Chapter 238: The World Will Tell You My Name

Udagawa Mitsu's mood at this moment was somewhat complicated.

To be fair, she hadn't taken much notice when Zhou Yi topped Japan's Oricon chart for seven consecutive weeks; the single's sales had merely surpassed one million, posing little threat to her.

Even though Japanese media had earlier cultivated a rather otaku-style "rival" narrative between the two of them.

Having already achieved unprecedented success in the Japanese market, she had devoted herself entirely to her upcoming album slated for release in the U. S. market—until today, when her teacher dragged her out of the recording studio and told her this news.

The single's CD sales jumped from over seventy thousand in the first week to two hundred thirty thousand in the second week—an increase of more than threefold!

By December 16, the single's sales had directly surpassed the 370,000 mark.

After just twenty days of release, with sales at 370,000 copies and on track to cross the 400,000 threshold, everyone at Warner was staring with bloodshot eyes.

"Promotion! We need promotion! Ah Yi, no matter what, you're coming with me to the U. S. for a full promotional tour."

Zhou Jianhui, who had some understanding of the American music scene, was practically ready to tie Zhou Yi up and bundle him onto the plane to the U. S.

This novel marketing tactic, combined with Warner's heavy spending, had helped Zhou Yi reach No. 68 on the Billboard chart—this was already about as far as it could go.

The American music scene's level of prosperity needs no elaboration; in Japan, where such prolonged absence might still be offset by marketing—given the two countries' special circumstances—Zhou Yi's popularity would not easily fade if properly promoted and could be sustained.

But here, that approach simply wouldn't work.

In fact, if Zhou Yi wanted to enter the Billboard Top 20 or even Top 10, he himself would have to travel to the U. S. to appear on radio stations and TV programs for face-to-face promotion.

Otherwise, with so many hot songs on the Billboard Hot 100 constantly bombarding the public with promotion, "The Lazy Song," with no personal appearance from Zhou Yi, would only continue to decline after its peak popularity, eventually falling off the chart entirely.

"... Can't Warner spend even more money, buy me more space and exposure?"

Zhou Yi, dragged out of his home by the radiant Zhou Jianhui, rubbed his hands and ventured tentatively: "It's almost the New Year—I still have to rehearse my solo for the Spring Festival Gala, 'The Yellow Race.'"

"Don't you dare talk nonsense!"

"It's still over a month until the New Year—Chinese New Year's Eve is February 11, and today is only December 18. Are you celebrating the New Year over a month early?"

Zhou Jianhui nearly fainted from anger at this excuse.

He now understood, just a little, how Chen Zeshan had felt being driven to despair by Sun Yanzi.

"Don't you want to top the Billboard chart? Don't you know how many big names in Europe and America are already praising this song?"

Knowing Zhou Yi was the type who wouldn't act unless he saw the rabbit, Zhou Jianhui started painting grand pictures: "Don't you want your single to sell over a million copies in the U. S.?"

"Don't you want to outsell Udagawa Mitsu in single sales?"

Outselling Udagawa Mitsu in album sales was out of the question.

So far, Zhou Yi's second album "Jiangnan" plus the EP "Graduation" had sold over 2.7 million copies across Asia—but compared to Udagawa Mitsu's nearly 4.42 million album sales, the gap was still enormous.

Not to mention Udagawa Mitsu had a single that sold over 1.4 million copies. Zhou Yi's English single, though released later, had already achieved over one million legitimate sales across Asia.

"... Well, when it comes to singles, I'm almost there already, right?"

Zhou Yi, sipping hot tea, carefully counted: the U. S. now had over 370,000, and Asia had over 100,000—add them up and he was nearly at 1.4 million. With half a month left until 2002, he could easily close this sales gap.

"..."

Zhou Jianhui was momentarily speechless; beside him, Sun Yanzi bit back laughter, her shoulders shaking as she struggled not to laugh out loud.

"Alright, just a joke."

Realizing he had no choice but to go, Zhou Yi put down his teacup and smiled, giving the boss a reassuring nod.

He understood the necessity of face-to-face promotion, even if it was tiring.

"Coca-Cola has also helped us connect with several channel programs to facilitate your promotion."

Qian Jiang, ever loyal, pulled out his notebook the moment Zhou Yi agreed: "And Warner's own connections have also lined up a whole list of radio stations."

"Of course, since your schedule is less than a month, I'll prioritize arranging appearances on major radio stations and top-tier programs."

Qian Jiang listed a long string of destinations and ranked them in tiers; among them, besides several major stations, one program stood out as familiar to Zhou Yi—

"The Conan Show."

Not the eternally repeating dead-schoolboy, but a late-night talk show that had only just begun this year but already enjoyed solid ratings.

Of course, the host of this show now was not the later Jimmy, who missed Nicole Kidman because of gaming, but Conan Christopher O'Brien.

"You're so lazy, you won't even learn from me and go out for promotion?"

Sun Yanzi grinned widely, delighted to finally see Zhou Yi leaving his bed to promote himself.

Heaven and earth, she no longer had to endure Zhou Yi constantly hovering in front of her, irritating her.

She was busy promoting her new album "Kite" while rehearsing the Spring Festival Gala song "Connected to the World," preparing for the second round of rehearsals—she was spinning like a top, never stopping, wishing she had twenty-four hours a day just for travel.

Zhou Yi, with no album, no single, only Spring Festival Gala rehearsals, spent his days idle—either gaming at home or going out to hang out with friends, calling it "collecting inspiration," then occasionally popping by to show off.

Who could tolerate that?

She had already shown extraordinary restraint by resisting the urge to expose to his fans that this man spent all day playing games.

Zhou Yi shot her a sidelong glance: "I'm only going for a month."

"Pfft, like you're any different."

Sun Yanzi, having already cut off all promotion activities before today, also perked up. A month later would be nearly the New Year—she wouldn't need to go on promotion either.

"You're going to the U. S.?"

Chen Hao's home.

After returning from work, Chen Hao saw Zhou Yi packing his suitcase across the hallway and paused: "For promotion?"

"Yeah, probably about a month."

Zhou Yi tossed his house key to Chen Hao and stood up from the floor with a smile: "If I don't go, Zhou Jianhui might just kneel down and beg me to."

Chen Hao involuntarily pictured the scene and couldn't help laughing: "I heard it gets pretty chaotic at night over there—remember to stay safe."

"Don't worry, my accommodation should be very safe."

After finishing his packing, Zhou Yi patted his suitcase and was about to leave when Chen Hao called out: "Wait a second—I'll pack you some snacks for the trip."

The journey to the U. S. was long; who knew when he'd crave a snack?

"Alright, then I'm off."

Zhou Yi stuffed his food into his backpack, picked up a suitcase, waved goodbye to Chen Hao, who had seen him all the way down to the apartment building, and headed straight for the airport.

"Your first stop in the U. S. is New York—start with promotions on two major radio stations, then appear on The Conan Show. Don't underestimate this talk show; its influence isn't any smaller than that of major music radio stations."

"And I think you'll find this talk show format easier to handle than radio interviews."

Considering Zhou Yi's quick tongue, Qian Jiang was optimistic about this trip to the U. S. —

As long as Zhou Yi doesn't get too defiant and start arguing with everyone, including Americans.

After all, judging from Zhou Yi's usual way of speaking, he'd likely do quite well on a talk show.

"Have you ever watched this kind of show before?"

"Yes, don't worry."

Zhou Yi gave Qian Jiang a reassuring nod, and Qian Jiang relaxed.

Then…

"How do you make a great self-introduction?"

December 20, recording studio of The Conan Show.

When Zhou Yi, for the first time stepping onto a talk show stage, repeated the host Conan's question, he answered without hesitation: "No, no, no—I think there's absolutely no need."

"Why?"

"Because the world will eventually tell you my name."

A bit late, but no big deal.

(End of Chapter)