1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Chapter 367: Successive Victories
When Zhou Yan arrived at the studio, it was already nine forty.

He had originally agreed with Akina Nakamori to meet at the recording studio at 9:30, so he was considered late, but the person primarily responsible for his lateness was Shizuka Kudo.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Nakamori Akina greeted with a smile, "Good morning, Mr. Zhou Yan."

She looked good and didn't seem to be affected by last night.

In fact, when the incident first happened, she was indeed a little confused. After all, she had never encountered such a situation before, and Zhou Yan's performance was very different from what she had imagined.

But after returning to the hotel, thinking back on Zhou Yan's performance, she felt safe again.

For a moment, she even felt that Zhou Yan was omnipotent, as if Zhou Yan could handle everything, including music, literature, and film making. He had amazing performances in all walks of life, and could even deal with those gangsters with ease.

In the situation last night, the only person she could count on was Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan had been thinking that if Akina Nakamori was affected by what happened last night, today's recording might not go smoothly. But now that he saw Akina Nakamori smiling, he felt relieved.

Everything else is fine as long as it doesn't delay today's recording.

"Good morning, Ms. Nakamori, let's start recording, or follow the rhythm of yesterday."

After more than an hour of adjustment yesterday, the performance of the Chinese version has improved a lot. If I spend some more time adjusting it this morning, there should be no problem.

In fact, the recording went more smoothly than Zhou Yan had imagined.

Zhou Yan was pleasantly surprised by the first recording in the morning.

Akina Nakamori's performance today was much better than her performance before the end of yesterday. Obviously, she had digested the adjustments she made yesterday after returning.

This is probably the talent of an excellent singer. Akina Nakamori was born to do this job. She can understand many things at once and doesn't have to put in any extra effort.

Even some things that Zhou Yan had not mentioned yet, Nakamori Akina had already corrected them. She should have understood what Zhou Yan wanted, so when Zhou Yan mentioned one thing, she would counter the other three.

Zhou Yan also has no worries when working with singers like Akina Nakamori.

……

At 3:30 in the afternoon, the recording of the Chinese version of "Snow Flower" was finally completed.

Akina Nakamori also breathed a sigh of relief. She had been thinking about Shizuka Kudo's concert and was afraid that she would record too late and miss rehearsal.

Now that the recording is finished, I can make it in time for the concert rehearsal.

"Mr. Zhou Yan, do you want to come with me?" asked Akina Nakamori.

Zhou Yan shook his head. "You go by yourself. There's still a lot of work to do after the recording. I'll watch over here. I'll have someone send it to you. Just focus on rehearsing."

"Will you go to the concert tomorrow night?" Akina Nakamori asked again.

"go."

He doesn't have much time to return to Yanjing this time, as he will leave the day after tomorrow, but fortunately he can still watch the first show.

Shizuka Kudo was quite resentful about this. Zhou Yan had previously said that he would take her for a stroll in Chang'an, but now there was nothing he could do.

"OK, all right."

After Akina Nakamori left, Zhou Yan stayed to watch the post-production of the song.

But he just took a general look at it, and the work was still done by his colleagues in the studio.

After finishing his dinner early at 5:30, Zhou Yan returned to the office to work on the script of "Time Traveler".

……

It was past eight o'clock and Zhou Yangang had just refilled himself a cup of hot water when the phone on the table rang.

The call was from Xu Xiangjie. As soon as Zhou Yan got through, he heard Xu Xiangjie say happily, "Teacher Zhou, the so band has already confirmed it. They just signed the contract and left."

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, then joked, "Congratulations, Mr. Xu. The team has grown a lot in an instant."

"Hey, thanks to you."

Xu Xiangjie is a native of Taipei City, but his speaking style is becoming more and more like that of people from Yanjing. I don’t know who infected him with this style.

"Now that they have been signed, we should train them well. They are all young and everything is possible."

"Well, that's natural. Now I'm going to organize a performance for them as a group, to give them a head start."

"That's great. Will we still call it so band after we form the group?"

"I was just about to tell you about this. We discussed this when they were here just now. When it comes to the name of the band, they all have different opinions. Some insist on using the name "so band". After all, they have been active under this name for a long time. Although they haven't gained much fame, many bars know them. Others hope to change to a new name. They think a new name will give them a new look."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I agree with the latter. The fame that the bar has accumulated is useless. The key is that the name So Band has no characteristics and is not easy to remember. It is better to change it to a new name."

"Yeah, and So Band sounds very similar to So Bad. If you don't know, you might think it's some bad boy band. It's different from their positioning."

"Are there any alternative names?" Zhou Yan asked.

"We did discuss a few, one of which was a boy from the Normal University High School, because several of their members graduated from the Normal University High School, and the reason they formed a band was because they were all in the school's guitar club before."

Now many groups in Europe and America like to be named "boys" or "something boys". This trend has also spread to Taiwan. There are also many groups in Taiwan named "boys" or "something boys".

"This won't work." Zhou Yan directly rejected the name.

"I don't think so either." Xu Xiangjie said with a smile, "If we tell people this name, they will think it's a student organization. Wen Shangyi suggested calling it the Xin Band, after the lead singer Chen Xinhong."

When Zhou Yan heard the words "Shin Band", the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily. Oh my god, if they named them this, what would Su Jianxin be called later?
Zhou Yan didn't say anything about this name, but just asked, "Are there any other names?"

"There is also a mayday, which is Cai Shengyan's name on the online forum. This account can almost be said to be the public account of their group. They use this account to participate in any activities on the Internet."

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. Is this how Mayday got its name?

He also thought that the name of the band Mayday had some special meaning, perhaps related to their members. After all, Mayday later had only five members.

I didn’t expect it was just Cai Shengyan’s online name. It’s really careless to say that.

"Mayday, Mayday, this is pretty good."

Hearing Zhou Yan say this, Xu Xiangjie immediately understood.

"I also think this name is good. They also said that they want to add another guitarist. This way, the band will have exactly five people, which can correspond to Mayday. So, I will tell them tomorrow and officially debut under the name Mayday."

Zhou Yan nodded, agreeing with Xu Xiangjie's approach.

"Where are you going to put the group's performance?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Teacher Zhou, where do you think it would be better to put it?"

“The No. 7 music platform in Daan Forest Park is good.”

"I think so."

In fact, Xu Xiangjie originally planned to hold their debut performance in Ximending, but since Zhou Yan preferred the No. 7 Music Station in Daan Forest Park, he went along with it.

Park No. 7 is indeed not bad. Although the flow of people is not as good as Ximending, it is more suitable for small concerts.

"Is there anything else?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Well, there is also the matter of Wang Lihong."

"Is there any progress with Wang Lihong?"

"A little bit, but it's not going very smoothly. Wang Lihong's new album is being promoted and will be officially released soon, and Fumao Records doesn't want to let him go easily. They have sown the seeds and applied the fertilizer, and it's almost time to harvest."

Zhou Yan didn't care much about Fumao Records' attitude. "What did Wang Lihong say himself? Is he willing to come?" "He is too young and can't make up his mind. He probably feels embarrassed, after all, Fumao Records is about to release his album. I also talked to him, and I can see that he wants to come. After all, the conditions we can offer are better, and we have a relationship with you."

"I just met him, is this relationship useful?"

"It's useful, very useful. Wang Lihong respects you very much. He always mentions you when we chat."

This time Xu Xiangjie was not just flattering Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan now has a very high status in the hearts of these young musicians.

Although Zhou Yan is only six years older than Wang Lihong, Wang Lihong regards Zhou Yan as his senior and even takes Zhou Yan as his role model.

"Since he wants to come, we should try our best to get him to come."

"Not only does he want to come, Li Shouquan also hopes that he can come to Huanyin."

"Li Shouquan?" Zhou Yan was quite surprised. "Didn't you say before that he had a good relationship with Fumao Records?"

"There are so many record companies that have good relations with him, and he is not the boss. In this matter, he is mainly considering Wang Lihong's interests. He is very optimistic about Huanyin."

"If that's the case, then things will be easy. Just go and talk to Fumao. If we can't come to an agreement, we can follow the contract termination process. The penalty for breach of contract signed by Wang Lihong and Fumao Records shouldn't be sky-high, right?"

"That's not the case, it's just an ordinary amount. We can definitely afford the money, but it depends on whether Wang Lihong is worth the money and whether it's worth it for us to ruin our relationship with Fumao."

Zhou Yan didn't hesitate at all. "Go ahead and have a good talk with Fumao. It would be best if we can reach an agreement. If not, we will treat it as a breach of contract."

Xu Xiangjie smiled and said, "With your words, I know what to do."

It's not that Xu Xiangjie is unwilling to take responsibility, but Wang Lihong was specifically requested by Zhou Yan, so Zhou Yan has to speak up for this matter. He doesn't know what position Wang Lihong holds in Zhou Yan's heart.

"Let me know when you're done."

"Yes, I will definitely report to you."

……

Xu Xiangjie hung up Zhou Yan's phone call and couldn't help but mutter, "Alas, Teacher Zhou shouldn't be so anxious to give the song to Wang Lihong to sing."

He believes that the reason why Fumao Records is unwilling to give in now is also related to this incident.

Fumao Records is not stupid. Of course they know that Wang Lihong’s fame will definitely increase after he sang Zhou Yan’s movie theme song.

Originally, Xu Xiangjie wanted to keep the matter secret, but on the day the matter was finalized, Wang Lihong revealed the matter to Li Shouquan and Fumao Records, and it was too late for him to cover it up.

However, Xu Xiangjie had also made up his mind. If Fumao Records really refused to budge, he would just threaten them, saying that if Huanyin could not sign Wang Lihong, then Wang Lihong would not be allowed to sing the theme song of Zhou Yan's new movie.

After pondering for a moment, he called the person in charge of Fumao Records directly.

"Mr. Zhang, I'm Xu Xiangjie."

Zhang Gengyu received a call from Xu Xiangjie and knew what he was going to say. He was very tough. "Boss Xu, I told you about Wang Lihong. We can't talk about it. Our company has invested a lot of effort in Wang Lihong. If we hand Wang Lihong over to you now, our company will suffer a huge loss."

"Mr. Zhang, let's be frank. We both know how much effort you put into Wang Lihong. The promotion of the album "If You Hear My Song" is very average. Either you didn't spend much money at all, or you spent money but didn't spend it in the right place. All that long promotion was not as good as Zhou Yan's casual mention."

After hearing what Xu Xiangjie said, Zhang Gengyu stopped playing around and said, "If you say so, I agree. But it is precisely because of Zhou Yan's words that Wang Lihong has become famous recently, and the popularity of his new album has also increased. In addition, he will sing the interlude of the new song later, so his future development cannot be bad. That's right, this is all thanks to Zhou Yan, and I am very grateful in my heart. When Zhou Yan comes to Taiwan again, I will treat him to a meal to express my gratitude."

Xu Xiangjie narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Zhang, how high do you think the album sales can go with this wave of popularity? I've listened to many of the songs in the album, and to be honest, it's hard for them to sell well. As for the movie interlude, we can always go back on our word. Although we have signed the contract, you should have seen it. Even if we go back on our word, we don't have to pay anything. This interlude doesn't have to be Wang Lihong."

These words made Zhang Gengyu on the other end of the phone silent, because what Xu Xiangjie said did make sense.

If there hadn't been the interlude in Zhou Yan's new movie, Zhang Gengyu wouldn't have dared to bet on Wang Lihong's future.

So what if you have potential? There are many young people with potential nowadays, and a lot of them emerge every year, but most of them are just mediocre and can’t stand up at all.

Seeing Zhang Gengyu remained silent, Xu Xiangjie continued, "Your contract with Wang Lihong is only for two years, which is the beginning of the year after next. Moreover, the penalty for breach of contract is not particularly high. If we want Wang Lihong, we can even take him away without notifying you. At most, we will pay you the penalty for breach of contract later."

"But you called me anyway."

"Of course we still want to give less money and maintain our friendship with each other."

"You want to give less money, so why should we take less?"

Xu Xiangjie smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't want to take less money. After we sign Wang Lihong, you can sue us and Wang Lihong. Then we can fight the lawsuit for a while. If it drags on for a few years, I believe you will win the case and we will pay you the money. It's a good opportunity to use the lawsuit to stir up some topics for Wang Lihong. Mr. Zhang, we don't want to make things look bad. You can name a price that we can all accept. We will pay the money and you will hand over the person. It's only been half a year since you signed Wang Lihong. You should be satisfied with getting a considerable amount of head fee in such a short time."

Zhang Gengyu was silent for a long time, and finally sighed, "Mr. Xu, if you have time tomorrow, please come to my office and sit down."

"It's my honor." Xu Xiangjie said with a smile, "See you tomorrow then."

After hanging up the phone with Xu Xiangjie, Zhang Gengyu leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. He really didn't expect that Huanyin Company was so determined to get Wang Lihong.

Zhang Gengyu had dealt with Xu Xiangjie when he was at EMI, and had some understanding of him.

If Huanyin was not determined to get Wang Lihong, Xu Xiangjie would not have had this attitude.

In fact, their company signed a lot of new artists this year, but the one the company is most optimistic about is not Wang Lihong, because Wang Lihong's style has no special characteristics and he imitates Zhang Xueyou too much.

If it weren’t for Li Shouquan, they wouldn’t have released an album for Wang Lihong so quickly.

Among this group of newcomers, the one the company is most optimistic about is actually another girl named Zhou Hui. She is about the same age as Wang Lihong, but Zhou Hui's voice is very special and can be described as crystal clear. The director of the Mandarin department, Li Yaming, is also very optimistic about her.

After sitting in the chair for a while, Zhang Gengyu stood up and walked to Li Yaming's office.

Although it was late, Li Yaming was still working in the office. As soon as Zhang Gengyu entered, he said, "Yaming, I think we should give Zhou Hui a longer contract."

Li Yaming looked up in confusion, "Why?"

For students like Wang Lihong and Zhou Hui who have not yet graduated, the company offers short-term contracts, and will discuss whether to sign a long-term contract after they graduate.

According to Zhou Hui's situation, the company would not sign a long-term contract with her until 99.

"Wang Lihong was poached by Huanyin."

Li Yaming's eyes widened; he had no idea about this.

Logically speaking, Li Yaming is the director of the Mandarin department, and all singers signed by the company are under his management, including Wang Lihong. Now that Wang Lihong has been poached, he has no idea about it, so he is naturally very surprised.

"Xu Xiangjie from Huanyin came to me directly, and I have agreed."

"Why would you agree? Isn't Wang Lihong doing well now?"

"They are determined to win. If we don't agree, they will directly pay the penalty."

"Then let them pay the penalty for breach of contract."

Li Yaming's words were of course angry. He also knew that it was better not to do so. After all, Wang Lihong was just a newcomer. There was no need to cause trouble because of him. As long as the conditions were similar, it didn't matter if he was poached.

However, Huanyin was a new company, and they poached people from Fumao right away, which made Li Yaming a little angry. Rolling Stone was trying to steal people from them, and now Huanyin came along.

"Yaming, if you think Wang Lihong has great potential, then we should keep him."

"No matter how you stay, they will have to pay you liquidated damages."

"Wang Lihong is a young man after all. It is possible to have a talk with him, persuade him with emotion and reason, and then sign a new contract."

Li Yaming pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's release him if the conditions are similar. Wang Lihong has some potential, but we can't allocate too many resources to him, so there's no need to force him to stay."

Zhang Gengyu nodded. He knew that Li Yaming still did not think highly of Wang Lihong, otherwise he would not have said that he had no resources to allocate to Wang Lihong.

Li Yaming's favorite person now is Zhou Hui. As soon as Zhou Hui graduates, her album will be released.

"That's Zhou Hui's contract."

"I'll come talk to her later."

(End of this chapter)