Chapter 276: That Man Is Back Again

"I can swear to heaven, this was truly just an accident."

Singapore, airport VIP lounge.

Unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, Qian Jiang faced Huo Wenxi's somewhat veiled inquiry and, using the most concise tone possible, recounted the entire sequence of events: "Rest assured, we value integrity; this time you were purely collateral damage."

"You saw that advertisement; to avoid potential portrait rights disputes among celebrities, Arsenal not only gave no close-ups of others' faces but even excluded the Hong Kong celebrity match entirely."

"It wasn't just unfair to Xie Tingfeng; for A-Yi, this incident was also a calamity without cause. I suspect another company might be behind this."

"Sony or Universal, both are possible."

Under the suppressed laughter of Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi, Qian Jiang unhesitatingly shifted the blame onto the other two major competitors.

After all, Warner truly didn't do this.

Huo Wenxi, who had only intended to ask veiledly, never expected Qian Jiang to be so honest, leaving her momentarily unsure how to respond.

Zhou Yi, who had been writing and drawing on paper, gave Qian Jiang a look, then revealed what he had written on the white paper—

Qian Jiang's eyes lit up, and he immediately gave Huo Wenxi a suggestion: "Don't rush; this matter erupted because of A-Yi's situation."

"How about this: arrange another public opinion route for Xie Tingfeng; just focus on the fact that he played as a forward, emphasizing his tireless defensive efforts on the field at that time."

"Think about it; back then, wasn't Xie Tingfeng the highest-paid among the Hong Kong celebrities on the field?"

"If a celebrity of such high value plays forward and defends without holding back, what more do you want in goals or assists? Just highlight the defensive attitude; fans will naturally argue along that line later."

Huo Wenxi: "..."

Although it sounded plausible, why did it feel a bit off? Shouldn't a forward be judged by goals?

Never mind; at least Xie Tingfeng scored one goal, enough to save his dignity.

It wasn't that Xie Tingfeng didn't try hard; it was that Zhou Yi scored too many goals, too monstrously.

Having received Qian Jiang's "guidance" and accepting this favor, Huo Wenxi immediately formed a plan in her mind, then hung up the phone and began arranging for Emperor Entertainment's public relations team to take action.

"After all, we've reached a deal with Emperor Entertainment; at this moment, let's not kick someone when they're down. Lending a hand can still earn gratitude."

Facing the curious gazes of Qian Jiang and Sun Yanzi, Zhou Yi, not knowing what he was thinking, immediately curled his lips into a mischievous smile.

Seeing this smile, Sun Yanzi knew this guy definitely had no good intentions, but the words that rose to her lips turned into concern: "Be careful over in London."

"Rest assured." Zhou Yi made an OK gesture toward the woman, then put down the newspaper in his hand reporting on the "Tian Hei Hei" collaboration scene, which had dominated Singapore's entertainment headlines.

On the evening of May 3, local British time, Zhou Yi arrived at a five-star hotel in London as promised.

However, Zhou Yi, who hadn't been recognized by many on the international flight, suddenly enjoyed the treatment of a top celebrity in London—

One day later, after adjusting to the time difference, he and his bodyguards and assistants prepared to go out and experience London's local customs, only to find that shortly after getting out of the car, they were recognized by many passersby—

"Hey! Spike?! Are you Spike?!"

A blonde woman with a few freckles still on her face, who had been hugging her best friend's shoulder taking photos by the bridge, noticed Zhou Yi's distinctive Asian face, studied him carefully for a while, then excitedly spoke up: "My name is Lucy, Lucy Camia."

"I really like your 'Waving Flag'; I bought this album. Could you please take a photo with me and sign it?"

As she spoke, she actually rummaged through her black bag and pulled out a small booklet with Zhou Yi's portrait on the cover to prove herself.

That item was a small introductory booklet about Zhou Yi included with the album purchase, designed to maximize buyers' understanding of Zhou Yi's relevant information, lovingly crafted by Warner's marketing department; every exquisite picture inside could be cropped to serve as a computer wallpaper.

"Of course, I didn't expect to have fans in London, but I don't have a pen—"

"I do!"

The female fan excitedly grabbed her best friend's bag: "We are all Arsenal fans; you were so handsome in the MV, Spike."

One sentence immediately dispelled all doubts in Zhou Yi's mind.

As community culture deeply rooted in the bones of the British, Arsenal's number of fans in the local London community cannot be underestimated.

And as the only London team in the current Premier League capable of going head-to-head with the dominant Manchester United under Ferguson, Arsenal attracted many fans from other regions with its unique beautiful style of play.

Especially after Wenger, within just two years of arriving, snatched a Premier League title from Manchester United, many people came to realize that this French man, who looked gentle and refined like a university professor, was a genuine tactical master.

Under Wenger's leadership, Arsenal's beautiful football whirlwind completely overturned the past viewing experience of the Premier League, attracting countless fans.

Under such circumstances, the sheer size of Arsenal's fan base can be imagined.

And as Arsenal's newly signed official brand ambassador, the promotional MV released by Arsenal officially made the song "Waving Flag" wildly popular within the Arsenal community—

Even spreading across the entire Premier League in an extremely short time!

With its highly dynamic melody and meaningful lyrics, just during these few days in Britain, while Zhou Yi quietly traveled through several cities and watched a few live matches, he even heard many team fans singing this song during matches to encourage their teams.

Fans of teams like Newcastle, Chelsea, and Crystal Palace even changed the lyrics and sang it with great joy.

Especially Crystal Palace Football Club, which is also in the London area with Arsenal.

Because Chinese player Fan Zhiyi can be considered a big shot in that club, they similarly loved the song created by Zhou Yi, also from China, out of affection for him.

Supported by these vast numbers of fans spreading word-of-mouth by community districts, all the data for Zhou Yi's song "Waving Flag" showed explosive growth in a short time—

Whether sales figures, radio data, or performance on the UK pop charts, everything was breathtaking!

"Fuck! Spike?! How is it him again!"

"What's up with this Chinese guy? Wasn't his previous single released in the UK on February 14? How is there another one? What does he want?!"

"Is Warner crazy?! Changing to a new song in just over two months?! Such waste?!"

At this moment, the big shots of music companies within Britain, looking at this near-ascent data, each looked as if they had seen an idiot.

A newcomer who hasn't even released an album, wasting the song sales bonus period like this? Have they already earned enough from the previous song?

The ranking is still fourth, and they want to push a new song already?

Riding the wind of the World Cup, less than a month had passed since Zhou Yi's previous song topped the UK singles chart, and singers currently on the UK singles chart once again saw the name that had caused them severe "sniper" losses several months ago rocketing up the charts!

The speed of the rise was so fast that people couldn't help but shout "monster!"

If the previous song, released in the UK on February 14, topped the charts on March 20, held the number one spot for four consecutive weeks, and only recently dropped to fourth, that speed was earned through fierce struggle;

then this "Waving Flag" swept all opponents like cutting melons and vegetables, with radio data changing extremely drastically every hour.

By May 8, thanks to the Premier League's popularity and the fiery atmosphere of Arsenal about to win the Premier League title one round early in the mountain-top battle, the streets and alleys of the entire city of London, and even all of England, echoed with the song that could be called "street-blasting," "Waving Flag"!

"Fuck! It's Spike! That man is back again!"

"Composing, lyric-writing, and arranging all handled by one person—where did Warner find this monster?!"

All singers and companies attempting to sabotage the rising rankings and sales of "Waving Flag" felt a profound sense of helplessness, watching helplessly as Zhou Yi appeared on the charts with his promotional music videos for various Chinese cities—

Even dancing and singing right on top of them, yet they were powerless...

PS: Only one update tonight. I was warned by the doctor while going to pick up my medicine for a checkup, so I need to rest a bit.

Back to normal tomorrow: the first update before 7:30 PM, the second at 10:30 PM.

(End of this chapter)