HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 66 [066] You chose him, idol!

Making over 370,000 yuan in one night with low risk, Qi Yuanshuang was overjoyed.

Hong Kong and Taiwan are still rich.

This is the benefit of becoming famous outside of mainland China!

In their early years, actors like Gong Li and Li Lianjie, who were popular in mainland China, went to Hong Kong to make movies simply because there was more money to be made there.

In the 1990s, Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan, Li Lianjie, and Chow Shui-fat were already earning tens of millions in film remuneration.

Many films in mainland China have a total investment of less than ten million.

The current trend in mainland China is still to make low-budget art films, win awards in Europe, and then sell the films to foreigners.

Zhang Hao bought Qi Yuan breakfast and a newly published newspaper early in the morning.

"Look, you've actually beaten all the Hong Kong male stars, including the Four Heavenly Kings, to take the top spot on the list. But the full name of this list is 'The Male Stars Hong Kong Rich Women Most Want to Keep.'" Zhang Hao was a little envious.

Being handsome is definitely an advantage. Qi Yuan's good looks are 70% responsible for winning the hearts of so many wealthy women in Hong Kong, while his talent and works account for the remaining 30%.

Yinghuang's Nicholas Tse is handsome enough, but when it comes to being sought after by rich women, he can't even come close to Qi Yuan.

Nicholas Tse's music and persona are those of a rebellious youth, so he is only popular among students under the age of twenty.

In the eyes of a wealthy older sister like herself, Nicholas Tse is just an immature, immature teenager.

"What's Yinghuang's reaction? Are they still marketing the competition between Xie Tingfeng and my talented son?" Qi Yuan took a sip of Hong Kong-style milk tea. It tasted pretty good. Here, milk tea is a standard breakfast item.

"The comparisons between Nicholas Tse and you have temporarily disappeared. They were stunned by the impressive results of 'The Rogue.' If we continue to market Hong Kong's creative talents as a competition between mainland creative talents, everyone will have to ask where Nicholas Tse's works are." Zhang Hao felt completely at ease.

You think you can get away with this? What kind of company is Xie Tingfeng? You dare to compare yourself to Qi Yuan?

Qi Yuan took a bite of his pineapple bun and said seriously, "I had so much fun with Yinghuang and Nicholas Tse's attempt to provoke me the other day, we can't let it go like this. We have to fight back and say that the Hong Kong music scene has no successors."

Qi Yuan had written down all of Yinghuang's staged accidents in his little notebook.

Now it's time to settle scores.

Zhang Hao said menacingly, "Don't worry, I've already applied for funding from the Wanwan Company."

……

Qi Yuan is busy shooting new posters and giving interviews to magazines and newspapers.

Zhang Hao, armed with a massive amount of funding obtained from Zhou Jianhui, launched a heavy attack on Yinghuang and Xie Tingfeng.

[The title of "Prince of Yinghuang" is an overstatement; his creative ability and musical talent are far inferior to Warner Music's rising star, Qi Yuan.]

[None of the songs on Nicholas Tse's Cantonese album released last year made it into the top five of radio request charts; his performance is far inferior to that of Qi Yuan.]

They're not even in the same league.

There are also newspaper commentaries known for their sharp and incisive style.

[Nicholas Tse is a complete loser, how can he be compared to Qi Yuan?]

……

Yinghuang.

How could Mani Fok not know that Warner Bros. had made the move?

A large number of media outlets are attacking Nicholas Tse, and the momentum is enormous. It is obvious that this is organized, disciplined, and premeditated.

Previously, when Yinghuang was paired with Qi Yuan, Warner only responded by saying that they were not afraid of challengers, and then stopped responding.

Since Qi Yuan's rank is already higher than Xie Tingfeng's, even paying attention to her would be considered giving Xie Tingfeng some attention.

Things are different now. "The Rogue" is a huge hit in Hong Kong, and Warner Music, in conjunction with various media outlets, is trying to crush Nicholas Tse, determined to trample him under Qi Yuan's feet. If you, Yinghuang, can spend money to buy off the media, so can we at Warner Music.

The current situation is developing in a direction that is unfavorable to Nicholas Tse.

If he can't break through Warner's media offensive, Nicholas Tse will truly be forever relegated to a subordinate position to Qi Yuan.

Although Huo Wenxi's experience wasn't as seasoned as it would later become, her skills as a top agent were already evident at this point.

She made a quick decision and called the marketing department: "Send Fengzai's three songs, 'Silent Imitation of Sound,' 'If There's Only One Week,' and 'Open Day,' to the radio station to promote them."

"Open Day" is one of the theme songs in the Young and Dangerous movies, used to link Nicholas Tse with the film.

"Silent Imitation of Sound" is one of Nicholas Tse's most famous works and an early representative piece.

"If I Only Had One Week" was adapted into a Mandarin version in 2000 and sung by Nicholas Tse at the Spring Festival Gala.

These three songs are the best of the best from Nicholas Tse's Cantonese album.

Nicholas Tse was already very popular, and with all three of his songs released on the radio simultaneously, coupled with Yinghuang's powerful marketing and promotion capabilities, all three songs were pushed into the top twenty of the radio request charts.

"Silent Imitation of Sound" even broke into the top five.

All three songs made it onto various music charts in Hong Kong, but they still lag far behind "Rogue".

But Nicholas Tse has the advantage of having more.

After achieving such success with three songs, Huo Wenxi immediately got the publicity department involved.

The editor-in-chief of the influential Oriental Daily News in Hong Kong personally wrote this article.

Nicholas Tse is already very talented; please give Hong Kong's local musicians some time to grow.

This article plays on Nicholas Tse's status as a native of Hong Kong, claiming that as a newcomer to the music scene, he has already achieved remarkable success.

Nicholas Tse is still growing rapidly. Give him some time, and he will definitely become a new generation of all-around superstar in Hong Kong.

It's safe to say that the editor-in-chief is indeed very good; the article has garnered a lot of sympathy from Hong Kong locals.

Nicholas Tse is only eighteen years old this year, a young man, and many people in Hong Kong are willing to be lenient with him.

……

Qi Yuan had just cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of a newly opened office building, earning HK$200,000, and was now sitting in the back seat of his car, resting with his eyes closed.

Zhang Hao turned to look at Qi Yuan and said with some admiration, "Xie Tingfeng's management team behind the scenes is very strong."

Qi Yuan didn't even open his eyes: "That's Yinghuang. If it didn't have something special, could Yinghuang have grown so big in Hong Kong?"

This must have been done by Mani Fok.

Mani Fok was later hailed as the most beautiful agent in Hong Kong and a top agent in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. She single-handedly promoted artists such as Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung, Gillian Chung, and Chan Wai-ting, so her skills were naturally very strong.

Qi Yuan added, "No matter how much Yinghuang tries to appeal to emotions, it can't change the fact that Nicholas Tse's music is far inferior to mine. Do you have any schedules today? I've arranged to record a song with Kelly Chen tonight. He couldn't handle just one song, 'Rogue,' and I still have four songs left on my EP."

Anyone who dares to provoke him will be taught a lesson by his iron fist.

Zhang Hao replied, "The company has arranged two fan meet-and-greets for you, each with several hundred attendees."

After starting the car, Qi Yuan went to two fan meet-and-greets before returning to the company in the afternoon to record a song with Chen Huilin. He was so busy he was practically flying.

Qi Yuan and Chen Huilin are both professional singers, so the recording process went smoothly and they finished in just a few hours.

After the recording ended, Chen Huilin said with some sympathy, "Yuanzai, I feel like Nicholas Tse is going to be beaten to death by you. The quality of your songs is too high. He's really unlucky to have met you."

Qi Yuan's smile deepened, and he quoted a line from Lau Kin-ming in "Infernal Affairs": "He chose it."

(End of this chapter)