Chapter 494: Hello, Please Call Me The Man Who Rips Through Comics

"Most people want me to learn to look at the world through worldly eyes."

"I studied worldly eyes seriously, worldly until dawn~"

When Zhou Yi's charming, ear-catching voice rose along with the catchy melody, it meant another episode of "The Pink Ladies" had finished airing.

The extremely brainwashing ending theme, combined with the few frames the director managed to cut from Zhou Yi's tiny cameo, fused with scenes of Zhou Yi taking the stage to sing alongside Cheng Hao after building the set on the film crew, always left Hu Jiamin utterly captivated.

Although the TV drama's plot hadn't yet reached the appearance of Zhou Yi's cameo character Li Bai, she had already memorized the ending theme song "Li Bai" inside out; every time she could hum a couple of lines along with the tune—

"If only it mattered, I would choose Li Bai~"

"At least I could still write poems to stir the soul, to tease girls~"

"If only it could re—"

The unique little tune of a teenage girl coming from downstairs outside the window stopped abruptly after a harsh motorcycle exhaust roar; the girl with her homework book in front of her immediately dropped her ballpoint pen, rose with lightning speed, and rushed to the TV to press the power-off button.

The old ceiling fan spinning noisily still worked faithfully beneath the living room ceiling, and Hu Jiamin, having aligned the remote control at the correct angle, immediately bit the pen tip—

while putting on an air of deep contemplation, she also didn't forget to fan herself with a fan covered in advertisements for men's hospitals, infertility, and the like.

In late May, Guangzhou had already happily received the midsummer package of short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and flip-flops.

The couple returning from work felt quite gratified seeing their daughter so diligent: "Minmin, how much of your homework is done?"

"Almost finished, Mom. Why did you two come back so early today?" Hu Jiamin, who had to stay home doing homework because of the SARS school closures, looked up obediently.

"Work ended early; Dad's construction site also finished early today."

The ordinary middle-aged woman lifted the bag in her hand, and the glimpse of what was inside made the girl, who had been frowning while doing homework, suddenly beam with joy— "Did you buy watermelon?!"

"Can't eat it now; cut it after dinner tonight. Go put it in the fridge."

"Okay!"

Beaming with joy, Hu Jiamin happily carried the watermelon toward the fridge, but when her peripheral vision caught her father walking over to the TV and reaching out to touch the huge back of the set, she knew things were ruined...

That night, after Hu Jiamin, with tear-filled eyes, finished her meal and was punished to reflect in isolation, she could only bury her head in the quilt of her small room and sob.

"Next, let's look at the latest news: The Iraqi capital Baghdad has currently..."

Separated by a single door, the news anchor in the living room was still broadcasting the turbulent international situation; the tragic state of the Iraq War, which the US invaded after finding a flimsy excuse to bypass UN obstruction, was shocking to behold.

Unlike her father, who cared about national affairs, Hu Jiamin, after sobbing for quite a while, grew angrier and angrier, pounding her fists twice on the bamboo mat, then quietly pulled 20 yuan in pocket money from her little piggy bank—

This was money she had saved up over a long time.

Pretending to be asleep.

When it was late and quiet, she quietly pulled open the room door, looked left and right, and upon confirming no one was in the living room, took off her shoes, rose on tiptoe, stepped barefoot onto the bare cement floor of the house, and slipped out silently.

Hu Jiamin, who put on her sandals and walked briskly as soon as she left the house, filled with the joy of escaping a cage under the moonlight, turned left at the intersection after about ten minutes and stopped before a rolling shutter door—

Without the slightest hesitation, Hu Jiamin, who knew the drill, bent down and pulled up the rolling shutter door, instantly smelling the black internet cafe atmosphere mixed with tobacco smoke, sweat odor, and instant noodle scents.

"Jiamin, over here, I've saved a computer for you."

Her companion, who had arranged to meet her early, saw her, immediately stood up, and greeted her: "We're staying up all night; we'll go back after five."

"Alright, I'll log into QQ first."

The girl, who couldn't stand the pungent smoke smell, fanned her nose with her hand after pulling out a chair and sitting down, while complaining to her friend about being scolded by her parents tonight and discussing how good "The Pink Ladies" was and how beautiful Wan Ren Mi was.

For Hu Jiamin, the Wan Ren Mi in the drama was simply the image of her future self.

Even if many people would call her a seductive fox or a fox spirit.

"I think 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' is better to watch; Gao Yuanyuan playing Zhou Zhiruo and that Jia Jingwen playing Zhao Min are too beautiful, and Su Youpeng is also very handsome. It's a pity Zhou Yi didn't play Zhang Wuji; otherwise it would have been even better."

"I like watching 'Conquest'; I don't know if you've seen it, it just aired last week."

"I prefer 'The Story of a Noble Family'; Chen Kun is too handsome..."

"..."

Classmates were exchanging their favorite recent TV dramas, whether reruns or newly aired ones, discussing them with great enthusiasm. But Hu Jiamin, who had just logged into QQ, suddenly noticed a pop-up message notification from QQ—

【June 1st, Tencent QQ's third-anniversary celebration event begins; Zhou Yi invites you to celebrate the birthday together...】

Zhou Yi's name immediately attracted Hu Jiamin, and she clicked in—

The page instantly jumped to the Tencent website; a clearly manually pinned news item, marked in red and bold, was enough to catch the attention of anyone who clicked in.

"Holy crap! Is Tencent that awesome? They actually invited Zhou Yi?!"

"Your news is outdated; Tencent announced earlier that they invited Zhou Yi as the promotional spokesperson for QQ's third anniversary, spending 80 million. This damn penguin is truly damn rich."

"But I didn't expect Tencent would also invite Zhou Yi to write a song for QQ; that song 'Gray Avatar' will go online precisely at 10:08 AM on the first day after the college entrance exam."

"This seems to be unpaid, right? A song commissioned specifically for Zhou Yi by Tencent. Look, it says above..."

After Hu Jiamin's surprised outburst, her friends' chatter added a lot of new internet knowledge to her, who hadn't been online for over half a month, and she also logged into NetEase's "Westward Journey Online 2."

The large image of Xiao Yaxuan on the spokesperson page looked exceptionally dashing.

"But why hasn't Zhou Yi appeared in 'The Pink Ladies' yet? I've been waiting for him to show up for so long."

"Yeah, yeah, didn't they say Zhou Yi cameoed as Wan Ren Mi's final lover?"

"Did Zhou Yi, that guy, go cameo in 'The Pink Ladies' for this reason in the first place?"

"I think so; how could Zhou Yi, that lecher, see Wan Ren Mi without his eyes flashing with golden light?"

"..."

Because of "Gray Avatar," when the center of the topic gradually shifted to Zhou Yi, the group inevitably talked about his screen debut—

According to the official hype, it should be in the next couple of days; how come "The Pink Ladies" is almost finished and Zhou Yi still hasn't appeared.

This cameo is too much of a cameo.

"Judging by the episode count, if not today, then it must be tomorrow." Hu Jiamin, a seasoned scholar of "The Pink Ladies," tore open the instant noodle packaging handed to her by her best friend and said casually.

"Really? Are you that sure?"

"Why would I lie to you? Just wait and see Zhou Yi's screen debut tomorrow; I just don't know how much it will boost the ratings."

As a seasoned online fan of Zhou Yi, Hu Jiamin, who cared immensely about all of Zhou Yi's metrics, was absolutely certain.

And those waiting for Zhou Yi's appearance along with fans like her weren't only outside the entertainment circle—inside the circle there were plenty as well.

"When 'Pretty Lady' first aired, thanks to the boost of Zhou Yi's fame, it pulled a terrifying 23.7% premiere-day viewership rating on day one—not far off the peak record of 26% set by this year's biggest hit drama 'Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' since the start of the year.

"Afterwards, thanks to the brilliant plot development and the wonderful performances of the four female leads, the discussion heat kept climbing, and within just two short weeks the ratings averaged between 13%–15%, making it a nationwide hit…"

The Imperial Capital, Zhang Big-Hu Zi's home.

The few people who had come to discuss post-production matters related to 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' inevitably also got to chatting about 'Pretty Lady'—this year's utterly unexpected dark horse—

Surrounded by a slew of period dramas, crime dramas, and idol dramas, this urban female light-comedy ensemble drama adapted from a manga burst onto the scene in a way nobody had anticipated, becoming a hit across both sides of the strait and Hong Kong.

In Taiwan it even crushed all the competition to become the current annual ratings champion—so huge that everyone could only wait to see if 'My Fair Princess 3', which would only air in the second half of this year, could break the record.

As professionals, they naturally would discuss whether this model could be replicated.

After all, the production cost of 'Pretty Lady' was relatively quite low.

May 23, 2003, Friday.

When 'Pretty Lady' aired to the episode where Zhou Yi's cameo role Li Bai officially appeared, the wave of discussion it set off online even surpassed the buzz when the drama had first premiered—

"Holy shit! How does Zhou Yi look even more handsome than usual!"

"He's in makeup—it's rare to see Zhou Yi in this kind of makeup look ahhhh!"

"His smile is so innocent, he'd really make a perfect boyfriend."

"Zhou Yi is such a playboy—how did he manage to act out a pure-hearted guy like this?"

"…"

Zhou Yi's cameo look in the drama, hailed as "a man who walked straight out of the manga," instantly became a photo collection for countless people, and on the Tianya Film & TV Handsome Guys Ranking he parachuted straight into first place—dominating both the singer and the film/TV charts at number one!

This was the first time Zhou Yi had appeared on screen in a manner resembling an idol-drama male lead, stunning absolutely everyone.

The director was clearly playing favorites too—the lighting and atmospheric staging given to him were the best of the entire drama, and standing next to Cheng Hao, the so-called Wan Ren Mi, the two of them together had a dazzling, perfectly matched brilliance.

"I'm sold. No wonder when Zhou Yi first debuted people said he was a once-in-fifty-years handsome man—with that face and that figure, which woman wouldn't get weak in the knees."

"Straight guys too though…"

"Buddy upstairs, a person shouldn't… at least shouldn't…"

"Doesn't this blow that F4 from 'Meteor Garden' out of the water by miles?"

"A total beatdown in every way. 'Meteor Garden' only aired a few episodes before it got banned because of Zhou Yi, but I think Zhou Yi is way more handsome than those four ugly freaks."

"No worries—back at the Golden Melody Awards after-party last year they already got beat down, and it was Zhou Yi himself who did it personally…"

"…"

Thanks to Zhou Yi's currently top-tier, one-of-a-kind popularity in the country plus the high expectations brought by his screen debut, he single-handedly smashed all the haters' doubts about his acting purely on the strength of his looks.

Giegie is so handsome!

Looks are justice!

With the face, Jiangshan is secured!

The next day, Zhu Wei, editor-in-chief of 'Sanlian Life Weekly', even published a long article specifically expressing his astonishment at this "Zhou Yi phenomenon"—

"Based on the data I got from a friend at the TV station, yesterday's episode where Zhou Yi officially appeared directly broke the single-episode ratings record for this drama and in fact for every TV drama this year—27.7%.

"Keep in mind that the previous episode of 'Pretty Lady' had a 14.3% rating, meaning Zhou Yi alone pulled the single-episode rating up by over ten percentage points. These people all tuned in for him—this is Zhou Yi's current influence…"

Zhang Big-Hu Zi, who had previously been seriously analyzing the drama 'Pretty Lady', now regretted it so much he was nearly slapping his thigh raw—

"Damn it, if I'd known I should've stuck to my guns and invited Zhou Yi—inviting Zhou Yi to play Duan Yu would've been way more fitting!"

After confirming that this ratings bump was real, Zhang Big-Hu Zi's regret turned his guts green.

Who needs Jimmy Lin anyway, ugh!

On forums like Tianya and Mop, netizens dug up old news stories about Zhang Big-Hu Zi trying to invite Zhou Yi to star in 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils', Jin Yong praising Zhou Yi as his ideal Duan Yu, and so on, and then turned on Zhang Big-Hu Zi—who was already highly controversial because of the Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun versions of 'Legend of the Condor Heroes'—with a furious verbal lashing.

"Blind as a bat! How could that old thing Jimmy Lin compare to even a single hair on Zhou Yi?!"

"Jin Yong himself said Zhou Yi was his Duan Yu and you still didn't go invite him!"

"You goddamn deserve to be cursed out!"

"…"

Netizens who had already been full of grievances toward Zhang Big-Hu Zi because of 'Legend of the Condor Heroes' finally caught him this time, grabbing Zhang Big-Hu Zi and unleashing a furious spray; the latter was also stewing with nowhere to vent—

Damn it, Zhou Yi wouldn't act in it!

Zhou Yi wouldn't act in it—could I tie him up and drag him here to act?!

Some busybodies even went and looked up Taiwanese netizens' reviews of Zhou Yi, only to be shocked to discover that the place had long since been conquered by Zhou Yi—

On this hotbed that had given birth to numerous idol dramas ever since 'Meteor Garden', Zhou Yi—merely making a cameo in 'Pretty Lady'—had, thanks to his ahead-of-his-time looks, become the moonlight in the hearts of countless Taiwanese viewers.

Because the drama had already finished airing in Taiwan at the beginning of this year, the pure, kind, and innocent Zhou Yi in the show had directly become number one on Taiwanese women's voted list of "Most Suitable Boyfriend in a TV Drama"!

"This is what it really looks like to walk out of a manga! Compared to him, F4 is just too tacky—whether it's the makeup, the clothes, or the hairstyles."

"I must have been blind before. I admit I used to think F4 were handsome, but now I realize Zhou Yi is the most handsome one in any idol drama!"

"Zhou Yi, why didn't you film this kind of urban idol drama sooner?! If you had, where would F4 even come into the picture?! Such a waste of that face!"

In Taiwan, merchandise printed with Zhou Yi's headshots, full-body shots, half-body shots and the like had long since ridden the explosion of 'Pretty Lady' to sell so hot they were nearly sold out, and Zhou Yi's photobook sales once again returned to number one on the charts, crushing a slew of models.

And now, in the broader mainland market, the same thing was playing out…

Plenty of shrewd merchants had long since rolled out all sorts of Zhou Yi merchandise, posters, stickers and the like; since they were unauthorized and Warner had no jurisdiction over them, and they didn't need to pay licensing fees, their selling point was simply massive supply to fully satisfy the needs of Zhou Yi fans all over the country.

The song 'Li Bai' had also ridden the drama's explosion to climb to number two on quite a few music charts, but number one was still that street-bombing 'SuperStar'—a position no one could shake, not even Zhou Yi himself right now.

"Doesn't this count as Zhou Yi shooting himself in the foot?"

"It doesn't—that song was written by him, and the three singers are still Yanzi, Elva, and that Zhang somebody."

"Mainly it's because 'SuperStar' is just too savage. I bet even Zhou Yi himself didn't expect it to blow up this huge when he wrote it. From the start of the year until now, only 'Ten Years' can compare, but 'Ten Years' clearly can't take it."

"…"

Recently, Zhou Yi—who was at CCTV preparing to film a public-service advertisement—had been called "Li Bai, Li Bai" nonstop every day, especially by his senior fellow apprentice Sa Beining, who called out the loudest.

"I've never been fond of saying 'Good luck on the Gaokao.' Think about it: if you say 'good luck' to everyone, doesn't that mean no one actually gets any luck?"

Under Sa Beining's suppressed laughter during the interview, Zhou Yi forcibly resisted the urge to rub his dog-like head and continued, "For the Gaokao, I believe one should simply relax, perform to one's ability, and leave no regrets."

"All roads lead to Rome."

"Look at me: I entered Peking University's Law School back then, but what am I doing now? I'm still engaged in something completely unrelated to my major."

"The perseverance, willpower, wisdom, and other qualities that our generation of young people truly need were already gained during the process of diligently preparing for the Gaokao..."

"There's no need to fear making mistakes on questions or regretting one's chosen major in the future."

"Believe me, those questions we accidentally answered incorrectly and the majors we chose during the Gaokao were all meant to lead us to meet specific people and encounter specific things afterward."

"And all these mistakes, when looked back upon later, will seem as if they were destined by heaven—perfectly fitting and heart-refreshing..."

This was, in fact, Zhou Yi speaking from genuine feeling.

In his past life, he had slacked off for two years during high school, barely scraping by each year. Only in Gao San did he finally snap out of it and strive to catch up, yet his performance during the Gaokao was not ideal. Especially in mathematics, he got several questions wrong that he shouldn't have, and in the end, he could only drop down to a 211 university in his home province.

He had originally wanted to study outside the province and was quite depressed about it. If he had known he would stay in his home province, he might as well have applied to the neighboring University of Finance and Economics back then; at least the regional recognition would be higher. Yet, the final result was that he spent an extremely pleasant four years at the school.

He made several roommates whom he could still gather with every year even after graduation, play games together, and brag together. Even though some roommates were already married, they still played games together without fail after their weddings.

"Alright, then the final question. This one might be edited in, or it might not."

Suppressing a mischievous smile, Sa Beining deliberately did not wrap up filming after it ended: "May I ask, student Zhou Yi, do you have anything you'd like to say about your current reputation online? Including labels such as 'the most handsome' and so on."

"Nothing much to say. I think this is what I deserve."

Zhou Yi adjusted his hair and spoke nonsense with a straight face to the camera: "After all, I am a 'man torn from the manga,' a man who genuinely tore his way out of a comic book."

Sa Beining, who had already burst out laughing, shook Zhou Yi's arm repeatedly, just like shaking hands with a leader: "Hello, man torn from the manga."

(End of this chapter)