Chapter 445: Is This Guy a Succubus?

If this album still can't contain the racial discrimination scandal I orchestrated myself, Zhou Yi thinks he might as well jump into the Yellow River and start over.

Coldplay wandering through the cosmos, Dream Theater soaring above the skies; The Republic racing across highways and deserts, Maroon 5 drifting through urban streets.

These were the elegant nicknames Chinese fans in the domestic market would later bestow upon these four bands.

Although these four bands had long been criticized for growing increasingly pop-oriented, and Maroon 5 was even outright labeled a pop band after their third album, this was only relative to their original positioning at debut—

Zhou Yi's own debut positioning was as a pop singer; he faced no such accusation.

To maximize his reputation, he essentially plundered the classic hits of all four bands into this album. Nearly half the tracks were Billboard chart-topping singles; every song on the album became a global sensation, surpassing even the previous album, *Attitude Show*, in sheer excess.

Not to mention the closing track, a bomb from Fun.

Of course, the waste was even more extreme.

Any normal music producer handling this album would have split these ten songs into at least four albums, if not five.

This was also Zhou Yi's only B-list chart-topping single to date—the direct result of internal album song consumption.

Once this album's influence fully fermented, regardless of other factors, over 80% of young people in the Western world for the next twenty years would have grown up listening to its songs; he would become the first Chinese singer to be labeled with "nostalgia" in America.

Besides, apart from the facts at hand, was it his fault that racial discrimination ran rampant in the West?

"Wasn't it?"

Linkin Park's upcoming new album *Meteora*, due at the end of March this year, boasts three massive hits: *Numb*, *Somewhere I Belong*, *Faint*.

Although she had already completely broken ties with Warner due to Xiao Niu Records' embezzlement scandal just two days ago—Zhou Jianhui said lawyers were already gathering evidence at Xiao Niu, and if things moved fast, a lawsuit would be filed next year.

Yet this second album nearly gave Warner's in-house music executives heart attacks—

Twenty-three minutes later, at Zhou Yi's home.

Sun Yanzi sighed mournfully, her face twisted in a bitter-melon expression: "*Superstar* blew up too fast. Chen Ze Shan told me to seize the momentum and promote my popularity—I've been running around the country doing offline promotions for Mobile, almost covering the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region."

Moreover, his fanbase is overwhelmingly young and extremely easy to incite.

Even so, his album budget hasn't even been spent.

As a newly prioritized brand for Mobile, the launch of Donggan Daitai was no trivial matter.

Thanks to the West's long-standing cosmetic facade of fairness and freedom, many in Western society still genuinely believe in those ideals—and these people hold considerable voting power, making them his main army.

In 2003, when five million RMB per album was considered lavish in the Chinese music industry, Zhou Yi's album production cost was undeniably extraterrestrial-level, starting at over 25 million RMB.

Zhou Yi chuckled lightly: "I never counted on that group to begin with. I'm counting on the motherly types brainwashed by 'freedom and equality' rhetoric, the sanctimonious hypocrites, and the young people with conscience who rage against injustice."

Or, in other words, everyone's just watching from the sidelines.

For perfectionists demanding high standards, they might split it into three albums, three or four songs per album—like Linkin Park inside Warner.

"Aren't you still recording songs after the New Year?" Sun Yanzi scrutinized him suspiciously: "Did you steal that girl from Fei Band?"

With the PY deal already sealed with Zhou Jianhui, Zhou Yi's initial budget for his second English album was set by the Asia Regional President at no less than three million U. S. dollars.

Across all of Warner, including headquarters, only Linkin Park and Zhou Yi had album production budgets reaching this level. Madonna didn't count—she was beyond category, already a Warner partner.

"And now? I've been working since the sixth day of the New Year—I haven't even had time to return to Singapore yet."

As is well known, Asians hold the lowest status in the Western world—even Black people can step on them. Zhou Yi's actions were clearly raising the banner of resistance.

Absolute waste of talent!

Even with internal company confidence as a safety net, Qian Jiang still felt slightly uneasy—he'd never handled a racial discrimination campaign of this scale before.

As for how to handle the fallout after inciting the crowd? That wasn't his problem. He was just a pitiful, weak, and helpless little singer; releasing the album and meeting his fans' expectations was enough.

Zhou Yi gave her a side-eye: "What about you? Why are you wandering into my house at this hour instead of resting at home?"

"Bad news: your support voices in the Western world are relatively scarce, Ah Yi."

Absolute waste of talent!

"I don't care. I don't rely on them."

If the first English album producing only one B-list chart-topper was considered severe waste, then the second album, *Forever Young*, would have them dragging Zhou Yi out and whipping his dong a hundred times to make him change his mind.

"Steal? Don't be ridiculous. She has a boyfriend. I don't do things like that."

But judging from current public opinion, the high-status East Asian elites in the West had reacted far beyond Qian Jiang's expectations—only a few who still identified as Chinese or Han offered support; everyone else remained silent.

"What's that got to do with me?"

After unconsciously blowing a strand of hair upward, Sun Yanzi lifted her gaze, staring directly at Zhou Yi, who had taken off his coat and was pouring himself a glass of water: "I originally planned to take a proper vacation after the New Year, traveling to Britain, New Zealand, and other countries."

Since the English second album consisted entirely of pop-rock songs, Zhou Yi leveraged Warner's financial power to bring in Wang Feng, the yet-undebuted Fei Band, and former members of Wang Feng's former band Baojia Street to assist with instrumental recording.

Only because Zhou Yi had absolute creative control over his album did Warner's in-house experts refrain from forcibly intervening to stop him.

The woman lying flat on the sofa in a "big" character pose raised her head upon hearing the man's shameless remark—her messy short hair immediately blurred her vision.

Fortunately, it's 2003. If this were 2023, he'd probably need to wear multiple level-three armor sets and tie a rainbow scarf just to incite his fans.

Can't spend it all. Impossible to spend it all.

As Warner's top artist, he didn't shortchange his team—he gave everyone the maximum 300,000 RMB bonus, making him the most generous person in the entire Chinese music industry.

Zhou Yi smirked at her: "Also, can you not come over and lie on my couch at night? What if I bring someone home? Wouldn't that be awkward?"

"Of course it's complaining."

Last year's *Attitude Show* had already made many Warner executives regret their decisions—songs like *Baby*, *Goodtime*, and *Yeah* all had potential to hit B-list chart-toppers, yet only *Yeah* managed twelve consecutive weeks at number one.

With Xiao Yaxuan and Zhang Shaohan still in Taiwan, Sun Yanzi's exposure on the mainland surged dramatically.

If it were Zhang Shaohan, she wouldn't complain—she wanted to become as popular as possible.

But for Sun Yanzi, who hadn't returned home since the New Year, she missed her parents, her sisters.

Even New Year's time was squeezed. She was persistently dissuaded from going home with every excuse imaginable—she couldn't help but complain. If this were part of Mobile's official promotional requirements, fine—but it wasn't.

Mobile's contract stipulated promotional activities to begin only at the end of February to coincide with Donggan Daitai's full launch. These were all Chen Ze Shan's personal assignments: four offline events in three days, plus one TV show recording and two magazine shoots.

Even a grinding donkey would shake its head at this intensity.

The person currently rolling around on the sofa, arms wrapped around her head, was Sun Yanzi—and she was filled with deep regret.

It wasn't that she didn't want to sing the song—it was that she regretted not flying out of Beijing on the fourth day of the New Year, like Xiao Yaxuan did.

If she had returned to Singapore on the fourth day to reunite with her family, Chen Ze Shan would never have been able to catch her;

If Chen Ze Shan couldn't catch her, there wouldn't have been such a hellish itinerary; without such a hellish itinerary, she would probably have already started her scheduled vacation by now...

"It's all your fault! You said to come and experience the Chinese Spring Festival. Now look, I'm completely stuck, and you're responsible!"

"Wasn't it you who got carried away playing here and postponed it by two days yourself?"

Regarding Sun Yanzi's act of shifting the blame, the white lotus Zhou Yi directly threw the pot back at her, choking the latter into silence; she could only vent through her forehead, squealing and flailing her hands and feet to express her inner imbalance—

Zhou Yi easily suppressed her with one hand.

"I'm not playing anymore, it's no fun."

Sun Yanzi, who surrendered because she couldn't win, breathed heavily, slumped back onto the sofa, and grabbed a throw pillow to hug—

Her messy short bangs spread across her forehead; while resting with her eyes closed, she didn't forget to raise her right index finger to point at the man, weakly saying, "Next time I'll feed you some medicine, the kind that makes you lose the ability to resist."

"Are all Singaporeans' hearts so dark?"

Feeling his phone vibrate, Zhou Yi chuckled a teasing remark, and while speaking, he took out his phone and glanced at it—

A message from Li Yinxin.

【Heard you're being suppressed in Europe and America, racial discrimination? Guess what help I pulled for you in the US?】

"?"

……………………………

New York, USA.

Putting down her phone, Samsung's little Princess Li Yinxin held a smile at the corner of her lips; she then touched up her makeup in front of the mirror, happily hummed the tune of "Baby," and walked out of the restroom.

"Hyeong, where did you go?"

Inside the villa, a daughter of a Huaerjie financier looked curiously at her returning friend.

"You didn't go to congratulate that Spike, did you?" another white woman with brown wavy hair teased, "Are you sure you really just want to help your family secure his phone endorsement?"

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

Li Yinxin shrugged noncommittally: "I just wanted to help my family out."

As the youngest daughter most beloved by Samsung's helmsman Lee Kun-hee, who directly took over part of the family's company shares worth hundreds of millions of dollars upon reaching adulthood, her wanting to help the family secure an endorsement seemed plausible.

"Weren't you always uninterested in this field?"

"I am indeed uninterested; didn't you see I didn't even go home when I wanted to find a job, but went straight to Yahoo?"

Li Yinxin, whose eyes were already set on the internet, would officially join US Yahoo in April after the New Year, which somewhat shocked many people.

In fact, on Huaerjie, the Samsung Lee family did have some capability.

For so many years, many people wanted to end the Lee family's absolute control over Samsung, but all ended in failure. Finally, after several deliberations, Huaerjie even secretly supported the equally ambitious Li Fuzhen to challenge Lee Jae-yong.

Then Li Fuzhen, who had received many resources from Huaerjie, was sent to the periphery by Lee Kun-hee...

This somewhat stunned some people inside Huaerjie; the key was that Li Fuzhen, sent to the periphery, was still using this skin to work hard to expand the power in her hands...

For a moment, they couldn't even tell if this was the father and daughter acting to trap Huaerjie or if Li Fuzhen was truly outmatched.

And at this critical juncture, Li Yinxin not staying at home but instead running to work at Yahoo through an exchange of interests made many people wonder what medicine this old thing Lee Kun-hee was selling in his gourd.

Especially since she was actually so attentive to a singer.

Using her connections, Li Yinxin directly organized a gathering and invited many children of Grammy judges who were related to her family; step by step, starting from people around her, she lobbied, and any clear-eyed person could see she was truly working hard to get Zhou Yi the award.

"Which Samsung Li is this, and where did she pop up from?"

At Eminem's house, Eminem, who already sensed the situation was spiraling out of control, put down the newspaper stirring the pot and frowned at his agent, asking.

He knew this big group Samsung; even in the US, Samsung was no unknown figure, and its various products had huge sales in America, but the key question was how the hell Zhou Yi knew the daughter of the helmsman of such a financial giant?

"According to the data, they should have met last December, when Spike led the team to Korea for the China-Korea Music Festival."

"Can it be confirmed that this is the Samsung group's intention? Or is it just the intention of this Li woman personally?"

Eminem's expression was extremely solemn at this moment.

If Warner originally uniting with its partners to lobby the Grammys was a 1, then with the Samsung group joining in, the effect produced was not simply as straightforward as 1+1=2.

Many industries under Samsung are also sponsors of the US entertainment industry, some of which are even major sponsors.

The appearance of this Li Yinxin undoubtedly brought a risk of tipping the scales.

"It's not confirmed yet."

"Damn it! How does this guy know nothing but relying on women to get ahead every single day!"

Eminem cursed from the bottom of his heart.

Zhou Yi's initial rise to fame in the US was by riding the wave of his feud with Mariah Carey; as a result, the heat of that feud, which he had instigated, was caught squarely by the newcomer Zhou Yi, and Mariah Carey, this woman, even personally stood by Zhou Yi, leaving him utterly humiliated.

He was just preparing to get his revenge at the Grammys, and now another financial group's daughter is using connections to help him?

"Is this guy a succubus?"

(End of this chapter)