Chapter 125: The Pirated Market Splits the World (Third Update)

Lu Yi? Chen Kun?

"They're here too?"

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing those names: "How long has it been? Haven't they finished shooting yet? Weren't you all done filming in Japan and came back?"

"Japan is Japan's storyline; because we had to coordinate with the Japanese side, it took a bit longer, so we stayed a while."

"Chen Kun and Lu Yi's scenes were all shot after returning to the mainland, but it's true they got extra scenes added."

Chen Hao chuckled as she spoke of this: "Lu Yi's even starting to complain—he says his scenes keep getting added, so now they're completely different from what was originally planned."

Zhou Yi was puzzled: "Isn't adding scenes good?"

"Good? You don't know how popular Lu Yi is on the mainland. He was only supposed to make a guest appearance, but the director and writer, seeing him get more popular, just waved their hand and shoved extra scenes on him."

"Lu Yi still has to promote 'Young Bao Qingtian 2' afterward, but now the constant scene additions have made him annoyed."

Chen Hao, lying in bed in her bright-colored nightgown, swung her legs and grinned as she shared behind-the-scenes gossip: "And Chen Kun—he was only supposed to be a guest too. But earlier this year, there was a drama called 'Like Mist, Like Rain, Like Wind'—have you seen it? That drama blew up, and Chen Kun, as the lead, became popular too."

"Then the 'Wan Ren Mi' crew added scenes for him too, and now neither of them can leave the set—they're still shooting the added scenes."

"…."

So these two turned from guest stars into lead roles?

"I've heard of 'Like Mist, Like Rain, Like Wind,' but I haven't watched it."

Hearing there was gossip, Zhou Yi instantly perked up: "Don't they resist?"

"At most they complain privately—after all, more scenes benefit them too. They're professional actors; adding or changing scenes is common. They just don't want to mess up their future schedules."

Chen Hao, who'd also gone through added scenes, didn't mind much—she had no schedule afterward anyway, not even an agent, and after filming she'd just return to prepare for the People's Art Theatre exam.

If she hadn't taken leave earlier to return to school for the graduation play and ceremony, her scenes would've been nearly finished by now.

"So how's the set atmosphere? Any juicy gossip? I've been so busy with signing events I haven't had time for gossip."

Zhou Yi, lately as busy as a spinning top, knew almost nothing about outside news beyond his own affairs—every day he woke up, washed up, rushed to signing events—sang, signed until his hands ached, then went home.

He was almost turning into a programmed robot, desperately needing something to distract him and wake up his brain.

His desire to release a graduation EP wasn't without a hint of wanting to slack off and rest.

"Nope, the biggest name is Liu Ruoying—she's actually quite nice, at least to me."

Chen Hao, who answered every question Zhou Yi asked, thought carefully—since joining the cast, she'd encountered nothing unpleasant: "Before joining, I thought I'd face some embarrassment, since this is a mainland-Taiwan co-production."

"Then it's boring."

Hearing there was no gossip, Zhou Yi instantly lost interest.

"Oh, by the way, I just remembered something—I heard an actor quit after his scenes were cut."

While flipping through the script and chatting with Zhou Yi, Chen Hao suddenly remembered when she saw a character's name she had scenes with: "Because Lu Yi and Chen Kun's screen time increased, their roles expanded. Correspondingly, a character named Li Bai had most of his scenes cut."

"Li Bai's role was never big to begin with, now it's been cut down to just my scenes—looks like someone just dropped him in to give Wan Ren Mi a love interest, totally awkward."

"So now the crew's looking for another actor—they're currently contacting a young male actor named Liu Hengyu, but I don't know if he'll accept such a tiny guest role."

Hearing the character's name, Zhou Yi laughed: "Li Bai? Seriously? Giving such a famous name so few scenes—you guys are really not being human."

"Li Bai was always just an extra—his scene count didn't matter to the director anyway. Though I think, given Wan Ren Mi's character, the ideal ending would've been for her to remain alone, free and unfettered, in the city."

Chen Hao snorted.

Being low-ranking and unknown, she, still a nobody, dared not voice opinions to the director—she just followed the script obediently.

As they were chatting on the phone, suddenly someone knocked on Chen Hao's bedroom door—

"Chen Hao, wanna go out for late-night snacks?"

Zhang Yan, who played the tomboy on set, poked her head in from outside and saw Chen Hao smiling and whispering softly—her face immediately twisted with amusement: "Sorry, I interrupted."

Saying that, she shut the bedroom door and dashed off.

Soon after, the living room outside the bedroom echoed with Zhang Yan and Xue Jianing's faint singing—"Love Me or Him~"

Chen Hao: "…"

"Hey? Hey hey?"

"I've got something urgent here—I'll call you when I get to Shanghai."

With that, Chen Hao hung up, tossed her phone onto the bed, and burst out of the bedroom to pounce on Xue Jianing and Zhang Yan—her loose nightgown couldn't contain the revealing sight.

Zhou Yi, still in Beijing, stared at the disconnected call, utterly confused.

Why did he faintly hear a woman singing "Love Me or Him"?

Rather than ponder it, Zhou Yi simply gave up, packed his things, and returned home from the company.

After resting a few days to adjust his state, he officially set off for Shanghai.

But on the way, Qian Jiang informed him of bad news: Rock Records had produced another male singer to compete with him in the market.

"There's a new rival emerging—have you heard of a singer named Guang Liang from Rock Records? He used to be in a duo with Pin Guan called 'Wu Yin Liang Pin.'"

"He released his first solo album in May this year, and its momentum is now rising—the lead single 'First Time' is climbing the charts as his promotional appearances increase."

"As of today, it's already threatened 'Love Me or Him' on the radio monthly chart—it might knock it out of the top ten."

Qian Jiang showed Zhou Yi the market department's data file, explaining Guang Liang's background.

"Let him squeeze in—I'm relying on 'Jiangnan,' 'Big City, Little Love,' and 'Back-to-Back Hug' for charting."

Hearing this news, Zhou Yi stared at the name, stunned.

He'd almost forgotten this senior.

On June 30, on Taiwan's radio chart, 'First Time' officially knocked 'Love Me or Him' out of the top ten.

Meanwhile, on the mainland, 'First Time' was also surging—on unrestricted charts, it surpassed Han Hong's 'That Sea' and 'Daybreak,' quickly breaking into the top ten.

Chen Xiaochun's fan-favorite song 'The Person I Love' also surged after being introduced to the mainland, teaming up with Guang Liang's 'First Time' and Han Hong's 'Tibetan Plateau' to shatter Zhou Yi's monopoly on the mainland market.

This result made Zhou Yi grit his teeth in frustration.

Guang Liang, huh? I admit your 'First Time' is great—so your 'Fairytale' is mine now!

And Chen Xiaochun! You've lost your "You're Tough Too" too!

Zhou Yi, who felt more pained by losing potential earnings than by actual losses, added these two to his mental ledger with thick, dark ink.

Fortunately, he still had "Jiangnan" to hold the line—

"Also, a new song has suddenly emerged in the mainland, threatening your 'Jiangnan' in terms of popularity."

When speaking of this, Qian Jiang's tone was oddly tinged: "But this song only rivals your 'Jiangnan' in popularity—it won't affect your album's official sales by even a fraction."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Zhou Yi was also confused by Qian Jiang's remark.

"According to our investigation, this song, whose popularity keeps rising, has never been officially imported to the mainland. All tapes and CDs circulating here are pirated."

"Precisely because of this, the song is not listed on any official radio charts or pop music rankings."

Saying this, Qian Jiang pulled out a pirated tape he'd bought from a music store and slipped it into the car's cassette player—

"I still remember your firm 'goodbye' as if spoken in iron, a hallucination of scorching sun in the dim light~"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Zhou Yi listened to Zhou Chuanxiong's storytelling-rich music, raised his eyes to gaze at the sunset staining half the sky red, and a smile curled at his lips.

"'Dusk'? Then it's fine."

Without his 'Jiangnan,' the one and only true god of the 2001 mainland piracy scene would have been this very song.

"Right now, the mainland piracy market is roughly split between your 'Jiangnan' and Zhou Chuanxiong's 'Dusk.' But Zhou Chuanxiong's album performed terribly in Taiwan, much like Zhang Xinzhe's last year after you defeated him—no one knows why."

In 2000, Zhang Xinzhe's album "Faith" flopped in sales, but at least it had the hit single "Faith" to salvage some face;

Zhou Chuanxiong's 2000 year-end album "Transfer" not only flopped in sales, but even "Dusk" failed to make waves in Taiwan—yet who could have imagined it would flood the mainland with pirated copies?

Precisely because of this, Qian Jiang's face carried a hint of schadenfreude when speaking of it.

If an official legitimate album containing "Dusk" had been imported to the mainland, it would have eaten up a huge chunk of the market.

The speed at which this song became popular in the mainland was terrifying.

If official album sales currently pit Xie Tingfeng against Zhou Yi for first place, then in the piracy market, it's recently been Zhou Yi and Zhou Chuanxiong battling for supremacy.

"Those pirates would gladly worship you and Zhou Chuanxiong as ancestral deities."

"If piracy weren't forbidden from heavy promotion, they'd surely emulate the Zhou-Xie rivalry and create a 'Dual Zhou War' in the piracy world."

(End of Chapter)