Chapter 220: Unlocking the Senior Role

This kid is interesting.

By all rights, Jiang Wen felt that given the age gap between himself and Zhou Yi, there should be nothing to talk about besides work.

The request he made could be seen as a joke or as serious; it all depended on Zhou Yi's actual attitude.

After all, he himself was truly daring enough to do such a thing.

"Alright, agreed, I promise you, but you mustn't run away from your promise to me either."

After Zhou Yi had turned the tables on him with his own rhetoric, Jiang Wen laughed and made the decision: "When? A long night breeds many dreams; we two had better cook this raw rice into cooked rice quickly."

"After the New Year, I suppose. The specific time depends on my schedule for the first half of next year. Anyway, Brother Jiang, you aren't in a hurry; you've been banned from directing for five years, right?"

Zhou Yi, who hadn't even given Jiang Wen a definite time, only made him find it more interesting.

Especially during the subsequent conversation, the attitude Zhou Yi unconsciously revealed in certain aspects made Jiang Wen feel surprised, even delighted.

Squatting outside the tea house, cold wind blowing until he wrapped his black cotton jacket tighter yet still felt cold, Zhuo Wei looked at the photos he had taken, somewhat furious and frustrated.

Damn it!

A pile of dog shit!

With news like this, he still had the nerve to charge me money!

Carrying a broken heart, Zhuo Wei took out a tissue to wipe his nose, his figure lonely as he walked onto the winter streets, merging into the crowd.

Zhou Yi, unaware that an inexpensive paparazzo outside had been drawing a circle around himself for several hours, left after chatting with Jiang Wen, carrying an unexpected gentleman's agreement.

Zhou Yi, who had rested for two days without coming to the company, felt the strong warmth of the female receptionists the moment he walked in—

"Zhou Yi, this is a letter from your fan."

"This is a letter from your Japanese fan."

"This is a letter from your Korean fan."

"This is a letter from your Thai fan..."

As an international large company, another benefit of being at Warner was that Zhou Yi could always receive letters truly from fans across Asia.

They were all forwarded by Warner's branches in various countries after receiving a certain quantity.

The most were from Japan, followed by Korea, and then... surprisingly, Singapore?

After filling out the receipt form, Zhou Yi, casually pulling out a few bags of letters, strolled toward the office on the third floor; the moment he pushed the door open, he saw Qian Jiang busy talking on the phone with someone.

"OK, I understand; we will attend at that time."

After hanging up the phone, Qian Jiang, who had nearly worked himself thin in the past two days, felt a bit of teeth-grinding resentment upon seeing Zhou Yi's leisurely, fully-recharged appearance: "You actually know to come to the company?"

"Don't say that; in such cold weather, I suffered from my old rheumatism and rested at home for two days. Is there a problem? No problem."

With the heating on, Zhou Yi, having taken off his coat and scarf, waved his hand indifferently, climbed onto the sofa with practiced ease, and under his off-white turtleneck sweater, his long legs moved as fast as the wind, showing not a trace of rheumatism: "I have many fans in Singapore? How come so many letters come from there?"

"Although Singapore is small, it is at least one of the Mandarin-speaking box office strongholds; you have occupied the weekly sales champion there for four consecutive months, although the final sales volume wasn't considered very high."

Qian Jiang, who had finally seen this big shot come to the company, then picked up an invitation from the desk: "The invitation for next year's Singapore Music Awards has been sent to you; are you going?"

"Go to hell!"

Zhou Yi pouted, but added in the end: "We'll see based on the schedule at that time."

In the previous Singapore Music Awards, he had lost to Sun Yanzi; failing to achieve a grand slam of the Mandarin-speaking circle's newcomer awards became an irreparable regret, directly causing the latter to occasionally show her face to him now.

"I'm too lazy to book tickets for awards in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for you; if they give them, fine; if not, it doesn't matter. If they are given, the company will send someone to collect them later."

"Your focus should still be on the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards and the Hong Kong Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards. Additionally, you can enter the Hong Kong Top Ten Gold Songs Awards this year; I estimate you can win one or two Mandarin awards."

With one month left to finish 2001, the various award ceremonies to be held in the coming year immediately entered a stage of frantic preparation.

Compared to last year, Zhou Yi's achievements this year were higher, the number of nominated awards was also greater, and even some award ceremonies held for the first time this year had sent invitations to Zhou Yi.

A typical example is the Xincheng Mandarin Power Awards hosted by Hong Kong's Xincheng Radio Station.

Of course, compared to the heavyweight coming next, this so-called Xincheng could only be considered a caterpillar—

"MTV Asia Awards?"

When Zhou Yi saw the materials Qian Jiang handed over, the several MTVs on them left him somewhat bewildered.

"The MTV Asia Awards are equivalent to the MTV Europe Music Awards in Europe and the Grammy Awards in the US. Don't worry about whether they can truly compare; anyway, in terms of promotional positioning, they are benchmarked against the Grammys."

"Previously, the MTV Asia Awards were never held; only Europe had them. Next year happens to be the first Asia Awards competition. Since the MTV Awards still have significant influence in Europe and America, and this is their first time holding an Asia-wide award, they attach great importance to it. You must attend this award next year, even if you don't win in the end."

Qian Jiang, as the manager, had obviously done his homework, listing one by one the major awards Zhou Yi must attend next year.

Hong Kong side: Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, Top Ten Gold Songs, IFPI Hong Kong Record Sales Awards, Xincheng Mandarin Power Awards pending;

Taiwan side: Taiwan Golden Melody Awards;

Mainland side: Global Chinese Music Awards, China Pop Song Charts, Music Wind and Cloud List;

Asia side—

First MTV Asia Awards;

First MTV Japan Music Video Awards;

North America side—

19th MTV Video Music Awards;

Within the world, there is also the World Music Awards, which aims at global sales.

After looking at these, the only thought in Zhou Yi's mind was: "Why are there so many MTVs?"

"To other countries in the world, you are just a foreigner; being able to register for these Asia Awards relying on Chinese albums and English singles is already good."

"I also want to register you for music awards in Europe, America, and other countries, but are you sure your two Chinese albums can fight their way in? Relying on just one single, you don't even have the qualification to register."

Qian Jiang, who had quietly locked the office door, smiled on his face like a flower and, revealing his true intentions, said: "So, Zhou Yi, look, make a Mandarin album in the first half of next year, and consider making an English EP album in the second half?"

"?"

Zhou Yi glanced at him sideways: "Isn't there a concert in the second half of next year?"

"That is precisely why I said EP album. A concert isn't sung all at once; moreover, your 'Star Concert' starting in July next year will continue until the year after, with a very long time interval."

"Unless you're crazy enough to think your throat can handle eight or nine straight shows without rest, I've got nothing to say."

Qian Jiang shrugged and teased.

Even Zhang Xueyou, currently hailed as the best singer, can't perform eight or nine major concerts in a row without wrecking his voice.

Given Zhou Yi's nature, if he didn't push him, Zhou Yi would just keep slacking. He did want Zhou Yi to release an English album next year, but considering the upcoming Star Concert, he thought an EP was more realistic.

"Next year is also a World Cup year—Coca-Cola has been asking if you're planning to write another English ad song tied to the World Cup, since Coca-Cola's Asia senior management noticed the outstanding performance of your 'The Lazy Song'."

"If you write it, this mini English album could include both the Coca-Cola ad song and 'The Lazy Song,' and with two or three more tracks, you could release it."

The 2002 World Cup...

Zhou Yi rubbed his hands with mild anticipation: "The ad song isn't a problem."

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot—there's one more thing."

Qian Jiang slapped his forehead, then pulled an invitation letter from his drawer, its cover bearing the Golden Melody Awards logo, and handed it to Zhou Yi: "The 13th Golden Melody Awards has invited you and Sun Yanzi to present the Best New Artist award—it's meant to symbolize a passing of the torch."

As the Best New Artist winner of the 12th Golden Melody Awards, Zhou Yi was unquestionably qualified to present. Sun Yanzi, on the other hand, was invited purely because her popularity was overwhelming—so overwhelming, in fact—and because she was the only one to break Zhou Yi's sweep of the Best New Artist award; presenting together would surely generate buzz.

Zhou Yi opened the invitation and asked curiously: "Who are the likely contenders for Best New Artist this year?"

"The nominees haven't been announced yet, but Zhang Shaohan and SHE are all but guaranteed. Among others, Rock Records has a guy named Kong Lingqi who's getting a lot of buzz in Taiwan."

(End of Chapter)