Chapter 555: Who Do I Meet, What Dialogue Awaits

"You can approach him, but there's no need to sign him this quickly. Right now he's at the peak of his confidence."

After hearing Qian Jiang's blueprint, Zhou Yi thought it over for a moment, then gently shook his head: "Sending charcoal in the snow beats adding flowers to brocade."

For Li Jian, 2003 was essentially the beginning of his descent from the "altar."

Many people actually have a misconception—because Li Jian has talent, they automatically project the literary genius persona from the original Shuimu Nianhua duo onto him. But in reality, during the Shuimu Nianhua era, Li Jian's creative output never outpaced Lu Gengxu's.

Of the two, the one who held creative dominance was actually Lu Gengxu.

The timeless classic "Yi Sheng You Ni" was also written and composed by Lu Gengxu.

This is also why Li Jian only teamed up with Lu Gengxu in '01, yet parted ways with him in the second half of 2002—after hitting it big, he wanted more creative control over the albums, but the company wouldn't agree.

Because none of the songs Li Jian wrote himself could be considered hits.

Both Tsinghua graduates, both capable of creating—one had produced a market-tested classic, the other hadn't produced a single hit. Anyone in that position would make the same call.

Precisely because of this, Li Jian placed great importance on his new album "Si Shui Liu Nian," released after signing with Taida Audio-Visual this year. Whether this album succeeded or not would determine whether he could successfully prove himself.

But, if Zhou Yi remembered correctly, this album flopped.

Although it had the song "Chuan Qi," due to Taida Audio-Visual's weak promotional capabilities, the song never became a major hit—it only circulated within a small circle.

This was the biggest drawback of the physical record era: without a company pushing it, or with a company whose promotional ability was weak, it was genuinely hard to catch fire.

If Wang Fei hadn't sung "Chuan Qi" on the grand stage of the Spring Festival Gala in the future, Li Jian might truly never have had a chance to turn things around.

To make ends meet, Li Jian even sold the rights to "Chuan Qi." But after Wang Fei's rendition made it a hit, an unwitting Wang Fei herself got entangled in a copyright lawsuit—

Having made "Chuan Qi" a hit only to get caught up in a copyright lawsuit left Wang Fei herself dumbfounded, because Wang Fei had gone directly to Li Jian for authorization.

When they reached out to Li Jian again, his response was that he'd forgotten he'd already sold the song.

As for whether he truly forgot or was playing dumb, that's open to interpretation.

"You're not optimistic about his new album?" Qian Jiang, catching the implication, immediately perked up.

In other areas he could still argue with Zhou Yi, but when it came to music, he unquestionably regarded Zhou Yi as the authority.

"The era of folk music is already over."

Zhou Yi chuckled softly, put on his headphones, and listened to the demo he'd recorded: "The literary crowd makes a lot of noise because the internet now amplifies a small group's voice. When it actually comes time to pay for albums, they'll understand why folk music has been reduced to a niche."

Even Song Ke himself had gradually abandoned folk music in his own plans, which says everything.

The most famous "folk singer" of this period, when you get down to it, would actually exceed many people's expectations—He Jiong.

In '04, He Jiong's campus folk song "Zhi Zi Hua Kai" became the folk music memory of countless people, its singability no less than "Tong Zhuo De Ni"—truly a work that revived confidence in the domestic folk market—

And then a whole bunch of folk singers who thought they'd seen hope crashed and burned, leaving the folk genre barely clinging to life for years to come.

However, doesn't it seem He Jiong hasn't even started working on an album yet?

After seeing Qian Jiang off, Zhou Yi finished listening to the demo, confirmed there were no issues, and was about to start arranging the next song when an unexpected phone call came in—

He Jiong.

"Zhou Yi, it's me, He Jiong…"

After the call connected, He Jiong's always-refreshingly-warm words came through the receiver.

………………………………

"How did it go, He Laoshi?"

Imperial Capital, a large bar at Houhai, in a VIP private room.

A somewhat nervous Qin Lan looked at He Jiong, who had just hung up the phone, and asked in a low voice.

Having weathered plenty of scheming and backstabbing since first entering showbiz, she had already smoothed out much of her Shenyang girl's temper, and now carried a hint of Jiangnan softness.

"Don't worry, Zhou Yi is very easy to talk to, and his personality is great too. Don't think of him as scary—that's just uninformed people spreading nonsense."

Seeing her in this state, He Jiong couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and helplessness.

As a signed artist under a company affiliated with Hunan TV, ever since word came from Warner that Qin Lan would be auditioning, the entire company had been in an uproar—after all, "Huan Zhu Ge Ge 3" really was a sore spot for many.

"Just honestly represent Qiong Yao and relay those words to him. Qiong Yao will host a banquet for Zhou Yi herself later to offer a proper apology. You just need to think of yourself as an ambassador of peace."

Being a worldly-wise smooth operator, He Jiong offered the advice with a smile: "Even warring nations don't kill an envoy."

It's called an audition, but anyone with eyes at the relevant companies could see this was essentially a single-choice question.

To leave a good impression on Zhou Yi, the leadership of the company under Hunan TV specifically sought out He Jiong, who was acquainted with Zhou Yi, and asked him to serve as a middleman to introduce both parties, just to have some assurance.

After taking several deep breaths in succession, Qin Lan, working hard to calm herself, couldn't help but nod.

Although she was unhappy about what her manager had secretly instructed her earlier, she personally had no intention of dating Zhou Yi to climb the ladder—

Not for any other reason, purely because the ten-million-RMB penalty made it impossible for her to even entertain the idea of having some whirlwind romance with a man of Zhou Yi's lofty status.

Her contract with Hunan TV contained a clause restricting her from dating.

"Does he have any taboos?"

Still mulling over what topics she should prepare to open with, Qin Lan inquired about Zhou Yi's relevant information: "I don't mean the superficial taboos my manager told me about."

"None."

He Jiong described Zhou Yi as he understood him: "He's quite refined and easygoing."

Just as she was still mentally rehearsing her opening lines, the private room door was promptly knocked—

Dressed in a white T-shirt, jeans, and canvas shoes, Zhou Yi pushed the door open with a smile, his first impression being one of sunshine: "He Laoshi, no class today? You actually have time to set up a gathering?"

"You know the Arabic language I teach. If I were really that busy, I wouldn't still have time to fly to Changsha every week to record 'Happy Camp.'"

He Jiong shook his head, then introduced her to Qin Lan beside him: "Let me introduce—this is Qin Lan, just signed under Hunan TV."

"Hello, I'm Qin Lan. I really love your songs…"

Coming back to her senses, the nervous Qin Lan instantly forgot the lines she'd rehearsed countless times in her head, and could only stiffly introduce herself—

The moment she finished, she wanted to slap herself twice.

There was no helping it—Zhou Yi's fame was simply too massive right now.

For a nobody like her who'd only been in showbiz a few years, if she hadn't been cast in a Qiong Yao drama, she might never have had the chance to sit at the same table as Zhou Yi.

"So you are Miss Qin?"

Zhou Yi sized her up and down; at present, Qin Lan, who hadn't yet had surgery on her face, possessed the traditional, dignified square face, a trait evident from her portrayal of Zhizhua—a youthful, mature face type where one could see what she would look like in her forties by the time she was in her twenties—

She had prominent jawbones with flesh hanging on them, and her cheeks on both sides were not the melon-seed streamlined type.

"Don't be so nervous; I'm not some monster." Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Yi noticed the Northeast girl's fidgety tension, smiled, and lightened the atmosphere: "Otherwise, how are we supposed to shoot the MV later?"

?

Hearing this, Qin Lan's heart didn't react for a moment.

Wait...

Is that it?

What about the unwritten rules hinted at by the agent?

Didn't they say Zhou Yi was always hard to deal with?

Under He Jiong's skillful and smooth greetings, the laughter in the private room, which had never gone cold, rang out in waves—

Especially when music was discussed.

"To be honest with you, Zhou Yi, I do have the idea of making an album; more channels mean more paths, after all, who doesn't have a music dream deep down?"

Facing Zhou Yi, He Jiong, who didn't need to be overly cautious, joked self-deprecatingly while talking about his current career: "Besides, being a host isn't easy these days either."

Li Xiang had confirmed she would officially leave Hunan TV after October this year to strike out on her own; "Happy Camp," the current entertainment leader program in the country, was suddenly in a precarious position—

After all, the core of this program was originally held up single-handedly by Li Xiang, the central figure.

Based on this major background, it was understandable that He Jiong wanted to try the music path; after all, he didn't even know how long he could hold up "Happy Camp" without Li Xiang.

Hunan TV was famous for cutting programs with lightning speed.

"That's simple; He Laoshi, if you want to test the waters, you can contact Warner; Warner is quite lively recently."

Zhou Yi sipped nonchalantly through a straw and joked: "They are just short of a famous host like you joining."

He Jiong releasing an album was merely due to uncertainty about the future; he himself had no intention of deep cultivation in the music industry, so such a person was perfect to serve as a "tool."

"The White Gardenia Blooms" was right there; it was a trivial matter.

Later, they could market the idea that "he casually pulled a cross-industry host over and managed to drag the entire domestic folk circle together to crush them," choking those "old relics" to death and seeing if they would still keep blabbering about this and that.

He Jiong, who had only spoken his mind, never expected to receive the helping hand Zhou Yi offered without hesitation, and felt somewhat moved in his heart.

After Li Xiang confirmed her departure, the prospects for him also became unclear; he tasted the fickleness of the entertainment world for the first time—many entertainment figures who were once willing to be friendly with him had started to watch and pick sides.

He could feel it clearly.

On the contrary, Zhou Yi, the biggest star in his circle of friends, remained exactly the same as before; his friendly attitude toward him had not changed at all, and he was even willing to pull him up during his low point, propping him up proactively in a joking manner.

Such a man was actually blackened as "arrogant," "stubborn," and "willful and unrestrained"; those journalists were simply blinded by pig fat!

As a shrewd person, He Jiong rarely felt such sincerity from the bottom of his heart.

Out of a mindset of not causing trouble for Zhou Yi, He Jiong didn't agree immediately; after all, Qin Lan was still present. If he agreed, and later Warner refused, wasting time on cooperation, Zhou Yi would lose face instead.

This was not what He Jiong, who was good at putting himself in others' shoes, wanted.

It was Zhou Yi's business to want to help a friend out of youthful enthusiasm; he couldn't be unreasonable.

Qin Lan, who also knew about the major internal changes at Hunan TV, silently played the role of the invisible tea-server and water-pourer, but in her heart, she looked at Zhou Yi with a bit more respect—

Regardless, this character who was willing to help a friend without a second thought was indeed quite a plus.

After eating and drinking their fill, Qin Lan, who had sent He Jiong off, was just planning to find an opportunity to communicate privately with Zhou Yi more often as instructed by the agent, but she never expected the latter to bid her farewell without any reluctance—

"Ah?"

Qin Lan, who had never expected this, was a bit dazed.

Didn't they say Zhou Yi was universally recognized as a playboy?

She had some beauty at least; why did you show not the slightest interest?

"Oh, right, there's something I couldn't say just now while He Jiong was here."

Having saved Qin Lan's phone number, Zhou Yi smiled and said to her: "The matter between me and Qiong Yao is just between the two of us. One is one, two is two; I don't really like getting involved with so-called third-party sacrificial victims."

Qin Lan: "..."

"So, just tell them when you get back that I agreed to act, and that's OK."

Putting his phone back in his pocket, Zhou Yi smiled and shrugged; under Qin Lan's gaze of wanting to speak but stopping, he turned around, raised his hand without looking back, and waved: "I'm leaving; see you on set."

"..."

Watching Zhou Yi walk out of the private room, go down the stairs, and disappear onto the black luxury car outside the bar, Qin Lan, standing at the second-floor railing, looked down and checked the number she had just saved in her phone contacts—that was Zhou Yi's number.

On the central performance stage downstairs in the bar, the resident singer plucked the strings, singing the hit song "Meeting" from Sun Yanzi's newly released album "Unfinished."

"Hearing winter leave, I wake up in some year and some month~

"I think, I wait, I expect, but the future cannot be arranged because of this~"

Qin Lan, feeling that Zhou Yi had overturned the impression in her heart, rested her arms on the railing; attracted by the singing, she turned her head to look—a slender girl was playing this song with full emotion—

"Who will I meet, and what kind of dialogue will there be~

"The person I wait for, how far in the future is he~

"I hear the wind, coming from the subway and the sea of people~

"I'm lining up, holding the number card of love~"

……………………………………

"Sounds good!"

Guangzhou, inside the Tianhe Gymnasium.

Having finished the final rehearsal, Cheng Hao stood below the stage and clapped for her good sister singing loudly on stage.

Satisfied with the good state, Sun Yanzi, upon hearing this, couldn't help but point toward Cheng Hao's direction below the stage, gave her a wink, and grinned playfully.