Best Seller

(A/N)

OY! GET OVER HERE!!!!

*Muffled sounds of violence*

Ahem~ Sorry about that. Just had to beat up the original author.

Why, you ask?

HE DIDN'T KEEP A CONSISTENT SCHEDULE!!!

You may have noticed by now, that the current date in this novel is December 22nd.

In the original, at this stage, it's December 2nd!!

Now, you may be asking, "How on earth is this version 20 days ahead?" I'll tell you.

THERE'S NO CONSISTENT TIMELINE!!!

hold on-

*Muffled violence*

Sorry, he was starting to regain consciousness.

...Anyway, school days were random, and no schedule was kept for that. The og author might say "A week passed" but act like only 2 days passed, and all dates he used were random.

Now previously, this wasn't an issue. I could just calculate how many days ACTUALLY passed, and use the correct date. I also occasionally extended times as he severely underestimated how long some of the "off-screen" tasks would take.

BUT, I made a mistake.

I used the original date for ULTRA, which was supposed to happen in the last week of December. This means that it SHOULD be happening in the current week, leaving Miaoyi no time to prepare, as she has other business to complete prior to it.

...Yeah, I'm not doing that.

So, ULTRA is now moved to the last week of January. I know it's probably not a big shift, but I try to keep my dates as correct as possible, and this would annoy me if I didn't fix it.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

.

..

...

one last punch.

*SMACK*

- - - - - - - - - -

In a flash, all the fans who had set their 'TMY' notifications buzzing were promptly alerted about the new update.

Numerous seemingly idle netizens were camped out on this page, eagerly awaiting TMY's latest missive. Within moments, the post had been seen by quite a crowd.

"Thanks for your unwavering support. My new singles, 'Paradise' and 'Seve', are on the cusp of their official release. The download channels are locked and loaded, and I'm prepping to jet off to the capital for the singles' release conference. Stay tuned! Folks in the capital, you're invited to join. Heck, I might even throw in a little fan meetup. There'll be autographs and snapshots, the whole shebang."

"And oh, here's a pledge for you all. If the first-week sales of both 'Paradise' and 'Seve' hit the 20 million mark, I'll randomly pick twenty lucky folks for the upcoming new-gen Ultra Music Festival in the capital. They'll snag a three-day pass. Let's make it happen!"

A lofty first-week sales target of 20 million copies was what Miaoyi had set for herself. After all, her name had cracked the Top 100 DJ list. With some elbow grease, who knew what she could achieve?

Now, the 20 million first-week sales she mentioned weren't a combined total of 'Paradise' and 'Seve'. She was gunning for each single to hit this milestone individually.

In a world where the population was even higher than Earth's, the entertainment industry's audience was proportionally larger, making 20 million in a week a formidable challenge on Earth but perhaps a realistic goal here.

In this realm, if a single track managed to breach 20 million in sales, it was deemed a bonafide "best-seller". It was a clear-cut benchmark, a number many musicians spent their careers chasing.

20 million: a true hit.

Beyond that was the stratospheric territory of the hall of fame, where sales danced past the colossal threshold of 100 million...

Now, 100 million was something Miaoyi wouldn't dare dream about. Few artists in China possessed that level of universal appeal and backing. They were the elite, true hall of famers.

These were the names you'd find either topping charts or ruling the first lines of stardom.

But first, the aim was 20 million. The rest could come later!

Without crossing that threshold, a tune could only be labelled as "popular" – a far cry from the lofty designation of "best-seller".

In the past, Miaoyi had always been seated comfortably in the "popular" section.

This was a rite of passage for any musician and a boon for their career. So Miaoyi figured she might as well seize the day and strive for this small victory. Besides, if you can't have aspirations, aren't you basically a fish stick?

With a population numbering in the billions, this version of China had Miaoyi confident that she could snag that "best-seller" badge. If not now, then when? There was no real hurry as this moment was bound to arrive eventually, but the sooner the better.

As Miaoyi wrapped up her Weibo post, Qiuying's voice piped up. Qiuying was good to go: "Miaoyi, got all your stuff packed? Did headquarters ping you about the shuttle's ETA?"

"Not yet. I'm scrolling Weibo at the moment. Let's give it a sec. It can't be far off," Miaoyi replied. "By the way, I might tackle something else. It's time I set up an account on international social networks... You wanna go solo too?"

"Nah, I'm good. One account's plenty. I'll piggyback on yours," Qiuying said, dragging two oversized suitcases into the room. One was still a bit too empty. "Need a hand packing?"

"Yes, please," Miaoyi nodded with a touch of sentiment, "Sure enough, my little Yingying still loves me."

In an instant, Miaoyi felt like she was on the verge of tears. It seemed her kind-hearted, sweet Qiuying had returned in all her glory.

These days were a merry-go-round of playful antics, from bopping around in cat girl get-ups to situations that had Miaoyi questioning if Qiuying had "parent-swapped" with a twin sister.

Qiuying dropped her own luggage and maneuvered Miaoyi's empty suitcase towards the closet, ready to tackle the packing.

Meanwhile, Miaoyi's attention remained glued to her computer screen.

Truly, having someone like Qiuying around was a godsend. What's life without a touch of Qiuying?

Closing the Weibo tab, Miaoyi's focus shifted to setting up her foreign social media accounts.

In this department, she had her strategy. First off, in her past life, she was a seasoned pro at navigating beyond the Great Firewall.

That was almost a rite of passage for an electronic music enthusiast. Electronic music aficionados tended to dip into the global web for its wealth of convenience and information.

Only difference was, in her former life, scaling the wall was a no-no, a criminal offence. In this world, things were very different.

There was no firewall. It simply didn't exist. The factors that put the firewall in place in the other world were non-existent here, and as such, no firewall was created.

The internet was still divided, as the collectivist culture of the East kept the majority of Chinese speakers gathered in their section of the internet, but there was no digital barrier preventing cross-culture/language communication.

But, Miaoyi's past experience meant she wasn't completely in the dark about English-speaking sites.

Now came the platform selection...

"Twitter and Facebook, no doubt. YouTube's not high on my list; that's video-oriented," Miaoyi plotted in secret.

First up, Twitter. Let's be honest, this platform's vibes were akin to China's Weibo – more or less a twin – and it boasted a hefty international following.

That needed to be on her to-do list.

Next, Facebook. The largest social media platform in existence. It was a non-negotiable inclusion.

Truth be told, these formalities didn't gobble up much time. In a mere handful of minutes, Miaoyi nailed the verification process and got her profiles up and running.

Qiuying finally wrapped up her packing. She scampered back upstairs to retrieve the chubby white canine, locking it up in its kennel.

Whenever they headed out, the little furball had a date at the pet haven.

Everything was squared away.

Right at that moment, just as Miaoyi was about to dive deeper into her foreign social media realm, the special car the two were waiting for pulled up. The impatient honk resounded from the street below.

"Miaoyi? Here are some sunglasses. Remember to put them on when you get off at the airport."