Chapter 390: The Gold Content of Star (5k)

If there were a crack in the floor of the audience stands, Hu Ge's only thought at this very moment would be to shrink down and钻 into it to hide—

Because he was utterly ashamed.

What a disgrace, what a disgrace.

Zhou Yi's look of shock, which came entirely from instinct, combined with the still-playing accompaniment of "Mr. Lonely," mixed with the uproarious laughter all around, made him feel as though he was no longer suited to stay on Earth.

Admittedly, liberating one's nature is a mandatory lesson for actors, but in a venue of eighty thousand people, Hu Ge, who couldn't even be considered a novice, clearly lacked the mental strength—

The live broadcast director at the concert venue thoughtfully aimed a camera at Hu Ge, who was bending over with both hands covering his face to avoid the lens, clearly contrasting him with Zhou Yi's surprised expression, maximizing the level of social death.

"Don't chicken out! Don't chicken out, Hu Ge!"

Watching his good friend lose face all the way to the solar system, Yuan Hong on the side was laughing so hard he was bending forward and backward, his eyes nearly invisible, yet he still acted with brotherly loyalty by forcibly prying open Hu Ge's hands that were covering his face, constantly egging him on.

Hu Ge, who couldn't hold back his laughter himself, looked up after regaining his sight and saw himself on the big screen; he was truly too ashamed to face anyone, hurriedly waving his hands repeatedly, shrinking back into his seat with his lips pressed together, his facial expression changing seven times in three seconds, until in the end he could only use a smile to mask his embarrassment.

The accompaniment during the final stage of "Mr. Lonely" was still continuing, and Zhou Yi, who was nearly laughing himself into a fit like everyone else, knew the moment he opened his mouth that his emotional interpretation of the song was ruined for this time; he barely managed to get through the last high note by holding his breath tight—

He now understood how much self-control it took to keep singing in Dai Peini's famous "How" scene in the future.

It was fine on a variety show, but at a proper concert or fan meeting like this, the audience's emotions would fully influence the singer themselves, let alone the difficulty of "Mr. Lonely" being much higher than "How"; his final high note almost drifted ten thousand miles away.

"Come on, everyone, let's give some applause to encourage him~"

At the end, Zhou Yi still led the applause for Hu Ge, who dared to challenge himself, and teased: "It's been over two years since my debut, and this is the first time I've pinched my own thigh while singing. What is your name, friend?"

Saying this, he handed the microphone back over.

"Hu Ge, Hu as in 'wild talk', Ge as in 'song'."

Hu Ge, still a university student, offered some defense after recovering, with not a shred of stage fright visible in his words: "Um, let me explain, actually I don't sing like this normally; that was just because of the posture. When I sing at school, people give me the nickname 'Zhou Yi Shanghai Branch Zhou Yi'."

At the end, seemingly afraid Zhou Yi wouldn't believe him, Hu Ge even dragged over Yuan Hong, who was watching the spectacle: "My brother can vouch for it, really, no lying."

"Ah yes yes yes, we are all students from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, my name is Yuan Hong, I can vouch for it."

Yuan Hong, who had already made a mental note of this to mock Hu Ge for the rest of his life, was smiling so brightly.

"OK, then let's thank student Hu Ge and student Yuan Hong with applause once again."

Zhou Yi, knowing these two would become famous in the future, felt a bit emotional, especially regarding Hu Ge; this black history would probably follow his entire future career from now on. However, with this happening...

"Then, student Hu Ge, how about this: since you say you actually sing very well, why not pick a song next to prove yourself? You and me, how about we sing together? I can also provide harmony for you."

Before Zhou Yi finished speaking, the other fans who had been laughing just moments ago suddenly couldn't laugh anymore—they all widened their eyes, occasionally letting out incredulous shouts.

Singing with an idol at a concert?!

And being able to pick the song ourselves?!

Is it really this good?

What kind of god-tier idol is this?!

Even Hu Ge himself showed a look of disbelief on his face upon hearing Zhou Yi's words, pointing his right index finger at his own mouth, which had opened slightly in surprise, as if he couldn't quite believe it: "I, I can pick a song? Is it like the song-picking in KTV?? We sing together?"

The female fans beside Hu Ge, who had originally treated this good-looking guy as a joke, now had their eyeballs nearly bulging green.

Damn!

Why didn't you say something this good earlier?!

If you had said so earlier, I would have come to sing! I guarantee I sound better than this horse-face!

"Yes, consider this an experiment for this concert. Come on, student Hu Ge."

Zhou Yi nodded with a smile.

As the saying goes, arriving early is not as good as arriving at the right time; he had originally planned to include a fan song-picking segment at the concert, so he took this opportunity to introduce this song-picking interaction segment that would surprise the fans on site.

In 2002, this was still a way to increase topic热度 and fan loyalty.

Song-picking is actually not unfamiliar to fans; the fan-favorite big shot of the last century, Wakin Chau, often did these fan-interaction song-picking segments, but usually his song-picking happened at live TV shows, fan meetings, or signing concerts, not at concerts.

For them, Zhou Yi doing this kind of thing at a concert was a brand-new experience for the first time.

Hu Ge, who got the first turn, was immediately met with envy from many people; he himself was so happy he could hardly find his bearings—there was actually such a good thing?

Singing a duet with Zhou Yi; how many famous singers in the music industry don't even have this chance; rounding this up, he was practically more awesome than those famous singers.

"Is any song okay? No matter what song I pick, it's okay?"

"Of course, even if it's not my song, but in that case I can't sing much because it wasn't reported." Zhou Yi, taking a break during the interaction segment, returned to the stage to adjust the microphone and replied with a smile.

"Then I want to pick 'Dong Feng Po'."

Holding the microphone that the staff had prepared and ready to hand over at any moment, Hu Ge confirmed the song almost without thinking: "I really like this song."

As the most widely sung of Zhou Yi's current Chinese-style songs, although "Dong Feng Po" never topped the charts at number one, its more enduring charm successfully carved out another Jiangshan for him, becoming the foundation.

"Alright, 'Dong Feng Po', Brother Chen, trouble you guys to play it again."

Zhou Yi turned halfway, raised his hand, and signaled to the band—

The next second, amidst the incredulous screams of tens of thousands in the entire venue, the sound of "Dong Feng Po" actually played again!

So crazy!

Really?! This is actually real?!

"A lamp of parting sorrow, a lonely lamp stands at the window

"At the door, I pretend you haven't left yet~"

Suppressing the excitement and nervousness in his heart, Hu Ge opened his mouth directly but entered a beat late; fortunately, the experienced band quickly backed him up, avoiding another failure: "Returning to the old place like a revisit, the full moon makes it lonelier

"The candle flame awake at midnight cannot bear to blame me~~"

To be fair, Hu Ge's timbre is quite suitable for singing within the realm of actors, especially for songs like "Dong Feng Po".

The insert song "Xiao Yao Tan" from the TV series "Chinese Paladin 1", on which he would later rely for fame, is a song that imitates "Dong Feng Po" from start to finish; the severity of the plot even exceeds Li Yijie's "Burial of Roses" imitating "Nocturne".

It is unknown whether Hu Ge, after being arranged by the company to sing the insert song "Xiao Yao Tan" in the future, will feel surprised about this song.

Zhou Yi, with his eyebrows raised, opened his mouth while looking at Hu Ge, who was staring intently at the teleprompter—

"Who is playing a tune of Dong Feng Po on the pipa, seeing childhood as the years peel off the wall~"

"I still remember that year when we were both so young, and now the lingering notes of the qin — my waiting, you never heard it~~"

Inside the vast Shanghai 80,000-seat Stadium, this song rang out once again — only this time, the envious gazes of tens of thousands of people all turned toward the man who could sing a duet with Zhou Yi.

"Ahhhh!! Why not me! I want to sing too!"

In the inner-floor area, Deng Shiying, who had spent a fortune on tickets and had her mom bring her in, was so jealous her back molars were nearly ground to dust.

What kind of rule is this random duet?!

Does everyone have to make a fool of themselves?

Little Deng Shiying was deeply troubled.

When the song ended, Hu Ge, who had successfully redeemed himself with a rendition of "East Wind Breaks," was visibly much more excited, and openly threw three farmer's punches in front of the camera without any hesitation.

"OK, thanks to our future big star of Shanghai Theatre Academy, student Hu Ge. Applause."

Zhou Yi, who had caught this wave, led the applause and then announced another piece of news that sent the entire audience of fans into a frenzy —

"I know that gathering eighty thousand people here in Shanghai this time is a very special occasion, and it's very commemorative for me too. So, I have an idea — every lucky fan whose song gets picked during the song-request segment tonight, after the concert ends, let's all go out for a late-night snack together. How about it?!"

This time, what answered Zhou Yi was a stadium-wide shriek that could only be called noise pollution!

"Ahhhhh!!!"

"Pick me, pick me!"

"Hubby, pick me!!!"

Not only could they sing with their idol, but after the song they could even go eat a late-night snack together?!

How could you not rush over there, damn it?!

Zhou Yi raised his right hand in a downward-pressing gesture and snapped his fingers; the stadium lights immediately dimmed, and Zhou Yi himself closed his eyes: "Earlier, student Hu Ge just happened to bump into it, so we didn't use the rule I had set. So next, when I say stop, the big screen on stage will show a lucky fan who has been chosen."

As he spoke, the concert's big screen flashed through seat numbers at extreme speed —

"Stop!"

At Zhou Yi's command, the big screen immediately stopped scrolling, and the seat number countless people had been waiting for appeared right in the center of the screen.

"Yay! Great! Great! I won!"

Up in the rather poor-view seats, Wang Zhengliang, who hadn't held out any hope at all, had just been looking indifferent — but the moment he realized that seat was his, he was instantly ecstatic. He leaped up from his chair in a single bound, frantically shaking Zhang Jie beside him: "I won!"

The glasses perched on his nose bridge nearly fell off his face because his movements were so violent.

Before, he had envied Zhang Jie for having met Zhou Yi. Now things were great — he didn't need to envy anyone, and he could even have a meal with Zhou Yi.

"Alright, please have our staff hand the microphone to this gentleman."

Zhou Yi, who didn't recognize the younger version of Wang Zhengliang, simply took this leather-jacket young man as an ordinary fan of his, and the fellow excitedly picked… "Ghost"!

"I really love this song — really, really love it."

"My album's been out for so long, and you're still the first person to actively request 'Ghost.' Come on, this fan friend — what's your name?"

"Wang Zhengliang. My name is Wang Zhengliang."

???

Zhou Yi, who had abruptly heard this familiar name, felt a twinge of surprise in his heart.

What's going on?

Is this the Time Guardian?

How is it that every random pick turns out to be a future star? Are there this many future stars at my concert?

That doesn't add up either — the Workers' Stadium show didn't— oh, the Workers' Stadium show didn't have a fan song-request segment. Never mind then.

Just as Zhou Yi thought he'd run into a ghost, the next three lucky fans' names turned out to have no star quality about them, and they sang "Da Cheng Xiao Ai," "Butterfly Spring Side," and "Prague Square" without a hitch.

But when it was the fifth fan's turn, that damned star quality came knocking again —

"Hello, Zhou Yi, my name is Deng Wenbin, and my favorite is your 'West Chamber'…"

The small-eyed young man from Guangxi, born in '79, was clearly very nervous after realizing he'd been picked, and spoke with utmost respect about the song he most wanted to request.

The sixth was a girl named Zhang Jing (jing) Ying, currently a vocational-high student in a band…

As for the last one…

"Huh?! I got picked?!"

Little Deng Shiying, who had been staring longingly at others, hadn't even reacted after her mom nudged her — after all, the number on the screen wasn't her seat number.

"Silly, this is Mommy's seat."

Deng Shiying's mom indulgently ruffled her daughter's head, and under everyone's gaze swapped seats with her daughter.

——?!

Mommy's seat?!

Once she caught on, the girl immediately broke into her signature goldfish-mouth grin, simply stood up on the seat with both feet and kept waving at Zhou Yi on stage, happy like a child who'd gotten candy: "Here, here! Me! Me me! It's me!"

"My name is Deng Shiying! I'm from Hong Kong, I came all the way just to see Zhou Yi's concert!"

Zhou Yi: "…"

Well, looking at that very recognizable face, even at such a young age you can already tell what she'll look like later. Deng Shiying, stage name Deng Ziqi — no doubt about it.

After the future golden age of the music scene declined, one of the rare powerhouse female singers who could carry the banner of the younger generation, and the only new-generation female singer who could still hold up the title of diva after the era of traffic arrived.

Among my fans, there are quite a few… hidden dragons and phoenix chicks?

If we go around eating once, more than half of them would be stars who could become big in the future.

Debuting early really does feel pretty good.

In a good mood, Zhou Yi smiled and squatted down: "So, student Deng Shiying, what song would you like to request?"

"Mr. Lonely!"

The decisive, childish tone made the smile instantly vanish from Hu Ge's face — he had been chatting and laughing with Yuan Hong just a second ago, saying the little girl was pretty cute —

What the hell, how are you already Mr. Lonely?

You're the only child in the entire venue who's this naive—

"I can do it, no! way! to care~~~"

When Zhou Yi was also surprised by why she chose this song, the latter erupted into a powerful high note with an expression that wasn't too ferocious!

A small body unleashed tremendous energy, leaving everyone in awe and silencing all doubts!

"Hey, you sing worse than a child." Yuan Hong, sitting beside him, couldn't resist stirring the pot, perfectly grasping the essence of mockery.

Hu Ge: "..."

What kind of stuff did this child eat while growing up?

Looking at her, she's still quite short; with such fluent speech, she's probably only around ten years old, maybe just started middle school. Is this the high note a middle school student can sing???

Backstage.

Qian Jiang, who had only intended to watch whether Zhou Yi's performance was proceeding according to the schedule, scratched his head—

This child seems somewhat familiar; isn't she from Zhou Yi's Hong Kong fan club?

How can a child so young sing so awesomely?

"This kid is impressive; she can even hold such a high note steadily, and her singing technique is applied quite skillfully, obviously she's had systematic training."

Beside Qian Jiang, Xiao Yaxuan, who had just come down from the guest seats, was equally surprised: "Is she from Warner?"

For a child of this age, her singing ability is so good it's almost ridiculous. Therefore, her first thought was that Warner might be trying to promote a new artist, using Zhou Yi's high-exposure concert to pull some behind-the-scenes tricks to give the newcomer some exposure.

"No, as far as I know, she hasn't joined any record label and is still studying at school; it's probably a class or teacher arranged by her family."

Qian Jiang shook his head, his tone also filled with disbelief.

Before, he hadn't taken it seriously, but now it seems this girl is quite extraordinary.

If we could sign her to serve as Warner's reserve talent, wouldn't that be a huge leap forward?

Xiao Yaxuan, who clearly saw what Qian Jiang was thinking, smiled indifferently: "You think about it slowly; I'll go first."

It was about time for her to go on stage to assist in the performance, and she should go change clothes.

As for signing someone?

Now that she has renewed her contract, she is officially the number one star of Virgin; even veteran divas like Lin Yilian have to step aside. A ten-year-old child isn't worth her making a formal fuss to get an agent over here.

On stage, after finishing the duet of "Mr. Lonely," Zhou Yi was clearly also praising Deng Shiyin highly—

"I consider my singing talent to be quite good, but when I was at Deng Shiyin's age, I only knew how to play. The waves behind push the waves ahead."

Honestly, Zhou Yi was still confident about singing properly, after all, the vocal apparatus was his own.

But compared to someone like Deng Ziqi, who could win dozens of singing competition championships, big and small, at such a young age, his related honors from middle school seemed pitifully insufficient—he mostly won "Three Good Student" certificates that could be used to paste on walls.

He'd even find those things too rough to use for wiping his butt.

"I strangely feel like I'm already old. I recall that phrase was said to me by Miss Xiao Yaxuan when she met me in Taiwan back then."

As soon as the man finished speaking, a wave of friendly laughter immediately spread through the arena, and many dual fans who were also Xiao Yaxuan's fans shouted "Elva."

Everyone knew that when Zhou Yi was first taken to Taiwan by Zhou Jianhui, the first "patron" he met was the little diva Xiao Yaxuan, who was already half the sky red at that time.

"I—"

"Who is calling my name?"

Before Zhou Yi could even speak, he was interrupted by that extremely powerful female alto voice—

The audience in the venue first froze for a moment, and then, upon seeing the piano slowly rising from the center of the stage, they cheered happily with loud howls!

"Elva! Elva! Elva!"

She wore a white top, and the hem of her roughly 30D sheer black skirt revealed the woman's ankles, which were faintly visible; the beautiful leg lines developed from dance practice were especially eye-catching when she lay on the pure white piano with her legs curled up.

The intro to "Back-to-Back Hug" slowly began to play; Xiao Yaxuan, who had rolled over on the piano, propped her cheek with one hand and stared straight ahead with both eyes at the man who was smilingly introducing her entrance—

"Let us welcome, Elva, Xiao Yaxuan!"

(End of this chapter)