Chapter 396

"?"

Zhou Yi was utterly surprised: "How did you know about this?"

"Nonsense, his domestic sales rank second only to yours among male singers. 'Fantasy' is expected to reach sales of around 250,000 to 280,000 in Taiwan, and including Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, total sales across the entire Chinese-speaking region should break the one million mark within a year."

"If I'm not following him, who should I follow? Watching Xiao Yaxuan? That's something Chen Ze Shan should worry about."

Watching Xiao Yaxuan's album and Sun Yanzi's album were absolutely stealing the spotlight in the market; Watching Xiao Yaxuan's legitimate sales reached the million level, while Sun Yanzi's new album was booming with strong momentum to break the one million mark in the short term.

These two were undoubtedly the top female singers in today's music scene; it was just that their image positioning differed, their tracks didn't overlap, so resources had never faced much conflict.

Tao Zhe's album sales, released two years after his last one, were somewhat crushed; 'Black Album' had total sales of only over 600,000 to date. Although this could be considered a huge success, compared to the current figures in the music scene, these sales were somewhat insufficient to look at.

Qian Jiang was speaking when he suddenly seemed to realize something; after reacting, he frowned and asked, "You know he bet? You didn't bet with him, did you? If you did, how many others know?"

"No, don't worry; on this point, I still have a clear sense of reality. I didn't even bet on the 2002 World Cup, so why would I go to the gambling table to throw money away?"

Zhou Yi waved his hand, completely unconcerned.

The matter of Milk Tea Lun being a heavy gambler, if traced back, actually started after his first album 'JAY' sold hugely and he became the Rookie King.

With money in hand, Milk Tea Lun immediately fell in love with casino trips while producing albums; however, under the company's packaging, his whereabouts were always kept very hidden, and he always claimed publicly that he was traveling to gather inspiration.

Later, when the media exposed that he had lost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in a few days, it instantly caused an uproar, forcing him to clarify in an interview that he indeed gambled, but guaranteeing he absolutely didn't lose that much, really just gambling for fun in moderation.

He was also very smart; he rarely gambled large amounts domestically, basically doing so only abroad.

Thanks to the poor information flow of this era, at least 90% of mainland fans didn't know he had this bad habit; he still maintained his shy big-boy image in front of the media.

"You really didn't?"

"Nonsense, if I have money, I invest it; gambling is too risky for me; investing is safer than gambling."

"..."

Qian Jiang opened his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

He actually really wanted to ask Zhou Yi what difference there was between that pile of investments and losing money gambling; wasn't that stuff also a casino? But considering Zhou Yi hadn't pulled off any such stunts for so long, he thought it over and decided to let it go.

"As long as you didn't gamble, that's fine. To be honest, when I first received this news, I was startled; he really dares to lose. 'Fantasy' earned him so much money, yet in the end, he couldn't even bear to buy the sports car he wanted to buy..."

Qian Jiang, who went with Zhou Yi to meet the guests, was still quite emotional on the way.

Back then, he had watched Zhou Yi rescue this seemingly shy, bashful big boy from carbon monoxide poisoning and send him to the hospital. Who could have thought that someone who looked so shy would, after suddenly becoming rich, develop the bad habit of throwing thousands at the gambling table?

After simply having a meal and gathering with the celebrity guests, Zhou Yi, who had sung and danced for three hours, finally dragged his exhausted body back to the hotel.

He went to sleep, but the outside world's media, and even the staff from the official propaganda department, suddenly got completely busy—

One side was collecting reports on the explosion of Zhou Yi's banquet, while the other was rushing to compile various economic growth data.

The next day, while Zhou Yi was still immersed in his dreams, the various media and public opinion outside had already exploded.

As the venue for this concert, major Shanghai newspapers like 'Shanghai Youth Daily', 'City Guide', and 'News Morning' reported on last night's carnival of 80,000 people immediately—

'Shanghai Youth Daily': "An Unprecedented New Concert Experience! 21-year-old Zhou Yi Leads the Trend Again!"

'City Guide': "For the First Time, the 80,000-Person Stadium Was Packed to Capacity; The Number One in the Music Scene Is Truly Deserving!"

'News Morning': "Last Night, Zhou Yi Triggered an Earthquake in the Music Scene!"

'Life Weekly': "Zhou Yi's Concert Features Two New Songs in a Row!"

"..."

As a newspaper with a booming reputation locally, many Shanghai locals, when they woke up early this morning to read the paper, were the first to have this Star concert carnival stuffed into their brains.

Before this, a large teleprompter had never been used at a concert, a song-request segment had never appeared at a concert, and even new songs that exploded the entire venue at concerts—everything, absolutely everything, undoubtedly brought a fresh breeze to the domestic music scene which was still using old-style concert models.

Those few lucky ones selected by Zhou Yi at the concert were even whined over with envy by many people.

Hu Ge, who had returned to the campus, thanks to his fame within his own school, was almost immediately surrounded to the point of being cut off from the outside, with everyone asking questions about Zhou Yi.

After seeing him show off his solo signed photo with Zhou Yi, many people were so sour their teeth almost fell out—

Damn!

Zhou Yi, if you were going to sing a new song, you should have said so early! Then I would have saved some living expenses to buy mantou and just toughed it out to go!

Upon hearing that Zhou Yi had a new song written specifically to thank his fans, these college students' eyeballs almost turned green.

This was a chance to be thanked by Zhou Yi live!

This was Zhou Yi's first time!

Quite a few people who didn't make it to the concert were also discussing everything reported in the newspapers at this moment through forums, school BBS, and chat rooms.

'Shanghai Financial News' even published the single-concert box office data for Zhou Yi's 80,000-person concert early this morning—

58,711,857 Yuan!

"A concert box office of nearly 59 million in just one night; Zhou Yi single-handedly刷新ed the domestic single-concert box office record, raising this record by nearly 26 million!"

"It is understood that for this Zhou Yi Star concert, the official price of 3,000 for indoor seats was 1,517, and the price of 2,000..."

As a professional financial newspaper, 'Financial News' was undoubtedly authoritative in this regard. Moreover, due to its location in Shanghai, the data sources were even more credible.

Therefore, when this analysis report from 'Financial News' was released, it was无异于 bringing a huge impact to the entire Chinese music scene—no, it should be said, to the entire domestic entertainment industry!

"Damn! Did I read that wrong??? Fifty-eight million?!"

"How much?!"

"Wait a minute, let me sort this out; the champion of last year's Spring Festival season was Huayi's 'Big Shot', right? I remember the total box office was around 40 million..."

At the end of 2001, the movie 'Big Shot', which completely cemented Feng Dapao's status as a commercial film director, was released; the box office of over 40 million during the Spring Festival season shocked the entire mainland entertainment industry, and Huayi was consequently riding high, accelerating its recruitment efforts.

But now, Zhou Yi used only one night... oh no, according to Warner's wording, he used only three hours!

"A concert box office exceeding last year's Spring Festival champion?! Who the hell would dare to believe that if it got out?!"

At this moment, everyone in the entertainment industry who saw the newspaper, whether in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or the mainland, all swore.

In the mainland, the two brothers who were the bosses of Huayi, who were originally frantically recruiting and ambitious, were directly stunned in place, unable to speak for a long time.

Feng Dapao, who was riding high, also began to doubt life at this moment.

No—

The art of film, the art of film—what I'm making isn't art film either! I'm a commercial director!

Zhou Yi, this concert of yours—what's the deal with the box office?!

"I went through hell following Director Feng for months on set, and in the end it wasn't even half as fun as singing with Zhou Yi for three hours?"

Inside Huayi, a female employee who had joined the *Big Shot* crew rubbed her own forehead, her face full of disbelief.

She had quit her old job and come here for the bonuses and performance pay.

But from Zhou Yi's situation, judging by the related Warner reports, the red envelopes he gave the staff were far more generous than stingy Huayi's.

Can singers really make this much money?!

If I quit now to go sing, is it still in time?

(End of chapter)