Chapter 289

"You're very impressive, Miss Chen."

"In this area, I have a good teacher."

Seeing Yang Lan no longer pressing the issue, Chen Hao's smile became more genuine.

"You're Zhou Yi, right? I've heard about you in the circles."

Although the price still wasn't quite satisfactory, Yang Lan no longer wanted to haggle; after confirming, she switched to her most trusted persona—the wise, caring older sister—and began chatting casually with the young Chen Hao.

To be honest, she truly believed Chen Hao had shown sufficient sincerity and given her ample face, framing the final million as a favor done out of respect for her.

Whether it was true or not didn't matter—what mattered was that it sounded good, and she enjoyed hearing it.

"I heard your company is now in Chaoyang District?"

"Yes, near Huamao. Sister Yang, if you have time, come by—we're a small company, don't laugh at us."

"Too modest, Director Chen."

The afternoon tea ended with both host and guest thoroughly satisfied.

Yang Lan, who had hoped to extract some insider information, ultimately returned empty-handed, leaving only with the agreed price to prepare for her deal with her husband.

Sitting in the Mercedes, Chen Hao watched Yang Lan's car vanish completely into the traffic stream, then a faint upward curve appeared at the corner of her lips.

Zhou Yi's bottom line for her was twenty million U. S. dollars in installments of yuan; after investigating Yang Lan's specific situation and going through a back-and-forth negotiation, she saved three million U. S. dollars outright.

This wasn't a small sum.

Even by Zhou Yi's standards of earning money, three million U. S. dollars was enough to sting.

Thinking this, Chen Hao drove to Wang Xiaoyu's Zhiyu Zile Company—

"Xiaoyu, how's the situation now?"

"Very effective, Director Chen."

On the seventh floor of an ordinary commercial office building in Chaoyang District, Zhiyu Zile Company, which had rented the entire floor due to business expansion, was thriving under Wang Xiaoyu's management.

Facing a generous and minimally restrictive financier, Wang Xiaoyu didn't dare slack off; in her tiny CEO office, she personally presented Chen Hao with the plan to stir up public opinion for Zhou Yi.

"The problem now is Warner seems to have noticed us, Director Chen—should we pull back?"

"Pull back? Why pull back? If Warner people approach you, just engage them—it's nothing shameful."

By the window, Chen Hao sipped her water and asked in return, leaving Wang Xiaoyu confused: "Director Chen, what do you mean?"

"Zhou Yi's contract has two years left before it expires. He's currently enjoying his time at Warner, but that doesn't mean everyone inside Warner wants to support him."

Looking out the window at the towering office buildings, Chen Hao squinted slightly in the sunlight and took a sip of warm water: "If you reach an agreement with Warner, they'll understand that from now on, Zhou Yi won't have only Warner as his sole channel of voice."

Given Zhou Yi's mindset, Chen Hao suspected he'd introduced Wang Xiaoyu to her precisely with this intention in mind.

…………………………

"I didn't! I didn't! Don't make things up!"

In Taiwan, taking advantage of the time before his Golden Melody Award license expired, Zhou Yi was enthusiastically invited by Coca-Cola (Taiwan) to appear at the World Cup event, and faced a barrage of media accusations with a trio of calm retorts: "Keep spreading lies and I'll sue you for defamation."

"What fight? That's all nonsense—I just joked with F4. The media loves to fabricate stories out of thin air."

"Zhou Yi, during your backstage interview after the Golden Melody Awards, you mentioned your new album—has the exact release date been set?"

"The company is building sets for the MV shoot—it's coming soon, soon."

"Your new single 'WavinFlag' has become wildly popular across Europe—in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and more—reaching the top ten on every chart. Are you planning to capitalize on this momentum with an English-language album?"

"Of course."

Zhou Yi, numbed by the flashing lights, blinked his eyes.

Damn it, they're like fucking stun grenades.

In Taiwan's annual public appearance, a Coca-Cola event had turned into something resembling a retirement press conference—Taiwanese reporters packed tightly together, wielding cameras and microphones, relentlessly chasing him.

"The two English singles I've already released will be included in the English album. My first personal English album is expected to be released after the World Cup ends—I hope my fans will support it."

Still holding a pile of microphones, Zhou Yi delivered a double announcement: "Also, this October, my Chinese album 'Lianshan' is scheduled for official release—fans of Mandarin songs can look forward to it."

"Chinese album titled 'Lianshan'? Then what's the English album title? Are you planning to call it your English name, 'Spike'?"

"What? No, not that. My English album title is tentatively set as 'The Attitude Show'."

The Attitude Show?

What does that mean?

What are you showing off?

"The interview is over. Please don't block Zhou Yi—he needs to return to the company to arrange his new album."

The team's assistant, along with staff and security, forcibly carved a human corridor through the crowd; reporters who hadn't gotten their questions answered panicked and surged forward regardless of the danger.

"Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi..."

Having finally dug out such a big scoop from Zhou Yi's mouth, the reporters were nearly frantic at being denied follow-ups. But in the end, Warner proved superior—they whisked Zhou Yi away unharmed and returned him safely to headquarters.

"Are these reporters insane?"

In the car, Zhou Yi had kept his eyes closed, resting, until his eyes felt better—he opened them and muttered curses: "Do you think my eyes are made of iron?"

"What can you do? You only show up once a year—it's like the Spring Festival Gala on the mainland."

Qian Jiang chuckled at seeing Zhou Yi like this: "And your Coca-Cola World Cup theme song is now a hit across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe—it's a feat unmatched in the Chinese-speaking world."

"If they could, those reporters would probably climb on top of these minivans and follow us all the way back to the company."

"A global hit?"

Because he was at the Coca-Cola event, Zhou Yi had heard nothing but "WavinFlag" or its Mandarin version "Qi Kai De Sheng" everywhere—he didn't yet know how it was doing overseas.

Before his return to China, the song had spread through Arsenal fan circles and conquered the entire British Isles.

"Yes, it's a global hit."

Qian Jiang nodded vigorously, excited: "Do you know what Warner's headquarters said? No one expected an Asian's song to become this popular right before the World Cup."

"Now they don't even need Zhou Jianhui to push them—they've spontaneously arranged every possible channel to promote it alongside Coca-Cola!"

If Zhou Yi's first single, "The Lazy Song," had merely become popular in Europe, America, and Japan, then starting from May 26, "Wavin' Flag" truly went viral globally—

A global explosion so intense that even Africa was singing along!

This was also Zhou Yi's first single to truly go viral worldwide.

"You were actually a bit anxious just now. An English album earns more money; you should have been more cautious. The company won't disturb you; slow work yields fine products."

Fearing Zhou Yi might be crushed by pressure, Qian Jiang proactively made an excuse for him: "However, album delays are actually not uncommon. If you aren't ready, there's no need to force it."

"Rest assured. If I hadn't thought it through, how could I have made such a decision?"

Zhou Yi lay back comfortably, thinking of the demos he had produced in Taiwan over the past few days, and relaxedly whistled a tune.

At the same time, inside the Warner recording studio.

Sun Yanzi, whom Zhou Yi had dragged in to work overtime against her will, had lost her resentment toward working; instead, holding the lyrics in her hand and listening to the demo through her monitoring headphones, she softly hummed along.

"'Baby'? These lyrics... don't seem right. Isn't the theme of this album 'Attitude'?"

Sun Yanzi glanced at the album title at the top: "The Attitude Show."

It's a perfect match for the underworld.

(End of this chapter)