The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 881 Do you think I'm as happy as you imagine?

As the old saying goes, "Learning is like sailing on a boundless sea, and one must work hard to cross it; there is always a higher mountain to climb."

I need to learn Japanese.

As a university graduate who is not a foreign language major, it is quite normal to lose track of time while immersing oneself in studies, especially in a time when the scope of migrant work is constantly expanding.

Masami Nagasawa, who had been talking intermittently just moments before, immediately became quiet.

He lowered his head, panting heavily, and unconsciously twisted his fingers into a pretzel shape around the pillow that was almost within reach of him.

Life-long learning.

The kimono piled up at her waist divided her into two visual halves, and her trembling legs were covered with fragrant beads of sweat.
After struggling to curl their toes up for a few seconds, their brains lost control again, and the taut nerve in their minds instantly gave way—

The soft, bouncy texture of her thighs hitting the tatami mat perfectly complemented her muddy, disheveled appearance.

"Can't you...be a little gentler...ha..."

The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and Masami Nagasawa started breathing on Zhou Yi again: "You almost choked me to death, you know that?"

The young Nagasawa Masami, who had just begun to recover health and mana, was instantly enraged, her legs kicking like a rabbit kicking an eagle: "Baka! Hentai! Urusai!"

"Ugh, your anime slang is disgusting."

"Then why were you listening so enthusiastically last night!"

"That's not the same thing. I call that learning Japanese."

Despite his lack of confidence, Zhou Yi spoke with an air of self-righteousness: "Learning another foreign language is beneficial for singers. If they learn it, we won't need your help to translate and fill in any gaps in 'Uchiage Hanabi'."

“Hentai.” Nagasawa Masami, who was drinking water and taking medicine, scoffed at this and made her final conclusion with a nasal tone.

She can name characters like Faye from Cowboy Bebop, Fujiko Mine from Lupin III, and even Mai Shiranui and Shermie from King of Fighters. She's more of a fan of anime than a Japanese person like herself!

Thankfully, she's a talented actress; otherwise, she really couldn't have met that requirement.

"The costumes for Angewomon and LadyDevimon from Digimon Adventure need to be customized. It won't be that quick, Mr. Pervert. They won't arrive tomorrow night."

“No problem. You can change into the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department inspector uniform or the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office prosecutor uniform tomorrow night.”

Zhou Yi touched it with his large hand, completely unconcerned.

He'd never met Japanese police or prosecutors before; it was time to broaden his horizons.

"haihai~"

Eighteen-year-old Masami Nagasawa, imitating the verbal tic and tone of voice from her textbook, put her index finger to her lips, slumped on the tatami mat, and looked up at him with a dreamy gaze: "Respectful perverted gentleman~"

Hard!

It must be said that Japanese language has a unique advantage in this regard.

"But don't you need to do any advertising?"

"Given the current situation, simply appearing around you is the best form of advertising."

Showing off the congratulatory email from her manager, Masami Nagasawa has already started counting her earnings on her fingers—she also earns money from selling singles.

Although it's not much compared to Zhou Yi's earnings, for her, the total income from this single album over a quarter is a huge sum.

She was only eighteen years old—

Although Toho has been grooming her as their leading lady, and as long as their film projects don't fail, she can maintain her popularity for at least the next ten to twelve years, it's still an uncertain future.

Only money in hand is real.

"That's an exaggeration. I've been at Toho for five years, and the money I've earned is probably less than what you wrote for this single in three months..."

Thanks to Japan's resistance to internet music, support for the traditional record market, and a well-developed copyright system, "Uchiage Hanabi," fueled by this explosive hype, will undoubtedly see its leading position on various charts translate into substantial revenue.

Masami Nagasawa, after receiving an email from her manager, has already begun to dream about her bulging wallet.

Toho is not a charity.

She initially signed a child labor contract, and her rise to fame has only occurred in the last two years. She doesn't have many endorsements yet, and she hasn't earned enough money to buy an apartment and a luxury car.

With the income from the single "Zhou Yi", she will have more confidence when negotiating a new contract with her former company.

"You haven't acted in that many movies or TV shows in the past five years, have you?"

"I've acted in a lot, maybe ten? Or eleven? I haven't counted carefully."

"No wonder you're called Princess Dongbao, everyone would be envious of that treatment."

Zhou Yi was speechless: "But your workload is quite heavy, can you handle it?"

An actress who just turned eighteen has already appeared in more than ten movies and TV series—whether as a lead or a supporting actress with significant screen time. She has been actively pursuing awards such as Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress, and incidentally getting nominated for Best Actress to boost her resume.

And that doesn't even include the unreleased or unbroadcasted films.

At that time, she had only been in the industry for five years.

If this were transferred to the Chinese entertainment industry, she would definitely be treated like a princess from the very top of the pyramid.

"I should thank my dad; I probably inherited his physical attributes."

Kazuaki Nagasawa, Masami Nagasawa's father, is a Japanese professional soccer player.

Although his peak as a player was a fringe national team player who was relegated to the bench and had very few appearances, he was still a legitimate Japanese national team player, and his physical attributes were definitely superior to those of the average person.

"I've heard that your father was Masashi Nakayama's head coach back then."

Masashi Nakayama, a legend in Japanese football and an idol of the sport, scored Japan's first goal in the World Cup finals in 1998.

Although Kazuaki Nagasawa's professional career wasn't particularly impressive, his status in the football circle skyrocketed because he single-handedly promoted Masashi Nakayama, an indisputable legend in Japanese football history, during his time as head coach of the club. As a result, he received a constant stream of offers.

Once Masashi Nakayama retires and becomes the president of the J-League Players' Union, Kazuaki Nagasawa will be able to reap the benefits of his protégé, whom he personally mentored.

When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven; it's not shameful.

"Uncle Zhongshan—oh, I forgot you're a football fan."

At first, Masami Nagasawa was slightly surprised, but then she remembered Zhou Yi's identity as a football fan and immediately understood. Then, as if she had thought of something, a mischievous smile appeared on her lips: "Then would you like to add another one of our national team jerseys?"

You're bringing up something that's not related to the topic!
This is no longer a mere provocation; we must strike hard!
The middle-aged man is on the move!

..........................................

"Why has our music scene become like this...?" Tuesday, November 1st.

In a variety show broadcast on Japan's TBS television, when the guest saw the host show the data for "Uchiage Hanabi," which is currently dominating various music charts in Japan, he was heartbroken and choked up at one point.

Although it's unclear whether it was staged for the variety show, it resonated with many people.

Failure is not terrible; what is terrible is having no hope of catching up at all.

"Uchiage Hanabi" is currently following this path, so powerful that it has made professionals, media people, and musicians throughout the Japanese music industry feel hopeless.

Without any struggle, the entire Japanese music scene, from top to bottom, was crushed and utterly subdued by Zhou Yi—

From Kanto to Kansai, from Tokyo to Osaka, without exception.

Is "Uchiage Hanabi" good?
That is indeed beyond doubt.

But it absolutely doesn't live up to the current hype and the numbers—the single was released on October 29th, and by the evening of the 31st, physical sales had already exceeded 630,000 copies.

Judging from this growth trend, it should be no problem for Masami Nagasawa's debut single, "Uchiage Hanabi," to surpass Utada Hikaru's debut single sales of 220 million copies.

Keep in mind that Masami Nagasawa herself hasn't even started her appearances yet.

Once the fine tradition of the Japanese music scene is upheld and handshake events are held in abundance...

The well-known Japanese magazine Nikkan CYZO even publicly displayed the sales curve predicted by the editorial department—

Selling over a million units in a week is a certainty, and selling over two million units within six months is also quite common.

"At the latest, in eight months, Ms. Masami Nagasawa's debut single will break the debut record of Ms. Hikaru Utada, Zhou Yijun's arch-rival. Unfortunately, the exceptionally talented Zhou Yijun is unmatched by our Japanese music scene."

Even though he was only half-familiar with Japanese music and needed help from others to fill in the gaps, he was still able to write melodies that dominated the Japanese music scene.

"Twenty years ago, the Chinese pop music scene always looked up to us. But now, we can't keep up with Zhou Yijun's pace, which is a tragedy..."

Nikkan CYZO portrayed the sudden appearance of the number one spot on the music charts across Japan as the end of the music industry.

"I was wrong, we were all wrong. I used to think that Utada Hikaru could stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhou Yijun, but now it seems that the song Zhou Yijun wrote for Yami-chan later on could break the former's debut record..."

"Utada Hikaru's failure in the US was too damaging; that environment wasn't suitable for her. Sigh, her popularity is going to plummet."

“True strong people never complain about their environment. Didn’t Zhou Yijun start from scratch when he went to the United States?”

“Food is food!”

"Yami-chan Saigo!"

"Bullshit! Start from scratch! Forgot about Jackie's movies? Huh? How will Spike gain recognition in the Western market without Jackie's movies? We're missing a filmmaker like Jackie to help each other out!"

"Yes! It's all because Japanese movies are no good!"

"..."

Utada Hikaru's fans naturally couldn't sit idly by and watch their idol's reputation suffer, but given the proven track record of Zhou Yi and Masami Nagasawa, which is readily available for verification, they had no choice but to blame the Japanese film industry.

Forget about Kurosawa Akira; you're so great and famous outside, why don't you make a blockbuster commercial film and promote our Kumamitsu!
Look at Chenglong!

Learn from how others help each other!
"Would Zhou Yi have been able to take off without Rush Hour 2 helping him gain recognition?"

"Everything is difficult at the beginning, don't you understand?"

"Since Chenglong stepped in to help with the most difficult hurdle, won't everything else fall into place naturally?"

"If Xiong Guang could also have someone help him take the first step, he would definitely be able to soar to great heights just like Zhou Yi!"

"It's all the fault of the Japanese film industry's decline!"

"That's right, even someone like Masami Nagasawa can win newcomer awards and supporting actress awards. I'm deeply shocked by the corruption in this industry..."

"Masami Nagasawa got her resources through her father's connections!"

"Masami Nagasawa, get out of the music industry!"

"Zhou Yi only knows how to seek pleasure all day long; he's just wasting his talent!"

As Zhou Yi's arch-rival who was once marketed by the media in the Japanese market, Utada Hikaru's fans obviously couldn't accept that a mere 18-year-old Nagasawa Masami broke their idol's debut single record—her main profession wasn't even a singer.

Xiong Guang's fans felt deeply humiliated.

Zhou Yi wins—he is his nemesis. It's not unacceptable that his nemesis wins; at least we can find a reason to comfort ourselves.

What's wrong with you, Masami Nagasawa?

"Maybe... you could be considered a Toho sweetheart?"

On November 5th, Zhou Yi, who was interviewed on a TV program in Osaka, was asked by the host about the recent hot topics. Zhou Yi made a witty remark, mentioning Masami Nagasawa's nickname as if it were a dry joke, and then laughed at himself.

"You've been spending the past week with Ms. Nagasawa, haven't you?"

"Pretty much. I'm going back to China on November 7th to produce my new Chinese album. So Yamei volunteered to be my tour guide, taking me around to see some sights and such."

“My Japanese is not very fluent yet. Even when I sing ‘Uchiage Hanabi,’ I still have to use phonetic symbols. So I am very grateful to her for helping me understand Japanese faster and better during this journey.”

"Well, you know Zhou Yijun, many people envy your popularity with women. Just like your fans say, you live a very happy life every day, which is very enviable. To be honest, I am quite envious too."

The host adjusted his cue cards and turned to look at Zhou Yi, who was dressed casually: "It's not just in Japan, but also in Europe, America, and even your homeland, China, many, many people think this way."

"Do you think you can give your fans some sincere advice on this topic? Specifically, on relationships between men and women?"

"I have no good advice in this regard, and I don't recommend anyone follow my example. Besides, what do I have to envy? Do you think I'm as happy as you imagine?"

The expressions of the two hosts and the three warm-up guests immediately turned serious.

It looks like Zhou Yijun is about to give an inspirational speech; it's time to add an emoji that fits the inspirational context.

Then we'll go on to talk at length about our efforts and struggles in music—

"In fact, you, all of you, are all wrong..."

Zhou Yi sat up straight, coughed twice to clear his throat, and then his expression switched from serious to smiling in an instant: "Because you can't even imagine how happy I am."

host:"……"

Guest: "..."

(End of this chapter)