Chapter 90: Set a Small Goal First

"This song… I feel like you've become even more unrestrained after using English lyrics?"

Hotel room.

After changing out of tonight's gown and showering, Sun Yanzi sat cross-legged on the sofa, wearing loose pajamas; a dry towel rested on her head, its ends dangling down to partially obscure both sides of her cheeks along the curve of her short hair—

One hand holding an apple bitten twice, the other gripping the sheet music, she voiced her opinion: "And I haven't seen you look tired at all—why are you even thinking of slacking off?"

As a Singaporean, her English proficiency was more than sufficient to grasp the meaning of "The Lazy Song."

"People can't be judged by the same standard—I think I am tired."

Zhou Yi, idly spinning a pen between his fingers, let out a light laugh and scoffed at Sun Yanzi's "complaints": "Not everyone has a body made of iron like yours—you need to learn to enjoy life, or money is just a string of numbers."

"Do you think I want this? I'm practically drowning in stress myself. My second album, 'The Happiness I Want,' comes out in January, and it's only March now—still not even past the promotion period, and the company's already preparing my third album. I feel like another one's coming by July or August."

Talking about this, Sun Yanzi instinctively clutched her head; the damp towel instantly disheveled her neatly arranged hair, fully revealing the helplessness in her emotions: "Next year there's a concert tour, another album, and endless promotional trips everywhere."

She used to love singing.

But now, Warner's relentless pace—album after album—left her feeling suffocated, and she had no one in her daily life to confide in.

Only in front of Zhou Yi, someone she knew well, could she voice the buried frustrations, without worrying he'd leak them.

She had almost no personal time left at all.

Coming here to attend Zhou Yi's Coca-Cola signing ceremony was, for her, practically an unspoken vacation.

Having grown up in wealth and never having endured hardship or exhaustion, her body now felt unable to bear it.

"Why not try talking to Chen Zeshan? Slow down the pace?"

Recalling Sun Yanzi's brilliant record of seven albums in three years, packed with numerous concerts, Zhou Yi winced and suggested:

As Sun Yanzi's agent and Warner's deputy general manager, Chen Zeshan was certainly capable—but his philosophy of "use until you drop" was something Zhou Yi still couldn't stand.

What suited Chen Zeshan best was actually someone like Cai Yilin, an artist with an extremely high tolerance for overwork.

"I've thought about it, but I haven't figured out how to tell him yet—he's doing this for my own good."

Sun Yanzi sighed; she hadn't yet reached her breaking point, only felt a flicker of irritation with the current situation.

She was naturally soft-hearted, and Chen Zeshan truly did have her best interests at heart, with a crystal-clear career plan.

Every time she wanted to rest, Chen Zeshan could find dozens of reasons to convince her to keep working nonstop.

History proved Chen Zeshan right—her fame had now spread even to mainland China—

Zhou Yi's lyrics and composition "Little Luck," "Green Light," and Yao Ruolong's lyrics with Li Sisong's composition "I'm Starting to Understand" saw massive popularity spikes as her promotional exposure increased after the New Year.

At least now, mainland listeners no longer treated "Warner's Twin Stars" as just a vague concept—they could actually name several of Sun Yanzi's songs.

Of course, the most popular female singer on the mainland right now wasn't her—it was Watching Xiao Yaxuan.

If in Taiwan, Watching Xiao Yaxuan, Sun Yanzi, and Zhang Shaohan currently formed a three-way standoff, then on the mainland, Watching Xiao Yaxuan's songs dominated the charts, pushing "Green Light" to second place.

There was no help for it—"The Main Theme of Love" was just too popular, so popular that Virgin Music itself was caught off guard.

Aside from Zhou Yi, everyone at Virgin Music was stunned by the explosive success of "The Main Theme of Love" in the mainland market, so now singers eager to invite Zhou Yi to write songs were as numerous as fish crossing a river.

Emboldened by their success, Virgin Records and Fumao Records fully cooperated with Warner's promotional campaign for Zhou Yi, all to secure further collaboration with him.

"Think positively—at least now the outside world has already dubbed you 'Little Queen.'"

"I don't care—I can't stand how relaxed you are. It makes me jealous."

After wringing the towel, Sun Yanzi propped her chin on one hand, glanced at the sheet music in her grip, and said lazily: "Still, I didn't realize you had such talent writing English songs—the way you shift your thinking and perspective feels completely natural."

As the world's most widely spoken mainstream language, English determines that global superstars rely on English songs to conquer the world.

There are people in China who write English songs, but due to differences in thinking and perspective from Westerners, they struggle to achieve the same brilliance and fluidity as their Chinese songs.

Even her teacher Li Sisong found it hard to grasp the rhythm of English songs so precisely—but Zhou Yi could switch seamlessly, which genuinely amazed her.

"This concerns whether I can earn U. S. dollars—I have to be serious about it."

Zhou Yi snapped his fingers with a smile: "If I can use Jackie Chan's movie to open the door and build my name, the U. S. dollars will roll in after that."

His purpose in copying this English song was simple—just one goal: fame and money.

As a Chinese person, no matter how extraordinary he was, he could never reach Jackie Chan's Oscar-level height, because all the songs he copied came from the West.

Moreover, Western music genres were already wildly diverse—he couldn't benefit from copying to create an entirely new category.

This meant the songs that would make him famous worldwide were destined to be Westernized, lacking any Chinese essence, unable to export Chinese culture.

So Zhou Yi's small goal, beyond making money, was very practical—to use his English album to attract foreign fans who would then voluntarily explore his Chinese albums and learn Chinese.

Just like how, back then, Leon Lai's popularity made so many Japanese and Korean girls learn Chinese—and even marry and move to Xiangjiang—for his sake.

"When are you planning to record this song?"

"As soon as possible—I've got my own album coming up. Since you want to rest too, why not stay and help me record? It'll be your rest too."

Zhou Yi, clearly seeing the fatigue on Sun Yanzi's face, paused, then invited her.

Sun Yanzi clearly wavered, but her tone still held hesitation: "But I still have to go back for promotions…"

"A week's rest won't hurt. The money from your album still goes to Warner, but if your body breaks down, Warner won't ease your pain."

Zhou Yi sneered: "Chen Zeshan cares too much about marketing—he's practically obsessed. He doesn't understand that excessive promotion causes public backlash."

If Sun Yanzi hadn't finally collapsed under Chen Zeshan's high-pressure promotional bombardment in 2003 and taken a one-year break from the entertainment industry, her post-comeback reputation might not have been this good.

Even so, Chen Zeshan eventually overdid it in 2007, provoking Sun Yanzi's final breaking point—she severed ties with him, exited the industry a second time, stopped releasing songs entirely, and didn't return until 2011.

"If you're too shy to say it, let Qian Jiang send a message to Chen Zeshan for you."

Seeing Sun Yanzi's hesitation, Zhou Yi immediately pulled out his phone from his pocket, ready to call Qian Jiang—

Sun Yanzi sprang up from the sofa in one motion, lunged forward, and slapped both hands over his.

"?"

"I'll do it myself."

From her elevated position, she could easily see the faint outlines of Zhou Yi's muscles beneath his loose pajamas. The warmth of her palms against his skin made her blink—then she flashed a wide smile: "I'll tell him myself—he's my agent, after all."

ps: Next update around eleven.

The fluctuation in update times these past two days is purely because some people took leave early, increasing my workload...

Sorry.

Pity I already used up my Mid-Autumn Festival holiday on the day of the official release, sigh.

I wish I could fast-forward right now to October sixth when I get my holiday.

(End of this chapter)