Chapter 105: The First Collision of the Two Zhus (1)

Amidst the deafening screams of the fans flooding in like a tidal wave, the camera shot of the five Golden Melody Newcomer nominees lined up on stage instantly focused solely on Zhou Yi, clad in a wine-red suit.

Sun Yanzi, more excited than if she had won the Newcomer Award herself, immediately turned and gave Zhou Yi a huge hug beside her: "How about it? I told you no one could compete with you for this award."

"You're right."

Since they were already so familiar, Zhou Yi naturally wouldn't speak to her with empty pleasantries; after smiling and affirming, he then shook hands one by one with the other three nominees to show friendliness.

"Congratulations, well-deserved."

Dai Peini, who had just locked Zhou Yi out of the top ten on major music charts with her ending theme "Your Love" from "Meteor Garden," raised her hand to brush back the short hair falling to her ear, offering a kind congratulation.

Fan Fanqi, who had publicly supported Zhou Yi before the Golden Melody Awards began due to her sisterhood with Zhang Shaohan, also sent her congratulations with a face full of smiles.

"Thank you."

After maintaining polite courtesy, Zhou Yi, now standing before Jay Chou, found the smile in his eyes much more intense.

Jay Chou, who had specially permed his hair and styled it for this year's Golden Melody Awards, also raised his hand and bumped his shoulder against Zhou Yi's: "Losing to you doesn't seem like anything worth regretting; just remember to treat me to a meal."

"Easy, no problem."

A mischievous smile curled Zhou Yi's lips: "Bubble tea on me, enough to fill you up."

"Then forget it, I'm afraid of gaining weight; don't try to trick me." Little Zhou, who had debuted less than a year ago, clearly still had strong body management awareness, knowing that gaining weight was an extremely unfavorable state for an artist, and he laughed while punching Zhou Yi on the chest.

The friendly interaction between the two appeared on the big screen as the cameras captured it; although no one knew what they said, Zhou Yi's hearty, open smile infected quite a few people in the audience.

So much so that when the other three were invited off stage, leaving only Zhou Yi to walk to the host's podium to receive the award, Wu Zongxian, Jay Chou's boss, asked with interest: "Zhou Yi, what did you say to Jay Chou? Can you tell us all?"

"Nothing much, he just said I should treat him to bubble tea."

Zhou Yi, keeping a smile on his face, shrugged; the moment the words left his mouth, it drew a burst of laughter from the audience, and Jay Chou, back in his seat, pointed at the man on stage who was talking nonsense, shaking his head and scolding playfully, "No way."

"What about Sun Yanzi? We noticed you seemed to whisper something to Sun Yanzi as well." Wu Zongxian, clearly having seen the outside rumors, asked with a mischievous smile.

The camera immediately cut to Sun Yanzi, who had just sat back down; she had thought her part was over, but who would have thought she would hear her name mentioned on stage, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"Oh, her? She was very unconvinced, issued a challenge to me, and agreed to fight again next year. Then I told her there's no chance; the Newcomer Award can only be won once in a lifetime."

After receiving the Newcomer Award trophy from the other female host, Zhou Yi raised it and raised an eyebrow toward Sun Yanzi's location in the audience: "Even if she becomes a diva in the future, she won't be able to make up for the absence of this award; truly a pity."

Sun Yanzi, in her seat, immediately made a fist with one hand and playfully punched the air twice toward Zhou Yi on stage, once again triggering screams from the fans.

Behind Sun Yanzi's seat, watching this interaction between his daughter and Zhou Yi on stage, Sun Yaohong's eyelid twitched, and his gaze immediately shifted to Zhou Yi's parents next door.

At that moment, they were looking at their son on stage, their eyes full of gratified smiles.

"OK, next, let's hand the microphone over to Zhou Yi."

After finishing the banter meant to liven up the atmosphere, Wu Zongxian, who had been mentally calculating the time, immediately stepped aside to let Zhou Yi deliver his acceptance speech—

"Thank you to Warner, thank you to Mr. Zhou. As everyone knows, if Mr. Zhou hadn't recognized my talent with a discerning eye, I would probably still be at school preparing my graduation thesis, waiting to graduate."

Zhou Yi, adjusting the microphone position, first joked about his student status: "Of course, although I still have to go back and prepare for exams and my graduation thesis."

"If possible, I hope Mr. Zhou can cameo as a case study in my graduation thesis."

Zhou Jianhui in the audience never expected this to involve him; hearing Zhou Yi thank him like this, he immediately raised his hand and loudly said, "No problem."

"And my parents; without their support, I couldn't have devoted myself so single-mindedly to the music career..."

His son, holding the trophy, stood triumphant on stage, while his immediate parents witnessed it with their own eyes in the audience.

This scene, specifically captured by the cameras, was somewhat moving.

Zhou Yi considered himself a vulgar person, someone who hadn't transcended base tastes; if he could make his parents happy, he felt that was quite good.

Especially after he finished his acceptance speech and came off stage, seeing many people around congratulating his parents.

"Mom, I'll have to trouble you to keep this trophy for me for now."

After handing the Best Newcomer Award into his mother Zhao Ping's hands, Zhou Yi returned to his seat; the moment he sat down, he was subjected to a subtle sneak attack from Sun Yanzi—

"Hiss, what are you doing?"

"For randomly cueing me in your acceptance speech."

Seeing that the cameras weren't on her at the moment, Sun Yanzi leaned close to Zhou Yi's ear and whispered through gritted teeth: "Winning the Newcomer Award makes you so great? You lost to me in Singapore, remember?"

"Sorry, winning the Newcomer Award really is great."

With at least one trophy secured for the night, Zhou Yi felt no pressure in his heart, his nerves relaxed, and he jokingly said with interest: "And that was a blessing, okay? Didn't you hear me say you'll become a diva in the future?"

"Pah, pah, pah, I know you too well."

Sun Yanzi glanced sideways at the man; just as she was about to make a move, she looked up and saw that the big screen on stage had somehow again shown the image of her and Zhou Yi whispering to each other—

"It seems our Warner Twins really have a great relationship; Yanzi, you might as well just form a new duo with Zhou Yi and debut again; maybe you can win another Best Newcomer Award to make up for the regret."

Wu Zongxian, in charge of the show, teased the two in the audience with a smile; Li Zongsheng, Luo Dayou, Wu Bai, and other veterans of the music scene burst into laughter upon seeing Sun Yanzi's slightly embarrassed expression.

Soon, after finishing his transition lines, Wu Zongxian went off stage, handing the stage over to the singers for their performances.

Since Zhou Yi was not allowed to perform on stage, even though he had won the award, he could only sit in the audience and watch other singers perform alongside Sun Yanzi.

The moment the lights dimmed, Sun Yanzi, noticing the change in Zhou Yi's expression, simply placed her hand over his.

Zhou Yi turned to look; Sun Yanzi shrugged slightly and formed a few words with her lips for him: This is the Golden Melody Awards' loss, not yours.

(End of Chapter)