Chapter 424: Music Can Be Down-to-Earth, But Not Underworld-Bound

As the main force among the Golden Melody Three, the various relationships between Jay Chou and Jay Yi were well known across the three shores.

Even though Jay Yi himself was too lazy to bring up these matters, the gossip media kept dredging them up, and fans loved to read them—and easily got into arguments.

Where there's traffic, there's space.

Not to mention the most crucial rescue material was Jay Chou himself publicly defending Zhou Yi on a show; although the actual situation didn't change much—Zhou Yi, as a mainland singer, still couldn't enter or exit Taiwan normally.

But this act of loyalty earned Jay Chou the attention of China Mobile, and after multiple evaluations, he successfully beat out Wang Lihong and others to secure the M-Zone endorsement contract.

At least from Haoledi's perspective, Jay Chou securing this contract—which could boost his influence and recognition on the mainland—was at least 70% due to Zhou Yi's reputation.

Haven't you noticed the other three endorsers all publicly sided with Zhou Yi from the start?

Of course, there's also a 10% chance it's because Sony, behind Wang Lihong, demanded too high a price, which China Mobile couldn't meet.

"If you really can't memorize it, you don't have to sing—just drop the endorsement. I don't care."

"Go to hell, I'm not that stupid."

Jay Chou laughed and cursed on the other end of the line.

He's not like Zhou Yi anymore; though his popularity is high, it's still far behind that of this guy who seems to have cheat codes—especially on the mainland.

His main active market is still Taiwan; his name recognition on the mainland doesn't even match Wang Lihong, the "White Prince" who rose to fame through Wahaha ads.

There's no help for it—Wahaha's ground promotion channels and ads were simply too powerful; Wang Lihong rode the wave and firmly overshadowed him on the mainland, which is precisely why Sony dared to negotiate prices with China Mobile.

Haoledi was also anxious, which is why they were overjoyed when China Mobile extended the olive branch.

Could Wahaha's ground promotion and ads possibly outmatch the behemoth that is China Mobile?

China Mobile was also satisfied—Jay Chou's popularity was high, the endorsement contract was cheap, a win-win situation.

"This Sunday I'll go to the capital to record vocals and shoot promotional photos and the MV. Do you have time? Let's get together Saturday—we haven't met in ages."

After some casual chat, Jay Chou made a plan: "China Mobile is shooting the promo photos together—Xiao Yaxuan, Zhang Shaohan, and Sun Yanzi will probably be there too; we can all have dinner."

"This Sunday… let me think, I should be free."

"Alright, then see you then."

Jay Chou, having simply confirmed the schedule to avoid showing up to nothing, hung up immediately after the affirmative reply; Sun Yanzi, who had already begun tidying up the living room of her new home, straightened up and called out for him to lend a hand.

"Help me out, help me out—I still have to rehearse with Elva for the Spring Festival Gala in a few days; I won't have time to tidy the house then."

Having exhausted herself moving just a few boxes, Sun Yanzi looked at the chaotic pile of belongings she'd brought over, her pleading expression bordering on pitiful.

She didn't understand why she had so much stuff—she'd always felt she owned very little.

"You're such a hassle," Zhou Yi muttered, but his body was honest—he rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the nearest large cardboard box.

"What can I do? If I didn't have to attend the first two rehearsals like you, I wouldn't care either."

Sun Yanzi stood with one hand on her hip, her tone tinged with a hint of bitterness.

As the face of the mainland music scene, Zhou Yi this year already had certain privileges at the Spring Festival Gala—such as being exempt from the first two rehearsals; CCTV's official reason was that the China-Korea Song Festival could, in a sense, serve as Zhou Yi's first two rehearsals.

Moreover, due to the tremendous success of "Young China," the Spring Festival Gala director team was now preparing to select thirty elementary and middle school students to stand on stage with Zhou Yi and perform this song together. They're currently in the screening phase, so Zhou Yi naturally didn't need to attend rehearsals.

Sun Yanzi and Xiao Yaxuan's "Dad and Mom" didn't have such luck; to prevent the performance from being cut, both had to pour every ounce of energy into every rehearsal.

Although Zhou Yi thought it was a dark joke to have Xiao Yaxuan sing "Dad and Mom"—after all, this woman's father was a purebred scumbag, utterly mismatched with the lyrics—Sun Yanzi fit perfectly: happy family, fulfilling life.

As for why this woman agreed to sing this song…

"I don't care. Why not take it? The Spring Festival Gala benefits me, and besides, Yanzi's coming with me."

January 11, Saturday.

Xiao Yaxuan, pulled from her promotional schedule by China Mobile's cash power, appeared at the VIP booth Zhou Yi had reserved on Bar Street, a toothpick between her lips as she grinned carefree: "I envy people with happy marriages—does that mean I have to get married? Don't you think so, Shaohan?"

Sitting beside her was Zhang Shaohan, whom Zhou Yi hadn't seen in a long time.

"Everyone has their own way of living."

Compared to the past, Zhang Shaohan, having shed her rookie naivety, looked in excellent form—another prime example of how red energy nourishes a person.

Last year, Zhang Shaohan skyrocketed into Taiwan's top-popularity female artist ranks with an unexpected twist—her idol drama "MVP Lover" swept the nation, and with her debut album winning the Golden Melody Award for Best New Artist, her popularity in Taiwan had even surpassed Fuma Records' current top female artist…

"Where's Jielun? Hasn't he arrived yet?"

Sun Yanzi, mouth stuffed with two winter jujubes, glanced at her watch and spoke through a mouthful.

"Traffic's jammed—he's probably still a while off."

Leaning against the railing, Zhou Yi gazed down at the rock band waiting backstage, his attention slightly distracted—he nearly missed the warm greetings from familiar elders nearby.

Onstage, the girl was still energetically singing a song that had recently gained minor popularity in the capital—

"You don't need to be so tense, honesty might be hard

"Perfection might just be an illusion to me

"I don't want to talk about the past, flaws are fine

"I want your naturalness~"

The unique melody and vocal style instantly drew the attention of the three women chatting on the other side the moment the singer opened her mouth—

"What song is this? Sounds good, never heard it before."

Xiao Yaxuan, toothpick bobbing between her lips, stood and strolled over to the railing, peering down along Zhou Yi's line of sight, curious.

"'Love Must Be Open and Honest,' from Ge Lai Mei Records—the singer's name is something like Xiao Xiao." Zhou Yi casually plucked a grape from the small fruit platter she was holding and popped it into his mouth.

At the booth, Sun Yanzi, who had just been wolfing down food, blinked at the sight, paused mid-motion, and suddenly found her cantaloupe less appetizing.

"Never heard of it—new album?"

"Yeah, the album's called 'BeautifulAngel.'"

"According to the data, singer Xiao Xiao was one of the victims after Magic Stone Records collapsed; after its shutdown, she was signed by Thailand's Ge Lai Mei Records, which entered the mainland market. This song is originally Thai, adapted into Chinese and just released recently—probably doing offline promotion now."

Zhang Shaohan looked impressed.

No wonder Zhou Yi is so popular—he must never stop paying attention to music trends and new albums during his downtime, carefully analyzing anything he likes. This kind of diligent study spirit is truly worthy of everyone's learning.

The company was right!

"Mag Rock? What a pity..."

Xiao Yaxuan, hearing the name of this record company, felt a bit of regret.

Sun Yanzi, who had been pretending to casually carry a few pieces of melon and walk over to the railing, glanced down and found her attention drawn to the band behind the stage, whose extravagant and flamboyant appearance was striking: "Are those waiting backstage from Mag Rock too?"

She couldn't really be blamed for thinking that.

With Mag Rock's collapse, some unsigned singers were truly left without any attention.

Moreover, the lineup of these few people clearly looked like a rock band, which fit Mag Rock's style very well.

"Oh, no, that's a rock band from the Imperial Capital called Ershou Meigui; I didn't expect to see them here."

Zhou Yi shook his head.

He truly hadn't expected Ershou Meigui to have ended up in this bar.

You see, because he had walked out of here, this place had become the bar street with the highest prestige, popularity, and foot traffic in the entire Imperial Capital, or even the whole country.

All kinds of disheartened musicians, singers, and newcomers would think about whether to come here to try their luck.

And the Ershou Meigui band was founded at the end of the last century and had received recognition from big shots like Cui Jian and Dou Wei. According to the prestige standards of the rock circle, their appearance here was somewhat surprising.

"Are they... visual kei rock?"

Zhang Shaohan, watching, listening, and chatting simultaneously, frowned deeply.

And when this Rose band took the stage, the performance made the three women at the booth widen their eyes in unison—

Holy crap!

What the hell is that noise?!

At the main entrance of the bar, Zhou Jielun, who had arrived late due to traffic, had just walked in not long ago and hadn't even gone upstairs yet; he happened to pass through the area close to the stage and was startled by this sudden commotion—his sunglasses even fell from his hand.

Looking closely, the lead singer on stage was clearly a man, yet he was wearing women's clothing, with disheveled hair and makeup like... a ghost?

"Allow some artists to get rich first..."

(End of this chapter)