National Tide 1980.

Chapter 812 The Queen of Electronic Music
Just this sound, don't say that Liu Xiaoqin was taken aback.

Ning Weimin was also taken aback.

Because first of all, this place is different.

This is currently the most advanced western restaurant in Beijing.

With Pilkardon's business strategy of not lowering prices, the per capita consumption of Maxim's restaurant is as high as [-] yuan, which is higher than that of five-star hotels.

The quality of the waiters here must also be high.

Most of them have been trained at the main store in Paris, France, and they have to pass the foreign language and service.

Not to disturb the guests is the minimum requirement.

As for the customers who come here to eat, 60.00% are foreigners.

The remaining 20.00% are Hong Kong businessmen and overseas Chinese who come to Beijing.

The remaining 20.00% are domestic customers.

There are both locals in the capital and those who come here on business trips.

The only thing in common-basically all consumption of public funds.

In other words, these domestic customers are of a high level, well-dressed like foreigners, overseas Chinese, and Hong Kong customers, and there are absolutely no individual nouveau riche.

Many celebrities from the literary and entertainment circles also came, but most of them were invited by Song Huagui to expand his social influence.

Take Liu Xiaoqin as an example, because of her friendship with Song Huagui and Ning Weimin, she can eat and drink for nothing.

If you spend your own money, not to mention relying on her 50 yuan salary, it is absolutely useless, even the hard-earned money she earned by walking acupuncture points is not willing to part with it.

Therefore, for actors and singers, Maxim's Restaurant is a rare and clean place where you can relax.

No matter how famous and popular a person is, staying here will not be disturbed by admirers asking for autographs.

Then today's trouble, can it not be a big surprise?

Especially when it happened at the door of the toilet.

At this moment, Ning Weimin and Liu Xiaoqin are having the most important private conversation.

This is even more embarrassing and awkward.

Ning Weimin and Liu Xiaoqin looked over together, and the one who called out was a little girl with dark skin.

Regardless of his small stature, his age is only a middle school student of sixteen or seventeen.

But he was wearing a small roll of cold perm on his head, and he was wearing a strange outfit - a white bat shirt and thin narrow-leg pants.

Considering that today is Thursday, it is class time again.

Naturally, one can know that this girl is definitely not a good student, why don't she play truant?
Like Ning Weimin, it's okay, although I think this little girl is quite reckless, but she has a good demeanor, she didn't show any displeasure, and she didn't care about it.

But Liu Xiaoqin is a carefree aunt with a temper.

Especially when he became famous early, it is natural for him to play big names.

Coupled with the 5 yuan being made by Ning Weimin, the mood is fluctuating violently.

When she saw such a little yellow-haired girl calling herself, how could she be interested in perfunctory?

He frowned subconsciously, and waved his hand indifferently at the little girl.

"We're talking about something important..."

This was good, the great disgust Liu Xiaoqin showed immediately made the little girl who was full of anticipation and her smile gradually turned introverted.

The excitement that filled my heart was directly extinguished by a head of cold water, and I was at a loss when I stood there.

However, this is not over yet, the restaurant manager also heard the sound at this time.

On the one hand, there was a series of rebukes to the little girl like fists and kicks.

"What's going on? Didn't I tell you to sit there and wait? Why did you come here by yourself? Disturbing our guests, how can this be done!"

On the one hand, he nodded and apologized to Liu Xiaoqin and Ning Weimin in fear and sincerity.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Liu, I'm sorry, Mr. Ning, it's my negligence."

Then he became more and more stern and began to push the little girl away.

"Go, go, get out of here."

In addition, Liu Xiaoqin threw another innocuous but extremely insulting look at her.

This ruined the little girl's self-esteem even more.

In an instant, she blushed, bit her lip, and there were crystals in her eyes, as if she was about to cry from sadness.

But at this moment, Ning Weimin intervened.

"Hey, Manager Lu, don't scare her. What's going on? You should explain it to me first..."

Ning Weimin's understanding of the service industry is definitely beyond this era.

In his mind, the more high-level and high-style business place, the less he can't bully customers, and he should always treat people politely.

This is not simply to regard customers as God, but the duty of the service industry.

It represents a kind of self-cultivation, demeanor, style and business ethics.

As the old saying goes, a door-to-door is not only a customer, but also the person who serves the store.

This is what a century-old store should look like for a big business owner.

Even if this little girl is not a customer who spends money, it would take a bad time to sign an autograph, and it would also require a restaurant.

But the restaurant manager shouldn't treat a half-old child so roughly, it's deceiving.

If the little girl was allowed to leave with grievances and sadness, it would obviously be detrimental to the reputation and public image of Maxim's Restaurant, and he couldn't ignore it.

It's just that until now, the restaurant manager still feels that it doesn't matter.

Obviously, I think that maintaining valued customers is the right move to benefit the restaurant.

"Mr. Ning, this child wants to come to our restaurant to sing. I said she is too young and should study hard. But she is begging for nothing and pesters me to try. Didn't you just keep talking with Mr. Song? I'm afraid to disturb you guys, so I can only let her sit down and wait for a while. I didn't expect her to be so disobedient and cause trouble. I don't think I will try it, just let her go."

In fact, the manager can't be blamed entirely, because people these days just look at people's dishes like this.

The state-run units only recognize relationships, and they show their fierceness to customers who spend money, and they don't even do superficial efforts for obvious disadvantaged groups.

In this social environment, bullying shopkeepers has gained a certain degree of rationality, and even vulnerable groups have this awareness.

Just like this little girl, when she heard these few words, her face turned pale, and she actually took the initiative to admit her mistake.

"I was wrong, I was wrong. Please, don't drive me away... Manager, manager, can't I stop causing trouble? Just forgive me once and let me try. I can really sing... ..."

Seeing that the child was about to cry, and he had to take care of the restaurant manager's face, Ning Weimin couldn't blame him face to face, so he could only comfort him first.

"Don't worry, don't worry, it doesn't matter what he says about this matter, it's what I say."

The little girl opened her eyes wide.

Turning her head to look at Manager Chen's embarrassed look, she obviously felt even more embarrassed and didn't know how to react for a while.

Ning Weimin smiled to show that he was okay.

"How old are you? I think you still go to school?"

This is what he focuses on. Child labor cannot be employed.

"I'm eighteen, and I'm graduating from high school soon."

Fortunately, did not step in the minefield.

Ning Weimin asked again.

"Then why don't you go on to college?"

"Well, I don't study well, and I can't pass the exam."

"Just want to sing? Does your family agree?"

"Well, I just want to sing. My mother supports me. I have two tape recorders, both of which my mother bought for me."

"Do you really want to sing here? We have high requirements here. We have to sing real pop songs here. We must also be able to sing in English. Just a few days ago, do you know the performance of the Wham and Mighty Band in Beijing? That's what we need of……"

"I know, I went to see it. It cost 25 yuan, and I bought the ticket at the door. I like their song "Wuxin Whispers" the most..."

"Hey, you're quite willing to spend your money. Are you willing to buy the five yuan ticket when it's so high?"

"Then... I can't help it. Who likes it? I can't buy it in line. In fact, I have long wanted to see them with my own eyes. In the past, when I heard their songs on the short wave of the radio station, I would record them. But expensive It’s worth it, the sound and lighting, the live drum kit, and the electric bass, the effect is gone!”

Ning Weimin chatted like he would treat his neighbor's sister.

This sense of intimacy gradually restored the little girl's emotions, and she talked more and more.

"Then what do you think of your level? Can you sing such a song?"

"Yes, don't underestimate me. I have actually been on stage. I participated in a singer competition in the HD area last year and performed at SMX. I sing English songs, but because of this, young people like it. The older ones don’t like it. And then...then they won’t let me sing. They say my songs can only be placed in music cafes in Guangdong. That’s why I came here. If you don’t let me sing, I really have to I took the train to Huacheng... Hey, you must have watched the performance of the Whammy Band, right? There was also a special guest that day, a girl who sang with a guitar, what is her name...Cheng Fangyuan. Don't lie, I sang well better than her..."

Seeing that the little girl had regained her confidence, Ning Weimin finally felt relieved.

But believe it or not, just say it.

"Yo, the tone is not small. Well, anyway, you are here today, so I will give you a chance to audition on stage. But I still have something to do, please wait patiently for a while and prepare well. I will wait a while I will come to you."

Then he told the restaurant manager, "You, get the little girl a glass of orange juice."

"Hey!" The girl was so happy now, she walked a few steps before remembering to thank her.

Half stopped again, and turned around.

"Thank you, thank you very much. What is your surname? Is it the real leader here?"

"My surname is Ning, if you say yes, let it be..."

Seeing her happy face, Ning Weimin felt more and more happy.

Then I remembered something, and I haven't asked the other party's name yet.

"Hey girl, what's your name?"

In the end, it was okay not to ask, but this question made Ning Weimin stupid.

Because the little girl happily said, "My name is Zhang Qiang."

Zhang... Zhang Qiang!
This name was like a drumstick, it hit Ning Weimin's heart hard, and immediately reminded him of a legend in the mainland music scene.

In the mid-80s, the "Disco Queen" and "Electronic Music Queen" became popular all over the country with their cover songs.

debut, the first album sold a huge 250 million sales.

Afterwards, things got out of hand, and in just two years, [-] albums were released, each with a sales volume of more than one million.

In the end, because the total album sales exceeded 2000 million, she became the first mainland female singer to be reported by the US "Time Magazine".

She and Whitney Houston and other European and American singers topped the list of "World's Most Popular Female Singers", ranking third.

And Teresa Teng, who became popular in mainland China earlier than her, only ranked fourth.

But at the same time, Zhang Qiang was also tolerated by the mainstream culture and tacitly resisted by all the media because his dress was too avant-garde and exceeded the bottom line of contemporary aesthetics.

Although from 1985 to 1987, her singing could be heard in large, medium and small cities across the country.

Even her masterpieces "Love You Hard to Say", "The Little Girl Under the Street Lamp", "Moonlight Disco", "A Fire in Winter", "Annoying Autumn Wind", "Walk Through the Coffee House", "Cool "Ah Cool"... every song exploded and was widely sung.

But she never had the chance to appear on TV, there was no song about her on the radio, no news about her was found in newspapers and magazines, and she never accepted an invitation to any official party.

She has become a very special popular singer in China. She obviously exists, but is ignored by all the domestic media as if she does not exist.

It was not until 2000, when Zhang Qiang was invited by the column team of "The Same Song", that Zhang Qiang stepped onto the TV screen for the first time.

As a result, it was this performance that surprised Ning Weimin in his previous life with his unique voice.

He really didn't expect that there are people in China who can bring their own electronic sounds like black female singers.

Immediately fell in love with the song "Love You Is Hard to Say" performed by Zhang Qiang, and it has been regarded as a classic ever since.

It was also this appearance on TV that made Zhang Qiang finally receive that late recognition after 15 years.

After the show was broadcast, all the media no longer treated Zhang Qiang coldly. Many TV stations asked Zhang Qiang to do their programs, and they all praised Zhang Qiang.

What are "80s music queen", "early representative of domestic pop music", "disco queen" and so on.

Zhang Qiang's position in the history of domestic pop music has been redefined, and the official finally recognized her contribution to the domestic pop music scene.

"Then what...you wait first."

The more Ning Weimin looked at it, the more he felt that the eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar, and he thought it couldn't be such a coincidence.

It was my luck that I ran into this person.

So he didn't even bother to continue the conversation with Liu Xiaoqin, and chased after her to ask her, suppressing his excitement and excitement.

"Hey, can you sing "Love You Is Hard to Say"?"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Qiang's answer was extremely disappointing.

"Ah? What song? I...I haven't heard this song..."

"What? You haven't heard?"

Ning Weimin was stunned, and said to himself, if you are really the Zhang Qiang I want, why haven't I heard of it.

But he thought again, this is normal.

It is not easy for overseas music to enter the mainland these days, otherwise there would be no conditions for Zhang Qiang to become popular through cover singing.

Perhaps she heard the song only afterward.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter if you don't. I can sing, just follow me and learn a few lines."

Ning Weimin comforted him, and made another request.

Zhang Qiang blinked his big eyes, a little shy and confused.

"Then... then... I'll try..."

"Okay, listen, just a few lines, just try to imitate and sing."

"Hey."

"Oh-oh-yeah, it's hard to say I love you, I don't know what to say, oh, it's hard to say I love you..."

Ning Weimin sang very rough, so he was basically out of tune. It was really not a sense of music, and it was not pleasant to the ear.

But with his psychological quality, he didn't feel the slightest blush, and encouraged Zhang Qiang just like his mentor.

"Do you understand? Sing out loud with your voice when you understand. You can sing whatever you want. Don't be afraid of running away, and don't be afraid of being split. I'll just listen to your voice..."

With such encouragement, Zhang Qiang didn't care about being shy anymore, took a deep breath, brewed for a while, and then started to let out his voice.

"Oh—oh—yeah, I love you so much..."

Don't look at just this sentence, Ning Weimin's adrenaline surged immediately, as if he had been electrified.

He is 100% sure!
That's right!

It's her!
Really picked up a treasure...

As a result, there was a wave in the waves, and when he was happy, he couldn't control his excitement, Ning Weimin slapped hard.

A guy like "Paji" frightened other people's children.

Well, the words that are obviously very simple are all sung wrong.

"I... I don't know, I don't know... what to sing, oh, I love you so hard..."

After Zhang Qiang sang, he thought he had screwed up.

Hmm... She has a sad face again.

(End of this chapter)