[{"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-99":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},2301355,4501,"Chapter 99: Defending Zhou Yi","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-99",99,"\u003Cp>On April 3, 2001, the Qiong Yao drama “Love in a Rainy Season” premiered on Baodao’s China Television Wireless Channel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In He Xiuxiong’s original plan, this should have been a moment of universal attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had intended to proceed with a steady promotional campaign, but Zhou Yi, Sun Yanzi, Jay Chou, and Xu Ruoxuan jointly delivered a massive scandal to the entertainment industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paparazzo who first captured photos of the basketball court nearly had his hands numb from collecting money, and he even received invitations from several Baodao variety shows, where producers specifically asked him to detail the “Zhou-Sun romance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to Warner’s release of surveillance footage showing Zhou Yi and Sun Yanzi interacting privately within the company after Baodao announced its unilateral “blacklist,” when their “romance” was suddenly exposed, a large portion of Sun Yanzi’s fans did not react with intense emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At most, they muttered that the man didn’t seem like a good match, that he had too many rumors, and wondered whether Sun Yanzi could tame this playboy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the massive success of “A Small Luck” and “Green Light”—two songs entirely crafted by Zhou Yi—added significant weight to their favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without these two songs, Sun Yanzi’s fans might have united in outright opposition to Zhou Yi, the notorious rumor magnet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not convinced—my rumors aren’t my fault, especially those models I’ve never even met. What do I have to do with them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting in Zhou Jianhui’s office at Warner, Zhou Yi pointed at the newspaper and sneered: “And that paparazzo actually got invited on TV? Unreal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The real issue now is that my parents found out about my rumors and called specifically to ask if it’s true.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi, sitting on the sofa beside him, propped her chin on one hand and fiddled with the cap of her ballpoint pen, her tone tinged with complaint: “What’s wrong with these reporters? Isn’t this writing going too far?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She, who had always despised rumor-mongering, was genuinely angry now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if she were truly dating Zhou Yi, she disliked the feeling of her relationship being put under the spotlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, they hadn’t even started dating—they were completely innocent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The company is already handling the process; this storm will pass quickly,” Zhou Jianhui said, also feeling a headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His two golden geese had suddenly been “paired” together out of nowhere, making his heart leap into his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi was somewhat better off—he’d had rumors since his debut, and his fans were already used to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sun Yanzi was different; even Chen Zeshan, the most notorious promoter of scandals, dared not use a romance rumor against her, because it truly crossed her line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We ditched the paparazzi, only to get hit hard at Jay Chou’s place—I should’ve never gone out with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi, sprawled lazily on the soft sofa, muttered, while Zhou Yi, sitting directly across from Zhou Jianhui, spread his hands in protest: “It’s not my fault—we’re just too famous and unlucky.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look at Xu Ruoxuan—she’s already suspected of having a boyfriend, and now she’s tangled up with Jay Chou. She’s probably even more overwhelmed than we are.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Isn’t Jay Chou involved with Cai Yilin? How does Xu Ruoxuan fit in?” Sun Yanzi, having gathered some information from her agent Chen Zeshan, was puzzled—both Jay Chou and Xu Ruoxuan were now suspected of new romances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In February 2001, Cai Yilin had performed alongside Jay Chou at her concert, and their joint appearance on Wu Zongxian’s flagship show “Guess Guess Guess” had also been highly effective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Zongxian and Tao Jingying had even acted like parental figures, openly pushing the two together, almost as if giving them an official seal of approval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who knows if either side is staging it—or if both are?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi shrugged, admitting he had no idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t mistake the young CEO’s shy, bashful stage presence for genuine innocence. In terms of rumors, the CEO is no weaker than Tao Zhe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In any case, since you two are innocent, leave the rest to the company.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Jianhui acted swiftly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanzi soon put her worries aside and fully resumed her album promotion work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the music charts, fueled by this rumor wave, “Green Light” briefly surpassed “Love’s Main Theme.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Sun Yanzi’s boundaries not been so firm, Chen Zeshan would have gladly ridden this wind to fully exploit the “Twin Stars Romance” rumor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The money from album sales was pure white gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“‘Green Light’ surpassed my ‘Love’s Main Theme’—you’re at least 90% responsible for this, Zhou Yi.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the phone, Xiao Yaxuan, who had also learned the result, called him out with amusement: “Are you really dating Sun Yanzi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dating? You’re joking—I’ve got too many rumors to handle. I’m hanging up. Talk tonight—I still have to answer other calls.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi rolled his eyes, busy juggling multiple calls and replying to acquaintances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>April 12.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Coca-Cola commercial featuring Zhou Yi as the lead actor rolled out across the three regions—its theme song, “Sad People Shouldn’t Listen to Slow Songs,” instantly landed in the top twenty of all major music charts thanks to Zhou Yi’s recent high visibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Xiangjiang, it even surpassed Wang Jie’s “Unromantic Crime,” released on April 3 as part of his album and tied to a mobile phone ad, climbing to number ten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the commercial launched, Coca-Cola’s powerful promotional machinery, in an era dominated by traditional media, showed its full force—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even more astonishingly, due to the explosive viewership of “Love in a Rainy Season” in Baodao, Coca-Cola deployed its unmatched financial power to buy prime-time advertising slots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, anyone tuning in to watch “Love in a Rainy Season” would inevitably see Zhou Yi’s Coke ad and hear “Sad People Shouldn’t Listen to Slow Songs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to his long absence from releasing new music, this pop-rock song, distinct from Zhou Yi’s first album style, quickly gained massive popularity among young audiences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it also drew disdain from some figures in the rock circle, who claimed Zhou Yi’s song desecrated the word “rock,” even though he labeled it as pop-rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But regardless, Coca-Cola rode this “wind of scandal” to enormous attention, and Zhou Yi’s ad song climbed steadily on radio request charts, reaching number seven in just three days—second only to the six songs he had written for Sun Yanzi, Zhang Shaohan, and Xiao Yaxuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Zhou Yi himself was stunned by this result.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, “Sad People Shouldn’t Listen to Slow Songs” couldn’t possibly be compared to those six songs—he’d originally hoped just to crack the top twenty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, he clearly underestimated his fans’ loyalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to Baodao’s maneuvers, it seemed… he’d successfully rebranded his fanbase?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“More accurately, it’s not just your fans—your song’s rise also owes much to Zhang Shaohan’s fans, Xiao Yaxuan’s fans, and even Sun Yanzi’s fans.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Jiang, equally surprised, concluded after investigation a laughably ironic truth: “The company’s denial prompted Zhang Shaohan’s and Xiao Yaxuan’s fans to rally under the slogan ‘Defend Zhou Yi,’ hoping to show him their effort so he’d continue collaborating with them;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sun Yanzi’s fans, who had initially sat back, fearing they’d fall behind Zhang’s and Xiao’s fans, joined in to boost the song too…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi: “...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……………………………………………………………………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is actually possible?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After “Love in a Rainy Season” aired, Ku Guoji and his agent stared in disbelief at the chart results.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They watched “I Really Really Want” climb steadily with the drama’s popularity, only for Zhou Yi’s ad song to suddenly emerge and push “I Really Really Want” from eighth to ninth place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Relax—they can’t sustain this intense chart-boosting. At most, they’ll do it for a month. After that, it’s still our domain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Ku Guoji’s shifting expression, his agent, unfamiliar with this tactic, offered reassurance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The drama could air for months, even years through reruns, but fan-driven chart campaigns couldn’t last that long—maximum one month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After digesting the result for a while, Ku Guoji finally nodded: “Right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t chase fleeting victories—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One year versus one month? Advantage is ours!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1345,"2026-06-20T07:33:41.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","123e080fb0520d0fb0e550bc9fb246c50c1ea891c7790dd2bfe83732e50b4fa1","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-100","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-98",883,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-cover.jpg"]