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Chen Fei'er's follower count on Wave Blog had long since surpassed 20 million and was now rapidly approaching the 30 million milestone. The speed of her popularity growth was entirely due to the success of two hit television dramas and the release of her new album.
At present, she could truly be described as blazing like the midday sun in the pop music scene. Her transition into the film and television industry had been smooth sailing all the way toward the top, and she was already showing signs of becoming a triple-threat Heavenly Queen of film, television, and music within the next few years.
So even though Chen Fei'er did not have the absolute highest number of blog followers, quite a few celebrities surpassed her in raw numbers, the activity level of her fans was extraordinarily high. The ratios of clicks, comments, reposts, and likes on her posts consistently ranked among the very best.
The proportion of fake or inactive followers in her fanbase was also extremely low, unlike many celebrities who aggressively manipulated operations and inflated numbers until the majority of their followers were just zombie accounts.
High follower counts combined with high engagement naturally translated into enormous commercial value. Anyone wanting to place a subtle advertisement through Chen Fei'er's blog would need to pay at least one to two million yuan, otherwise there was no point even bringing it up.
Even so, aside from officially endorsed products, Chen Fei'er rarely used her blog to earn this kind of "extra income." She treated Wave Blog as a platform for communicating and interacting with her fans rather than a tool for commercial profit.
And precisely because of this, fans loved following her blog updates.
Especially recently, Chen Fei'er would occasionally show off her romance and shower everyone with "dog food," drawing massive waves of playful complaints from single fans.
Interestingly enough, among the netizens who followed Chen Fei'er's blog, many were also Lu Chen's fans, especially hardcore fans, because through her posts, they could occasionally hear firsthand previews of Lu Chen's newest original works.
When Chen Fei'er uploaded today's video post, she honestly had not thought much about it.
She simply liked Gegen Tana very much, and she felt that the scene of Lu Chen teaching the girl how to sing and play was beautiful and touching, so she filmed it and shared it with her fans.
Beautiful things, after all, should be seen and appreciated by everyone.
But without even realizing it, Chen Fei'er had made Gegen Tana famous!
As a Mongolian girl, Gegen Tana already possessed the appearance of a budding beauty, enough to make countless netizens' eyes light up at first glance. Her pure and adorable image, paired with her strongly ethnic-style clothing and heavenly singing voice, instantly conquered huge numbers of male otaku online.
Most importantly, Lu Chen was beside her, and Chen Fei'er was the one filming her. The combined influence of those two alone was already tremendous. Even without deliberate promotion or marketing, the video still generated a sensational effect.
And then there was the song "Beautiful Grassland, My Home" itself. With its distinctive ethnic flavor and uplifting mainstream style, it gave listeners a refreshing new feeling.
As a result, the video was reposted countless times across Wave Blog. Many people within the entertainment industry saw it and quickly liked, commented on, and praised it. Soon afterward, it spread rapidly across forums, Tieba communities, and WeChat groups.
This was precisely the power and charm of the internet.
Something that had just happened thousands of miles away could, in an instant, spread in every direction, like a butterfly flapping its wings upon the grasslands, only to stir up a storm somewhere far away.
And throughout this process, people could not help asking curiously:
"Who exactly is this Mongolian girl?"
Unfortunately, after posting the video, Chen Fei'er had immediately turned off her phone. She had a very heavy filming schedule today and needed to head over early for makeup and costume preparation, leaving her with no time whatsoever to pay attention to the reactions online.
Naturally, she had no way of answering the fans' questions.
Meanwhile, the discussion between Zhang Ke and Lu Chen progressed very smoothly.
Zhang Ke also deeply liked "Beautiful Grassland, My Home." Since the television drama he was filming was titled The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad, it naturally required a large amount of music to enrich its themes.
Ancient melodies and traditional compositions were indispensable, of course, but a song like "Beautiful Grassland, My Home," with such strong ethnic characteristics, could also blend perfectly into the production.
As for Lu Chen, this spontaneously composed song was different from his other pop works.
Its true value could not, and should not, be measured in money.
And in truth, having already reached his current status, money itself had become something rather meaningless to him.
So Lu Chen authorized CCTV to use the song for a symbolic copyright fee of just one yuan.
This kind of practice was not something Lu Chen had invented himself.
Of course, Lu Chen could have openly negotiated licensing fees with CCTV according to his current status and market value. CCTV could certainly afford to pay anywhere from hundreds of thousands to even more.
But if he did that, then first of all, he should not expect CCTV to invest resources into promoting the songwriter or anything related to the songwriter.
Therefore, haggling over every little detail was fundamentally meaningless. At most, a song's licensing fee would only amount to several tens of thousands anyway. Using that in exchange for a good cooperative relationship with CCTV was an extremely worthwhile deal.
Zhang Ke contacted the relevant departments at CCTV, while Lu Chen got in touch with his own studio. With the help of fax communication, both parties quickly finalized the contract.
From start to finish, the whole process took only a little over an hour.
Zhang Ke was very pleased about this. After signing the contract, he shook Lu Chen's hand and said:
"Don't worry. I won't let this work be buried."
In Director Zhang's eyes, Lu Chen was truly considerate and understanding. If Lu Chen had argued endlessly with him and CCTV over petty profits, it would inevitably have consumed a great deal of his time and energy.
And that would have completely ruined the mood.
Relationships in the industry were always about give and take. Since Lu Chen was willing to give generously, Zhang Ke naturally intended to repay the favor.
That, too, was one of the unspoken rules of the circle.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, Director Zhang."
Zhang Ke waved his hand. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"There's no way to do it today, but tomorrow I'll rearrange the filming schedule and give Chen Fei'er a day off. The two of you can go out and enjoy yourselves properly."
Unless there were special circumstances or unavoidable reasons, changing the shooting schedule specifically for a single actor was undoubtedly something very rare for a major director like Zhang Ke.
It was also because he genuinely appreciated both Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er. On top of that, Lu Chen had flown all the way from Hong Kong to visit the set. Emotionally and logically, the two young people deserved some proper time together.
Naturally, Lu Chen was deeply grateful.
And sure enough, the next day Chen Fei'er received a rare day off. Lu Chen borrowed two fine horses from Uncle Qiyan, and together they rode around the areas surrounding the hunting grounds.
Together they admired the breathtaking beauty of the great grasslands.
Together they enjoyed each other's company in sweet intimacy.
Unfortunately, beautiful moments were always short-lived.
On the third day after arriving at Shuiquan Hunting Ground, Lu Chen had no choice but to begin his journey back.
At the time of departure, Chen Fei'er was extremely reluctant to part with him, while Gegen Tana cried until her eyes turned red.
Although they had only spent a short time together, the Mongolian girl had developed a special attachment to Lu Chen. She truly wished he could stay there forever, teaching her how to play music and sing.
Seeing how heartbroken she was, Lu Chen could only make an agreement with her, telling her to come visit the Capital someday if she had the opportunity.
On behalf of all the herdsmen at the hunting grounds, Uncle Qiyan presented Lu Chen with a hada, symbolizing blessings and goodwill.
After bidding farewell to the woman he loved, and farewell to the Mongolian grasslands, Lu Chen returned to the Capital on November 7th.
(End of Chapter)