Europe.
More precisely, the Netherlands, the country of windmills.
There's an old saying that goes well: big windmills creak and whirr as they turn.
Sony Music lived up to its reputation as one of the world's Big Four record companies, with promotional reach covering the Netherlands and top-notch advertising channels.
Even Wehkamp carried ads for the album. Wehkamp is the most-used shopping website in the Netherlands, and the Queen Store chain, a famous Dutch department store, displayed the same advertisements offline.
[Promotion text on screen]
"Asian King Zhi Chu · New Album · The One Gazed Upon by Gods, releasing shockingly on 3.25.
New album by the author of sugar and We Will Rock You."
Bucky was wandering along the street when he noticed the mall advertisement screen.
"An Asian album promoted in our country? This is rarer than the Dutch national team's forwards," Bucky muttered, feeling drained. Years of poor rest left dark circles under his eyes. Walking along the street felt like trudging through a swamp, his feet sinking into every step.
"Zhi Chu… that name sounds familiar," Bucky thought. He remembered his Chinese classmate Jack's idol seemed to be called this.
Jack's Chinese name was Liu Fusu, and they often used recreational drugs together, but he recently returned home suddenly, saying he wanted to quit.
How ridiculous, Bucky thought. If a substance is so enjoyable, why quit? If a good friend is around, it's the perfect "treat."
A chill crawled from the base of his tail up his spine. His drug cravings flared.
Outside, he needed to stay rational. Bucky forced his eyes wide open, trying to remain alert. The effort made the lines on his forehead unusually visible.
Being very thin, his cheekbones protruded sharply, giving him a rat-like appearance.
"I completely know what I should do now," Bucky muttered to himself.
Though his body was weak, his clothing was impeccably clean: a long-sleeved shirt under a well-kept jacket, cuffs and edges faded from washing.
He dressed neatly because he was going to see his son.
Inside the Queen Store chain supermarket, he swiped his card and bought a stroller and small baby clothes.
Carrying the items to the car left him panting. He drove toward Badhuverdop. Normally, driving required punk or rock music, but this time he unusually refrained from turning on the car stereo.
Forty-plus minutes later, Bucky arrived at his destination and approached a small green building.
Its walls were greener than a green hat. Doors and windows were tightly shut, curtains drawn. Bucky's plan to peek through a gap was thwarted.
Bang bang bang.
Bucky knocked on the door. To his surprise, it wasn't his girlfriend, Ocht Kennedy, who answered. Instead, a man in his fifties, wearing thick black glasses, a white V-neck sweater over mismatched pajamas, appeared. He looked oddly mismatched but comfortably at home.
"I'm looking for—" Bucky began.
"Are you Bucky Sofala?" the middle-aged man asked. His name was Devron Kennedy.
He disliked people using his full name, so Bucky didn't answer. He continued: "I want to see Ocht. I'm her boyfriend."
"Not now, and not ever in the future," Devron said. "She does not want to see you."
"What?!" Bucky exclaimed bluntly. "Sir, you may be Ocht's elder or her father, but you cannot restrict our right to meet. Besides, the child in her womb is mine."
Bucky's tone carried a hint of pride, the triumph of already having "cooked the rice."
"The child's father?" Devron regarded Bucky with contempt, hoping to see responsibility or seriousness in his expression, but all he saw was the decay of a drug-addicted insect.
"Because her parents did drugs, the baby has congenital mitral valve insufficiency. Ocht did not use drugs before," Devron's gaze burned with anger.
If anger had heat, the man in front of him would have been roasted alive.
"She uses drugs now. So the baby's defect is her fault. But if the child ends up with a drug-addicted father, that would be my fault," Devron said.
The implication was clear: no meetings allowed with Ocht, and the child would not see Bucky.
Bucky had no idea how serious congenital mitral valve insufficiency was, but a wave of anxiety hit him stronger than the chill crawling up his spine.
"Let me see my child—"
Before he could finish, Devron interrupted: "The child will not have a drug-addicted father. You'd better go back to wherever you came from."
Bang!
The door slammed shut violently, cutting Bucky off.
"The child will not have a drug-addicted father." The words froze Bucky in place.
His blank eyes suddenly sparked with energy, like a robot wound up. He began pounding the door fiercely. Guilt lingered, but rage suppressed all other emotions.
How dare they stop him from seeing his own child.
A few minutes later, the left curtain drew open. Bucky finally saw his girlfriend, Ocht, across the window.
Ocht looked haggard. Her once-beautiful, smooth hair was like dried weeds, wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes, and her skin was dull—she seemed ten years older.
It was as if Bucky was inspecting her for the second time. The first had been their initial meeting, when his anger had subsided.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Ocht's eyes welled with tears before she drew the curtain again. Bucky, the drug-addicted scum, returned to his car like a wandering spirit and sat there for a long time.
The Netherlands was just one example of the new album's promotion in Europe. Regardless of whether European fans knew Chu Zhi's music, they now knew this news.
With two weeks until the 23rd, the team remained cautious, printing two million copies.
Even if Europe failed, Asian fans alone could consume this quantity.
Thanks to the previous online concert's massive viewership and the advertising presence, European media covered it.
But the coverage was less than flattering:
"The music style of The One Gazed Upon by Gods—rock, pop, EDM—now I find myself unexcited for the album." — Paris Entertainment
"Is this this year's regional joke? An Asian singer's English album is coming." — Rome News
"Sony Music made a wrong arrangement; no one expects zhichu to succeed." — Rolling Stone Music
"Chu Zhi cannot replicate the success of sugar." — Hollywood Media
European entertainment press largely dismissed it, which was normal. Since the twentieth century, Europe and America led cultural exports. Even if South Korean bands appeared briefly on the Billboard Hot 100, it was fleeting.