Chapter 112: New Album Release

Another year had come around to the college entrance examination season. Every video Zhou Miao scrolled past featured students checking their scores, and almost all of them were showing off outstanding results. Anyone who did not know better might have thought that the average score this year was 650.

The moment the results were released, the battle among universities across the country to recruit top students officially began. Do not assume that the elite universities had no need to compete for students. In truth, they fought the fiercest of all.

Every year, they battled desperately over that small handful of high-scoring students, bringing to mind the ancient custom of snatching up new scholars as sons-in-law right beneath the examination results board. They used every trick in the book, cajoling and deceiving in equal measure.

The Central Conservatory of Music’s official account also released this year’s admissions promotional video. Zhou Miao’s appearance in it attracted widespread attention, but the more he watched, the more awkward he felt.

That so-called “seductive smile” at the end, after being drilled into him by the piano department’s director, was practically identical to the smile of the “pond tycoon” from his previous life.

Zhou Miao scrolled through the comments below, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

Sure enough, everyone who watched the video to the end said they had been utterly sickened by Zhou Miao’s smile.

“Zhou Miao’s smile is way too demonic. Hahaha.”

“Adding it to my sticker collection.”

“A musical feast that ultimately ends as a comedy. That really is Zhou Miao’s style.”

“The beginning brought me to tears, but the ending made me spit out my drink.”

…

The longer he read, the darker Zhou Miao’s expression became. Just then, the young woman from the conservatory’s publicity department came over, completely oblivious to the danger.

“Brother Miao, could you please repost the official video?”

“No.” Zhou Miao refused without the slightest hesitation.

If he could, he would have destroyed the video altogether. He already had more than enough embarrassing moments in his past life; now he had gained another one.

Among the countless university admissions videos, the Central Conservatory of Music caused only the faintest ripple before vanishing without a trace. Zhou Miao’s smiling face, however, spread throughout the country as a meme, becoming the online avatar of countless idiotic netizens.

Most infuriating of all, Hu San had actually changed her avatar to that very image. Clearly, she was asking for a lesson.

Zhou Miao sent her a message:

“Come over tonight. Remember to wear black stockings.”

Hu San was out shopping with Zhao Li when she saw the message. Her face instantly flushed red. Zhao Li secretly glanced at her phone and immediately broke into a teasing smile.

“So he likes black stockings, huh?”

“You’re going to get me killed! Keep your voice down!”

…

After the college entrance examination ended, the release of Zhou Miao’s album officially entered its countdown. Rainbow Entertainment’s publicity department went into full battle mode, promoting the album on the same scale as a major motion picture.

Zuo Qiu placed no limit on the advertising budget for Zhou Miao’s new album. Any promotional channel that could produce results received a heavy injection of funds.

As for whether they would recoup the investment, Zuo Qiu had not considered it at all. In this day and age, any entertainment company still hoping to survive by having its artists sell albums had long since gone under.

She intended to turn the name Zhou Miao into a golden brand in the Chinese music industry. In the fashionable terminology of the time, she was building a top-tier intellectual property franchise.

Once an artist possessed such a franchise, his value would naturally rise like water in a rising tide. The profits he could generate would be far beyond anything album sales alone could provide.

Three days before the countdown ended, the publicity campaign reached its peak. Even people who paid no attention to music knew that Zhou Miao’s new album would officially go on sale at midnight on July 1.

“The Eastern Han dynasty split into the Three Kingdoms… Hello, everyone, I’m Zhou Miao. My latest album, *Crossing Time and Space*, will officially be released simultaneously across all major music platforms at midnight on July 1…”

Inside the elevator of his residential complex, Zhou Miao saw his own face appear in the video advertisement. A little boy holding a popsicle looked at the elevator screen, then turned to stare at him.

“Mister, are you a celebrity?” the boy asked.

“Yes.”

“Will you play Ultraman someday?”

“…No.”

“Then you’ll have to work harder.”

Zhou Miao glanced at the little radish of a child. What did a brat like him know?

Carrying a bag of takeout barbecue, Zhou Miao returned home to find Hu San following a television workout routine in the living room.

Zhou Miao truly could not understand women like her. The thinner they were, the more insistently they claimed they needed to lose weight.

At midnight that night, Zhou Miao’s album would officially be released, and Hu San had come over especially to witness the important moment with him.

After finishing her workout, Hu San took a shower, changed into Zhou Miao’s pajamas, and sat down beside him.

“Nervous?” she asked with a smile.

In front of Hu San, Zhou Miao had no need to put on a brave face.

“A little. I’ve already been through an album release once, but I’m still nervous now.”

“It’s a little like the college entrance examination. Even if you’ve prepared as thoroughly as possible, you still feel restless until the final results come out.”

Hu San understood how he felt, but she did not know how to comfort him. All she could do was clasp his hand tightly.

Time passed little by little. In the living room, the hour hand and minute hand of the clock finally aligned at twelve.

Zhou Miao’s second solo album, *Crossing Time and Space*, was officially released!

After two months of promotion and the explosive popularity of its three advance singles, anticipation for the album had reached its peak. Countless people had deliberately stayed up until midnight so they could be the first to hear all of its tracks.

The major music apps also gave Zhou Miao plenty of prominence. The moment the clock struck twelve, everyone using a music app received a pop-up notification announcing the album’s release.

They clicked on the album and found that all ten tracks on *Crossing Time and Space* had been unlocked.

*Sunny Day*, *The Brightest Star in the Night Sky*, *Love Before the Common Era*, *Tenderness*, *Cao Cao*, *Mistaken Flowers in the Fields*, *Silence*, *Shanghai, 1943*, *The Roof*, and *A Thousand Years Later*.

Apart from the three advance singles, the remaining seven songs were all previously unreleased!

Many people had worried that Zhou Miao would put the songs he had performed on *The Ultimate Summit* into the album. Now that they saw the track list, they immediately relaxed.

It was not that those songs were bad. But who would not want to hear new ones?

Within one hour of its release, the album’s sales surpassed one million! At the same time, all ten songs recreated last year’s miraculous sweep of the major music charts.

On Weibo’s trending list, news of Zhou Miao’s new album release had been pushed to the number-one spot by his excited fans. People spread the news everywhere, and the excitement was like the Lunar New Year.

The release of *Crossing Time and Space* undoubtedly sent a considerable shock through the industry. One year later, Zhou Miao had once again handed in a perfect answer sheet.

Many renowned music producers bought the album immediately. Although they had been mentally prepared, they were still frightened by its almost terrifying quality.

Just like last year’s *Listen*, every one of the ten songs on *Crossing Time and Space* could have served as the album’s title track.

Only a creative machine like Zhou Miao possessed the strength and confidence to place so many outstanding songs on a single album.

After studying the album from every possible angle—until they began to question their very lives—the producers could only set it down and sigh.

“I can’t learn this.”

After the album’s release, many netizens tagged Lin Jianxiang on Weibo. He had once declared that Zhou Miao would never be able to write an album surpassing *Listen*.

“Legendary King of Heaven, a year has passed, and Zhou Miao has stormed back with *Crossing Time and Space*!”