Chapter 126: Two Different People

The sunset afterglow of the record era is terrifyingly so.

Zhou Yi, who was amused by this so-called "Battle of the Two Zhus," could only sigh at the ruthlessness of competition in this era; even with his cheat, it was hard to say he could stand above all others.

Even "Twilight," which rivaled "Jiangnan" in the piracy world this year, would still be knocked down by new songs emerging next year.

Unfortunately, Zhou Chuanxiong, who had not yet been tormented by stomach disease, ultimately failed to regain his peak due to declining creative energy, and was the first to fall behind in the music battlefield of the millennium generation.

"Oh right, there's one more thing. Because of your continuous popularity, the company has received many requests for songs, including from top-tier big names.

"This is the list; you can take a look. If you get inspiration later, you can collaborate with them."

While driving, Qian Jiang, who had almost forgotten the song request matter, took a piece of paper from the storage compartment and handed it to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi reached out with interest, took it, and opened it. Good heavens, a long string of names he was extremely familiar with.

Not to mention the Four Heavenly Kings including Guo Fucheng, the company's number one, but also names like Eason Chan, Mo Wenwei, Joey Yung, Chen Huilin, and even PolyGram's Crown Prince, Jacky Cheung's junior, Eric Kwok, were all on the table.

"That's not right, isn't Mo Wenwei protected by Li Zongsheng at Rock Records? Rock has Lo Ta-yu and Li Zongsheng; why ask me?

"And Eric Kwok? His father is the Greater China President of PolyGram Records; does he lack songs too?"

Setting aside the others, Zhou Yi couldn't understand why these two would come to request songs.

"You might not know, Mo Wenwei has confirmed she is leaving Rock Records to join Sony. As her new employer, Sony Music, to express its importance to her, will naturally request songs from you for her.

"As for Eric Kwok... to put it bluntly, PolyGram really can't get too good songs right now; even if they do, they are prioritized for Jacky Cheung.

"Although Eric Kwok is jokingly called PolyGram's Crown Prince, his status currently makes it impossible for him to compete with Jacky Cheung for songs."

Qian Jiang felt deeply about PolyGram Records, which was also on a downward trend.

Warner in the late nineties was in this sorry state until Zhou Jianhui arrived, discovering two trump cards, Sun Yanzi and Zhou Yi, one male and one female, in a row, bringing them back on track.

"Mo Wenwei's songs are easy to handle; if the price is right, I can be the album producer for her directly; it's no problem, anyway Sony doesn't lack money, let's squeeze them for a few more cuts.

"As for Eric Kwok, I'm powerless; I can't write Cantonese songs at all right now; my Cantonese is currently limited to being able to say two phrases of 'suo hai'."

In terms of learning Cantonese, although he had learned some daily phrases while filming the MVs for "Back-to-Back Embrace" and "The Mermaid" with Ah Sa and Ah Jiao, Zhou Yi was currently most familiar with no doubt the swear words.

"Mandarin songs work too; you decide later; if you want to write, just tell me, and I'll help you negotiate with the corresponding company."

After dropping Zhou Yi back at the hotel, Qian Jiang patted the man's shoulder with a smile: "Rest well these few days; afterwards, we still have to go to the next place for the signing event."

The intensity of eight signing events in three days in Shanghai was something even Zhou Yi's body couldn't quite withstand. After removing his makeup, visible signs of haggardness appeared on his face, with dark circles faintly visible around his eyes.

Qian Jiang felt heartache seeing this, but seeing Zhou Yi complain nonstop yet honestly persist in his work, he didn't speak up to dissuade him.

Having partnered for so long, he had figured out this man's nature. If he really couldn't hold on, he would choose to give up.

"You don't know; when I was singing at the signing event today, I almost turned it into a car crash scene; my pitch almost started drifting."

In the hotel room, Zhou Yi, having just showered with a dry towel over his head, made a call as usual and complained to fellow Warner patient Sun Yanzi about the company's exploitative promotion methods.

His current singing style relied on the solid physical conditions he had after rebirth to push through; although it felt great to sing and great to listen to, the consequence was that performing live was extremely dependent on his state.

Sun Yanzi, who felt the same pain, empathized deeply but still teased him mercilessly: "Serves you right! You slacked off when learning singing techniques, thinking your high talent allowed you to do whatever you wanted, right?"

"I didn't slack off at all; improving singing techniques also takes time, okay? Am I a god that I can improve instantly? This takes years."

Compared to when he debuted last year, Zhou Yi felt he had truly improved a lot. Moreover, he didn't think Sun Yanzi, who also suffered from live performance state issues, had the qualification to scold him.

So he imitated a segment of Sun Yanzi singing "Green Light" off-key over the phone, making the latter scream in anger on the other end—

"Zhou Yi! Just you wait!"

Sun Yanzi, furious with shame, immediately hung up the phone; if she didn't have engagements to run in the Treasure Island, she would have bought a plane ticket to the mainland to block his door.

"Little brat."

Zhou Yi, not taking Sun Yanzi's threat seriously at all, sneered, just about to get up and call the hotel to send up dinner, when he received a call from Chen Hao—

"Hello? Chen Hao?"

"How is it, big star? The signing event is over today, right? Have you had dinner? If not, let's eat together?"

On the other end of the phone, Chen Hao's gentle voice rang out.

"Dinner? Don't you have a night scene to shoot today?" Zhou Yi instinctively checked the time; it was already past eight in the evening.

"It's not my scene tonight. How about it? Will you grace me with your presence? It's been quite a while since we last met."

"Sure, give me an address; I'll be there immediately."

Hanging out with Chen Hao for late-night snacks was something Zhou Yi was already well-versed in; with a driver's license in the mainland, he didn't need a driver, so he drove the Mercedes-Benz car the company had provided these past few days towards the restaurant address Chen Hao had sent—

A private kitchen called "Bai Wei," which should have very strong privacy.

At the very least, the waiters working here, upon seeing Zhou Yi, were only slightly excited before politely guiding him to the private room—

"Looks like you're doing quite well in this film crew."

Chen Hao, simply dressed in a white printed T-shirt and blue jeans, appeared in Zhou Yi's view after pushing open the private room door; her long hair, specially curled for filming, was casually tied into a bun, looking quite charming in a different way.

"Compared to you, a big star, I'm far behind."

Noticing the visible haggardness and fatigue on Zhou Yi's face compared to before, Chen Hao's eyelids twitched slightly, and she teased with a smile: "Look at you, your eyes are almost busy into giant pandas. Does your company exploit people so much?"

"Don't mention it; three days, eight signing events, a whole eight! I don't know how Warner dares to arrange it like this; they really just see I'm young and use me to death, knowing nothing about sustainable development..."

Zhou Yi, pulling out a chair and sitting directly opposite Chen Hao, made a gesture of the number eight; all the negative emotions buried in his heart exploded the moment he saw Chen Hao, chattering away and gesturing about Warner's inhumanity.

Chen Hao, with gentle eyebrows, listened seriously, occasionally pouring tea for Zhou Yi, and sometimes feigning surprise and asking if it was true, which provoked another round of Zhou Yi venting about Warner.

"Look on the bright side; at least cooperating with Warner this year, you can earn ten or twenty million."

Chen Hao, smiling, held her tea cup with both hands, slightly pouting and blowing on the surface of the cup: "I only earn about a hundred thousand after tax for one movie; earning for a lifetime wouldn't match your one year.

"If it weren't for my lack of singing talent, I would really want to sing like you."

"I'll take that as you praising me."

Zhou Yi, flipping through the menu, saw that the few dishes he liked had already been checked, and couldn't help but pout: "How can you do business like this? You invite me for late-night snacks but you've already ordered?"

"Is it possible that even if you ordered, it would just be these few dishes?"

Chen Hao, with an even broader smile, turned the tea cup in her hand and teased: "Rest assured, I specifically asked for no spicy food."

PS: Before midnight~

(End of chapter)