Chapter 627

To take passages out of context — excerpted from "Don't Take Passages Out of Context."

Thanks to Zhou Yi's longstanding character, this news stirred up a storm online.

Since his debut, Zhou Yi has dabbled in hip-hop, pop, electronic, rock, R&B, Chinese-style, and theatrical fusion — his musical genres are vast, yet folk remains the only one he has never revived.

Before his debut, when he played in the bar street, he relied on rock and folk.

Now, the rock fans who once accused Zhou Yi of betraying his roots have stopped criticizing; only folk fans remain, loudly complaining online.

There's no helping it — in this era, folk fans are mostly literati, and literati tend to have relatively better living conditions — at the very least, they know how to band together online and manufacture public opinion.

Precisely because of this, many skeptical people were drawn in by these revelations, their attention fixed entirely on the upcoming "Happy Camp Special: Zhou Yi," airing next Saturday night.

This turn of events amused He Jiong: "What if your folk fans find out you can't even sing this song? Won't they tear you apart?"

All these people now banging drums and spreading the word online will likely become Zhou Yi's most fervent haters.

"Could it be… I mean, in the future?"

Zhou Yi set down his teacup and smiled: "I'm not resisting folk. Besides, I wrote the lyrics, composed the melody, and arranged it all — isn't that essentially the same thing?"

After the Happy Camp recording ended, He Jiong — ever the agreeable gentleman — invited him to dinner, not just to catch up, but also to discuss the album.

In Zhou Yi's words, since it was launched on Happy Camp, it should naturally be He Jiong's lead single as the show's host.

It's all fate.

This deeply moved He Jiong.

He still hadn't confirmed whether he'd retain his position on "Happy Camp," so former friends in the industry had adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward him.

Only Zhou Yi hadn't changed his stance — he'd even actively pulled him up.

Yes, as a veteran of Happy Camp, after Li Xiang's departure, He Jiong now faced being optimized out by Mango TV's leadership.

"Zhou Yi, you've angered many people this time — they'll likely keep hunting for dirt on you. If you have spare money, my advice is to try gaining control over some media channels."

Since Zhou Yi had shown such loyalty, He Jiong naturally didn't hold back — he bluntly warned Zhou Yi from a journalist's perspective, even providing a detailed list.

Having worked as a host for so many years, he understood the corruption within the media circle well.

His usual role as the agreeable gentleman was merely a necessity for being universally adaptable.

Due to the image of free speech, domestic media figures who make outrageous remarks — as long as they don't fully cross the red line — all manage to thrive.

Clearly, Zhou Yi has been hopping back and forth right on their bottom line.

Achievements can suppress criticism for a while, but not forever.

The public is forgetful.

"They can only hop around for now."

Zhou Yi picked up a piece of chili-fried pork and shoved it into his mouth, utterly unconcerned.

He can't enter traditional media channels — no point kissing cold asses. In the end, internal scholars will defend him; whoever dares to sneer at him on Weibo will be directly exposed.

Don't ask. Ask and you'll find he owns shares in the forum — if you don't like it, don't play.

"Alright then, I wish you a successful and smooth Shangrao concert."

Seeing Zhou Yi so confident — though he had no idea where that confidence came from — He Jiong raised his cup anyway: "If you ever need anything, just say the word. I still know quite a few people in the media circle."

His roots in entertainment are still shallow, but in the media circle, he has plenty of friends.

"I'll take your good wishes."

Zhou Yi put down his chopsticks, raised his teacup in place of wine, and clinked it against He Jiong's.

………………………………

"Cheers!"

Shangrao, Xinzhou District, Xu Haofeng's home.

On a freezing winter day, the family gathered around a square table, enjoying a hot pot; spicy, bubbling meatballs swirled along the pot's inner walls. Xu Haofeng popped open a bottle of beer, beaming as he toasted with his parents and younger sister to celebrate his birthday.

"Bro, you say you got an invitation from Zhou Yi — is that true?"

"How could it not be?"

Watching his sister pop open a glass bottle of Coca-Cola, Xu Haofeng shook his head smugly: "I've told you before — I used to be Zhou Yi's desk mate, so close we shared the same pants."

"Now that he's coming to Shangrao for a concert, I'm definitely going to support him — especially since his agent personally invited me."

Elementary school, middle school, high school.

As a man who steadily climbed out of Shangrao County, Zhou Yi left many traces in his hometown.

Though relationships from elementary and middle school had faded due to long disuse, his high school classmates were unquestionably the tightest group of friends from his student years — on par with his college roommates.

"Can you take me with you? I want to meet Zhou Yi too." The ten-year-old girl looked up, her eyes brimming with anticipation.

She was too young when her brother hung out with Zhou Yi in high school; her memories of him were hazy — she only recalled him as a kind neighborly big brother.

"Of course you can — but you have to promise me you'll rank in the top ten of your class this semester."

Laughing, Xu Haofeng ruffled his sister's hair and agreed at once. Across the table, his parents immediately objected —

"No, don't trouble Zhou Yi. He's a big star now, very busy."

"Don't worry, it's fine — Zhou Yi's agent already gave me two tickets." Xu Haofeng defended his sister.

To be honest, he hadn't expected such luck — he'd planned to buy tickets himself to support his old desk mate.

Everyone in Zhou Yi's fan group had already discussed it, and suddenly the ticket cost was saved.

Though Shangrao is remote, because it's Zhou Yi's hometown and surrounded by wealthy cities, the town has seen a slight surge in inflated prices.

Many fans even came directly from Shanghai and Hangzhou — rich folks in cars.

"You're an adult now — your connection with Zhou Yi —"

"How do you put it, Dad? I'm not bad either."

Xu Haofeng, who had once played 50K with Zhou Yi at karaoke during the New Year, was dissatisfied.

Sure, he wasn't on Zhou Yi's level — but he'd passed the civil service exam for Guangfeng County under Shangrao, so he had a stable job, didn't he?

At the very least, Guangfeng's economic status belonged to the extremely strong tier within Shangrao; his job was extremely stable, and he was very satisfied.

With Zhou Yi's achievements, there is not a second one to be found across the entire nation, or even the whole world.

Besides, regarding Zhou Yi's return, setting aside everything else, at the very least it is enough to prove he is not some snob who despises the poor and loves the rich.

After all, which international superstar would come to hold a concert in this small city of Shangrao? They probably wouldn't even earn back the money for stage design and equipment.

As far as he knew, Warner not only did not cut corners because Shangrao Gymnasium was a small venue with only 5,000 seats, but instead went all out to make the on-site stage design as luxurious as possible, caring nothing for the cost.

If this wasn't Zhou Yi's requirement, he wouldn't have believed it.

In fact, regarding Zhou Yi's return, the entire Shangrao was truly on high alert.

Not only did newspapers like the "Shangrao Daily" report consecutively on matters related to the concert, but even the local television and radio stations began constantly sending reporters to interview people who knew Zhou Yi in the past, intermittently broadcasting segments to build hype for him.

The 12 districts and counties under Shangrao's jurisdiction launched round-the-clock news bombardment; the front pages of newspapers were all filled with news of Zhou Yi's return.

Unlike the previous MV filming, a concert is something that can genuinely drive local visibility.

"The Pride of Shangrao: Zhou Yi's Concert is Rehearsing!"

"The People of Shangrao..."

"Shangrao..."

Hindered by the limitations of the era, newspaper headlines in Shangrao during this period were quite "retro," but the scene of the entire city building momentum for Zhou Yi was still in a league of its own compared to other cities where Zhou Yi had held concerts.

Shangrao Gymnasium with its 5,000 people could not drive much economic scale, but it was enough to give the city huge visibility in a short time—this could be called a major boon for Shangrao, which was wholeheartedly seeking transformation and development.

When Zhou Yi himself returned to his hometown on the 22nd, the Winter Solstice, he even received Winter Solstice greetings from the leaders.

A perfectly good Zhou Village stubbornly turned into a "Leaders' Village" during these days; those coming and going were all seen as big leaders in the eyes of villagers and even citizens.

If one does not return home in prosperity, it is like wearing brocade clothes at night.

It was at this moment that Zhou Yi truly gained a deep understanding of this saying.