Chapter 028: The Miraculous Audience Rating!
As for Le Xiaotian, after his performance of “V3,” he headed backstage. Setting down his violin, he opened his arms wide and called out to Sun Yuzhen with a grin, “Come here, let your husband give you a hug.”
Without a word of protest, Sun Yunzhen melted into her lover’s embrace. The faint, intoxicating scent of her body, the pleasant warmth of her skin, and the gentle rhythm of her heartbeat all made Le Xiaotian feel utterly content.
Noticing the six astonished beauties nearby, he raised an eyebrow and teased, “Don’t you want a hug too?”
To flirt so openly in front of her—if she weren’t here, one could only imagine the consequences. At that moment, Sun Yuzhen slipped from his embrace, pinched his waist with her left hand, and shot him a deeply aggrieved look.
The six young women, understanding the situation, paid her no mind. “Sister Zhen, it’s just a friendly hug. Don’t be angry,” they insisted as they each hugged Le Xiaotian in turn. He was delighted; it wasn’t so bad being the public enemy of the stars.
After a round of playful embraces, emboldened by not being struck by the wrath of Little Jiu’s thunderbolts, he grew even more audacious.
Just then, Zhang Lei arrived and was stunned by the scene before him—Le Xiaotian had the famous beauties of Nine Phoenixes Hall all in his arms.
He could only curse inwardly, consumed with envy.
As he was about to discreetly leave them some private time, Le Xiaotian’s voice carried over, “Do you need something?”
With practiced ease, the two women slipped from his embrace, showing no embarrassment or signs of impropriety. It was, after all, just a pure gesture of friendship.
Realizing this was no scene for idle fantasies, Zhang Lei got down to business. “Ahem, Teacher Xiao Le, the audience in the main hall wishes to invite you to perform there. Would you be willing?”
Countless classic pieces cannot be rushed; both he and the music fans needed time to adapt. As long as he held the copyrights, there was no problem. The success of tonight’s live show meant it was time to boost his fame to stand against Zhang Hao and Lan Cang.
With this in mind, Le Xiaotian smiled. “Do the other performers in the main hall mind? If not, I’ll head over. As for the ticket prices, let’s keep today’s rate—tenfold.”
“No problem, I’ve taken care of everything. Would you mind resting for another half hour? I’ll start the ticket sales immediately. Payment as before.” Zhang Lei was a little excited at how smoothly things were going.
Watching him leave, Le Xiaotian felt as if his life had changed completely.
Everything as before—meaning with a ticket price of five thousand per person in the main hall, they could sell out a million yuan in tickets. He would take eight hundred thousand, plus the one hundred thousand-plus from this morning, bringing him close to a million.
A million in a single day—this was far more lucrative than online sales on Heavenly Voice. And the income came from just over two thousand people.
If, in the future, he could hold concerts for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of fans, making money would be as easy as drinking water.
Most crucially, countless female fans would be waiting for him.
Thinking of this, Le Xiaotian grinned mischievously. “Last night wasn’t enough fun. We still have half an hour—how about renting a room to rest?”
“Ah!” At that moment, he finally yelped as Sun Yuzhen, at last, showed no mercy. Her grip was precise and merciless, and the pain felt as though he’d been bitten by a venomous snake. In an instant, all his stray thoughts vanished.
After a while, when the appointed time arrived, Le Xiaotian made his way to the main hall of Nine Phoenixes.
As he stepped onto the stage, the audience erupted in cheers and excited, incoherent shouts.
He ultimately chose to perform “Palladio” (as played by Escala), a string quartet. The main melody on an electric violin, counterpoint on an electric cello, accompaniment on an electric viola—all pre-recorded—while he himself played the main theme on another electric violin.
The electric cello’s opening was stirring, and the two violins that followed heightened the excitement. Viola accompaniment, one violin with vibrato, another with rapid bowing, and the cello’s strong, rhythmic strokes—all combined to showcase the string quartet at its finest.
The fusion of drums, electric sounds, and vocals gave the piece a classical aura while making it accessible to the masses, much like the arrangement style in “V3.”
After the first piece, the audience went wild. Even with ticket prices ten times higher than usual, they felt it was worth every cent.
In the end, out of a program of ten classics, Le Xiaotian performed five, including “V3” and “Palladio.”
These five pieces set Nine Phoenixes Music Hall ablaze; the audience was left overwhelmed, some even weeping with cathartic joy.
His first truly live performance on Music Sphere was a resounding success.
After the show, Le Xiaotian once again tried to win the favor of the six enamored beauties.
But Sun Yuzhen was ruthless this time, and Little Jiu struck him with six consecutive thunderbolts.
At last, Le Xiaotian could only sigh—he was simply not cut out to be a bad celebrity. Brother Tian was a good man!
The next day, 8 PM, Lotus TV’s broadcast studio.
Looking at Le Xiaotian, who appeared completely at ease, Director Tang quietly asked, “Are you alright?”
Having confirmed his relationship with Sun Yuzhen and with the success of the live show, Le Xiaotian felt that life was beautiful. “Heh, thank you for all your help these past days, Director. Don’t worry, I’m in great shape. Starting tonight, Lan Cang is in for a complete defeat!”
The staff of Lotus TV—Zhao Dezhu, Li Hongmei, the bearded man, Huang Qiang, and others—were all in awe of this extraordinary man.
A few days ago, he’d declared his intention to deal with Lan Cang and switched to airing both classical and modern versions of “Journey to the West.”
It was later discovered through discreet inquiries that he’d confronted Beihai’s formidable Dark Star, Zhang Hao, and battled him in the alleys of Great Lan.
In the blink of an eye, he’d become involved with a high executive at Beihai’s renowned Nine Phoenixes Music Hall and held a triumphant concert.
Was he now about to create a legend?
With everything in place, at nine o’clock sharp, the broadcast began. Le Xiaotian launched his counterattack on Lan Cang. “Good evening, dear listeners. It’s been a few days—have you missed me? I’m sure you have, because I’ve missed you too.”
After this cheeky opening, he continued, “Last episode’s ‘Myth’ ended perfectly. From now on, I, Brother Tian, will be hosting at this time every night. Our station is officially renamed ‘Perfect Myth.’ The first program is a fantasy novel, ‘Journey to the West.’ Before we begin, let’s listen to its overture.”
With that, he played the recorded “Cloud Palace Quickstep.”
As the music played, Director Tang and the others were dumbfounded. What kind of music was this? It was simply beautiful!
More importantly, the staff monitoring the ratings were astonished: 8%!
Seeing this number, Director Tang and the others could hardly believe it.
Though not perfectly precise, it was still accurate enough. Just days ago, Le Xiaotian had promised to reach 3%. Now, it started at 8%. How could that be?
In the end, everyone attributed this to the success of “Xiaotian’s Request Show,” his brief absence which had heightened the listeners’ anticipation, the rise in his legendary tracks on Heavenly Voice, the serialization of “Journey to the West” on the Myth site, and last night’s live concert at Nine Phoenixes.
At that moment, as the divine music played, Le Xiaotian began narrating “Journey to the West” for Music Sphere:
A poem says:
Before chaos split, heaven and earth were wild,
Vast, boundless, unseen by all.
Since Pangu broke the primal haze,
From that moment, clear and turbid were known.
All beings look up to the utmost kindness,
All things invented, destined for good.
If you wish to know the mysteries of creation,
Read the tale of the Pilgrimage to the West...
As time passed and the ratings soared, Director Tang and the others were utterly speechless.