Chapter 526: Standing Like a Lackey for a Year

"Congratulations, Zhou Yi!"

"Congratulations!"

As the song "Mom and Dad" began to play at the venue, a multitude of hands suddenly reached out to congratulate Zhou Yi, who was sitting in his seat with his legs crossed.

Endless voices swirled around his ears while camera lenses precisely captured every second of the man's changing expressions.

"Congratulations, A-Yi."

After smiling and giving the rising Zhou Yi a hug, Jay Chou grinned mischievously, raised his hand, and punched his friend in the chest: "Although I guessed this result long ago, seeing you win so easily still makes me very unhappy."

There were only six nominations in this category, and Zhou Yi alone claimed three of them.

This win probability directly exceeded 50%, and it was the expectation of over 99% of people that the trophy would ultimately land on his head.

After all, compared to those songs about love and romance, the simple, unadorned depiction of family affection like "Mom and Dad" has always been the type most favored by the awards ceremony.

Not to mention this song came from the hand of Zhou Yi, a top-tier singer.

"It's fine, just remember to treat Wen Shan to a cup of milk tea later."

After a light chuckle, Zhou Yi replied with a sentence, adjusted his suit, and turned his head, just in time to see his neighbor Sun Yanzi pointing and gesturing at him while holding Liang Jingru's arm.

Seeing his gaze turn toward her, Sun Yanzi, who was hugging Liang Jingru's arm in a display of sisterly closeness, finally pretended to clap for him, ignoring the man's raised eyebrow provocation—

Hmph, a petty man.

Childish!

Wasn't it just about saying on the red carpet that he wanted to win Best Album and then go show off and act arrogant?

What's so great about winning Best Lyricist? Next time, when she has the time, she'll just write one herself.

Sun Yanzi, who was muttering about Zhou Yi's provocation, was caught on camera; she herself realized her face had suddenly appeared on the large screen at the venue—

After her expression visibly froze for a moment, she awkwardly raised her hand to form a telescope shape to cover her face, then leaned directly into Liang Jingru's arms, who was laughing the loudest.

"It's clear that our Young Lady Sun Yanzi is not very convinced. Zhou Yi, do you have anything you want to say to her?"

As one of the award presenters, Yang Naiwen smiled and handed the trophy to Zhou Yi as he came on stage; her teasing remark caused a chorus of monkey-like cheers from the entire audience—

Fans were allowed into the audience seats at the Golden Melody Awards.

Yang Naiwen's words were practically waving the Twin Stars card in plain sight; it was no wonder it didn't cause screaming.

"Her? Let me think... if you're bad, just practice more."

Standing behind the main podium, Zhou Yi adjusted the microphone height; many people below the stage hadn't immediately grasped the meaning, but Sun Yanzi, thoroughly indoctrinated, deliberately tightened her right fist and waved it at him in the air—

With her head held high and chest out, her threatening intent was plain to see.

Amidst the laughter of the entire audience, the two award presenters, Zhang Zhenyue and Yang Naiwen, also exited, leaving the stage to Zhou Yi to deliver his acceptance speech—

"Winning this award, the first person I actually want to thank is not anyone else, but myself."

Shaking the Best Lyricist trophy in his hand, Zhou Yi smiled and recalled his childhood: "A strict father and a gentle mother; my family is no different from the lyrics. Of course, I need to clarify one point: I, Zhou Yi, really did not have an early romance, let alone get beaten by my dad with a leather belt or a broom handle because of one."

"Those were all drawn from the experiences of a few of my friends, then slightly artistically processed."

Zhou Yi, raising his right hand, gestured with his knuckles, and his words caused another round of laughter from the audience below.

After thanking the company and the staff as per custom, Zhou Yi returned to his seat with the trophy, continuing to sit in a relaxed, self-assured manner with his legs crossed, waiting for the next award to begin.

However, when the two presenters for the new round of Best Composer walked onto the stage, all the other nominees except Zhou Yi immediately perked up—

The reason was none other than the fact that the male presenter was an F4 member: Zhu Xiaotian.

Jay Chou instinctively frowned slightly, then turned his head to look at Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi.

As everyone knows, a rather dramatic incident occurred backstage at last year's Golden Melody Awards; because of Zhou Yi, the mainland directly banned the newly aired "Meteor Garden," and since then, F4, having lost the mainland market, had a verbal altercation and a tiny bit of a conflict with Zhou Yi backstage due to youthful arrogance—

In the most widely circulated version, Sun Yanzi, wielding an electric baton, became famous in one battle, thoroughly establishing her nickname "Thirteenth Sister" and her reputation;

Loyal Jay Chou pulled out his most skilled nunchucks, settling scores for grievances and returning favors for kindness, catching Wu Jianhao and unleashing a barrage of attacks on him;

Zhou Yi, with the strongest combat power, improvised on the spot, dismantled a chair, grabbed a wooden stick, and held down two people by himself;

Zhang Shaohan, last year's Best Newcomer winner, silently closed the door.

Because it was so absurd that it didn't seem like it was made up, this version of the "Golden Melody Three Stick Users" circulated widely across the internet and media circles in the two sides of the strait and Hong Kong and Macau.

Assigning Zhu Xiaotian to present the award?

Does that not mean Zhou Yi has no chance with this award?

Otherwise, having been beaten up last year, he would have to smile and personally hand the honor to Zhou Yi on stage this year; that would be somewhat cruel for Zhu Xiaotian.

He is, after all, one of the F4 members.

Thinking of this, the other nominees for the Best Composer award in the audience immediately gathered their spirits, each staring intently at the stage with high morale.

"The nominees for the 14th Golden Melody Award for Best Composer are: Pan Xie Qing - 'I Like' (Performer: Liang Jingru);

"Chen Xiaojuan - 'Now' (Performer: Na Ying);

"Cai Zhengxun - 'Your Backpack' (Performer: Chen Yixun);

"Zhou Yi - 'Fireworks Cool Easily', 'Lydia', 'Today You Marry Me'..."

Whether on purpose or by accident, when the nomination list reached Zhou Yi, the camera specifically gave a close-up shot of Zhu Xiaotian on stage; this future ugliest Chu Liu Xiang of the grasslands pressed his lips together, lowered his head slightly, and raised his index finger to wipe the tip of his nose.

As the other presenter, Mo Wenwei, opened the envelope in her hand under the gaze of the crowd, a flash of surprise instantly appeared on her face.

"The winner of the Best Composer Award is... 'Fireworks Cool Easily', Zhou Yi! Congratulations!"

When Zhou Yi's name popped out of Zhu Xiaotian's mouth, the expressions on the faces of the other three nominees all showed a brief moment of shock.

Not only them, but even the other stars in the venue felt something was strange.

That's not right; did the Golden Melody Awards take the wrong medicine?

Did they consider Zhu Xiaotian's feelings?

In an instant, countless gazes focused on Zhou Yi, whose smile at the corner of his mouth was calm, as if trying to read something from his expression, but until he got up to accept the award on stage, they could not discern anything.

"Congratulations, Zhou Yi."

Zhu Xiaotian, facing Zhou Yi at close range for the first time in over a year, bowed slightly; while forcing a smile on his face, he handed the trophy to him with both hands: "The achievements you have attained are remarkable."

Zhou Yi, noticing this small gesture of his, felt surprised; after accepting the trophy, he nodded, while Mo Wenwei, standing nearby, livened the atmosphere and offered Zhou Yi enthusiastic congratulations.

Wang Lihong, Jay Chou, Sun Yanzi, Cai Yilin, and Liang Jingru down in the audience were all utterly confused about what the Golden Melody Awards were trying to do; Sun Yanzi even truly lost control of her facial expressions for several seconds, her face a mask of shock.

Zhou Yi's fans inside the venue, having witnessed Zhu Xiaotian's act of voluntarily bowing his head with their own eyes, snapped out of their disbelief, and the scene instantly erupted in cheers far louder than before!

Regardless of how many people F4 actually has, at least in the eyes of the fans and many others tonight, Zhu Xiaotian appeared in the identity of an F4 member.

F4, which was at the height of its power just a year ago and even attempted to go head-to-head with Zhou Yi across Asia, was now standing beside Zhou Yi at this year's Golden Melody Awards, smiling ingratiatingly, standing like lackeys...

(End of this chapter)