Chapter 547: True · Body-Double Literature

Although not being chosen left Aragaki Yui very disappointed, it didn't stop her from continuing to clap for Zhou Yi and that Saito so-and-so—

Although that male fan's singing was pretty average.

Especially with Zhou Yi as the contrast, it was even more average, even though he had already been practically throwing the game.

"This young man has decent looks, and plenty of girls these days fall for that type. Since he's still modeling part-time, keep an eye on the public reaction after the broadcast, and send someone to make contact with him." In the backstage production crew, the chief director—who was on good terms with Ken-On due to years of working together—gave his subordinates a word of instruction.

He had long heard of Zhou Yi's metaphysics, let alone the fact that this blessing was the first one Zhou Yi had written since coming to Japan, given to a complete nobody.

If some agency was really willing to sign him in the future, and this person later became a huge star, then he wouldn't just get to claim the position of a talent-spotter, but could also keep padding his own resume.

Resume credentials are the core matter in the Japanese entertainment industry—you can lie back on your record of merits and live off it.

Zhou Yi, unaware of the backstage conversation, saw off the future Mizushima Hiro, then took the break to drink a few more sips of water, sat down in front of the stage with legs spread wide, and said with a smile: "Then for the next song, you guys will sing—"

"We will!"

"Of course!!"

"No problem!!!"

Before Zhou Yi could even finish speaking, the Japanese fans, who loved interacting with their idol, responded loudly one after another—this was also the benefit of Warner having set a threshold for ticket purchases in advance.

Once the time limit is set long, basically there will be more fans who know Chinese songs, since they're all long-time Zhou Yi fans.

No matter what song it is, they can pick it up—whatever Zhou Yi sings works.

"OK, then 'The Initial Dream'—you guys shouldn't be unfamiliar with this song recently, right?"

Riding on the momentum of "Riding on the Silver Dragon's Back," this song—written, composed, and arranged by Zhou Yi, sung by Zhang Shaohan—had gained quite a reputation among Zhou Yi's Japanese fanbase, since they were the ones who had originally criticized Nakajima Miyuki for changing it into some bullshit.

However, when the intro of this song began to play, they were surprised to find that the teleprompter Zhou Yi had set up on stage displayed not only the Chinese lyrics, but also Japanese romaji, and some annotations of strange Chinese characters?!

Could it be?!

"When I was on the Fuji TV program before, I hadn't yet learned the Japanese version of this song. But thanks to Ms. Nakajima's help, she thoughtfully annotated the romaji pronunciation for me, allowing me to learn a Japanese song in just one short week."

Mentioning that Japanese national-treasure-level songstress who had been on good terms with the Chinese entertainment industry for over a decade, Zhou Yi's smile was bright and sunny: "So, 'Riding on the Silver Dragon's Back,' for all of you."

Sincerity, absolute sincerity!

The moment Zhou Yi said these words, this specially prepared surprise directly moved all the Japanese fans at the scene to tears—

After all, before this, Zhou Yi didn't know any Japanese at all.

Learning a Japanese song in just one short week through romaji annotations—the surprise and emotion this brought them was completely maxed out!

"Ano aozameta umi no kanata de"

"Ima masa ni dareka ga itandeiru……"

The moment Zhou Yi opened his mouth, his rendition—which had a distinct flavor compared to Nakajima Miyuki's—made the restless venue fall silent at once. Many fans moved to tears, their eyes glistening, covered their mouths with their hands to stop themselves from crying out in excitement and ruining this unique and precious gift.

At this moment, the Chinese fans who had likewise fallen silent finally understood what those seemingly strange, meaningless Chinese characters written above the Japanese romaji meant……

It was the simplest phonetic transcription.

Just like "red bean paste," "sumimasen," "iku"……

"Zhou Yi really is a goddamn genius!"

"It has that flavor—when I first started learning English, there was a period when I also used phonetic transcription like this to memorize word pronunciations."

"So Chinese people come with a built-in phonetic transcription skill, huh……"

The Chinese fans whispering among themselves felt an extra sense of familiarity, and Zhou Yi suddenly felt much closer to them.

When it reached the second chorus, a female voice rang out that made everyone in the venue cheer—

Kuraki Mai, in a flowing white dress, slowly rose from the lift at Zhou Yi's gentlemanly invitation. Currently ranked first on the Oricon chart, she was at the peak of her popularity—her appearance on site undoubtedly completely shattered the fans' long-restrained desire to scream!

"Let's welcome, Young Lady Kuraki Mai!"

"Ahhhh!!!!"

The moment Zhou Yi and white-dress-billowing Kuraki Mai smiled and looked at each other, the fans who had been quiet for most of the song once again went wild.

Smiling, Kuraki Mai not only finished singing this song, but also sang along with Zhou Yi on the English song from her own album that she had duetted with Sun Yanzi—also laying the groundwork from another angle for Sun Yanzi's future entry into the Japanese market.

Finally, they wrapped up with "Good Time," which Zhou Yi had previously duetted with Sun Yanzi.

Two and a half songs—Kuraki Mai got to promote her own music without stealing Zhou Yi's spotlight, then gracefully exited and returned the stage to Zhou Yi alone, letting him bask in the cheers of the entire venue.

The heated Zhou Yi once again drenched himself with mineral water, slicked his hair back to one side like a blue-dye gel master, and the moment he casually took off his shirt and tied it around his waist, the venue experienced its first-ever "riot"—

Fans close enough reached out their hands to touch him!

"Eh!!"

Zhou Yi, who had been about to pick another lucky fan, dodged the "attack," smiled, and wagged his right index finger at the excited black-straight-haired girl: "You're still far from it."

Sitting beside her senior, Aragaki Yui felt gazes coming from all directions, inexplicably feeling a bit embarrassed, her face flushed with agitation.

But when the spotlight of the lucky audience member landed on her, she was instantly dumbfounded—

?!

I was chosen?!

"Gakki! Gakki, you're the lucky audience member!!!"

The senior who had previously failed to execute the "butterfingers" technique on Zhou Yi threw an arm around Aragaki Yui's shoulder and shook her excitedly. Zhou Yi, who had noticed Aragaki Yui's face, was also somewhat surprised.

This was the second future Japanese megastar he had run into this year.

Unlike Mizushima Hiro's spectacular but fleeting blaze of glory, this future "national wife" of Japan had stayed continuously popular, only gradually declining after her marriage.

"H-hello, Zhou Yi Jun, my name is Aragaki Yui, my friends all call me Gakki, I'm your die-hard fan."

After the surprise came nervousness—Aragaki Yui went up on stage, and facing Zhou Yi, she stumbled through: "My sister is also your fan……"

Not knowing what to say, Aragaki Yui simply started listing her credentials, telling the whole story of how she had become a fan of Zhou Yi.

As for her favorite Zhou Yi song, it was that lazy-person's song that had first made Zhou Yi famous in Japan—"The Lazy Song."

"After starting busy modeling work, I really love that relaxed feeling now."

As her emotions gradually settled during the conversation with Zhou Yi, Aragaki Yui stopped stumbling over her words. Zhou Yi even snapped his fingers directly, and the venue began playing the intro to "The Lazy Song."

Although the singing wasn't great, the sweetness of her smile made up for it—the kind with immense infectious power.

"Has anyone ever told you that when you smile, from a certain angle, you look a lot like a friend of mine? Gakki."

When the song ended, Zhou Yi, who had a habit of cracking jokes, teased and asked.

"Eh? Really?"

Realizing he was referring to Stefanie Sun's connection to Gakki Arata, she was instantly surprised and said, "Indeed, I actually used to play Stefanie in my school club."

"?"

Good heavens, you actually acted as her?

It was just a casual remark to liven up the atmosphere, but now Zhou Yi was left speechless by Gakki Arata's response—she actually had experience portraying Stefanie Sun?

Hmm... wait, no.

In that case...

Suddenly, a genuine "substitute literature" idea sprang to Zhou Yi's mind—

As everyone knows, "Qi Li Xiang" is a song leaning towards youth and students.

Then, what if he let Gakki Arata play the female lead?

Wouldn't that be more satisfying than those messy media rumors in Shukan Bunshun claiming Xia Yaxuan and Utada Hikaru were substitute literature?

At the very least, the two of them do look somewhat alike from a specific angle.

It's just that Nagasawa Masami isn't here; otherwise, they could gather two "Wan Wan Lei Qing" figures, one big and one small.

Although Nagasawa Masami entered the entertainment industry before Gakki Arata and is also still a minor, she appears mature enough.

By then, since Stefanie Sun is already dead in "Tong Hua," this could be seen as a reminiscence of "Qi Li Xiang"? Or perhaps a newly found substitute literature?