Chapter 456: A Lion Hides in His Eyes

"This damn thing is absolutely here to cause trouble!"

Warner Building, Zhou Yi's exclusive lounge.

After seeing the Los Angeles Times' blatantly riding-the-hotness tactic, Qian Jiang, who had been pacing back and forth making phone calls, almost wanted to grab that stupid editor's collar and spit right in his face.

What the hell is this nonsense?

"Even if you're shameless, you can't do anything; he's determined to cash in on some exposure."

Zhou Jianhui, who had been busy with Zhou Yi's English specialization, also returned to Warner today to coordinate matters regarding the album's premiere. Regarding the Los Angeles Times' blatantly trying to eat up some of your traffic, he was also helpless.

Don't look at Zhou Yi's high popularity; even in his home base, the Chinese region, there are many people who dislike him, let alone in the United States.

Especially after the Grammys, having defeated Eminem directly on the music video and prevented Norah Jones from completing a miraculous sweep of the four major general categories, plus rumors of soon entering the top luxury ranks known as the old money domain, his treatment was visibly taking off.

Resource competition has no such thing as being polite; Zhou Yi's existence can no longer be described as merely blocking the way severely; he has taken a shovel and is directly scooping meat out of the pot of Europe and America—

For every person who loves him, there are just as many who hate him.

The Los Angeles Times was precisely grasping this psychology, specifically timing a news story right before the album release to sell copies.

As for whether they will be slapped in the face—although there is a risk of prediction failure, in the face of profit, this risk is negligible; an apology can still cash in on another wave of traffic.

As for whether they will be blacklisted by Zhou Yi, they really don't care about that point.

As the third-largest newspaper in the United States, second only to The New York Times and The Washington Post, even if Zhou Yi personally blacklisted them, other singers within Warner (USA) would not refuse.

"It's just contempt deep down; this group really seems to be getting stressed out."

Sitting on the sofa with legs crossed, Zhou Yi put down his coffee cup, shook the newspaper, and sneered: "Rare indeed; I actually managed to put so much pressure on them."

Between the Grammys and being the sales king, his current achievements in Europe and America have seriously threatened the Western pop music's dominance over the Asian music scene; the key is that he isn't Japanese, so the American music scene cannot suppress him like they did the Japanese genius Sakamoto Kyu back in the day.

Little Edgar, currently in the position of a loser while conducting the Warner acquisition, holds immense resentment towards this group in the entertainment and media industries; not only will they not suppress him, but they actually have to rely on him.

"Then the pressure you are putting on them right now is too great; do you know that many people are already calling you the Lion?"

Hearing this, Zhou Jianhui said cheerfully: "Napoleon once said words that have now been dug up by many of your French fans; they have gained the approval of many within your fan group, and many people are calling you the Lion King."

"...?"

Zhou Yi made a strange face and typed out a question mark: "Shouldn't the Dragon better represent the image of China?"

"First, because the popularity of the Chinese Dragon over here in Europe and America is indeed not high enough; their traditional impression of a dragon is still that kind of lizard with two big wings.

"Second, because Hollywood already has Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, especially the former; he is a solid Chinese national."

It is well known that liking to give celebrities nicknames is not just a specialty of Chinese netizens; Europe and America, especially the United States, also like to give various nicknames to celebrities to show intimacy and affection.

Thanks to the best-selling book 'The Stagnant Empire: The Impact of Two Empires' written by the Frenchman Alain Peyrefitte, which was popular in the 1970s and 80s, the sentence written inside by Napoleon, 'China is a sleeping eastern lion; when it wakes, it will shake the world,' has circulated widely between East and West in modern times—

Although there is still no concrete historical evidence to prove whether Napoleon actually said this sentence, as China stood up on the international stage, this sentence became the foreign version of 'there are great scholars to debate scriptures for me.'

Many foreign TV dramas and even literary works quote this sentence when mentioning China, and all add a prefix: Napoleon once said.

And Zhou Yi happens to come from China.

Since his debut, he has been a natural sales king, just like a young lion king running on the grasslands—fierce, domineering, and arrogant to the point of being overbearing.

"The Lion King will never lower his proud head!"

On Yahoo, a Zhou Yi fan from France posted a tough declaration of fighting to the death and never surrendering in the face of war, borrowing Napoleon's words as the declaration, using highly inflammatory language to unite Zhou Yi's fans and start boosting sales for Zhou Yi's new album.

At the same time, in Los Angeles, inside a small, run-down apartment.

In October last year, just after turning eighteen, the black-haired girl Catherine Elizabeth Hudson sat on her small bed, knees bent and hugging her legs, burying her head into her knees; her shoulders occasionally twitched, and faint sobbing sounds could be heard.

The opened records lay scattered on the floor like trash amidst clutter everywhere, making it impossible to find a place to step; an empty wallet was thrown in the corner, inside which lay a group photo of her and her family.

After more than a year of turmoil, this former rebellious gospel girl from Santa Barbara, California, in the United States, ultimately could not withstand the destruction life inflicted on her—she had been shelved by the company again.

This was already the third time.

Since coming to Los Angeles alone at the age of seventeen to try making pop music, several companies had expressed confidence in her and were willing to sign a contract with her; full of expectations for the future, she signed a contract with one of them—

And then she was shelved for various unknown reasons.

After being shelved for a few months, her contract was sold to another record company that had confidence in her—and then she was shelved again.

This time she lasted half a year, but the contract was sold again.

Although she had always been working hard to absorb various pop music knowledge and eager to prove herself to the company, today she confirmed another fact: she had been shelved by the third record company.

Nearly two years, moving through three record companies, and the final outcome was invariably being shelved. Catherine could not imagine where her future path lay or whether it was still necessary for her to persist on this road of pop music.

She considered herself to have worked very hard, able to produce various types of music, and received many good reviews, so why did the company have to shelve her?

Because the boss hated that she came from a Christian family?

Or because she released a gospel record at the age of sixteen that sold only two hundred copies, making them feel she was unlucky?

Her savings were almost used up; if things continued like this, if she still wanted to survive in Los Angeles, she would probably really have to become a stripper as some people in the company joked—or swallow her pride and borrow money from family members, like her younger brother...

Her parents originally disagreed with her coming to Los Angeles to chase the dream of pop music.

Her parents disagreed, her sister disagreed, and former school friends also thought there was no hope; back then she thought these people were short-sighted and didn't understand her, but now it seemed she had overestimated herself.

Does she still have a chance?

Raising her hand to wipe away the tears flowing from the corners of her eyes, Catherine looked up at the old ceiling of the run-down apartment, her heart already beginning to worry about the rent and utilities for the month after next.

She was now so poor she was about to be kicked out of the apartment.

Just as she was zoning out her brain, the mobile phone placed by her bedside suddenly vibrated—she turned her head to look closely, and it was a text message sent by a friend at her company.

【Catherine! Hurry, hurry over, Spike has released a new album, come quickly.】

Spike, full name Spike Zhou, the proud lion from the mysterious East.

She had heard this man's name a long time ago; she had also carefully studied his last album because it was so popular.

As a behind-the-scenes music production staff member at a record company, she had to analyze various popular albums on the market so she could decompose elements sufficient to help the company's singers and find inspiration.

Precisely because of this, she, whose pockets were already so empty there were hardly any coins left, didn't have to spend money on listening to music—for a Grammy-level singer like Spike, the company would buy dozens of albums at once for internal staff to study.

However, popular as he was, Catherine's attitude towards Spike was at most just appreciation.

She didn't particularly like some of the styles that filled Spike's previous album.

Because she was influenced since childhood by rock singer Alanis Morissette and Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury, her current personal preference is actually still for rock music.

It's just that the pop-rock single "Enemy" released by Spike previously gave her a small psychological resonance, thereby igniting her interest in this "Forever Young" album.

She was supposed to be resting at home today, but because she wanted to listen to the album, she finally, after washing up, casually threw on a shirt and a leather jacket and rode her bicycle to the company.

"Hey, Catherine, haven't seen you in a few days, I feel like your chest has gotten a bit bigger again. How did you do it, what diet did you eat, can you share some secret recipes with me?"

"You know, my parents are Christian believers. So, very simple: pray to God."

Arriving at the lounge area of the recording studio, Catherine, having taken off her jacket, slapped away her best friend's mischievous right hand and said indifferently, "When I was 11, I made a wish to God, asking if He could let my chest develop a bit bigger, preferably to the extent that I couldn't see my feet when lying flat."

"And then?"

"Obviously, God answered my prayer."

"..."

What God, that's all a lie! Otherwise, why didn't my prayer work?!

Her best friend, indignant about her own figure, threw a "Forever Young" CD she had kept for herself in front of her with a bad temper: "I even kept a special deluxe edition album for you, it hasn't even been opened yet, I was preparing to listen to it with you."

"Well, thanks."

Taking the disc, Catherine's gaze first fell on the outer packaging of the CD—

It was very thick.

Probably because it was a special deluxe edition, the size was almost comparable to a small gift box, fitting Spike's consistently luxurious style.

The outermost cover of the box showed Spike with his left hand in his pocket and his right hand held flat, fingers curled into a gun aiming at everyone "in front"—behind him was a vast starry sky.

His meticulously groomed hair looked as if it had been blown messy by the wind, but on closer inspection, it unexpectedly had an untamed beauty.

"Forever Young".

"I feel like this special deluxe edition is even more exquisite than the last one?" Catherine, who loves rock, values temperament the most; this cover almost immediately struck her heart, making her breathing even a bit rapid.

"Of course, this is a special deluxe edition, not a deluxe edition. Warner's official selling price is 129 US dollars; if they don't make it better, if they don't upgrade the texture, how can they justify this price?"

"What?!"

Hearing this number for the first time, Catherine's eyes immediately widened, her mouth gaping in surprise: "Is Warner crazy?! Spike's last album, 'The Attitude Show', deluxe edition only sold for 55.9 US dollars!"

"That's right, I also think Warner has probably gone crazy after falling into a financial crisis to meet their performance reports."

The brown-haired best friend shrugged: "But luckily they haven't completely lost their reason; this thing is limited. Although the prices of the standard edition and the hardcover edition have also risen, compared to last year, they've only gone up a little bit."

Standard edition CD 25.9 US dollars, hardcover edition 35.9 US dollars, deluxe edition priced at 69.9 US dollars, special deluxe edition exactly 129 US dollars.

Obviously, after the accumulation of last year, Zhou Yi, whose reputation is now established, is no longer priced in the newcomer zone; the selling price is approaching that of veteran superstars.

As for cassettes, cassettes have no tier above deluxe, only standard and hardcover, and the prices are even lower; they can be said to be the best choice for students.

However, because Zhou Yi's past cases are right there, knowing that this guy is one of the few in the world music scene who assigns MVs to all songs in an album, the deluxe edition CD, which comes with all DVDs, actually sells better than the hardcover edition.

The standard edition only arranged DVDs for three songs—namely "Natural", "Viva La Vida", and "Counting Stars".

The hardcover edition added three more songs on top of the above.

The deluxe edition has them all.

As for this limited special deluxe edition... it mainly relies on the willing hooking themselves.

"Posters, keychain plushies, MV shooting booklets, landscape photos, album theme photo books, lyric booklets, color cards..."

A whole bunch of miscellaneous items, and finally one... a ticket to a certain music festival in Los Angeles?

"Fuck! What is this?! There are actually free tickets given away?!"

Catherine, who is always straightforward, swore the moment she saw this ticket—

"Hey, friend, this is a special gift for you, I hope you like it."

At the very bottom of the gift box, there was also a small figure wearing a white tuxedo, wearing a white top hat, with a chibi head of Zhou Yi drawn on it, making a finger-snap pose.

In these days, stuffing freebies into one's album is common, but stuffing in music festival tickets is a first.

"It seems there really are many music festivals and small music venues that invited Spike to perform; this should be one of them; it even has a date written on it..."

The best friend was checking that specially treated rare ticket back and forth, while Catherine, who wasn't very interested in it, focused her attention on the CD and DVD discs—

Holding the tracklist and lyric booklet in one hand, she formally started playing the C...

The first song on Side A was the Billboard top fifteen song that had already swept through Europe and America: "Enemy".

Catherine, who wanted to hear new songs more, fast-forwarded directly to the next one, and then the low hum at the beginning, as if in prayer, made her spirit shake— "Natural".

"Will you hold the line (Only you have not given up)"

"When everyone of them has given up and given in, tell me (When everyone else has stopped trying and been worn down by setbacks, tell me)"

"In this house of mine (The place where I am)"

"Nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost tell me (Everything has cause and effect, nothing comes easily, so tell me)"

"Will the stars align... (Will the stars align...)"

Coming at her was a string of lyrics chanted with an exceptionally groovy rhythm; the rock style audible at first glance made Catherine freeze in place instantly—

Is Spike... starting to play rock with his second album?

The more she listened, the more Catherine's expression changed from initial suspicion and uncertainty to shock, emotion, and silence...

The reason was nothing else; it was simply because this song was sung too perfectly for her current situation...

Don't indulge in the heartbreak of the moment, cast it aside, tell yourself

This is just another small thing encountered today

Don't learn to flee like prey; act like a hunter and take the initiative...

Undoubtedly, this is a rock song that encourages people to be positive. Although the pop flavor is indeed a bit heavy, even if God himself came today, it is still rock!

Catherine sat in the chair, wearing headphones, looking at the lyric booklet in her hand, becoming more and more silent as she listened.

"Lookin' through the glass find the wrong within the past knowin' (Looking through the glass, finding the wrongs of the past, knowing)"

"Oh we are the youth (We are still young)"

"Cut until it bleeds inside a world without peace facing (Always hurt until the heart breaks, a world without peace)"

"A bit of the truth, the truth... (Cruel reality)"

This is the meaning of "Youth" appearing for the first time in Zhou Yi's album songs, yet it is merely the second track on Side A.

Because we are young, there is no need to drown in past mistakes, unable to pull ourselves out. The mistake has already happened, the price has already been paid, the fault cannot be undone; what you must do is hold fast to your original heart, hold fast to the right choice.

If one foot is already standing on the edge of a cliff, then please lift your head, lift your head and gaze at everything in this world.

There is no need to blame oneself or feel sorry for oneself, and even less need to hang one's head in despair, because we are still young, we are truly young!

Youth has no limits; youth means infinite possibilities for the future.

Because we... because you, because young people, are born this way!

"And you're standing on the edge face up 'cause you're a"

"Natural!"

Accompanied by Zhou Yi's suddenly soaring pitch, emotions layered and intensified within his extremely textured voice; extremely heavy drum beats accompanied lyrics full of infectious power, and the "Natural!" delivered with a growl almost made Catherine's skull split open with pleasure! Her legs trembled straight!

"Spike! Awesome!!!"

At this very moment, everyone who bought the special deluxe edition not only flaunted online their tickets to various music festivals and concert halls, but some, while listening, even felt a surge of hot blood, wishing to immediately go out onto the street and find someone to spar with!

And all the industry insiders who obtained this record also fell into silence the moment they finished listening—

They knew that this time, the sky of the world music scene was truly about to change.

March 2, early morning, the former editor-in-chief of *Rolling Stone* magazine, known for being notoriously strict, published an article in his column; the title directly adopted Napoleon's theory of the lion—

"The Lion Hidden in His Eyes".

"Moving forward without turning back, sharp, fierce. Please forgive me if my words fail to express my meaning; that is because I have already finished listening to Spike's epoch-making album.

"Yes, an epoch-making album.

"I can affirm that this album will inevitably become an insurmountable milestone in the history of world pop music; Spike's name will be carved into the starry sky of history just like the Beatles!"

(End of this chapter)