Chapter 180

"This Jay Chou is kinda weird—how the hell did he blow up singing like this? He's not Bruce Lee."

Chen Yaochuan, General Manager of Sony Music China Affairs, stared at the documents in his hands, his brow furrowed into a deep "川" shape.

As former Warner Music director and a legendary music producer in the Chinese-language music scene, Chen Yaochuan was already a veteran of the industry.

In 1999, it was largely thanks to him that Wang Lihong gained some creative autonomy over his own album production.

History proved Wang Lihong didn't disappoint: since 1999, this man steeped in Western music saw his album sales and popularity explode compared to his Foma Records days, steadily boosting Chen Yaochuan's influence within Sony Music.

If Zhou Jianhui rose to fame by discovering Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi as a dynamic duo, then Chen Yaochuan's clout within Sony China stemmed from securing F4's recording contract with Chai Zhiping and crafting the musical prodigy Wang Lihong himself.

Especially after F4's album became a massive hit this year and Wang Lihong's "The Only One" exploded across the mainland, his authority within Sony soared even higher.

Zhou Jianhui was slaughtering the market with Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi; soon, his appointment as Warner's Greater China President was all but guaranteed—and Chen Yaochuan was not far behind.

Theoretically, this year's F4 plus Wang Lihong should have been enough to put him in the Sony Greater China President's chair.

"Without Mr. Chen, we checked; the data for this 'Fan Texi' has not been falsified so far, and Alpha, that small company, cannot afford such a large volume."

"No, General Chen—we checked. The data for this 'Fan Texi' album shows no signs of fraud. That little company Alpha couldn't afford such massive purchases."

"Besides, Wu Zongxian is currently mired in negative news about business failures—he's got no time to manage Alpha Records. Everything there is handled by General Manager Yang Junrong."

The beautiful female secretary shook her head in denial.

"Hua Yan Records' S. H. E. could shock Taiwan's myriad record companies because Hua Yan, at the very least, counts as a medium-to-large company and still has a vast number of famous singers under its banner."

Hua Yan Records' SHE could shock Taiwan's record labels because Hua Yan is at least a mid-to-large company with many famous artists under contract.

But who the hell are you, Wu Zongxian, some tiny snack? You yourself sing with zero buzz, and your signed artists like Wen Lan and Liu Genghong can't carry a single project. Then last year, this newcomer Jay Chou suddenly blew up—and now this 'Fan Texi' album? It exploded out of nowhere, even bigger than last year, crushing Wang Lihong's new album's market share in Taiwan.

This made Chen Yaochuan furious.

Zhou Yi's new album was coming in strong; to be safe, Chen Yaochuan had scheduled Wang Lihong's album for September, hoping to avoid Zhou Yi's June dominance—after all, this guy was just too hot, and Warner's marketing team was top-tier.

After finally making it to September, how can there still be such a master?

"I underestimated Jay Chou."

September 17, Warner Maitian, President's Office.

Unlike Chen Yaochuan's solemn expression, Zhou Jianhui—who had already met Zhou Yi's sales targets—put down his documents and shook his head with a chuckle: "Chen Yaochuan's probably got a splitting headache right now. Wang Lihong's album sales were never that high in Taiwan to begin with."

"Three days, over 70,000 copies sold. That's terrifying. This album could threaten your position—his growth rate is too fast."

Zhou Jianhui handed Zhou Yi the sales assessment for Jay Chou's 'Fan Texi' and smiled: "You know the marketing department has already revised their forecast twice? It's gone from 250,000 to 300,000."

Taiwan's music market is this small, with so many singers competing—selling 200,000 copies already counts as a massive hit, like Zhang Shaohan this year.

Zhou Yi's second album 'Jiangnan' had every advantage—timing, location, public sentiment—and still barely broke the 500,000 barrier, finally shedding the label of '500,000 gatekeeper.'

"300,000 probably isn't even his ceiling. Never underestimate students' hunger for novelty—just like I was last year."

Zhou Yi, dragged into the president's office to write lyrics for 'Remember' and unable to slack off, flicked his pen and smirked.

His own last year's 'Happy Worship,' 'Reverse Earth,' and 'My Microphone' had already opened up the Chinese-language hip-hop market—and that actually helped Jay Chou's 'Fan Texi' this year.

No matter how strong he was, Jay Chou couldn't possibly monopolize the entire hip-hop market. His arrival only enriched the genre's diversity.

If I remember right, 'Fan Texi' sold 350,000 or maybe over 400,000 copies in Taiwan?

After writing the final character of 'Remember,' Zhou Yi capped his pen and left the swirling, full lyric sheet on the president's desk: "When's Yanzi's new album coming out?"

"Currently scheduled for October 22."

Zhou Jianhui snatched up the completed score with a grumble: "Only I would let you get away with this kind of willfulness."

"Not my fault. Go ask Yanzi—she's the real culprit. I'm just an accomplice."

"Who said that's the real culprit?"

A head suddenly popped in from outside the president's office—Sun Yanzi glared at Zhou Yi, eyes blazing with fury.

Zhou Yi turned his head, raising an eyebrow in surprise: "You're a stalker?"

"President Zhou told me to come get the lyrics—he said you finished writing them."

"..."

Six.

What's this, acting first and reporting later?

"I heard you cut Zhou Runfa's phone line?" After greeting Zhou Jianhui, Sun Yanzi bounced over, grinning curiously.

"Wrong. Do you think I'm crazy enough to cut wires?"

"But lots of rumors are spreading that exact thing—especially on Taiwanese forums."

Sun Yanzi, dragging Zhou Yi under the pretense of recording, turned into a net-addicted teen, opened her favorite website, pointed at the screen, and grinned: "Some Taiwanese netizens are even calling Jay Chou and you the 'Chinese Pop Hip-Hop Twin Masters.' Doesn't that feel familiar?"

"Did Alpha buy it?"

"Unlikely. If Alpha had bought the promotion, the company would've told you. More likely it's just fans who love comparing—besides, Jay Chou's original promo tag last year was 'Little Tao Zhe.'"

Knowing Zhou Yi didn't pay much attention to Taiwan's online scene, Sun Yanzi expertly guided him through the threads where these comments appeared.

Since 'Fan Texi''s release three days ago, fueled by the explosive popularity of 'Double Jiegun,' countless student fans have flooded the internet with their opinions.

These people have money, free time, and boundless energy—

"I think Zhou Yi and Jay Chou absolutely deserve to be called the 'Chinese Pop Hip-Hop Twin Masters.' Look, both are surnamed Zhou, both love hip-hop, their R&B songs are great, and they both debuted the same year."

"But Jay Chou's always been low-key, with fewer scandals and controversies than Zhou Yi. I actually like that shy, contrasting vibe of his."

"Kinda interesting, but Jay Chou still can't pull a 'Zhou Yi'-style smear campaign—he got crushed 4-0 by Zhou Yi at last year's Golden Melody Awards."

"In popularity, in sales, Zhou Yi far outpaces Jay Chou. You could maybe compare Xie Tingfeng."

Sun Yanzi, now addicted to surfing the web thanks to Zhou Yi's influence, seriously explained the origin of the debate.

The discussion began with two users: "Free Beaver" and "Fragrant White Rice."

"Last year Zhou Yi had Warner backing him, while Jay Chou was just some tiny company—and Zhou Yi's sales were heavily boosted by marketing. Even before debut, he was linked to Sylvia Hsia. After debut? Even worse."

"Please. Like Jay Chou didn't have any marketing. I can still find news about 'Little Tao Zhe' from back then."

"If you're talking about scandals, what about Wen Lan? What about Cai Yilin? What about Xu Ruoxuan? All three had plenty of gossip this year—and they're all more famous than Jay Chou. Zhou Yi's rumored partners are mostly less famous than him..."

With the explosive popularity of "Fan Texi," this dispute ignited by the internet unexpectedly did not end, but instead grew even more intense.

"Stop arguing, stop arguing. The Zhou-Jay relationship is very good, you know? Zhou Yi even saved Jay Chou's life."

"Yes, Zhou Yi saved Jay Chou's life, yet his fans are still ungrateful and trying to frame their savior. They haven't caught up in sales, and they have no trophies."

"..."

Clearly at a disadvantage, some of Jay Chou's fans were refuted and forced into retreat, until finally they could only cite Sony Music's Li Wen as proof: "Li Wen is an international diva who just sang at the Oscars ceremony earlier this year; she is coming to ask Jay Chou for a song, which is proof of his standing in the industry!"

(End of this chapter)