Chapter 45: The Pioneer of Mandarin Pop and Hiphop

"Mainland Singer Zhou Yi Unleashes His Power, Album Sales Top the Taiwan Monthly Chart!"

"Famous Music Producer Zhang Yadong: I Admire Zhou Yi; He Is a Genius."

"Pu Shu: Zhou Yi Is a Genius, I Am Not His Match."

"The Biggest Surprise in the Mandarin Music Scene of the Millennium!"

"..."

Compared to the Hong Kong and Taiwan media, which came up with all sorts of tricks and made their headlines as shocking as possible, the mainland media appeared somewhat plain when praising Zhou Yi, with many newspapers even carrying an obvious official tone.

Those who knew it was reporting on the pride of the mainland music scene might think they were reading about political storms if they didn't.

As the only mainland singer capable of defeating the Taiwan music scene in this era, even though he had not yet returned to the mainland to hold a signing event, the media had already built up the momentum for him.

As for Sun Nan, go play somewhere else; you are no longer important now.

To show sincerity, Zhou Jianhui even formally issued official invitations to several major mainland newspapers.

August 8th, a very auspicious day.

Having directly rented out the hotel to hold a victory celebration, Warner pushed in a huge ice sculpture with the number "30" written on it.

After a round of reviews and outlooks, General Manager Zhou Jianhui personally invited the suit-and-shoe-clad Zhou Yi onto the stage and, with a smile, handed him the chisel in his hand: "Congratulations, Zhou Yi, go smash it."

Zhou Yi, having taken the tool, habitually weighed it twice, and then, under the gaze of the crowd, smashed the ice sculpture before him that shimmered with brilliant colors under the lights—

Bang!

The moment ice shards scattered, the prepared cannons instantly fired!

"Cheers!"

Zhou Yi, holding his champagne high, looked spirited, his custom-tailored suit perfectly showcasing his figure. At one meter eighty-three, reaching nearly one meter eighty-five with shoes, his height was considered outstanding in this era.

The specially invited media, rooted in the same area, pressed their shutters on the dashing young man in suit and shoes on stage, freezing his spirited and peerless appearance clearly in the lens!

In the seats below, representatives from record companies such as Rock, PolyGram, Virgin, Fung Man, Universal, and even Sony, along with their own artists, all clapped their hands—

Among them, Xiao Yaxuan of Virgin Records, Warner's own Sun Yanzi, and Zhang Shaohan of Fung Man Records cheered the loudest.

The lively Sun Yanzi never stopped smiling, while Xiao Yaxuan's gaze had not moved from Zhou Yi since the very beginning.

"Congratulations, congratulations. It hasn't been long, and I didn't expect I'd be riding on your popularity."

Xiao Yaxuan, bringing champagne, elegantly clinked glasses with the man. Deeply moved, she glanced subtly at the female stars nearby whose gazes kept sweeping toward her, and smiled wickedly: "They are so jealous of me right now."

"You can ride on my popularity however you like, just remember to pay me the protection fee."

After clinking glasses, Zhou Yi tilted his head with a smile and sized up the woman's outfit today; a navy blue shoulder-length gown was particularly eye-catching.

For Xiao Yaxuan, who was willing to share her popularity with him again and again even when he was still an unknown, Zhou Yi's attitude toward her was naturally completely different from his attitude toward other unfamiliar female stars.

Their familiar conversation was enough to explain everything.

After all, his own confidence in becoming famous was because the songs in his album were at least charted, with several having even reached number one, whereas Xiao Yaxuan had no way to see into the future.

She was willing to help him despite the huge pressure from Virgin Music; to say Zhou Yi felt no gratitude would be somewhat improper.

"With the relationship between us, do I still need to pay a protection fee?" Xiao Yaxuan feigned surprise, blinking her eyes while raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course, I always treat everyone equally. Even if Sun Yanzi and Zhang Shaohan came, they would also have to pay me a protection fee."

Before Zhou Yi finished speaking, Sun Yanzi's lively voice came from behind him—

"What protection fee? Did you run into a Taiwan gang?"

As a presence famous in the entertainment industry alongside the Hong Kong gangs of the last century, the Taiwan gangs, although somewhat restrained after entering the new millennium, still existed.

For instance, Chen Xinhong, the lead singer of the band Mayday under Rock Records, who also released an album in July, had underworld connections behind him.

"I'm planning to become a gangster; do you have any protection fees you can let me collect?"

Zhou Yi, whose mouth ran wild, turned around, and what came into his view was Sun Yanzi and Zhang Shaohan—one with short hair, the other with long hair.

However, compared to the more active Sun Yanzi, Zhang Shaohan appeared somewhat constrained, calling out "Brother Yi" in a proper manner.

The Miss kept a respectful distance with good judgment.

After all, Zhou Yi was no longer the unknown she used to joke and play with a few months ago.

"Congratulations, Shaohan, you're famous too."

Raising his glass toward Zhang Shaohan, Zhou Yi smiled to dissolve this sense of distance: "But for this protection fee, you'll have to make your company pay a bit more; my appearance fee is very expensive now."

Zhang Shaohan, unable to help but smile, nodded immediately like a chick pecking rice.

Seeing this, Sun Yanzi hurriedly livened up the atmosphere: "What about me? Zhou Yi, we are from the same company, and our boss is the same; do you really have the nerve to charge me a protection fee for riding on your popularity?"

"Nonsense, even close brothers must settle accounts clearly. Just for your attitude of wanting to get it for free, I'll double it."

"??? Dare I charge you?"

Sun Yanzi was about to reach out, prompting Zhou Yi to slap her hand back twice with a sharp slap.

Xiao Yaxuan, witnessing the two's behavior, narrowed her eyes slightly, took a small sip of champagne, and then continued chatting with her good sister Sun Yanzi.

Not far away, mainland paparazzo Zhuo Wei, who had quietly slipped in using Xiangjiang influence and was targeting the biggest news of the night, instinctively captured the scene of this one man and three women joking and playing—

Until a super big shot appeared in his lens with a woman.

Li Zongsheng, Liu Ruoying.

One was a monument in the Taiwan and even the entire Chinese entertainment music scene, a name that could never be bypassed, a top-tier creative big shot;

The other was the number one star of Rock Records.

Acting as the introducer, Zhou Jianhui directly made the introduction for the two.

"I listened to your album; it's fantastic."

Li Zongsheng, whose beard was already turning somewhat white, praised with a smile: "You have opened up a brand new field for Mandarin music; it is remarkable."

"I lost to you on the last day, and I am fully convinced." Liu Ruoying, standing beside him, carefully sized up the man in front of her several times, her eyes lighting up as she spoke kindly.

"You flatter me, Brother Zongsheng, Sister Ruoying; I just took advantage of having a later release time."

Zhou Yi, with his sweet mouth, climbed up the pole accordingly; Sun Yanzi, standing nearby, dared not make any more moves, pulling Zhang Shaohan and Xiao Yaxuan aside to wait and see the drama unfold.

Amid this pleasant chat, Liu Ruoyin even feigned complaint that Zhou Yi lacked martial ethics, ambushing her, a thirty-one-year-old veteran comrade, using jokes to quickly bridge the social gap between them.

"You don't know; I was originally cooperating with the new drama's director to revise the script when I suddenly received a call from the company telling me to return and work overtime to promote 'Later'. I thought the company was running a scam, preparing to trick me back to give me a surprise.

"Who would have thought it really was a surprise, only that the surprise was so excessive it turned into a shock."

Liu Ruoyin, chatting about the amusing incidents during the battle, also pointed at Li Zongsheng: "It's gotten to the point where I don't even have time to comprehend the roles in my new script."

"Your drama hasn't even found all its female leads yet, the script isn't finished, is it really that urgent?"

Li Zongsheng, equally capable of taking a joke, cheerfully exposed the truth: "Zhou Yi, don't listen to her; the drama she took on is a manga adaptation.

"Have you heard of 'The Sexy Ladies'? The plot requires drastic adaptation; she is actually still in a state of doing nothing."

Heard of it, how could I not have heard of it? Pity I just haven't seen it.

Upon hearing this manga title, a drama immediately sprang to Zhou Yi's mind, a drama he had watched in his childhood in his past life, one that was incredibly popular—

"The Pink Ladies."

His first impression of Cheng Hao in his past life came from the character Wan Ren Mi in this drama.

Cheng Hao became famous nationwide precisely relying on this drama and on the character Wan Ren Mi.

Watching the two Mandarin music creators, one old and one young, seemingly chat more and more heatedly, the reporters present, adhering to the spirit of 'since we are already here', still took some photos.

The next day, newspapers and media across the Treasure Island and the Treasure Island published reports about music big shots like Li Zongsheng appearing at the Warner celebration, offering blessings to Zhou Yi, and stating their views on the individual Zhou Yi during interviews—

"I think Zhou Yi is an unparalleled musical genius; his talent in music astonishes me, and he has an extremely precise judgment regarding the future direction of the Mandarin music scene.

"Just as Tao Zhe pioneered the R&B style in the Mandarin music scene, Zhou Yi also single-handedly created the hiphop category in the Mandarin music scene.

"Or rather, he introduced this style of music into the Mandarin music scene.

"In this regard, Zhou Yi is an undisputed pioneer, a pioneer for the entire Mandarin music scene."

"Breaking News! Li Zongsheng Designates Successor! Zhou Yi May Become the Leader of the Mandarin Music Scene!"

"【I Am Not As Good As Him】, Li Zongsheng Admits He Has Run Out of Ideas; Perhaps Now It Is Zhou Yi's Era!"

"Surrounded by Beauties, Popular Singer Zhou Yi Enjoys Great Fortune..."

Amidst a sea of praise and compliments, one newspaper's style was somewhat out of place—

In the photo, good sisters Sun Yanzi, Xiao Yaxuan, and Zhang Shaohan surrounded Zhou Yi, all chatting and laughing with him, even with extensive physical contact.