Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Los Angeles, the brilliant sunshine shining on the clear water, heated the pool to a slightly warm temperature.

Link swam two laps in the pool wearing shorts, then returned to the balcony where Taylor was still sprawled on the yoga mat; however, she wasn't practicing yoga, but was writing songs.

Her second album "Fearless" had been released almost a year ago and was nearing the end of its promotional cycle; it was time to consider the third album.

Taylor had been writing songs and poetry since she was ten years old and had even won a national poetry contest. Over the years, she had accumulated more than 300 songs, a true tycoon.

She could have chosen songs for her third album from her existing list, but she didn't want to rely on old materials, feeling that the songs she wrote now would definitely be better than those from the past; she wanted to write even better songs.

Link admired her professional spirit.

"Link, what if I can't write anything?"

Taylor was lying in the sunshine, dressed in yoga pants and a white tank top, displaying her tall, sexy figure completely.

Seeing him approach, Taylor lifted her head, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, a hint of irritation on her face.

"Don't rush, take it slow. You're a master songwriter; this little trouble shouldn't stop you."

Link gave a gentle smile, wiped his hair with a towel, picked up a sports t-shirt, and put it on over his head. He took off his swim trunks and changed into a looser pair of sports pants.

"Hey, exhibitionist, we're still here. How can you just strip down completely?"

Taylor covered Olivia's eyes with her hand, giving him a reproachful glare. Olivia meowed softly and yawned.

Link smiled gently, "Sorry, I forgot Olivia and Meridian were here!"

"Hmph!"

Taylor sat up cross-legged, petting Olivia and Meridian, and said, "It's not just these past few days I can't write; I haven't been able to write a single song that satisfies me this month."

"Is that right? Sounds serious."

"It's very serious. Not just this month, but ever since we started living together, it seems like my inspiration suddenly dried up, and the quality of the songs I write is getting worse."

Link fingered his ear and looked at her speechlessly.

"So, you can't write songs because of me?"

Taylor blinked her blue eyes at him, nodding seriously.

"When I used to live alone, I would feel lonely, sad, and sob uncontrollably at romance movies and novels, deeply moved each time. Ever since we started living together, those feelings vanished, and my senses became dull. My ability to empathize with characters in stories has declined. If this continues, I fear I won't be able to write a good song in the future. What should I do?"

"...."

Link was stumped by her question, too.

The reason Taylor had become a music icon was due to her strong ability to write and perform songs, producing high-quality music.

The reason for her ability to write those songs was her sacrifices involving many ex-boyfriends and numerous relationships.

But the situation had now changed. She didn't have as many stories or materials to draw from for her writing, which naturally led to difficulties in creating.

Link thought for a moment, "What if I write some? I have a few songs that could suit you?"

"No! I am a songwriter. I must write my own songs. Singers who rely on others to write their songs will only become mere vocal tools in the future. I don't want to become that kind of person."

Taylor spoke earnestly.

Link shrugged his shoulders, not pressing her further.

"Alright then, why don't you talk to some of the more accomplished seniors and ask if they've encountered this problem and how they solved it? There are so many master songwriters in the music industry, I'm sure you can find a solution."

Taylor pursed her lips, glanced at him, and nodded hesitantly.

Link grabbed a basket of freshly picked strawberries from the fridge, sat cross-legged opposite Taylor, and spoke while eating the strawberries, "Remember the other day at the award show when the mic was snatched away? Were you really angry about that? Want to write about it?"

Taylor tapped her chin with her pen, thinking,

"I was a bit surprised at the time. I hadn't thought he'd dare to do that. Just as I was about to get angry, you came up. Seeing you snatch the mic back, Kanye was too scared to move, and I found it funny. Afterwards, the fans all supported me and criticized Kanye, so I guess there was no need to be angry."

Link smiled gently.

At the original microphone-snatching incident, Taylor had stood alone on the award stage.

After Kanye claimed that Beyonce's "Single Ladies" was the best,

a wave of booing came from below, many audience members stood up giving thumbs down.

Taylor thought those audience reactions were directed at her, thinking she didn't deserve the award, which was quite shocking to her.

But this time, since he had gone up with her and rallied the fans to support her, Taylor wasn't affected, which made it hard for her to find inspiration from the incident.

Link offered her a cream-covered strawberry,

"Imagine if I hadn't gone up and you stood there alone, facing the mockery of Kanye and the East Coast rappers. Would you have felt panicked or angry? Think about these things; maybe you'll get some inspiration."

Taylor ate the strawberry, tilted her head, and thought for a while, then frustratingly scratched her head.

"Still no inspiration. What should we do?"

Link didn't have a better idea, but as Taylor's boyfriend, he couldn't just ignore her troubles.

At his suggestion, they went to Santa Monica's 14th Street Aero Theatre to watch a newly released romance movie, "500 Days of Summer."

The movie is about a devoted man who starts to recall and reflect on the past 500 days of being with his girlfriend after she dumps him.

This film was the best-reviewed romance movie of late, with impressive box office results.

Released in early August, it had accumulated $52.37 million in North American box office in its first month, on a mere $7.5 million budget.

It even had a higher attendance rate than "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" which was released around the same time.

Taylor watched the movie with no expression, commenting that the male lead was like a child, unsuitable as a boyfriend.

Link and Taylor went to the Los Angeles Music Center again, where they attended a personal concert by the blind singer Andrea Bocelli and learned vocal techniques from the master. Afterwards, they chatted with him backstage for a bit.

"Don't be anxious, inspiration comes unexpectedly, and hastening won't help,"

Link said as they drove back.

Taylor, leaning back in his seat and eating a cherry ice cream, said, "I wasn't that agitated to begin with; you thought I was anxious. You keep dragging me to the movies and then to concerts as if those places will conjure up inspiration."

Link smiled lightly. "So, I'm the one needlessly worrying?"

"Now you know,"

Taylor said, scooping up a spoonful of ice cream and bringing it to his mouth.

Link opened his mouth and ate it, the cool and sweet flavor soothing the heat on his lips considerably.

Ding ding ding!

The cell phone in the tote bag rang several times. Taylor took it out to see it was Selena calling.

"Selena, Link is driving; is something the matter?"

Taylor asked, switching the call to speakerphone.

"Taylor, the new Billboard singles chart is out, have you guys checked it?"

Selena's voice was lively over the phone, filled with joy and excitement.

"Not today, tell us quickly, where did 'Let It Go' rank on the singles chart?"

"Haha, why don't you guess first? Guess! Link, you guess too,"

Selena said.

"I guess the 99th spot,"

Link chuckled.

"Hmph, wrong! Way off, Taylor, Link is too silly, you guess,"

Selena said indignantly.

Taylor slightly smiled, "The song was well sung, and the lyrics were great. I guess it made it into the top twenty."

"Haha, it's the 18th, my first single debuted at 18th on the singles chart in its first week. I'm so awesome,"

Selena exclaimed excitedly.

Both Link and Taylor couldn't help but laugh.

"Selena, congratulations! You're not even 18 and your first single has entered the Billboard singles chart at number 18, that's really incredible,"

Taylor praised.

"Haha, it's not that special. Miley is the amazing one; she has many singles that made it into the top twenty. And that Canadian kid, Justin Bieber, just 15, also had his single enter the top thirty last month,"

Selena said modestly.

"Not bad, being humble shows you still have room for improvement,"

"Hmph, if you had a brother whose albums were champions in sales for several weeks and singles reigning the charts for many weeks, you'd be humble too,"

Selena muttered under her breath.

"So it's my fault again?"

Link chuckled.

"Again?" Selena asked, puzzled.

Taylor joined in, "Selena, does 'See You Again' continue to dominate the singles chart this week?"

"Yes, 'See You Again' sold 817,000 copies this week, twice as much as Kesha's 'Tik Tok,' the second-placed song, and more than ten times the sales of the songs behind us. It's crazy; this song might top the chart for a year,"

"It won't. 'See You Again' has a clear downward trend. Based on this week's sales, it can probably hold on for another two or three weeks. Hang in there, you all have a chance,"

2009 was a year with too many top acts in the Western music scene.

Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Adele, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and veterans like Beyonce, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Avril Lavigne, Amy Winehouse, etc. — it was like a battleground of the gods.

For any song, continuously dominating the charts for these two years was quite challenging.

Link also asked about the release date of Selena's first album to avoid any conflict with Lana.

Selena said she planned to release it globally at the end of October, after the second promotional single was out.

Link had written two songs for Selena's album, and after its release, he would also receive some royalties as the songwriter.

"By the way, how did your exams go this year? We agreed on Christmas Day, you needed all B+s for me to write you songs. I already gave them to you in advance, so why haven't I seen your report card?"

"Ah? What did you say? Speak louder, I have a bad signal here, let's talk another day."

Beep beep!

Selena hurriedly hung up the phone.

"Haha, you're such a killjoy, why bring up exam scores now?"

Taylor slapped his shoulder.

Link shook his head and was about to put away his phone when it rang again. The caller ID showed Ivanka.

Taylor blinked, swiped his finger to answer the call, and brought the phone to his ear.

Link felt a little numb.