Chapter 645: Strict Inspection of the Canteen, No Entry Allowed

As everyone knows, the Spring Festival Gala is one of the few nationwide galas in the country with full public discussion.

Not only do events like the China-Korea Song Festival and the China-Japan Song Festival not deserve to be compared, but even holiday galas like the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala and the Lantern Festival Gala cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the Spring Festival Gala.

This can be seen from the staffing of the live broadcast—

Several CCTV sub-channels bearing the CCTV logo did not broadcast advertisements or programs during this time when every second counts; instead, they directly relayed the live broadcast of the Spring Festival Gala from the main CCTV station.

As the first well-wisher to appear, Sun Yanzi looked very authentic; after taking off her down jacket, this woman who had already become the Chinese-language diva of the year remained as simple as when she first appeared on the Spring Festival Gala—

A pink turtleneck sweater, slim-fit jeans that showed off her long legs, and a pair of small white shoes.

She looked just like a girl next door, with a smile that was extremely infectious.

In fact, after Chen Ze Shan left, his new agent Ji Shenshan did not change the general strategy for Sun Yanzi's image, still focusing on the basic foundation of short hair and a girl-next-door style.

Precisely because of this, even during the Spring Festival Gala interview, Sun Yanzi appeared extremely down-to-earth, giving people no sense of great distance; it really felt like a carefree older sister chatting after the whole family had finished their New Year's Eve dinner.

Zhou Yi, wearing a long trench coat that covered him completely, looked like a social elite who only came back once a year for the New Year; the slight sense of distance was also scattered by Sun Yanzi's cheerful laughter.

Jay Chou, appearing on the Spring Festival Gala for the first time and obviously still feeling nervous, wore a blue-and-white baseball jacket; his awkward demeanor facing the camera was just like a child being woken up by his parents on the big New Year to perform a special skill for relatives.

After the three appeared together on camera, the resulting impression was surprisingly harmonious, vaguely giving people the illusion of complementarity.

"I have to admit, Zhou Yi is genuinely handsome; the CCTV camera was almost shining right on his face, while the stutterer was thoroughly crushed; this contrast is too tragic."

"Stutterer your mother, are you looking for scolding during the New Year? If you can't speak, just shut your mouth."

"The leaked program list for this year's Spring Festival Gala really has no highlights; I feel like after watching Zhou Yi, Yanzi, and Jay Chou, I can just go to sleep."

"The person above forgot Zhao Benshan."

"..."

As the Spring Festival Gala, which is criticized every year for being worse than the previous one, hadn't even started yet, internet forums led by Tianya and Mopu were filled with the argument that "the Spring Festival Gala is going to fail."

No matter how big the impact brought by Dao Lang was, it could not surpass the Spring Festival Gala; it also forcibly created a short buffer period.

Jay Chou, who is good at singing, dancing, rap, and basketball, even performed a short magic trick for the countless viewers in front of their televisions under Sun Yanzi's encouragement, wishing everyone a new atmosphere for the New Year, which truly refreshed many people—

Yo, I didn't expect you to actually know a little bit.

"I can't do magic, nor do I have any talents to perform; might as well just bite a lighter for everyone in front of the television."

Facing the blessing segment passed over by Sun Yanzi, Zhou Yi, feeling "ashamed of his inferiority," even took out a lighter he didn't know where he had fished out: "I wish all the audience friends on site and in front of their televisions a prosperous and fiery new year, with great wealth and fortune."

With a "click," he not only really bit a lighter, but he really sparked a flame.

Real: No more tricks, just bite a lighter.

Sun Yanzi couldn't quite hold it back, her corners of the mouth rising several times; Jay Chou even turned sideways to sneak a laugh.

Although they had rehearsed privately five times beforehand, when this effect was really displayed in front of the camera, the two of them still couldn't help but want to laugh.

This really is a trick that a normal person's brain circuitry couldn't come up with.

In front of the television, Xie Qing, who already had a bias against Zhou Yi, almost swallowed the date pit in his mouth—

"Cough, cough."

"Qingqing, eat slowly." Her parents, who had just finished washing the pots and pans and were also sitting in the living room, instructed her, while muttering that Zhou Yi in the screen really looked like a star.

"What songs does this man sing? He looks quite handsome."

"Songs like 'Jiangnan', 'Fairy Tale', 'Blue and White Porcelain', and the like."

"What? He sang these songs? That's amazing..."

Xie Qing's parents, who normally paid absolutely no attention to stars, were instantly amazed—although they didn't know this person, they had really heard these songs.

Especially "Blue and White Porcelain".

There were shops near their construction site playing this song on a loudspeaker every day.

Plus one to the impression.

Why are so many people willing to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, even going so far as to sharpen their heads to get on?

This is the reason.

The fastest way to increase national popularity is to land on the Spring Festival Gala to become famous and leave a deep impression on people; there is no other way.

Zhou Yi believed that his consecutive appearances on the Spring Festival Gala in recent years had already laid a good foundation; this year, he could definitely boost this overall national popularity to seventy or eighty percent.

After the well-wisher segment ended, as the Spring Festival Gala entered its countdown, the group of performance guests for this year's gala all walked onto the stage.

The way the guests appeared this year was quite special; they would walk out directly from behind the stage after the opening song and dance, then orderly descend the stage and take their seats after the song and dance ended.

The requirements for the attire of performance guests at the Spring Festival Gala in this era weren't that rigid; some wore down jackets, some wore Zhongshan suits, some wore sweaters directly, and some wore baseball jackets; those who didn't know might think this group of guests weren't stars, but rather sales guides walking down from a big supermarket.

The main focus was on simplicity.

Because there weren't actually many pop singers in this session, the few of them who sang pop basically sat together.

Besides Jay Chou and Sun Yanzi, there was Yang San Shiliang, who became famous across Dajiangnanbei with "No Matter"; there was Sister Xiao Yan, who gradually climbed out of her low point after being entangled in various negative news;

There was Sha Baoliang, who became known to everyone this year thanks to the blockbuster hit song "Fragrance in the Dark" from the TV drama "The Story of a Noble Family"; and there were the two senior veterans Qi Qin and Mo Wenwei.

Without exception, after Zhou Yi descended the stage, they all stood up one by one to greet him; even the two old veterans Qi Qin and Mo Wenwei were no exception.

"Happy New Year, Happy New Year; I heard Bingbin and the others mention you before; finally have the chance to meet." Sister Xiao Yan, no longer arrogant after experiencing her first low point, smiled and put her posture at the lowest in the entire venue, even bringing up Fan Xiaopang, who was filming during the New Year, to serve as a topic.

You have to know, in the past, she was the one who least wanted to mention this woman outside.

"Happy New Year."

Regarding this woman's gesture of goodwill, Zhou Yi smiled and simply responded with a sound.

Honestly, judging solely by appearance, it was no wonder that Sister Xiao Yan during her university days could bewitch Brother Xiao Ming to the point of being completely obsessed, even shifting his aesthetic standards for finding a girlfriend towards her.

These big eyes really added points.

During the time when "My Fair Princess" exploded in popularity, she was called the most beautiful and most popular among the three beauties of "My Fair Princess"; she indeed had a solid foundation.

Unfortunately, her personality was the worst among the three beauties of "My Fair Princess"; once she gained power, she couldn't control her expanding ambition.

Ever since she caused a huge mess, "My Fair Princess" never had the chance to dominate the summer TV screen again; she was the woman who forcibly dragged "My Fair Princess" off the throne of the summer rerun king that had remained unshaken.

Sister Xiao Yan, who immediately sensed that Zhou Yi had little interest in her, tactfully sat back down in her seat.

After the opening song and dance, with the arrival of the four Spring Festival Gala hosts Ni Ping, Zhou Tao, Zhu Jun, and Li Yong, the 2004 Spring Festival Gala officially began.

Feng Gong, who performs a sketch (or crosstalk) first every year, was no exception this time, but it was obvious that the quality of his work had declined significantly compared to his past peak—

this year's "Make Way, Life is Truly Wonderful" could only be described as barely acceptable; its content could be utterly crushed by his own previous "Goubuli Baozi."

And right after his performance came a new song that would ring out on the Spring Festival Gala—

"Good Luck Comes."

Yes, the future chart-topping hit "Good Luck Comes" made its debut at this year's Spring Festival Gala, sung by singer Zu Hai, and it was also through this year's Gala that she gained fame.

"Good luck comes, wishing you good luck"; in Zhou Yi's past life, whenever his luck was terrible while playing cards or pulling cards, he would often take out his phone and play this song to boost his spirits.

It was obvious that everyone in the audience was infected by this festive song—

This is the kind of song one should listen to during the New Year.

After hearing just the chorus once, Sun Yanzi and Zhou Jielun were already humming along softly to the rhythm.

"Good Luck Comes" would definitely become a massive hit.

This is the terrifying power of the Spring Festival Gala.

As long as your song quality is high enough, even if you were completely unknown before, you can become an overnight sensation through this stage.

The level of attention is too high.

Li Jian's song "Legend," which released with his album this year and didn't make even a ripple, would in the future become popular all across Dajiangnanbei after being sung by Wang Fei on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

"As for the next performing guest to appear, I have interviewed him before and produced an episode with him."

After "Good Luck Comes," a series of performances passed, and Zhu Jun and Zhou Tao, back on stage, began introducing the next act; Zhu Jun's tone was even somewhat proud: "You might not know Zhou Tao; nowadays, the number of people who can produce an episode with him is extremely small."

"Oh? Is that so? Does he rarely participate in programs?"

Zhou Tao, feigning surprise and asking a question he already knew the answer to, said: "Doesn't he fear being accused of acting like a big star?"

Upon hearing this, it was obvious that CCTV was using this New Year's Eve to publicly support its own son amidst the recent unfavorable public opinion storm.

The camera also timely shifted to Zhou Yi, who was whispering with Sun Yanzi, and incidentally swept Sun Yanzi into the frame as well, who still had a chicken bone in her mouth and hadn't had time to spit it out.

Suddenly magnified on the big screen for public humiliation, Sun Yanzi, caught off guard, was unsure whether to move or stay still; she blinked her eyes, her expression slightly helpless—

The audience below immediately burst into good-natured laughter.

"It seems our Young Lady Sun Yanzi is hungry," Zhu Jun on stage teased.

Sun Yanzi, covering her mouth with her hand, was extremely embarrassed.

"Suggest a strict investigation of the Warner cafeteria," Zhou Yi, holding the microphone, also joked: "Let's see if the cafeteria doesn't allow Yanzi to go in and eat."

Sun Yanzi, nearly laughing herself over, turned her head and instinctively patted the man's chest twice with her right hand, silently expressing her "protest."