Chapter 70

Jin Taeyeon knelt down, and this time it wasn't the "grand bow of gratitude" she used to imitate electro-pop queen Lee Jeong-hyun when thanking the audience, but rather the "Tubby sitting style," where she fell to the ground, mouth agape, and remained in shock and defeat for a long time.

The phrase "joy turns to sorrow" was perfectly embodied by Jin Taeyeon. She had been dancing happily, but at the climax of the song, she gave her laughter to others and kept her sorrow for herself. At that moment, her heart was struggling, and her image was radiant.

"Long legs, go to hell, long legs, go to hell, legs, go to hell, go to hell, die!" Jin Taeyeon muttered in a curse.

After a while of singing, dancing, and making a fuss, they didn't realize it was already very late. They decided to head back to the S.M. trainee dormitory, calculating the time it would take to get there before the doors closed. On the way back, it was "three comedies and one tragedy." Jin Taeyeon, like a puffed-up child, was particularly frustrated. The height issue was the most helpless thing for her. Other things could be achieved with effort, but this height problem... well, at least Sunny was still the shortest, so Jin Taeyeon consoled herself.

When Li Jingming dropped the three girls off at the dormitory, he saw the dorm manager standing at the door with a stopwatch, a professional tool for physical education teachers, ready to lock the door when the time came. Jessica and Tiffany rushed into the building, relieved to have made it just in time. Jin Taeyeon, who was full of resentment, didn't react much and remained in a zombie-like state.

Jessica and Tiffany waved goodbye to Li Jingming from the other side of the gate.

Li Jingming also waved and said goodbye to them. Suddenly, he felt a chill, and when he looked to the side, the manager's eyes were staring at him like a physical presence, cold and sharp. Her eyes were narrow and eagle-like, with a black pupil in the golden iris, and her eyebrows were raised (please search for "Hawk Eye" from One Piece). Li Jingming realized that Jessica's previous words were true, and the manager indeed deserved the title of "Eagle Eye Mama."

"Why are you girls coming back so late? It's already this late," the manager scolded, her face stern. "In the future, avoid associating with those suspicious people. Just because someone is handsome doesn't mean they're not a bad person."

Although the manager looked fierce, she was actually concerned for the girls' safety. The security in Seoul was always poor, and it was very unsafe for these young girls to be out at night. However, the innocent Li Jingming became the "suspicious person."

After celebrating the girls' birthdays, Li Jingming had a few days of peace. He spent these days at home, busy contacting the U.S. side, following up on the new album by Colbie Caillat and the latest developments of "Juno," and writing songs when inspiration struck.

Finally, it was Saturday, the day he had scheduled for the signing event.

Recently, Li Jingming's aggressive stance had already shocked the entire Korean music industry. In just three days since Wednesday, the official sales of the album had reached 44,000 copies. Pre-sale sales are counted in the first week's sales data, as long as the remaining payment is made and the album is received after pre-ordering, it counts as a first-week purchase. Considering that "Confession" had only been promoted for three days from last Sunday and sold for only three days, this achievement already made most Korean entertainment companies blush.

44,000 copies had already placed Li Jingming in the top ten of the Hanteo first-week chart. Even a true Korean queen like Lee Hyori had never achieved such a record. The first week wasn't even over, and other companies estimated that "Confession" would easily break 50,000 copies in the first week, 60,000 copies would be a breeze, and with a bit of luck, it could even reach 70,000 or 80,000 copies.

Faced with such abnormal results, no company felt jealous, as jealousy was useless. Instead, they quickly convened emergency meetings, bringing in a group of professionals to study LAD Entertainment's marketing strategies and the current trends in the Korean music industry, hoping to learn from them and create better results. Unlike those who were shouting "Korean music industry is revived," these entertainment companies were the most knowledgeable about the current situation. The decline of the Korean music industry was inevitable, and LAD Entertainment must have had a unique method to bloom in this withering field.

LAD Entertainment's price strategy was well-known, and they had even resisted it for a while. However, after LAD Entertainment issued a statement saying they were losing money to gain popularity, no one could say anything more. If they were to start a price war themselves, it would be impossible. First, the three major music giants, S.M., J.Y.P., and Y.G., were all shareholding companies, and shareholders would never agree to reduce profit margins to create a good reputation. A good reputation is good, but they wanted real gold and silver.

Li Jingming hadn't even shown his face in the past few days. He only appeared on a radio program, which wasn't even a visual one, and his face wasn't seen. Everyone understood Li Jingming's appearance on Kim C's radio program, as Kim C's name was on the "Confession" album, listed as the producer and MV director, indicating a close relationship with Li Jingming. However, apart from this program, Li Jingming hadn't appeared on any TV shows. Since "X-Man" and "Love Letter" had made a series of artists famous, the Korean entertainment industry had considered variety shows as a must for promotion. Yet, Li Jingming, a new artist, hadn't appeared on any shows for a whole week, and his album still sold well. The nickname "Mysterious Li" had already spread among fans, and the information on the official website was so sparse that it could be described as "rudimentary." A few photos, height, weight, and birthdate, and that was it! Other artists' profiles were full of information, but Li Jingming's had only a few lines, with no background, education, hobbies, or special skills. Some fans even complained: "LAD Entertainment's publicity department, you might as well just write a name on the webpage."

After a week of fermentation, Li Jingming's popularity began to grow with the album sales. From a few thousand at the beginning, it had now reached over 30,000 official registered fans. Among these 30,000 people, some were bored and tried to dig up information about Li Jingming, but many "professionals" came back empty-handed, as if he didn't exist. However, the major entertainment companies didn't think Li Jingming was "Mysterious Li." Although he didn't appear on TV shows, he was the top search result on the internet for days. After being bombarded with online information, netizens knew Li Jingming's name, and his album sales weren't surprising. Many magazines and newspapers were exclaiming that the "Internet era of the entertainment industry" had arrived, and Li Jingming's success indeed showed the power of the internet. The three major TV stations were also impacted, especially SBS, whose stock had started to decline. Faced with this situation, the major entertainment companies were no longer satisfied with the traditional one-size-fits-all planning department and began to establish specialized internet planning departments. It could be said that a new era in the Korean entertainment industry was not far off.

The calls for "Mysterious Li" to appear were high, especially since the weekend's three major radio stations were starting their music shows. Many fans left messages on the official website, wanting to know when Li Jingming would start appearing on these shows. They were preparing to support him live and have a close encounter with their idol. However, LAD Entertainment's response was disappointing: "Li Jingming will not participate in music shows in the near future due to other commitments." Other commitments? Fans were almost furious. What could be more important than appearing on music shows? Many artists worked hard to get a spot, and with Li Jingming's first-week sales, he already had a head start. If he participated in music shows, he could easily win the top spot, creating a myth of winning on his first appearance. How could he be busy with other things?

"Preparing for his first full album, Li Jingming needs to create his own songs," was the rumor. Song Seok-jae was afraid that if fans' expectations were not met, it could have negative effects, so he released this information to divert attention. Park Hyo-min's article and photos played a crucial role. If it were just words, fans wouldn't believe it, but a "lucky fan" had encountered Li Jingming writing songs at Namsan Tower, making the information highly credible. Li Jingming's rapid rise in popularity was not due to online marketing strategies but his strong personal abilities, particularly his songwriting skills. "Confession" was written by him, and Kim C confirmed it was indeed his work. Koreans value artists' songwriting abilities, and this was one reason Li Jingming received so much support. Now, instead of participating in "vain" music shows, he was focusing on creating, and the nickname "Diligent Li" began to spread.

The term "Mysterious Li" was one thing, but "Diligent Li" made someone laugh out loud—Li Jingming's mother, Kim Yoon-shoo. She knew her son best, and words like "smart" and "talented" fit him well, but "diligent" didn't. Thinking about how difficult it was to wake Li Jingming up in the morning, Kim Yoon-shoo couldn't help but laugh.

The signing event was held in a very peculiar place, so peculiar that Li Jingming thought his grandfather was playing a trick on him. He even called him the night before to confirm. Lotte Department Store is a popular choice for many artists to hold signing events, and Li Jingming's event was also held at Lotte Department Store. However, it wasn't at the Gangnam branch, which is crowded and wealthy, nor at the Cheongnyangni branch, a common choice for artists, but at the main branch in Jongno, Sogong-dong...

Jongno, the heart of Seoul, is a traditional area, the former capital of Korea, and still one of the most bustling places in Seoul, with Myeongdong, Euljiro, and Sinchang-dong all located there. Although it's in Jongno, Sogong-dong is not a place for young people. The main branch of Lotte Department Store sells high-end goods, and it's not a place to bring fans.

It was already prepared, and there was no way to back out. Li Jingming left the planning of the signing event to Song Seok-jae and didn't even ask about it. He arrived at the main branch of Lotte Department Store in Sogong-dong at 8:30 AM, which was a rare early start for him.

As Li Jingming got out of the car and looked around, there were no drums, no fireworks, no flags, and no crowds. Only a long queue. Li Jingming looked and saw that most of the people were over 20 years old, with no young fans. Among the older people, he saw an elderly man with white hair, standing out in the queue, holding his CD.