Chapter 22

"You say you've been hurt too much by love, I understand that sadness you speak of, welcome to the Republic of Heartbreak~"

"Playing mind games just to live for a man, your heart hanging on him, what did they give back to you~"

"You say you hate the weakness of the girls in Dream of the Red Chamber"

"But being strong gets you called cold~"

"I say, little sister, stop torturing yourself"

"Thinking too much, actually love can be simple and easy~"

A highly rhythmic R&B melody floated through the recording studio; Sun Yanzi and Zhang Shaohan, wearing headphones, sat before the control console, each holding a sheet of lyrics, their gazes fixed on Zhou Yi, who was recording the demo, their eyes as if looking at a monster.

Zhou Yi, swaying his body slightly to the rhythm with his eyes closed, displayed a natural, flirtatious charm in every gesture; the bad-boy aura was unmistakably revealed in the lyrics of "Hate Dream of the Red Chamber."

In fact, in Sun Yanzi's view, the lyrics of the rap section of this song were perhaps too... blunt.

If the verses and chorus before carried a hint of modesty like a fig leaf, then the lyrics of the rap section were simple and direct, speaking straight from the heart—

"Don't keep thinking about whether we match"

"I won't make you hurt, I'll just make you scream"

"At worst, you'll be a little tired when you wake up tomorrow morning"

"C'mon, waste, these tears, who can you blame?"

"Don't end up as tragically as Baoyu and Dai Yu"

"No need to regret, fear of breaking the rules"

"This friendly match has no wrongs"

As long as you're willing to crawl into bed with me, hey hey~

Accompanied by the clear rap coming through the headphones, the expressions on the faces of the two women holding the lyrics were extremely strange. Until Zhou Yi's demo was recorded in one take and finished, the bizarre emotions on their faces could not completely dissipate.

Heaven is my witness, in the current Mandarin music scene, the lyrics Zhou Yi presented could not be called earth-shattering, but at the very least, they were rare in the world.

"The singing is full of emotion, incredibly immersive... someone who hasn't had eight or ten girlfriends probably couldn't write such explosive lyrics."

Seeing the man walk out of the recording studio, Sun Yanzi looked him up and down with a strange gaze: "It's even possible he's had women who weren't even girlfriends."

Handsome, tall and strong, and not a mute. Undeniably, he would indeed be very popular with women.

"Can't help it, being too handsome is a sin; there will always be many female Bodhisattvas wanting to convert this demon with Buddhist teachings."

Zhou Yi, who had never concealed his current playboy nature, shrugged feigning helplessness, openly scummy: "Obviously, their Buddhist teachings weren't deep enough; all failed."

"... I feel I need to update my understanding of the mainland's trends." Placing the score with the lyrics on the console, Sun Yanzi, with one hand resting at her temple, turned to look at him, her tone clearly carrying a hint of surprise.

"Don't, I'm just an outlier; I can't represent the trends of the mainland."

Having recorded demos for several songs in a row, Zhou Yi sat in a chair, picked up the tea cup that had been prepared long ago, took a small sip while looking down, and chuckled: "You have to know, in my parents' eyes, I am still a good child who hasn't even held a girl's hand."

"A good child who says a friendly match is nothing wrong?" Sun Yanzi raised an eyebrow, mocking.

"Men unmarried, women unmarried, we are all single, what's wrong? Compared to those playboy stars in the entertainment industry, I might even be a clear stream."

Zhou Yi, with a smile on his lips, said noncommittally: "At least I obey the law."

Sun Yanzi smiled without speaking, while Zhang Shaohan beside her had a strange expression, not knowing what to say.

Those mixed in the entertainment industry, especially those who grew up abroad and returned to mix in the entertainment industries of the Treasure Island and Hong Kong Island, no one's thoughts are as pure as a blank sheet of paper.

It's just that this kind of thing, usually, is more like an unwritten rule that no one in the circle will speak of.

Zhang Shaohan had been at Fomus Records for a year; she had seen many willing "friendly matches" or transactions made to climb the ladder, but seeing someone as open as Zhou Yi was her first time.

Writing it all into the songs, this man is truly a bit... willful?

The feeling she got was as if he was just playing:

Playing music, playing the entertainment industry. He could withdraw at any time, switch to another track at any time.

Looking at the entire history of Mandarin pop music, who starts by stuffing this kind of dirty song into their debut album?

Isn't this obviously just playing?

"Um, Brother Yi, aren't you afraid that image issues will lead to poor album sales?" Acting with the mindset of looking out for the talent scout, Zhang Shaohan couldn't help but worry.

If you're going to be willful, you should be willful after achieving fame and success, right?

"No worry, why worry? Haven't you heard the songs in my album? The quality is so high, how could sales not be good?"

Zhou Yi raised his hand and pointed to the stack of scores on the console, smiling: "Besides, I consider this a form of marketing through individuality."

"Marketing through individuality?"

Hearing this, Zhang Shaohan and Sun Yanzi were stunned, then looked at each other, asking in confusion: "What do you mean?"

"The mainland right now is an era where trends are gradually heating up and taking flight as the window opens.

"Most of the older generation of listeners haven't changed their thinking yet, while the younger generation is unwilling to be constrained by so-called old fossils; they will pursue rebellion, pursue something different, pursue uniqueness, pursue being the only one awake while the world is drunk.

"Essentially, it's just because the younger generation wants to find a cultural symbol to show they are different from the older generation, a symbol of individuality.

"This is no exception whether in the mainland, the Treasure Island, or Hong Kong Island."

Having said this, Zhou Yi raised his right hand, pointed his thumb at himself, and said with high spirits: "And my album is exactly such a symbol.

"They can hear style elements in this album completely different from the Mandarin music scene of the 80s and 90s; they can hear love songs with more distinct rhythms and more youthful vibes;

"Furthermore, they can even see the words I am speaking for them in this album.

"Believe me, in this turbulent great era, the younger generation's pursuit of love will be more passionate, more direct and from the heart.

"Then they will think I'm cool because I said the words they dare not say, thus viewing me as an idol."

Having said this, Zhou Yi appeared incredibly confident.

The beginning of the millennium was a turbulent great era; although traditional love songs were not yet outdated, whether a new-era singer could stand out and reach the top in this era depended on having a label different from singers of the previous era.

Who hasn't had dreams in their youth?

Zhou Yi from his previous life was a genuine millennium youth, possessing absolutely correct experience in this regard.

"Perhaps this debut album will bring me much criticism, perhaps these songs will make me fail to win the fans who dislike this mode of expression."

But none of this matters.

Because the sole purpose of this album has always been those young people who want fresh expression, who crave cool and edgy vibes, who want to date beautiful girls or handsome guys—they are my future core audience.

And in today's Mandarin music scene, no one besides me is doing this image. That means I'll be the first to try it.

His lengthy speech left Zhang Shaohan utterly bewildered.

She was only eighteen this year; since age fifteen, her life had been work, vocal practice, competitions, and going home—her small mind couldn't handle thoughts about the broader trends of the era.

Sun Yanzi, however, seemed thoughtful, lifting her gaze to meet the man's eyes: "So you don't actually want to be Asia's Little Dance King?"

Zhou Yi, meeting her gaze, smiled slightly: "Copying a Dance King is boring. If you're going to play, play big. I'm going to shed the label of 'Little Dance King' with one album and reach number one."

To that end, he had prepared another killer track—"Flower Field Mistake."

He chose "Flower Field Mistake" over Chinese-style songs like "East Wind Break" solely because its musical style better matched the overall tone of this album, and it more strongly reinforced his distinctive debut identity.

Of course, he had a bit of mischief in mind.

As the internet developed in the future, mainland netizens would launch wave after wave of "archaeological" trends.

When they dug up the lyrics of "Hate Dream of the Red Chamber" and the title "Flower Field Mistake" from his first album, the two would seamlessly fuse into a viral meme—

Even though the two songs had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

The mistake in the flower field = crawled into my quilt, friendly match isn't wrong.

Even when the internet age arrived, if he spread a flood of gossip, it wouldn't have much impact, because memes could largely neutralize negative news while reinforcing the persona he'd built since debut.

That's called foresight.

Including "Flower Field Mistake," his first album was now fully formed—

Side A, dominated by hip-hop elements, aimed squarely at becoming the future godfather of Mandarin hip-hop, featuring songs:

"Celebration of Adoration";

"Reverse the Earth";

"My Microphone";

"Sound Wave";

Plus one dance track: "Jingwu Gate."

Side B consisted of R&B and pop songs:

"Give Me a Song's Time";

"Hate Dream of the Red Chamber";

"I Love Only You";

"Can't Help Loving You";

Dance track: "It's Me."

And one final track to pave the way for Chinese-style music: "Flower Field Mistake."

As for the album title, since he was building a personal image, he'd use his real name: "Zhou Yi."

Coincidentally, Sun Yanzi's first album also used her real name, allowing Warner to jointly promote them as Warner's Twin Stars.

Perfect.

"Zhou Yi, what's your major at Peking University?" Sun Yanzi, unable to resist, asked—she never expected this man had even thought through marketing.

She had never met a new singer so clearly defined his album's image, so precisely targeting the initial audience group.

"Oh, I study law."

Sun Yanzi: "???"

Zhang Shaohan: "???"