Chapter 159: Early Changes

On August 20, 2001, Hong Kong's entertainment industry suffered an earthquake—

Entertainment figures led by Chen Daoming, Zhang Guoli, Wang Gang, and Zhou Yi jointly signed a formal statement condemning and expressing dissatisfaction over Chow Yun-fat's previous discriminatory remarks against Zhou Yi in Hong Kong.

Simultaneously, they formally and publicly called for the first time for greater attention to the discrimination faced by mainland artists, bringing this long-standing industry issue into the open.

After the statement was officially released, numerous businesses that had been watching and waiting immediately abandoned any plans to work with Chow Yun-fat, even though his side had repeatedly lowered their price demands.

This outcome was something most Hong Kong entertainment figures never anticipated.

They had all assumed the matter would end when Zhou Yi returned to the mainland, but instead, after returning, he delivered an even bigger blow—

And they had no way to refute it.

Projects in development, including joint films and singer resources, were also affected—mainland artists seized this momentum to claim their rightful benefits and status, succeeding again and again.

Emperor Entertainment was the first in Hong Kong's entertainment circle to kneel.

As Hong Kong's top capital holder, no one understood better than Yang Shoucheng what this statement truly meant.

Fortunately, Xie Tingfeng, under Emperor Entertainment, was already one of Zhou Yi's "twin stars"; though they competed, it was largely healthy competition. A charity football match had already cemented Xie Tingfeng's image as "hardworking" and "a sports genius," while simultaneously highlighting Zhou Yi's divine presence.

Twins, newly risen to fame, had been instructed by their company since before their debut to each support one of the twin stars—a stance they maintained to this day, amounting to a kind of oath of allegiance.

Chow Yun-fat, once arrogant and domineering, had now kicked more than just a steel plate.

Under mounting pressure, Chow Yun-fat ultimately could not hold out; he bowed his head, held a press conference, and apologized to Zhou Yi, Zhang Ziyi, and other mainland artists he had been exposed for discriminating against.

Fan Bingbin, who had just been revitalized by "Young Bao Qingtian 2," defeated Zhang Baizhi for the female lead role in the joint film "The Lion Roars" precisely because of his previously reported friendly ties with Zhou Yi.

"As Chen Shufen said, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time—I was originally only competing for a supporting role, but because of this joint statement, the mainland's cooperation side became much more firm."

The moment Fan Bingbin received this good news, she immediately called Zhou Yi to congratulate him: "The male lead was already set as Leon Lai, so I landed the female lead—it's Hong Kong's gesture to the mainland entertainment industry."

"Great news—you're about to make it big, landing a movie lead outright. Zhang Baizhi just played the female lead opposite Guo Fucheng in 'Romantic Cherry Blossoms,' and now you've snatched the role away."

In the Warner recording studio, Zhou Yi, having finished recording his EP songs, smiled and congratulated her.

"The Hong Kong media saying you're lucky is truly justified—when the 'Super Interview' crew comes to interview you, I'll make sure to say plenty of good things. Come back to Beijing and I'll treat you to dinner!" Filled with energy, Fan Bingbin hung up quickly and threw herself back into promoting "Young Bao Qingtian 2."

"She really is a workaholic."

Watching her phone screen light up, Zhou Yi leaned back in his chair and sighed in admiration.

Compared to Fan Bingbin, who worked nonstop nearly 360 days a year, he felt a pang of shame.

But then he thought of the money in his bank account and the property deed already in hand—his shame vanished instantly.

He worked tirelessly before his rebirth, and he still works tirelessly after it—wouldn't that make his rebirth meaningless?

Sun Yanzi, who had come to the mainland only to be dragged by Chen Zeshan into promotions, kept trying to learn his slack-off ways but never mastered them, so she called him every few days to complain—

Because he was filming a music video and temporarily couldn't help her out.

Thanks to his Peking University background, the university readily agreed to his request to film the MV for "Those Years" during the summer break.

This was also a form of indirect promotion.

Especially since Tsinghua University was about to launch two original singers—

One was Lu Gengxu, whom Zhou Yi had once met at the China Music Chart live event; the other was a man named Li Jian.

"They signed with the mainland's Xiyangyang Culture. Because of their Tsinghua background, their first original album has drawn considerable attention."

On the way to Peking University to film the "Those Years" MV, Qian Jiang shared the gathered information with Zhou Yi: "After all, Tsinghua once had Gao Xiaosong; though he didn't finish his degree, he often called himself a Tsinghua man."

"And since you started shining brightly last year, Xiyangyang Culture seized on this, planning to position the Shuimu Nianhua duo as your academic-singer rivals."

"What's the background of Xiyangyang Culture?"

Zhou Yi, familiar with the name Li Jian, focused instead on Xiyangyang, leaving Qian Jiang, who had gathered a pile of Shuimu Nianhua personal data, momentarily speechless:

"Uh, they claim to be the mainland's most powerful record company."

Qian Jiang's expression turned odd: "But…"

Zhou Yi instantly understood.

Blowing smoke? Who can't do that?

He had once been a PPT master himself.

Peking University.

Since it was vacation time, Lin Yichen, standing in the empty campus waiting with the MV crew for Zhou Yi, curiously scanned her surroundings, comparing them to her own school.

After finishing communication with the director, her agent Zhou Mei Yu returned and saw her distracted gaze; she promptly tapped her arm: "Focus. Don't drift off. Study your script carefully—make a good impression."

"Don't worry, Xiao Yu—my script's practically memorized backward."

Lin Yichen patted her chest confidently.

In these days in Beijing, she had given 120% effort to seize this opportunity—she nearly turned herself into the female lead of "Those Years."

Zhou Yi's achievements were obvious to all; countless peers envied her for getting this chance.

The only pity was that, due to Zhou Yi's constant busyness, she had never had a chance to meet him, only seeing his big news in newspapers every few days.

First, signing the joint statement with Chen Daoming, Zhang Guoli, and others, forcing Hong Kong's entertainment circle into an earthquake and shaming Chow Yun-fat;

Then, rising pop star Liang Jingru openly discussed her 2000 competition with Zhou Yi on Taiwan during a live broadcast of the mainland variety show "Happy Camp," sparking curiosity among mainland audiences.

Some even added Liang Jingru to Zhou Yi's rumored romantic partners.

Whether Liang Jingru had a boyfriend or not didn't matter—Zhou Yi's rumored lovers didn't need such details; what the public loved was the story of a former rival now being conquered by Zhou Yi!

PS: Alive!

Two more chapters, around 12:30~

I overslept, that's all.

(End of chapter)