1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After taking the microphone, Zhou Yan hurried back to his seat in case Maria caused any trouble again.

There were a lot more people in the record store than at the beginning, and Zhou Yan noticed it when Maria and the others were singing in chorus.

Just now when someone in the last row was standing on a stool, Zhou Yan was standing on the stage and couldn't see the door.

Now that the stools have been removed, Zhou Yan can see the door. However, from the stage to the door, there are crowds of people, and the corridor between the shelves is packed with people.

Record surplus is located on Santa Monica Boulevard. There are many pedestrians passing by, probably those who are attracted by the sound of music.

"Thank you Maria for the performance, but I regret to tell you that there is no appearance fee today."

After joking, Zhou Yan put down the violin and took out the bamboo flute.

As soon as the bamboo flute was seen, cheers broke out at the scene.

The audience may not really like bamboo flutes, it’s just that bamboo flutes are relatively rare and they just want a sense of novelty.

Moreover, when Wang Ciheng performed in the United States with the orchestra last year, he also demonstrated the charm of the bamboo flute. During that time, music fans were very interested in bamboo flute and pipa.

Some Americans even went out of their way to buy bamboo flutes in order to learn how to play them.

However, after buying the bamboo flute, I found that it looks easy but is very difficult to play. Many people tried to play it for several days but still couldn't produce any sound.

The most outrageous thing is that some people buy a bamboo flute and don’t even know that they need to stick a membrane on it, and just keep playing it.

During the signing just now, a music fan even brought a bamboo flute and showed it to Zhou Yan.

It was a very low-quality purple bamboo flute, but judging by the fan's look, he probably spent a lot of money on it. The music industry is a complicated one, and there are many cheaters all over the world.

Zhou Yan did not point out the fact that the bamboo flute was of poor quality. The other party didn't play it anyway, so it didn't matter whether it was good or bad, as long as he thought it was good.

It's rare for people to be confused.

However, the words engraved on the bamboo flute are quite interesting. It is a line of Chinese characters: Misfortune lies where good fortune lies, and good fortune lies where misfortune lies.

This inscription is much more cultural than the Chinese character tattoos that many foreigners have, but it has nothing to do with music, and the music fan has no idea what this line of words means.

If the signing schedule wasn't tight today, Zhou Yan would have wanted to explain the meaning of these two sentences to the fan and promote Chinese culture.

"The next piece I'm going to play is also an older piece. It's called 'The Nightingale'. I wonder if you've heard of it."

"I've heard of it!" Hardison, who was sitting in the first row, shouted loudly.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but glance at Hardison. When he first came on stage, he noticed that the kid in the first row was particularly excited, and he always responded the fastest and loudest.

This time too, he shouted right after Zhou Yangan finished speaking, and his voice was very loud and prominent.

Many people have heard the song "The Nightingale", but may not remember its name.

The sales of "Mysterious Country" in the United States are not as good as those of other albums, and the songs in it are also less well-known.

Moreover, pure music often encounters a problem, which is that music fans can hardly remember the song titles.

The titles of instrumental music are not as easy to remember as the titles of songs because normally, the titles of songs are hidden in the lyrics and fans can passively remember them after listening to them a few times.

In addition, when listening to songs, fans tend to sing along, which makes it easier to deepen the impression.

To be able to react so quickly, this boy must be a die-hard fan.

Zhou Yan smiled, held the microphone directly in front of Hardison, and asked, "Since you know "Nightingale", then tell me, which album is this song on?"

Hardison was surprised when he saw the microphone suddenly extended in front of him. He didn't expect that he was so lucky that Zhou Yan would interact with him. It was worth the shout he just made.

This question was not difficult for Hardison at all. He blurted out, "Of course it's from Secret Country. I have listened to this album countless times and I know every song."

As expected, he was a die-hard fan. Zhou Yan nodded with a smile and asked, "Do you know about the bamboo flute?"

“I have several bamboo flutes at home.”

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Can you play it?"

Hardison smiled and shook his head, "No, I just think the bamboo flute looks very nice and is very suitable to be placed in the piano room."

"Piano room...are you studying music?"

"No, I just think that a piano room gives people a good feeling, so I set up a piano room at home and put some beautiful musical instruments in it. I sit in it when I have nothing to do. I really enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by musical instruments."

Hardison's words made Zhou Yan a little confused. What kind of weird hobby was this? He didn't study music, but set up a piano room at home to collect musical instruments.

Could it be that this guy is here to show off his wealth?
First of all, this guy's house must be big, otherwise there wouldn't be a room for a piano room. Of course, this is not uncommon, even in Los Angeles, not all houses are expensive.

But he also collected a lot of musical instruments, which you couldn't play without some money.

Perhaps seeing the confusion in Zhou Yan's eyes, Hardison smiled and explained, "Jessica studies music."

Zhou Yan looked at the girl next to Hardison and smiled, "Are you a couple?"

Hearing Zhou Yan's question, Hardison's face suddenly turned red, "We..."

Jessica next to her also pursed her lips and said nothing.

Looking at their reactions, Zhou Yan probably knew that these two people were just about to break the window paper.

The love of young people is so immature.

Zhou Yan was quite emotional when he looked at the two of them. Then he thought of a song and said with a smile, "I suddenly changed my mind and decided to put "Nightingale" aside and play another song first. You probably haven't heard of this song. The title is very interesting, it's called "Borrowing Cucumbers."

"Borrowing a Cucumber" is very popular in Japan, but few people have heard it in Europe and the United States, because this song was not included in Zhou Yan's album, but was made into a video tape with "Distant Journey" and released in Japan, so Zhou Yan naturally assumed that the audience at the scene had never heard this song.

But what Zhou Yan didn't expect was that as soon as he said "borrow a cucumber", the boy in the first row shouted, "I've heard of it, I've heard of it."

"Have you heard of it?" Zhou Yan looked at Hardison in surprise.

"Yes, I have heard it. In your interview tape, you played this piece facing the mountain."

Originally Zhou Yan was still wondering whether this guy was talking nonsense or he remembered the song title wrong, but after hearing his description, Zhou Yan knew that he had indeed heard it before.

Zhou Yan was very confused about this. The videotape was in Japanese and had not been released in Europe and the United States. How did this kid watch it?
But the show was going on right now, so Zhou Yan didn't have time to ask Hardison where he saw it. He smiled and nodded, "Then I'll give this song to both of you."

After saying that, Zhou Yan put the microphone back and started playing.

The song "Borrowing Cucumbers" originally described the mental journey of him, Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng when they ran out in the dark to pick cucumbers while staying overnight in Jiangjuntuo.

However, after the song came out, music fans had a new interpretation of it, and now most music fans think that this is a song describing love.

This piece of music is divided into four stages. The first section is like flowing water under a small bridge, which is very pleasant; the second section has a light and pleasant melody, with a little expectation and excitement; the third section is even more exciting, making people's heart beat faster and a little panic; the fourth section gives a feeling of rebirth after a disaster, and becomes relaxed and happy again.

Although this is the mental journey of Zhou Yan and his friends when they stole the cucumbers, it is indeed in line with the state of mind of a young couple when they are in love.

Among so many people at the scene, only Hardison and Jessica had heard this song. No one else had heard it, so everyone was very happy to hear that there was a new song to listen to.

"Borrowing Cucumber" is very suitable for bamboo flute solo. The overall style is light and interesting. It makes people feel happy physically and mentally while listening to it, and also makes people feel eager to move.

This song also allowed the audience to once again feel the charm of the bamboo flute.

Such a small piece of bamboo can express such rich emotions.

Jessica watched Zhou Yan play "Borrowing Cucumber" up close, and the scene of Zhou Yan playing solo in the mountains and fields in the videotape emerged in her mind.

Although the sound quality of the videotape is not as good as that recorded in the recording studio, it is more natural and the picture is so beautiful. Now when Jessica talks about China, in addition to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and other attractions, she will also think of that mountain.

But when she thought that Zhou Yan gave this song to her and Hardison, Jessica couldn't help biting her lip, and her cheeks turned a little red.

After "Borrowing Cucumber" ended, Zhou Yan continued to play "Nightingale" without stopping.

The styles of "Borrowing Cucumber" and "Nightingale" are a little similar, both of which have a feeling of being close to nature, so playing them together does not feel out of place. Maria was sitting on a stool now, much quieter than before. She rested her elbows on her thighs, supported her chin with both hands, and looked at Zhou Yan who was playing on the stage seriously.

When she watched Zhou Yan’s concert before, she found that when Zhou Yan played an instrument, he exuded a unique charm and looked much better than usual.

Maria didn't know how to play the bamboo flute, nor did she know what Zhou Yan's level was, but she knew that Zhou Yan's piano level was only average, definitely not as good as those of professional pianists.

Apart from anything else, he is much worse than the principal pianist of their orchestra.

But Zhou Yan's piano playing is beautiful, with elegance and power, visually surpassing those performers.

People's aesthetic tastes can really change subtly. Before, Maria thought Zhou Yan looked average, even a little too young, but now she seems to be able to appreciate Zhou Yan's handsomeness.

In fact, although Zhou Yan's appearance does not conform to the mainstream aesthetic in Europe and the United States, there is still some market for him. Maria has heard people around her say more than once that Zhou Yan is good-looking.

After Zhou Yan played "The Nightingale", he played "The Distant Journey", which is also a "new song" that has not been included in the album.

After that, Zhou Yan finished the performance.

The normal performance lasted for more than half an hour in total, which is not very long, but this was just a performance attached to the signing event after all, so half an hour was not short.

Moreover, the audience was very satisfied after hearing two "new songs" in a row tonight.

Hoylen was quite greedy. When he saw Mariah Carey starting to sing, he wanted to let the Backstreet Boys perform a song as well. However, Zhou Yan did not let Hoylen do so. After the performance, he took the members of the Backstreet Boys away.

……

After returning to the hotel, they had a simple meal in the hotel restaurant.

After dinner, Zhou Yan told them about the new song directly at the table, "This song is called "We Are Young", and the style is more youthful and full of energy, which is quite suitable for your style. This song will be used as the advertising song of New Balance. Did you know about this?"

Captain Kevin nodded and said, "Yes, I heard Mr. Brown mention it."

"There is something I need to tell you in advance. This song has not been confirmed for you. I have to listen to you finish singing before I can decide."

Kevin and the others had known about this situation for a long time, so they were not surprised at all.

"We will definitely try our best." Kevin said with a smile.

Zhou Yan also smiled. Whether they are suitable for this song has nothing to do with how hard they work, it mainly depends on their feeling.

However, Zhou Yan felt that they would probably be suitable because the song "We Are Young" was quite close to the style of Backstreet Boys.

"Come to my room later. I'll give you the music score and lyrics. You can figure it out on your own. I'll take you to Tomson's office tomorrow morning."

"no problem."

Zhou Yan nodded, stood up and said, "Let's go."

Then Zhou Yan took them to his room and handed them the music score and lyrics.

After getting the music score and lyrics, they did not stay in Zhou Yan's room and went back to work on the new song.

After they left, Zhou Yan lay down on the sofa. Although the intensity of today's autograph session was not particularly high, he was also exhausted. By the end of the signing, he felt like he almost didn't recognize his own name.

The first time, he wrote his name until he felt like vomiting.

If he has children in the future, he will make sure to give them a name with fewer strokes. If his children become celebrities and often have to give autographs to people, that would be a great advantage for him.

But there is a problem. No matter how you name it, as long as it is the surname Zhou, strokes are indispensable.

Forget it, let’s just give the child a pen name or stage name that is easy to write.

Just as he was daydreaming, the phone in the room rang. He just lay there and reached out to put the phone to his ear, "Hello."

Wang Zuxian's voice came from the other end of the phone, "What are you doing?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I'm thinking about what to name our child in the future."

He just made a joke because he just thought of naming the child, but Wang Zuxian was suddenly stunned. After a long while, she finally spoke, "Third brother, do you want to get married?"

Zhou Yan scratched his head. He didn't expect that his casual remark would make Joey Wong think about marriage.

When it comes to marriage, Zhou Yan doesn't know what to say.

But it was he who started this movement. If he backed down at this moment, Joey Wong would definitely be disappointed.

He thought for a moment and said, "Do you want to take me to meet your family first?"

After saying this, Wang Zuxian felt a little apologetic. "I'm sorry, Third Brother. I should have brought you to meet my family a long time ago. Don't worry, I will take you home when you go to Taiwan."

"It's not your fault. I haven't taken the initiative to go there. I've been too busy these past two years. I feel like I've been running around all the time."

Wang Zuxian smiled and said, "You are in the rising period of your career, so you must be very busy. From what you said, there must be a lot of people attending the book signing today?"

"Yeah, it was more than expected. I even worked overtime."

"That's great, it's a pity I couldn't go with you."

"Next time we have time, let's go together."

"it is good."

……

The next morning, just as Zhou Yan got up, there was a knock on the door.

He looked at the time; it was just past eight o'clock.

He talked with Joey Wong for a long time last night. By the time he hung up the phone and finished washing up, it was already midnight. Plus, he was really tired recently, so he slept a little longer.

Zhou Yan went to open the door, and as he expected, it was the members of Backstreet Boys.

The young men were particularly excited to see Zhou Yan.

"Mr. Y, this song is so good, we practiced it all night."

"Practiced all night?"

Zhou Yan looked at the faces of several young men and found that they all looked a little excited, and did not look like they had just woken up at all.

"You didn't sleep all night last night, did you?"

"Yes." Kevin nodded, "We want to present this song better, so of course we have to hurry up."

Zhou Yan could understand their feelings, but he was also a little confused, "But I didn't hear any singing last night."

In order to meet Zhou Yan conveniently, the Backstreet Boys also stayed in this hotel.

The hotel is so small and doesn’t have the soundproofing of a recording studio. If they sing, Zhou Yan will definitely hear it.

"Of course we won't practice singing in the hotel, as we will be complained about. Last night, we specifically asked the company to find a practice room for us."

Zhou Yan nodded. So that's it.

In fact, they don't need to work so hard, because Zhou Yan doesn't want to hear their final presentation.

Zhou Yan originally planned to take them to the office this morning and let them sing on the spot. It didn't matter whether they were proficient or not, Zhou Yan just wanted to hear how it felt.

Some things won't get better just by practicing more.

Of course, their attitude is worthy of recognition.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If I tell you to go to bed now, you won't be able to sleep. I'll take you to the office and finish it quickly, then you can go to sleep." (End of this chapter)