Chapter 357: This Cantonese Has to Be Learned (4k)

"Tearful? You cried? Are you sad?"

The host was somewhat curious.

Isn't this just a cat crying over a mouse—fake sympathy?

"No, it's purely from the spiciness."

When talking about his childhood, Zhou Yi showed no hesitation, nodding honestly and adding a quick endorsement: "Many people associate spicy food with Sichuan, but Jiang Xi cuisine's heat level is actually even higher."

"Let me put it this way—in Jiang Xi, if you order a simple stir-fried vegetable without specifying otherwise, the dish they bring you will absolutely be chili stir-fried vegetables, with bits of small red or green chilies visible in the plate."

"Why are Jiang Xi people so good at eating spice? The reason lies right here. Growing up, you eat with adults—starting out crying and choking, then slowly getting used to it, until it becomes second nature."

Host: "... So you're really good at eating spice?"

"Can't say I'm that good—need to be humble. After all, lots of my fans praise me for being humble and possessing traditional virtues; I've got to satisfy them."

Zhou Yi, lounging with one leg crossed, smiled lightly and looked utterly relaxed: "So, average—world third."

"..."

You really are humble.

The female host now only regretted that the recording time for "Jade New Express" was too limited—she couldn't squeeze out another half-hour to film more with Zhou Yi, who could energize the entire show without a script.

"Why not sign for another episode!"

"Of course not—getting one episode is already lucky; he's got to rush to the next venue."

"..."

The production team's response left the host sadly seeing off Zhou Yi, and she slipped him a business card with a phone number written on it—

After getting in the car, Zhou Yi tossed it to Qian Jiang.

"What's this?"

"A flirtation—the female host's number. I'm giving it to you."

"Get lost—I've got a wife and kids already. You've got ulterior motives, Zhou Yi, trying to wreck my family."

Qian Jiang immediately tore it up and tossed the pieces into the car's trash bag, laughing and scolding.

Zhou Yi leaned his seat back, lying down with his hands behind his head, shaking his head and making clicking sounds: "Tsk tsk tsk."

"Stop tsking—two days from now you've got another show, 'SMS On Demand,' a Hong Kong hit where fans text questions to guests—it's a kind of informal interview that'll help refine your image here."

"Another one?" After multiple rounds of bombardment, Zhou Yi had thought he could rest; hearing this, his expression froze in disbelief.

"Even Zhang Xueyou can't escape these promotions—global giants like Michael Jackson have to turn themselves into donkeys during album cycles. This is just Mao Maoyu to you; others run four show shoots a day, and you've barely managed two."

As he spoke, Qian Jiang handed Zhou Yi an invitation: "An Yinghuang banquet invitation—will you go?"

"They still have the energy for a banquet?" Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow in surprise, taking it and noticing it didn't specify the occasion.

"It's private. You've been in Hong Kong for days without targeting Xie Tingfeng, without causing trouble for Yinghuang, and never spoke ill of him—they've acknowledged that favor."

Qian Jiang smiled: "They were terrified at first you'd say something wrong and trigger major public backlash. Now, after PR efforts, he got only fourteen days detention and 240 hours of community service—that's already generous."

"Yinghuang's entire staff is reportedly celebrating; they're planning two farewell fan meetings after Xie Tingfeng finishes his community service, to mitigate the damage, and see about a comeback later."

"I doubt he'll ever return to top-tier status. But given Xie Tingfeng's foundation, he's very likely to land at least a second-tier position after his return."

Second-tier top star—that was Qian Jiang's best-case prediction for Xie Tingfeng's comeback.

After all, today's Hong Kong isn't the Hong Kong of the past; back then, someone like Gu Tianle, who'd been to prison, could still explode in popularity afterward—now, impossible.

Not to mention Xie Tingfeng is now mocked across the entire territory—even his most loyal fan clubs disbanded after the judge's gavel fell; he's truly a drum beaten by ten thousand hands.

"You're overthinking it. With this current batch, do you believe Xie Tingfeng can still reclaim top-tier status by sheer talent after his comeback?"

Zhou Yi snorted, taking the invitation and mercilessly mocking the new-generation male idols besides Xie Tingfeng.

There's no helping it—the new-generation male idols in Hong Kong are just terrible, all useless scraps.

Yinghuang never planned to bring Xie Tingfeng back so soon; they intended to ease him back in gradually. But then came Chen Guanxi, Yu Wenle, and others—each boasting louder than the last, excelling in both film and music—

And so Yinghuang immediately cut Xie Tingfeng's break short, relaunching him after just six months.

The reason? Even after Xie Tingfeng's six-month silence, not a single one of these new-generation Hong Kong male idols could step up and carry the banner.

They couldn't pull box office in films; their hollow popularity relied on side gigs and scandal-mongering; their concerts lost money, forcing their companies to cancel all concert plans—even fan meetings were unaffordable, because they'd lose money.

Selling 30,000 albums was already champagne-worthy; even counting mainland sales, it barely reached 100,000—or less—nothing compared to Xie Tingfeng's numbers.

That's the real reason Xie Tingfeng can easily return to top-tier status after his comeback, while Chen Guanxi, Yu Wenle, and others will forever remain supporting players.

Audience favor is truly mystical.

Plus, Xie Tingfeng genuinely has talent—this must be acknowledged. Musically, he's universally recognized as gifted; acting-wise, he's only half-experienced, but after years of training, he's still held up the last face of Hong Kong cinema—

After years as a chef, his first film back, "Raging Fire," made every man and woman in the theater gasp with admiration, making most viewers forget the film's plot holes.

Far superior to the likes of Chen Guanxi and others, who dare to market themselves as trendy by stitching together scraps of "national trend" fashion.

When the tide recedes, you see who's swimming naked.

"You have a high opinion of him?" Qian Jiang had never seen Zhou Yi so supportive of Xie Tingfeng—he'd never worried Xie Tingfeng would overtake him during their "twin stars" era.

"He's the only one among Hong Kong's new-generation male idols who can fight. The rest are rotten fish and spoiled shrimp."

Zhou Yi shrugged, pulled on his eye mask, and closed his eyes to nap.

Night.

Back at the hotel, after showering, Zhou Yi was texting Sun Yanzi, Cheng Hao, Fan Bingbin, and others when a message from A Sa interrupted his multitasking chat—

"Congrats, your new album's selling like crazy, radio's crushing it."

"Still awake this late? Turning into a night owl?"

At the sight of the message, Zhou Yi rubbed his chin, a sly smile curling at his lips.

"Late? Back when I was filming, I didn't even finish work at this hour. You've seen 'The Great Sage Sun Wukong,' right? I filmed that one brutally hard—tight schedule, nonstop overtime..."

On the other end of the phone, A Sa, lying in her bedroom, blinked, deleted "Not too late," and instead began complaining, while tossing out "The Great Sage Sun Wukong" as a topic.

To see if a girl likes you, watch whether she initiates and expands topics in conversation—timeless truth.

The two of them were chatting happily through the network, while on the other side, Fan Bingbin—who had just seen Zhou Yi send "I'm going to take a shower"—fell into deep thought—

If she wasn't reading the time wrong, it was 1:30 AM now, wasn't it?

"That busy? Damn, if I'd known I would've bet more. If I had to borrow money to bet, maybe my net worth could've caught up a little." Fan Xiaopang, still clinging to her ambitious-family persona, looked at the huge sum that had appeared in her Hong Kong account and ground her teeth in regret.

Back during the World Cup, she had taken Zhou Yi's merciless mockery and judgment of the Korean team entirely to heart, and then after looking into all the shady dealings behind the Korean team's run through the tournament, she hardened her heart, gritted her teeth, and—figuring the worst case was just going to Zhou Yi and openly asking to be kept—went all in—

And then she won big, her pockets overflowing. Fan Xiaopang, who had never in her life seen so much money, felt her little heart pounding away.

To prevent any leaks, she hadn't even told her own family, only calling Zhou Yi to chat—planning to show off a little, but instead she saw Zhou Yi had just been awarded the nickname "Zhou One Billion."

The little flame that had just risen in her heart was doused by a basin of cold water from reality.

Even if she beat the Korean team into smoke she still couldn't earn a billion—fuck!

"No good, I still have to go back to Hong Kong tomorrow, perfect timing to ask him about that movie." Because she'd been running between the Hong Kong circle and the mainland, Fan Xiaopang was also well aware of a hot rumor circulating in the industry lately—

Famous Hong Kong director Johnnie To was currently in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures about investing in a romance film called *Turn Left, Turn Right*, and the two sides' cooperation was nearly finalized—practically a done deal.

Moreover, according to the grapevine, Warner Music had also stuck its foot in—

Thanks to Johnnie To's reputation, Warner Music had secured the theme song slot for this romance film.

It was still unknown who Warner Music would assign to sing this not-yet-written theme song, but one thing was certain—as Warner Music's current top diva, Sun Yanzi was absolutely the top choice.

There's Sun Yanzi, there's Johnnie To, and there's a famous original source.

Fan Bingbin really wanted to act in this film; she really wanted to become famous, so she could pull off an underdog victory!

Meanwhile, back on the mainland, Cheng Hao, who was reading the script for *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*, saw Zhou Yi's text—"Asa messaged me, gotta go for now"—and smiled as she shook her head.

She had to admit, the role her teacher had found for her in this script was indeed decent—and the pay Zhang Big Beard offered was also quite generous, at the very least enough to refill her personal deficit account a little.

The annual salary Gui Yi paid her was a drop in the bucket compared to what she owed Zhou Yi; with her other internet investments showing no signs of life and still bleeding money, Cheng Hao, who didn't want to just sit around watching her savings dwindle, could only—while waiting for Wang Xiaoyu's move—start trying to act in films to earn money and pay off her debt.

Right now she basically just had the empty title of company general manager; the company accounts were running fine, but her personal account had nothing in it—even Wang Xiaoyu, who ran the water army, had more money than her.

She couldn't exactly embezzle Zhou Yi's money—after all, she was earning money to pay Zhou Yi back.

"NetEase, Sina, when are you two going to surge up like Zhou Yi said? Relying on acting to pay back money is really tough…"

Her father's treatment fees, surgery fees, and recuperation fees combined were undoubtedly an astronomical figure for Cheng Hao; just thinking about it made her sigh, and she slapped the script—"*smack*"—right onto her own face—

Lights off, sleep.

Sun Yanzi, who was in Taiwan filming the MV for her new album, had just finished the night shoot; still sporting what Zhou Yi jokingly called her "Vest Venerable" look—her signature short hair, tank top, and constant running.

After the director called cut and she finished today's reshoot work, she also saw the text Zhou Yi had sent over ten minutes later—

"A pretty Hong Kong girl messaged me, I'll tell you tomorrow."

Still on Hong Kong girls, still on Hong Kong girls—eventually you'll get set up in a honey trap, and you'll regret it to death! Probably gonna have to count on me to bail you out!

Sun Yanzi pursed her lips, picked up a towel to wipe her sweat, and tucked her phone into her pocket—

"Yanzi, Warner Bros. Pictures has an investment next year—they're planning to fund their first Chinese-language film, total investment around twenty-four million Hong Kong dollars. I've secured the chance for you to sing the theme song."

The ghost-like Chen Ze Shan nearly gave Sun Yanzi a heart attack—

"Huh? A movie theme song?"

Sun Yanzi, who had never sung a movie theme song since her debut, looked completely lost: "Who's in it?"

"Don't know. The investment money isn't finalized yet, no script, no cast. But an investment scale of over twenty-four million Hong Kong dollars counts as a big production—you'd absolutely not lose out fighting for it."

Chen Ze Shan, who fought for his ace's interests first regardless of anything, knew nothing about any of it.

His philosophy—grab the opportunity first, then sort it out.

"Then who's writing the theme song?"

…………………………………………

"Theme song? What theme song? How come I don't know about this?"

Hong Kong, a private kitchen at a barbecue restaurant that often catered to celebrities.

Zhou Yi, wearing a white baseball cap, a floral shirt, and beach shorts, had a skewer of piping-hot lamb in his mouth, and looked up at Asa, who had invited him out for a late-night snack.

Asa, who had clearly dressed up carefully, took a delicate little bite of chicken cartilage in a very ladylike manner, and upon hearing his question couldn't help but let go, with a "I'm only telling you this secret" expression: "It's Johnnie To's new film, supposedly invested by your Warner Bros., called *Turn Left, Turn Right*."

"A lot of singers are competing for it, but right now they're all waiting to see if you're going to jump in, including Joey from our company. After all, if you're going in, the others basically don't stand a chance."

"Don't know, anyway I haven't heard anything from the company yet. And I've still got a *Pirates of the Caribbean* theme song to write right now—scheduling conflict, the company probably won't ask me to sing this one."

One is a global-level big production, the other is a "big" production with an investment of only twenty-four million Hong Kong dollars.

Which is right and which is wrong, Zhou Jianhui should still be able to tell.

"*Pirates of the Caribbean*? What's that?"

Asa's eyes were a little confused.

"It's Pirates of the Caribbean." Zhou Yi repeated in his half-baked Cantonese, his clumsy pronunciation snapping Asa back to attention instantly, making her giggle—

"No no, your pronunciation's wrong, that's not how you say it in Cantonese, that deliberate accent is just too awkward."

"What's the problem? Do I have an accent? I don't think I have an accent."

Zhou Yi, completely unaware where he'd gone wrong, smiled and extended an olive branch: "How about you teach me some more, let me learn?"

"For real?" Asa, also smiling as she locked eyes with the man, had a rather sweetly naive smile.

"Of course it's real, this Cantonese has to be learned, absolutely has to be learned."

Zhou Yi teased: "I've still got so many fans in Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong."

Asa snapped her fingers, beaming as she pointed at Zhou Yi: "Then let's get this straight—if I scold you during the learning process, you're not allowed to back out."

(End of chapter)