Chapter 344: Hong Kong Concert

As Link boarded the flight to Singapore, he was still thinking about his encounter with Daddario's mother the day before.

When he saw Mrs. Daddario, he politely greeted her. Not receiving a positive response, he bid farewell to Daddario.

Before the door closed, he heard Mrs. Daddario's voice from inside: "Ah Nee, you know he's a playboy."

Out of politeness, Link didn't eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation, but he could roughly guess that Mrs. Daddario disapproved of him and wanted to break them up.

He was worried that Daddario would be persuaded by her mother, so he texted her to ask if her mother was angry. Daddario replied, "Link, I like you, it has nothing to do with her."

Link was touched. If Daddario hadn't been ordered home by her mother, he would have rushed over to accompany her in the middle of the night.

At the same time, he felt a bit regretful. If he could clone himself, he could have one clone hold concerts, one train, one film, and one travel the world.

The original him could stay at home and accompany them every day, but unfortunately, he couldn't clone himself.

---

"You, you are Link, Mr. Link Baker! I'm your fan, so happy to meet you here. Can you sign for me?"

In the business class, Link was looking out the window at the clouds, lost in thought, when a surprised voice came from beside him. It was a young girl with blond hair and blue eyes, tall and slender.

She was wearing a sundress, youthful and beautiful, around twenty years old.

She introduced herself as Emily Salas from New Jersey, going to Singapore for vacation, and a die-hard fan of his, loving his songs very much.

Link thanked her, took her notebook, and signed it for her, but politely declined the request for a photo together. He had too many scandals now and couldn't give the media more material to hype.

The girl didn't mind and sat in the empty seat next to him, chatting with him about his concerts.

Link politely replied a few words.

At first, the conversation was normal.

After two minutes, the girl started touching his body, saying she admired him a lot and asking if he needed anything. She offered to help him "solve" it right there and licked her lips.

Seeing her young age, Link thought of the plans of Little Epstein and others and became alert.

He winked at Anna, signaling her to take the girl away.

He then called Anna and three assistants, Wallace, Bob, and three temporarily hired bodyguards, for a small meeting. He instructed them not to let any strange girls near him during the tour without his consent.

Autographs and photos would also be handled by them.

Wallace was responsible for this matter.

Everyone nodded and took notes.

After the meeting, Link leaned back in his seat and sighed helplessly.

In the past, when he saw celebrities, he thought they were aloof and difficult to get along with. He had hoped to be a down-to-earth superstar after he became famous, but the reality didn't allow it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening! Our plane is expected to arrive at Singapore Changi International Airport in 30 minutes. The ground temperature in Singapore is 31 degrees Celsius, 87 degrees Fahrenheit."

The sweet voice of the flight attendant came from the cabin broadcast.

The plane arrived in Singapore, the first stop of Link's Southeast Asia concert tour.

---

While Link was on tour in Southeast Asia, Taylor's second promotional single from her third album, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," was released.

This song was also about their breakup, and it sounded great.

On the first day of its release, it was downloaded 1.45 million times across all platforms, more popular than the previous single "The Story of Us." It also topped various digital music charts and the Billboard singles chart, becoming the second number-one single from the album.

Its performance was quite impressive.

Rolling Stone magazine commented that judging from the two promotional singles released, the quality of the songs on Taylor's third album was high and well-liked by fans. "This is an ambitious work full of Taylor Swift's personal sincerity, coming on strong, and very likely to rewrite the current Billboard album chart sequence."

Jonathan Preston, a famous music critic from the Los Angeles Times, said in a playful tone, "Taylor Swift is holding a revenge sword called 'Last Kiss,' aiming at her ex-boyfriend, the annual sales champion Link Baker. This is a battle of love and hate, entanglement of love and hate. Can Taylor succeed in her revenge? Can Link keep his sales crown? It's worth looking forward to!"

Other media also reported extensively on Taylor's third album before its release.

They pitted Taylor's new album against Link's new album, portraying it as a revenge battle of a "victimized girlfriend against a scumbag ex-boyfriend."

It was also considered the second album chart battle of the year after Link VS East Coast Rap, and a battle between ex-girlfriend and ex-boyfriend.

These headlines were very provocative, attracting not only fans but also the general public, curious about who was more musically talented after the breakup of this former couple and mentor-student.

There were even betting companies that set up betting items for this.

Because Link's new album had already sold over four million copies in the United States, which was an astonishing number, the odds given by the betting companies were relatively high. The odds of Taylor's new album surpassing Link's within a year of its release were as high as 50:1.

The extremely high odds also attracted many people to bet.

"Link, are you worried about losing the chart battle with Taylor?"

Dino Duva texted him while he was holding a concert in Kuala Lumpur.

"No!"

"Not at all?"

"Not even a little bit!"

"That's a pity. If you lose, I could win half a million by betting ten thousand. That's a great deal."

Dino said regretfully.

Link shook his head helplessly,

"How's Mario's training recently?"

"Not bad, he's lost weight again, and he's gotten better. He said he's going to fight in the super middleweight division and wants to take the four major organization gold belts from you."

Dino laughed.

"Tell him to be down-to-earth and stop daydreaming."

After replying to a message, he saw another unread message. The sender was an old acquaintance, country music star Carrie Underwood.

"Link, is Taylor going to take your championship? Are you nervous?"

"Of course not! She's no match for me."

"Taylor is right next to me. Can I tell her what you said?"

"Yes, and tell her that she needs at least five more years to catch up to me."

"Haha, I told her. Taylor said you're an arrogant man, and she'll make you eat your words with facts and make you admit defeat. I feel like you two are still in love. Have you ever thought about getting back together?"

"I have, but she can't tolerate me cheating."

"This... Can't you not cheat?"

After chatting for a few more words, Link turned off his phone and took a car to the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, where the concert was being held.

After more than two months of promotion, Taylor's third album, "Last Kiss," was also released globally on July 22nd. It sold 267,000 copies in the United States on the first day of its release, only 10,000 copies less than Link's third album's first-day sales, which was very impressive.

Due to the good quality of the songs on this album, the main content was about complaining about Link's philandering ruining their love. There were also a few songs blaming his rumored girlfriends, believing that they were seducing Link and were the cause of their breakup.

The lyrics of these songs were highly topical.

In addition, Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records was also good at hype. He hinted through the media that these songs were Taylor's "love elegies" written after the breakup, containing many things she wanted to say but didn't.

After the album was released, it got two trending topics on the first day, four on the second day, and continued with four on the third day. The average number of trending topics per day in the first week was three, and the popularity remained high.

After hearing those songs, fans gathered online to discuss which celebrities were involved in the songs.

For example, "Better Than Revenge" was considered to be referring to Emma Watson, and "Mean" was considered to be alluding to Ivanka.

The "actress" in "I Knew You Were Trouble" was thought to be Amber Heard, Dakota Johnson, Kristen Stewart, Emma Roberts, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Michelle Rodriguez, Emma Stone, etc., all the actresses who had worked with or had good relationships with Link.

The "female singer" in "Blank Space" was thought to be Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, etc., all the singers who had good relationships with Link.

Other songs like "Haunted," "Enchanted," "Dear John," and "Innocent" were also analyzed to see how much dirt Link had.

Some fans joked that Taylor's third album was all about exposing Link's secrets and settling scores with him.

With Taylor as his ex-girlfriend, Link was really unlucky.

During the concert break, Link also took the time to listen to the songs on this album.

At first, he broke out in a cold sweat, and even the discomfort caused by the hot and humid weather in Southeast Asia for many days was relieved. After listening to it three or four times, he got used to it and found it quite interesting.

Being scolded in a song by the big star Taylor and having his name associated with so many outstanding women was also a kind of praise. His name might be passed down through the ages along with these songs.

To this end, he retweeted Taylor's tweet promoting the new album on Twitter, with the caption: "Songs are art, and art is the reconstruction and sublimation of life. The people or events in the songs are not necessarily real. Please don't speculate blindly and hurt the innocent."

It would have been better if Link hadn't posted anything. After posting, it was like poking a hornet's nest.

Fans flocked to his Twitter, saying he was the most daring scumbag, daring to speak up at this time and even help promote Taylor's album, not worried about being scolded at all.

Some people also asked online who the actress and singer in Taylor's new album were, and how many times he cheated on Taylor during their relationship.

Many of Taylor's fans also posted messages scolding him, "The songs are really good, but the person is really scummy."

Link didn't respond to these agitated fans and continued to hold concerts in Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, and other places.

Unable to find answers from him, those fans went to the social media accounts of other female stars to inquire about the situation, asking them to come out and explain.

But except for Amber Heard, none of them stood up to publicly express their opinions, seemingly not wanting to ride this wave of traffic.

Amber Heard's tweet pushed this "guessing game of the third person in Taylor and Link's love" to a new climax.

Amber revealed in her tweet that Link and Taylor had dated before 2009, but broke up for unknown reasons.

She then became Link's girlfriend and the first mistress of Link's Santa Monica Bay villa, as well as the first celebrity girlfriend Link publicly acknowledged.

Later, in February 2009, Taylor suddenly returned to the United States and offered her a million dollars to leave. Seeing that they were deeply in love, she took the initiative to step back and fulfill their love.

After Amber's tweet was sent out, it directly caused an earthquake on the American Internet.

This gossip was too big, and the structure was relatively complex. Many people didn't know where to start to dissect this melon.

First of all, the authenticity of this gossip was very high. Amber couldn't have self-deprecatingly exposed it for the sake of exposure.

Secondly, Link and Taylor had already started dating in 2008, not from 2009 as previously rumored online, indicating that this was not their first breakup.

Thirdly, after the previous breakup, Taylor took the initiative to ask for reconciliation and spent money to drive away her love rival, instead of Link actively pursuing Taylor.

There were also fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth points.

Analyzing whether Amber was a victim or a beneficiary, a gold digger or an idiot, whether Taylor's buying back love was worth it, whether Taylor was innocent in this breakup, and what was the reason for Link's breakup with Taylor at that time, etc.

A big melon was cut into countless small pieces, various shapes and flavors, suitable for all kinds of gossip enthusiasts to watch.

There were many seeds in these melons, also suitable for eating while complaining.

The most complained about was Amber choosing a million dollars over her boyfriend Link.

Some people also mentioned that Taylor's early end of her world tour in early 2009 was probably related to Link, saying that Taylor was not worth it.

Some people also said that when Taylor broke up with Link and saw him quickly get a new girlfriend, Amber, she should have known that he was a playboy. Knowing that he was a fire pit, she still jumped into it, so she deserved to be cheated on by Link later.

Many men envied Link, saying that there was once a woman willing to spend a million dollars just to return to him, but he didn't cherish it and regretted it only after losing it.

It was said that some Hollywood film companies were preparing to use this story to create a movie.

After a controversy, none of Link, Taylor, or Amber could get a decent evaluation.

But the benefits were also real, especially for the latter two.

Through this explosive news, Amber's fame in the entertainment industry greatly increased. Almost everyone in the United States knew of her as an actress, and her fame was comparable to that of a first-line star. She also got several "gold digger" roles because of this.

Taylor's new album sold 1.572 million copies in the United States in its first week. Although it was a little less than the 1.74 million of Link's third album in its first week, it was still an astonishing number.

It jumped to the sixth place in the history of the first week sales of American albums.

All 14 songs from this album entered the Billboard singles chart top 100, with "Mean" topping the singles chart.

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," "I Knew You Were Trouble," "Blank Space," "Better Than Revenge," and "Mine" ranked second, third, fifth, seventh, and eighth respectively. The songs were extremely popular and all had the potential to top the singles chart.

Six songs, including "The Story of Us," "Last Kiss," "Ours," and "Mean," entered the top 40, with very high popularity.

Billboard magazine said that the competition for the championship of this year's US album chart would probably fall on Link and Taylor again.

In December last year, Taylor's second album, "Fearless," won the American Music Awards with 3.32 million sales and also won several heavyweight awards. Link's second album, "Going Forward," ranked third with 3.12 million sales.

But in May this year, "Going Forward" came from behind and surpassed it.

This year, both of them released their third albums, and the first-week sales were very impressive.

Currently, Link's third album, "The Woman I Love," has sold 4.33 million copies in the United States, far ahead on the annual album chart. Whether Taylor's "Last Kiss" can catch up depends on its performance in the market in the coming weeks.

Many fans who supported Taylor put up the slogan "Support Taylor, defeat the scumbag" online, calling on Taylor's fans to unite and compete with the scumbag Link.

Link secretly sighed. Big Machine Records was no weaker than Link Music in album marketing. If they continued to hype like this, his album might not be able to hold the top spot on the charts.

Although he knew that Taylor's new album sales were fierce, Link didn't have many solutions. "The Woman I Love" had already been released, and its market potential in the United States was about to be exhausted. Continued promotion and marketing would be useless.

All he could do now was to concentrate on touring, expand his influence overseas, and sell more records.

"Boss, Beyond is ready."

At the Hong Kong Coliseum, Link was changing clothes backstage when his assistant, Anna, reminded him at the door.

"OK! Let's go!"

Link slung his guitar over his shoulder and met up with the members of the guest band Beyond in the hallway. Together, they took the elevator to the brightly lit stage.

"Link! Link! Link!"

"Beyond! Beyond!"

The audience cheered excitedly when they saw him and Beyond appear on stage together.

Link waved and stood in the middle of the stage. First, he played guitar for Beyond's current lead singer, Paul Wong, who sang Beyond's representative work "Really Love You." In the middle, he paused and shouted, "Welcome Link!"

Link walked to the center and continued to sing another representative work, "Glorious Years."

The bell tolls the signal to return home

In his life, it seems to bring a bit of sadness

The meaning of his black skin

Is a lifetime of dedication to the struggle for skin color

Years turn possession into loss

Tired eyes with hope

This song was a work by Beyond's late former lead singer, Wong Ka Kui.

It was inspired by the deeds of South African black leader Mandela, and it was used to pay tribute to Mandela and praise his lifelong efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in South Africa and achieve a

In the audience, singers like Eason Chan, Ronald Cheng, and Joey Yung watched with surprise.

Link, a foreign singer, put on a show that rivaled those of local artists, a scene comparable only to when Michael Jackson visited Hong Kong.

Link performed one Cantonese song and nine English songs that night, including chart-topping hits like "See You Again," "Chasing the Sun," "Unstoppable," "Give Me Reason," and "All of Me."

The first concert's atmosphere was electric, and due to the limited capacity of the Hong Kong Coliseum, many fans couldn't get tickets.

The organizers, after investigation, hoped Link would add eight more shows, guaranteeing over 10,000 attendees per show.

After consideration, Link agreed to add three more shows, as his schedule was tight, and adding too many in Hong Kong would affect arrangements in other cities.

During his time in Hong Kong, he also participated in several public events, meeting local stars like Eason Chan, Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung, and Miriam Yeung, all established singers over thirty.

These meetings were arranged by Universal Music, taking him around Hong Kong to taste local cuisine, visit the University of Hong Kong, Victoria Peak, TVB studios, and an orphanage, all to be documented in "Link's World Tour: Hong Kong."

Link also requested to watch a local boxing match and donated one million Hong Kong dollars to charities like the orphanage, establishing a Hong Kong branch of the Link Global Charity Foundation.

He held two autograph sessions in Hong Kong, selling over 60,000 albums in three days.

While he was busy with concerts in Hong Kong and Taiwan, "Last Kiss" second-week sales were released: 686,000 copies, totaling 2.258 million in two weeks.

Seeing Taylor's new album surpass two million in two weeks, Link felt a bit nervous. At this rate, the album had a good chance of breaking four million in the U.S.

(End of Chapter)/