Chapter 223: It's All Zhou Yi's Fault

"Willing to Be a Lover! Sun Yanzi Appears to Confess Her Love to Zhou Yi from Afar!"

"The Gemini Duo Officially Announced? Sun Yanzi Declares Her Love?!"

"Devoted Ziyi Captivated by Zhou Yi, Aiming to Have Two Children Before Age 30!"

"..."

On November 13, when the relevant interviews were released, the Mandarin music scene, which had been relatively quiet as the year-end approached, instantly exploded!

Before this, all the rumors about the romance between the Warner Gemini were mostly fans following media reports to catch wind of shadows, chatting privately behind closed doors, and shipping the couple.

As for the two main parties facing questions about love, Zhou Yi, who had long been labeled a scumbag by the outside world, aside from him, Sun Yanzi, who since her debut had been considered the best partner for same-sex relationships due to having no boyfriend, made this interview a thunderous hammer that left the entire Mandarin music scene reeling.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! My Ziyi is pure and innocent; how could she possibly be dating Zhou Yi!"

"I won't accept it! If Zhou Yi wants to date, date me! My figure is much better than Sun Yanzi's!"

"If you ask me, this is exactly how one behaves when dating Zhou Yi. Ask anyone now who doesn't know Zhou Yi's level of playboyism; Ziyi's words are almost a clear declaration of love."

"Yes, yes, I feel the same way. Precisely because she knows A-Yi's playboy nature, she said that for her currently, being a lover is better than being a wife. Note the wording; Ziyi said 'currently'."

"That's right, and Ziyi said she currently wants to focus on a career sprint. Please note this point: up to now, the proportion of Zhou Yi in Ziyi's albums has been growing larger and larger."

"Last year he only produced two songs; this year he directly produced three, with his name appearing on the producer list alongside Ziyi's teacher, Li Ruisong."

"So this reference to 'work' must refer to the newly added Zhou Yi."

"Striving to sprint in work isn't that sprinting towards Zhou Yi? Zhou Yi, you truly deserve to die!"

"Wait, isn't there a possibility that Sun Yanzi said this to refute the news claiming she is a lesbian, and it just so happens to match up with Zhou Yi?"

"..."

In an instant, whether online or in real life, the remarks made by Sun Yanzi during her interview with China News Service (Hong Kong) sparked heated discussion among the younger crowd who are keen on chasing stars and trends.

Zhou Yi, who was in the Imperial Capital and had rarely started practicing singing, was shot while lying down. Basically, as soon as he stepped out of the Warner door, he was immediately met by the long guns and short cannons of the crouching reporters—

"Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi! What is your opinion on the remarks Sun Yanzi made during her interview in Hong Kong yesterday?"

"Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi! Are you two really dating now?!"

"Zhou Yi, may I ask if Sun Yanzi said this to debunk rumors that she is not a lesbian?"

"..."

If it weren't for the bodyguards acting quickly to intercept, those chaotic and complicated microphones would probably have been stuffed right into Zhou Yi's mouth.

Seeing Zhou Yi about to speak, Qian Jiang, fearing this master would come up with some shocking words just like Sun Yanzi, instantly unleashed the fastest speed of his life to press him down: "Sorry everyone, A-Yi still has work to handle and cannot accept interviews for now."

Zhou Yi, who still wanted to say some flirtatious words, was forcibly pulled and pushed by Qian Jiang into the van—

"Stop talking. Now, if you say just one sentence, it could create a rhythm. With the Spring Festival Gala at this critical juncture, there's no need..."

Qian Jiang analyzed the situation for Zhou Yi in a gentle tone.

On the other side, Chen Zeshan was almost kneeling before Sun Yanzi—

"My dear lady, what exactly are you thinking? You are promoting an album, not blowing yourself up!"

Chen Zeshan, pacing frantically around the room, spoke with a very aggrieved tone: "Did you forget the warning I gave you? Your current image is not suitable for talking about wanting to fall in love to the outside world. Haven't you seen how tightly Vivian Hsu of Virgin is controlled by her teacher Yao Qian to this day?"

"Huh? Is there a problem with me saying that?"

Sun Yanzi, sipping milk tea through a straw with her legs curled up on the sofa, stopped playing with her phone upon hearing this, blinked her eyes as she raised her gaze, her eyes full of confusion, her face written with innocence: "Didn't I say the same thing I told you? Work comes first."

As if to prove herself, Sun Yanzi even translated it into extremely fluent English.

Chen Zeshan: "..."

Now he knew where the problem lay.

In the English-to-Chinese translation, Sun Yanzi's brain had translated things slightly off-course.

"Anyway, don't speak recklessly to the outside world during this period. You are about to go to the Imperial Capital for the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal; don't mess around." Wanting to scold her but seeing Sun Yanzi's eyes full of innocence, Chen Zeshan couldn't bring himself to scold, so he could only raise his hand to rub his brow,

What else could he say about the difference in language systems?

Chen Zeshan resigned himself to fate.

Sun Yanzi, who was pretending to be innocent on the sofa, upon seeing him leave helplessly, suddenly revealed a mischievous smile on her face, as if she had successfully stolen a chicken, while holding the milk tea cup with both hands.

"By the way, Ziyi, don't forget it's the afternoon flight—"

Just as he walked out the door, Chen Zeshan, thinking of something else, turned around and pushed the door back in, colliding directly with Sun Yanzi's sneering gaze.

"..."

"This Hong Kong-style milk tea is really good." Sun Yanzi, whose sneering smile instantly vanished at the corner of her mouth, seriously lowered her head to study the milk tea cup that had absolutely no ingredient label.

Do you think I'm blind?

Feeling his blood pressure rising a bit, Chen Zeshan took a deep breath and missed the obedient good girl Sun Yanzi from last year even more, the one who listened to everything he said before Zhou Yi arrived in Taiwan.

It's all Zhou Yi's fault!

"A-choo!"

The Imperial Capital.

With the weather getting colder and colder, Zhou Yi, who felt like he was cultivating immortality just by exhaling a breath, got out of the car wearing gloves and couldn't help but sneeze from the stimulation of the cold air. Wrapping himself in a down jacket wasn't enough; he also wrapped a beige scarf around his neck: "Who is cursing me behind my back."

"Sun Yanzi has so many fans; there are always those who are unhappy to see her say such things. Not to mention many of your own fans also think Sun Yanzi is referring to you."

Qian Jiang, getting out of the car behind Zhou Yi, looked up at the CCTV building and joked: "Recently, my suggestion is that the more bodyguards you bring, the better, just in case."

The crazy fans these days really dare to break the law with their own bodies.

"Blood splashing five steps, right? Hong Kong media probably hasn't called me a tyrant yet." Zhou Yi, letting out a light laugh, stepped into the warm CCTV Studio One.

Compared to the last time he entered here, there were obviously many more people appearing here today.

Fan Wei, Zhao Benshan, Song Dandan, Ni Ping, Zhu Jun, Li Yong, Gong Hanlin, and other big stars he was familiar with were walking back and forth; he even saw two familiar figures not far away—Lu Yi, Zhou Xun.

One was the most popular film and television young actor of the year; the other was the publicly recognized acting genius Zhou Xun, a former bar singer blessed by heaven.

The two also brightened up when they saw him; Lu Yi even smiled and stood up to wave at him.

"Young Bao Qingtian 2 was acted very well; I heard its ratings can compare to Love in the Rain." Zhou Yi, who had developed a good relationship with Lu Yi through contact, smiled while taking off his gloves, handed his scarf and padded jacket to Qian Jiang, and then walked over after shaking out his suit jacket.

"I can't compare to you; I heard you even took on 'Meteor Garden' abroad." Lu Yi, who had actively pulled a plastic chair over for Zhou Yi, wore a brilliant smile on his face.

As an actor, he was undoubtedly successful this year.

"Yeah, really? I heard your single sold very well in Japan, causing quite a bit of resentment there." Zhou Xun, who was familiar with him, also leaned over, full of curiosity.

"It's okay; it sold over nine hundred thousand copies." Zhou Yi, who knew the Japanese results from Qian Jiang, answered truthfully.

Third on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, fifth on the annual chart.

Once the snowball started rolling, the sales volume in the Japanese market was simply on a different level from the mainland, not to mention that selling this many copies for a pure single was far from Zhou Yi's limit.

Considering there was still more than a month and a half until the end of December 2001, the platinum single certification for one million copies was already a done deal.

Currently, Warner's only hesitation lay in debating whether to help Zhou Yi buy sales—

because the current year-end champion position on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart belonged to EMI's Utada Hikaru; her single "Can You Keep A Secret?" had sold just over 1.3 million copies up to now.

If they could defeat Utada Hikaru in the Japanese market and top the annual singles chart, it would undoubtedly be worth it for Warner.

……………………………………

"Rest assured, this Zhou Yi is impossible to achieve that."

Tokyo, Japan.

Miyake Akira, the EMI record producer who had single-handedly discovered Utada Hikaru's debut, put down the data analysis in his hand, turned his head to look at the girl sitting on the conference room chair waiting for his answer, and said with a smile: "I have already negotiated with the Island Def Jam label under Universal for you.

"In my opinion, your potential should not be limited to Asia; you have already conquered the Japanese music scene, and now it is time to challenge the European and American music scenes."

"I understand, thank you, Teacher Miyake."

Upon hearing this good news, Utada Hikaru could not help but show a smile on her face.

There was still a month and a half until 2001 ended; unless that Chinese named Zhou Yi started spamming, there was no way he could catch up to or even surpass her.

His period of high popularity had already passed; the weekly chart ranking dropping to third was ironclad proof.

"Teacher, it seems this Zhou Yi is also going to release this single in the European and American music scenes?"

"Not 'seems,' but 'already.' Warner spent a huge price to find many radio stations for him to promote; I heard Zhou Jianhui from Warner fought for it. Calculating the time, those radio stations should have been coordinated by now."

"You don't need to worry too much; your music is no worse than his, and your resume in the United States is even more outstanding." Miyake Akira, who had never seen Utada Hikaru actively ask about a peer singer before, could only comfort her in a broad voice.

It was all Zhou Yi's fault!

"He cannot win against you; just focus on your English album."

(End of this chapter)