Chapter 165: They

The reporters, who had originally hoped Wang Lihong would throw out some youthful, reckless threats—like "I'll drag Zhou Yi off that damn Wang Zuo"—were deeply disappointed.

After all, although Wang Lihong had always presented himself as refined and gentle since his debut, he was signed to Sony Music, which gave entertainment reporters some room to imagine.

Unfortunately, the outcome was somewhat underwhelming.

From sales figures alone, you're at least the only singer this year who might possibly catch up to Zhou Yi's mainland sales.

Where's the sharpness of youth?

Where's the drive of youth?

You're giving up already?

Why don't you just fight him?

Coward!

"Everyone's fine, everything's fine" doesn't generate any explosive news.

At this very moment, Taiwanese reporters, scrambling for headlines, desperately missed Zhou Yi—the one who could still appear publicly and move freely in Taiwan last year.

He did anything and it became front-page news; there was never a shortage of material to write about him, and bonuses and performance pay skyrocketed.

If they could, they'd even sing Sun Nan's classic "Come Back Quickly" directly to Zhou Yi.

Yet the mainland reporters, who should have had the advantage of proximity, were also frustrated.

At this moment, with the American-Chinese Wang Lihong "challenging" Zhou Yi, they desperately wanted an interview with Zhou Yi—

But when they checked Zhou Yi's official schedule, they saw he'd be appearing on "Super Interview" today.

It was obvious the "Super Interview" crew would bring up the topic—after all, Zhou Yi was famously unafraid of any subject.

His motto was: if you dare ask, he'll dare answer.

The "Super Interview" crew was nearly ecstatic over this gift from heaven, but out of caution, they still asked Warner if they could raise the topic—

"Why not raise it? I don't believe his sales this year can surpass mine."

In the limousine, Zhou Yi toyed with the "Jiangnan" album and "Graduation" EP he planned to bring to the "Super Interview" recording site, reclining comfortably on the seat as he shifted his posture: "Perfect—my EP drops today; that's a marketing point too."

He had few marketing cards left; to reach the 3 million sales threshold in Asia, he truly needed another hot topic.

"Isn't your English single 'Lazysong' a marketing point? Why delay its release?"

Qian Jiang was puzzled.

Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour 2" was a massive box office hit in the U. S. and performed well in the U. K.; as the composer of its soundtrack, Zhou Yi's best move should've been to strike while the iron was hot, letting Warner's marketing team ride this wave to promote him.

Yet after seeing the global release schedule for "Rush Hour 2," Zhou Yi moved the single's release date to September 22.

"Honestly, I think conquering the Japanese market is more practical.

"Jackie Chan's movie releases in Japan on September 22; because of its major success in the U. S., Japanese fans already obsessed with Jackie Chan will flood theaters to watch it."

Zhou Yi answered seriously: "Japanese audiences clearly accept English songs by East Asians more readily.

"As my debut English single, given the discrimination against Chinese in Western music scenes, I think it's better to start by breaking into Japan—the same East Asian market."

The reasoning made sense—it was all about riding Jackie Chan's momentum.

He couldn't go around shouting that a disaster about to shake the entire U. S. was coming.

If he released his album during a U. S. disaster, and all promotion got canceled, he'd be ruined no matter how talented he was.

There was a ready example in the Chinese music scene—Liang Jingru's debut album flopped completely because it launched during a disaster, forcing all promotion to be canceled.

Though Qian Jiang, unable to foresee the future, found this puzzling, he figured Japan's market for English songs was viable, and riding Jackie Chan's momentum might really yield big results, so he didn't press further and accompanied Zhou Yi to the "Super Interview" studio.

As today's hottest talk show, no one knew if it was due to stinginess or something else, but the "Super Interview" studio was noticeably smaller than the equally popular "Happy Camp."

Zhou Yi even wondered if the place would feel cramped once all the audience members were seated.

"Welcome, welcome, Zhou Yi, I'm Dai Jun."

As he walked in with Qian Jiang into the studio he'd been mentally criticizing, Dai Jun, still preparing for rehearsal, immediately spotted him and walked over with a smile: "Your height is intimidating—I claimed to be 183 cm myself."

Beside him, his co-host and the show's creator Li Jing also approached, extending a friendly hand: "Li Jing. I didn't expect you to be even more handsome in person than on your album, Zhou Yi."

"Brother Dai, Sister Li."

After shaking hands, Zhou Yi smiled without showing his teeth: "Don't flatter me, or I might get too full of myself."

"Someone who gets full of himself isn't someone like you."

Dai Jun, a veteran of the music scene, chuckled and mocked himself: "Though I was only famous for a year and then vanished, I've met plenty of those kinds of people."

"That reminds me, Brother Dai—could you sign your name for me after rehearsal? My mom really loved your song 'A Lian.'"

Zhou Yi smiled as he took from Qian Jiang a signature book and an album cover featuring "A Lian: The Bride."

"Really? I'm still that popular?"

"Brother Dai, you might have a misunderstanding—wherever else, I don't know, but back home, you're an idol to middle-aged women."

Though he knew it was probably just politeness, Dai Jun clearly enjoyed it.

In the entertainment industry, who wants to admit they've gone stale and forgotten? Especially when the one saying it is Zhou Yi, a superstar at the peak of his fame.

Watching the two chat, Li Jing nodded silently to herself.

If they could chat easily, that was good—she feared most guests who were silent as a stone or reckless, clueless brats.

The former caused awkward silence; the latter made the show impossible to control.

But when rehearsal began, she realized Zhou Yi's conversational ability and impact exceeded even her expectations…

Especially when answering questions about Wang Lihong and others entering the mainland music market.

"Wait—I think we should include the conversation between me and Zhou Yi in the show."

Dai Jun, skilled at self-deprecation, volunteered this after the first rehearsal to maximize Zhou Yi's screen impact.

"We could even cut it into the preview."

Li Jing, instantly imagining a preview to build anticipation, spoke with excitement—she'd already thought of the promotional tagline, using Zhou Yi's exact words, not changing a single character—

"Zhou Yi: They're all here this year just fighting for second place."

Third watch~

Got back late after finishing overtime; time to sleep, time to sleep.

(End of this chapter)