[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty":3,"chapter-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-12":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The King of 2000: A Mandopop Dynasty",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2301268,4501,"Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Ride Guo Tianwang","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-12",12,"\u003Cp>“Come on, come on, I’ll toast with tea instead of wine—hope you’ll give me plenty of guidance in the future, Teacher Sun.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near the Warner Building, in a certain restaurant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi picked up a cup of plain water with exaggerated solemnity, mimicking the popular wuxia drama scene, raising it in salute to Sun Yanzi across from him—but his squinting, grinning expression lacked any real sincerity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Shaohan, sitting beside Sun Yanzi and barely holding back a laugh, couldn’t help but twitch her lips, then quickly covered her mouth, her overly large eyes brimming with mirth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In wuxia dramas, becoming a disciple isn’t that simple—where’s the initiation gift?\" Sun Yanzi, understanding he was just lightening the mood, adopted a dignified posture, grinning as if she were a revered elder from a wuxia novel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What kind of wuxia movie even includes an initiation gift as outdated baggage? Looks like Singapore’s wuxia dramas are already behind the times.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After completing the ritual himself, Zhou Yi sat down, picked up a chopstick, shoved a bite into his mouth, and mumbled, “Nowadays, we’re all encouraged to refuse gifts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m talking about Xiao Qi’s version, of course.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi, eating with impeccable ladylike grace, sipped her tea and retorted, “If you’ve got complaints, take them up with Xiao Qi.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ren Xianqi, the monarch of the late 20th-century Chinese-language music scene, nicknamed Xiao Qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A legendary figure who stood alone against Hong Kong’s Four Kings without yielding, his song “Heart Too Soft” swept across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the mainland, winning over every age and gender—and he even landed leading roles as handsome heroes in wuxia dramas thanks purely to his own talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most iconic example was the 1998 version of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had he not been so towering and popular in the music industry, it’s hard to imagine him playing Yang Guo—the man who “saw Yang Guo and spent his whole life regretting it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially considering the legendary Gu Tianle had come before him—the contrast in looks, to put it bluntly, was devastating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then forget it—I probably wouldn’t even get to meet Xiao Qi.” Zhou Yi, who had never seen this version of “Condor Heroes,” skipped right past the topic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a person from the future, the two versions of “Condor Heroes” that stuck in his memory were Gu Tianle’s and Huang Xiaoming’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the era, he actually remembered Huang Xiaoming’s version even more vividly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s easy—write him a song and invite him to duet with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You think writing songs is like buying bok choy?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think you write songs about as easily as buying bok choy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi, having witnessed firsthand last night how fast this man wrote songs, smirked mischievously, then turned the conversation to Zhang Shaohan beside her to avoid leaving her out: “Miss Zhang, you might not know—the song ‘Happy Worship’ you recorded today is one of five he wrote in four hours.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Shaohan’s eyes widened in shock, staring at the man sitting alone across from them with disbelief: “Four hours? Five songs?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi raised a hand in a shushing gesture, his expression wildly smug, his brows radiating uncontainable pride: \"Stay humble, stay humble.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The refined scholar image he’d shown that morning shattered completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So impressive, Mr. Zhou.” With his talent and naturally handsome features, this sudden contrast erased much of Zhang Shaohan’s initial sense of distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just call me by my name—I’m only nineteen, just one year older than you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi clearly found being called “Mr. Zhou” awkward and suggested, “Or just call me Brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who calls someone nineteen “Mr.”? This isn’t ancient times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh, o-okay, Yi-ge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a low-profile artist at Fuhua Records, Zhang Shaohan’s greatest strength was listening to advice—and smartly, she didn’t use his surname, trying to bridge the gap between them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can call me Yanzi-jie or Stefanie-jie—I’m twenty-two, older than both of you,” added Sun Yanzi, the eldest of the three, helping to deepen their familiarity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No need to be so formal—we’re all the same age. Who knows, maybe we’ll even share a stage to accept awards together someday,” Zhou Yi said cheerfully, knowing their future career paths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he didn’t know why Zhang Shaohan had debuted in idol dramas, it was clear that after releasing her first album, she’d churned out hit after hit, including “Invisible Wings,” a song that could literally elevate a career to divine status.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had it not been for her unreliable family and fake friends constantly stabbing her in the back, she might truly have become a queen of the Chinese-language music scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, her vocal tone was simply too distinctive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, by the time she’d sorted out all those messes and returned, the train to stardom had already left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the course of this meal, the three had truly gotten to know each other—and their distance had lessened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi’s playful demeanor, Sun Yanzi’s poised elegance—both paid attention to her feelings, likely judging from her clothing that her financial situation was poor, so they never brought up money at all, instead chatting about amusing school memories so she could join in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Zhang Shaohan, it had been a long time since she’d felt this kind of laughter and joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since middle school, burdened by life’s pressures, she’d spent every spare moment outside studying working odd jobs at malls and shops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After coming alone to Baodao last year, her loneliness deepened—she had almost no friends, spending her days either practicing singing or working at clothing stores to earn money, and aside from her teacher Lin Longxuan, she couldn’t trust anyone at the company.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entertainment companies—especially singer training programs—are full of people all chasing fame, all rivals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But here, it was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi was Warner’s upcoming June release, and Zhou Yi produced his entire album himself—he was a complete singer-songwriter who wouldn’t compete for song resources, and he was male, so he had zero conflict of interest with her; being around him felt easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, Yi-ge, you still have a year of school—how will you balance it all?” Zhang Shaohan asked curiously, blinking her doll-like big eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Warner has a partner company in the mainland called Warner Ma Tian—I’ll definitely be based there from now on. I’ll only come to Baodao during promotional periods, which also makes it easier for me to return to school for exams.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for classes, as long as I pass the exams, whether I attend or not doesn’t matter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi shrugged, implying Baodao was just a stopover for him—after all, Warner’s top star, Guo Tianwang, was also based in Hong Kong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The future market would be dominated by the mainland; even with rampant piracy, once your name was known, it was far better than the tiny markets of Hong Kong and Taiwan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Shaohan fell into thoughtful silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi teased, “Then it looks like if I want to chat with you, little brother, I’ll have to call you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among all the people at the company, the only one she could truly talk to without competition pressure, the only one she considered a friend, was Zhou Yi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How could I not? Sister, you’re my teacher. When my teacher gives an order, I’ll haul myself on a plane from the mainland to come running.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The exaggerated words, delivered with playful tone, felt novel to Sun Yanzi and Zhang Shaohan—they’d never heard such phrasing before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as she was about to respond, Zhou Yi’s phone rang—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello? Zhou Zong?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he saw the caller ID, Zhou Yi made a shushing gesture and pressed answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhou Yi, I’ve got a question for you—do you have any objection to riding on someone else’s popularity?” came the calm voice of Zhou Jianhui, Warner’s general manager.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Riding on someone’s popularity?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes—like, for instance, riding on the popularity of our own Guo Tianwang.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1306,"2026-06-20T07:33:41.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","140906e6dd8381998d1bb3bd86c227359c2335f2966aafc3e0840ffb109dd674","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-13","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-11",883,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-cover.jpg"]