[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty":3,"chapter-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-57":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The King of 2000: A Mandopop Dynasty",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2301313,4501,"Chapter 57","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-57",57,"\u003Cp>The next day, at nine in the morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Shaohan, having received word from her agent early, arrived at Warner by company car and pushed open the studio door with eager excitement—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi, who had arrived before her, was still sitting on the sofa in the lounge eating breakfast; seeing her come in, he waved at her: “Have you had breakfast? If not, join me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Across from the man, Sun Yanzi sat on a chair, clearly holding a sheet of sheet music, her right hand tapping the air as if keeping time, murmuring softly to herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the noise, Sun Yanzi immediately looked up toward the door, a smile appearing on her face: “You’re here early, Shaohan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good morning, Yanzi-jie.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their established familiarity had long since dispelled Zhang Shaohan’s former nervousness; she sat down calmly before the two, eyeing the several wrapped boxes on the coffee table: “Yi-ge, you’re just having breakfast now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I hadn’t promised to write songs for both of you, I wouldn’t even be awake yet at this hour.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi closed the lid, took the napkin Sun Yanzi handed him, wiped his mouth, then picked up a sheet of sheet music from the coffee table and placed it before the seated Zhang Shaohan—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Above, the large characters “Fable” caught her eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This song samples a Christmas carol dating back as far as the 15th century. Since your company plans to launch you before Christmas, I thought using it as the lead single would be auspicious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The 15th century? That far back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Shaohan couldn’t help but gasp—sampling a Christmas folk song five hundred years old?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon closer inspection of the sheet music, wow—this wasn’t a folk song at all—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d never seen a folk song with such a high pitch and such a fast tempo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intrigued, Zhang Shaohan began humming along to the melody: “I only now realize the difference between dreams and reality—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Facing the wind, experiencing every sensation—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like a fable—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tears of joy watching this day—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to chase, chasing a perfect world…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without arrangement, after humming through it just a few times, as an aspiring singer, Zhang Shaohan already sensed this song’s quality was no less than “Happy Worship” or “Forced to Love.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, if your company isn’t satisfied with this one, I have another backup option—you can take it back and discuss it with them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, Zhou Yi pulled out another sheet of sheet music and placed it before Zhang Shaohan—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Original… Dream?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. A more uplifting pop song suited for young people. This one has no sampling.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi leaned back comfortably against the sofa, his right arm bent to rest against his cheek, explaining the song’s style and vocal delivery points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Midu Meixue’s “Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon” hadn’t even been written yet—perhaps he could resell the rights to the Japanese music circle later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Zhou Yi’s view, Zhang Shaohan’s voice, with its greater explosive power and piercing clarity than her future plastic best friend Fan Weiqi’s, had no trouble handling “The Original Dream.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After humming the melody several times, Zhang Shaohan could no longer suppress her excitement; she looked up cautiously and asked: “So, Yi-ge, can I have both of these?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll convince my company to pay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t care—as long as you pay. Look, she originally only wanted one song, but now she’s taken a liking to both.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi nodded toward Sun Yanzi beside him; the latter, still chewing her fingernails while staring at the sheet music, didn’t look up as she retorted: “Your second song isn’t a backup—it’s just as much a lead single as the first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Curious, Zhang Shaohan leaned over to peek; in Sun Yanzi’s hands were two sheets of sheet music, their titles clearly marked: “Green Light” and “Little Luck.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I just thought you might not like them, so I made them backups,” said Zhou Yi, habitually planning for contingencies; after finishing “Fable” and “Green Light” last night, he’d still considered possible setbacks and added these two lead-level backup songs for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Better safe than sorry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The backup for Zhang Shaohan was the most famous and widely sung song of her future plastic best friend Fan Weiqi’s singing career;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one for Sun Yanzi was Tian Fuzhen’s future hit “Little Luck.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of personal style, Wang Fei, Sun Yanzi, and Tian Fuzhen all aimed for similar paths. If memory served, Wang Fei would soon officially designate Sun Yanzi as her successor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi originally planned to offer \"Angel in the Devil,\" but considering Sun Yanzi's current need for a song to break through in the mainland market, he ultimately chose the more mainstream and audience-friendly \"Little Luck.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? What’s that over there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Zhang Shaohan was about to leave Sun Yanzi’s side, she suddenly spotted, through Sun Yanzi’s current position, two other sheets of sheet music previously hidden behind Zhou Yi’s body: “Are these Yi-ge’s new songs?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Obviously not.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi sighed, following Zhang Shaohan’s gaze: “The rumors about you three coming to me for songs have spread like wildfire. Last night, when I went out for late-night snacks with Xiao Yaxuan, she asked me for a song too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wrote for you three—I can’t favor one over the others.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, they were bosom friends; Zhou Yi couldn’t be that heartless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you dare favor one over the others, I’ll go out right now and hold a press conference and say you’re a heartless jerk who played with my feelings and discarded me after using my fame.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the three spoke, the studio door opened again; Xiao Yaxuan, draped in a silver fox fur coat and wearing flats, stepped in—her arrival catching the attention of the three who had lifted their heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that so? Then I think you’ve overestimated the public and fans’ expectations of me. Punish yourself by listening to my songs again and watching my interviews once more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi chuckled at her arrival, grabbed the last two sheets of sheet music, folded them once, and tossed them onto Xiao Yaxuan’s fur coat: “If you really insist, I can hold a press conference too—and write a detailed article about how we met, proving you’re lying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Believe me, I’m very good at writing persuasive nonsense.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three women, amused by the phrase “writing an article,” all smiled slightly; Xiao Yaxuan, the target of the teasing, rolled her eyes at the man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then her gaze fell upon the sheet music in her hands—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Love’s Lead Single,” “Never Never Land.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former was the song that had propelled Xiao Yaxuan to diva status in the early 2000s; the latter was the future retirement anthem of Cai Yilin, who would later become one of the Four Queens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While writing, Zhou Yi had carefully checked the remembered years—“Never Never Land”’s original English version wouldn’t be released until 2005, so he was the original creator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frankly, among the Four Queens and Three Little Queens, Cai Yilin and Wang Xinling had the most cover songs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The difference was that only a small portion of Cai Yilin’s covers became hits, while most of Wang Xinling’s covers became hits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi had also considered tapping into SHE’s catalog, since this first female group in the Chinese music scene was also a major cover band. But since all three women’s styles hadn’t yet begun to shift, he temporarily shelved the idea for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, there was still plenty of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But arranging and producing all six songs himself was draining his energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no choice—he feared others might alter these six songs beyond recognition, wasting the resources entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after Zhou Yi sold the songs, Fuhao, Warner, and Virgin Records all officially announced their artists’ upcoming collaborations with Zhou Yi—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi: two songs; Zhang Shaohan: two songs; Xiao Yaxuan: two songs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many fans who saw the news protested—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh no, how did Zhou Yi end up mentoring three girls at once? What about his own album?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it! I knew this bastard had ulterior motives! Others sing—he’s out here bringing girls along!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1351,"2026-06-20T07:33:41.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2b1cedf6ac130171a9b5747e921819248fa10d2f11fe3e46262c320cf5aa4f77","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-58","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-56",883,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-cover.jpg"]