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

Chapter 918 It's Catwoman I Want
As the new generation's king of pop, he debuted by "dancing," so how could he not have made achievements in modern dance?

Starting in 2006, electronic music, electronic hip-hop, electronic dance music, and electronic pop were rapidly expanding their influence worldwide. Whether it was the resurgent Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, or Lady Gaga singing "Just Dance" and "Poker Face," they all relied on this genre to reach the top.

Bringing out "Party Rock Anthem," one of the masterpieces of the electronic dance music era, at this stage will only benefit his future global status, as it will propel shuffle from an obscure dance form to the world stage.

This is a true master of both singing and dancing, the undisputed GOAT in the pop music world, leaving no loopholes for career-driven haters to exploit.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about how to thank you."

"Thank me?" Anne Hathaway was surprised.

Although she didn't know what Zhou Yi was thinking, judging from his expression, it must be something good.
"You remind me of a melody, darling." Zhou Yi, his fingertips tracing the woman's cheek, casually pulled her closer, pressing his forehead against hers as he uttered sweet words.

"Really? You mean I'll have a hit song like Kelly Brook and Eva Green?"

Instead of pushing Zhou Yi away, Anne Hathaway, looking somewhat expectant, swayed her body against the man's to the music on the dance floor, her eyes suddenly brightening.

When it comes to the most successful "Yi Girl" (a term referring to actresses who have worked with actresses known for their talent), everyone will have their own opinion.

But if we're talking about the most popular actresses associated with Premier League stars, then without a doubt it's Kelly Brook, the Premier League goddess who's currently a sensation across Europe, and Eva Green, the French artistic icon.

The former, with her hit song "Galway Girl," has reaped the benefits of her original work and is now the most sought-after football goddess in all of Europe.
The latter, thanks to her fame as the inspiration for "The Nights," beat out nearly ten competitors and just last month won the lead role in "Casino Royale."

If Kelly Brook's rise to fame, which began with her stunning figure and scandals with Zhou Yi, ultimately led to her winning the first Premier League Football Babe title, was somewhat predictable, then Eva Green's move to land a role as the 007 heroine was truly astonishing to many in the industry.

As the first 007 film after the reboot in the new century, although the choice of Daniel Craig as the new Bond was criticized by many, it is undeniable that 007 is still a remarkable major IP in the Western world.

Although Zhou Yi never boasts about his achievements in front of the media, and always says that it's all due to their own hard work when asked, and that they would have become famous even without his help, such words can only fool those outside the industry.

There are countless people in this world who yearn for fame, so why is it that the female lead, who is the inspiration for Zhou Yi's music video, becomes so popular? After starring in his music video, she gained immense fame and was able to secure new opportunities?

This is a mystery.

But it is precisely this mystery that makes the I Ching even more fascinating.

"I can't say for sure. You know, not every song of mine becomes a hit." Zhou Yi's hands started to move unconsciously as he felt the friction.

This is the most basic respect.

Since it's a private party, it means that the upstairs rooms are actually for resting after playing.

Anne Hathaway, who seemed to have been squeezed and flattened, simply used her cunning to push Zhou Yi, who had used his heel to knock open the door, sideways onto the yoga mat she hadn't had time to tidy up.

"Fuck me."

"Do it yourself."

With his hands behind his head, Zhou Yi was no longer in a hurry. He leisurely spread his legs and even had the leisure to whistle at her.

Anne Hathaway, looking down at him with a condescending gaze, rolled her eyes at him, who was indulging in pleasure.

He started gesturing wildly...

"S..."

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

"What's wrong with you? Why are you so startled?"

By the end of March, the weather in Beijing had already warmed up.

After the schedules of the actors and the location arrangements for "The Sun Also Rises" were officially confirmed, Zhou Yun, who was also busy with the film, looked at her husband Jiang Wen, who had hung up the phone and fallen silent. Thinking that something had gone wrong, she quickly asked him.

After all, this is the first film she has directed since the ban was lifted. If something goes wrong again, such as extending the ban, all the initial investment in the film so far will be wasted. She can't help but be nervous.

"...It's not a big deal."

After flicking off the ash, Jiang Wen took another puff, his face blurred by the swirling smoke: "It seems like I owe that little bastard Zhou Yi even more favors now."

His words were very impolite, but Zhou Yun was used to it, since Zhou Yi would occasionally call him an old codger.

"What's up with him?"

"He turned down offers to do the soundtrack for Ann Lee's new film and to star in it, because he wanted to do my soundtrack..."

As Jiang Wen slowly exhaled a smoke ring, he recounted the information he had received.

As a major project, "Lust, Caution" is bound to attract a lot of attention. Although no one knows the script yet, at least Ann Lee's reputation and the subject matter she intends to film are there for all to see, and she clearly aimed to invite Zhou Yi from the very beginning.

Now that Zhou Yi's business has fallen apart, Li An will definitely have to make adjustments immediately, and those actions will naturally be impossible to hide, leading to the leak of accurate inside information.

Although Jiang Wen is known as a genius in the industry, his current actual status is certainly far inferior to that of Li An, who has already achieved great success and reached the pinnacle of his career. In addition, his film "The Sun Also Rises" has not yet been filmed...

This means that Zhou Yi rejected a big-budget production opportunity from Universal Pictures with a guaranteed six million US dollars, just to wait for the release date of an unknown film of his.

This goes beyond just being loyal and devoted—

Leaving aside the unpredictable global revenue sharing of the soundtrack, the guaranteed minimum reward alone is something that ordinary people can only dream of.

That's a whopping six million US dollars, which is over 4800 million RMB. How much was the total investment for his film "The Sun Also Rises"?

Zhou Yun was shocked by this number.

Jiang Wen didn't even need to continue; she could calculate with her toes how great this sacrifice was—she couldn't even sell the current Jiang Wen for that much money.

"Confused."

Feng Xiaogang, who was preparing his latest period commercial blockbuster "The Banquet" and looking to challenge Zhang Yimou, was smoking in the office of the two Wangs when he heard the news and couldn't help but shake his head with regret.

To be fair, although he used to be jealous of the Book of Changes, when the gap between them became too great, he could no longer harbor any such feelings.

His collaboration on "A World Without Thieves" gave him a good impression of this first eccentric figure in Chinese cinema.

Although the price is promoting Fan Bingbing, it doesn't matter who the movie promotes; getting Zhou Yi's cooperation in return is a huge win.

The reason why he didn't continue to collaborate with Zhou Yi on "The Banquet" was simply to refute those who said that he was relying on Zhou Yi's coattails for "A World Without Thieves"—after all, when Zhou Yi visited the set, he had a flash of inspiration and directly suggested the most captivating joke at the beginning of the film.

Furthermore, the fact that Fan Bingbing was the lead actress inevitably led to rumors that Zhou Yi had intervened in the production of "A World Without Thieves," which is why it achieved such great success.

He wanted to use this big-budget period drama, "The Banquet," to let these short-sighted media outlets know that praising the I Ching is fine, but there's no need to look down on him like this!
He's made so many movies before, how can he be overshadowed by just one "A World Without Thieves"?

"He's definitely loyal to his friends. I heard that Deng Chao, the supporting actor in Jiang Wen's new movie, was recommended by Zhou Yi. He's really good to his own people." Da Wang then mentioned another rumor circulating in the industry.

Xiao Wang expressed regret at not being able to bring Zhou Yi on board: "If only we could have brought him in."

They're aiming for an IPO, and Zhou Yi's influence can boost market confidence significantly... Zhang Yi, who's also preparing for the promotion of "Curse of the Golden Flower," sighed—

"Starting at six million US dollars, maybe we can negotiate it down to eight or nine million in the end... Universal is really willing to spend."

The reason he made this film, *Curse of the Golden Flower*, was because he couldn't afford to pay Zhou Yi. Otherwise, he would have at least tried to get involved, and he wouldn't have had to cast Jay Chou.

In his scenes with Leung Ka-fai, Jay Chou appeared incredibly weak, leaving director Zhang Yimou stunned. It's hard to imagine that this is a rising star in the film industry who received rave reviews for "Initial D".

Well... how should I put it, his acting was even worse than Nicholas Tse's.

He originally thought that among the new kings of singing, only Zhou Yi had no future in the film industry, but he didn't expect that Jay Chou was the one wearing the emperor's new clothes and had been fooled.

Fortunately, Jay Chou's visit wasn't in vain; he accepted the invitation to compose a song called "Chrysanthemum Terrace." Jay Chou listened to it and thought it was pretty good. Although it wasn't as good as "The Book of Changes," it should be enough to boost the initial publicity.

Meanwhile, Wang Lihong, who was at Sony, was being urged by his agent to submit his interest in the "Lust, Caution" project.

"It would be even better if Zhou Yi didn't want to come; the hype surrounding your participation in the movie wouldn't be diluted. Without Zhou Yi, the fact that you, as a pop king, are once again involved in a film might actually make the production company consider it. Don't resist; look at Jay Chou, he's even gone to act in Zhang Yimou's movies..."

Wang Lihong nodded in agreement after his agent's earnest advice.

Due to the precipitous decline of the Chinese music market, Jay Chou and Wang Lihong, the two fiercest rivals vying for second place under the I Ching, have been neck and neck, truly locked in a battle for supremacy.

Since Jay Chou's record contract was also with Sony, Sony even teamed up with Holiday KTV to create the concept of "the two unparalleled heroes" for the two.

Comparing him to Zhou Yi is definitely unrealistic. Look at how much Xie Tingfeng, one of the two leading men in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," is being ridiculed now. But there's not much risk for Zhou and Wang to do this—Wang Lihong can also outshine Zhou Jielun in terms of personal image.

We're living in a great era now. Even someone like Jay Chou can act, so Wang Lihong's great image can't be wasted. Naturally, Sony has put him back into the film industry.

Yes, again.

Wang Lihong had acted in movies before, though not in any important roles, just as a trial run, but he still received a nomination for Best New Performer at the 20th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Although this nomination is somewhat influenced by personal connections, at least it can be presented as a qualification.

"But Zhou Yi really gave up a huge amount of income. What was he thinking...?"

As an American, Wang Lihong knew better than anyone the value of the money Zhou Yi received. This was a Chinese-language film, and even if Ann Lee was good at selling the copyrights, the company might still suffer losses after Zhou Yi's expenditure.

The cost is too high.

He couldn't understand why Universal Pictures would actually spend so much money to hire Zhou Yi to star in a Chinese-language film, or even an English-language film. He could understand that English-language films have a huge global market.

What puzzled him even more was that Zhou Yi actually refused.

"There's nothing I can't figure out. It's just that I don't want to act or do it."

Zhouyi Mansion, Beverly Hills, California, USA.

With his arm around Anne Hathaway, who had been staying there for almost a week, Zhou Yi said nonchalantly, "My schedule is already killing me, and I'm adding this on top of that. It's not like I'm missing out."

Of course, the main reason is definitely that the movie "Lust, Caution" is bad.

Anne Hathaway: "..."

She suddenly felt like beating him up.

Admittedly, she was already famous, but a starting contract of six million dollars was still a pipe dream for her—she wasn't famous enough.

"Do all singers make this much money?"

"Not necessarily, many more starved to death."

Zhou Yi's thoughtful expression amused the woman: "Alright, I'll talk to you now, I'm going to try on the clothes first."

"Clothes? What clothes?"

Zhou Yi glanced subconsciously at the suitcase in the living room, puzzled: "You're coming back to China with me?"

“Of course not.” Anne Hathaway smiled mysteriously.

Soon, Zhou Yi found out.

Wearing a black, tight-fitting leather suit, and a... rather... weird-looking hood, and holding a long whip—it was just like Michelle Obama's classic Catwoman look from the Batman movies.

Thanks to its faithful adaptation of the comics, this battle suit became a huge hit in the United States, popular in every aspect.

"How about it?"

Seeing the man's gaze fixed on her, Anne Hathaway flicked her whip, making a sharp crack on the tiles. She tilted her head, lowered her voice, and asked in a hoarse tone, "Bruce Wayne?"

Rich, indifferent to money, a playboy, and owns a massive international conglomerate.

Right!
The Book of Changes is Batman!
"Well..."

Zhou Yi, wrapped in a white bathrobe and sitting on the sofa, looked you over with interest: "To be honest, I don't really like your look."

Perhaps it's a matter of first impressions, or perhaps Michelle Obama's Catwoman look didn't appeal to him, but Zhou Yi's personal favorite Catwoman movie look is still the tight-fitting suit worn by Anne Hathaway in the future "The Dark Knight Rises"—

The tight-fitting uniform also removed the hood that would have accentuated her head flaws, replacing it with a black eye patch that subtly concealed her face.

That's perfect.

"This is a farewell gift I prepared for you before you leave America, and this is your reaction?" Anne Hathaway pouted, her long whip throbbing in her hand.

Zhou Yi smiled noncommittally: "I like to tell the truth."

Clearly, his body language betrayed him—

Especially after the woman leaned against the island platform and took off the Catwoman's mask.

The way he tossed his long hair forward allowed the image of the alluring catwoman of the future to appear in his eyes ahead of time.

"Wait a minute, Spike, let me take off the cat first—"

"It's okay, no need. I've changed my mind. I want Catwoman now."

The disheveled kitten was pinned to the island platform, forced to stand with her legs spread apart to maintain her balance due to her height. The cold marble surface pressed directly against her face, while the long whip served as handcuffs, binding her arms behind her back.

She felt like she was about to be crushed by this pressure...

It was also plugged in and burst.

"Use me, use me Spike, use me to death!"
"Oh fuck! I was made just for you—"

(End of this chapter)