**Chapter 273: New Album Release**

When Link returned to the Gulf Villa that night, it was still not quite nine o'clock. Taylor was still awake, the TV in the small living room on the second floor was on, and ABC was broadcasting interviews following the Oscars.

Link was also asked a few questions. The host inquired about his favorite actor and actress, to which he replied Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe.

The host then asked if it was true that his goal as an actor was to win the Oscar for Best Actor. Link confirmed that it was indeed true.

When asked about the gossip surrounding his album's chart performance, Link gave a noncommittal answer.

"Dear, I'm back," Link called out but received no response.

The TV screen was still flashing, and Taylor was slumped on the couch, asleep, holding a pen, with many sheets of paper scattered on the floor.

Link approached the couch, looked at her face, and gently brushed her long hair aside to reveal her delicate face.

Suddenly, Taylor opened her blue eyes and swung her fist at his face.

Link raised his hand to block her and laughed, "I taught you boxing for self-defense, not so you can hit me."

"Hmph! Why are you only now back?" Taylor sniffed his collar and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You smell, go take a shower."

"Do you want to join me? I'll give you a spa treatment," Link said, taking off his suit jacket with a smile.

"No way! Every time you give me a massage, you end up getting handsy, and I'm the one who ends up suffering," Taylor replied, taking his jacket.

"I promise I won't be naughty this time."

"I don't believe you. You always make promises and then break them. I'm not falling for it again," Taylor said, shaking her head.

Link shrugged and undressed in front of her, revealing his strong, well-built physique, and walked into the bathroom wearing only his shorts.

But Taylor soon burst in, holding his white shirt and pointing at a lipstick stain on the collar with an angry expression.

Link, lying in the bathtub, removed the towel from his face, looked at the stain, and frowned, trying to recall whom he might have kissed or embraced. He couldn't remember.

He suddenly noticed that Taylor's lips were a bit redder than before.

Link shook his head and told her to come closer. When she did, he pulled her into the bathtub for a romantic bath.

After the Oscars, Link continued filming for "The Expendables."

He originally had only around forty scenes in the movie, which was supposed to be completed in ten days. However, after filming began, Sylvester Stallone and the producers decided to add more scenes to flesh out his character, increasing his pay by 2 million dollars.

Link reviewed the new script and thought it was good, so he agreed.

This change added a lot of work for him, making him extremely busy recently.

Boom!

The car window shattered.

"Cut!"

"Link, how's it going? Any problems?" Stallone asked, taking off his earpiece and standing up.

"No problem! Just a slight bump," Link replied.

They were currently filming a scene where Link's character was fighting Gunnar Jensen, played by Swedish action star Dolph Lundgren.

Lundgren, a martial artist with a black belt in karate and a former Swedish karate national team captain, had won European heavyweight karate championships in 1980 and 1981. He was quite strong.

Since it was Link's first time filming an action movie, he wasn't familiar with the genre's routines. During the fight scenes, he found himself holding back, needing to balance making the moves look impressive and fierce without actually hurting his opponent or overdoing it.

Federal insurance representatives were also nearby, monitoring to ensure no dangerous moves were made.

"Boss, do you need a doctor?" Anna asked.

"No, it's just a minor injury," Link said. He had kicked the car door too hard, causing a bruise on his shin. After applying some ointment, he went back to filming.

"OK! Take 17, Scene 3, Take 2, action!"

The filming resumed.

Link threw powerful punches at Gunnar. Gunnar protected his head with his arms, retreating repeatedly until his back hit the car door. He tried to shield himself with the door while Link, suspended by a chain, kicked the door fiercely.

The action sequence was clean and fierce.

"That move is really cool. Link is a professional boxer, but he also knows how to fight," Jason Statham said from the director's area, watching the monitor.

"It's quite surprising," Jet Li, who played Yin Yang, commented. He noted that Link's fighting style combined boxing with Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, and Taekwondo. What surprised him most was Link's knowledge of traditional Chinese martial arts like Tongbi and Changquan.

"Ha, what a delightful surprise," Stallone said, forcing a smile on his stiff left cheek as he watched the fight scene.

Link's character was originally named "Toll Road," a strong, combat-skilled, and intelligent character similar to the "brain" in "The Expendables."

Initially, Stallone wanted to cast famous wrestler and UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture. However, Couture's muscular build didn't convey intelligence.

Then Stallone read about Link in the newspaper. As a world boxing champion with a strong physique and tactical acumen, Link fit the character perfectly. Plus, Link was young, handsome, and popular.

Since the film's main cast were all in their forties or older, including the youngest Jason Statham at 43, adding a young, attractive star like Link would attract a younger audience.

To accommodate Link, Stallone changed the character from "Toll Road" to "Heartbreaker Jack," the son of Barney's old comrade who had died in an operation. Barney had promised to take care of Jack, creating a mentor-friend relationship between them.

In the film, Heartbreaker Jack became a beloved character, and his role increased from a supporting role to the fourth lead, with more scenes.

"Cut!"

"Great job! We're done with this scene. Jet Li, it's your turn," Stallone called out.

Jet Li got up, stretched, and joined the fight scene, teaming up with Heartbreaker Jack to subdue Gunnar.

Bang!

Link and Jet Li fist-bumped and exchanged smiles.

"Cut!"

"Very good! Let's shoot one more take!"

Link continued filming.

Wiz Khalifa's album "Deal Or No Deal" sold 125,000 copies in its third week and reached a total of 527,000 copies in the US.

Justin Bieber's second album "My World 2.0" saw increased sales in its second week, with recommendations from many music stars including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Usher, and Justin Timberlake.

The album's sales increased to 296,000 copies this week, 13,000 more than the previous week, bringing its total to 579,000 copies, surpassing Wiz Khalifa's album sales in three weeks.

Justin's new album continued to top the Billboard album chart.

A 16-year-old achieving consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard album chart sparked much discussion in the music industry.

Rolling Stone magazine gave the album a low rating of 55 out of 100, barely passing.

Professional reviews of the album were mixed. Positive reviews praised the album for catering to teenage tastes, leading new trends in pop music, and showing Justin's progress and talent. Negative reviews criticized the album's quality, simplistic tunes, and the heavy reliance on auto-tuning. Out of twelve songs, only four made it to the Billboard Hot 100, fewer than other top albums.

Despite the mixed reviews, the album's sales remained high, selling 287,000 copies in its third week and reaching 866,000 copies in the US, with predictions to exceed one million copies the following week.

Media forecasts suggested Justin's second album could sell over 2 million, even 3 million copies in the US.

During a media interview, 50 Cent stated he didn't believe Link's third album would surpass Justin's second album in sales. If Link succeeded, he promised to run naked in Times Square.

50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and others posted celebratory photos with Justin Bieber on Twitter, featuring ten bottles of Armand de Brignac champagne, seemingly securing their victory in advance.

Mainstream media also began to take sides.

Once it was confirmed that Link's new album would be themed around love, many media outlets and musicians were skeptical.

They believed Link's voice and style suited rock better and that love songs, being cliché, wouldn't bring anything new. It was seen as very difficult for a young singer to create something original in this genre.

Amidst the skepticism, Link's third album, "The Woman I Love," began its online pre-sale campaign.

The campaign was targeted at Link's fans, with the first batch including 10,000 deluxe editions, 10,000 vinyl records, and 18,000 signed copies selling out in just 13 minutes.

This set a new online pre-sale record.

Billboard projected that the album's US sales would exceed 2 million copies.

Mainstream media attributed the fast pre-sale to Link's large fanbase, rather than the album's quality.

They continued to estimate the album's total sales to be around one million copies.

Seeing these figures, Link worried that the album might not meet expectations and called Ivanka, asking her to be cautious with the promotion and not to oversell it.

Ivanka ignored him and said that as a singer, he should focus on singing and not meddle in the release details if he didn't understand them.

Encouraged by Ivanka's confidence, Link decided to step back and continued focusing on filming, boxing

 practice, and preparing for his boxing matches.

On March 22, Link's third album, "The Woman I Love," was officially released in the US. The album featured 18 tracks, including the popular single "All of Me," as well as songs like "Everything You Need," "Someone You Loved," "Girls Like You," "Promises," and "Stay With Me," plus six tracks Link personally composed, such as "The Woman I Love," "Here With You," "The Rose," and "Closer."

The standard edition of the album was priced at $29.50, averaging $1.60 per song, which was $15 more expensive than Justin's second album and pricier than his previous albums.

This pricing was set by the record company and distributors.

In the listening session, Link Music and Universal Records' 23 music producers and 54 distributors gave the album an average rating of 92.7, considering it a high-quality work.

Typically, high-quality albums by popular artists sell well, and higher prices are justified, benefiting the record company and distributors as well.

They preferred distributing such albums. 

(End of Chapter)