1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan also watched the local Channel 6's "Pure White Music Station". He got up early, worked for a while and then went to a restaurant for dinner. He happened to meet Fang Xiu. When he heard that they were going to watch the premiere of "We Are Young" together, he went with them.

When the black female singer came out, Ma Dongfang said with a smile, "This girl sings very well. She looks about 17 or 18 years old."

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "She is actually less than fifteen years old."

This made everyone's jaw drop.

“Fifteen years old?!” Ma Dongfang’s eyes almost popped out.

He guessed seventeen or eighteen, which was already a guess below, because he knew that people in Europe and the United States develop earlier, and Chinese girls of seventeen or eighteen look more immature than this.

And he never expected that this girl was not even fifteen years old.

What does it mean to be fourteen or fifteen years old? In China, you are still in junior high school.

"In the United States, do singers debut so early?" Fang Xiu asked curiously.

Not only this female singer, but also Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys, who is only sixteen years old this year. When he joined the group and debuted, he was only thirteen years old.

Therefore, Mr. Fang asked this question.

"In recent years, singers have indeed debuted at an earlier age than before."

Mainly because some young groups have become popular in recent years, a large number of middle school students have been discovered by scouts and entered this industry. The market determines everything.

"She is also in a group, and the members in this group are about the same age as her." Zhou Yan added.

“There are many such combinations here.”

"Yeah, it feels similar to the Little Tigers from Taiwan."

"Yes, yes, that's the feeling. However, the songs of Little Tigers are relatively simpler and not as mature as theirs."

……

While the others were discussing the group's affairs, Zhou Yan was listening with a smile on his face.

The female singer who appeared in the MV of "We Are Young" was none other than Beyonce, one of the members of the group "Destiny's Child" and the future top singer.

The reason why she was able to participate in this song was purely by chance. Zhou Yan also saw the group Destiny's Girl by chance before.

Like the Backstreet Boys before them, they have already gained some fame locally, but they have only had some underground performances and have not even officially formed a group. Before June, they were still called "Girls' Generation", and then they changed their name to their current name.

Originally, Zhou Yan wanted to sign Destiny's Child to Zhou Records, but now Zhou Records had no roots in Europe and the United States, so there was no point in signing them. So Zhou Yan went with the flow and pushed them to Columbia Records.

Because of Mariah Carey, Columbia Records has always maintained close contact with Zhou Yan. They attached great importance to Zhou Yan's recommendation this time and quickly signed Destiny's Child.

This time, "We Are Young" is a collaboration among Zhou Yan, New Balance, Jive and Columbia Records.

Everyone gossiped about the group for a while, and Ma Dongfang suddenly said to Zhou Yan, "Brother, when you have time, please make a more interesting version of this song. We can play it on stage when we have nothing to do."

"This song is still good to sing." Fang Xiu smiled, "Why don't you organize a personal pop song show in the future, and invite singers who have sung your songs to come and have a lively concert."

“Well, this is quite interesting.”

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "You should focus on the concert tonight. There are more than 6,000 audience members today."

"I wasn't nervous at first, but after hearing what you said, I became a little nervous," said Ma Dongfang.

The others all laughed, "What nonsense are you talking about."

Everyone knows that Ma Dongfang is a man with a big heart. The bigger the scene and the more audiences there are, the more excited he gets.

While other people might be nervous, he was not at all likely to be nervous.

Besides, although the concerts they had held before had never been of this scale, they were all indoors.

As for outdoor encores, they have experienced performances with audiences of more than 10,000 people, so they are certainly not afraid of a performance with more than 6,000 people. Everyone is very excited.

"Alright." Zhou Yan patted his legs and stood up. "You guys should stay well rested and don't let down your guard tonight."

"Don't worry, brother."

……

Today is definitely a memorable day for Beyoncé, as it is her first time to truly appear in the public eye.

Although she had participated in some singing competitions and even appeared on TV before, she was not very popular and there were not many shots of her.

The Backstreet Boys are extremely popular nowadays and have become the most famous teenage boy band in the United States. In addition, "We Are Young" is also the advertising song for New Balance, so its popularity is naturally not comparable to that of ordinary songs.

As soon as the song was released, it was played on major radio and television stations across the United States.

In fact, she was confused throughout the entire process of singing "We Are Young" and had no idea what was going on.

I just remember one day, several group members were rehearsing, and her father suddenly ran in and announced the news.

Then a few days later she was pulled in to record, and then she shot an MV with the members of Backstreet Boys.

Until now she still doesn't understand why she was chosen. After all, their group had just been officially formed and had no fame at all.

Because of this incident, the atmosphere in the group became a little off.

Although the group signed with Columbia Records, their agent is still Beyoncé's father Matthew Knowles, and Kelly Rowland in the group is Beyoncé's cousin.

The other two members were originally worried that Matthew Knowles would tilt resources towards his daughter and niece.

Now that something like this has happened, the two members are naturally even more suspicious.

For this reason, Beyoncé went to ask her father if this was true, but Matthew Knowles told Beyoncé that everyone in the group has equal resources, and there is no one higher or lower. It was Columbia Records' decision that Beyoncé could sing "We Are Young".

Matthew Knowles also said that he had tried to fight for several other members, but was unsuccessful.

Beyoncé naturally believed what her father said, and when she returned, she solemnly assured the other members that there would never be an uneven distribution of resources.

The young sisters were all young, so they naturally believed what Beyoncé said and felt relieved.

……

Zhou Yan received a call from Matthew Knowles at eleven o'clock.

When the call was connected, Matthew Knowles introduced himself, "Hello, Mr. Y. I am Matthew Knowles, the agent of Destiny's Girl."

Zhou Yan was quite surprised to receive the call from Matthew Knowles. Although he had considered signing Destiny's Girl before, it had not been implemented. Moreover, he had never contacted Destiny's Girl, not even Zhang Youan. "Hello, Mr. Knowles, what can I do for you?"

Matthew Knowles was very happy to confirm that it was Zhou Yan. "I made this call for no other reason than to express my gratitude to you. Thank you for giving Beyonce such a good opportunity to sing the song "We Are Young". If I have the chance, I will definitely express my gratitude to you in person."

So it was for this. Zhou Yan smiled and said, "You're welcome, Mr. Knowles. It's just a simple cooperation. Beyoncé performed well. I believe Destiny's Child will get better and better."

"Thank you for your blessing." Matthew Knowles thanked him and then suddenly said with emotion, "Beyoncé is still young. Although she has signed with Columbia, she still doesn't have many opportunities. If it weren't for your recommendation, she wouldn't have any official works yet."

Zhou Yan had no idea what Matthew Knowles wanted to say, so he could only follow his words and say, "You also said that she is still young, and there will definitely be many opportunities in the future. There is no need to rush. I also believe that Columbia must have its own arrangements for them."

"Mr. Y, are you satisfied with Beyoncé's performance this time? Is there anything that can be improved?"

"It's pretty good. At her age, she has performed very well."

Matthew Knowles was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Will she have a chance to work with you in the future?"

After hearing this, Zhou Yan probably understood that Matthew Knowles wanted to curry favor with him.

"Do you want me to write a song for the girl of my dreams?" Zhou Yan asked directly.

"No, no, no, you misunderstood. What I want to ask is whether Beyoncé has a chance to work with you again."

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes. He finally understood that Matthew Knowles just wanted to seek resources for his daughter. This agent was too selfish.

Zhou Yan knew that Matthew Knowles was Beyoncé's father, but he didn't expect that Matthew Knowles, as the agent of Beyoncé, would be so biased.

Everyone has selfish desires, which Zhou Yan can understand. However, Matthew Knowles's selfless selfishness is not good for the development of the group Destiny's Child.

However, Zhou Yan couldn't do anything about it. He said calmly, "Beyoncé is so outstanding. I believe we will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future. Anyway, she is now signed to Columbia Pictures. If there are any business cooperation needs in the future, I will tell Columbia Pictures."

This was also made clear to Matthew Knowles, telling him not to approach him directly. If there was anything, he could just go through Columbia.

Originally, Matthew Knowles was the agent of Destiny's Girl and also Beyoncé's father, so Zhou Yan didn't mind talking to him. However, after the conversation, Zhou Yan found that this person was short-sighted and too selfish, and it was not suitable for him to have more contact with him.

Matthew Knowles was also an old hand, so he naturally understood what Zhou Yan meant. However, he was thick-skinned enough to still say with a smile, "Okay, okay, next time when we have a chance, George and I will go treat you to a meal."

"Let's talk later. Sorry, I have something else to do here. I have to hang up first."

"Well, I won't disturb you anymore."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan couldn't help but shake his head. Beyonce actually had such an unreliable father.

He had just hung up the phone when there was a knock on the door.

"Who?"

"Me." Zhang Youan's voice came from outside.

Zhou Yan got up and opened the door, only to see Zhang Youan standing at the door wearing a cowboy hat and a floral shirt, looking like he was in the United States on vacation.

"Lao Zhang, your life is becoming more and more leisurely now." Zhou Yan joked with a smile.

Zhang Youan took off his cowboy hat and smiled. "Mr. Xu said that we can't work all the time. We need to learn to enjoy life appropriately."

"You weren't like this before."

Zhou Yan could still remember that when they first met, Zhang Youan was a very career-oriented person. He was busy helping Zhou Yan find a job every day. Not only did this keep Zhou Yan busy, but he himself was also very busy every day.

Because of this matter, Xu Feng also talked to Zhang Youan, asking Zhang Youan not to find so much work for Zhou Yan, so that Zhou Yan would have time to rest.

Now, Zhou Yan’s work intensity has not decreased at all, but Zhang Youan has begun to enjoy life.

"People always change." Zhang Youan walked into the house and sat down on the sofa. "Before, when you just started, I was always worried that you would become famous and that if you didn't work hard while you were young, the good days would slip away quickly. Now I realize that I don't have to bother to get you work. The door-to-door work every day is enough to keep us busy. Now I have a little time to enjoy life."

"It looks like I'm working for you." Zhou Yan teased.

Zhang Youan shrugged. "Aren't bosses supposed to work for their employees? How about putting your work aside after this round of concerts? I'll take you out to have some fun."

"Come on." Zhou Yan waved his hand. "I'm almost too busy with the work at hand now. How can I have time to rest?"

Zhang Youan spread his hands and said, "Look, I'm not the one pushing you. You're the one running forward with all your might. Every time Mr. Xu says I push you too hard, I feel wronged. But now it's you who's pulling us forward."

Zhou Yan squinted at him and said, "How about handing over all my business to someone else? That way you will have more time to travel."

Zhang Youan immediately changed the subject, "I'm here to talk to you about serious business. Chris told me that Shutter Island has entered the formal preparation stage, and the male lead has basically been confirmed to be Bruce Willis."

"Very good." Zhou Yan nodded.

Bruce Willis was also among the three candidates he listed earlier, so he was naturally satisfied.

"Kevin Costner and Tom Hanks both have scheduling issues," Zhang Youan explained.

Zhou Yan smiled. He thought Bruce Willis was pretty good, but he didn't care why.

"What about the other characters?" Zhou Yan asked.

Zhang Youan shook his head. "The other roles have not been decided yet. I heard that the attending doctor is looking for Ben Kinglis. They are negotiating now. It should be no problem. He has the schedule, and Scorsese has a good relationship with him."

Zhou Yan was quite surprised to hear Ben Kinglies. He didn't expect that the filming of the movie was advanced by more than ten years, and he could find Ben Kinglies to play this role. It was such a coincidence.

But speaking of it, Ben Kinglis is indeed quite suitable. He is in his fifties and has many famous works. He played in "Schindler's List" a few years ago and is a very well-known supporting actor in Hollywood.

In addition, Scorsese has a good relationship with Ben Kinglis, so it seems reasonable to find him.

After a moment's silence, Zhou Yan nodded, "Very good."

Zhang Youan knew Zhou Yan quite well and knew that his reaction indicated that he was indeed satisfied with the casting.

"Once these two roles are decided, it will be easy to find other roles. I guess there will be news soon. Chris also asked me about the progress of the novel "Shutter Island"."

"How did you answer him?"

"I said you've been busy lately, but you're still taking time to write, and you'll definitely be able to finish it within the agreed time." Zhang Youan smiled and asked Zhou Yan, "How's your writing going?"

“Like you said, I’m still finding time to write.”

In fact, the first draft of the novel "Shutter Island" had been completed, but Zhou Yan left it at home and never revised it.

Originally, he planned to wait until this round of concerts was over and then take some time to revise the manuscript.

But now because of the new movie, he had to postpone this matter and wait until the movie was finished before considering it. Anyway, the agreed time was still early, so there was no need to be too anxious. (End of this chapter)