Chapter 593: Now, It's Imagination Time

When the glaring sunlight lost the curtain's shielding, Zhou Yi, lying in bed, couldn't help but furrow his brows, and in his half-awake daze opened his eyes, propping himself up on both hands to look around blankly—

"Let me guess—you probably had a wild time last night."

Qian Jiang, pot-bellied, stood by the window, watching the man's sleepy gesture of raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Though phrased as a question, his tone brooked no argument: "And with two people, no less."

"Old Qian?"

Zhou Yi rubbed his eyes, his voice still carrying a slight rasp perhaps because he had just woken up: "How did you know?"

Qian Jiang said nothing, just curled his lip, and tilted his head along with his right thumb in one direction—

The two famous models who had been hovering around him at the private club last night had long since changed clothes and reverted to their public goddess personas. Seeing Zhou Yi awake, the made-up women blew him a kiss: "Good morning, Spike, hope you have a great mood to start a new day."

"Thanks, that good-morning kiss is pretty nice, I like it."

Zhou Yi, his hair a mess, pouted his lips and blew a kiss back at them.

After the two of them left, Qian Jiang finally cast a sidelong glance at the man lying on the bed with his arms spread: "What were their names? Anything I need to watch out for?"

"Something-something-Na, I think. Forgot, doesn't matter."

Zhou Yi, letting out a yawn, said indifferently: "Just two models."

If it had been the Alessandra Ambrosio who drove them three back to the hotel last night, then he would have an impression of her. After all, she was a Victoria's Secret supermodel who had shone during the era of the gods, affectionately called AA by her domestic fans.

"What about the other woman? The media caught a shot of a supermodel driving you and these two women back to the hotel last night."

"Oh, she's a friend of one of them. Originally she was just driving that something-something-Na home, but in the end she ended up dropping me off here."

Zhou Yi himself couldn't hold it in at this point and burst out laughing.

That outfit, that exquisite light makeup—saying she was originally just driving that something-Na home, who would believe it?

Some kind of playing-hard-to-get Snow Princess glass slipper plotline.

"The promotion for your new album domestically has all been arranged. 'Happy Camp,' that old familiar show, goes without saying. Among them, the 'Chen Luyu You Yue' segment needs your special attention."

"This female host named Chen Luyu often asks questions that aren't easy for guests to answer. No matter how big a name the other party is, you need to pay special attention…"

Qian Jiang, who was in charge of wrapping things up for Zhou Yi, chattered on the whole way.

Zhou Yi's new album was about to be released, and he was even more nervous than Zhou Yi himself. Once it fell short of expectations, given Zhou Yi's current standing, it would be very easy for public opinion to be swayed—

One can rise but not fall; public opinion can both create gods and destroy them.

The main thing is that this time's opponent has a somewhat fierce momentum.

"Wang Lihong's new album 'Incredible' has been released. The industry reputation is absurdly good. Even Li Zongsheng, who hasn't appeared in a long time, couldn't help but step forward and praise him after listening to this album."

"How did he praise him?"

"He said fans only need a small cookie, but Wang Lihong served them a big cake."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

Zhou Yi's calm demeanor actually rendered Qian Jiang speechless.

No, come on, give some reaction.

"Wang Lihong's album was officially released on the 15th. Sales and reputation have soared these past two days, directly breaking Wang Lihong's best record since his debut. Excluding pre-order sales, Taiwan's first-day sales were 80,000 copies, and within 9 days, mainland sales alone broke through 500,000 copies.

"Not only those professional music shows and radio stations, even those seasoned music fans publicly expressed their praise for this 'Incredible' in newspapers. Li Zongsheng's metaphor poured even more fuel on the fire."

Obviously, judging from this initial performance alone, this was undoubtedly another album of the caliber of 'Ye Hui Mei.'

Moreover, judging from current reviews, almost all music critics believed that in terms of album concept and production brilliance, 'Incredible' even surpassed Zhou Jielun's 'Ye Hui Mei' released this year.

When 'Ye Hui Mei' first came out in July, the reputation wasn't as uniformly positive as Wang Lihong's album. Mixed in were some comments saying he had "run out of talent."

"9 days, then it's about right. His popularity can only stretch to about that number."

After changing clothes and finishing washing up, Zhou Yi walked out of the hotel, adjusting his suit cuffs as he went, and said with a smile: "Do you believe Sony won't dare mention final sales breaking a million at his celebration party a month from now, and will only dare mention this 9-day 500,000-copy achievement?"

Nationwide, the real sales volume is probably around 800,000 to 850,000 at most. That's the limit; beyond that, it'll have to be slowly ground out over time.

Although Wang Lihong is trying his hardest to shake off the idol label, as a music idol, his high popularity did indeed save this album.

"…That can't be, right?"

Hearing this, Qian Jiang immediately became uncertain and doubtful.

500,000 in mainland China alone in 9 days, yet it can't sell a million within two months?

He is one of the few top-selling singers in the country, second only to Zhou Yi.

If it really can't sell a million copies, then this market performance can't even be called passable, only less than satisfactory—the staying power is just too weak.

"So for the domestic radio chart songs, which song do you want to send first? Your most valued A-side song, 'The Wounds of War'?"

"What? No no no, if I send the A-side song I'll die a horrible death."

Zhou Yi shook his head like a rattle-drum: "The A-side's only purpose is to let my fans occupy the moral high ground in arguments and point fingers at others. To put it bluntly, it's just for the convenience of fans and myself to show off when taking stock.

"If I really want to capture the market, I can only rely on the B-side songs. Send the second lead single 'Qi Li Xiang' over, and the next priority is the third lead single 'Writing a Poem for You.'"

"What about the first lead single 'Mo Qinghua'?"

"That's the trump card I'm keeping in the album."

When Zhou Yi arrived at the Victoria's Secret show venue, Qian Jiang had already sent the instructions back to China.

The moment Zhou Yi appeared in a purple cloud-patterned Armani suit, he won the attention of most of the models on site—

"It's Spike!"

Accompanied by the screams of fans along the red carpet, Zhou Yi, who instantly drew all the reporters' attention on the red carpet, wore an especially refined smile—however you looked at him, he didn't seem like the troublemaker in their memories.

"Spike! Spike! Is it true that you spent the night with three supermodels last night?!"

"Spike! Someone said you poached Leonardo's corner. Was the one with you last night really Gisele Bündchen?!"

"Spike…"

The swarming reporters were so eager they nearly shoved their microphones into Zhou Yi's mouth. And the "culprit" who caused all this, Alessandra Ambrosio, happened to be standing at the end of the red carpet at that very moment.

Seeing Zhou Yi's gaze fall on her, the Brazilian supermodel smiled slightly, strode into the venue with a powerful catwalk, her swaying waist indeed letting Zhou Yi see the difference between a supermodel and a famous model.

…………

"Breaking! Zhou Yi's Late-Night Date with Three Top Models!"

On November 9, just as Warner had launched the promotional campaign for Zhou Yi's new album "Gui Cang," a breaking news story from Hong Kong's "Sun" newspaper allowed Warner to skip many of the preliminary warm-up steps, using that seductive headline to instantly grab the attention of a huge crowd.

"How many? Three at once?!"

"Come on, man, was this photo taken through a peephole? Why is it so blurry? Does anyone have a slightly clearer one?"

"I do, it's gone viral overseas. Here's the pic, wait a sec while I upload it—uploaded."

"Image. jpg."

"Haters, it's definitely haters; seeing Zhou Yi about to release a new album, they've deployed water army troops to smear him!"

"Give it a rest; I can't speak for others, but does Zhou Yi really need water army troops to smear him...?"

"Zhou Yi is getting more and more decadent; this won't do. Indulging in pleasure kills ambition, and indulging in women leads to even greater decline; alcohol and lust harm the body."

"..."

Because Warner's news still had a six-month buffer period, Warner (China), which had not rushed to announce it, kept its focus on the album promotion, and "Qi Li Xiang" was accordingly sent to major radio stations for charting.

"Playing outside every day; the songs produced under such circumstances might actually let you beat Zhou Yi this year."

Chen Yaochuan, promoted to General Manager of Sony's mainland division, carefully analyzed the rumors circulating about Zhou Yi since he began preparing new songs, giving a highly nervous Wang Lihong a glimmer of hope.

As a famous music professional in the industry known for market-oriented results, he had considerable insight into music production.

Zhou Yi's series of explosive rumors this year clearly showed he had gotten carried away; having too many women truly does distract a musician's energy, let alone for a producer like Zhou Yi who handles an entire album single-handedly.

Look at Zhang Yadong on the mainland, look at Li Zongsheng, hailed as the godfather; after their energies were scattered by women, each album they made was worse than the last.

Wang Lihong, who already harbored illusions about Zhou Yi, hearing this and considering the superlative reputation his own album had garnered since its release, gained confidence: "Has the song he sent to the radio stations for charting arrived? What's it called?"

A soldier who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier!

"Let me check... it has arrived."

Chen Yaochuan nodded: "It's called 'Qi Li Xiang'."