Chapter 123: Graduation Season

For Zhou Yi, the last time he had appeared near the bar street was more than a year ago.

Back then, he had not yet debuted; he was still planning his future life at Peking University, occasionally playing football to bully the Chinese Literature Department next door, and when there was nothing else to do, coming over here to sing and flirt with girls, living a very leisurely life.

Now, having returned as a hugely popular singer, his gaze through the car window watched the passersby coming and going, his eyes holding a touch of the feeling that a lifetime had passed.

Oh no, I'm not even old yet, how did I start liking to reminisce about the past?

Wearing sunglasses and a hat, dressed in a simple magenta-print T-shirt and blue jeans, Zhou Yi, after a bit of disguise, opened the door and got out of the car, following the route from his memory to the main entrance of Yehai Bar.

The bustling, noisy sounds and the passersby brushing past him made Qian Jiang, following beside Zhou Yi, somewhat nervous—

He was afraid that Zhou Yi appearing here would cause some terrible incident.

"Don't worry, the people here aren't strangers to seeing celebrities; Zhou Xun and Wang Fei appear from time to time. If we are really discovered, at most they will just form an orderly queue to ask for my signature and take photos."

Seeing his own manager's alert appearance, after sending a text message to his good sister, Zhou Yi teased with a smile, "It won't get chaotic."

"Really? Wang Fei will come?"

Hearing the name Wang Fei, Qian Jiang selectively ignored Zhou Xun, whose star power was clearly not enough yet, and was greatly surprised.

"Anyway, that's what I heard. Judging by my experience playing around here before, Wang Fei has never come once. I did spot Zhou Xun from a distance once."

"When you were active here, Wang Fei happened not to be in the Capital. Zhou Xun came because she also walked out of the bar street; she used to be a resident singer with some fame here."

Immediately following Zhou Yi's words, a slightly hoarse voice came from the right side of the two—

The boss lady, with a fashionable Hong Kong-style big wave perm, looked to be in her early thirties; her eyebrows and eyes, upon closer inspection, still held a touch of Republic of China charm, and she was holding a bottle of genuine champagne in her hand.

At a glance, it was basically a Hong Kong-style hairstyle and Hong Kong-style outfit.

"Long time no see, Sister Xiao Yan." The moment he saw the newcomer, Zhou Yi sweetly called out "Sister" and teased, "Isn't this the champagne you've treasured for so many years? So polite?"

"A big star has come, of course I must show some sincerity."

Seeing that Zhou Yi still had that familiar impish smile, Zhuo Sister Xiao Yan's eyebrows curved, and the gentle smile rising in her gaze made Qian Jiang, following nearby, unable to help but turn his head to look.

Good heavens, it's a pity such a face doesn't become a star.

"Let me introduce, Zhuo Sister Xiao Yan, the boss lady of Yehai Bar. Sister Xiao Yan, this is my manager, Qian Jiang."

"Pleased to meet you."

After the introductions, Zhou Yi followed them upstairs, had dinner with several good sisters who had previously protected him, and incidentally took from their hands some evidence that the Apple Daily wanted to bribe them with, handing them all over to Qian Jiang.

This would drag out the lawsuit for some more time.

However, just as they were chatting, he heard someone downstairs seemingly singing the one he had plagiarized in '99... "Beautiful Land"?

"I really like this song of yours; when will you release a finished version?"

Seeing that Zhou Yi seemed attracted by the singing outside, Zhuo Sister Xiao Yan smiled, lowered her head, took a sip of champagne, and urged, "Compared to the songs on your current two albums, I still think you are cooler and more charming when you play folk and rock."

"We'll see. If I have time, I'll probably make an EP and put some songs that haven't been officially released into it."

The moment he leaned his head out to look downstairs, noticing the singer on stage's appearance, Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow in considerable surprise.

In the mainland of the early millennium, folk and rock were solid weapons for picking up girls; he had already verified this point long ago. The fact that he had so many good sisters protecting him was largely due to the first few songs he plagiarized.

With his current popularity, releasing an EP just for fun would be fine; he could also include the Coca-Cola commercial song "Don't Listen to Slow Songs When You're Sad."

Anyway, the concept for his main album was already set; changing the style of the EP and randomly mixing in a few songs didn't matter; just treat it as expanding the musical style market.

"Speaking of which, what is the name of the person singing on stage? They sing very well."

Zhou Yi, having recognized Huang Bo, clicked his tongue in amazement.

He didn't expect to actually meet Huang Bo, who was still a resident singer at a bar.

This guy could be said to have accumulated strength over a long period before making a sudden breakthrough; after "Crazy Stone," he soared to the sky and rose rapidly ever since.

"Huang Bo. The singing is not bad, but the looks aren't great. However, because he sings well, I treat him like little Zhou Yi, and the response has been decent; at least he added some popularity to my place."

When she said this, Zhuo Sister Xiao Yan's tone was somewhat mocking: "What, does the big star want to promote this person?"

"Promote him? You're overthinking it; I'm not a god."

Zhou Yi laughed self-mockingly: "But I think he looks quite familiar, as if I've seen him in a movie somewhere."

"No need for 'as if'; he really is an actor. He acted in a play last year, but not many people are looking for him to act right now."

"If your MV wants to find someone cheap with decent acting skills, he is actually a good choice."

As the boss, Zhuo Sister Xiao Yan knew a bit about Huang Bo's abilities. Including his singing, because of his face, he had lost many opportunities.

"Don't say it, that is actually true."

Zhou Yi, observing Huang Bo downstairs, fully agreed with this.

With a face that clearly looked aged, playing a role like a dean in a school-themed song's MV would be absolutely a piece of cake.

As a graduate this year, he still wanted to get involved with graduation season songs, after all, this perfectly matched his current identity.

Anyway, they would have to hire actors for the MV later; since picking a day is better than meeting a day, let's just choose Huang Bo and be done with it.

When Huang Bo becomes famous in the future, his MV might actually become a lucky spot in the entertainment industry.

Zhou Yi, thinking that his future MV might become an archaeological holy land in the internet era, laughed out loud, but he did not immediately go down to meet Huang Bo.

He hadn't even finished his graduation season album songs yet; waiting until he had figured it out a bit before having his manager contact Huang Bo was not too late; anyway, Huang Bo still had to lie low for several years.

Huang Bo, who had performed beyond his usual level all night, did not wait for the legendary miracle to appear; the big star Zhou Yi did not show up to promote him. Clearly, on the path of music, he apparently really was not someone with potential.

Huang Bo, somewhat disheartened, after soberly reflecting, resolutely changed tracks and, listening to his childhood friend's advice, prepared to take the entrance exam for the Film Academy.

If singing doesn't work, then I'll go act!

And Zhou Yi, back at Warner Music, began to ponder what songs he should plagiarize for this graduation season.

In these current years, songs truly related to graduates were actually very few, so few they could almost be ignored. One could even say the concept of "graduation season" had not yet become popular.

The so-called partings and farewells were mostly generic songs like Andy Lau's "Friends" or Wu Qilong's "Wish You a Smooth Journey."

If he did it well, he might just ride a wave of graduation season traffic.

Pondering this, a song that perfectly matched the graduation season first popped into Zhou Yi's mind—

Komi Boy's "Youth Memorial Album."

PS: Just got home. Two more chapters coming, around 1 AM~

(End of this chapter)