1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Chapter 170 Yanjing Silence

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan stared at the wall for a while, then sighed slightly and got up to wash up.

After washing up, Zhou Yan unconsciously walked to the piano room.

When his mood changes, running to the piano room has almost become a conditioned reflex for Zhou Yan.

Not just him, many people who study music will stay next to musical instruments at this time, because musical instruments are the best thing for them to express their emotions.

Sitting on the piano bench, Zhou Yan recalled the entire process of this Olympic bid.

The whole country is very excited about this Olympic bid, and most people are confident.

Now that such a result occurs, many people must be very disappointed.

Although he experienced a failure, Zhou Yan still had hope when he helped shoot the promotional video for the Olympic bid. That's why Zhou Yan felt disappointed. After all, this Olympic bid also had his hard work.

Just now, Sun Qin said on the phone that it was suspected that Taiwan Island had delayed the ticket. This statement should be recognized by many people.

However, Zhou Yan remembered that it was not Taiwan that jumped the ticket. As for who specifically jumped, Zhou Yan had no idea.

In this situation, we can only wait for the next time we apply for the Olympics.

Looking at the piano in front of him, Zhou Yan played a melody casually.

This improvisation was almost mindless. After playing it, Zhou Yan realized that it sounded strange when he played this melody casually.

The song lasts only ten seconds, but it contains two emotions. It was slightly disappointing at first, but soon became brisk, high-spirited and full of hope.

In fact, Zhou Yan himself didn't know exactly how he felt when he heard the news of his failed bid for the Olympics. But now that he heard his improvisation, he suddenly understood that this failure made him full of hope for future development. expect.

Taking a breath, Zhou Yan put his hands on the keyboard again, and then another piece of music came out.

Next, he expanded the piece of music he just played casually into a long piece.

At first, the song is full of disappointment, then it becomes a little exciting, and then every note is filled with longing and ambition.

And in the last section of the song, it makes people feel complacent.

This improvisation is more intense than Early Morning, First Snow, Red Sun and is about seven or eight minutes long. When Zhou Yan finished playing, he was slightly out of breath.

Huh~

After taking a long breath, Zhou Yan smiled. He was very satisfied with this piece of music, mainly because of the brisk melody and high morale. After playing it, his overall mental outlook was much better.

When Zhou Yan was about to sort out the score, the phone in the living room rang again. He stood up and went over to answer the phone.

Liang Yu's voice came from the other side, Zhou Yan, we made some mistakes in Monte Carlo this time.

Zhou Yan nodded, Well, I've heard about it.

Your promotional video performed very well, and there was no problem with the on-site feedback. This failure has nothing to do with you. Liang Yu comforted.

Zhou Yan was quite grateful that Liang Yu could make a special call to say this.

How is the situation over there now?

Chairman He and the others are coming back soon. We are going to have an internal meeting and the superiors will give instructions. There are only four words in total. Don't be discouraged.

Zhou Yan nodded. These four words seemed simple, but they were very powerful. Failure is the mother of success. Although this saying is very common, it is not unreasonable. This failure also allowed the members of the Olympic Bid Committee to conclude a lot. Let’s learn from experience and prepare for the next Olympic bid.

It's up to people to plan things, and it's up to God to make things happen. Some things are unpredictable. Zhou Yan also comforted Liang Yu in turn.

Well, let's not tell you now. I have other things to do here. I called you just to tell you.

Okay, Director Liang, you are busy.

After hanging up Liang Yu's phone, Zhou Yan just turned around and went to the piano room to write out the score, but the phone behind him rang again.

This time it was Shi Tiecheng calling.

Zhou Yan, I heard that the bid for the Olympics is unfavorable. Is it true?

Shi Tiecheng's voice was full of expectation. He seemed to be expecting to hear words like It's not true from Zhou Yan.

But Zhou Yan was going to disappoint him.

The news is correct. The bid for the Olympics failed. We lost to Sydney by two votes.

For more than twenty seconds, there was no sound on the other end of the phone.

But in the silence, Zhou Yan heard the endless disappointment in Shi Tiezhen's heart.

Tiesheng? Zhou Yan shouted.

Well, I'm here. Shi Tiecheng's voice was a little hoarse, and then he comforted Zhou Yan, Zhou Yan, it's okay. I didn't succeed this time. There will be opportunities in the future. You are still young. You can apply for the Olympics next time. When the time comes, you will be more experienced, and you will definitely be able to shoot better promotional videos. You are still young, and you will have a long time ahead.

There were two words You are still young in Shi Tiecheng's sentence, which made Zhou Yan a little moved.

Why is Shi Tiezhen so disappointed? Because Shi Tiecheng doesn't know how long he can live. In his current situation, his condition may worsen at any time.

The 2000 Olympic Games that they originally applied for was a bit far away for Shi Tiexuan, and he might not be able to live until that year. But after all, there were only a few years left, and he could still see hope. If he endured it, he would be able to survive. of.

Now that the Olympic bid has failed, even if it bids again in a few years, the earliest it will be held is in 2004, which is still eleven years away. This is too far away for Shi Tiesheng.

And this is just the best case scenario. Will China still apply for the next term? Once I apply, will my application be successful? There are too many unknowns here.

Zhou Yan suddenly smiled and said, Tiesheng, come to our school for the Mid-Autumn Festival party.

This sudden change of topic made Shi Tiecheng a little confused, but he still agreed, Okay, is it the Mid-Autumn Festival?

No, it's the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival. I'll call Yu Hua later.

Okay, we'll dress up and attend when the time comes.

I have a new song that you can listen to during the Mid-Autumn Festival Party.

Shi Tiecheng also smiled, I finally heard some good news today.

Then let's put it this way, I will send you the invitation later.

There is also an invitation letter.

Well, this Mid-Autumn Festival party is quite formal.

Then I will wait for your invitation.

…

In fact, this Yangyin Mid-Autumn Festival Gala was not very formal, but we did get invitations and invited many people from outside the school.

The Piano Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform three pieces on stage, two of which are Zhou Yan's Eternal Night and The Great Wall, and one is Shostakovich's Festival Overture.

But now, Zhou Yan is going to replace Eternal Night with this new song he just improvised.

Logically speaking, there is only one week left before the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. It is very unwise to change the music temporarily, and this music has not even been written.

But Zhou Yan decided to act impulsively.

Therefore, after hanging up the phone with Shi Tiezhen, Zhou Yan started composing music again, trying to finalize the score as soon as possible so that the orchestra could have more time to rehearse.

But before he could write for a while, another call came, this time from Zhang Yimou, who also asked him about his Olympic bid.

Then Zhou Yan received several more calls, all of them asking about the Olympic bid. In the end, Zhou Yan simply unplugged the phone line at home and concentrated on writing music.

He wrote the piece as a piano quartet, and also made some changes based on improvisation, such as the noise of constantly answering the phone and the silence of Shi Tiesheng, he put them in, and they all appeared at the same time. .

The four instruments he chose this time were piano, two violins and a viola. The song started with a piano introduction.

In this section, the piano, as the protagonist, has a back-and-forth dialogue with the other three instruments. But soon, the sounds of the other three instruments become more and more impatient, while the piano suddenly becomes silent.

Later, the sound of the piano appeared again, but it became full of expectation and longing, slowly manifesting a kind of ambition, and in the end it was also complacent.

It took Zhou Yan two days to finish writing this piano quartet. On the evening of the next day, Zhou Yan took the score to the school concert hall.

At this time, the orchestra was rehearsing Festival Overture. Zhou Yan did not disturb them, but sat down and listened quietly.

After the rehearsal of Festival Overture ended, Zhou Yan walked up to the stage and said, Everyone, we may need to make some adjustments to our performance for this Mid-Autumn Festival Gala.

The leader of the group, Fang Xiu, looked confused, Senior Brother Zhou Yan, the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala is only four or five days away. Why did the song suddenly change now?

Li Biru said nonchalantly, Just change the song. What do you want to change? How about changing to Nightingale? Senior Brother Zhou Yan, you can still show off your performance when you are in charge.

How about changing to Dark Fragrance Floating? Senior brother, go up and show off your skills for us.

How about Always Together, something with a different style. Didn't we invite a lot of guests from outside the school? Let's play something like this, it would be more friendly to them.

In that case, why not come to If Love Is Provident?

This song is inappropriate for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

How about Hidden Joy, which sounds very happy, and Multi-Threading will also work.

These two songs are quite playful, but they are too short and not suitable.

…

When they heard that the repertoire was to be changed, the members of the orchestra did not think it was a big problem, and they discussed with great interest what repertoire to change. They all felt that if they had to change the repertoire, it must be from the repertoire they usually rehearse.

After they discussed for a while, Zhou Yan suddenly raised the notebook in his hand and said, We will play new music this time.

The band members, who were originally talking about it, were stunned. They all looked at Zhou Yan, and everyone's face was full of surprise.

Even if you change the track, you still have to play a new track?

But after being stunned, some people suddenly reacted.

Senior brother, do you have any new songs?

Good, I can listen to senior brother's new work again.

However, some people are worried, It won't be the same song as Eternal Night, because there won't be enough time.

Yeah, we've just put together some ideas for Eternal Night.

Hearing their worries, Zhou Yan said, Of course it won't be too difficult. This is just a piano quartet. A few days will be enough for you.

Many orchestra members were disappointed when they heard it was a piano quartet.

Since it is a piano quartet, the piano must have been decided, and there are three other instruments, most likely the violin. There is no hope for the other instruments.

And even if it’s a violin, there are so many people in the violin section of their orchestra that they can’t separate them.

Zhou Yan ignored their disappointment and handed the score to Fang Xiu, You arrange the arrangements.

Fang Xiu nodded, Okay, senior brother.

She opened the score and looked at it, but didn't see the name, so she asked, Brother, what is the name of this piece?

Yanjing·Silent.

When Fang Xiu heard the name, he didn't ask any questions and started studying the music score.

Zhou Yan also had to tell the party's organizing committee about changing the track. This was not difficult, but he had to inform him.

After Zhou Yan left, the others immediately surrounded Fang Xiu.

Captain, besides the piano, what other instruments does the quartet have?

I'll sign up, leader.

Fang Xiu looked at the boy who raised his hand, rolled his eyes and said, Do you think there is still a place for your gong in the piano quartet?

Captain, I'm signing up. Is there a cello?

Fang Xiu shook his head, No, just the piano, two violins, and a viola.

Me, me, me, give me the viola.

Captain, I'm better at attacking.

…

Liang Yu walked all the way to Yangyin and felt that this year's Mid-Autumn Festival was not very festive.

It might be his misunderstanding, but he always felt that the reason for this was also related to the failure of the Olympic bid. This failure of the Olympic bid seemed to cast a shadow on the city of Yanjing.

The main reason was that it was too much fanfare and a nationwide mobilization. Now after the failure, the backlash is also obvious.

If the Olympic bid is successful, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival will definitely be more lively, because not only is the Mid-Autumn Festival tomorrow, but also the National Day the day after tomorrow. Not only will the people be happy, but the government will also organize special events.

But when he arrived at Yangyin's concert hall, Liang Yu suddenly felt the festive atmosphere. Audiences and performers were everywhere, and everyone had a smile on their face.

Yangyin's Mid-Autumn Festival party was quite formal, and every guest received an invitation letter.

Zhou Yan also invited He Zhenliang, but Chairman He was busy and did not come.

Looking inside the crowd, Liang Yu saw Sun Qin first and walked over.

Director Sun.

Seeing Liang Yu, Sun Qin smiled and said, Director Liang, you are here too. What is your seat number?

Liang Yu took out the invitation and looked at it, 1-25, do you know where it is?

1-25, right next to me, I'm 24.

Liang Yu nodded. He and Sun Qin were placed next to each other. It should have been specially arranged by Zhou Yan.

After sitting down, Liang Yu turned around and looked, and then asked Sun Qin, Do you know any of the guests here today?

I just saw Chen Kaige and a few people from Yanjing Studio.

Oh, Chen Kaige, he's quite famous recently.

Farewell My Concubine has been released in mainland China for two months. The number of viewers has exceeded 10 million, and the results are very good. Mainly because the film won awards in Europe. I have often seen it on TV in the past few months. There are often interviews with Chen Kaige.

It seems that Gong Li is here too. I saw her from a distance at the door just now, but I didn't see her come in. There should be a few other actors, but I don't know them either.

It's going to be a holiday soon. There should be a lot of activities on your stage. Aren't you going to keep an eye on it from inside the stage?

I don't need to worry about the festival programs on the station.

Director Sun should be very busy.

Of course he's busy.

…

Sun Qin was right, Gong Li was indeed here, but she was chatting with Zhou Yan in the back, and Chen Kaige was also there.

Chen Kaige said, I've put aside the activities in the factory. Is it interesting to come to your place?

That's right. Director Chen is now famous all over the world. I feel very honored to be invited.

I'm sorry, but after the party, don't you plan to have a drink?

Don't worry, the table has been set for you.

Gong Li asked, Will you go on stage today?

There's a show coming up.

Is it a solo?

No solos tonight.

That's a pity. Gong Li said regretfully.

Zhou Yan looked at his watch and said with a smile, The performance is about to start. Please take your seats and I'll go to the orchestra to check it out.

Okay, we'll go there by ourselves, you can go about your business.

Zhou Yan sent them into the hall, then turned around and headed towards the back, but after just two steps, he saw Yu Hua.

Yu Hua looked a little depressed, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Zhou Yan teased him, It's not easy to raise children.

Yu Hua sighed, I really didn't help much with taking care of the children, but I was very tired and exhausted. To be honest, I ran out alone today and was quite happy.

It's difficult in the early days, but it gets better after a while.

It sounds like you have taken care of a child... Where is Tiesheng? Is he here?

Zhou Yan turned around and pointed in the direction of Shi Tiesheng and Chen Ximi, Here you go, sit over there with my sister-in-law. Your seat is also next to it.

Okay, I'll go over there, go ahead and get busy.

When Yu Hua walked up to Shi Tiese, Chen Kaige and Gong Li were also nearby, chatting with Shi Tiese.

Chen Kaige and Shi Tiecheng know each other well. His previous film Walking and Singing was adapted from Shi Tiecheng's Life is Like a Piano String.

After Yu Hua came over, Gong Li said hello to Yu Hua again, Brother Yu Hua, you are here.

Well, you're here too. Yu Hua nodded and said hello to Shi Tiecheng and his wife.

Hearing that the person coming was Yu Hua, Chen Kaige was also very interested. In fact, he was very interested in famous writers, including Zhou Yan. It was only after seeing the novels written by Zhou Yan that his mentality changed fundamentally.

The aura of being a writer is too strong.

Even though Chen Kaige is so high-spirited now, he is still relatively humble in front of Shi Tiezhen and Yu Hua.

Chen Kaige also complimented Yu Hua a few words, saying that he was a loyal reader of Yu Hua and liked Yu Hua's Shouting in the Drizzle very much.

Gong Li covered her mouth and snickered beside her. Because of Farewell My Concubine, she and Chen Kaige had not seen each other in the past few months, and she could feel that Chen Kaige was getting more and more proud.

Like today, it is rare for Chen Kaige to compliment others first. In most cases, he waits for others to compliment him.

Yu Hua was not interested in these compliments. Instead, he asked Chen Kaige, Does Director Chen have any children?

Chen Kaige was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, No.

Oh. Yu Hua was a little disappointed.

He hoped to learn some parenting experience from Chen Kaige. He knew that Gong Li and Shi Tiecheng had no children, so he could only place his hope on Chen Kaige.

Shi Tiezhen helped explain, A boy just came to Yu Hua's family. He has been tortured quite a lot recently.

Congratulations. Although I have never given birth to a child, I still know something about this. The first few months after the child is born are the most critical. You must not drink milk powder. You must drink breast milk. Otherwise, the child's body will Important elements are missing…”

Seeing Chen Kaige, a bachelor, talking about parenting, Yu Hua couldn't help but curl his lips. This Director Chen is a master of bragging.

Chen Kaige and the others boasted for a while and returned to their seats because the party was about to begin.

At seven o'clock, the party officially started. Two hosts, a man and a woman, came on stage and gave an opening speech, and then introduced the program. The process was very concise, and there was not even a stage where the leader came on stage to give a speech.

The first program tonight is an excerpt from an original opera Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon. The story of this section is very simple. It is the last conversation between Hou Yi and Chang'e before Chang'e chases the moon.

The reason why this program is placed first is because I hope to usher in the prelude to the Mid-Autumn Festival through the legend of Chang'e flying to the moon.

Since it is a gala held by Yang Yin, it naturally has the characteristics of Yang Yin. After the opera, there are choruses by various choirs and performances by orchestras.

Before each program, the host will introduce the program.

When Zhou Yan's track was introduced, the applause was the warmest.

The other orchestras basically played some classic pieces, and only the Piano Youth Orchestra played Zhou Yan's original pieces.

In order not to waste time, the pieces played by the same orchestra are all connected together. Otherwise, it would be very troublesome to go up and down.

The first piece they played was Festival Overture, and the second piece was The Great Wall.

After the performance of the two pieces of music ended, the host came to the front and introduced, The next piece of music is still performed by the Piano Youth Symphony Orchestra, and it is still composed by the composition teacher Zhou Yan, but it is different from the previous The Great Wall in that , the next thing to be played is a new piece of music. I heard that this piece of music was composed by Teacher Zhou Yan just a few days ago.

Next, please enjoy Yanjing Silence presented to us by the Piano Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Although it was only a quartet, the rest of the orchestra did not leave, but the four musicians leaned forward.

Including Zhou Yan, he was also standing among the musicians, looking at the four people in front who were about to play.

There is no conductor, the performance is led by the piano.

The piano here gives a note, and the performance officially begins.

The first short section is a dialogue between the piano and the other three instruments, going back and forth. From the melody, you can hear some loss and sadness, especially the viola part, which is like a person sighing.

Gradually, the conversation between the several instruments became confusing, and finally it sounded like a quarrel. But at this moment, the piano sound suddenly stopped, and there were only the sounds of the other three instruments.

About twenty seconds later, the other three instruments seemed to realize that the piano had no sound, and they all asked the piano questions.

As if answering the other three instruments, the piano sounded again.

But unlike the first section, the melody of this section became calmer, and the other three instruments gradually became more and more stable from their original impatience.

After another period, the rhythm of the song became faster again, but this time it was not impatient, but brisk. The tune was filled with expectation and longing. Slowly, this positive emotion became more intense and full of ambition. With ambition.

Liang Yu in the audience didn't understand it at first, but when the piano sounded again, he realized that this piece of music might have been composed after the failed Olympic bid.

Especially the contrast between the noise and silence in the previous part was very consistent with their mood when they heard the news.

But what surprised Liang Yu was that the emotions contained in this song were so high-spirited. The disappointment over the failure of the Olympic bid was fleeting, and it was more about expectations for the future.

And from the second half of this song, Liang Yu can hear his strong confidence in the future.

Liang Yu had to lament that the power of music was so direct. His originally disappointed heart was actually mobilized in this way, giving him a lot more motivation.

This piece of music is better than many words of comfort.

Most people don't know that this song was written because of the failure of the Olympic bid, but they can also understand the emotion in it. The whole song gives people the feeling that someone encountered setbacks, but in the end faced forward bravely and confidently.

Everyone experiences things differently, but they can all feel the inspiring power of the music.

Wu Zuqiang nodded secretly. Among the students he had taught in the past few years, Zhou Yan and Li Tao were the most worry-free.

Although their styles are different, they both have one characteristic, that is, they have many works.

Li Tao wins by quantity, and changes in quantity lead to changes in quality. Although Zhou Yan is not as quantitative as Li Tao, he is also very productive, and the quality of each song is very high.

Although Yanjing Silence is just a quartet, it reflects Zhou Yan's skills and talents. Zhou Yan's emotional expression ability is very strong. This can almost be said to be a kind of talent. No matter how hard many people work hard, it is difficult to obtain it. This ability.

And Zhou Yan is able to combine this talent with his own skills, and often creates this kind of music that is both technical and emotional.

However, having such students did not give him a sense of accomplishment as a teacher.

On the other side, Shi Tiecheng heard the name of the song, and then heard the piano silence. He suddenly thought of the phone call he made to Zhou Yan on the morning of the 24th.

At that time, he was silent for a long time.

Could it be that Zhou Yan wrote this paragraph because of his silence at the time?

Otherwise, why would the silence last almost the same time?

If it were anyone else, Shi Tiezhen might have doubted whether he could have finished the music so quickly. But Zhou Yan and Shi Tiesheng didn't doubt it at all. When Zhou Yan wrote Borrowing Cucumber when he was in Jiangjuntuo, it was all improvisation.

When the song ended, Shi Tiezhen applauded and said to Yu Hua next to him, This song should have been written in response to the failure of the Olympic bid.

I have this feeling, but how do you know?

It's a guess. Ask him later for confirmation.

Yanjing Silence was not the last program. After the performance, the Piano Youth Symphony Orchestra went down and the rest of the program continued.

I waited until half past nine and the whole party ended on time.

At the end, Zhou Yan walked to the front row and introduced Gong Li and Chen Kaige to the school leaders. After that, Zhou Yan took them to a hotel outside for dinner.

Because of his health, Shi Tiecheng couldn't go to dinner with them so late. Yu Hua, his wife and children were all at home, so Zhou Yan asked someone to send the three of them home first.

When leaving, Shi Tiesheng asked Zhou Yan, Is this piece composed because of the failure of the Olympic bid?

Zhou Yan nodded, Well, do you feel that 'Silent' seems familiar?

After getting the answer, Shi Tiezhen smiled and said, This piece of music is very good. It is like a broom that can clean away people's negative emotions.

After Shi Tiecheng left, Liang Yu asked Zhou Yan, Is there a tape version of this song?

There is a rehearsal tape, which may not be particularly good. Do you want to listen to it?

Well, I want to take it back to listen to it. Is it convenient?

No problem, as long as it's not for commercial use.

Don't worry, this is not for commercial use.

…

The next night, Zhou Yan returned to Jinling to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with his family.

As soon as he arrived at his grandparents' house, Zhou Yan saw Lao Sizhou Qian covering Lao Jiu Zhou Qing's eyes.

He was just about to ask Zhou Qian why she covered Qing'er's eyes when she heard Qing'er holding her fourth sister's hand and saying, I have grown up and can see kisses.

Zhou Yan scratched his head, turned to look at the TV, and then felt his head buzzing.

Good guy, the movie Green Snake is playing on the TV. He is kissing Wang Zuxian. The kiss is so dark that the sky is dark and the earth is dark.

The key is that he looked at it intently for his younger brothers and sisters, looking completely thirsty for knowledge.

Zhou Yan covered his forehead and said, Qianqian, cover Qing'er's eyes. There won't be a crack.

As you command, Third Brother.

Zhou Yan nodded and asked curiously, Where did this videotape come from?

Second brother gave it to me.

The reason why Zhou Yan asked this was because the movie was only released in Xiangjiang two days ago.

Judging from the clarity of this video tape, his brother Zhou Hong must have used some special means. The clarity of this thing is no different from the original tape.

Zhou Yan went to the kitchen to greet his grandma and the others, but as soon as he entered, his third aunt Li Guangqin said, Xiao Yan, you did a good job.

Grandma said, The performance is good, but the sacrifice is too great, and the body is naked.

Aunt Zhao Lan laughed and said, Mom, you are so old-fashioned. Now you are making a movie. What does it mean? There are others who reveal more.

That's right, Mom, why don't you just show your upper body? There are a lot of shirtless gentlemen on the street. Li Guangqin said.

Then can my grandson compare with those rough old men?

Mom, don't you think the Kung Fu movies you watched before with Jackie Chan and the others are getting more interesting? Jackie Chan and the others were more shirtless in them.

That's my family after all.

Mom, when I look at you, I treat Xiaoyan as a child.

Zhou Yan was listening to them but couldn't get a word in. He stood and listened for a while and then ran to the meeting hall.

As soon as he arrived at the meeting hall, his eldest brother Zhou Yu hit him on the shoulder and said, I can't tell, you've got good muscle training.