially Park Chan-yeol and Kim Jong-in. The two were excitedly talking about cars, their volume so high it even drowned out the sounds from the television program.

"After I get my share this year, I'm planning on buying a sedan. A sports car definitely looks different."

"Did you also buy that Mercedes model"

"I guess that's enough, the car downstairs might cost seven to eight hundred million, maybe even close to a billion. If they spent all their money on the car, there wouldn't be anything left to invest in other things. I'm planning to buy an apartment in Seoul..."

Park Chan-hyeok and a few others changed their shoes and walked in, greeting the members sitting on the couch watching TV with a wave. Seungkwan on the sofa was drawn to their conversation and turned to look at them, his expression enigmatic as he asked, "What are you guys talking about What kind of car"

"A new white Mercedes sports car just parked downstairs. Did you guys see it" A few people were stunned for a moment. Wu Shixun pointed towards the window, where they could directly see the parking lot of their apartment complex.

"See"

"It's that one, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG series. We saw this model in a magazine last year. It's really cool looking. I bet it belongs to one of the new neighbors..." Wu Shixun plopped down on the armrest of the sofa and excitedly rambled on."

On the sofa, Do Kyung-soo and Kim Jongdae looked at each other, their expressions becoming a little strange. Looking at the several members who had just returned and were excitedly chatting, Do Kyung-soo blinked his eyes and interrupted directly: "That car belongs to Kyungsoo."

..."

A few people who were having a good chat suddenly fell silent. The warm atmosphere in the living room, which had just been replenished, came to an abrupt end like a valve being released. Everyone was stunned for a moment, opened their mouths but didn't know what to say, as if they had misheard.

"Jingyuan's" Wu Shih-hsuan paused, his response laced with disbelief.

"He got his driver's license these past two days, didn't he He went home on leave at noon and drove back in a car. I even took a ride with him this afternoon."

Do Kyung-Soo nodded, took a chocolate bar from the wrapper in his hand and popped it in his mouth, chewing naturally as he explained.

Back then, when they were filming the advertisement, everyone in the group except for Ji-sung liked this product. Ji-sung tried it himself and found the taste pretty good, so he bought a few boxes. From that point on, most of the dormmates started going to his place whenever they had nothing to do to grab a bar. This chocolate bar has become one of EXO's favorite snacks in private.

It's possible that they think other people's food is tastier, and since others don't buy it themselves, they just keep borrowing from Chi Jingyuan. As for Chi Jingyuan, he doesn't seem to mind; he has already repurchased several boxes in a row.

"...That's how it is..."

Park Chan-wook and Kim Jong-in looked at each other, their interest in the car talk seeming to vanish instantly. No one mentioned anything about the "gullwing doors" anymore. After a moment of awkward silence, they forced out a smile, mumbled a polite remark, and then quickly dispersed.

"Do Kyung-soo glanced at their departing figures with bright eyes, and exchanged a look with Kim Jong-dae. A slight nod was all it took for everything to be understood."

The news about Pooh's $5.5 billion income last year, as reported by the media, definitely reached his EXO members long ago. After all, they are all part of the same group. It is understandable that such a vast difference in individual member earnings could cause some resentment among others.

Although everyone has long understood and accepted Pool Jingyuan's uniqueness, seeing the income figures laid bare and realizing how much he surpassed them still makes people feel uncomfortable. That's why exo rarely discusses this topic in private. This time, with the new car bringing up the issue from the side again, it naturally dampens their spirits.

That's 5.5 billion! Last year, EXO's entire group's estimated annual revenue was only a little higher than this number.

At this moment, Ji Chang-wook is sitting on his bed playing with his phone. He just uploaded a few pictures with Kim Jong-hyun and selfies to his social media, with the caption "《base》, fight!", as promotion for the other's solo activities which are starting tomorrow.

"

《base》is the name of Kim Jong-hyun's solo album this time.

"

After seeing Wu Shihun walk in, he just nodded his head as a greeting. After thinking for a moment, Jiyeong raised his head and asked, "How's your ad going"

“It’s already over, thanks to you guys not going. It was really boring. They said it was camping but it was just finding an empty space in Jiangbei, putting up a tent and playing some childish games on top of it. It was so awkward. It was pointless anyway, and we had to shout and scream for the sake of effect…”

Wu Shih-hsuan heard this and his face immediately became extremely interesting. He waved his hand and briefly explained the process, his tone full of disdain.

At last, he sat on the bed and after a while of holding back, he finally couldn't resist and curiously asked: "By the way, how much did your Mercedes cost"

"You mean that SLS downstairs" Chi Jingyuan looked up upon hearing this, paused for a short two seconds of thought, and answered with some hesitation: "I don't know... I didn't ask..."

He really didn't know, after choosing, the second brother directly threw the key over and didn't talk about the price at all.

"You... die!"

But when it reached Wu Shixun's ears, he immediately thought this guy was such a fake. He himself must have water in his head for asking him questions and giving him an opportunity to act. Wu Shixun directly flipped him off and angrily retorted, then turned over on the bed with his butt facing Ji Jingyuan, and started texting his girlfriend.

"...

" Let me know if you'd like to translate anything else!

Chi Jingyuan innocently shrugged his shoulders, feeling deeply misunderstood.

Still prejudiced, he was too lazy to explain and continued to look down at the comments on his s.

Even without actively promoting, Ji-sung's fan count has reached nearly nine million, nearing the ten million mark. Not only does he lead all EXO members, but he also ranks among the top Korean celebrities. Other EXO members like Park Chan-yeol and Wu Shi-hun currently have around three million fans each. Among male idols, the closest in number is GD from BigBang.

Among female idols, Kim Taeyeon tops the charts with over three million S fans, more than double that of the second-place finisher.

Although Chi Jingyuan doesn't frequently operate on the platform 's, his fanbase is incredibly active, often chatting amongst themselves in the comment section. They engage in various conversations and memes, creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere. This level of fan dedication and loyalty makes other idols quite envious.

Even with the main character being so lazy, the fans' enthusiasm remains this high. It's only possible with someone like Ji Jingyuan.

At a glance, the top comment caught my eye: “Yuan, you finally remembered you had an S! You haven't updated your S in 203 hours. I don't know what you're doing, but doesn't your S company care about this kind of laziness”

"Heaven knows how complicated my feelings are when my phone notifies me that yuan has been updated. I'm happy to see the new, hot selfies, but sad because this lazy bum can now fish even more."

"Yuan and Chung Hyeon seem to be very close! It's rare to see him help someone promote their comeback. Since Oppa is promoting for you, we definitely have to support Ai Li, ladies, charge!"

"Wow! Didn't expect Yuan and Wuli JongHyun to be such good friends. On behalf of the fandom, I would like to thank all the fans for their support. The quality of Hyung's solo is definitely guaranteed, so please give a lot of attention to JongHyun's solo tomorrow!"

"Borrowing this platform! All my dear ALICEs, remember to vote for the K-wave Special Award for our Oppa at the Seoul Music Awards. Don't vote for the Popularity Award! Don't vote for the Popularity Award! Don't waste your votes! Also, for Golden Disc Awards, remember to vote for the Album Award and not the Digital Song Award because Tea Egg won't be attending the Digital Song Award ceremony! Don't vote incorrectly!"

Shee's fans were quite surprised, and many fans left messages expressing their thanks to Ji-sung.

Besides each group having a high chance of being crazily attacked by senior fans' groups when they first debut, S's group is generally quite harmonious during their usual time at the company because they are trying hard to cultivate "family love".

Although EXO was harshly criticized by fans of SJ, SHEE, and Girls' Generation right after their debut, and even today many old fans who have followed them all the way still bring this up with anger, after all, it happened a long time ago. With the passage of time, many people no longer care much about those things.

And now they have a new common enemy, and that's Red Velvet.

Today is nearing the last two major award ceremonies, the Golden Disc Awards and Seoul Music Awards, and various fan groups are working hard to vote crazily for their idols. Even if it doesn't affect the grand prize, having a chance to win one or two more awards for their idols is something they are all willing to put in effort for.

However, EXO hasn't really encountered much competition in voting since the second half of 2013. Although some fans have left, due to their fans' intense dedication, they still hold a significant advantage in votes.

Under the efforts of Aeli, early on January 15th before dawn, EXO flew to Xia Guo's capital city with company staff, preparing to attend the Golden Disc Awards ceremony for the record category held at Mastercard Center tonight.

This year's Golden Disc Awards, in order to promote Kpop and expand its influence, specifically held the event in mainland China. The awards ceremony was also divided into two categories: digital sound source and physical album, held on the 14th and 15th respectively.

Yesterday, on the 14th, the sound source department's awards ceremony was held. The Sound Source Grand Prize went to Solar. Since I knew beforehand that I wouldn't be able to win the grand prize, Ji-sung didn't attend, while Suzy attended alone and won the Annual Trend Award with "so".

This award's value can only be said to be half, a consolation prize at best.

Last night, Chi Jingyuan watched a bit of the live broadcast on TV and found that there were actually many empty seats in the venue, and the audience's enthusiasm throughout the night was not very high. In terms of cheering and shouting, it was not as enthusiastic as fans from the peninsula.

Although previous organizers hyped it up for a long time and did a lot of promotion, Kpop is still considered niche in mainland China during the summer. There aren't many idols with high fame and popularity to begin with.

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Although they haven't reached that level on the peninsula yet, in South Korea EXO is currently the hottest and most popular group, with the most fanatical fans.

With the absence of the hottest EXO, the music source department's party inevitably seemed a little less lively.

In fact, apart from a very small number of teams like XO with a large fanbase and high popularity in mainland China, other groups face the risk of encountering cold responses here. For example, during the red carpet event, most groups experienced awkward silences when walking the red carpet.

Several idol groups were on the red carpet and taking photos, and during the signing session, the fans present didn't react much. This made the idols who walked the red carpet feel a little awkward. It seemed like because they weren't very well-known, especially the girl groups like Red Velvet and Bestie, who appeared first. They didn't have many fans or recognition in China. Walking the red carpet, there wasn't even cheering, let alone people recognizing them.

Although they aren't famous, the makeup of a few girls from the Le Bebe group is actually quite good. With their black and white checkered skirts, even in the dead of winter with temperatures near freezing, they showed off four pairs of bare legs. Just looking at them made Ji Jingyuan feel a little cold for them.

He felt that Park Ji-hyun's long, straight black hair sticking to her scalp was ordinary and relied solely on her face to carry it. In comparison, among the four people in the red carpet segment, Kang Seul-gi stood out the most. With a ponytail, she looked gentle and pleasant.

And the local cooperating organizer, I felt there were some unprofessional aspects.

Chi Jingyuan waited with the members in the room, preparing to walk the red carpet. Looking at the live broadcast of the red carpet on the TV in front of him, he couldn't help but sigh.

Just now was VIXX's photo session, but the music provided by the organizer was EXO's "Growl". As soon as the music started, fans thought EXO was coming out and immediately screamed. When they saw it wasn't EXO, they quickly quieted down, making the scene incredibly awkward. Even the host was speechless and didn't know what to say.

VIXX signed their names on a billboard and quickly left the scene, as if something was chasing them. It's unclear what their state of mind is at this moment.

The fan support culture on the mainland is still in its early stages compared to the peninsula. Aside from the cheering of Girls' Generation and BE, the red carpets for the other ten or so artists were a bit deserted, with a lot of dead air for a while. After the host gave a speech, EXO finally walked the red carpet. All nine members wore serious suits and pants. As soon as Park Chan-yeol appeared, there was a wave of screams far louder than before, reaching a peak when even the last member, Ji-sung, took to the stage.

Even if they are wearing the same clothes, the difference in stature and temperament is still very obvious just by standing there.

"Han-ryeol, Han-ryeol!!"

"Kai! Kai!"

"Ahhh, yuan look at me, look at me, look this way!"

"Chi Jingyuan! Ahhhhh..."

Among all the artists walking the red carpet, EXO immediately stood out. Their two-year deep cultivation in mainland China, along with Ji Chang Wook and EXO's activities in this region, have made their popularity far surpass other artists. The cheers you hear make this year's Golden Disc Awards Product Department red carpet feel like their home turf. The fans present are tireless in their enthusiastic shouts, instantly heating up the atmosphere.

"We are one, Anihaseyo, Exo Imida."

"We are one, hello everyone, we are EXO."

What was different was that after lining up, EXO greeted the fans in both Korean and Chinese respectively, each time bowing. Hearing their familiar voices, the screams from below rose another decibel.

All the artists before them just took photos, signed autographs, and left. EXO, however, had a special dialogue segment where they greeted fans. Park Chan-yeol and a few others took microphones from the host and spoke some simple Chinese phrases like "Hello, thank you, I love you." Though it sounded a bit awkward, the fans were still very happy and cheered loudly one after another.

Ji Jingyuan kept smiling and stood on the right, watching them perform. After finishing his autograph session, he waved to the several girls screaming crazily at him behind the barrier, then followed the team off the stage. EXO was the last group of artists for the red carpet segment; after them was today's MC, Choi Hyeon-moo, and SJ's Leeteuk.

To be honest, from Ji Changwook's perspective, although EXO received a lot of welcome and there wasn't any dull moment, this red carpet event was still quite a failure today. Aside from the various mistakes and mishaps, besides some individual artists, the overall atmosphere was rather empty.

One can only say that the main fame and popularity of Kpop are concentrated in those few top idol groups. Second- and third-tier groups and some lesser-known groups have virtually no recognition. Overall, promotion still has a long way to go.

There were no designated artist seats in the front, so all idols stayed in a few separated resting rooms backstage. Since their managers were always watching, there wasn't much interaction. Only familiar groups from the same company would huddle together and whisper to each other.

Among the artists who came today, the most are from S company. Shee's Taemin is here solo because he only has himself. Also here are Girls' Generation TTS, EXO, and Red Velvet.

Several artists from the s family were chatting together. Taemin and Kim Jong-in are childhood friends who always get together when they meet, giggling mysteriously and whispering to each other, who knows what they are talking about. Hwang Mi-young went to be c, while Taeyeon and Seo Hyun sat next to EXO. The younger members of Red Velvet, who had just debuted recently, sat politely on the side, a little hesitant to speak in front of the several senior artists, they could only listen and offer some encouraging smiles.

"Goodness me, you guys are incredibly popular in Xia Country."

Seohyun was talking with a few people, including Kim Jun-myeon, while Taeyeon sat directly beside Ji-sung, taking off her fifteen-centimeter red heels and wiggling her toes. She then said something to him with a hint of melancholy.

"Where, compared to Taeyeon unnie, you girls of Girls' Generation are definitely a bit lacking..." Ji-seong glanced at Taeyeon’s red-painted toes and chuckled humbly.

Actually, it's not really humility. Girls' Generation has been popular for so many years; in terms of popularity in mainland China, they should still be above EXO. However, the support and cheering from fans are incomparable. On this point, the teenage student fans of the tenth generation are simply no match for those older fans.

"Tsk, you're the only one who would say that..." Kim Taeyeon glared at Ji-seong with an eye roll and switched feet to remove her shoe for a break.

These idols who aren't tall enough are really exhausted at this kind of event. These ten-centimeter high heels look scary just looking at them, let alone having to wear them and dance on stage all the time.

Pool Jingyuan leaned against the table, chatting and laughing with Taeyeon. As his eyes casually swept around, they met the gaze of Pei Zhuxuan sitting beside him. The two pairs of eyes collided in mid-air.

Pei Zhuhyun has changed her styling, putting on the outfit for later's stage. She's wearing a red tight-fitting long sleeve and pleated skirt, with a high ponytail tied at the back and a red headband. A pair of white high-waisted socks extend all the way to her knees. The whole person exudes a youthful and energetic vibe, quite eye-catching.

But the black high heels on her feet have a similar charm to those worn by Taeyeon.

Pei Zhuxuan smiled faintly, her expression unreadable. She met Ji Kyung-won's gaze for a moment, blinked her eyes, and then without any reaction, turned her gaze away.

"...Ji Jingyuan felt as if he understood something and chuckled softly to himself. He didn't pay much attention, but continued chatting casually with Kim Taeyeon."

He's now able to pick up on quite a few of Jennie Kim's expressions and movements. When they accidentally make eye contact, she usually doesn't get shy, but instead smiles and blinks happily. However, this action, though smiling, looking away from the other person indicates that she might not be very happy inside.

By contrast, Chi Jingyuan found it quite cute.

After resting backstage for a while, the staff came to notify them to prepare. It wasn't long before the Golden Disc Awards Music Division Award Ceremony officially began at Madison Square Garden. Besides the two who walked the red carpet, also joining them was Shao Shi's Huang Meiying.

Quan Xuemou took on the role of Chinese translator, and he actually speaks pretty good Chinese. Unfortunately, his very strange accent and many mispronounced words made his translation rather awkward. Sometimes even Chi Jingyuan couldn't understand what he was saying, let alone the audience in the venue and watching on television.

So the organizers' problem arises again. For a gala held in Xia Kingdom, they didn't hire a local host or an artist fluent in Chinese to be the emcee. Instead, they invited someone who is only showy and doesn't really understand the language. Honestly, it's not much different from having no translator at all.

It is said that the organizer had once invited Chi Jingyuan to be a host and translator, but it seems he was declined by S company because of album preparations.

This choice is indeed very good. In terms of proficiency in Chinese, among all the artists, Park Ji-won is undoubtedly the most outstanding one.

After awarding several other prizes, the newcomer award unexpectedly went to Red Velvet. This was also their main reason for coming here this time.

Among the newcomers who debuted in 2014, the most successful and popular wi7 already won the rookie award in the digital music chart yesterday. Although redvelvet's performance is relatively average, as a big company, it's not surprising that they took home the rookie award in the physical album department today with a little effort.

"Happiness, Anihaseyo, hello everyone we are Red Velvet."

With hands in their heads, the few people on stage looked very excited. The several newcomers also seemed quite nervous and awkward, with hands unsure of where to go. Jiang Seqi and Sun Shengwan as soon as they went up started laughing, their faces beaming with smiles that didn't seem to know what they were laughing about.

Before the award, Pei Zhuxuan had thoroughly memorized a long speech for her acceptance. At this moment, she delivered it fluently and gracefully. It's hard to imagine how long she must have practiced privately to deliver such a lengthy speech.

Regardless of how much credit the company deserves, at least this rookie award for the Golden Record has finally been won, which is a great encouragement for Red Velvet, who had a very bumpy start.

Chi Jingyuan was lounging backstage, legs crossed, watching the live broadcast on the big screen. His gaze swept over the faces of several familiar girls, and he couldn't help but smile and clap lightly, feeling a sense of joy for them.

Peninsula Asteroid

This novel is first published on ******. talking, Ji Jingyuan said goodbye to the members and got into Park Jaehyun's car that came to pick him up. He returned to his villa in Longshan District. 。Before leaving, Chi Jingyuan and the other m...