Chapter 351: I Don't Like It

Here he comes, here he comes!

It's still that familiar Zhou Yi vibe!

Even though he has truly gone international, Zhou Yi remains the same Zhou Yi from his debut, without a shred of Guo Tianwang's airs or burdens, still that walking hot-news generator—

He really makes me cry.

This is called staying true to one's original intention!

The reporters, seeing the bonuses and performance metrics waving their wings toward them, grew even more excited, scrambling to ask all sorts of questions, turning the scene into chaos—

"Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi, may I ask if you are..."

"Fellow reporters, A-Yi has just arrived in Hong Kong and needs rest now, needs rest now; A-Yi has been very tired lately from promotion runs."

With a stern face, Qian Jiang used his massive bulk to forcibly block all the microphones thrust toward Zhou Yi, only to find the reporters' mics immediately shifted to his own mouth, as they clamored in unison: "Mr. Qian, did internal problems within your record company cause the issue with Ao Dajin?"

"Mr. Qian..."

The Hong Kong media, not unfamiliar with Ao Dajin, pointed directly at the recent core conflict within Warner.

In 2002, Ao Dajin held a quite high status in the domestic entertainment circle.

Starting from 1990 when he formed the Bronze Bell band with the mainland singer Lao Lang, this name was destined to become one that can never be skipped when reviewing the history of the Chinese pop music category.

His song "The Desk Mate of You," written for his ex-girlfriend, exploded in popularity across Dajiangnanbei after being sung by Lao Lang, completely sparking a campus folk music trend and opening up a new market.

In '96, he co-founded Wheat Music with Song Ke, discovered and launched many new artists, produced numerous albums blending humanistic atmosphere with popularity, and in just three years made Wheat Music the most influential record company in the mainland, surpassing veteran peers like Hongxing Society—

Thus, it attracted the attention of Warner, which wanted to enter the mainland market. When Warner made a move to discuss acquisition, Ao Dajin cashed out at a high position and left, becoming a legend in the market ever since.

Objectively speaking, whether as a musician, producer, or businessman, Ao Dajin was extremely successful in the nineties.

In terms of music, as Ao Dajin's fans themselves put it: all singers who later got to eat from the bowl of campus folk music might have to call him godfather.

Thanks to Ao Dajin's rising prestige, in these current times, not many people could refute what his fans said.

In the late nineties and early new century, his album "I Went to 2000," for which he was one of the producers, further proved that he had not fallen behind after entering the 21st century.

Moreover, due to his upbringing in a highly educated family, he could access new products faster than ordinary people and understand their rules of play more quickly, with the internet being a typical example.

This is also why he left traces at both internet giants Sohu and Sina after entering the new century.

You could say it was because there were no tigers in the mountain so the monkey claimed to be king; or you could say Ao Dajin figured out the internet early, knowing how to market himself, such as his highly educated family background and his intellectual persona.

But it must be admitted that Ao Dajin was indeed quite outstanding in the mainland music circle—he could write lyrics, compose, and arrange, his albums sold well, and even running a record company, he managed to make it number one in the mainland.

In terms of professional capability, there was truly nothing to criticize.

And precisely because of Wheat Music's background, combined with various rumors circulating about internal strife at Warner, the Hong Kong media could easily link the two together.

Both are thousand-year-old foxes; what kind of Liao Zhai are they playing?

If there were truly no conflict of interest, Ao Dajin would have been too busy coming out to speak well of Zhou Yi, let alone trash-talking him.

"Don't just enjoy the trash-talking, A-Yi; Ao Dajin's connections aren't worse than yours, they might even be stronger."

Although he also felt very gratified by Zhou Yi's opening attack, after entering the hotel room, Qian Jiang, having calmed down, still had to remind him.

Zhou Yi was merely an excellent graduate of Peking University's Law School, and since he had not mixed in the circles, he had no direct dealings with those senior students.

He did have connections within his alumni circle, but they were limited to the level of being able to help out occasionally.

Ao Dajin was different—

His maternal grandfather was Zhang Wei, former vice-president of Tsinghua University, one of the founders and first president of Shenzhen University, and an academician of both academies; a close friend of Qian Xuesen.

His maternal grandmother, Lu Shijia, was one of the founders of Beihang University; his parents and uncle were all professors at Tsinghua University.

The alumni face and connection circle that Zhou Yi usually wielded like a tyrant in the domestic entertainment circle was truly insufficient in front of these three great deities; these were all direct relatives, enough to form a proper academic clique.

"So what if his connections are stronger than mine? I don't mix in the domestic academic circle; can they even blacklist me?"

Zhou Yi curled his lip, very disdainful.

He too had a golden body.

Just that one promotional move during the World Cup was enough to grant him golden body treatment in the propaganda sector, let alone the results of his English album slaughtering it internationally.

"Uh, that's true..."

Qian Jiang bared his teeth: "Then do you want to hold a press conference to respond?"

"No need; he's getting too big for his boots. A press conference? I don't have the spare time."

Zhou Yi stretched lazily: "I'm going to participate in that Hong Kong show called 'Entertainment Full of Stars' next, right? The production team definitely won't let this hot topic go; just treat it as album promotion, free heat."

……………………………………

"But what I want to see is not this kind of heat."

In a private room of a private club in the Imperial Capital.

Cheng Hao put down her teacup, frowning slightly: "Have you found any dirt on Ao Dajin?"

"There is some, but I think if released, it probably won't cause too big a storm."

Directly opposite, Wang Xiaoyu, who had been ordered by Cheng Hao immediately after Ao Dajin started trash-talking to dig up dirt on him, pushed a file folder toward her hand: "He has many black spots, but I think the one most suitable for making an article out of is Wu Yajun's suicide."

In September 2000, Ao Dajin's ex-girlfriend Wu Yajun committed suicide at home—

Her mother, with tears streaming down her face, accused Ao Dajin of killing her daughter because he dumped her daughter just before getting married in late 1999 and quickly married another woman, causing her immense psychological harm and leading to her depression.

This incident caused a sensation at the time, but Ao Dajin's response during an interview was: "When she committed suicide, she was Wang Feng's girlfriend, not my girlfriend."

Originally, the blame should indeed have pointed at Wang Feng, who was cheating at the time, but Wu Yajun's mother personally came out to accuse Ao Dajin, saying her daughter's last words before death were: "Mom, I was sold by Ao Dajin," causing public opinion not to scatter onto Wang Feng.

Then, Ao Dajin's terrifying family connection circle came into play.

After traditional media channels gradually fell silent, this matter basically received no more reports, and many people also forgot that this fat-headed fellow had such a dark history that almost made him collapse.

"Fine, then it's her."

After scanning the account of events and background Wang Xiaoyu had collected, Cheng Hao immediately decided: "You go contact Wu Yajun's mother again and tell her we are an emerging internet media channel and won't be controlled by those people like traditional media channels.

"Zhou Yi is Sohu's spokesperson; my company Guiyi and I hold 10% shares in NetEase, and our shares on the NetEase side are also close to 10%. Among the four major portal news websites, except for Tencent, the other three have huge connections with us."

Although currently none of the three were profitable and her pockets were as empty as a drum, this did not prevent Cheng Hao from making the promise.

"Are you sure, President Chen? If you do this so bluntly, once you're exposed, you'll likely be accused of feasting on blood-stained buns. You should know their influence in traditional media channels." Wang Xiaoyu frowned.

"Traditional media channels are outdated; internet channels are the future."

Tapping the table with his right index finger, recalling Zhou Yi's once-solemn words and unchanging confidence, Cheng Hao, having recently studied up on internet knowledge, somewhat understood why many still favored the internet: "Otherwise, what is the point of you starting your own company?"

"If you do this, you'll basically leave no room for maneuvering; there may be no turning back afterward." Wang Xiaoyu reminded him.

"Is there a problem? What can he affect me with?"

Leaning back in his chair, Cheng Hao raised his gaze to look directly at him: "Right now, Aida Jin wants to target Zhou Yi for profit. I dislike his choice, his attitude."

(End of this chapter)