Chapter 604: The Carefree Knight Sets Off on the Road Back to the Jianghu

Born in 1941, the 62-year-old Wong Jim's body still appears robust on the surface, if one ignores the visible fatigue on his face.

Since the start of this year, this grandmaster of Cantopop has had several deathbed rumors spread about him, yet each time he personally appeared to debunk them.

Since the last "Three Bald Guys" and "Elephant King March," contact between Zhou Yi and this old master, who already has one foot in the Gate of Ghosts, has gradually dwindled, with only occasional gifts of nourishment sent to bless the giant.

There was no help for it; he was not a divine doctor. Late-stage cancer was truly beyond even the gods to save, although Wong Jim himself seemed quite open-minded about it.

"Come, come, come, taste my treasured wine. Today at my place, eat and drink your fill; I guarantee there's enough. Consider it my welcome banquet for you."

On the evening of the 27th, Wong Jim, who had invited Zhou Yi to his home, smiled as carefree as ever: "After all, you kid don't come to Hong Kong unless it's nothing; you only come once a year to promote an album, right? At most, add a concert."

"You can't blame me for that; the places to play in Hong Kong are just so-so."

Zhou Yi shrugged, looking innocent: "Besides, the paparazzi here are far more fierce than on the mainland; if I step out, they'd want to dig out what color underwear I'm wearing today."

With his self-possessed ability to attract attention and draw the eye, going out in Hong Kong was far too inconvenient.

"You really are honest."

Wong Jim shook his head with a smile, and finally, as if sighing, looked Zhou Yi over a few times: "The Ferrari I gave you is almost off the production line, custom-made. How about it, am I being generous enough to you?"

"?"

Zhou Yi glanced strangely at the little old man: "Are you serious? I was just joking."

A Ferrari, and a custom one at that. He hadn't taken it seriously to begin with, treating it merely as idle talk material; after all, Wong Jim running his mouth like a train wasn't anything rare, and over a year had passed without him ever pressing the matter, meaning he simply hadn't taken it to heart.

If Wong Jim hadn't brought it up himself, he would have forgotten about it entirely.

"Since you've become so powerful, I certainly can't go back on my word; I'm afraid your fans would scold me. I don't want people poking my spine after I'm gone."

"If Uncle Zhan says it like that, then I'm not sleepy anymore." A smile curled Zhou Yi's lips; the "Uncle" slipped out so easily it made Wong Jim laugh heartily, pointing straight at him as a slippery character—

"Your Hong Kong concert is being held at the Hong Kong Coliseum, right?"

"Yes, on the evening of the 30th. What's up, Uncle Zhan?"

"Do you need a guest? Let an old man like me warm up the stage for you, how about it?" Wong Jim didn't hide or hold back, speaking directly.

This actually left Zhou Yi at a loss.

The Hong Kong Coliseum has a famous name, but the actual number of seats is just so-so; counting every last one, it's just over ten thousand, the smallest table among the concert venues Zhou Yi has held so far, requiring absolutely no pressure to organize.

Therefore, he hadn't invited any guests to perform on stage for this one.

"Uncle Zhan, with your current health, you can't make jokes like that." Zhou Yi's first reaction was to refuse.

Just kidding; if anything unexpected happened, he would be scolded to death.

"You're overthinking it; my health is very good right now. In July this year, I even led the Hong Kong SARS benefit concert, singing two full songs." Wong Jim, holding up two fingers like an old playful child, spoke with a tone carrying a bit of show-off.

"Don't be ungrateful, kid. With the mess you've stirred up now, if no one helps you, you really might get into trouble. That group isn't something to be trifled with; even Chow Yun-fat has to curry favor with them."

Wong Jim, who no longer had any dietary restrictions, wiped his mouth and revealed his true purpose.

Zhou Yi shrugged noncommittally and said nothing.

"What, do you plan to play 'The East is Red' again?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yi looked at him with interest.

In 1990, during the "Tonight No Censorship" episode with Lo Ta-yu, Wong Jim and Lo Ta-yu drank and chatted about music, and ended up getting so high they played a four-hand piano duet on the show, openly performing "The East is Red."

Combined with Ni Kuang's repeated belittling of mainland music beforehand, Wong Jim simply issued a march to choke him speechless—

This directly caused an uproar after the episode aired, once again pushing this adult program, already subject to much criticism, to the forefront of controversy.

There was even gossip claiming the lyrical inspiration for his song "A Laugh in the Sea of Sorrow" came from the administrator's famous snow, but this claim has yet to have a reliable and credible source.

"Need to play that? For such a small storm?"

Wong Jim scoffed: "Don't you kid not believe me. When I wrote 'My Chinese Heart' in '82, the criticism I faced was far greater than this little storm of yours now."

Only the young Wong Jim at that time never bowed his head; relying on his extraordinary talent and abundant energy, he messed around everywhere, remaining that resounding, romantic talented scholar. Of course, this was also related to his tendency in his youth to waver back and forth, undecided.

Back then, he, like many others, was in a period of confusion, but after entering the early nineties, this talented scholar solidified his thoughts, and even in 2002, disregarding everyone's opposition, sent that letter which, from a future perspective, was extremely visionary.

"I'm afraid you'll die on my concert stage." Zhou Yi's tongue swept over his lips; after a long moment, he chuckled softly and raised his eyes: "You're just an old skeleton."

"I don't give a damn about you, am I that old?" Wong Jim raised his wine glass and laughed: "You're far worse than I was back then, you know, kid."

"Is that custom Ferrari awesome or not? If it's not cool, I wouldn't want it."

"That's definitely awesome, the kind that's awesome to the point of exploding; guaranteed that if you drive it out to pick up girls, no girl can refuse."

"Just know how to talk nonsense, you old pervert."

"You little pervert, how dare you say that to me?"

Paying no heed to the fact that he had to rehearse at the Hong Kong Coliseum tomorrow, Zhou Yi and Wong Jim drank and ate while cursing at each other. In the end, they even played drinking games, but Zhou Yi, who always lost to this old veteran, would always find excuses to escape—

"You rascal, you even escape with half a cup of wine?!"

"You damn tricked me, what the hell!"

"Haha, you must accept the consequences of the bet; who made you so young? But being young is good..."

Having drunk wine, Wong Jim stood up unsteadily, hands on hips, standing by his own windowsill, the gorgeous neon street scene reflected in his cloudy eyes: "Youth has its own benefits..."

Zhou Yi, reclining on the chair with one hand resting on the table, turned his wine glass without looking back: "What benefits?"

Gazing at the clear reflection in the glass window, a smile appeared on Wong Jim's deeply wrinkled old face: "You can pee farther than me."

"Hey, don't say it, you do have self-awareness on that point."

"Praise you a couple of times and you start puffing up, huh?"

"Haha."

(End of Chapter)