Chapter 125 The King's New Love

"Paul! Catch the ball!"

"Ah! Link, can you be gentler when you smash the ball? We are playing volleyball, not a boxing match. You almost KO me."

Los Angeles, a group of men and women in cool clothes are playing volleyball on the Santa Monica Beach.

Most of the men were bare-backed and wearing sports shorts.

The women all wore bikinis, red, black, and pink, and their flesh billowed when they ran.

These people are all in their twenties and thirties and have very sexy and hot bodies.

Ms. Anna Farrell came to the beach court, adjusted her glasses, glanced at several men, and saw the man wearing khaki sports shorts, Link Baker.

He still has short black hair, revealing a strong back and bronze skin. Although the muscles on his body are not as exaggerated as those of a bodybuilder, the muscles are well-proportioned and have clear lines, and each piece is just the right size.

Like in the science fiction movie "Soldiers", those genetic warriors trained with high-tech equipment are very sexy.

Every time Anna saw him, it felt like she was in a dream. Link Music Company wanted to recruit a group of new employees some time ago. She submitted a resume and was retained by the company after several rounds of screening.

She used to work as an editor at a fashionable men's magazine publishing house. She thought she would stay in the company as a secretary and clerk, but she didn't expect that she would be assigned to be Link's assistant.

Facing a handsome man like Link every day, even if she had been married and had children, she couldn't help but be excited.

Bang!

On the beach, Link kicked off his feet and jumped more than one meter high in the air. He raised his right arm and slapped the red volleyball hard. The volleyball was slapped down hard and hit the sand with a loud bang, splashing up a cloud of fine golden sand.

Paul Walker and another teammate nearly collided as they rushed to save the ball.

“11:5, Paul, you’re in for a treat today.”

Link braced himself and smiled.

"Damn it! You are a boxer, why are you so good at racing, volleyball, and tennis? Next time I want to compete with you in table tennis. I don't believe that you, a boxer, can play table tennis."

Paul Walker said jumping up from the ground.

"Haha, you can try it."

Link saw his assistant Anna coming, called a timeout, and came to the beach court.

Anna is his new assistant. Originally, he wanted James to come over, but James was reluctant to leave the Baker store. In addition, he recently got a girlfriend, and he was even more reluctant to leave Miami.

"Ana, is something wrong?"

Link picked up the water bottle and took a sip of water.

"Ms. Thompson called and said she has something to do with you. I hope you'll give her a call back when you're free."

Anna said as she handed him the phone.

Link nodded, lay on the beach chair, and dialed Eva's number.

After recording the new album, Link came to Los Angeles to audition for "The Fighter" and successfully won the role. Due to the request of the crew, he temporarily stayed in Los Angeles to teach several main characters in the show to practice boxing.

"Eva, did you miss me?"

When he heard the call was connected, Link made a joke.

"Hmph, do you know what day it is today?"

Ivaca asked in a cold voice.

Link touched his forehead and thought for a moment, "The first time we met was in early June, less than the first anniversary. Besides, your birthday is in October, so today shouldn't be a special day."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm telling you something serious. Today is the day when the data for the first week of your album's release will be released. Don't you want to know the sales and charts of your first album?"

"Oh, really? If you don't tell me, I will almost forget it. Please tell me the sales volume quickly."

Link asked, sitting up straight.

Around the New Year, he, Graeme and other Link Music staff stayed in the recording studio for more than a month and finally recorded all 14 songs in the first album "The Fighter".

After Iwaka heard that the album was successfully recorded, she found more than 20 professional musicians to listen to it and give comments.

Everyone's evaluation of this album is relatively high, with an average rating of A-, and it has the potential to be a big seller.

The audition results were good, so Ivaca led the staff of Link Music Publicity Department to start a large-scale promotion of the album, and it was released nationwide last week.

Today is the day when the first week results are released, and Link is also looking forward to the sales of his first album.

"97,651 copies sold in the United States."

Ivaca suppressed her breath and spoke in a calm voice, but if you listen carefully, you can hear a trace of trembling.

"Only more than 90,000?"

Link was a little disappointed. Taylor's second album sold 650,000 copies in the first week and topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Album Sales Chart. Her album sales were only one-seventh of hers. It was too miserable.

"Are you still not satisfied that your first album sold nearly 100,000 copies in its first week?"

Ivaca asked in surprise.

"Taylor's last album sold 650,000 copies, and I only sold one-seventh of hers."

"It was Taylor's second album, she had a fan base, and she released a single half a year in advance to test the waters, and went around to promote it. We didn't release a single in advance, and you didn't bother to promote it. You still sold this result in the first week. Not satisfied?”

When Iwaka first saw the data, she couldn't help but scream out in surprise, and quickly called Link to tell him the good news. However, when Link heard the data, he was not surprised at all and seemed to be very dissatisfied.

But when I think that apart from being able to write songs and sing, Link knows less about the music scene than I do, I feel less angry.

"Link, do you know the first pass scores of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, who were very popular last year?"

Link's eardrums trembled when he heard the names of these two giants. When he was in Miami, he heard their songs. He thought they would debut early, but he didn't expect that they would be around the same time as him.

"How many?"

Ivaca told him that in June last year, Katy Perry released her debut album "One of the Boys" and sold 47,000 copies in the first week.

In October, Lady Gaga released her first album "The Fame", which sold 24,000 copies in the first week.

Katy Perry was last year's biggest new star in pop music.

"Now do you understand how powerful 97,000 are?"

Ivaca asked.

Link nodded. He had more results in his first album than Fruit Sister and Lady Gaga. It was indeed not bad.

But thinking about myself as a world boxing champion, I have a fan base.

Before the album was released, the video for "Despacito" had more than 10 million views on YouTube, making it one of the top 20 most-viewed song videos on YouTube.

There is also the hit song "Dream It Possible" that has topped the singles chart for three consecutive weeks. The songwriter column is his own name.

These two singles have created a lot of fame for themselves.

I am not a complete newcomer in the music scene.

"Link, can you guess where "The Fighter" ranks on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart?"

Ivaca's voice became brisk again, as if she was teasing him deliberately.

"Just tell me, don't make me guess."

Paul called him to play ball on the beach. Link waved and pointed at the phone.

"It's fifth!"

The first is Kanye West. He released his fourth studio album "808's \u0026 Heartbreak" on January 3 this year, with sales of 452,000 copies in the first week. This week is the third week of release, with sales of 375,000 copies.

The second place is Britney Spears. On December 12 last year, she released her sixth music album "Circus", which included 13 songs such as "Womanizer", "Out From Under" and "Kill The Lights". 505,000 copies, 175,000 sold this week.

The third place is Taylor's "fearless", which sold 137,000 copies this week. The cumulative sales of this album in the United States reached 3.2 million.

The fourth is Rihanna's revised album "Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded". This album was also released in the New Year, with 102,000 copies in the third week.

'Little Queen' Christina Aguilera, who ranked sixth, released her first greatest hits album "Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits", which sold 73,000 copies this week.

The seventh place is Usher's fifth album "Here I Stand" with 68,000 copies.

Hearing that there were these great singers on the list at the same time, Link suddenly felt that fifth place was not bad at all.

"You are ranked first among all the newcomers in the same period. How do you feel now?"

Ivaca smiled.

"not bad."

Link stretched and said with a smile, "How is the single chart? How many songs were on it?"

"There are three songs that have entered the top ten of the singles chart, and one song has topped the singles chart. Guess which one it is?" Ivaca seemed to be in a good mood and smiled.

"And the number one single?"

Link was a little surprised. He didn't remember many inspirational songs, and he couldn't copy a few good songs. He didn't expect that there would be a championship single.

"Is it "never say never" or "chasing the sun"?"

"neither."

Iwaka laughed and said, "'Unstoppable' ranked first, 'Chasing the Sun' ranked sixth, 'Fire' ranked tenth, and the one you expected the most, Never Say Never, only ranked 97th."

"Unstoppable" is a?

Link was a little surprised, this song was added temporarily by him.

Because the songs Graeme invited were of average quality, he was worried about the poor sales of his first album, so he racked his brains and came up with a few more songs, including "Unstoppable", "Fire" and "American dream"

"Unstoppable" is the 2015-2016 NBA theme song. The original singer is a female singer with a relatively neutral voice.

He had listened to it a few times and felt good about it, so he used it to make up the numbers. He didn't expect it to become the number one single, instead of Never Say Never or Chasing the Sun, which he was more optimistic about.

He suddenly understood Mr. Graeme's words. If you want to become a first-line singer, you can't rely solely on personal ability. It also depends on the social environment and market trends.

The United States is currently still affected by the financial crisis, and both the country and individuals are in a relatively sluggish state. The lyrics and melody of this song "Unstoppable" are very positive and uplifting, and it is true that it has been ranked first on the singles chart by music fans. Part of it is luck.

“How many songs from ‘The Fighter’ broke into the top 100 of the singles chart?”

Link asked.

"Seven songs, these seven songs are all your works."

Evaka paused and said softly, "Link, you are so awesome."

Link smiled softly and only accepted 50% of her praise, because he did a good job in performing several songs. The songs had their own characteristics and emotions, which were no worse than the originals, even Unstoppable, Chasing the Sun, etc. Several songs are better and more passionate than the original ones.

The remaining 50% of praise is left to the original songwriter.

"Eva, are you okay? I'm playing volleyball."

Link asked.

"Of course there is something going on. Your first album is a hit and your single is a champion. Do you think it will be fine? But Mandy will arrange the rest for you. I don't care. It's just that Yahoo News said that you have a new girlfriend named Amber. Heard, you broke up with Taylor Swift?"

Ivaca suddenly asked.

"Yes, she is very busy, and I am also very busy. We have only met once in the past three months. I think it is more appropriate to be ordinary friends, so that we will not feel sorry for each other."

Link said with a shrug.

"She agreed?"

"No, but I think she'll figure it out."

"She didn't agree to break up, so you messed around with other women? You are really a damn scumbag."

Ivaca cursed unceremoniously.

Link touched the sweat on his forehead. He wanted to make a few excuses, but after thinking about it, he gave up. He didn't think he had done anything wrong in breaking up with Taylor.