Chapter 343: Kneel Down!

"The grave is covered in fresh flowers, the beauty you long for so much~"

"What can I use to save, when love is spilled water hard to gather~"

"I wish to become the angel you love in the fairy tale~"

"Melody, the melody in my head keeps spinning~"

"Even if I die, I must love!!!"

"..."

In Changsha, inside a large KTV.

Zhou Yi, who had come to record the new episode of "Happy Camp" to promote his new album, smiled and clapped his hands, giving a thumbs-up to He Jiong, who was screaming his lungs out: "Impressive, impressive."

"I can't, I can't, I can't hit that note, the pitch is too high."

He Jiong, who ultimately couldn't hold on, coughed and chose to give up. Li Xiang, seeing her old partner in such a wretched state, couldn't stop laughing: "If you don't have the ability, don't force yourself. Neither of us is professionally trained; look at Zhou Yi."

"I don't have Zhou Yi's talent; being able to sing to this extent is already good enough."

He Jiong, who had a decent temper, faced the woman's teasing cheerfully and frankly admitted his shortcomings: "Besides, Zhou Yi is now a true music superstar; what merit do I have to compare with him? Just because my surname is He?"

"I love hearing that, Teacher He, say more."

Zhou Yi, eating peanuts with a smile, raised an eyebrow: "You know, I have always been unable to refuse praise from others."

Li Weijia, sitting at the very end, showed great tact by bustling about and arranging the food for this private gathering.

It was not easy for Zhou Yi to appear on a variety show; in fact, he generally didn't appear on programs unless it was during an album promotion period.

His last appearance on "Happy Camp" directly helped the show win the viewership championship for its time slot for the first time, fulfilling the long-held wish of the entire production team.

"Are there not many people praising you now? Even foreigners praise you; you've brought honor, international superstar."

Knowing Zhou Yi needed to protect his voice, Li Xiang drank tea instead of wine, her smile extremely warm.

"Ah, keep a low profile, keep a low profile."

Zhou Yi, pretending to be modest, raised his right hand and pressed his palm downward: "It's all empty fame, empty fame."

"You must be tired from running around promoting these past few days; here at Camp, you can rest well; our intensity isn't that high."

It must be said, He Jiong's hospitality was indeed very thorough.

Since the album was officially released on October 1st, his various appointments had been one after another without stopping. Today this event, tomorrow that radio station, so that coming to "Happy Camp" today was equivalent to a vacation.

One could imagine how high this promotion intensity was.

Of course, the results were naturally very gratifying.

"No way, your song 'Fairy Tale' is too hot right now; your songs are really everywhere, from big streets to small alleys." Li Weijia, seizing the opportunity, followed up with a compliment.

The consequence of luring fans and music lovers in with sweet songs and then 'killing' them directly caused Zhou Yi's security personnel to double during these days of promotion—not only to prevent accidents but also to stop those star-chasing fans.

"Yes, as soon as it came out, it took first place on various charts, pushing your original two songs down; it's really getting more popular the more it's criticized."

Li Xiang also felt somewhat emotional.

Zhou Yi smiled without speaking.

On October 1st, when "Lianshan" went on sale, "Fairy Tale" immediately dominated the combined charts of four first-tier cities plus several major radio stations within JX Province with cliff-like radio data, beating Ah Du, who was desperately trying to climb up, straight to third place.

"Criticisms" flew alongside sales; Warner Music was laughing with their mouths wide open. In just one day, the sales of "Lianshan" exceeded the one-month sales of A-Mei's album "Fever."

Of course, Warner also spent heavily to hire Wang Xiaoyu, with whom they had previously cooperated happily, to continue increasing Zhou Yi's online buzz and volume; cross-dressing was an indispensable part of this marketing.

After all, it wasn't real hatred; as long as it didn't involve genuine negativity, there was absolutely no need for control.

Especially after Sun Yanzi herself got involved.

On the 4th, when Zhou Yi arrived in Changsha to prepare for the Camp rehearsal process, Sun Yanzi, who had been grabbed by Chen Ze Shan and flown back to Taiwan for work, was also asked about the sensitive topic of "Fairy Tale" during an interview—

"Uh, how to say it, actually this wasn't my idea; this was all Zhou Yi's thought."

As soon as she heard the reporter say many fans were tortured to the point of near death and threatened to pour paint on Zhou Yi's doorstep, Sun Yanzi bared her two big front teeth and laughed so hard she lost her bearings: "It has nothing to do with me; the creditor has a head and the debtor has a master; go find Zhou Yi."

"Then may I ask, did you raise any objections? Like asking Zhou Yi to change the ending or something?"

"This is his album; I have no say in it."

Sun Yanzi's head shook like a rattle drum, desperately distancing herself from "Fairy Tale" and striving to cut ties with the tragedy.

"Then may I ask, did you have any genuine emotional outpouring while filming? Many people say Zhou Yi's performance in the MV was very moving; may I ask if he sparked any emotional fireworks with you during the filming?"

"... Moving? That is indeed moving, hahaha."

As soon as she heard the reporter mention this, Sun Yanzi laughed even more, leaving the crowd of reporters baffled.

Wait, what does that mean?

Why are you laughing more the more you talk?

Don't just laugh to yourself; share it, let us laugh too!

On the Taiwanese variety show "Variety Big Brother," when Xiao Yaxuan took the stage and was asked by host Zhang Fei about Zhou Yi's "Fairy Tale," the corners of her mouth couldn't hold back her smile: "Uh, how to say it. I think this might be a kind of tragic beauty."

"Then what do you think of many fans outside saying it's good that you and Zhou Yi just broke up, rather than dying?"

"Hiss, this question is a bit serious; I think fans might be overcomplicating the relationship between me, Zhou Yi, and Yanzi. I was good friends with Zhou Yi before he debuted, and Yanzi was too."

Xiao Yaxuan raised her hand to smooth her hair, smiling brilliantly.

Although Zhou Yi himself did not arrive in Taiwan, thanks to the knife-wielding storm caused by "Fairy Tale," the sales of the "Lianshan" album and the song rankings also continued to rise—

On October 5th, Yan Chengxu's new song "I Really, Really Love You," from F4 member Yan Chengxu who still had immense influence in Taiwan, was directly knocked over!

Benefiting from the absurd 'Three Stick Figures' incident backstage at this year's Golden Melody Awards, F4, who had released a new song previously, were once again brought up by the media for comparison; after all, outside of Taiwan, there wasn't a single region in the country where F4 could still compete with Zhou Yi.

Zhou Jielun, one of the three stick figures of the Golden Melody Awards alongside Zhou Yi, once again, just like last year, basically secured third place on all major charts—

First was the newcomer Zhou Yi, second was F4 with their lingering power, and third was him.

And watching Zhou Yi's new song reach the top again, Zhou Yi's die-hard fans in the Treasure Island began to mobilize, provoking Zhou Yi's past opponents everywhere—

"Illiterate F4! Kneel down!"

One shout of "Kneel down," struck with such righteous confidence.

What use is Gu Juji? Besides "I Want So Much," what songs does he have? And that song was originally defeated by Zhou Yi! Kneel!

Ren Xianqi? Liu Ruoying? Tao Zhe? Zhou Huajian? All of them are old—they all must kneel!

As time passed, this trend even flowed backward to the mainland and Hong Kong.

On October 8, after the National Day holiday ended, Warner officially announced the first-week sales of Zhou Yi's album "Lianshan," and Zhou Yi's fans' arrogance reached its peak—

554,367 copies on the mainland!

186,821 copies in Taiwan!

114,614 copies in Hong Kong!

30,081 copies in Macau!

In just one week, relying on the high popularity built by his first three albums and one EP, "Lianshan" directly ignited the mainland album market in 2002, instantly elevating the standard to a level ordinary people could never reach!

"Broken the record of 403,621 first-week copies for 'Jiangnan'! Again creating a sales myth in the mainland music market! Who else?!"

After Warner released the first-week sales figures, mainland Zhou Yi fans became utterly haughty.

"The Four Heavenly Kings? Kneel!"

"Xie Tingfeng? Do you even deserve to be called one of the Twin Stars? Kneel!"

"Sun Nan? Do you even deserve to compete for the top spot? Kneel!"

Some foreign music fans, unable to tolerate this, remarked: "Don't get too carried away—next door, Utada Hikaru released a Japanese album and sold over 2.3 million copies in its first week without any promotion. Zhou Yi still has a long way to go."

"Oh? There are Japanese friends here? Yōshī yōshī—you kneel!"

Zhou Yi's fans replied: You're blowing smoke—wait until your master releases an English album before you dare compare yourself to Zhou Yi. First, kneel!

(End of Chapter)