However, because of this incident, Ye Cang made an exception and posted a short video to explain that he was currently recording a new album and was too busy, which led to this misunderstanding. He asked everyone to forgive him.
In the video, Ye Cang had just washed his face, and his haggard appearance was no different from what the paparazzi had photographed before. However, in the eyes of the general public, the difference was huge.
Look what I found!! A new album!!!
So, this is marketing??? I mean, I'd be happy to accept this kind of marketing every time!
Has the release date for the new album been set?
What style will the new album be?! Ahhh, I can't wait!
The netizens' attention was immediately drawn to the new album. Shen Huai thought about it and asked Ye Cang to release a short clip first to test the audience's acceptance.
Shen Huai was still worried that the two albums were too different in style. Once they were released, many fans who bought the second album because of the first album would be disappointed and receive a flood of negative reviews. This would have a very bad impact on the reputation of Ye Cang's new album.
Ye Cang is talented, and this album is excellent. He doesn't need to rely on marketing to boost sales and damage his reputation.
Releasing a short clip beforehand could ease these emotions and might even raise fans' expectations.
When it comes to album promotion, Ye Cang always follows Shen Huai's advice. He recorded a 30-second video while playing the guitar and singing, and then uploaded it to Weibo.
Ye Cang rarely posts on Weibo, and most of his posts are commercial promotions. There is very little content related to himself, which has made his fans feel indifferent. But these past two days have felt like Chinese New Year.
Ye Cang posted two Weibo posts on the same day, both of which were videos, one of which was a singing video!!
what does that mean?!
This means they no longer have to be jealous of their neighbors!! That's incredibly touching!!
However, when they clicked on it, they found that the song in the video was completely different from Ye Cang's usual style. Before they could even understand what it was like, it had already ended, so they had to replay it.
After listening to it several times, they discovered:
[Hey, it sounds pretty good!]
I listened to it several more times.
[Aww! When are you going to release a new album, brother?! It's too short, I can't get enough!]
Although many people expressed disappointment, most people were looking forward to Ye Cang's new album.
Shen Huai had been monitoring online public opinion and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
He couldn't guarantee that everyone would like Ye Cang's album, since aesthetics are a very personal matter. The current situation was the best he could have imagined.
After all, most netizens don't have any obsession with rock music. They bought "Rebirth" simply because the songs in it were good. Although Ye Cang has changed his style in this album, he still retains his personal characteristics and shows more novelty.
Just then, the album's production was nearing completion, so Shen Huai took the opportunity to start promoting it.
On the first day of its release, the new album "Right and Wrong" sold over 50,000 copies. Sales gradually declined afterward, but it still maintained an astonishing sales figure.
Shen Huai and Ye Cang both knew that this book would probably be difficult to reach the sales of "Rebirth". After all, "Rebirth" was the culmination of thirty years of Lu Yang's death. Its success was due to a combination of favorable timing, location, and people, as well as the support of the Cologne Award. The two books are not comparable.
However, Ye Cang has a very peaceful mindset. He knows what he is doing and that he is on the right path. He will not lose himself because of fans' comments or album sales.
This is also why he wrote the album "Right and Wrong".
Moreover, this album, like the previous one, contains ten songs in total, plus a special track.
When "Rebirth" was released, Ye Cang and Shen Huai's relationship was still unclear, so fans didn't know what this special song meant. Now that the two have publicly come out as gay, this public display of affection can only elicit silent schadenfreude from the vast majority of single people.
However, to their surprise, even though they didn't ask anyone to promote it, many friends in the industry took the initiative to promote Ye Cang's new album.
@厉子航V: @叶沧, are you still a brother?! Would sending you an album kill you?! Even though the song is great, it can't hide the fact that you're a stingy person. PS. The stench of your relationship is practically overflowing the screen, can't you tone it down a bit?!
@Fang JiqingV: The album is great, with more stylistic variations and amazing arrangements, all of which are pleasant surprises. (This isn't because I didn't make a bet.)
@邱杰V: @叶沧, enough chit-chat. [Photo of an order for 100 records]
Even veteran fans like Fan Jing and Lu Zhenzhen posted on Weibo, and Xia Fei, who had long since become a die-hard fan of Ye Cang after being a die-hard fan of Lu Yang, wrote a long and detailed post.
While Ye Cang's album release was making headlines, Pei Ran's new movie quietly began filming.
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Pei Ran's film "Ah Sheng" is set in Hong Kong in the last century and tells the story of a martial arts actor named Zhao Sheng.
Although Zhao Sheng's name contains the character "Sheng" (meaning victory), his life was a complete failure. He entered the stunt industry because he was desperate and happened to be recruiting. They took a liking to his muscular physique and hired him. But even after joining the stunt industry, he was still of little use. He was relegated to minor roles such as pulling wires or being thrown around during fight scenes. He was never given any important stunt work.
Zhao Sheng was already content. He quietly worked odd jobs in the martial arts world, earning a meager salary, living in a cramped room, and dreaming of becoming a martial arts star in movies, spending lavishly on the girl he liked, and winning her heart. Until one day, the financial crisis struck, the entire Hong Kong economy collapsed rapidly, and Zhao Sheng lost his job…
The whole story exudes a dark humor, telling the story of such an ordinary person in a scathing tone, yet it suddenly softens when it touches people's hearts, as if it is about to completely break down people's hearts.
Shen Huai had just finished reading the script and his emotions were still running high.
He never expected Pei Ran to make such a story. He thought Pei Ran would focus on the development of the entire Hong Kong martial arts industry, or adapt clips from his previous films. But he never expected that Pei Ran would start from the perspective of such an ordinary martial arts actor. Moreover, the style of the story was completely out of sync with his temperament.
This melancholic tone, coupled with its satirical style, seems like something only a cynical director who has spent a long time at the bottom of society could create. The self-deprecation and self-deprecation in it don't seem like things that a privileged person like Pei Ran would experience or understand.
Shen Huai waved the script in his hand at Pei Ran, still somewhat dazed: "If you weren't sitting right in front of me, I wouldn't believe you're really going to film such a story."
Pei Ran smiled and said, "You don't need to look at me like that. This Zhao Sheng is not me. He is just a fictional character. But all of this happened in the martial arts world. Outsiders only see the glamour, but only those of us who are in it can see the hardships underneath. Although I have not experienced these things, I have seen a lot of them and have gradually come to understand them."
Pei Ran stood up, looked at the scene being set up not far away, and said softly, "Back then, Hong Kong was able to overcome the crisis not only because of the appeal of one or two stars, but also because of these ordinary people who worked behind the scenes. Their stories should be known, not just become footnotes in the numbers of history."
Shen Huai fell silent for a long time before saying, "You should know that such scenes are actually thankless and require a lot of effort. They also test the director's skills. The sense of proportion needs to be very precise. If not handled well, it is easy to fall into the trap of the director indulging in self-indulgence."
Pei Ran nodded: "I know."