Chapter 491: Coach, I Want to Learn This

Judging by the tone, Qian Jiang obviously did not want Zhou Yi to get involved in this matter.

It was not that he was unwilling to contribute to the nation.

If it were merely about singing, Qian Jiang would have been very willing for Zhou Yi to take on this task. After all, this young man had never known what nervousness was; ever since his debut, he had been famous for his big heart, performing better the bigger the stage.

Appearing at a grand event like the Olympics would also benefit him in boosting his public recognition.

But this time, the organizing committee specifically sought Zhou Yi for his creative ability and external influence.

Among all figures in China's entertainment industry, those possessing immense influence and fame abroad were, aside from Cheng Long, only Zhou Yi.

Asking the 49-year-old Cheng Long to take the stage and perform a set of military calisthenics?

Or to go up and sing a song like "The Great Wall Never Falls"?

Clearly, neither would work.

Neither was part of the chief director Zhang Yimou's plan.

"You are young, so you might not understand things like the Olympics, A-Yi.

"Since we are the host nation for the next Olympics in 2008, they will allocate about eight minutes for us at the closing ceremony of next year's Athens Olympics to present a welcome stage to the world, which also serves to showcase ourselves.

"Zhang Yimou is the chief director of the Athens Eight Minutes; after finishing Hero, he established contact with the organizing committee and has already begun planning the content of the Olympic showcase..."

To guarantee that China's style and charm are displayed within the short eight minutes, giving the world a fleeting glimpse, while also demonstrating cultural confidence and expressing China's attitude of welcoming guests from all directions on the international stage.

The difficulty of this cannot be overstated.

Initially, Zhang Yimou, his team, and the leaders had considered Liu Huan, but due to unsatisfactory results, he was put on hold, until Zhou Yi made a huge name for himself in Europe and America over the past two months.

Regarding fame abroad, Zhou Yi's face put forward was undoubtedly far superior to Liu Huan's.

Regarding creative talent—at the very least, after the pleasant cooperation on Hero, Zhang Yimou admired Zhou Yi from the bottom of his heart.

"He feels that inviting you over could remedy the awkward situation where the songs lack representativeness. To put it plainly, I suspect he wants to bring you in so you can write the song; once such a prescribed essay goes wrong, you are easily attacked..."

Zhou Yi had already reached this stage; there was absolutely no need to gamble on this, as the risk was too great.

At least, that was how Qian Jiang saw it.

Unless Zhang Yimou invited Zhou Yi in solely for his fame abroad, simply asking him to go over and sing.

But the possibility of that was very small.

As far as he knew, Zhang Yimou had only provisionally selected "Jasmine Flower" as the opening performance piece, and was currently testing its effect. As for the second song, which serves as the grand finale to hold the line, it had not been decided for a long time because nothing felt right.

Under these circumstances, Qian Jiang found it hard not to make the worst-case preparations, considering Zhou Yi's future reputation.

"This meeting is hard to decline; you should meet them then, and if the momentum seems off, just..."

Drawing on his decades of worldly experience, Qian Jiang devised a thorough exit strategy for Zhou Yi as a backup plan; once he sensed something was wrong, he could immediately activate this script—

Sun Yanzi, standing nearby, listened so intently she was almost ready to take notes with a pen, while Zhou Yi himself let the words go in one ear and out the other.

Only after the phone call ended, having listened to Qian Jiang's depiction of the national atmosphere until she felt slightly nervous, did Sun Yanzi notice Zhou Yi's extremely relaxed posture; she couldn't help but look at him curiously several times: "Aren't you nervous?"

"Why should I be nervous? At worst, I'm just a singer; if the public wants to scold someone, they'll scold the chief director Zhang Yimou."

Zhou Yi, spinning in his chair, spread his hands: "If they really make me perform then, I'll just guarantee I don't make any mistakes, and that's it."

Sun Yanzi wore an expression as if she had seen a ghost: "Why does it sound like you're saying not making mistakes is easy and simple? This is the Olympics."

In 2003, the Olympics still held considerable influence worldwide.

Sun Yanzi imagined herself in that position; if one day Singapore hosted the Olympics and she was to take the stage as a representative singer to sing on behalf of the nation...

Hiss...

Just thinking about that scene made her feel somewhat suffocated.

"Is it that hard?"

Zhou Yi, who had just taken another bite of his apple, clearly didn't care at all.

If they need a Chinese song, "My Home's Gate is Often Open" can go straight up;

If Zhang Yimou wants to go international and have a large number of foreigners understand what these eight minutes express immediately, he can also sing an English song—adapting Taylor Swift's future song "Welcome to New York" into "Welcome to Beijing".

After all, the emotions of hope, prosperity, expectation, passion, and hospitality depicted in Taylor Swift's song can be applied to many cities in the world; just change the place name "New York" and it works.

Moreover, if he remembered correctly, at the very end of next year's Athens Eight Minutes, Zhang Yimou, having no other choice, chose to repeat "Jasmine Flower" twice, having the little girl who took the stage last repeat the song and shout that English sentence: Welcome to Beijing.

Looking at it this way, there would be nothing wrong with him singing "Welcome to Beijing".

On the Athens Eight Minutes stage, facing foreign friends, singing "Welcome to Beijing" while Chinese elements performed around him would to some extent convey the concept of enthusiasm and hospitality, welcoming everyone to travel to China, rather than just meaningless "Jasmine Flower" singing.

A chorus of "Welcome You" would work too, but foreigners wouldn't understand it anyway; they would just treat it as BGM. After all, the Athens Eight Minutes is a platform facing foreigners worldwide, so an English song would definitely be more conducive to spreading it globally.

Considering the enthusiastic and catchy melody of "Welcome to New York" and the fact that it is at the Athens Olympics, Zhou Yi himself actually preferred singing this for the external phase.

It would not only effectively utilize his fame abroad and allow the song to spread externally faster, but also let the city "Beijing" in the song drill into the ears of every foreign listener with its catchy melody, maximizing external promotion for the city;

Enabling more international friends to know where the next Olympics will be held and, through this English song, establish a good first impression of the city "Beijing" which they have never seen.

By the time 2008 came and he promoted it domestically to the locals, he would take the lead in singing "Welcome You".

In this way, both foreign and domestic markets would bloom.

Of course, this is merely the ideal state.

If the chief director Zhang Yimou does not adopt it, then he won't bother caring; after all, he is destined to be the person scolded for the terrible program arrangement of the Athens Eight Minutes, and he is just a young singer responsible for singing.

For Zhou Yi, what truly needs attention is actually the domestic event in 2008; that is the real focus of the world, not the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"Huff, huff!"

While he was pondering in his mind, Sun Yanzi, seeing him daydream, instinctively raised her hand and waved it twice before his eyes: "What are you thinking? So absorbed? Nervous?"

"Thinking about retirement life."

"?"

Hearing this, Sun Yanzi's heart stirred; the next second, she perked up her ears and asked calmly: "You are only how old, yet you are thinking about retirement?"

"This is called taking a shortcut of thirty years; you wouldn't understand a thing."

Glancing at the time, Zhou Yi closed the webpage, stood up from his chair, stretched lazily, and walked out of the study: "One must enjoy life, after all."

"Hehe, for the first time, I totally agree with what you said."

A lazybones meets another lazybones—no words needed for resonance.

Sun Yanzi, grinning, followed after him: "By the way, Zhou Yi, can I use your home gym?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Didn't I sign up for Star's 'Kung Fu'? Just from the title, you know it's a kung fu movie—I plan to train myself first, you get it."

As he spoke, Sun Yanzi struck a boxing stance, swinging two punches now and then as she walked, muttering: "The company gym's too far, and I don't want to go to the ones near my place—who knows if I'll catch SARS."

"Of the three of us, only your place has a gym, so I've got no choice but to train at yours."

As a man who often chose to exercise when free, Zhou Yi's home had its largest functional area as the gym zone, fully equipped with all kinds of fitness equipment.

"You? Train?"

Zhou Yi stopped and half-turned, his gaze sweeping over Sun Yanzi, whose figure had grown rounder over these years of "hard work." Though he didn't speak, his eyes said it all.

"I'm strong, okay?"

Squeezing his arm, which had gained a couple of pounds recently, Sun Yanzi proudly performed a dumbbell curl.

Just as they stepped out of the study, they met Cheng Hao, still reviewing documents in the living room, who, drawn by Sun Yanzi's motion, asked curiously: "What's strong?"

"She's trying to prove she's a seasoned fitness veteran. Do you think she is?" Zhou Yi smiled, eyes crinkling.

"Hard to say."

Cheng Hao closed her files and placed them on the coffee table, smiling.

"I'll prove it to you both."

Determined to win some respect, Sun Yanzi entered the gym area, scanned the room, and first fixed her gaze on the heavy-looking dumbbell rack…

Hmm…

Then her eyes landed on the pull-up bar beside the power rack—just a single movable horizontal bar.

That's the one!

"Watch closely. Don't blink."

Under Zhou Yi and Cheng Hao's gaze, Sun Yanzi walked over to the pull-up bar, blew on her palms, clapped them, then leapt up—

"Hee-haw!"

With her own sound effects, she grabbed the bar and effortlessly completed ten pull-ups, decent for a college student, then landed steadily.

Before she could speak, Cheng Hao, genuinely astonished—not just being polite—blurted out: "Amazing, Yanzi! Ten so easily!"

"Of course."

Sun Yanzi, who'd been waiting for praise, beamed, then slightly tilted her chin and shot Zhou Yi a smug look.

Zhou Yi, challenged, chuckled, stretched his body, then lightly rose on his toes to grasp the bar. Looking up at the two women, he smirked: "You're sure that's called a pull-up?"

"Then what—"

In Sun Yanzi's stunned, nearly frozen gaze, Zhou Yi didn't drop down after his standard pull-up—he swung his body and, almost like climbing, pulled his grip upward until the bar reached three notches higher on the door frame!

"Clang!"

The metallic clang echoed sharply through the empty gym. Without effort, he climbed two more times, and his entire body rose dramatically higher!

"I—he—not—this shouldn't…"

Facing the man who landed effortlessly, Sun Yanzi stared in disbelief.

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow at her, smugly.

"... Coach, I want to learn this!"

(End of Chapter)