Chapter 146: Show Some Respect, Call Me Brother (4k)

"Why are you smiling so broadly? Any good news?"

Sun Yanzi pushed open the door after stepping out to use the restroom and picking up a few small cakes and desserts from the marketing department, spotting Zhou Yi's uncontainable grin, and asked curiously.

"You might embarrass yourself on the international music scene—does that count as good news?"

"?"

"Do you remember that 'Lazy Song' MV you cameoed in?"

"The one where you randomly hired some dancers wearing animal headsets?"

Sun Yanzi suddenly remembered, blinked, and handed half the cake to the man, chewing on her small spoon as she mumbled: "Is Jackie Chan's movie coming out?"

As the insert song for 'Rush Hour 2,' this track wouldn't just appear on the film's soundtrack album—Zhou Jianhui's insisted-on single had already been sitting in Warner's warehouse for a long time.

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yeah, Jackie Chan just held an internal screening. The feedback was great; they'll arrange a few premiere showings tomorrow to gauge audience reaction, with the official U. S. release on August 3rd."

As a regular participant in celebrity charity football matches, Jackie Chan hadn't joined this year's game because he was already in the U. S. promoting the film and couldn't get away.

Hearing this, Sun Yanzi immediately perked up, leaping over the sofa to sit down excitedly: "Is Zhang Ziyi also promoting in Hollywood? Didn't she have a lot of screen time in this movie?"

Zhou Yi glanced at her sideways: "Why are you so excited?"

"Of course to watch the drama. Haven't you seen the news? At this year's Hong Kong Film Awards in late April, Chow Yun-fat publicly mocked Zhang Ziyi on stage—when Anita Mui asked how female actors should break into the international scene, he said they should listen and learn, and know how to feed grapes."

"Think about it—Chow Yun-fat slinks back from Hollywood in disgrace, while Zhang Ziyi, the one he mocked, goes to Hollywood and steals the spotlight."

With Jackie Chan's movie about to premiere, it's only natural for Hong Kong media to drag Chow Yun-fat out for a public flogging.

Besides, Chow Yun-fat's remark didn't just insult Zhang Ziyi—it also offended Jackie Chan, because the one who fed grapes to Zhang Ziyi was him.

"Not much drama to watch—Zhang Ziyi and Chow Yun-fat aren't even in the same league anymore; the gap's too wide. As for Jackie Chan, do you think he'll even care about Chow Yun-fat's bitter remarks?"

"By the time the movie releases, Zhang Ziyi won't even need to lift her own status—the Hong Kong media will automatically mock Chow Yun-fat for her."

The old 'Two Chows and One Cheng' era is over—Jackie Chan now stands alone at the top, Stephen Chow continues his comedy legend, but Chow Yun-fat? He can't do anything right anymore, left only with his aging reputation and mediocrity.

"Really?"

Sun Yanzi, who'd also grown up on Hong Kong films, still had a bit of fan-filtered admiration for Chow Yun-fat—after all, 'God of Gamblers' and 'The Killer' were classics.

But soon, she realized Zhou Yi's words weren't false.

On July 27th, after Jackie Chan's 'Rush Hour 2' premiered in the U. S. to universal acclaim, Hong Kong media immediately dug up old scandals—even Anita Mui, who'd asked the question about female actors at the awards ceremony, got dragged into it.

After all, that question paired too perfectly with Chow Yun-fat's answer—it was hard not to suspect it was intentional.

Chow Yun-fat, already stressed by the likelihood of Jackie Chan and Zhang Ziyi's new film soaring, felt even worse.

He'd been utterly crushed in Hollywood, directly fired by his investment company—how could this not make him look like a failure?

Especially since this news now included a young man named Zhou Yi—

'Prodigy! Zhou Yi's English New Song Breaks Into the International Scene!'

'Powerful Collaboration! Jackie Chan's New Movie and Zhou Yi's New Song!'

'…'

When Warner officially announced that Zhou Yi's English single 'Lazy Song' for 'Rush Hour 2' would be released on September 1st, one media outlet specifically chose this moment of Chow Yun-fat's low mood to provoke him: "Brother Fa, what do you think—can Zhou Yi break through the East-West music barrier and succeed?"

"…"

"As a senior, what experience can you pass on to him?"

"…"

Already in a bad mood, Chow Yun-fat refused to answer any questions about Zhou Yi, Jackie Chan, or Zhang Ziyi—instead, he invited friends out for dinner and karaoke to clear his head.

Unfortunately, on July 29th, a paparazzo exposed on 'Next Magazine' what appeared to be Chow Yun-fat's private comments about Zhou Yi with friends—

"Just some brash kid who doesn't know his place—nobody in the outside world holds him up."

As soon as these remarks surfaced, they ignited a massive uproar across Hong Kong.

While netizens marveled at Next Magazine's eavesdropping skills, they also fanned the flames—especially Stephen Chow's fans.

Chow Yun-fat's agent immediately denied it publicly, claiming it was a rumor, the recording was forged, and 'Next Magazine' was spreading lies—but it did nothing to stop the surging public opinion—

"You fucking loser! You got kicked out of Europe and America and can't stand others doing well, right?!"

"Eat shit! Fuck your mother, Poison Fa!"

"…"

Some of Chow Yun-fat's younger fans kept repeating his PR apology draft, insisting it was all fabricated.

Frankly, when Zhou Yi heard this news, he was genuinely confused.

He was a singer—he had nothing to do with actor Chow Yun-fat. This guy must be mentally off.

"Chow Yun-fat was eavesdropped on while meeting friends—you know how Hong Kong paparazzi work."

Qian Jiang's expression was grim: "I confirmed the news—it's real. Chow Yun-fat was already in a bad mood, had a couple drinks with friends, then casually commented on recent news about himself and made two remarks about you—and the Next Magazine paparazzo, who'd been tailing him, caught it all."

"…"

Seeing Zhou Yi sink into thought, Qian Jiang quickly added: "Don't worry—the company will handle it. Chow Yun-fat will issue a public apology, saying he was drunk and his words were taken out of context—"

"If it's true, what's the point of an apology? I don't care if he was drunk or not."

Zhou Yi snapped back to attention and cut Qian Jiang off: "Call him 'Brother Fa' and he actually thinks he's my elder now, huh?"

Qian Jiang: "…"

Hmm… maybe he wasn't wrong?

"Alright, it's no big deal—I'm leaving. Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbin are waiting for me to go karaoke."

Though Zhou Yi hadn't exploded in rage as Qian Jiang expected, his utter disregard for Chow Yun-fat left Qian Jiang uneasy.

Given Zhou Yi's past habit of refusing to swallow insults, it was hard to imagine what youthful, reckless remarks he might drop in a media interview.

He didn't even respect Joan Chen—what about Chow Yun-fat…

………………………………………………

"Chow Yun-fat is nothing."

Forty-something minutes later, inside the KTV private room, on the booth sofa.

Facing Sun Yanzi's confusion beside him, Zhou Yi poked a piece of apple from the fruit platter with a toothpick, popped it into his mouth, chewed, and muttered disdainfully.

If you're talking about Chow Yun-fat at his peak, then yes, he definitely had power and background.

But this is the millennium; what the hell does he amount to now? Doesn't he have any idea how many terrible films he's made?

As for that sarcasm at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards, Jackie Chan didn't openly break with Chow Yun-fat purely because in Hong Kong you can't go anywhere without bumping into him; making a scene would be too awkward.

But he doesn't even live in Hong Kong.

"In this regard, what Zhou Yi said is actually correct. There's really nothing to fear from Chow Yun-fat; his box-office dominance is gone. He just has a slightly higher status in the film industry."

"Besides, Zhou Yi doesn't even act in movies anymore, and he isn't Hong Kongese. If we really count it up, Chow Yun-fat has no status in front of him."

Zhou Xun swirled her champagne and walked over, smiling as she explained the situation to Sun Yanzi.

Not far away, Fan Bingbin was selecting songs, while Lu Yi and Ren Quan, who like her were co-stars in "Young Bao Qingtian 2", were singing Jacky Cheung's "Wolf Tale".

This gathering was initially arranged by Fan Bingbin; after all, the "Young Bao Qingtian 2" crew was in Hong Kong for promotion, and since Lu Yi, one of the lead actors of "Young Bao Qingtian 2", was an acquaintance Zhou Yi had dealt with several times, Zhou Yi didn't refuse.

He also brought Sun Yanzi along, who had been bored staying at the company.

Because their recording contracts were signed with Warner, Zhou Xun and Sun Yanzi, who were also invited by Fan Bingbin, already knew each other, so there was no lack of conversation.

"But I really didn't expect him to secretly look down on Zhou Yi."

When discussing this matter, Zhou Xun still whistled in amazement.

Sun Yanzi, whose childhood filter had shattered completely, also had strong opinions: "Yeah, the God of Gamblers in my heart is gone."

"Many people here look down on those from the mainland."

Having encountered quite a few Hong Kong stars, Zhou Xun snorted and shook her head: "Just regarding Chow Yun-fat, he has always had a poor attitude towards stars from the mainland; even Jet Li and his wife had conflicts with him."

"However, his PR response this time was quite fast; he directly claimed he was drunk and the paparazzi took his words out of context. Although some of your fans think he's trying to cover his tracks, at least on a public level, he got away with it."

Facing Zhou Yi, the Crown Prince pampered by Warner, even Chow Yun-fat had to perform a light-speed knee-slide; at the very least, he wouldn't act as if nothing happened after mocking Zhang Ziyi at the Film Awards.

"Then what about Miss Fan Bingbin?"

"Me? I'm fine. There are also excellent artists here in Hong Kong; my manager takes good care of me daily and won't let me act with those artists who are practically marked cards in the industry."

After finishing her song selection, Fan Bingbin, who had joined the group chat, noticed the puzzled expression on Sun Yanzi's face and explained with a smile: "Sister Chen still has some influence in the industry. You should know Leslie Cheung, right? He's an artist under her management, although I'm not very close with him."

"Forget it, since it's already been said, talking about him further is meaningless. Let's sing instead." Not taking it seriously, Zhou Yi saw that Lu Yi and Ren Quan had finished singing "Wolf Tale", so he immediately stood up and began singing the song he had selected.

The moment the familiar melody started, Sun Yanzi, who had been chatting with Fan Bingbin and Zhou Xun, froze, then widened her eyes in disbelief, looking at the song title appearing on the screen—"Black Black Sky".

"Ahem, next I will bring everyone a song that Teacher Sun Yanzi has sung privately before, 'Black Black Sky', a brand new version."

Facing everyone's gaze, Zhou Yi spoke in a showy manner, his dialect accent drifting with the melody was somewhat demonic—

"I fell in love with someone who made me throw caution to the wind, I thought this was the world of pursuit I sought.

"However, crashing blindly, misunderstood and deceived,

"Is there always something broken behind the adult world~"

The original singer, Sun Yanzi, sat on the booth sofa; while suppressing her laughter and lowering her head, she unconsciously covered her face with both hands, feeling quite ashamed to show her face.

Zhou Xun, Lu Yi, Ren Quan, and others beside her were laughing so hard they were bent over; for a moment, the only sound in the huge private room was the rising and falling laughter.

Especially Ren Quan.

This was his first time meeting Zhou Yi, the mainland singer whose current popularity could be described as super-top-tier; he had been worried whether this person was easy to get along with, but now...

Lu Yi, who wasn't meeting Zhou Yi for the first time, happily cracked melon seeds and occasionally egged him on: "It's a real pity you didn't record a version of 'Black Black Sky', really, Zhou Yi."

"I feel the same way, but Yanzi won't let me sing it."

Zhou Yi pretended to be helpless and shrugged, causing Sun Yanzi to laugh and scold him a few times.

As the organizer of this gathering, Fan Bingbin watched the two of them play around as if no one else existed, her mind deep in thought.

Honestly, at the beginning, when she knew Zhou Yi would bring Sun Yanzi over to introduce her to everyone, she was quite surprised; even more surprised was Lu Yi, who had met Chen Hao in the "Pink" crew.

But Lu Yi clearly mastered the art of willful blindness; after all, after meeting a few times previously, his relationship with Zhou Yi was quite decent.

In the entertainment industry, having good judgment is very important.

As for Ren Quan, he came purely because Lu Yi had told him during the filming of "Young Bao Qingtian 2" that Zhou Yi seemed to be good at investment; for Ren Quan, who aimed to make friends and do investments, getting close to Zhou Yi was no problem.

However, he also knew that making friends couldn't be rushed; at today's gathering, he simply handed Zhou Yi a business card and exchanged contact information.

It was just that, when he finished singing K and went downstairs to leave, he witnessed for the first time what was called the "grandeur of a superstar".

Media reporters carrying long and short lenses were squatting at the KTV entrance; the moment they saw Zhou Yi walking behind Ren Quan, they rushed up in a swarm, literally pushing Ren Quan aside—

"Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi! Do you have anything to say about your evaluation of Brother Fa? Do you agree with his statement?"

"Zhou Yi! Brother Fa said he was just drunk and his words were taken out of context; what do you think?"

"Zhou Yi, can you speak about your feelings? Have you already accepted Brother Fa's apology?"

"Zhou Yi..."

Dense microphones appeared before Zhou Yi along with the flashlights; Sun Yanzi, who subconsciously wanted to reach out and pull Zhou Yi, was a step too late—

"Brother Fa? Which Brother Fa? Chow Yun-fat?"

Facing the camera, Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow and said indifferently: "You just call him 'Brother' to give him face."

—?!

PS: Good thing I didn't set a flag yesterday...

Finished all the IV drips, the great one is resurrected!

(End of this chapter)