With no one causing trouble, the shoot wrapped in forty minutes. The fifty-kilometer trip from Lingshui to Haitang Square took less than fifty minutes via the Ring Island Expressway—just in time.
The EDM festival was electric. Chu Zhi's popularity was evident—over 70% of attendees had bought tickets specifically for him.
When he appeared on stage, the crowd erupted. If the festival hadn't capped tickets at 1,000, the frenzy might have caused a stampede.
"Ahhh! It's Ah Jiu!"
"I want to hear 'What I Miss'!"
"That's not EDM, you fake fan! 'Overdrive' has electronic elements!"
"So worth it! Ninth Brother sounds amazing live!"
"Yeah, he's practically the King of Live Performances!"
Truthfully, Chu Zhi's live skills had improved—he'd hired vocal coaches and leveraged Farinelli's talent—but "King of Live"? Not even close. The power of fan filters was strong.
The EDM set was hype, with bass-heavy tracks rivaling rock concerts. Thanks to certain individuals, people often conflated EDM with over-processed vocals, but someone wasn't actually doing EDM.
Auto-Tune—a pitch-correction tool—was his crutch. Chu Zhi knew this well. The original host had despised such software, but he saw no issue. Used skillfully, it could enhance certain tracks.
Unlike a certain incarcerated artist, the original host's style leaned into breakbeat and hardcore EDM—which, to Chu Zhi's ears, was objectively bad.
Chu Zhi's endorsement fees soared. Three days after Helen Keller's apology, his team landed another major deal:
Ice Black Tea signed him as their exclusive tea beverage ambassador for ¥56 million over two years—matching Su Yiwu's peak rate at ¥28M/year.
Actually, it surpassed Su's deal. While Su's Yuanqi Forest contract barred him from endorsing other drinks, Chu's only restricted tea categories. He could still shill juice, soda, or sparkling water.
"Now I get why celebs flock to livestream sales. After ¥28M gets taxed ¥7M+ and split with the agency, I barely pocket ¥10M. Turns out 'top-tier idol wealth' is slightly less lucrative than I imagined. Might as well become a Live streamer."
He realized a hard truth: Endorsement ceilings are low—globally. Even icons like Jay Chou capped at ¥30M/year in China.
Meanwhile, athletes? A certain basketball player who couldn't shoot earned ¥15M/year from AJ. Yao Ming? ¥40-50M/year easily. And don't get him started on NBA/soccer stars.
"Gotta speed up my personal brand. Real money's in being the boss."
"After dominating domestically, I must expand into Southeast Asia. Only global clout breaks the ¥30M barrier."
As a former quasi-capitalist, Chu knew no brand would disrupt China's endorsement hierarchy—no matter how famous he got.
On April 1st—April Fools' Day—GZ Boyband (dubbed "Princess Group" by fans) dropped their album MC World in China and Korea simultaneously, distributed by Dahua Entertainment.
Digital sales hit ¥47.46 million in 24 hours (at ¥3 per album)—a monstrous debut.
By April 3rd, it dominated 28 Asian markets:
—Thailand (JOOX)
—Vietnam (Zing MP3)
—Cambodia (Khmer Music)
—Singapore (Spotify)
—Malaysia (KKBox)
...and more.
Their YouTube MVs surpassed 10M daily views.
Trained in Korea's cutthroat idol machine, GZ's skills were undeniable—stable live vocals, sharp choreography. Compared to China's "just stand there and look pretty" idols? No contest.
Chinese fans spoiled their stars: "He's sick!", "It's emotional singing!" Even celebs whined: "We work so hard—give us more tolerant!"
Meanwhile, Korea's industry was gladiatorial. Survival demanded excellence.
Dahua went all-in, flooding variety shows with GZ content. For weeks, Korean faces dominated Weibo:
Choi Young-sik (lead in Diamond) endorsing BMW X4
Kwon Jo (GZ main vocal) hitting perfect high notes
Jung Min-ah (GZ main dancer) sharing ideal partner criteria
Top 10 Trending Celebs:
—Choi Young-sik (Diamond ML)
—Kwon Jo (GZ Main Vocal)
—Lee Jae-won (Diamond SML)
—Jung Min-ah (GZ Main Dancer)
—Lee Soo-hyun (GZ Sub-Vocal/Lyricist)
—Lee Seok-jun (GZ Leader)
—Chu Zhi
—Xuan Xuan (7Deer Girl Group Leader)
—Hwang Mi-yeon (7Deer Visual)
—Su Yiwu
The Pengpai News headline screamed: "The Hallyu Wave Returns?!"
"Time to teach these Koreans why tigers don't share prey."