In December, the weather grew even colder. The remaining snow on the ground hadn't completely melted away when a new round of snowflakes began to flutter down in great profusion.
It seemed that this winter was destined to be a world of ice and snow.
On the road.
Pedestrians wrapped their coats tightly around them and hurried on their way. Those riding bicycles and electric bikes consciously slowed down, fearing that they might slip and fall at any moment.
Even though the municipal salt - spreading trucks scattered salt on the roads every day, and the sanitation workers and snow - plows were constantly clearing the snow, the newly fallen snow would soon cover the roads again.
This continuous heavy snow also had a significant impact on the lives of the residents. The supply of daily necessities became obviously tight.
Wanlong Supermarket took the lead in action. It made a high - profile donation of fifteen professional snow - clearing vehicles and various disaster - relief supplies worth three million yuan.
At the same time, it made a series of arrangements. For example, rain - related and cold - protection supplies in the supermarket, such as warm patches, hot water bags, warm gloves, and hats, were given as free gifts to the needy elderly living alone.
Moreover, an charity stall was set up at the entrance of each supermarket, providing free hot water, ginger tea, and other services for outdoor workers such as sanitation workers.
Wanlong Supermarket also launched a special promotion for snowy days. Vegetables that could be stored for a long time, like cabbages and radishes, were sold at a price 30% lower than the market price. In a period when prices were likely to rise, Wanlong Supermarket's initiative to lower prices won wide acclaim from consumers.
It also prepared convenient packages, which were combinations of vegetables, eggs, noodles, etc., to facilitate one - stop shopping for residents.
These series of actions taken by Wanlong Supermarket naturally made it onto the local news. After all, just the donated snow - plows were worth over a million yuan, not to mention the large amount of charity supplies, low - priced vegetables, and considerate services like home delivery.
These real and kind deeds quickly reversed the reputation of Wanlong Supermarket and even offset the negative impact brought about by the Ding Yingyao incident.
Meanwhile.
Xue Qian's new album, "Ugly Duckling", quietly hit the shelves in major audio - video stores.
However, due to the limited number of audio - video stores that stocked the album in the early stage, the distribution volume of the album was still not large.
If it weren't for Ding Yingyao and the recent public opinion, perhaps the bosses of the stores that had stocked the album wouldn't have put Xue Qian's album up for sale.
Now, taking advantage of the improving public opinion of Wanlong Supermarket, they also wanted to clear their inventory as soon as possible.
Huang Yong, the owner of an audio - video store, had a relatively large number of albums, about a hundred.
He had stored these albums in the warehouse for some time and hadn't put them up for sale.
This time, he took out the albums and put them on the shelves.
After hanging up the albums, he, as usual, put a CD into the DVD and played it on the stereo in a loop.
This was the first time he had listened to the songs on Xue Qian's new album.
Previously, the store had always played the songs from Ding Yingyao's new album. Although the sales were good in the first two days, they quickly declined later.
This was also one of the reasons why he decided to put Xue Qian's album on the shelves and try playing it. It was better than having the albums sitting in the warehouse.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the song started playing, passers - by, especially the young people, stopped in their tracks.
It was inconvenient to walk in the heavy snow, and there was a shed in front of the audio - video store. Many people who heard the singing simply chose to take shelter from the snow there.
Once they stopped, they really didn't want to leave.
"This song is quite interesting. The melody is very catchy."
"Boss, whose song is this? I've never heard it before."
"Ugly Duckling? The singer is Xue Qian? Is it the singer signed by Wanlong Supermarket?"
"This song sounds like an insult to me. It feels like it's saying I'm ugly."
"Why do I feel like this song is aimed at me?"
"Maybe it's because you're really ugly."
"Damn it! Let's settle this after school!"
"But it's already after school now..."
"......"
People commented and made fun of the song while listening to it.
Whether it was the gradually deepening emotions in the song or the unique melody, this song was truly a masterpiece.
After listening to the other songs on the album, some people immediately couldn't wait to ask.
"Boss, do you still have this album in stock? Give me one."
"I want one too!"
"……"
In just one afternoon, Huang Yong was surprised to find that the originally overstocked hundred copies of the "Ugly Duckling" album had been snapped up.
Outside the window, the snow was falling harder and harder, but there were more and more customers in the audio - video store.
Huang Yong was extremely anxious. He dialed the supplier's phone number in a hurry. "Yes, it's Xue Qian's "Ugly Duckling". Send me another thousand copies! What? Out of stock? And I have to pay extra to get them in advance?"
"I'll pay the extra!" Huang Yong gritted his teeth and agreed.
After all, a genuine album was sold at 38 yuan, and his initial purchase cost was only 8 yuan. He could make a net profit of 30 yuan for each album sold. Even if the purchase price had now risen to 20 yuan, there was still a good profit margin.
Not only Huang Yong, but also the bosses who had only stocked a small number of albums were now slapping their thighs in regret. Who could have expected that this once - underestimated album would suddenly become a huge hit?
If they had known it would sell so well, they should have stocked more when the price was so low. They had really missed out!
In fact, for Xue Qian and the Wanlong Association, an 8 - yuan purchase price meant a loss.
The production cost of each album, including packaging and other expenses, was about 10 yuan. If Xue Qian and the others hadn't had so much trouble promoting the album in the early stage, they wouldn't have sold a batch at a loss.
Now that the album had become popular, it was only natural for the price to go up.
Moreover, both in offline physical stores and on online platforms, the songs on the new album were becoming popular at an astonishing speed.
On the song popularity chart, the rankings of many songs from the "Ugly Duckling" album were rising rapidly, even directly outperforming the songs from Ding Yingyao's new album.
Good music is hard to be buried. Through word - of - mouth, the audience base was expanding like a snowball.
In a hotel.
Ding Yingyao was sitting in a luxurious suite of a five - star hotel with a gloomy face, constantly swiping his phone. The screen was filled with news about the hot sales of Xue Qian's album.
At this time, the agent pushed the door open and walked in, holding a latest data report in his hand. With a solemn look on his face, he said, "A Yao, the situation is not optimistic. The sales of your new album, Winter, have plummeted by 35% today. Xue Qian's main song has made it into the top ten of the new song chart, and the sales are soaring."
Ding Yingyao angrily threw his phone on the sofa and roared, "Why? A guy who has been in the industry for years without getting popular, why can he get ahead of me!"
The agent explained helplessly, "A Yao, Wanlong Supermarket has really gone all out this time. They donated snow - clearing vehicles, provided low - priced supplies, and carried out various charity activities, which directly reversed the public opinion. Now, people on the Internet are all praising them for their social responsibility, and Xue Qian is also benefiting from it, so his popularity has increased."
A glint of malevolence flashed across Ding Yingyao's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he said viciously, "Let them know that the entertainment industry is not an easy place to make a mark. Quickly contact Old A, the water army leader. I want the whole internet to be flooded with negative news about Xue Qian tomorrow! Spread all the dirt you can find, like having a chaotic private life and engaging in sexual favors for career advancement. Spill it all!"
"And remember, there were people saying that Wanlong Supermarket has a shady background before. When Xue Qian holds a book - signing event, find a few 'victims' to come out and complain. Money is no object."
Ding Yingyao had set his book - signing event on the same day as Xue Qian's, and both of them chose the university town as their first stop because the two supermarkets there were close to each other.
It was like a direct confrontation.
Didn't Wanlong Supermarket show him any respect?
Let's see how they handle the situation then!
That night, a large number of exposé posts about Xue Qian suddenly popped up on the Tieba and some well - known portal websites.
"Unveiling the True Face of the 'Ugly Duckling' Xue Qian: Plastic Surgery, Lip - Syncing, and Relying on Sugar Mamas to Climb the Ladder"
"The Real Reason Why This Inferior Artist Xue Qian Was Originally Blacklisted" and so on.
The posts also attached several so - called "before - and - after plastic surgery photos" and "chat records", which were quickly reposted like wildfire by various marketing accounts.
This kind of so - called before - and - after plastic surgery photos of celebrity singers has been an old trick in the entertainment industry for decades and has appeared frequently over the years.
In addition, a post with high local popularity was also pushed to the front page.
"Counting the Shady Background of Wanlong Supermarket"
"Hypocrisy! Wanlong Supermarket Uses Charity to Whitewash Its Dark Past" and other similar posts also emerged.
However, unexpectedly, the negative exposés about Wanlong Supermarket had far less of an impact in the real world compared to the news about Xue Qian.
What's even more absurd is that some relatively "conservative" people, that is, those in the older age group, were actually disappointed when they heard the people from Wanlong Supermarket deny that they had any underworld connections.
For a moment, it was hard to tell whether Wanlong Supermarket had such a good offline reputation or if even middle - aged and elderly people were influenced by non - mainstream gangster culture and wanted to be part of the underworld.
