1990: Starting from Baojia Street

When it was almost six o'clock, Shu Nomura was interviewing passers-by when he suddenly heard a cry from not far away.

He quickly turned around and saw a car parked on the side of the road, and then he saw a tall and beautiful woman getting out of the car.

Darling, it’s Wang Zuxian.

Nomura Shu was stunned for a moment. Is Wang Zuxian coming today too? He didn't get the news beforehand.

Seeing Joey Wang, Shu Nomura no longer bothered to interview passers-by, and quickly ran in the direction of Joey Wang with his team members.

But there were too many people surrounding him, and Shu Nomura saw that many of his colleagues had already arrived in front of Wang Zuxian.

He and his team members spent a lot of effort, but they could only squeeze in halfway, and they couldn't get in. The closer they got to Wang Zuxian, the more people there were. They were still holding equipment, and it was too difficult to squeeze in.

Since they had met him once before, they were considered acquaintances, so Nomura tried to call Joey Wang's name, but there were too many people calling Joey Wang's name at the scene, and it was impossible for Nomura's voice to attract Joey Wang's attention.

In fact, the only people who saw Wang Zuxian were those close to him. The audience further away only knew that a celebrity was here, but they didn't know who it was.

Who, who?

Standing at the main entrance of the concert hall, Sato Rina saw the scene in the distance and asked curiously.

Pingsong and Guang listened carefully, I think they heard someone calling Wang Zuxian.

Wow, Joey Wong! I like her the most. Sato Rina exclaimed.

Don't you like Yamaguchi Momoe the most?

My favorite domestic female star is Momoe Yamaguchi, and my favorite foreign star is Wang Zuxian.

I feel Wang Zuxian is a bit too tall. Ping Song and Guang said.

Tian Zhongjian asked again, Who is Wang Zuxian?

Hearing Tian Zhongmaer's question, the other three looked at him strangely.

Pingsong and Guang curled their lips and said, Don't you even know Wang Zuxian?

Ah, is she so famous?

Although she is not well-known to the point of being a household name, she is the heroine of Zhou Yan's new movie The Sixth Sense. She also appeared with Zhou Yan on the last TV Asahi program.

Ah, is it her? Tian Zhongmao scratched his head. He didn't pay much attention to the actress's name at the time.

Did she come here specifically to watch Zhou Yan's concert?

Probably not. Wang Zuxian works a lot in Neon. I have seen her on another show before. She must have other work and stopped by.

She is the spokesperson of Shiseido. Sato Rina said.

Maybe she came with Zhou Yan. Isn't she the heroine of Zhou Yan's new movie? She may have come here to promote the new movie. Ibuki Suzune guessed.

Sato Rina shook her head, Probably not. How could anyone do a promotion so early, and I didn't hear that Zhou Yan had any activities to promote a new movie this time. If he wanted to promote a new movie, he would definitely hold a special press conference or something like that. activity.

That's true... Ibuki Suzune just started to speak, when she suddenly saw a familiar figure in the crowd, Look, is that Mr. Heisuke?

where?

What about that? Ibuki Suzune pointed.

Tian Nakamaji and Sato Rina looked in the direction of her finger, and sure enough they saw Heisuke.

Wow, it's really Heisuke-sensei. Is he coming to the concert too?

It turns out he also likes Zhou Yan.

Would you like to say hello?

It's better not to.

Just when they were discussing whether to say hello to Teacher Heisuke, Wang Zuxian had already reached the door of the concert hall, and the crowd following Wang Zuxian suddenly crowded them away.

By the time Wang Zuxian entered the concert hall, they could no longer find Ping Jie.

Shu Nomura has been chasing Wang Zuxian here, but he can't squeeze in. There is no way. He didn't seize a favorable position at the beginning, and it will be very difficult to pass later.

But when Joey Wong entered the concert hall and the crowd around him dispersed, Shu Nomura suddenly patted his head.

Why are we competing with them? We are partners of today's concert. We can just go backstage for interviews.

He waved to the team members, Come on, let's go in.

Then a group of them strutted into the concert hall.

…

When Joey Wong arrived backstage, many members of the orchestra took the initiative to say hello to her.

Sister Xiaoxian.

Sister Xiaoxian is here.

Zhou Yan was explaining things to the group leader Fang Xiu when he heard the voices of the group members and turned to look over.

Wang Zuxian was dressed very casually today, wearing a long brown suit with a burgundy shirt underneath. She is tall and looks very good with this casual combination.

At this time, Wang Zuxian also walked up to him, and Fang Xiu smiled and said hello, Sister Xiaoxian is here.

Well, I came to see you. I didn't interrupt you to talk about business, right?

No, senior brother and I have finished talking. I'm going to talk to Biru about something. Senior brother, Sister Xiaoxian, you guys can talk.

After Fang Xiu left, Wang Zuxian looked at Zhou Yan up and down, Third brother, this suit looks great today. Whoever bought it for you is really discerning.

Zhou Yan twitched the corners of his lips and whispered, Wang Po sells melons and boasts of herself.

The entire outfit he wore today was bought for him by Wang Zuxian.

In fact, there is nothing special about this outfit. Except for the white shirt underneath, it is basically black from head to toe.

After all, it was a concert, so the clothes were pretty standard. However, the clothes Wang Zuxian chose for Zhou Yan were relatively casual and slim-fitting. Zhou Yan had a tall figure, and the clothes showed off his figure, especially his long legs.

Wang Zuxian looked at Zhou Yan wearing the clothes she chose for him, and the more she looked at it, the more she liked it. If there weren't so many people around, she would definitely trim Zhou Yan's sleeves and collar.

Just then, Shu Nomura came in with several team members. Seeing Wang Zuxian looking at Zhou Yan with his head half raised, he quickly said to the photographer, Quick-

Before he finished speaking, he realized that the photographer was already taking pictures.

Did you get it?

The photographer nodded, I got it.

Nomura Shu nodded, That's good.

The scene where the two of them looked at each other just now was so eye-catching.

Shu Nomura has also heard about Zhou Yan’s tidbits.

It was said that Zhou Yan was in love with Zhang Manyu, but when filming Green Snake, Zhou Yan had feelings for Wang Zuxian again.

Shu Nomura couldn't tell whether these tidbits were true or false, but the way Wang Zuxian looked at Zhou Yan at that moment made him feel that Wang Zuxian and Zhou Yan had something to do, at least Wang Zuxian had feelings for Zhou Yan.

This is also understandable. People like Zhou Yan are too lethal to women.

After confirming that the photographer had captured the scene just now, Shu Nomura led the photographer to the two of them.

Mr. Zhou Yan, Miss Wang Zuxian.

Wang Zuxian still remembered Nomura Shu and said hello with a smile, Mr. Nomura, are you interviewing Zhou Yan again this time?

Yes, it's a great honor. This time, I will be responsible for the work between our TV station and Mr. Zhou Yan. Did Ms. Wang Zuxian come to the concert specially this time?

Wang Zuxian shook his head, I happened to be in Neon during this time to have other work, so I stopped by to take a look.

That's really fate. Shu Nomura nodded, and then directly asked Wang Zuxian, I don't know how long you will stay at Neon. Do you have time to come to our TV station for an exclusive interview?

I'm afraid that won't work. My schedule in Neon is quite full.

Shu Nomura just tried to ask, but when Joey Wong said that his schedule was full, he did not continue the invitation. He could only regret and said, That's such a shame. I hope we can cooperate next time if we have the opportunity.

Wang Zuxian waved to the camera, It's okay, I can appear on camera today.

That's really great.

Shu Nomura hurriedly waved to the cameraman, asked him to set up the camera, and gave Wang Zuxian a simple interview on the spot.

After the camera was set and before Nomura Shu opened his mouth, Joey Wong waved to the camera again, Hello everyone, I'm Joey Wang. I'm very happy to be here at Zhou Yan's concert. I hope everyone can support us. We are very happy. The talented Mr. Zhou Yan. There is also Mr. Zhou Yan's movie The Sixth Sense, which will be released to everyone next year. It also includes my performance. I hope everyone can go to the cinema to support it.

Wang Zuxian said this in Chinese. Shu Nomura couldn't understand it, but it didn't matter. When he arrived at the scene today, he also brought a Chinese translator with him.

After the translator translated Wang Zuxian's words into neon language, Nomura couldn't help nodding. He was so happy that Wang Zuxian took such initiative. If every guest could give face like Wang Zuxian, his work would be much easier.

Since Joey Wong mentioned the movie The Sixth Sense, Hide Nomura took the opportunity to ask, Miss Joey Wang, can you tell us about your experience working with Mr. Zhou Yan?

Wang Zuxian said without hesitation, Of course it's very good. This is the second time Zhou Yan and I have collaborated, but the last time we collaborated we were both actors.

Can you tell me about the two collaborations and what's the difference?

It's very different. When we were both actors for the first time, I could teach him as a senior, but when he became a director, I could only be trained.

It sounds like Director Zhou Yan is a tyrant on the set?

Wang Zuxian waved his hand, He is not a tyrant, but he is quite scary when he is serious on the set. He is really very strict.

Well, it's understandable, because only strictness can produce excellent works.

…

Although Wang Zuxian was very proactive in cooperating, today was Zhou Yan's concert after all, and Shu Nomura couldn't catch Wang Zuxian filming alone, so after asking a simple question, he said goodbye to Zhou Yan and the others, and then went to shoot elsewhere.

After Nomura Shu left, Wang Zuxian asked Zhou Yan for credit, Am I great?

Excellent. Zhou Yan gave a thumbs up, and then asked Wang Zuxian, How was the shooting of your sake commercial?

On the day they arrived, they talked about the commercial shooting in the past two days, and Zhou Yan asked casually.

The sake commercial has been shot, but there are still some problems with the shampoo commercial.

Wang Zuxian endorsed Jiuniang Sake the year before last. At that time, the advertising fee was 3 million, and it also set a record for foreign actors in Neon endorsement fees. Kuniang’s sake commercial was shot once the year before last, and this time it’s a new version.

The shampoo she was talking about was from Shiseido. This endorsement was accepted last year, and a version was shot at that time. This time she came to shoot a new version.

What's the problem? Zhou Yan asked.

I shot one version, but Shiseido was not satisfied after reading it and felt that the advertising effect was not good.

So what are they going to do now?

They are going to change the plan and shoot it again.

Wouldn't that waste your time?

The reason why actors like to accept endorsements is because it is easy to make money. You can get a lot of money just by spending some time filming an advertisement.

When Wang Zuxian took Jiuniang's endorsement, her salary was only about one million Hong Kong dollars, which meant that she had to make three movies to earn the money from one endorsement.

It takes at least a month to make a movie, and you have to participate in events to promote it later.

But endorsements are different. An advertisement can be as short as a few seconds or as long as ten or twenty seconds. It can basically be shot in one day, and the actors can do it if they spare some time.

From the perspective of making money alone, the cost-effectiveness of endorsements is too high.

Usually the brand will finalize the advertising plan with the advertising company first, and then invite actors to come over for filming. Under normal circumstances, there will be no situation where one version is shot and then shot again.

On the one hand, the actor may not be willing, after all, it takes time to go back and forth. On the other hand, the brand does not want to bother. If you don't talk about it, it will also waste a lot of money.

There's nothing I can do about it. They gave me the money, and the fact that the plan didn't work out this time has something to do with me. It was me who advanced the time.

Originally, Wang Zuxian had to wait until next spring to shoot a Shiseido commercial before coming to Neon, but she wanted to see Zhou Yan's concert, so she discussed with Shiseido and moved the time to this winter.

In fact, this matter has nothing to do with Wang Zuxian, because she only discussed it and did not force others. Naturally, Shiseido agreed, so it is their own problem that they were not prepared.

Then I'm going to Nagoya for my next show, can't you go?

Wang Zuxian looked at him with a smile, Do you really want me to go?

You're not asking knowingly.

Hehe, I can go to the next one. They haven't decided on the plan yet. I will shoot again when they decide on the new plan. I told them that I will stay in Neon for a while. By the way, Shiseido Some people came over today, and I heard them talk about it during the filming.

Then I'll talk to them later and ask them to give you more money. Zhou Yan joked.

How much do you want them to add to me?

Zhou Yan thought about it seriously, It has to be piled higher than the Tokyo Tower. After all, it costs me the same to hire you as a translator.

Wang Zuxian gave him a roll of his eyes and said, I won't talk to you anymore. Just get ready. I'm going to the front.

Well, you go ahead.

…

After Wang Zuxian left, Zhou Yan took Fang Xiu and the others to go through tonight's process again.

By 6:30, they started to go on stage to prepare.

The concert started at seven o'clock, tickets were checked in at six o'clock, and by the time the musicians started taking the stage at six thirty, the audience was almost there.

Today's concert is different from Yanjing Silence in that there is no professional host on the stage, only an announcer.

At 6:58, Zhou Yan walked to the side of the stage and waited for the announcer to announce the curtain.

Although he hadn't come on stage yet, the audience applauded enthusiastically as soon as they saw him.

Zhou Yan could only stand on the side and wave to the audience.

At 6:59, the announcer began to announce the curtain.

Next, the first piece of music that will be played tonight is Memory of the Forbidden City. I invite Zhou Yan to come on stage.

The announcer's voice was full of emotion and excitement. If Zhou Yan hadn't known what the announcer was, he would have thought it was a character in a neon cartoon introducing his ultimate move.

Such a serious and plain speech made the announcer sound like a middle-aged man.

Amid the warm applause of the crowd, Zhou Yan stepped onto the stage.

He first walked to the chair in front of the conductor and sat down, then raised the microphone. As an opening, he, the protagonist, naturally had to say a few words.

Hello everyone, I am Zhou Yan. I am very happy to come to Neon and Tokyo. The preparations for Oriental Legacy have been in progress for a long time. I am also very much looking forward to the arrival of this concert.

Because he had to take care of the translator, Zhou Yan stopped after finishing a sentence and continued after the translation was completed.

After completing the four concerts of Piano Boy, I originally wanted to continue doing this special topic, but later because of the good response to Mysterious Country, we changed our thinking and started preparing for Oriental Legacy.

You have already received the program list, and you should also know why this concert is called Oriental Legacy. All the pieces performed today will be mainly performed by traditional oriental instruments. Some of them were originally arranged using traditional instruments. , such as Memory of the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, etc., and there are also some songs that were originally mainly played with Western instruments. Later, I rearranged them and used a large number of Eastern instruments, such as Forever Together, Kite, etc. .”

Of course, in addition to the songs that everyone has already heard, there will also be some new songs today, such as Distant Journey and Borrowing Cucumbers.

Zhou Yan didn't talk too much. After saying a few words, he put the microphone aside and started today's performance.

Suntory Concert Hall is indeed of very high standards. As a concert hall that has only been built for a few years, the sound structure of the entire hall is very advanced.

The size of the concert hall has a very obvious impact on the acoustics, especially the area of ​​the seating area. Seats that are too wide often lead to excessive suction.

Suntory Concert Hall has more than 2,000 seats, but it does a very good job in this regard, and the impact of sound absorption is well controlled.

In different concert halls, orchestra arrangements are also different.

For example, when the first song Memory of the Forbidden City and Yanjing Silence were performed, the scale of the Yanjing Concert Hall was relatively small, with less than a thousand listeners.

When playing in a small chamber music hall, the number of orchestra members should not be too large, because too many instruments will cause the volume to be too loud and the audience will feel uncomfortable.

At Suntory Concert Hall, the number of people arranging the same piece of music must be much larger, otherwise the audience will feel that the volume cannot be controlled.

Although it was the first time to perform abroad, the Piano Youth Orchestra has already seen many big scenes, so today's performance was smooth and without any mistakes.

Jiro Hattori sat in the front row, watching the performance on stage, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the atmosphere of listening to the concert in person was indeed very good.

As the head of Shiseido's sales department, Jiro Hattori is usually very busy, and he is not a music lover. The last time he went to the concert hall to attend a concert was probably seven or eight years ago, and his wife brought him here. of.

But the feeling that time was not very good. For someone who doesn’t pay much attention to concerts, the atmosphere of the concert is very important. Although the level of the concert should be very high, the attendance rate of the concert hall was very low.

If the attendance of a concert is low, the impact will be fatal, and the audience's perception will also be directly affected.

Looking back at today's concert, let alone the level of performance, at least the concert hall was full and everyone was listening attentively. This atmosphere gave Jiro Hattori a good feeling.

He had heard some of the songs in Piano Boy and Mysterious Kingdom before, but not all. In order to come to watch Zhou Yan's concert this time, he listened to the music from these two albums over and over again several times.

When listening to the CD, he already felt that the music sounded very good, but now after listening to the live concert, he understood why everyone is keen to come to the concert. This feeling of being wrapped in exquisite natural vocal sounds is easy to let go. People are immersed in music.

Especially when you find that more than 2,000 other people in the concert hall are as immersed in music as you are, it will make people feel very superior.

There is also music like Forever Together. After being rearranged, the taste is completely different, which is very surprising.

Halfway through the concert, Jiro Hattori also discovered the reason why Neon People liked Zhou Yan so much. Zhou Yan’s songs were all written on Neon People’s aesthetics.

Hattori Jiro's wife Hattori Ai was sitting next to him. When the performance of Forever Together ended, Hattori Ai gently rested her head on her husband's shoulder, Thank you for bringing me to such a wonderful concert.

As long as you like it, that's fine. Hattori Jiro whispered.

Hattori looked at her husband with love in her eyes.

This time, for the first time, her husband took the initiative to invite her to watch the concert. Although she knew that her husband was doing it because of work, she still felt very happy.

She usually comes to the concert hall by herself, but she still hopes to come with her husband.

At this moment, the performance on the stage continued, and she turned her attention to the stage again.

…

A concert, two hours, but it passed quickly.

Before the last song, Zhou Yan picked up the microphone again.

Next is the last song today, Borrow Cucumber. I composed this song in April. Some of you may have seen this video, which was taken when I was improvising this song. Picture.”

The audience was listening in rapt attention, and they were all a little confused when they heard that it was already the last song.

Two hours, so fast?

For ordinary concerts, two hours can be said to be a long time, but because the quality of the music in today's concert is so high and each song can be called a classic, they feel that time passes very quickly.

Zhou Yan continued.

This piece was composed in Jiangjuntuo, Yanjing. At that time, director Wu Ziniu was filming Tree Hole there. Because I was the original author and screenwriter, I went to visit the scene. There were two other people who went with me at that time. Writer friends, Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, yes, they are the two people you saw in the videotape.

After listening to Borrowing Cucumbers, many people came to tell me that they heard the ignorance of young boys and girls in this song, as well as the loveliness of love. They also asked me why such a piece of music with a girl's poem, It would be called Borrowing Cucumber.

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, the audience couldn't help but whisper.

Like those people Zhou Yan mentioned, they also have this question.

After listening to the song Borrowing Cucumber, most people feel that the song is full of youth and love, but the name of this song is confusing.

Borrowing cucumbers, who borrowed cucumbers from whom, and why did they borrow cucumbers?

Is the cucumber an image, an allusion? What exactly does it represent?

If it represents love, why? There are many images that represent love, but they have never heard of a cucumber.

Zhou Yan looked at the audience with expectant faces, as if waiting for his answer.

In fact, Zhou Yan originally wanted to announce the answer in a playful way, but seeing the expressions of the audience, he still couldn't bear it.

He was worried that if he told the truth, the beautiful pictures that many people had built in their hearts would suddenly be shattered.

It was fun, but it also made him feel guilty.

In the end, he still didn't tell the truth, but just said, The word borrow, like the Yiyin, has many meanings. Borrowing money, borrowing debt, this is one meaning, and another meaning is pretense. You can imagine cucumber like this A certain image, and this song uses the image of cucumber to express what you want.

As for what it expresses, it's not up to me to decide. Every listener is a special individual, and the meaning of a piece of music to each of you is that you hear it.

Finally, I would like to give you a quote from the ancient Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming.

When you don't look at this flower, this flower dies with you. When you look at this flower, the color of this flower becomes clear for a moment, and you know that this flower is not outside your heart.

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, the concert hall fell into silence.

Not because they were moved by Zhou Yan's words, but because there was no translation at all.

At this time, the translator was looking at the sentence he had just written, sweating profusely.

How to translate this sentence? It didn't seem particularly difficult, but he always felt that no matter how he translated it, it was wrong.

This was completely out of line. When he took this job, no one told him that he still wanted to engage in philosophy.

After a while, the translator realized that it was impossible to keep silent, so he had to bite the bullet and translate this sentence.

After it was over, the translator breathed a long sigh of relief.

In fact, the translation still underestimated the audience's understanding. Although his translation was very straightforward, the audience was able to hear the profound meaning.

After he finished speaking, the audience also applauded. This applause was not only for Zhou Yan, but also to encourage the translator.

Zhou Yan smiled and started playing Borrow a Cucumber.

When the song ends, the concert ends.

After that, it was the same old routine, Zhou Yan exited, and then the audience applauded for an encore.

Like other previous concerts, Zhou Yan returned four times today. After the concert, he returned to play four more songs.

After the fourth return, Zhou Yan went down again.

In fact, many audience members already knew Zhou Yan's routine, which was to perform four times every time, but they still refused to give up and continued to applaud vigorously. As long as the lights in the concert hall were not on, their applause would not stop.

Three full minutes later, just when the audience had lost hope, Zhou Yan came on stage for the fifth time.

The applause that had begun to weaken began to grow louder again. This was the fifth time we had returned! Never happened before!

After taking the stage again, Zhou Yan waved to Ma Dongfang, the chief erhu player.

When Ma Dongfang came to him, he took the microphone and said, Next to me is the erhu principal of our orchestra, and the next piece of music will be presented to you by the two of us.

This song is called Drinking the Yangtze River Water Together. I hope everyone likes it. (End of Chapter)