Xing Dao Ri Bao - Featuring Vic Zhou
Original text typed out by yi-Winnie of Vic BBS

Translated by Amy of Faithful 4ever. You may not post this translation elsewhere.

8 days of insomnia, secretly seeks treatment, Zai Zai suffers from insomnia

"I have had insomnia for 8 days!"

This sentence came out of Zai Zai Vic Zhou’s mouth. It really causes one to be confounded. F4’s Zai Zai always had the nickname "shui bao bao" (sleepy baby). Everyday he can sleep for more than 15 hours. Not eating or not drinking isn’t an issue. But for some reason he’s been suffering from insomnia recently. This is what’s behind an artist’s outlook.

Zai Zai is really the actual version of Hua Ze Lei in "Meteor Garden." The amount of hours he sleeps everyday surpasses 15 hours. The word "insomnia" would never befall on him. Because Zai Zai’s love for sleep, when he first entered the entertainment circle he frequently cracked jokes. There was a time when it was announced that he would shoot an MTV at 7a.m. in the morning. His assistant continuously called him more than 70 times but he didn’t answer. The publicizing staff went to his house one after another to knock on his door. However, there were no signs whatsoever of movement from the sleeping baby inside the house. Not until noon did Zai Zai answer the phone. His assistant asked him if he looked at how many missed calls he has. He said, embarrassed, "More than 80!" To prevent himself from not waking up and affecting his work, Zai Zai can only hand over the key to his house to his assistant so that his assistant can wake him up everyday.

This situation no longer existing, nowadays, filming dramas, singing, filming commercials, publicizing, attending school and more has forcibly occupied his time. Everyday 24 hours isn’t sufficient. Under the circumstances of long-term lack of sleep, Zai Zai has started to experience insomnia. In the beginning, when he couldn’t sleep he would do schoolwork or play video games. However, the situation apparently is becoming more and more severe. In the past year he hasn’t been sleeping well. If it’s not awakening from a dream then it’s not having the opportunity to sleep at all.

Seen going a psychiatrist
Insomnia is something extremely painful for a person who loves sleep. "I haven’t been sleeping well recently. Signs of insomnia aroused weeks before going to Hong Kong to publicize and were continued for 8 days in a row. It’s has nothing to do with where I go for work. Every time I visit Hong Kong for working reasons I regard it the same as a vacation anyways. The pressures in Taiwan are different from Hong Kong’s. When returning to Taiwan, once I step off the plane, pressures would just naturally come. I’m afraid that I would be followed wherever I go. It’s also inconvenient going out to other places. There really are more pressures in Taiwan. Even though pictures are still secretly taken in Hong Kong, but they would only be able to take photos of me at restaurants. However, in Taiwan they are able to take photos of the situations inside my house. I don’t want people invading my privacy. No matter it be reporters or fans. If it’s reporters it’s because of work, as for fans, I really don’t want them to follow me home."

Due to having long-term insomnia problems, Zai Zai went to seek a doctor, who is a relative. This resulted in the Taiwan media indicating that Zai Zai went to see a psychiatrist and that his behavior was queer.

"I won’t mind if the media writes that I went to see a doctor. This is a fact. Because of insomnia I went to see a doctor. It’s only because I haven’t been sleeping well. Many people would be in such circumstances. Before, I slept 12 to 15 hours on a daily basis. The amount of sleep I get doesn’t really matter, what’s important if sleeping well. The previous me did not have problems with how much sleep I got. I would still be energetic the next day. Nowadays, it doesn’t matter how many hours I sleep."

Biggest pressure: Attending school and taking exams
After F4 shot to fame, filming dramas, shooting advertisements, releasing albums, holding concert, etc. work have been nonstop. Crossing states and provinces to publicize, Zai Zai has one more job than the rest of the members. That is to attend school and be his "student artist." Even Zai Zai himself looks upon attending school as a job.

"I consider going to school as one of my jobs. A life of an ordinary student is relatively easygoing. They don’t need to work; they just need to deal with exams and schoolwork. If they are not feeling well and don’t want to attend school, they can take a sick day. In contrast, I can’t do this. Because of work I must take leave most of the time. I days I go to school are Fridays and Saturdays. These are the times when the entertainment circle emasculates. The majority of events are held on Sunday, like autograph sessions, performances and others. It won’t interfere with class periods as much. Every semester I will have to first calculate the amount of days of absence I need to take. The remainder of the days, regardless of my health condition, or how tired I am from work, I still need to attend classes."

Exhaustion is inevitable. The pressures of being a student are even more than that of being an actor and singer!

"For me, studying is even more pressuring than singing or acting because everyone would keep an eye on me to see if I attend classes regularly, what subjects am I disqualified. The media would frequently come to my school and surreptitiously take photos of me. This does not only affect me, but it will also affect other classmates. This makes me more embarrassed."

There is frequent news that Zai Zai doesn’t pass his exams because he doesn’t attend enough classes. These news reports would bring him imperceptible pressure. "My class work performance is good, it’s not as bad as I imagine it to be. At time it would seem tough, but as long as I organize my time well, the conditions can be improved. Such as when I’m filming a drama I can have several days devoted to film a bit, and the remainder of the days I can work on my album, and the rest of the time I have will be for attending school, I wouldn’t have much private time."

Apart from sleeping, Zai Zai’s other hobby is eating. Before, he could eat incessantly, however, some digestive problems have emerged. He has been having signs of losing weight at times and gaining weight at others with frequently unsteadiness in weight. "The situation is actually good, it’s just that I would occasionally have heartburn. I can’t gobble and guzzle like I did previously. Sometimes in order to follow with the schedule, I basically don’t have the time to eat or I’ve been long past hungry already and I don’t feel like eating although I want to. Fortunately I love eating, I never worried about having sitophobia." Every year Zai Zai will go to Taiwan’s Long Shan Temple to pray and make a wish, only wishing for these words, "good health."

Continuing contract with manager
F4’s contract with their manager Angie Cai is coming to an end. Zai Zai is the earliest of the four to resign his contract. Without drawing out any special conditions, he picked up the pen and signed for 3 more years.

"I’m quite stupid; I didn’t talks about any special conditions. The company has been treating me pretty good; there wasn’t anything that made me displeased. It’s not necessary to discuss about special provisions. I prefer people to take the initiative to do these things to make me happy. I don’t like to request others to do things for me. If they tell me to sign then I’ll sign, plus, I still have work behind me to do, it’s more convenient if I sign earlier. If I had to change companies I would have to start over with familiarizing myself with things. This isn’t simple. I’m a person who fears strangers, fears confronting a new environment and fears adapting to new things again."

People that know Zai Zai well will know that he is the typical Gemini, possessing a double character. In front of people that he is familiar with he is a vigorous boy cracking cold jokes that only he would understand. As long as there is one person he does not know, Zai Zai’s "fear of strangers" symptoms will start kicking in, with leaden-eyes standing at the side not speaking.

"You can put it this way, I’m not very talkative and I’m not the initiative type. In an unfamiliar place or in front of a stranger, I won’t be used to it. I usually don’t like to roam the streets because there are too many people. The majority of the time I would invite my friends over to play on the computer or play video games. Sometimes I would drive around by myself, I think it’s rather comfortable."

Zai Zai has never thought that he would be working in the entertainment circle. In those days, he would only screen test with his friends. Angie Cai asked him whether or not he was interested in filming a drama. Zai Zai immediately declined at the scene. Only until later, with Angie’s hard efforts and persuasions, did he accept to act in "Meteor Garden." Zai Zai would never fight for fortune. His only wish is simply to open up a car-repair workhouse with his older brother.

Rumors with Xu Wei Lun are becoming more and more flourishing
Zai Zai extends his marriage age to 28

"I don’t plan on working in the entertainment circle for a long period of time. I hope to work hard to earn money in these few years and then afterwards open up a car-repair workhouse with my brother. I like cars and my brother is an expert at repairing cars. Who knew that my brother’s occupation would have changed in the recent years? Instead of repairing cars he is now selling insurance. I abandoned him. I’ll have to see if I can find another suitable person for this dream. If I can’t, then I’ll make other plans. Maybe I’ll open my own store. It might be a restaurant or something else. I’ll think it over before I doing anything. Otherwise it’ll be very easy to go bankrupt."

Needs to save up
At a young age, Zai Zai understands the importance of "chrematistics." He would never dissipate and blindly seek nameplates.

"To be honest, among peers, I’m somewhat more of a moneymaker. At the age of 23, people are either in the army or still a student. They don’t really have any ability to earn money. The ones that do work for others (might also be referring to part time jobs). In comparison, I make lots and lots of money. However this does not represent that I will earn this much in the future. Therefore it is necessary for me to be chrematistic."

His financer isn’t his mother, but his management company. When the reporter asked him if he gives his earnings to his mother to take care of, Zai Zai laughingly said, "If I gave her the money it would have been long gone, my mother isn’t a miser. My company manages all my earnings. I have my bankbook. All I have to do is take a cash card and the company will deposit some money. If I need to use it then I’ll take it."

So exactly how many zeros are there in the cash card at his company? Zai Zai laughed, but didn’t answer. He only said that he would work hard, to strive for his family’s life in the future.

"I must work hard to earn money. I will marry in the future and then afterwards I’ll have to raise kids. Recently, I’ve been wondering how much money it takes to raise a kid, how much money I would need to spend every year. Whenever I think about this problem, I would get a headache. According to the present cash card, I think that I can only raise my child until he or she is 10 years old. Then I’ll have to give them to someone else to raise."

Marry and have children at 28
Unlike other idols, Zai Zai often mentions marrying.

"I originally wanted to marry at age 21 or 22 before entering the entertainment circle. After entering the entertainment circle I wanted to marry at 25. But because there is too much work, now I delayed it again until 28 years old. This is the bottom of my marriage age, too late won’t be good. But my focus is whether or not I can find the right person. If, when I am 27 years old and there is only 2 months left before I am 28, I will not demand myself to find someone within those 2 months. Of course I need to find a girlfriend that I can communicate well with in order to marry."
Zai Zai’s parents divorced early. He has always desired to have a family filled with happiness and wants to be able to see his grandchildren.

"I want to marry earlier only because I don’t want to hold my grandchild before I’m too old. I wish to be able to hold my grandchild in my stronger years. However, my wedding day is delayed again. In the future I might have to force my child to marry at 20. This way it’ll make up for my late marriage.

For the next generation, Zai Zai quit smoking
"I used to have the habit of smoking. But one time when a female co-worker and I were together, the minute I lit the cigarette in my hand, she immediately walked away. Afterwards she told me that it doesn’t matter if a pregnant woman smokes herself or if she breathes second hand smoke, it will still effect the baby inside her. From that point on, I didn’t smoke again. One less person who smokes will lessen the chance of everyone breathing second hand smoke. This is everyone’s responsibility, we should think for the next generation."

Until now, Zai Zai has only had dated 5 times. From when he entered showbiz until now, he rarely provoked rumors. There have only been rumors about him going out with his assistant. However, recently there have been some rumors about him dating Taiwan actress Xu Wei Lun. Every time the media asks about their relationship, Zai Zai’s reply would always rouse suspicion. He would praise her and wouldn’t dare reject the possibility of development.

"I’ve never paid attention to rumors. Whether it’s true or not everyone will know. There’s not need to say this and say that. I don’t want to say, ‘I will absolutely not be with her!’ and furthermore I will not put my work first and abandon my love life. As long as I meet someone I like, I will not pay attention to other’s opinions. If I want to be with her then I’ll be with her. I am persistent when it comes to love."

Loves driving fast because it’s relieving
Zai Zai is not a brand name lover. He usually spends his money on his "dream car." In the past year Zai Zai took 30% of his hard-earned money from his company’s bank to buy his first second-hand BMW racecar.

"Driving is my hobby, speed limit ok lah! I usually drive to school. I wouldn’t be especially fast on the highway. My speed limit is average, not as fast as others say. Driving fast can really be relieving. Any type of exceptional behavior can decompress your pressures but if you are going to drive fast you should drive a truck, it’s safer this way. I’ve practiced driving a truck with my friends and brother."

Even though he says that he doesn’t drive fast, Zai Zai, who only owns a BMW racecar currently, he had once thought of buying a car with even more horsepower. However his management company prevented him from buying a new car for safety reasons. In the end Zai Zai only changed the color of his BMW from black to blue.

Chinese Name: Zhou Yu(2) Min
Real Name: Zhou Yu(4) Min
Nickname: Zai Zai
English Name: Vic
Birth Date: June 9, 1981
Astrological Sign: Gemini
Height: 180cm
Weight: 66kg
Measurements: 37, 29, 36
Blood Type: O+
Language: Mandarin
Interests: Playing video games, sleeping, sports, driving
Sports: Jogging
Collection: Photographs, decorative items
Food: Fried chicken
Color: Black, gray, blue, pink, orange and dark colors
Most Satisfied Part: Thick eyebrows and eyes
Favorite Movie: Jurassic Park
Idol: Andy Lau
Favorite Instrument: Guitar (only likes it, can’t play, but he’s learning)
Favorite Country: Taiwan
Favorite Animal: Dog
Preferred Style of Clothing: Casual and comfortable
Favorite Beverage: Pomegranate Green Tea
Wants to go to: Canada
Desired Lifestyle: Isolated from the world
Most Unforgettable Incident: Death of his grandfather (mom's side)
Hated: Being forced to do something he does not want to do
Favorite Genre of Music: Electronic Music (Techno)

Fame came too quick: F4 provoke criticism
After F4 has gone their separate ways to develop in the last year, the four’s performance has been questioned. Their movies were criticized saying that they didn’t do well at the box office and their albums are also not selling well. Zai Zai, obligingly accepting criticism, said, "Maybe we shot to fame too quickly. Everyone’s focus is on the four of us. F4 really is just 4 people. You can’t say that our movies or albums will definitely sell well. From the beginning we have been frequently criticized. We are already used to this. The economy was doing well 2 years ago so our albums were able to sell about 100,000. Under a bad economy, albums only sold several ten thousands. The performance is already not bad, the most important thing in life is to be contented."

During his time with F4 he would only stand at the side and smile foolishly. The speaking was usually left for Ken or Vanness. But now having already released 2 solo albums and filming several dramas, he began to gradually mature, "I really cherish the days when F4 worked together. When the 4 of us are together, happy or unhappy it would be divided between the 4 of us. And there would be fewer pressures. But there is no way we can be together every single day. The 4 of us are forevermore 4 different people and we strive for different goals. Occasionally working together is already very joyful."

It is frequently said that F4 don’t get along. The four have their own sets of companionable ways. Between brothers, the companionability rest in trials and tribulations assistance, through thick and through thin. Just like Zai Zai who went to Hong Kong to publicize. When the reporters asked him about Vanness’ "Star Runner" suffering defeat in Taiwan’s box office, Zai Zai strongly supported his good friend saying that he was very good. When he watched it he was very touched. He also sighed saying that his stature wasn’t as good as Vanness’ so he doesn’t dare to be exposed in a film like Vanness. However, when reporters asked about the guitar he received as a present at his album sales celebration and whether or not he would ask Ken to teach him since Ken can play the guitar pretty well, Zai Zai joked, "I can find someone better to learn from, his skills are average." He laughed immediately afterwards.