Chapter 47

"Hey, you little brat, are you out there showing off with that broken harmonica again?" Hearing Bai Jieqian's voice through the phone, Li Jingming frowned and squinted his sleepy eyes. It was so early in the morning, and he had just decided to "sleep until natural wake-up" last night, but this plan was now ruined.

"Quite rare, isn't it? Our Mr. White actually woke up on a Monday morning without a hangover and can even speak in complete sentences?" Li Jingming sarcastically remarked, annoyed. Bai Jieqian usually frequented nightclubs on weekends, so many Mondays he would wake up with a grimace, unable to speak clearly due to a hangover headache.

"I'm asking you a question, why are you dragging me into this?" Bai Jieqian's tone was full of regret over past events. Yesterday, he narrowly escaped a beating.

Yesterday, while wandering through a nightclub, Bai Jieqian encountered a very attractive woman. She was a sexy and fiery vixen. According to Bai Jieqian's own recollection, he merely touched her buttocks, and she was ready to fight. No matter how good his skills were, he was afraid of high heels and handbags. He couldn't bring himself to hit a woman, so last night he suffered a loss, experiencing the taste of pepper spray for the first time in his life. Bai Jieqian touched his swollen chin, wondering if the girl had a brick in her bag, as it was so hard. Fortunately, he managed to escape with a series of "sumimasen" apologies and a quick getaway, but his chin still got hit by the handbag.

Bai Jieqian had only been in Korea for less than a week, but he was already famous in Hongdae. In the latest version of "26 Things You Need to Know About Hongdae Nightclubs," it was recorded that there was a Japanese wolf who frequented crowded nightclubs, groping beautiful ladies. He liked to wear a distinctive "nightclub battle robe." That person was Bai Jieqian, and there was even a full-body photo of him in that flashy and expensive outfit.

Song Shijie had been busy with Li Jingming's album for the past few days and hadn't gone out with Bai Jieqian. When he went to a club in Hongdae yesterday, he found that people recognized Bai Jieqian and were pointing at him. This must have been a highly unpopular act to gain such rapid fame.

"I just express my aspirations through harmonica playing." Li Jingming quoted Cao Cao's poem, puzzled as he hadn't seen Bai Jieqian on the bridge yesterday, "How did you know?"

"You don't know? Wasn't the video you recorded?" Bai Jieqian thought Li Jingming was pretending, as the camera was so close, how could he not know? "It's that video, 'Harmonica Talk on the Han River Bridge.'"

"Bother me after I wake up." Li Jingming slammed the phone on the bedside table, still half-asleep, thinking it was a landline and using a real "hang up" gesture. Bai Jieqian heard a loud thud and felt his ears almost go deaf. After a while, Li Jingming realized something was wrong, picked up the phone, and saw the screen was still intact. He turned over and went back to sleep.

It's not easy to fall back asleep after being woken up. After tossing and turning twenty times, Li Jingming cursed Bai Jieqian and got up. He opened his computer, went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, boiled water in an electric kettle, and then held the toothbrush while flushing the toilet. After everything was arranged, Li Jingming proudly thought, "There's no such thing as a genius; I just learned Grandpa Hua Luogeng's统筹 method."

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Li Jingming sat in front of the computer and started searching for "Harmonica Talk on the Han River Bridge." What kind of thing is this? According to relevant laws and regulations, some results are not displayed. After a three-second pause, he remembered he had been misled by Bai Jieqian. Changing the search to "Harmonica on the Han River Bridge," he found the video.

The Han River Bridge at dusk was a beautiful scene, with a pleasant breeze. In the video, a man leaned against the bridge railing, eyes closed, playing a very bluesy tune. That was Li Jingming himself. The sound of the blues harmonica was very infectious, and with the setting of the dusk, a melancholic man vividly appeared before people.

Li Jingming always closed his eyes when playing the harmonica, not to better express his feelings, but because he found the sight of his saliva on the harmonica after playing for a while to be disgusting, so he preferred not to see it...

Li Jingming didn't know someone had recorded him a few steps away yesterday. He noticed a girl watching him, but thought she was just starstruck. When she took out her phone, he thought she was taking a photo, not recording a video. Later, absorbed in his memories and performance, he ignored her, and when she left, she smiled at him.

There were many comments under the video, such as "Autumn Man," "A man with a story," "Blues Prince," "Annoying Show-off"... The last one was definitely left by a man.

Just a video about himself being posted online wasn't a big deal, but this video had been on the top of the video popularity chart for just one night. Song Shijie, as usual, checked the effectiveness of Li Jingming's online promotion in the morning and was very excited to find this video. This was a heaven-sent opportunity for LAD. Song Shijie then called Bai Jieqian, not daring to call Li Jingming directly, as his morning temper was so bad that cursing someone would make them unlucky for a week, worse than a demon. Bai Jieqian's predicament yesterday was probably because heaven foresaw that he would wake Li Jingming up today, so it made Li Jingming's curse take effect on him in advance.

This short video, though focused on the harmonica, was primarily popular because of Li Jingming's face. The comments gradually shifted from discussing his harmonica skills to how handsome he was... When the claim that Li Jingming was even more handsome than Won Bin was made, the video became even hotter. Won Bin's fans called for reinforcements and started a war with the swooning girls, further boosting the video's popularity, making it soar.

Li Jingming was also pleased with this. It was perfect for his album, which needed more attention. When Song Shijie promoted it a bit, it would be very beneficial.

Li Jingming went to the supermarket to buy some things, came back, and made a hearty breakfast. After enjoying it, he checked the trending videos again and found a new one about himself, recently uploaded.

The video showed Li Jingming and Jessica singing at Hongik Children's Park. This was clearly not recorded with a phone but with a high-definition DV, with excellent picture quality and clear sound. When the video started, Li Jingming hadn't started singing yet but was talking to the lead singer of a female band. Then Li Jingming turned around, winked at someone in the crowd, and said, "I don't want to miss you."

Various professionals in the comments explained the difficulty of the song, praising Li Jingming's vocal range, pitch, modulation, and breath control. Some comments made Li Jingming blush, like "Hongik Children's Park Conqueror," which sounded like he had taken candy from a child.

Li Jingming's singing skills were unquestionable, and his performance of the song was excellent. The heated discussion among netizens wasn't just out of boredom. Just the wink and the song's name alone could make countless girls swoon, dreaming of a prince charming winking at them on stage and declaring his love.

Soon, netizens discovered that the person in both videos was the same. The singing video and the harmonica video complemented each other, showcasing Li Jingming's instrumental skills, superb singing, and perfect appearance, capturing the hearts of many female netizens. With their support, the popularity of both videos steadily increased, heading towards the top of the day's trending list.

"Brother Shijie, have you seen those two videos?" Li Jingming called Song Shijie, starting to use the Korean way of addressing him to help him adapt to the Korean atmosphere.

"Of course, this is a good thing. The more popular you are online, the easier our future promotion will be." Song Shijie was online, so he knew.

"Call a few people from Apple in the U.S. and get a strategy. We can't waste this great opportunity." Li Jingming had worked in virtual product marketing in the U.S., grasping the big picture but lacking specific professional skills. He had a team of experts in this field, and Song Shijie could quickly get a real-time plan from them, improving the promotional effect.

Netizens are the most research-oriented. Soon, someone posted a thread with screenshots from Li Jingming's MV "Confession" and the two videos. Although one was heavily made-up and the other was natural, a careful comparison confirmed it was the same person. This was a soon-to-debut newcomer, and such video promotion was likely a strategy by his agency. Everyone could disperse.

But how could they disperse? Li Jingming's various skills were outstanding, and he was a "fallen from the sky" star, with no prior news. Most trainees of major companies would first appear in small programs or reality shows to build up their popularity before debuting. However, Li Jingming appeared out of nowhere. Now, with the major agencies preparing for the next generation of boy groups, a solo debut like Li Jingming's, with a high-end 30-second MV trailer, had already piqued people's interest.

Page break for AD starts

Page break for AD ends