[{"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-97":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},2301353,4501,"Chapter 97: We Represent Mandopop","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-97",97,"\u003Cp>\"The New Force of Mandopop: The Battle for Best New Artist Is Beyond Doubt!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He’s Not on Taiwan, Yet Taiwan Is Filled with News About Him!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Single Nomination for Six Categories at the Golden Melody Awards—Breaking the Record for Most Nominations by a New Artist!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Man Closest to Zhou Yi—Jay Chou!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jay Chou: Taiwan’s Biggest Surprise of the Millennium!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On March 30, 2001, after the official list of Golden Melody Award nominees was released, every major news outlet focused on one thing—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The battle for the top three new artists at the 12th Golden Melody Awards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi, Sun Yanzi, Jay Chou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to Sun Yanzi and Jay Chou, Fan Weiqi and Dai Peini, who were also nominated for Best New Artist, posed zero threat to Zhou Yi—purely there as fillers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both knew this well, and in media interviews, they openly stated that merely being nominated was already a tremendous honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them, Dai Peini was a singer-songwriter just like Zhou Yi; her debut album featured only one song written by a friend, while all others were written and composed by herself—earning her significant points, and some media still estimated a 1% chance of an upset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Fan Weiqi, she was reduced to nothing more than a mood-setter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was frequently mentioned because she shared the same label, Fuhua, with Zhang Shaohan, who had exploded in popularity after releasing her first album this year, and the two were close, often seen together at public events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When asked about this, Zhang Shaohan clearly sided with Zhou Yi, smiling like a perfectly scaled-up doll: \"Golden Melody Awards? Of course I support Brother Yi. Jay Chou is great, and Yanzi is my best friend, but in my heart, Brother Yi is the strongest.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From her debut, Xiao Yaxuan, who had skipped the Golden Melody Awards for two consecutive years due to her mentor Yao Qian, also chose to support Zhou Yi—and went all out to boost his popularity—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For well-known reasons, Zhou Yi is rarely seen by Taiwan fans. That’s unfair. I hope everyone will support him, support Zhou Yi.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know Zhou Yi. His music is pure. He shouldn’t be treated this way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since she hadn’t entered the awards, Xiao Yaxuan spoke up for Zhou Yi without restraint—no hesitation at all. If not for Yao Qian holding her back, she’d have blown the roof off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In contrast, Jay Chou, at the center of the storm, spoke in measured, formulaic terms—as if he’d memorized a PR script.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Things like, \"I’m good friends with Zhou Yi,\" \"Our relationship is healthy competition,\" \"I’m happy for Zhou Yi\"—all that fluff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the media, these were boring. They preferred stoking flames and inciting massive online brawls between fanbases.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some tried to ignite conflict between Sun Yanzi’s and Zhou Yi’s fans under the \"Warner internal war\" angle, even dredging up the old claim that \"Sun Yanzi beat Zhou Yi for Best New Artist at the Singapore Golden Melody Awards.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before the hype could take off, Sun Yanzi herself shut it down in an interview—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I took Zhou Yi’s Singapore New Artist award? Yes, he often jokes that I stole his one-time-only award in Singapore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi, grinning mischievously, didn’t hide her habit of teasing Zhou Yi: \"I still pull out that trophy to tease him sometimes. So whether I win Best New Artist doesn’t matter—I’m the woman who broke his Southeast Asian New Artist Grand Slam, the one who made his first experience imperfect. He’ll remember me forever.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, fans who had been stirred up by the media instantly felt relieved. Those who had suspected romantic tension between the two after the leaked Warner video were now practically glowing with excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s drama! These two are definitely into each other!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ship it! Absolutely ship it! They talk so freely behind closed doors—there’s definitely something going on!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era when internet trends were rising, Sun Yanzi and Zhou Yi—the terrifying twin stars under the same label—struck a major nerve with countless netizens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When asked who he supported, Wang Lihong, nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer for \"The First Day Forever,\" smiled and defused the tension: \"I think anyone could win. Competition is brutal—losing a prize doesn’t mean you lost.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In a way, we all represent Mandopop.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sony Music, eager to ride the wave, had Wang Lihong promote the phrase \"New Force of Mandopop.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though this drew some criticism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Wang Lihong had spent years as \"Little Zhang Xueyou\"—showing no trace of being a \"new force,\" while Zhou Yi and others were fresh out of the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the outside chaos, Jay Chou kept things simple—right after the nominations were announced, he called Zhou Yi to invite him to play basketball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhou Yi, are you in Taipei yet? Come out and play. Genghong is here, and two other friends too.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The media’s invented \"Double Zhou\" hype meant nothing to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaving aside the fact that Zhou Yi saved his life, even purely on musical grounds, Jay Chou deeply respected him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He genuinely liked Zhou Yi’s music, especially \"Give Me a Song\" and \"Flower Field Mistake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of theme and arrangement, Zhou Yi had given him plenty of inspiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To some extent, he felt the media’s praise for Zhou Yi was still too conservative—Zhou Yi’s debut album had genuinely carved out a new genre in Mandopop, just like Tao Zhe had done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But unlike the popular hip-hop tracks, he preferred \"Flower Field Mistake\"—its composition and arrangement were wonderfully unusual, and he clearly sensed Zhou Yi was experimenting with something entirely new.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Tao Zhe’s reimagined cover of the classic \"Wang Chun Feng.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was certain Tao Zhe’s version of \"Wang Chun Feng\" was highly regarded by Zhou Yi—otherwise, the hip-hop-heavy \"Happy Worship\" on Zhou Yi’s debut wouldn’t have included the rap line: \"Afro in Wang Chun Feng.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was his instinct as a musician.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Zhou Yi’s end, he was genuinely amused when he got Jay Chou’s call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So bad at basketball, yet so obsessed with playing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just one time he kicked the ball into the hoop—big deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So, Jay Chou called you again to play basketball?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Warner’s office building, in the recording studio break room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhou Yi hung up the phone, Sun Yanzi, wearing headphones around her neck, turned in her chair and asked curiously as he jotted down the court’s location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, that kid’s got good intel. Want to come? It’s been a while since we last met.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t even play basketball. What am I supposed to do, be your cheerleader?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, her body was honest—she stood up from her chair. Staying in the studio too long was suffocating; she wanted some fresh air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi shrugged: \"Perfect. Then you can be my tea-and-water cheerleader.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please. With your three-step basketball skills, you want me to cheer for you?\" Sun Yanzi took off her headphones and burst out laughing. \"You’re good at soccer, that’s it. Basketball? You play just as badly as Jay Chou.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I even suspect Jay Chou only keeps inviting you to play because he finally found someone as bad as him—so he doesn’t get crushed anymore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having witnessed Jay Chou and Zhou Yi’s legendaryly dull basketball showdowns, Sun Yanzi still refused to recall those painfully boring one-on-one matches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike Jay Chou, who occasionally showed off flashy moves, Zhou Yi was a pure shooter, hovering beyond the three-point line—ball in hand, he’d shoot and never moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His court motto: Doesn’t matter if it goes in—your form must be cool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, kicking it with your foot was more accurate than shooting with your hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course I don’t play much basketball. I only got pulled into a team once in high school because I was tall.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi strongly objected to Sun Yanzi’s assessment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His soccer skills were far superior—he didn’t see how Anta had come knocking with a contract because of his viral soccer meme?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let Jay Chou come play soccer against him—he’d get so thoroughly humiliated he’d have to change his name to \"Bagua.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Zhou Yi didn’t have a Taiwan driver’s license, he rode in Sun Yanzi’s little BMW to the court. The paparazzi camped outside Warner’s gate went wild, frantically snapping photos as they saw Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi leaving together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi, utterly indifferent to the paparazzi, glanced in the rearview mirror and chuckled, reminding Sun Yanzi. She immediately slammed on the gas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After shaking off the paparazzi, they sped straight to the court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jay Chou spotted Sun Yanzi’s license plate and immediately rushed to the court’s edge, waving both hands wildly: \"Here! Here, Zhou Yi!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind Jay Chou, a man engaged in a one-on-one game with Liu Genghong paused his move, straightened up, and stared toward the BMW.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So did a woman sitting on the ground nearby, acting as a cheerleader.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let me introduce you—this is Luo Zhixiang. He’s also a great player and an artist.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing it was Sun Yanzi and Zhou Yi who got out, Jay Chou promptly forgot everything else and introduced them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When introducing the woman who stood up from the bench, Jay Chou’s face lit up with visible excitement: \"This is Xu Ruoxuan, another good friend of mine. She wrote the lyrics for my album’s 'Cute Woman,' 'Tornado,' and 'Istanbul.'\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1550,"2026-06-20T07:33:41.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","550af1f6334334fd735f5d86ab00778e506b49d5a52f0bef6a8de1c4d9b63d24","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-98","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-96",883,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-cover.jpg"]