Chapter 385: The Transformation of Identity

As the first choice to take the fall for Zhou Yi's team, Qian Jiang had long since lost count of how many black pots he'd taken for Zhou Yi, and he was often scolded by many geigei fans over marketing matters.

It's just that Weibo hot searches aren't the trend right now; otherwise, with the sheer volume of Zhou Yi's fanbase, they could have刷ed a "Heartache for Geigei" topic up in minutes.

Even many industry insiders who knew nothing about the internal situation at Warner believed that since Zhou Yi's debut, a series of hype campaigns had been led by Qian Jiang, who thus became equally famous with Chen Ze Shan, together dubbed "Warner's Marketing Duo."

Chen Ze Shan, looking thin and somewhat effeminate, was mockingly called Chen Niangniang by many, while Qian Jiang, due to his burly build and general's belly, was nicknamed Qian Huang.

Of course, some people, because the size difference between the two was so obvious, mockingly called them Warner's Heng and Ha Generals, or Warner's Fat and Thin Immortal Boys.

For so long, Qian Jiang himself had grown accustomed to it. Taking another fall was just a trivial matter; why worry about it?

"Because of your current popularity, they've even abandoned the idea of using 'Li Bai' merely as an insert song, changing it directly to the ending theme, which also indirectly affirms Cheng Hao's status as the second female lead in this drama."

Qian Jiang spoke with a somewhat playful tone when bringing up this matter.

The drama "My Fair Princess" (Pink Lady), besides its plot and character settings, actually carried some musical theater attributes. As one of the investors, Rock Records basically pulled in every singer they could use and every copyright from their catalog they could mobilize.

In the original soundtrack album of this drama, the names that rang like thunder were absolutely enough to make people exclaim in disbelief—

Luo Dayou and Li Zongsheng, the two cornerstones of Rock Records, were in charge, along with Wu Bai, Lin Yilian, Zhang Guorong, Qi Yu, Pan Yueyun, Liu Ruoying, Chen Shuhua, Xu Huaiyu, and other famous singers; even the newly popular band Mayday showed up.

The classic songs of these people, plus Zhou Yi's "Li Bai," formed a soundtrack album of fifteen songs—

Rather than calling it a soundtrack album, it was more like Rock Records using the absolute limit of their current all-star lineup to create a glittering greatest hits album.

In terms of quality, the song "Li Bai" definitely wouldn't rank in the top six within it.

But precisely because Zhou Yi was currently too popular, after much deliberation, Rock Records and the other producers abandoned the originally planned ending theme and replaced it with "Li Bai," which was supposed to be just an insert song.

"If you can ride the wave, ride it; it's not shameful."

Zhou Yi smiled, shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice, and didn't mind: "Just consider it boosting my face."

In this current era, a catchy song could expand its influence outward through a popular TV drama—

From the distant past, like "Tongtian Da Dao Kuan You Kuo," which he fought three hundred rounds with upon his debut, to the recent "Forever and Ever" (The Storm Riders) and "Too Much" (Love Across Time).

Next year there's also Sha Baoliang's supreme-level retirement insurance for his singing career: "Dark Fragrance."

The popularity of the drama "My Fair Princess" in the mainland next year is unquestionable; Cheng Hao's Wan Ren Mi will become famous overnight, enchanting countless viewers, and by then "Li Bai" might even stay hot for another year.

"There's one more thing; do you know anyone at China Film Group?"

Qian Jiang paused, his expression turning serious.

"China Film Group?"

Zhou Yi, holding chopsticks in his mouth, paused, raised an eyebrow: "I have no connection with them at all; what's up?"

"According to the information I received, Director Zhang and the others are probably under too much pressure to recoup costs; after you were ambiguous last time, they started preparing two options. One side is negotiating the contract with me, while the other is starting to look for someone who can get you to take this job."

Qian Jiang, who had a bit of a network in the mainland circle, mentioned a name: "And then they found your Miss Fan..."

"..."

As everyone knows, the movie "Hero" had huge investment and huge ambition, aiming to be the commercial benchmark for the domestic film market. Naturally, Han Sanping, the Vice Chairman of China Film Group who always valued the performance of blockbusters, paid extra attention to the performance of "Hero."

And two parties that originally had no connection at all thus formed a bond through the drama "The Empress of China"—Han Sanping was the producer of this TV drama, and Fan Xiaopang, who had an extremely good relationship with Zhou Yi, was the female lead of this drama.

And precisely because of this, Zhang Yimou and others approached Han Sanping and stated their intentions.

"I haven't heard of it."

Is the Mountain King coming out?

Zhou Yi was truly surprised this time.

Could it be that Fan Xiaopang was so busy providing vocal harmony for the piano that she forgot to tell him about this?

That shouldn't be the case.

"It's probably within these two days, because I'm still dragging things out with them over contract issues."

Qian Jiang smiled in a very cunning way: "The fact that the 80,000 tickets in Shanghai sold out in advance has once again gilded your commercial value in the mainland; Director Zhang is even more anxious over there."

80,000 people; what concept is that?

Except for some singers from the distant past whose data is unclear, this is the current ceiling of the Chinese music industry.

If Zhou Yi were willing to cooperate with film promotion while writing songs, they would even be willing to pay a higher price, because the fans who are willing to come to Zhou Yi's concerts really have money. Or rather, they are truly willing to spend money to satisfy spiritual enjoyment.

Such people are of immense help to the future promotion of the film.

"But if he is to cooperate with the promotion, 5 million RMB is probably not enough."

Wuxi Film and Television Base.

Han Sanping, who had come to inspect the preliminary preparations of the "The Empress of China" crew, received a call from Zhang Yimou; after pondering for a while, he frowned and asked: "What is the maximum amount you can come up with right now?"

"7.216 million."

With exact figures, it was clear that Zhang Yimou had truly dug out his remaining savings this time: "According to Jet Li's words, this is still less than one million US dollars; if it were in the US, it would be very difficult to hire a singer of Zhou Yi's level to write a song."

Trying to use favors to get around it? Zhou Yi himself doesn't act, so there isn't even a chance to build personal connections.

Could it be said that Zhang Yimou would go shoot a music video for Zhou Yi?

Jiang Wen shot a music video for Zhou Yi, but because the song was niche, it didn't make any waves at all; instead, it left rumors that he and Zhou Yi fought and quarreled on set every few days, with gossip claiming Zhou Yi even threatened to have Jiang Wen crash into a cement truck.

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

Han Sanping sighed.

If it were a normal singer, where would he need to be so "humble"?

But Zhou Yi was a registered case.

Look at the fate of Ao Dajin; he directly received the same treatment as Jiang Wen, no, even worse than Jiang Wen—he is now being jointly and secretly blacklisted by official print media, losing all his work. He can only accept interviews in third-rate magazines; second-rate ones are off-limits. Now he can only dejectedly sell all his shares and go abroad to avoid the storm.

The key is that no official document has been issued regarding this decision; there are only rumors.

This is the most terrifying part.

With his extreme sensitivity, he could almost confirm that Zhou Yi's identity would undergo a huge leap next year—

Once he joins the Musicians Association, starting next year, whether it's official formal news programs like "News at Thirty," "Morning News," "Evening News," etc., or print media like Xinhua News Agency, Global Times, and People's Daily, whenever news involving him is concerned, the title will basically change from "Superstar Zhou Yi" or "Tianwang Zhou Yi" to "Our Country's Young Singer Zhou Yi."

A proper national calling card.

If Zhou Yi maintains this momentum abroad, he might even have his albums gifted to him when visiting European and American countries in the future.

Thus, while Fan Xiaopang was still poring over the script of "The Supreme Red Beauty," a phone call from producer Han Sanping nearly left her completely stunned—

"Miss Fan, I would like to get to know Zhou Yi..."

I, Fan Xiaopang, actually have the chance to connect with such a top-tier figure in the industry?

Until hanging up the phone, Fan Xiaopang remained dazed; once she came to her senses, she was so excited she nearly performed a White Crane Spreads Its Wings on the bed.

On the other side, Han Sanping likewise looked at the files on Fan Xiaopang and Cheng Hao, his expression thoughtful.

(End of this chapter)