Chapter 196: Your Kite Looks So Familiar to Me

To be honest, Zhou Yi did indeed know that Shui Mu Nian Hua's first album would be explosive, and the title track "You Are the One I Have for Life" was a rare pop hit of that era on the mainland.

But he never expected this song to be so explosive.

Released on the 26th, today is the 30th.

In just a few short days, whether it was the radio chart request ranking of the song "You Are the One I Have for Life" or the album sales on the sales chart for the album "You Are the One I Have for Life," both could be described as surging ahead.

Especially after the Xiyangyang Company behind Shui Mu Nian Hua launched the marketing concept of "Peking University and Tsinghua University."

As the only two top universities in the country known to everyone from ninety-nine-year-old elders to toddlers just learning to walk, the annual battle for talent between Peking University and Tsinghua University after the college entrance exam always makes headlines.

The rivalry in reputation between these two schools has never stopped.

Even Gao Xiaosong of Mai Tian, who dropped out of Tsinghua, could be used as bragging rights; let alone the two in Shui Mu Nian Hua, who were bona fide Tsinghua University graduates—

Lu Gengxu from the Tsinghua Architecture Department and Li Jian from the Electronic Engineering Department.

Precisely because of this, the Xiyangyang Records behind Shui Mu Nian Hua dared to use Tsinghua's name to falsely accuse Zhou Yi, simply because he was a graduate of Peking University.

Xiyangyang Company didn't have the guts to directly falsely accuse Zhou Yi, because that would not only drown them in the spit of fans but also be mocked by the media for overestimating their abilities.

But Xiyangyang Company did have the guts to use the reputation of these two top universities, Peking University and Tsinghua University, to falsely accuse Zhou Yi. Not only did they have it, but it was huge.

They directly substituted concepts, turning the confrontation between singers into a confrontation between talents from Peking University and talents from Tsinghua University.

A change in a single title brought results that were worlds apart.

The rapid rise of Shui Mu Nian Hua made major record companies widen their eyes in shock; executives from all companies looked at each other, and finally all pondered whether they should also take people to Peking University and Tsinghua University to find good prospects.

Not to mention whether they could find a genius of Zhou Yi's caliber like Zhou Jianhui did; even someone like Lu Gengxu or Li Jian would do, as the expected album sales for "You Are the One I Have for Life" had already been upgraded to the six-platinum level.

These two were solid newcomers.

"Well, it won't have too much impact on you anyway. Do you, Jiang Nan, really plan to keep winning consecutively forever?"

Watching Zhou Yi lying there like a dead dog recovering his health, Sun Yanzi, who had paced up to him, patted his broad back and scolded with a smile: "Don't go too far."

Her previous album "The Happiness I Want," which had already smashed over 300,000 legitimate copies in Taiwan and a total of over 1.5 million across Asia, didn't feel much about the six-platinum expectation for Shui Mu Nian Hua.

Although the mainland market, currently in a period of wild growth, is also huge, the calculation method is not one million sales equaling one platinum.

"It's not me who is going too far; it's the company. They want me to maintain the advantage as much as possible.

"Over in Taiwan, the two songs 'The Only One' and 'Double Section Stick' have already surpassed my Jiang Nan.

"My advantage in Hong Kong is also gone. After all, it's Xie Tingfeng's home turf; the only place where I still have an advantage is the mainland."

The disadvantage of not being able to promote in Taiwan ultimately couldn't keep his ranking stable for him; after fighting F4 for so long, he was instead stolen from by "The Only One" and "Double Section Stick."

The only thing worth comforting oneself about was that F4's home had also been stolen—because Chai Zhiping took F4 abroad to wander around, leaving Taiwan lacking promotion.

Wang Lihong and Zhou Jielun, who were frantically running offline promotions, thus soared upward.

Zhou Yi, who was determined not to take the blame, raised his finger and pointed at the carpet in the lounge to name the culprit; then he turned his head, his cheek pressed against the sofa. Due to the height of the sofa, his gaze immediately fell on Sun Yanzi's legs, which were right in front of him—

This sudden turn of the head startled the latter; for a moment, the features on her face lost their expression management. After Zhou Yi's gaze moved upward, and their eyes met, Sun Yanzi proudly raised an eyebrow at him: "How about it? Are my legs long?"

"Is it possible that this is purely the visual principle of near objects appearing large and far objects appearing small?"

Zhou Yi's face immediately showed a look of contempt: "If you brag about your long legs and proportions, I can still go against my conscience and agree with you for a couple of sentences."

"Go to hell, going against your conscience."

Sun Yanzi, shaking her head with a "tsk tsk," clearly didn't agree: "I'll give you two hundred yuan to take back that sentence."

"Do I lack your few trifles?"

"I'll add another fifty for you."

"Are you indirectly insulting me?"

"Hehe."

Facing the exposed little scheme, Sun Yanzi put on a goofy, grinning expression for the man, trying to bluff her way through and change the subject: "Do you have time tomorrow noon? While I still have some free time, I'll treat you to a meal, just to thank you for guiding me during the MV filming before."

The recording of the "Kite" album was completed, which meant that immediately following this, she would welcome another round of high-intensity promotion, running all over the two sides of the strait and Hong Kong, with no rest even during the Spring Festival.

This was because her manager, Chen Zeshan, had received an invitation from CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.

This meant that she basically had no time to return to Singapore to reunite with her family this year, unless her family came from Singapore.

"Did you cook it yourself?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yi immediately showed a look of alertness: "You can cook?"

If he remembered correctly, even last year in Taiwan, Sun Yanzi hadn't shown even a single bit of her own cooking skills; for eating, it was either brought by others, eaten out at restaurants, or directly various instant foods.

She grilled barbecue quite well, but that stuff obviously didn't have much merit; it was just turning skewers.

"Are you questioning me?"

Watching the distrust written all over Zhou Yi's face, Sun Yanzi, feeling provoked, narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked down at him.

Zhou Yi said seriously: "It's not just me questioning you; your father questions you too. I'm not clear on your weight and worth, but surely your uncle isn't unclear?"

???

"Why? How would my father tell you these things?"

Sun Yanzi's eyes were filled with confusion.

"That's not it; I just heard it from hearsay. Don't forget your father once went fishing for fish and shrimp with my father in Taiwan a few times."

"..."

Sun Yanzi, who had almost forgotten this matter, really couldn't hold her breath this time, especially under Zhou Yi's extremely sincere gaze.

Lies won't hurt people; the truth is a sharp knife.

"That's all in the past."

After the string named reason in her mind snapped, Sun Yanzi patted her chest and solemnly promised—

She immediately sent a text message to Chen Zeshan, asking him to help find a good private kitchen restaurant, pack up some dishes for tomorrow noon, and bring them over, as she wanted to treat Zhou Yi to a meal.

Treating him to eat out no longer existed.

She had to change Zhou Yi's stereotypical impression of her in his mind.

Zhou Yi was half-skeptical about this.

October 1st, the first day of National Day, and also the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2001.

When Zhou Yi entered the house Sun Yanzi rented in BJ by invitation, the first thing that caught his eye was a kite decorative painting hanging on the living room's background wall—

Or rather, it shouldn't be called a decorative painting; it was merely a kite framed in a picture frame.

"Why do I feel this kite looks so familiar?"

(End of this chapter)