Chapter 5: This Man Is Not Simple

Two songs plus a solo, six minutes and twenty-three seconds in total.

It was precisely these six-plus minutes of a raw, unedited live video that propelled the reborn Heartbreak onto the trending charts:

#HeartbreakNewLeadSinger (fiery hot emoji)#

The inner entertainment circle felt a long-awaited shock from the band scene. A flood of passersby poured into the trending hashtag, saw that authoritative, speech-robbing close-up under the blues spotlight, gave up resisting, and started to learn about Heartbreak—

Oh, your lead singer got sick, so you got a new one?

Wait, this new lead singer of yours isn’t 100% brand new?

I mean, whether he’s new or not-so-new isn’t the point.

This man, oh no, my husband is so handsome, so hot!

Not only that, “Brittle Glass,” a song imbued with the magic of blues by the perfect alignment of timing, place, and people, offered a completely new interpretation, and it skyrocketed up the trending charts of every major music platform!

Overnight, countless covers sprouted on Douyin.

Regardless of male or female voice, while filming their covers, they all invariably imitated Li Tingzhou’s stage styling and singing style.

Whoever posted first and mimicked most accurately gained the most popularity.

This familiar scene hazily reminded people of the grand spectacle two years ago when band variety shows bombarded the summer season. That was one trending topic after another, a network-wide blanket marketing campaign! As long as a song wasn’t ear-grating and reached a normal standard, once performed on stage, the audience and fans would chase after it like crazy…

Now, such a good thing was finally happening to Heartbreak. Wasn’t this a kind of cycle?

Besides “Brittle Glass,” Heartbreak’s other popular songs also received a reciprocal boost.

Seeing the trending rank still climbing, music fans had long ago compiled setlists and were active in the comment sections of various platforms, afraid Heartbreak would miss this wave of popularity, even more anxious to promote than Liu Lusi—

【A decade-long die-hard Heartbreaker sincerely recommends, absolutely no personal bias, absolutely no hidden agenda, absolutely objective and impartial.】

【First-gen Heartbreak: “Yearn for Freedom”, “Something Wrong”】

【Second-gen Heartbreak: “Purple Jasmine”, “Brittle Glass”】

【Collaborative Hits: “Buzzer Beater”, “Telepathy”】

It was clear the music fans were very sincere.

Afraid netizens had limited patience and couldn’t digest too much, they lightly recommended only two songs for each generation, and even split the collaborative songs evenly, one from each generation.

Not only that, they were very cautious:

They didn’t dare label Heartbreak’s own songs at all, fearing they’d be scolded for self-promotion. Even the universally recognized “minor divine songs” were downgraded to “hits.”

What was this?

A full display of the anxious unease of obscure people suddenly becoming popular?

The buzz continued to ferment on Weibo, and the forums where music fans gathered were equally bustling.

【When to Criminalize Lip-syncing and Fake Playing | The Hottest Episode of Heartbreak (Continued)】

————

[Heartbreak Setlist Recommendation Screenshot.JPG]

As the title says, the entire 300 Heartbreakers online are scattered across every platform copying setlists and pitching the band. Although Heartbreak isn’t paying them, brothers and sisters are still working hard. While feeling bittersweet about their hard-earned success, I notice Mengmeng’s account has wildly gained 30k followers, even more than Heartbreak’s official account. Does this mean this wave of popularity is actually concentrated on the lead singer?

1L: Mengmeng’s account only reposts work stuff. What if he just posted one official photo?

2L: Support Mengmeng biting the hem of his hoodie to show everyone his abs!

3L: You can’t demand a producer who’s busy creating all day also post handsome selfies under a pseudonym, but sending them privately to me is okay!

4L: Hubby, spoil me, can I see that… (pitiful emoji)

6L: So now everyone tacitly knows Mengmeng is the producer’s alias?

9L: Bro, the thread next door already discussed a whole round. Li Tingzhou is the producer, Mengmeng is his alias for external work. From what’s been compiled, this alias produces high-quality work, most notably the double title track “Passion” for the previous talent show girl group, and Diamond First Sister’s single “Telepathy.” Because the style really doesn’t match Heartbreak’s, opening an alias is understandable, right?

13L: I wildly loved First Sister during the “Telepathy” era, so stunningly beautiful!

…

28L: Hello, please stop fawning over inner entertainment singers (male or female) in the Fake Fake Group. Brothers, back to the topic, okay? I understand they had no one else when Huzi had to quit due to illness, but in a situation like Mengmeng’s, do you all really not mind?

30L: If the Heartbreakers don’t mind, why should I?

31L: The producer uses an alias to sing for you, secretly rejoice!

32L: No, bro, Heartbreak couldn’t just shut down because Bro Huzi got sick, other people have families to support too. Besides, with Mengmeng’s stunning beauty, I really can’t resist…

40L: What do you know, this is a little pseudonym game between me and Mengmeng~

43L: Exactly, Mengmeng’s peerless radiance, how can it be wasted?

45L: Pause pause! T City Music Festival Day 2 Rehearsal Express Report——

《VVIP Paid Top Dollar for Scalped Tickets to Enter the Inner Venue for Rehearsal, Rich Sis Personally Went to the Frontlines to Take Handsome Photos of Mengmeng (No Makeup, Cold Face Version)》

96L: Hey, been refreshing for 1 minute, where’s the pic?

113L: Sorry sorry, here it is [Picture.JPG]x2

192L: This man is not simple [Mmm… If he absolutely must be my boyfriend.JPG]

193L: Black turtleneck, mmm, pure hubby flavor!

194L: Really don’t want to hit the dead girls in this group, but I can tell you with certainty, Mengmeng definitely has an owner. He looks exactly like the type who’s very experienced in dating.

196L: Doesn’t matter, brother… I will spoil him blindly…

199L: Youth is great, I declare the Music Circle’s Circle Grass is Mengmeng.

205L: Watching you guys screaming ‘ahhh’ for dozens of floors, it’s that exaggerated?

211L: Is he really performing on the second day? Naturally carries star quality!

218L: If we’re just talking about the act of being on stage, no, he accompanied Bro Huzi twice last year. In our group, there are even two solved missing-person hot threads: 《Please Decode, Which Hubby is This New Guitarist from Heartbreak?》 《Such a Great Figure, Such Beautiful Hands, Such Enticing Veins…》

225L: So Mengmeng appeared long ago, wuwu hubby~

~

After the shock of one stunning stage appearance, Li Tingzhou felt even more at ease on the second day of the music festival.

He clearly felt the audience on the second day was more enthusiastic than the first.

So enthusiastic it was almost terrifying!

Unison singing like a military chant, hands raised high like zombies refusing to lower, shrieks of “AHHHH” filling the gaps between notes, and the roaring frenzy erupting from the crowd every time the big screen gave a close-up…

Not only that, backstage, the passionate friendliness bursting from other bands or singers was even more unnerving.

Fortunately, the agent was always by his side, blocking most of the useless socializing.

Dai Jier was a bit at a loss: “Should we temporarily switch hotels tonight, or just fly straight back to J City overnight? Sis, you weren’t here for rehearsal, you don’t know, people bought inner-field tickets just to squeeze at the edge of the stage and film Mengmeng. If security hadn’t stopped them, they could have secretly followed us backstage.”

Mao Maoyu was also still shaken: “Never imagined fans could be so enthusiastic.”

“Are those fans? I don’t think so.”

Dai Jier said in a bad mood: “Our Heartbreak fans aren’t like this.”

Li Tingzhou, still adjusting to his new role, remained temporarily silent on the fan issue. He sidestepped it, instead agreeing with Dai Jier’s suggestion to fly back to J City overnight.

“Then let’s leave tonight!”

Liu Lusi was utterly convinced Li Tingzhou could stand out. It might need some time for the stage effect to fully ferment.

But she hadn’t predicted that an incredible face could break through circles unconditionally.

She had envisioned every possible stage mishap, so anxious she had nightmares two nights in a row. Luckily, dreams were opposite to reality, and Heartbreak ultimately reaped such a perfect, fervent post-performance response.

So fervent that everyone found it a bit overwhelming.

Not enough manpower, so the safest and most secure course of action was to leave early.

The band scene had its own chaos.

Even if they could block peers who still cared about face and didn’t want to burn bridges completely, they couldn’t block the crazy, unscrupulous pseudo-fans and true sasaengs. These people didn’t necessarily truly like any specific musician or lead singer; they just enjoyed the thrill of privately entangling with public figures in the entertainment industry, accumulating some so-called bragging rights and battle records.

Among these, the easiest targets were always the clueless newcomers.

So how could Liu Lusi let Li Tingzhou fall into danger?

Heartbreak couldn’t dodge it, but couldn’t they just run?

Booking tickets and calling a car was done in one go. While the music festival was still in its second half, the Heartbreak crew was already on the way to the airport. Their movements naturally couldn’t escape some people’s eyes, but so what? Heartbreak had a similar style before: leave right after the performance, never staying an extra night if they could leave the same day.

@DoYouThinkYouPlayWellBot:

[Heartbreak Airport Encounter Pics]x4

How to comment on your circle’s overnight viral third-gen Heartbreak packing up and running right after finishing their performance? Rumor has it fans were still waiting for an encore at Frost Palace Stadium (sweat emoji)

-Spare our little obscure band, obscure people getting sudden fame are this cautious.

-At Heartbreak’s tier, an encore of 10 songs wouldn’t even be their turn, okay.

-The sasaengs in the music circle are too aggressive, can’t handle it.

-Mengmeng’s second day black turtleneck with a white leather guitar strap absolutely annihilated the whole venue! Damn, drooling just looking at the photos taken live, such beautiful, smooth muscle lines, the strap directly crossing between his pecs…

-They were blocked at the hotel, can’t blame them for running, right?

-I am the white guitar strap, I support Mengmeng running fast!

-Apparently Bro Huzi back in the day had the exact same operation.

-The Music Circle Holy Monk seems to have properly passed on his experience to Mengmeng.

-If he didn’t run tonight, who knows when some bed photo would leak, isn’t this kind of thing an annual routine in your circle? (picking nose emoji)

Liu Lusi didn’t care what was said online.

She followed some marketing accounts with high traffic in the band circle, but that didn’t mean she truly valued the voices of these people.

Any public figure under the public’s gaze will have weaknesses.

Liu Lusi didn’t expect Li Tingzhou’s limited dating history could be hidden for long. Since it was impossible to hide, it was better to find the right moment to leverage it, rather than having to carry this matter like a ticking bomb.

~

The red-eye flight landed in J City, already past midnight.

Everyone was exhausted and went their separate ways home.

Li Tingzhou was no exception.

He replied to the last few work messages, then received a call from Liu Lusi.

It was nothing more than dealing with netizens’ and fans’ excessive curiosity, digging into his past experiences, love life, and other issues.

“Do they even need to dig? Just listen to the songs and you’ll know.”

Anyway, the people best at imagining and excavating in the whole world were all in the inner entertainment circle.

This hopeless, glass-half-shattered attitude made Liu Lusi laugh despite her frustration.

Indeed, the fact was, songs like “Brittle Glass” and “Purple Jasmine,” filled with melancholy, resentment, while also faintly nostalgic for past beauty, clearly sounded like heartbreak and wounded love. The difference was these songs were written for different people.

Some were like crystal-clear glass, seemingly translucent and resilient, but only those who’ve been hurt could understand how painful it is when shattered glass shards embed in flesh; some were like slightly oxidized jasmine, beginning to wither from the very moment they bloom.

Perhaps when writing the songs, Li Tingzhou had already completely let go.

But the lyricist teacher who wrote the lyrics had imbued the tunes with new emotions again.

In short, after several layers of artistic processing, the emotions contained within the songs were already completely different from the moment Li Tingzhou played the first note. What he sang might be his own story, yet it also seemed like singing someone else’s heart’s matters…

Anyway, for those who listened and understood, any interpretation was possible.