Chapter 248: Bro, Are You Eating at the Spring Festival Gala on CCTV?

On February 9, 2002, the backup tape for the CCTV Year of the Horse Spring Festival Gala was officially completed under the strict demands of chief director Chen Yulu.

Although this year's gala advocated for live singing, prompting many confident pop singers to eagerly seek to prove their skills on the Spring Festival Gala stage—the largest and most-watched stage in all of China.

But to be safe, chief director Chen Yulu still had to prepare a backup, so that in case of an accident, they could switch directly to the backup tape to prevent a broadcast incident.

Precisely because of this, Chen Yulu's demands during the recording of this backup tape were exceptionally high. Not only did he require all participants' clothing, makeup, and styling to be identical to the day of the formal live broadcast, but their positioning and performance format also had to match the live broadcast day exactly.

And thanks to the invisible treatment Zhou Yi enjoyed during these days of recording the backup tape, the nickname "CCTV's favorite son" was not going to be shaken off his head anytime soon.

Even Sun Yanzi was somewhat broken down—

She now understood why the rumored pressure of the Spring Festival Gala was so great, let alone that she was performing a duet with Xie Xiaodong.

Including a large group of backup dancers, not a single step could be wrong; a half-step error meant starting over, which nearly tortured her to death.

It hadn't been this torturous even when recording "I Want Happiness" in the Warner recording studio, the only song so far with a difficulty level high enough to make her cry while recording.

In comparison, Zhou Yi was purely playing on simple mode—he had no flower-bedecked backup dancers, only a large group of musicians on stage playing flutes and drums. And these musicians didn't need to move at all; they just stood in place.

"I can't take it anymore, I can't take it anymore. After recording this backup tape, I feel my soul is about to go meet God."

Once officially freed, Sun Yanzi returned home, took off her shoes, and upon entering, collapsed directly onto the sofa, looking utterly hopeless: "I really don't want to experience this again; it's too tiring."

The kid was truly scared.

Seeing her state, Zhou Yi, who had brought her back, immediately burst out laughing: "If you get invited again next year, you won't want to participate, right? You really are lazy enough; the nickname 'Lazy Ziyi' lives up to its name."

Because of Zhou Yi, Sun Yanzi's new album "Kite," which had already been suspected by fans of habitual laziness, was delayed for so long that it was prematurely dubbed "Lazy Ziyi" by furious career-focused fans.

Consequently, his status as "Emperor Yi" and his degree of "diligence" also began to be questioned by fans.

You can't get two different kinds of people from the same blanket.

Since Sun Yanzi was so lazy, it was hard not to suspect whether Zhou Yi, who was constantly helping her make songs, was taking advantage to slack off.

"If you say that, then indeed, that's true."

Sun Yanzi, who had sunk entirely into the sofa, pouted her lips and agreed completely.

"Then you really are lazy enough."

"Pour me a glass of hot water, please."

"Just die of laziness."

Zhou Yi, not in a good mood, walked to the dining area, only to spot a copy of "Vogue" printed with his photo on the table, and it was a special edition.

"I didn't realize you were actually interested in 'Vogue'; what, do you really want to learn aesthetics from me?"

"Is there a problem?"

After taking the hot water, Sun Yanzi brushed back her messy hair, took a sip while looking down, and suddenly remembered something—

"I suddenly remembered something. The program order has already been finalized; I should notify my family to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Aren't your parents in Jiang Xi Province? Won't they come to the live venue?"

Thinking of her own family, Sun Yanzi looked up at Zhou Yi, who immediately shrugged: "They were originally interested, but after learning they'd have to sit at the venue for a long time, they chose to stay home and celebrate with relatives."

Although he said this, Zhou Yi seriously suspected that besides this reason, another reason the old couple didn't come to the venue this year was to save face in front of relatives during the live broadcast—Look, my son made the Spring Festival Gala right after debuting!

Never doubt just how strong the influence of the Spring Festival Gala was in this era.

If not for the fact that the elderly couple was still alive and healthy and lively, given Zhou Yi's current fame and status in his home village, he would definitely qualify for a separate page in the family genealogy.

The first Peking University student from the village, the first big star, and one who went out to win glory for the country, defeating the big boss, the United States.

Now, the classroom desks and chairs Zhou Yi used to sit on when studying in his hometown have been collected by the school because there are too many superstitious parents.

Facts proved that Zhou Yi's guess was not without reason.

These past few days at home, whenever they chatted, the elderly couple were the focal point of conversation, and Old Zhou's inner vanity was greatly satisfied.

February 11, New Year's Eve.

After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, the entire Zhou family did what they needed to do: those who needed to bathe bathed, those who needed to play cards played cards, those who needed to play mahjong played mahjong, waiting for the Spring Festival Gala to begin.

In the CCTV Spring Festival Gala broadcast hall, all the audience and performers gradually took their seats.

Tonight, wearing a pink sweater paired with white jeans, Sun Yanzi, with light makeup that best highlighted her temperament, followed closely behind Zhou Yi—

The latter was wearing an extremely eye-catching and flashy white suit with gold trim and cloud patterns tonight; his rare hairstyle made him look even more spirited and youthful.

Arriving at the table with their nameplates, the Yu Quan duo, Lu Yi, and Zhou Xun had already taken their seats before them.

"You two are quite late."

Zhou Xun teased: "Are you too nervous to come in?"

Sun Yanzi politely greeted everyone present and sat down next to Zhou Yi.

"Saying I'm not nervous is impossible; saying I'm too scared to come in is pure fantasy. To be honest, I didn't dare eat too much tonight, afraid I'd feel too hungry later."

To achieve the best performance state on the Spring Festival Gala, Zhou Yi, who usually relied on his BUG-level physical constitution to do whatever he wanted, rarely followed the rules once.

Sun Yanzi stared at the food on the table, eyes wide, practically drooling.

"You two should be able to eat a little now. If I remember correctly, Yanzi, your program is the sixth one; it's still early, so eating a little bit should be fine."

Lu Yi, whose looks in the group were second only to Zhou Yi, spoke with a smile.

Among the people at this table, only Sun Yanzi's program was scheduled the earliest—her duet with Xie Xiaodong, "Connect with the World," followed the skit "Flower Pot" by Huang Hong, Gong Hanlin, and Zhang Kaili.

"Mm, I think so too."

Having met Lu Yi before at a KTV in Hong Kong, Sun Yanzi felt what he said made sense; anyway, the food was right there, as long as she controlled it.

When the time came, the Spring Festival Gala officially began.

The opening song and dance performance "Come with Spring" was brought by the host team of this year's gala—Zhu Jun, Ni Ping, Zhou Wentao, Li Yong, Wang Xiaoya, etc. —along with other groups.

Honestly, in Zhou Yi's opinion, this opening was rather average.

Beside him, Sun Yanzi, perhaps due to nervousness, was chewing food and didn't forget to share a bit with Zhou Yi, seemingly afraid he would get hungry too.

Zhou Yi, who indeed felt he had eaten too little tonight, didn't mind and, under the slightly strange gazes of the Yu Quan duo, started chewing slowly and carefully with Sun Yanzi.

After the opening dance ended, the host team began to exert themselves, using words to connect Song my lord's solo song "The Scenery Here is Uniquely Beautiful."

Then, it was time for Feng Gong and Guo Donglin, the new duo who proved themselves last year, to appear with Lu Ming and the new crosstalk "On Stage and Off Stage."

Feng Gong was on stage early, as usual.

In Zhou Yi's view, this sketch, called "On and Off Stage" but more like a short play than a crosstalk, didn't have many laugh points, yet the live audience was genuinely amused.

Even Sun Yanzi, who was sharing some food with him, laughed out loud.

One could only say that Feng Gong and Guo Donglin's live performance skills and charisma were simply too strong.

However, when Feng Gong, holding a guitar, began singing an adapted version of "Jiangnan," the camera immediately cut to Zhou Yi amidst the audience's knowing smiles—

and at that moment, he was eating and watching alongside Sun Yanzi...

The latter immediately sensed something was wrong, quickly put down her hands, and didn't forget to nudge Zhou Yi with a small gesture, reminding him that the camera might sweep over...

Little did they know that in front of countless TV screens, viewers watching the Spring Festival Gala live broadcast had noticed these two people intermittently eating since the very beginning of the show.

Accompanied by Feng Gong's adapted version of "Jiangnan," the camera went straight to close-ups of Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi, one each...

"Bros, are you eating a banquet on the Spring Festival Gala???"

"Wait, is Warner not allowing these two into the cafeteria? Or is the CCTV cafeteria not letting them in today?"

"I feel like everyone else went to attend the Spring Festival Gala, but these two from Warner went to eat a banquet on site?"

PS: I took a shower, feel a bit more energetic, so I'll finish the three chapters I promised~

Three chapters!

(End of this chapter)