1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After "Secret Fragrance Floating" ended, Zhou Yan took Wang Ciheng and others to the finale.

Originally, Wang Ciheng was just following Zhou Yan, but when it was time to leave, Zhou Yan gently pushed him forward, letting him stand at the front.

Wang Ciheng turned his head to look at Zhou Yan in surprise, but Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Brother, these applauses are for you, enjoy it."

At this moment, thousands of thoughts suddenly flooded into Wang Ciheng's mind.

In the past, he only regarded Zhou Yan as an accomplished junior disciple who was humble and polite, but this time, he truly felt Zhou Yan's broad mind and courage.

He finally understood why the juniors and juniors in the orchestra were so impressed by Zhou Yan.

A leader who is infinitely talented and willing to share his glory with those around him is naturally worth following. Not to mention that the junior brothers and sisters obeyed Zhou Yan, he, the senior brother, now also obeys Zhou Yan.

Although Zhou Yan asked Wang Ciheng to stand at the front, Wang Ciheng still stepped back, stood side by side with Zhou Yan, and bowed to the audience.

Respect is mutual, Zhou Yan gives him face, but he cannot be arrogant.

After they went down, the audience's encore continued.

This time Zhou Yan stayed in the audience for a little longer, about two or three minutes, until Wei Yuru came over with Pipa in her arms.

It has to be said that Wei Yuru's external skills are very well practiced. When she walked over with the pipa in her arms, her every move and smile was very organized.

People who learn traditional musical instruments, especially female musicians who learn instruments such as guzheng and pipa, basically pay attention to learning etiquette.

Wei Yuru has good physical conditions and good external skills, so she looks really dazzling.

When Wei Yuru came to her side, Zhou Yan made a gesture of invitation, "Teacher Wei, please."

Wei Yuru was not polite, nodded slightly, and then walked to the front holding Pipa.

Seeing Wei Yuru wearing a Chinese-style wide-sleeved long skirt on stage, many viewers were wide-eyed because they were very interested in this kind of national tradition.

Not only did the American audience find it good-looking, but the Asians present also naturally found it good-looking.

When many Chinese Americans saw Wei Yuru appear on the stage, the first sentence that popped into their minds was "I'm still holding my pipa, half-hiding my face."

In this regard, Chinese people are indeed different from foreigners. When Chinese people see something, they can easily think of some allusions.

The simplest, when describing a beautiful woman, the most commonly used words are "Sinking fish and falling wild goose", "Close the moon and shy the flower". In eight words, there are four allusions.

When you see the guqin, you will think of Boya Ziqi, high mountains and flowing water. When you see the beautiful woman holding the guitar, you will think of Bai Juyi's pipa line.

That’s not to say that foreigners don’t use dian, but not as many as Chinese.

Before the performance, Zhou Yan introduced Wei Yuru as usual.

After he finished the introduction, applause started. It could be heard that the applause to welcome Wei Yuru was louder than the applause to welcome Wang Ciheng just now.

Sure enough, humans are all visual animals, and the audience at the scene is no exception. Beautiful women can attract their attention.

After the introduction, Wei Yuru sat down next to him, while Zhou Yan mixed into the crowd with a bamboo flute.

Following the gesture of conductor Yue Lin, the sound of pipa sounded.

Hardison, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly got goosebumps all over his body.

The song "Missing Through Time and Space" is not at the same level as "Secret Fragrance Floating" in terms of technical performance.

This is a very simple piece of music. Even though Zhou Yan made some changes for Wei Yuru's performance, it is still not particularly complicated.

But simple music has simple advantages, that is, it is highly audible and can be easily resonated by ordinary audiences. Moreover, the timbre of the pipa is very contagious and can quickly catch the ears of the audience.

Pipa's special timbre, special performance techniques, combined with Wei Yuru's dress and every move, formed a very attractive audio-visual system.

So Hardison will get goosebumps, not only because of the music, but also because of the previous visual foreshadowing.

Many viewers at the scene felt the same as Hardison. This kind of performance was originally novel and special to them, and the excitement would become even stronger.

The piece "Missing Through Time and Space" is very suitable for the pipa. Coupled with the cooperation of other instruments, the characteristics of the pipa are even more highlighted.

I have to say that Wei Yuru's performance level is indeed very high.

Although the music is very simple, simple things still feel different when played by an expert.

Yu Jia and the others had played this piece on the pipa before, and their performance was already very good, but compared with Wei Yuru's performance, it paled in comparison.

In handling some details, Wei Yuru is obviously much more skillful.

Although Jessica didn't get goosebumps, her eyes were bright. The two encores tonight made her very interested in bamboo flute and pipa.

Jessica has heard these two instruments before, but she has never experienced them up close. The technique of ring fingering is really delicious when displayed on the pipa.

Although Jessica has not seen other pipa players perform and does not know what the level of the player on stage is in the industry, she can feel that the level of this player is definitely very high.

Techniques aside, she overall feels great.

Regardless of the instrument, whether the body movements are good-looking when playing is actually a measure of the level of performance. Except for a small number of special circumstances, the body movements of most high-level performers are good-looking.

Looking good is not just a result of special training, but also the feeling of relaxation that occurs immediately after reaching the level.

Zhou Yan's concert, if nothing else, was at least full of visual experience.

Linda, who was sitting in the back row, was also very excited. She knew that these two returning shows would definitely attract the attention of the audience.

It was a pity that photography was not allowed on site, otherwise she would have really wanted to take some photos of the performers on the stage. It was really beautiful.

In the past two days, Linda has been writing a special report related to Zhou Yan. After attending the premiere of "Sense and Sensibility" yesterday, she has actually written part of it. The focus of the report is on the movie "Sense and Sensibility" The music inside has the possibility of being made into a song with lyrics.

But now she feels that this concert can also be written more about.

She is now considering whether to put the concert content together with the previous content, or to make two issues and develop them separately.

If there was a chance, she would also like to schedule an exclusive interview with Zhou Yan, preferably with the two performers who would come on stage later.

After the performance of "Thoughts Across Time and Space" was completed, the audience was silent for several seconds, and the applause never sounded.

The audience stared at Wei Yuru on the stage. It was not until Wei Yuru stopped her momentum and nodded slightly to the audience that the applause finally started.

Even though Wei Yuru had a lot of experience in performing, she was a little uneasy when she heard that the applause had not started yet. It was not until the warm applause started that she breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Yan walked out of the team with a smile and took Wei Yuru with him to bow down and greet the audience.

The applause this time was really warm. After it started, it never stopped. Many audience members even stood up.

Later, they introduced Zhou Yan as an encore, and some viewers were even a little disappointed not to see Wei Yuru return.

Although Zhou Yan was good, they also wanted to see the beautiful woman's performance just now.

If Zhou Yan knew what these audiences were thinking, he would not be disappointed at all. Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru could be welcomed by the audience in Los Angeles, which is exactly what he wants to achieve.

Later, Zhou Yan led the orchestra to perform "The Glimmer of Morning" from "Awakening" and "Spring of the Cowherd Class".

After four encores, the atmosphere was still very good, the encore was particularly loud, and Zhou Yan also returned again.

But after taking the stage this time, Zhou Yan took the microphone and chatted a little more with the audience.

"At the end of the performance, in addition to thanking everyone again for coming, I also want to thank several special audiences. First of all, I want to thank several members of the Backstreet Boys."

When Zhou Yan mentioned the Backstreet Boys, there was a burst of cheers. The group is now emerging and has gained a lot of fans, mostly young people. And from the cheers just now, you can tell that their fans , mostly girls.

Originally, the main audience for groups like the Backstreet Boys were teenagers, especially teenage girls.

After Zhou Yan mentioned it, several members of the Backstreet Boys also turned around and waved hello to the audience.

"I know you are very popular recently. You are touring all over the country. It is not easy to find time to come. I hope your development will get better and better. There will be audiences who like the Backstreet Boys and can support them more."

After talking about Backstreet Boys, Zhou Yan looked in the direction of Mariah Carey again, "Next, the person I want to thank is Miss Kelly."

Hearing Kelly's name, the crowd cheered again. This time the noise was obviously much louder than before. Mariah Carey is still very popular in the United States.

Especially after the release of her latest album, she has definitely become the most popular singer in the United States in the past two months.

"Ms. Kelly and I just met in Toronto yesterday. I didn't expect that Miss Kelly would be able to come back today, and I'm very grateful for that. The song I'm going to play next is also related to Miss Kelly."

Hearing this, the audience cheered again, and Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Yes, as you guessed, next, we will bring you "Young and Beautiful"."

"Before, when we played other songs, we hoped that everyone could stay quiet as much as possible and enjoy the music. But this time I hope it will be different. You don't need to keep quiet anymore. If you can sing "young and beautiful" You can sing along with the music without any worries.”

After saying that, Zhou Yan took the violin and entered the team.

Soon, the music started.

After the prelude ended, the place was still quiet, but slowly people began to sing along.

“done it all, had my cake now
......"

After someone took the lead, others became bolder and slowly sang along, getting louder and louder.

However, many people don't seem to be very familiar with the lyrics, so they don't sing particularly neatly.

Just when she was singing "the crazy days", Mariah Carey's voice suddenly rang, and she didn't know when she got a microphone.

After Mariah Carey took the lead, the rhythm began to become more regular and the sound became louder and louder.

There were more than 2,000 people present today, and they were accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The overall effect was much better than yesterday's performance in Toronto.

With more than two thousand people singing together, it really felt like a concert.

Linda was speechless as she sang along. She had no idea that today's concert would eventually turn into a concert. The ticket price was so worth it.

Don't think about it, there will definitely be a lot of news related to this concert tomorrow.

Mariah Carey also sang very happily because the conditions of the concert hall were good and there was a piano boy band to accompany her. This was simply her dream singing stage.

When the performance on stage ended, the audience stood up and applauded. Now they regarded this place as a concert venue, and they no longer had any scruples about applauding and cheering.

But this time, after Zhou Yan bowed out, he never returned, and everyone in the orchestra also began to leave.

The audience did not give up and continued the encore, but after seven or eight minutes they did not see Zhou Yan coming back, so they stopped in disappointment.

Although the performance lasted for more than three hours, most of the audience was still unsatisfied. Especially the atmosphere of the last few performances in the encore was so good that many audiences were whetted.

Many Mariah Carey fans were so excited that they even thought they were at a Mariah Carey concert.

For them, this is bound to be an unforgettable night.

……

After Zhou Yan returned to the backstage and rested for a while, several members of the Backstreet Boys came over to say hello to Zhou Yan.

Not long after they left, Mariah Carey also came. Seeing Mariah Carey, Zhou Yan smiled and asked, "Where did you get the microphone just now?"

"I asked Zhang to get it for me. I'm really sorry. I made my own decision without asking you in advance."

Zhou Yan smiled, shook his head and said, "No need to apologize. This session was originally for singing, and after you joined, the atmosphere was indeed better. I was just worried whether you would charge me a performance fee."

"If you feel..."

Just as Mariah Carey finished speaking, Zhang Youan came in from the outside, "Zhou Yan——"

When he saw that Mariah Carey was there, he smiled and said, "Maria, you are here too."

"Well, I'll come and have a chat with Y."

Zhou Yan asked, "What do you want from me?"

Zhang Youan glanced at Mariah Carey, and then said, "There is a reporter outside who calls himself "Billboard" and wants to interview you. Look..."

Zhou Yan rubbed his temples, "It's too late today. If I want to make an interview, I would still..."

He doesn't really like to be interviewed, let alone at this time.

"In addition to you, she also wants to interview Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes.

It has to be said that Zhang Youan really understands Zhou Yan, and he knows that Zhou Yan has no way to refuse such a request.

When a reporter interviews Zhou Yan, he can ignore it, but if he wants to interview Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru, he will take it seriously.

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "Then let's give him ten minutes...forget it, give her twenty minutes."

"Okay, then I'll go find her."

After Zhang Youan went out, Mariah Carey said, "Since there are reporters who want to interview, I'll leave first."

"Okay, I won't send you off." Zhou Yan nodded without leaving her.

Zhou Yan estimated that Mariah Carey didn't want to meet a reporter right now, and the reporter would definitely pester her when he saw her.

"Well, we'll contact you when we have time."

In fact, Mariah Carey still had something to say to Zhou Yan, but was interrupted by Zhang Youan. It was not the right time to talk now, so she could only go back first and contact Zhou Yan later.

What she wanted to say was very simple. After watching "Sense and Sensibility" yesterday, she was very interested in one of the songs and wanted to ask Zhou Yan if he could write lyrics for her and make a song.

Although the new album has just been released, she is already thinking about new works.

When Linda came in, she bumped into Mariah Carey.

She looked back at Mariah Carey's back and felt quite emotional. Zhou Yan and Maria seemed to have a good relationship.

In fact, it is understandable. After all, Zhou Yan has a lot to do with Maria's new album being so popular this time.

After following Zhang Youan to Zhou Yan, Linda smiled and said, "Mr. Y, we meet again."

It had only been a day, but of course Zhou Yan still remembered Linda. He smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to come back from Toronto so soon."

"We fly back and forth every day and are used to it."

Zhou Yan nodded, and then shouted to Wei Yuru and Wang Ciheng, "Brother, Teacher Wei, come here."

Hearing Zhou Yan calling him, the two of them came over curiously.

When they arrived, Zhou Yan introduced with a smile, "This is Linda, a reporter from Billboard. She wants to conduct a simple interview with the three of us."

"Hello, reporter Linda."

"Hello."

Wang Ciheng's English is not bad. Although his spoken English is not very smooth, there is no big problem in communication. Wei Yuru's English is not very good, so Zhou Yan temporarily acts as a translator.

Linda was very serious about getting this interview opportunity. She took out her small book and said, "Let's get started. First of all, I want to congratulate you three. Today's performance is very exciting. Then I want to ask Mr. Y a question first. Besides "Young and Beautiful" and "Yellow", will you have any other songs to be released in the United States?"

Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Linda: "I watched "Sense and Sensibility" yesterday, and some of the soundtracks in it are actually quite suitable to be turned into songs. Do you have any plans in this regard? If so, are there any singers you would like to collaborate with?"

Zhou Yan: "I have no plans for this at the moment. I am relatively passive. Usually others come to me."

Linda: "It seems that you are waiting for someone who can appreciate your music. In fact, I have learned that Mr. Y is also very good at bamboo flute. I would like to ask, who is better between you and Mr. Wang? a little?"

Zhou Yan: "Of course Mr. Wang is more powerful. Mr. Wang went to the same school as me and graduated a few years earlier than me. He majored in bamboo flute. Among young performers, he is definitely the most powerful."

Wang Ciheng, "He is humble. I just play the bamboo flute every day. Unlike him, who has to take care of composing and other instruments at the same time, I am a little more skilled than him."

Linda: "This is the first time I heard the piece played by Mr. Wang today. Mr. Y said you composed it when you were in school. Can you tell us about your creative background and ideas?"

Zhou Yan: "The inspiration for this piece actually comes from the traditional Chinese painting "Walking in the Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms"."

"This painting must be famous, right?"

"It's not just a painting, many people have painted it. I also saw many paintings of Walking in the snow in search of plum blossoms, and then I got the creative inspiration. Walking in the snow in search of plum blossoms, it looks like painting plum blossoms, but in fact it is a painting of plum blossoms in the snow. It’s about mountains and snow, and the theme of this song is somewhat similar.”

Linda didn't know much about Chinese ink painting, so she didn't dwell on this topic. She looked at Wei Yuru again: "Ms. Wei, your performance tonight was very exciting. In addition to your performance, I also noticed that your dress was very exciting." It’s beautiful. Your clothes and the hairpin on your head are also very beautiful.”

Wei Yuru: "My dress was designed by a specialized designer based on traditional Chinese clothing. As for my hairpin, it is actually a very simple green sandalwood."

Linda: "Is it wood? I thought it was jade."

Wei Yuru: "Because it is polished smoother, it feels like jade."

……

The interview lasted for twenty minutes. Due to Zhou Yan's guidance, the focus of the interview was also on Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

Linda was also very satisfied because she was already interested in Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

When the interview was over, Linda smiled and said, "The report will be out soon, you can pay attention to it."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If it can come out within a week, then we can still see it."

"It should be no problem. Thank you three, then I won't waste your time."

After Linda left, Zhou Yan looked at his watch. It was already past eleven o'clock. He originally thought that if he didn't have an extra performance outside the concert hall tonight, he could go back early, but he didn't expect it to be so late.

The rest of the band has already gone back early. After all, the performance will continue tomorrow, and they must go back early to rest and adjust their condition.

Three consecutive performances is still a test for them. After all, one performance lasts for more than three hours, and most people don't get a break.

……

The next day, news about the concert came out, and the focus of most reports was that Mariah Carey appeared to sing at the end, followed by Wei Yuru.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Youan found Zhou Yan and told Zhou Yan very excitedly, "Nearly three thousand tickets for today's show have been sold."

Zhou Yan was surprised when he heard this data. This actually exceeded the first one. There is still some time before the performance, and maybe it will eventually exceed 3,000.

“Could it be that the news reports played a role?”

Zhang Youan shook his head, "Probably not, because the news report has just come out, but the concert hall told me that a bunch of people suddenly came to buy tickets this morning. I suspect that many of these ticket buyers are repeat customers."

“Repeat customer…”

Zhou Yan understood what Zhang Youan meant. Yesterday, there were more than 2,000 and several hundred people present. It is estimated that many people felt that the concert was effective after listening to the first performance, so they came back to purchase it again.

There is also a possibility that these audiences felt very good after hearing it, so they went back to do tap water and attended the concert with their friends.

No matter what the reason is, Zhou Yan will definitely be happy if he can sell more tickets.

He also quickly shared the good news with the rest of the band, and everyone was very excited and motivated after hearing it.

For performers, the most intuitive manifestation of the audience's approval is the sale of tickets.

No matter how much else you say, it is useless. The only way is to actually sell the tickets.

Finally, Zhou Yan gave them another dose of chicken blood, "Everyone, stay tuned tonight and try to sell out all the tickets tomorrow night."

But what Zhou Yan didn't expect was that there was no need to wait for tomorrow's show. At around six o'clock, all the tickets for today's show were sold out immediately.

A total of more than 3,100 tickets were released, and not a single one was left.

Because there were more people, the atmosphere of the concert that day was better. Especially when Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru came out at the end, it was obvious that the applause was particularly loud.

This also verified Zhou Yan's guess. Many of the people present today had been here yesterday or had heard recommendations from others, so they knew about Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

Especially when Wei Yuru appeared on the stage, the applause was louder than when Zhou Yan appeared on the stage. Zhou Yan even felt that he was falling out of favor.

Of course, Zhou Yan would not be troubled by this at all. The current situation just proved that his previous approach was right. Wei Yuru and the others were indeed able to conquer these foreign audiences.

In fact, Zhou Yan feels that Europe and America may not be close. If he brings Wei Yuru to Neon, he will definitely be more popular.

Zhou Yan had thought about forming a girl band before, and this time might be a good opportunity. After the concert in Los Angeles, he would have to figure out how to do this.

It would be best to let Wei Yuru take the lead and select some female performers with good temperament and high professional level.

If it is done, this girl band can be allowed to tour abroad.

……

The tickets for the third day were sold out that morning. This time it was not due to repeat customers, but because of news reports. Many people came here after reading the reports.

However, many people arrived late and found that the tickets had been sold out.

After learning about this situation, many people in the orchestra expressed emotion that their concerts were finally back on track.

What they call the right track is that the supply of concerts exceeds the demand every time.

Because many people did not buy tickets, after the performance on the third night, Zhou Yan and the others played an additional performance outside the concert.

A total of two songs have been added, namely "Floating Fragrance" and "Missing Through Time and Space". The former is a double flute duet between Zhou Yan and Wang Ciheng, and the latter is a bamboo flute and pipa duet between Zhou Yan and Wei Yuru.

These two programs not only allowed the audience outside the venue to see Zhou Yan, but also allowed them to see Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

And because it was outside the concert hall, there were no restrictions on taking photos, so many people took photos.

Especially when Zhou Yan and Wei Yuru were dueting, the flash lights came on very frequently. (End of chapter)