Chapter 117: Rich Lady, Hungry, Food

Although she had spent nearly half a year's savings, Han Ziyan's face lit up with uncontainable joy the moment she got the album—especially when she saw the several exclusive posters of Zhou Yi tucked inside the deluxe CD case, which made her jump up and down, hugging her best friend in excitement—

"See?! See?! This is Zhou Yi!"

"Isn't this better than Xie Tingfeng?!"

"Isn't this guy way hotter than Xie Tingfeng?!"

"…."

Zhu Hui, genuinely struck by Zhou Yi's looks, stole a glance at the poster in her best friend's hands and had to admit: this time, she was genuinely swayed by Zhou Yi's styling and looks.

Shit!

Am I about to defect?!

No no no! No way!

Xie Tingfeng is still the best!

She shook her head fiercely, but as she reached for the lyric booklet included with the deluxe CD, Zhu Hui couldn't help but glance again at Zhou Yi on the album cover…

She really needed to listen to the songs.

Yeah, she really needed to listen to the songs…

Driven by some urgent need to prove something, Zhu Hui, who often visited Han Ziyan's house, pulled the CD straight out of its case: "Let's watch his MV."

"Sure, wait a sec—I'll plug it in before you put the CD in."

Han Ziyan excitedly plugged in the power, and while her grandparents hadn't returned yet, she turned on the TV. The two girls settled in front of the screen, watching Zhou Yi's meticulously revised MV to the gentle melody—

"Wait, is that Poyang Lake?!"

"Didn't that previous scene look like Wu Gong Mountain?"

"And the Lushan on the album cover."

"There's even Mount Sanqing?!"

As the first track on Side A, "Jiangnan," began playing, the various scenic spots drawn entirely from Jiang Xi's natural landscapes made the two girls' eyes widen in shock—

Especially Mount Sanqing.

That was a local attraction in Raozhou—they'd been there before—but why did it look so breathtaking in the MV? Like a fairyland?!

"This song… I feel like it's totally different from Zhou Yi's earlier ones," Zhu Hui, who had never liked Zhou Yi's fast songs, found herself increasingly drawn to "Jiangnan," sensing her loyalty slipping.

The song was truly beautiful—and easy to sing along to.

Watching her best friend seem to be won over again by her idol, Han Ziyan beamed with pride: "Because Zhou Yi's a genius! So—how's this song?"

"Keep listening, keep watching…"

Zhu Hui silently repeated Xie Tingfeng's name over and over in her mind, yet unconsciously, she finished watching the entire album with Han Ziyan…

Jiangnan

Zai Mei Bian

Dongfeng Po

Susan Shuo

Xi Xiang

Meiren Yu

Piao Xiang Beifang

Bu Chao Bu Yong Hua Qian

Ai Wo Hai Shi Ta

Bei Dui Bei Yong Bao

Da Cheng Xiao Ai

Except for "Susan Shuo," "Zai Mei Bian," and "Piao Xiang Beifang," Zhu Hui found every other song on the album incredibly enjoyable…

As a "left-behind child" whose grandparents spoke Minnan, Zhu Hui's face lit up with delight when she heard the Minnan homophone "koukou" in "Bu Chao Bu Yong Hua Qian."

In her ears, Zhou Yi's new album was a world apart from his previous one!

Especially "Bei Dui Bei Yong Bao" and "Da Cheng Xiao Ai"—she truly, truly loved them, even more than the lead single "Jiangnan."

"Why didn't he release an album like this sooner?! Ziyan, tomorrow come with me to buy Zhou Yi's album—I'm getting one too!"

June 7, 2001, evening: Xie Tingfeng fan -1, Zhou Yi fan +1.

Han Ziyan, thrilled at having converted another fan to her idol, went to bed that night bubbling with joy—

Then the next day, she couldn't smile anymore.

Not just around Raozhou No. 1 High School, but even at No. 2 High School, and in the surrounding counties like Yushan and Guangfeng, every single music store had the same answer: out of stock. You could leave your phone number to reserve—once it arrived, they'd notify you immediately…

Zhu Hui, who had been indifferent yesterday, nearly snapped today—she wanted to grab Zhou Yi by the collar and demand where the hell the albums were!

You built up such a huge hype! Where's the damn stock?!

Where's the stock!!!

Is Warner trying to give Zhou Yi even more black fans?!

June 9.

Zhou Jianhui, sitting in his office, sipping coffee to stay awake after nearly twenty-four hours without sleep, stared at the data in front of him—painfully happy.

Good news: Zhou Yi's second album, "Jiangnan," unleashed unprecedented sales momentum.

Bad news: In several cities, Zhou Yi's new album "Jiangnan" sold out completely…

Most severely affected was his hometown, Raozhou in Jiang Xi Province; even in powerhouse consumer markets like Guangdong and Shanghai, certain areas faced supply shortages.

What made Zhou Jianhui both amused and exasperated was that Zhou Yi's album had become linked to scalpers.

He had never imagined this.

Scalpers, who usually dealt in hard-to-get goods, rarely touched the music industry—after all, albums weren't exactly a stable currency.

But for now, while bootleggers are still working overtime to mass-produce pirated copies of Zhou Yi's album, Warner's official release is indeed the only thing available on the market.

"Crazy, crazy! Your deluxe CD has already been scalped to 300 yuan a piece. Over in Hong Kong, as soon as your promotional posters went up, they triggered a frenzy of wealthy women rushing to buy them; this demographic is one we never anticipated before."

Holding the first-day sales data compiled from various regions, Qian Jiang, who had also been too tense to sleep all night, rushed to find Zhou Yi and said with a strange expression, "Do you know what they're calling you over in Hong Kong right now? The Auntie Killer."

"Their interest in your songs is just so-so; they simply think they're not bad, quite pleasant to listen to. But they are even more interested in you as a person. One woman, whose family owns five or six jewelry shops, even publicly called out to you in the newspaper, wanting to have dinner with you."

"..."

Zhou Yi, who had never in his wildest dreams expected such a development, suddenly widened his eyes and slowly typed out a question mark: "?"

What the heck?

Have I been targeted by a wealthy woman?

And not just one wealthy woman?!

Qian Jiang, who was the one bringing up the matter, couldn't stop laughing: "The styling and aura of your last album basically attracted young people, but the songs on side A of this album, whether in styling, MV atmosphere, or personal aura, all lean toward our country's traditional aesthetics, so it's not surprising to be targeted by wealthy women."

"Especially since you appeared in ancient costumes in 'Dong Feng Po', 'Jiang Nan', and 'Xi Xiang'; you really looked like a Jiangnan scholar stepping straight out of ancient poetry."

"Come to think of it, if I were a wealthy woman, I'd want to throw money at you just to have dinner."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

Zhou Yi, torn between laughter and tears, casually grabbed a cushion from beside him and threw it over, jokingly scolding, "I don't pay attention to any wealthy women who aren't young and beautiful; you're too ugly."

"I'm here to report the sales figures."

In high spirits, Qian Jiang waved the documents he had obtained from Zhou Jianhui, patted his ample general's belly, and said proudly, "Are you sure you want me to get lost?"

Zhou Yi immediately shut his mouth.

Qian Jiang happily took a sip of tea, then sat down on the sofa in the lounge: "Mainland first-day sales are 130,000 copies, and this number is still climbing steadily;"

"Over in Xiangjiang, the company's initial estimate for you wasn't high, but your posters and album image managed to attract a huge wave of housewife fans. Most of them have some money, and they single-handedly drove the album sales up with their desire for your face and figure, reaching 52,000 copies in one day."

"As for the Treasure Island..."

At this point, Qian Jiang pursed his lips, raised his eyes to look at him, and said, "According to the first-day sales data feedback from the three major record stores, relying on the storm you stirred up there and the massive attention you garnered, as well as the significantly increased loyalty of your fans after several rounds of operations..."

"You set a new record for first-day album sales in the Treasure Island since the new century began: 180,000 copies in one day! A-Yi, you sold more in one day than others sell in a year!"

PS: Chapter 4 got a bit out of hand, I couldn't stop writing. I checked the time, so I might as well do five updates today.

I'll post these three first; once I finish the fourth and fifth, I'll dump them out.

(End of this chapter)