Chapter 186

"Zhou Yi here, here."

At the end of the red carpet, He Jiong holding a microphone and another female host Zhou Yi didn't know waved at him cheerfully, pointing to the massive Anta logo panel behind them.

Thanks to his terrifying popularity, Zhou Yi was undoubtedly the celebrity who walked the red carpet the longest tonight, yet both the organizer Anta and the reporters and fans on-site wished he'd walk even longer.

His signing speed, honed by autograph sessions, allowed him to sign the maximum number of autographs in the shortest time; finally, amid fans' reluctant gazes, he left the edge of the red carpet and walked behind He Jiong to write his name at the center of the Anta logo panel.

"We haven't seen each other for over two months—you seem to have grown a bit taller, Zhou Yi." Immediately after Zhou Yi finished signing, He Jiong, leading him to the stage, noticed the most obvious change in him.

"Can't help it—I'm still growing."

Zhou Yi took the microphone and joked about Warner: "So I hope the people at the company see this and tell them: at my age, what matters most is eating well, sleeping well, and exercising well to grow properly—I can't waste such great Anta shoes, right?"

Qian Jiang smiled silently outside.

"Yes, exactly—that's been Anta's long-standing philosophy."

He Jiong, utterly surprised Zhou Yi had steered the conversation toward the brand, laughed and picked up the thread: "By the way, Zhou Yi, do you know that in the past few days, with you nowhere to be seen, nearly every news headline has been about you—because someone claimed to have spotted you and Sun Yanzi filming a new music video?"

"Our company's secrecy isn't good enough."

Zhou Yi's face showed a flicker of surprise: "There really is a song on Yanzi's new album that I filmed a music video for—uh, since it's already been photographed, I guess I don't need to keep it secret anymore."

As he spoke, Zhou Yi's gaze deliberately drifted toward the direction where Qian Jiang and the Warner team were seated.

Promotion? No shame in that.

"What about you? When's your third album coming out?"

"Look, your second album's lead single 'Jiangnan' is about to hit fifteen consecutive weeks at number one on the Music风云榜, China Songs Chart, and Global Chinese Music Chart—your fans are desperate to hear your new songs."

"The songs on your 'Graduation' EP were just too few—nowhere near enough to listen to."

"Me?"

Caught off guard, Zhou Yi instinctively rubbed his nose: "Ah, actually, I'm working on my third album, but there are still many aspects and details that need refinement."

"Just like Yanzi's new album took so long to release—He Laoshi, you know I'm a perfectionist…"

In short: writing, writing.

Outside the red carpet, Zhou Yi's fans erupted in cheers.

Zhou Yi, utterly unashamed, waved back at the fans in response.

A newly created folder is still a newly created folder—can Sun Yanzi do it, and I can't?

With zero self-awareness, Zhou Yi promptly pushed Sun Yanzi out as a shield.

After entering the venue and being guided by staff to his seat, Zhou Yi realized he'd been seated in the front row—something he couldn't help but sigh over.

"Thank you for your hard work."

After politely thanking the staff member who led him over, Zhou Yi walked to the chair bearing his name.

Kong Linghui, the table tennis prince, sat right next to him; Zhou Yi had never met this famous table tennis athlete before.

"Hello, Zhou Yi."

"Hello, Kong Linghui."

Curious about entertainment stars, Kong Linghui politely shook hands with this fellow Anta endorser: "I really like your songs—many people on our national table tennis team listen to them."

"Thank you, I also really enjoy watching you play."

Zhou Yi politely returned the courtesy.

To be honest, he hadn't watched much of Kong Linghui's table tennis—he remembered Ma Long and Zhang Jike's generation more vividly, especially Zhang Jike, whose aggressive style he truly liked.

But Zhang Jike was a gambling addict; his character wasn't just bad—it was outright trash.

Huh?

Wait a minute—wasn't Kong Linghui also a gambling addict?

Sitting back in his seat, Zhou Yi covertly glanced at the table tennis prince, still chatting with friends.

Before he could recall further, a greeting suddenly reached his ear—

"Brother Zhou Yi, hello—I love your music very much."

?

Zhou Yi turned his head at the sound and saw a face he recognized instantly—

The future vocal trill demon, one of the few contestants in the mainland music scene during the gods' twilight era; the tone-deaf rogue, ex-boyfriend of Shuangzi: Hu Yanbin.

"I'm Hu Yanbin, also a singer."

Hu Yanbin, seeing Zhou Yi, seemed visibly excited.

As a musically gifted teenage prodigy, this was Hu Yanbin's first time meeting one of his two idols.

If Tao Zhe was the guide who led him onto the path of Chinese R&B, then Zhou Yi was the one who taught him how to shift Chinese hip-hop rhythms and incorporate diverse elements into songs in a uniquely Chinese way.

Especially the latter.

He had studied "Hua Tian Cuo," "Zai Mei Bian," "Dong Feng Po," "Su San Shuo," and "Xi Xiang" over and over again.

"Mr. Hu, hello, hello."

"No no—I was born in '83, Brother Zhou Yi, just call me by my name."

Wow, he's genuinely younger than me.

Zhou Yi, who had long pretended to be 81 in the entertainment industry, had almost grown used to being the youngest wherever he went—now suddenly encountering someone younger, he found it oddly disorienting.

Even Deng Chao, who's older than him, still calls him "brother."

After a brief, insightful chat about music with Hu Yanbin, Zhou Yi noticed a woman in a white suit, accompanied by two strikingly dressed young models, approaching—he exchanged pleasantries with Hu Yanbin and happily slipped away.

Newspapers had reported Zhou Yi's rumors countless times; whether true or false, he figured it was safest to treat them all as true.

"Zhou Yi, hello. Nice to meet you—I'm Su Mang, editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar."

"Hello, I've heard of you, Ms. Su—your magazine is well done."

As a fashion magazine editor, Su Mang was undoubtedly successful.

Not only did it expand the magazine's fame and prestige, but it also successfully marketed a series of influence, even brushing a layer of media buff onto himself.

Whether gold-digging or shameless.

Looking purely at the business aspect, this woman, Su Mang, indeed has the necessary hand skills.

The moment he shook hands with Su Mang, Zhou Yi's eyes instinctively swept over the two women behind her who looked remarkably similar. Both wore off-shoulder evening gowns, one black and the other white. Their jet-black long hair was tied up, and their faces were exquisite.

"Let me introduce you, this is Susan, this is Anna; they are both models I have collaborated with."

Seeing that Zhou Yi had noticed the two women, Su Mang's smile on her face grew even wider: "They knew I could meet you at the event scene, so they kept pestering me to come along with me. They are both your loyal fans; I hope you won't mind."

Interesting.

They are even twins.

No wonder Su Mang could succeed in the future.

This is a solid test.

Zhou Yi, who now understood exactly what this woman was thinking, shook hands with the two with great interest: "Is that so? I thought Editor-in-Chief Su was also my fan. What a pity."

"..."

A clear-headed playboy.

Almost the instant Zhou Yi's double-entendre banter was spoken, Su Mang's heart immediately sank.

This state of Zhou Yi was the situation she feared most.

Su Mang, who had originally thought she could trick Zhou Yi's portrait rights into her hands by relying on her beauty, and then give him more benefits to make the cooked rice into a done deal, couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Although Zhou Yi was indeed handsome, she did not mind chatting about shots and goalkeeping in soccer with Zhou Yi in bed; after all, the rankings on those absurd Hong Kong lists were not blown out of thin air to some extent.

But this did not mean she was willing to chat with other women, especially two of them.

"Of course I am your fan; it's just that I'm too old to admit it in front of you." With a mind racing through a hundred turns of thought, Su Mang's face remained expressionless as she responded with a smile.

At the same time, she did not forget to give the two women behind her a look of implication.

It didn't matter if Zhou Yi was hard to handle; she could take her time. Twins were always a sweet treat. As long as she could use the sweet treat to lure Zhou Yi out, everything else would be easy to discuss later.

Susan and Anna's eyes were even more burning.

This was the real Zhou Yi, the Zhou Yi one could see and touch, with a net worth of at least twenty million now.

"How could that be? Ms. Su, you are clearly still young."

Zhou Yi, who stood up to chat, behaved very gentlemanly and gave a very good impression: "Even my agent keeps talking about you."

Hearing the three words "agent," Su Mang's eye corner tightened, and then she continued to chat happily with Zhou Yi as if nothing had happened.

On the other side, Qian Jiang, who had brought assistants, bodyguards, and other Warner staff into the scene, couldn't help but sneeze several times in a row—

"A-choo!"

Qian Jiang rubbed his nose, tightened the custom-made oversized suit on his body, and muttered, "Has the temperature really dropped?"

…………………………………………………

"It's still more comfortable to soak in a hot spring when the temperature drops; you can try it later, but don't run around everywhere."

Tokyo, Japan, Chiyoda Ward, a certain hotel.

Chai Zhiping, who had gathered all of F4 together to explain the precautions, spoke: "This is Tokyo after all, and you are here to promote 'Meteor Garden' and sell albums on the side. You are unexpectedly popular in Japan, and Sony has already arranged your itinerary.

"Your album sales domestically can't surpass that monster Zhou Yi for now, but abroad is your world. Zhou Yi's songs are only okay in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand where people speak Chinese; these countries can't sell too many copies.

"You are different; you are popular in Japan, the largest record market in Asia. As long as you work hard, your album sales can surpass Zhou Yi's very soon."

F4, led by Yan Chengxu and Zhou Yumin, nodded in unison as they listened.

In Hong Kong, they had already been overshadowed by the heat of Zhou Yi's battle with Chow Yun-fat, resulting in the handshake event not achieving the expected effect.

But in Japan, it was different.

Chai Zhiping, who was determined to take F4 out of Asia, was full of confidence.

'Meteor Garden' ranked among the top in viewership ratings on multiple television stations in Japan; it was a solid miracle!

The advantage is mine!

PS: Three chapters!

I should have known to write it all before posting; adding up to over nine thousand words, it could have been split into four chapters, which would make me look long and prolific (orz).

What a pity.

(End of this chapter)