[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty":3,"chapter-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-73":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The King of 2000: A Mandopop Dynasty",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2301329,4501,"Chapter 73","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-73",73,"\u003Cp>“What, are you close with Jackie Chan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Zhou Yi hung up the call, Xiao Yaxuan walked over, dressed now, wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering with a soft puff of breath as her red lips nibbled his earlobe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not really. We just chatted at the Rock Records after-party.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard he rewards himself with a female lead in every movie he makes—is that true?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi burst out laughing: “You’ll have to wait until I have dinner with him in a couple days—if I remember to ask.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then what am I supposed to do? I’m all alone in Hong Kong, nowhere familiar—I’m bored out of my mind.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d come to Hong Kong for the Top Ten Chinese Golden Melody Awards too, just as unfamiliar as he was. Xiao Yaxuan had thought this trip would be a vacation with Zhou Yi, but who knew he’d be called away by a single phone call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi thought for a moment: “Want to come with me then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Xiao Yaxuan immediately let go, slumping back into the sofa: “Nah, I’d rather not end up on the front page again because of you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You didn’t used to say that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can’t help it—Hong Kong’s paparazzi aren’t playing around.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman twirled a strand of hair that had fallen to her chest, glancing up at him: “I don’t have your nerve.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes she truly envied Zhou Yi’s attitude—doing whatever he wanted with a “just go for it, failure doesn’t matter” mindset. She couldn’t; she had too many constraints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she dared pull the same stunt Zhou Yi had pulled that morning—tricking the paparazzi with that line—her teacher Yao Qian would fly straight from Taiwan to scream at her until she was drenched in shame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi merely smiled slightly: “Then see you at the award ceremony tonight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“See you tonight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After meeting Xiao Yaxuan, Zhou Yi, now in disguise, quickly left the hotel’s side entrance in the company car. As he signaled the driver to head back to the office, he dialed his agent Qian Jiang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jackie Chan called to invite me to dinner—did you set that up?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? I haven’t even started yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Jiang frowned, thought for a moment, then said: “Maybe he genuinely admires you. That’s actually a good thing. When’s dinner? Let me check the details.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Three days from now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………………………………………………………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Three days? That soon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Kong, Jackie Chan’s home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing her husband’s answer, Lin Fengjiao’s eyes widened with surprise: “Aren’t you already shooting ‘Rush Hour 2’? How do you have time to meet this young man named Zhou Yi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t underestimate him. I’ve interacted with him—this Zhou Yi thinks fast.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting on the sofa, Jackie Chan raised his right hand, circling his index finger around his temple several times for emphasis: “Earlier, Xie Tingfeng was locked in a fierce battle with him on the album sales charts. He asked me to mediate and ease tensions between them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Tingfeng’s agent, Huo Wenhxi, was famously shrewd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This industry works this way—Zhou Yi absolutely rose to the top through sheer talent, stepping over Xie Tingfeng and Liu Ruo. He’s backed by Warner too—there’s no way to suppress him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Liu Ruo has already conceded. Xie Tingfeng is roughly the same age, so I suspect Huo Wenhxi wants to team up with Zhou Yi for some publicity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackie Chan, who understood the entertainment industry’s manipulation tactics, quickly guessed the intent behind Xie Tingfeng’s agent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These days, when singers or actors of similar age are in rivalry, they easily grab public attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The classic example: the Four Heavenly Kings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or even myself—I once promoted the “Two Zhous and One Cheng.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, the massive promotional campaigns featuring Zhou Xingchi, Zhou Runfa, and myself were all orchestrated by our respective companies, creating a momentum that deeply imprinted these three top-grossing male actors into their fans’ minds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Commonly known as: feud sparks fame, fan base purifies, then high-quality works attract new fans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This creates a cycle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, now Zhou Xingchi and Zhou Runfa no longer compare to me in status, especially Zhou Runfa, who failed in Hollywood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But if this happens, Xie Tingfeng’s high popularity in Hong Kong will likely lose some of its audience. Right now, Huo Wenhxi wants to lower her head and seek cooperation—so she must first offer Warner something satisfying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Fengjiao saw this clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait and see tonight’s award show.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackie Chan smiled: “If they want to show goodwill, tonight’s award ceremony is clearly the perfect opportunity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, back at Warner Hong Kong’s headquarters, Zhou Yi learned of this from his rushed-in agent Qian Jiang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is Yinghuang backing down? I can’t possibly have that much influence.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi was surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Getting Jackie Chan to mediate, aiming for mutual benefit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When had Yinghuang, with all its money and power, ever treated an artist so politely? Even someone like Ceng Zhiwei, who had ties to both underworld and official circles, was still subject to Yang Shoucheng’s orders to beat him up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re the only mainland artist to completely dominate every major chart. In just five months since your album’s release, you defeated Xie Tingfeng, who released three albums, and took the national annual sales title.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you know how much of a point of pride this is for some people on the mainland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, reportedly, several insiders from Peking University think you can boost mainland morale.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Peking University…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it made sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alumni networks always have obvious favoritism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Zhou Yi himself were in their shoes, seeing his junior pull off such a big move and bring honor to the mainland, he’d naturally lean toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, the most important thing is the tight commercial ties between you and the mainland.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huo Wenhxi is a very smart agent. Since you’ve already been officially stamped as the mainland’s number one, her attitude naturally shifts toward seeking cooperation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi’s interest was genuinely piqued; he smirked: “What do you mean? Are they trying to bundle me with Xie Tingfeng for marketing, like the Four Heavenly Kings?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they really bundled them, Xie Tingfeng would lose big this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how you look at it, Xie Tingfeng’s popularity and exposure were at the absolute top tier of the entertainment industry—he’d fought for years to earn it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last year, Xie Tingfeng was Zhou Yi’s only real competitor in mainland album sales.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young Zhou had only just debuted; his first album hadn’t even been sold on the mainland yet. To pose any real threat, he’d need at least until 2002.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Remember how you crushed all the Four Heavenly Kings’ songs on the Taiwan music scene? Coincidentally, Xie Tingfeng did the same to them in Hong Kong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Jiang grinned broadly: “I don’t know if you’re aware of the fierce rivalry between Zhang Guorong and Tan Yunlin back in their day.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They probably want to recreate that scene—so Huo Wenhxi is taking the lead now that everything’s ready.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi smiled just as broadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a blood bag handed straight to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This year, Xie Tingfeng was at his peak popularity, while Zhou Yi had only been out for half a year—his popularity was still shallow, needing time or external stimulation to solidify his mainland fan base.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clearest economic manifestation? Endorsements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Tingfeng had been wildly popular for years—his endorsement deals were all high-value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi, having debuted only half a year ago, had few offers, and even those had to be negotiated slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The classic example: Jay Chou—his early endorsements were dirt cheap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Theoretically, he’d need two to three years to lock in his core fan base, stabilize his status, and start commanding high endorsement fees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this olive branch could accelerate the building of his fan base, save him time, and help him negotiate better deals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His endorsement fees could even match Xie Tingfeng’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without foresight, Yinghuang’s plan was brilliant: sacrifice Xie Tingfeng’s short-term popularity to boost Zhou Yi’s status and inject him with resources, securing long-term bundling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One young king of Hong Kong, one young king of the mainland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But without foresight, Zhou Yi would never agree to this marketing scheme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Long-term bundling with Xie Tingfeng would be insane—purely feeding him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine, handle it however you want.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi, who knew Xie Tingfeng would be permanently ousted from the Chinese music scene next year due to the “driver taking the blame” scandal, was grinning ear to ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Xie Tingfeng’s music career collapsed, Zhou Yi would effectively get a year’s worth of Yinghuang’s resources for free.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d won big.\u003C\u002Fp>",1421,"2026-06-20T07:33:41.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d04f2fd50de4505d11ac562528c7749586ea65fcd94329a0f64c5e55f11b7289","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-74","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-72",883,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-cover.jpg"]