Chapter 62: Circles? I Am the Circle

"What did you say? Attending a gathering? And Zhou Xun is there? Why didn't you invite me for such a good thing? I quite like her film 'April in the Human World' this year."

The next day, afternoon, Warner Building recording area.

As Sun Yanzi stepped out of the recording studio door and casually closed it behind her, she heard Zhou Yi, who had just taken off his monitoring headphones, say he had no time to continue recording tonight.

"If you want to go, it's not impossible; just change your nationality."

Spinning a pen between his fingers, Zhou Yi chuckled lightly, then raised his hand and pointed the pen tip at her: "Tonight's gathering is entirely from the mainland."

"... Tsk, so it's a circle gathering."

Feeling somewhat tired, Sun Yanzi sank directly into the soft sofa, said nothing, and merely made a gesture of contempt toward the man.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi couldn't help but feel a bit curious: "What, did you go burgling last night? That tired?"

"Yeah, went burgling, stole money from fans."

Sun Yanzi weakly squeaked out: "I finished a schedule the afternoon before yesterday, and I'm about to start recording my second album immediately; tell me why I'm so tired."

Speaking of this, Sun Yanzi felt a bit unbalanced again, especially after seeing Zhou Yi's radiant appearance: "Wait, why doesn't the company force you to release an album? Why are they only pinning me down?"

"Well, maybe it's because my signed contract states the company cannot interfere with my creative freedom?"

Zhou Yi, signed as a creator, shrugged: "So even if the company wants to rush me, they have no reason, since I only need to guarantee releasing one personal original album a year."

When signing, Warner had referenced the time Mandarin music industry singer-songwriters took to make albums; the requirement of one original album a year was theoretically not low.

Singer-songwriters releasing a big album every two or three years are not rare in the music industry.

"No, this makes me feel even more unbalanced. Why can you eat well and drink well while I have to work hard for capitalists?"

Having spent a long time with Zhou Yi, Sun Yanzi had also learned to often use the fresh phrases that popped out of his mouth.

In this turn-of-the-century era, Zhou Yi, who often spoke in catchy rhymes, was undoubtedly at the forefront of the times, inherently stylish at his core.

"Is it possible that when I released my album in July, I was also running at full capacity?" Being told he could slack off, Zhou Yi was clearly displeased.

"But you have rest now; I have to start recording my second album non-stop, and then I have to do promotion. New Year is coming soon; I seriously doubt I can even go home for the holiday..."

Sun Yanzi, with her legs curled up on the sofa, counted on her fingers and began to pour out her grievances.

As a country with a predominantly Chinese population, Singapore also celebrates the Spring Festival, and she hasn't seen her family in a long time.

"... Then there's no way; your signed contract is like that, you can't resist the company's arrangements. If you want to change it, you can only wait for your next contract."

Zhou Yi, for whom the balance of offense and defense had shifted since the start of the signing negotiations, could only express regret about this.

If he remembered correctly, Sun Yanzi at Warner in the early days was indeed a model worker in the music industry. 2000-2003, seven albums in three years; looking at the entire history of the Mandarin music industry, that was explosive.

If he hadn't left a hand up his sleeve during the negotiations, Zhou Yi felt Warner's inhumane, beast-of-burden characteristics would probably have been applied to him too.

"But my contract is signed until '03; so annoying, I have to endure two more years."

The excitement from the original signing had now mostly turned into a burden; if it weren't for Zhou Yi being around to listen to her vent, Sun Yanzi really didn't know how to relieve this psychological pressure.

After all, in the entire company currently, the person she trusted most was Zhou Yi, who had ascended to the top in one step just like her. She didn't even fully trust her manager; the thoughts bottled up in her heart could only be poured out to Zhou Yi.

"Look at it from another angle; in these few years, if your popularity reaches the level of a top diva, the initiative will be in your hands when negotiating the next contract."

"I'll take your good wishes; wish you a happy evening."

Sun Yanzi, whose body was almost sinking into the sofa, felt a bit depressed; while burying her head for a short nap, her voice sounded somewhat muffled.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi could only take off the monitoring headphones that had fallen to his neck, stand up from the chair, grab a blanket, and walk over to the sofa to cover her.

Then, under the gaze of Sun Yanzi's open eyes, the man turned around, waved, and left: "Remember to cover yourself with a blanket when sleeping in this cold winter, be careful not to catch a cold; I'm off."

"..."

Sun Yanzi, who had felt quite warm hearing the first sentence, immediately turned dark-faced upon hearing the second; Zhou Yi, who had reached the door, stopped, turned his head, and proudly spread his hands toward her: "I'm going out to play first."

Damn!

Sun Yanzi, so angry she was about to level up, gritted her teeth in hatred: "Zhou! Yi!"

………………………………………………

"Hmm? Who called me?"

Two hours later, Juyunxuan, parking lot.

Zhou Yi had just gotten out of his manager Qian Jiang's car; hearing someone seemingly call his name, Zhou Yi paused for a moment, turned his head, and looked in the direction the voice came from. Fan Bingbin, who had also just gotten out of a company car, was standing in the distance waving and greeting him.

"Ah Yi, you'd better be careful."

"According to the information I got, Jin Suo is having a hard time right now."

"Qiong Yao dislikes her disobedient and uncooperative nature and has directly put her on the cold bench; I think you should know how powerful Qiong Yao's circle is in Taiwan."

"Also, she can't get resources on the Taiwan side, not to mention that reportedly someone from the Beijing Circle in the mainland has taken a liking to her, but she won't bow her head and is still trying to resist stubbornly, so she can't get resources either."

Qian Jiang, who had also seen Fan Bingbin, spoke in a low voice about the exact situation he had investigated: "It's hard to say if she is grasping at straws in desperation and coming for you as a person."

"Anyway, you'd better be careful. Try not to get too involved with her, otherwise you might offend some people in these two circles."

"Tsk, this circle, that circle, so many circles."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi disdainfully curled his lip: "What's there to offend or not offend? I'm a singer; do they have the ability to sanction Warner and stop me from releasing songs?"

"Do you believe that even if Qiong Yao herself came and asked, Zhou Jianhui could throw her into the sea to feed the fish?"

Guo Fucheng, the Heavenly King, was showing signs of fatigue; he was now the only male singer standing tall in the company, the legitimate Crown Prince of Warner; what nonsense is this?

Playing with female stars in the entertainment industry requires watching others' faces; Zhou Yi absolutely would not accept that.

Circles? When he doesn't rely on this circle for food at all, the so-called circle is just a fart!

Moreover, to put it crudely, Zhou Yi has already risen; now he himself is a circle; otherwise, why would Fan Bingbin actively come close?

It's just that he didn't expect the early Fan Bingbin to be so tough, standing alone against the Beijing Circle and the Qiong Yao faction.

"Hmm? Wait. That doesn't make sense; if her relationship with the Beijing Circle and Qiong Yao is bad, how did she end up here?"

"Probably because of Zhou Xun; considering Fan Bingbin is also a mainland artist struggling in Taiwan, and Zhou Jie and Fan Bingbin are also acquaintances, both from the same 'My Fair Princess' production team."

"Although Qiong Yao implemented a cold treatment on Fan Bingbin, Zhou Jie is originally from the mainland and wouldn't stoop to kicking someone when they're down. However, the most he is willing to do is just not kick them when they're down."

With words said thus, seeing Fan Bingbin gradually walking toward Zhou Yi, Qian Jiang gave him a look: "Alright, you watch your own boundaries; I'm leaving first."

Accompanying Qian Jiang's departure by car, the perceptive Fan Bingbin also walked over to Zhou Yi's side, flashing him a smile: "Sister Zhou Xun told me earlier that you'd be attending this gathering, and I was a bit surprised."

"Are you and Zhou Xun very close?"

Zhou Yi, not taking Qian Jiang's warning seriously, replied with a smile.

"Not really, we've had some dealings before. You know, I basically can't get any resources now, so of course I have to stick close to a big star like Sister Zhou Xun, to see if I can pull some resources for myself."

To Zhou Yi's surprise, Fan Bingbin was quite honest about her current predicament and the other reason for her closeness with Zhou Xun.

"Are you sure you want to say this to me?"

With a flicker of surprise in his heart, Zhou Yi studied her playfully a few times.

"I don't think Warner Bros. would be fools; my situation, your agent has probably already explained it clearly to you, right?"

Fan Bingbin let out a bitter laugh and helplessly shrugged: "To be honest, I've truly reached a dead end. Rather than have you despise me later, I might as well explain everything clearly myself."

"Anyway, basically everyone in every circle knows my situation now."

Zhou Yi actually found this amusing: "You guys are really something, playing chess in the entertainment industry, with factions everywhere and even adhering to a strict hierarchy of one, two, three, four, five."

"Chess?"

This time it was Fan Bingbin's turn to be puzzled.

What does this have to do with chess?

"The chess circle has the same problem with numerous factions. Oh no, they have even more factions than the entertainment industry, and they all care about background and lineage. As long as you're from an unorthodox background, even if you have the strength to suppress everyone, you'll be ostracized by the circle."

Zhou Yi, who did not refuse, caused Fan Bingbin's expression to visibly brighten; she immediately followed the man's steps, walking side by side with him: "So the ostracism in the chess circle is this serious too."

"Shallow pools have many Wang Ba; not surprising."

"..."

Inside Juyun Hall, when Zhou Xun saw Fan Bingbin entering with Zhou Yi, whom she had seen in photos, chatting and laughing, she was quite surprised in her heart.

When did these two become so close?

"Sister Zhou Xun, nice to meet you."

Seeing the few stars behind Zhou Xun chatting with each other, Zhou Yi first extended his hand to the one closest to him, the person with the biggest status in the room, and introduced himself: "Zhou Yi."

Nearby, Zhou Jie, who also came from the Qiong Yao production "My Fair Princess," saw this younger brother sharing his surname arriving with Fan Bingbin; his eyelid twitched, but he didn't ask anything further.

On the side, Lu Yi and Chen Kun exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

"Our Old Zhou family truly has a purple star descending from heaven this time; you're the first one to make those self-righteous musicians from the Taiwan island drop their armor and flee, Zhou Yi."

Zhou Xun, carefree and bold, gave Zhou Yi a thumbs-up, and then, acting as the intermediary, introduced everyone one by one—

Lu Yi, who became a popular idol young actor in the mainland with "Never Forget";

Chen Kun, who just finished filming the TV drama "Like Fog, Like Rain, Like Wind" with Zhou Xun, and the undisputed number one male star in the mainland's TV drama field: Zhou Jie.

Zhou Jie, with the highest status, acted as if he knew nothing about the conflict between Fan Bingbin and Qiong Yao, welcoming her with a smile: "I've longed for this; the theme song and ending theme of 'Young Bao Qingtian' you sang were so wonderful; my family members even called me while watching TV to ask if I knew the singer, Zhou Yi."

"That's because Brother Jie acted so well, really; I love watching it myself."

This wasn't just commercial flattery from Zhou Yi.

He actually quite liked Zhou Jie's performance in "Young Bao Qingtian"; the portrayal was very accurate and wonderful.

"Long time no see, Bingbin, come sit."

Seeing Zhou Yi, Zhou Jie, and Zhou Xun—the three "Zhou"s—chatting happily, Lu Yi and Chen Kun, who had lower status, pulled Fan Bingbin out to avoid her feeling awkward in the middle.

"Yes, long time no see."

One doesn't hit a smiling face; Fan Bingbin understood the difficulties of these two people, and only cast a grateful glance at Zhou Yi before turning away.

Receiving the signal, Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow at her.

She knew she had boarded the ship.

The sincere gamble succeeded, but the question is, what is the price?

After she had clearly stated her situation and why she had come to this point, Zhou Yi did not hint at anything like accompanying her to eat or sleep.

And just when she thought Zhou Yi would reveal his true intentions, this man's subsequent actions truly seemed like he was simply trying to help her.

Fan Bingbin didn't believe there would be anything like a free pie falling from the sky in this world; she was no longer the innocent and naive 16-year-old child she used to be.

But Zhou Yi's slightly "strange" behavior and style had burned the CPU of her brain, which was only 19 years old this year.