Chapter 167: A Song That Makes Middle-Aged Men Pay for Me

"Arrogant!"

After the program preview for BTV5's Finance Channel was released to the public, the first to feel displeased were not the fans of Wang Lihong, who had just become popular on the mainland, but the fans of Xie Tingfeng, who were in a love-hate relationship with Zhou Yi's fans.

As the only entity last year that could compare with Zhou Yi in total album sales, even though the results of "Jiangnan" were indeed explosively good, it was only September, and Xie Tingfeng's Mandarin album had not yet been released.

Of course, regarding the disdain of Xie Tingfeng's fans, Zhou Yi's fans turned their noses up at it—

"There are only three months left until 2002; I hope you don't cry when you lose the sales statistics then."

Although Sony Music, which first started marketing Wang Lihong, had no good intentions in mind from the start, they truly did not expect Zhou Yi to dare say such a thing.

What if? Aren't you afraid of being slapped in the face?

Warner has truly degenerated, actually letting Zhou Yi be so willful. Shameful! Simply shameful for the record company world!

"Zhou Yi truly does not possess a single one of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, such as humility and dedication. No wonder; who among normal people could spread rumors with so many female stars and models? He will be kidney-deficient sooner or later."

Some newly arrived Wang Lihong fans who were extremely dissatisfied with Zhou Yi's flirtatious rumors also knew they definitely could not win against Zhou Yi in sales, so they could only criticize Zhou Yi's "inhumanity" by clinging to their idol's high-quality image.

After all, unlike Zhou Yi, whose debut was accompanied by controversy news flying everywhere, Wang Lihong's high-quality idol persona was said to be unshakable, extending from the end of 1995 until now.

Both having backgrounds from prestigious schools, Wang Lihong also had an extra layer of golden status as a Chinese-American.

"Who knows how many times Wang Lihong dated in the US before? Prince? What prince!"

"And Xie Tingfeng's fans, don't come looking for insults; the controversies surrounding your guy are no less than Zhou Yi's. At the very least, Zhou Yi has a good temper, doesn't fight, and doesn't smash guitars."

"Female stars spreading rumors and dating him is because Zhou Yi is capable; haven't you heard of a talented man being romantic?"

Beijing, Haidian, at a certain company's workstation.

Taking advantage of the supervisor's absence to slack off like a madman, Zhang Yan's ten fingers tapped the keyboard at lightning speed, exchanging heatedly in a post on Tianya.

Having just graduated from university and started working, she was in a period of high energy, and the ID "Love Yi Di Most" had gradually made a name for itself on Tianya.

"Looking at your registration data, you are also a woman; how can you still like a flirtatious radish like Zhou Yi? In the past, could a star like Zhou Yi become popular? It's truly the lost generation!"

"I just like his songs; what his real life is like has nothing to do with me. Besides, it's the 21st century now; you should also view problems with a developmental perspective."

"To take a step back, do you have concrete photos of Zhou Yi together with those female stars?"

"Lest you not know, let me tell you: Zhou Yi has sued a huge number of media outlets spreading rumors, making a huge contribution to purifying the entertainment circle environment..."

The keyboard's key travel rebound sound went click-clack-clack.

Zhang Yan, whose combat power was fierce, was holding her own in a one-against-two battle the second before, but the next second her heart jumped; relying on her skill of seeing in six directions and hearing in eight, she quickly switched back to work mode—

The supervisor arrived.

Seeing the person, Zhang Yan immediately straightened her back rigidly, occasionally pretending to push up the glasses resting on her nose bridge, and sometimes brushing the tips of her short hair that fell to her ear, putting on an appearance of working seriously.

It was just that what she didn't expect was that the thin-haired supervisor actually came straight to her workstation—

"Xiao Yan."

"Hmm? Ah, Supervisor Feng?"

"The production team of 'Super Visit' notified the company to send someone to the recording site to be an audience member." The thin-haired middle-aged male supervisor handed a document to her: "You are responsible for confirming the personnel list; once confirmed, hand it to me."

"Oh, okay."

Taking the document, Zhang Yan's expression brightened, and she immediately nodded.

As one of the advertisers for BTV5's Finance Channel, sending people to be audience members for the variety show broadcast on BTV5 was also one of their company's benefits.

Since 'Super Visit' officially announced Zhou Yi, she had been looking forward to this opportunity; the only regret was that Zhou Yi wouldn't be able to cook on stage this time.

Zhang Yan, feeling happy inside, was just preparing to fill in her information when she noticed the cover of a cassette tape sticking out of the supervisor's suit pocket while lifting her eyes—

Zhou Yi, dressed in white clothes, white pants, and white sneakers, sat on the lawn with the corners of his mouth slightly raised; behind him, the wind rolled up yellowed fallen leaves. In the interplay of contrast, that overwhelming sense of youthfulness made Zhang Yan amazed every time she saw it.

Strange, why would the supervisor buy Zhou Yi's cassette tape? Didn't he think Zhou Yi's songs were just average, and only "Jiangnan" was listenable?

As a die-hard fan of Zhou Yi, Zhang Yan naturally recognized this as the cover of Zhou Yi's newly released "Graduation" EP; she had already bought several copies.

She wanted to ask, but considering she and the supervisor were not yet close enough for that, Zhang Yan chose to give up and started working.

And that thin-haired supervisor returned to his own office and inserted the newly bought Zhou Yi cassette tape into the portable cassette player—

Pressing the button with practiced ease, he skipped the three songs "Stubborn," "The Wind Rises," and "Those Years," and precisely hit "Goodbye," which suited his taste extremely well.

Accompanied by the drum intro with extremely memorable points, this distinctive lyrical pop-rock style song began to play in the not-so-large office—

"I'm afraid I won't have the chance to say goodbye to you

"Because perhaps, I will never see you again

"Tomorrow I must leave, the familiar place and you

"To separate, my tears will fall down~"

Zhou Yi's highly recognizable voice sang the emotion of parting signed by departure; the supervisor, nearly fifty years old, placed his right hand on his increasingly fattening beer belly and lit a cigarette with melancholy.

"Damn, doesn't this Zhou Yi know how to sing?"

The man, who felt completely nothing for the so-called R&B and hip-hop styles in Zhou Yi's previous albums, recalled the past and cursed a sentence.

If he hadn't heard this song at the audio store next to the auto repair shop, he probably would still feel nothing for Zhou Yi.

On September 7th, the same scene played out in different places.

Unlike the main audience of the previous two albums, this time Zhou Yi's "Graduation" EP rarely won the votes of middle-aged men who had already become the backbone of society; one song, "Goodbye," successfully helped Zhou Yi expand territory in the middle-aged market.

Especially those middle-aged wealthy uncles who had already moved into management positions and begun to step into memories.

"Old Li, keep two copies of Zhou Yi's 'Goodbye' for me."

"Old Zhao, is there a CD of the song 'Goodbye'? Not a single track? And the other three songs? That works too; consider it buy one get three free."

"Old Kong..."

With Warner's sufficient stock, this time the "Graduation" EP did not become a carnival for scalpers in some places like it did when "Jiangnan" was first released.

In just two days, relying on Zhou Yi's high popularity, the "Graduation" EP, once released, dominated the sales charts with a sweeping force, letting the mainland music scene, which had just been impacted by "The Only One," witness the gold content of the two characters "Zhou Yi."

On September 3rd, after feedback from various channels, Warner directly announced the first-day sales of "Graduation"—

"Mainland first day 153,000, Taiwan first day 67,000, Hong Kong first day... 88,000?!"

Seeing this number, Qian Jiang's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

This is an EP.

Also, what's going on with the EP sales in the Hong Kong region? Did fighting with Chow Yun-fat actually prove this useful?!

"Ah Yi, I think you should consider finding a way to hold a press conference in Taiwan."

The recording site of "Super Visit".

After two days of rehearsal, Zhou Yi, who was about to begin the official recording today, glanced strangely at his manager upon hearing this: "Didn't you previously advise me that there was no need to hold a press conference to confront Chow Yun-fat?"

"Chow Yun-fat is nothing! How much money can his records sell?"

Qian Jiang resolutely cut ties with his past self and said excitedly, "Do you know that if you add the EP, your total album sales for this year have officially broken the 2.3 million mark?"

In the current climate where the record industry is under such impact that everyone is in fear, Zhou Yi's counter-trend rise can no longer be called a money tree; at the very least, he must be Warner's second coming of a parent and the God of Wealth for bootleggers.

Originally, Warner planned to repurchase some albums for Zhou Yi in July, August, and September next year, adding just a tiny bit of water to the total sales, so that after the one-year lifecycle of the album, they could boast about three million legitimate sales across Asia.

But now it seems, what the hell is there to add water to with this trend!

The remaining 700,000 in sales, aside from the legitimate sales that will grow over time, even if the rest is hit by bootlegs as hard as it can be, as long as the signing events are run until vomiting, it can be pulled up no matter what.

Thinking of this, Qian Jiang's gaze toward Zhou Yi gradually became "dangerous."

Zhou Yi frowned, vaguely sensing something was off: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

PS: Just asking you, is this even human behavior?!

There is another chapter before ten o'clock, continuing to be human!

(End of this chapter)