Most of the group, like Cai Jia and Zhang Ning, were actors by trade. They had little interest in a Japanese concert, but they were curious to see how Chu Zhi would perform.
Luo Jianhui, an award-winning singer, felt a bit indebted to their leader for the recent support during the show. Watching Chu Zhi live, he thought, might be a chance to offer some real vocal advice and return the favor.
Min Jeongbae originally didn't want to come, but he didn't want to ruin the team's atmosphere either. The "Great Hero Squad" was going out in full force. Well, except for Liu Pei—forgotten as usual, but he didn't have a say anyway.
They entered through the side gate of the Tokyo Dome. Thanks to earlier arrangements from Koguchi Yoshihiro, the production crew faced no obstacles getting in.
"I'll go greet them in the dressing room," Chu Zhi told the assistant director before heading backstage to prepare.
"A concert with fifty thousand people… this must be the biggest scale you can get in Japan," Cai Jia murmured, glancing around. She had seen many concerts, but never from behind the scenes. She noticed a filming crew nearby as well.
"Yahoo Live?" Zhang Ning followed her gaze to the cameras.
She frowned. "Why stream a live concert online? Doesn't that mean people who bought tickets are losing out?"
"People come for the live experience. Otherwise, you could just listen to music on your phone. It's not the same," Cai Jia replied, her tone sharp as always. She still didn't get along with Zhang Ning.
"The audience is mostly Japanese," Luo Jianhui said suddenly. "That might not be in our leader's favor."
They all paused, thinking about it. After spending a couple of weeks with Chu Zhi, they had grown fond of him. Now they were a bit worried.
Only one person looked amused. Guest member Liu Pei leaned back, smirking. Would he get to watch the rising star fall flat? Even if it didn't hurt his status back home, seeing him slip up here would be a treat.
If only the second episode had aired, the team would've seen Chu Zhi performing "Lemon" on the streets. Sure, Yang Xinbo kept saying how talented he was, but words were nothing compared to witnessing it firsthand.
While the team waited for the concert to begin, Chu Zhi had already made it to his dressing room. You really had to admire Japanese—it was basically underdeveloped Chinese. "粧" was just an ancient variant of "妆."
"Long time no see, Chu-san!"
"I'm really grateful you made it to my concert!"
Suzuki Kanon and Koguchi Yoshihiro came up to greet him. Suzuki had once joined the I Am a Singer-Songwriter finale as a guest vocalist, where Chu Zhi's "New Drunken Concubine" had stunned her into becoming a fan.
As they exchanged greetings, Chu Zhi noticed a certain hostility in the way Miyoshi Saburo looked at him. Whatever. He'd never had patience for Japanese or Korean artists anyway.
Miyoshi was both a comedian and a respected singer in Japan, over forty years old, and the only one of Koguchi's close friends who wasn't good-looking. Still, their bond was strong—mentor and friend alike. It was Miyoshi who first brought Koguchi into the music world.
The concert began at 7:30 PM. Not long after, Koguchi changed into his stage outfit and went for makeup.
Chu Zhi returned to his own dressing room. Oddly enough, it was completely empty—not even his assistant was around, which was rare. From his bag, he took out a 720ml bottle of Dassai sake and some vacuum-sealed peanuts, gifted by Che Lun off-camera.
Why peanuts with sake, but not with Wuliangye or Maotai? Not because sake tasted good—quite the opposite. Chu Zhi couldn't stand its taste. He needed the salty, heavy flavor of peanuts to mask it.
"Extending my life, huh…"
Even inside the dressing room, he could hear the crowd's chorus echoing in. Fifty thousand people singing together—the soundproofing needed serious work. He stood up and shut the door properly.
While Chu Zhi seemed uninterested in the concert's progress, the other guests were paying close attention. Anshan Motoma had already made it to Yahoo News' front page, with a huge banner for Koguchi's concert. Over 100,000 people were watching the live stream.
Some people were born to jinx things. Every time Anshan said "don't screw this up," someone inevitably did.
[Guest Performers: Anshan Motoma, Suzuki Kanon, Miyoshi Saburo, Chu Zhi. Focus on that last one—he's Chinese. Koguchi is clearly pro-China.]
[This guy named Chu Zhi, who Koguchi keeps bringing up in shows—has zero talent.]
[I will never support Chinese singers, especially those who only rely on looks.]
[I, Musashi Kojiro, believe listening to Chinese singers is the greatest humiliation. Koguchi is bringing shame to us.]
[Don't we have enough Japanese idols? Why worship Chinese ones? We invented the idol system.]
The comment section was swarming with these remarks. Anshan suspected someone was intentionally stirring the pot.
Maybe he was a little biased. Yahoo News had always been like this. Any news favorable to China got blasted in the comments. Meanwhile, criticism of China was usually met with applause.
Thirty minutes into the show, Koguchi had already sung five songs, ranging from rock ballads to anime theme songs. The crowd was electric—deafening cheers and chorus lines had erupted twice already.
The time was right.
"I've invited a singer I deeply respect from China to join me tonight," Koguchi said to the crowd of fifty thousand.
"Fans of mine may already know his name," he added. "Let's give a warm welcome to Chu Zhi!"
Applause erupted out of habit. The crowd didn't really process it. It wasn't until Chu Zhi walked onto the stage that they realized—oh, a Chinese singer?
"Why a Chinese singer?"
"Well, you can always trust Koguchi's taste in friends—at least when it comes to looks."
"Oh…"
No booing or dramatic backlash, just a complete lack of anticipation. It was like going to a Richie Jen concert and, two-thirds through, he brings out some random new singers from Hong Kong you've never heard of. If it were Joey Yung or G.E.M., sure, that'd be a surprise. But total unknowns? Hard to care.
Chu Zhi had a bit of name recognition in Japan, but that meant nothing on someone else's stage. Still, he had mentally prepared for this.
Fame was something earned.
"I want to thank Koguchi-san for inviting me," Chu Zhi said in Mandarin. Koguchi stayed onstage to translate.
Never underestimate the power of a fanboy. Koguchi had been studying Chinese just to talk with Chu Zhi, and he was doing pretty well.
"I'm bringing a song that's never been heard before," Chu Zhi continued. "It's called 'Butter-Fly,' a Japanese song."
Guitar slung over his shoulder, he had already sent the backing track to the sound booth before going on.
Koguchi was moved. Chu Zhi had written a Japanese song just for him? He stepped aside and gave the stage over.