1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan knew that even if he didn't say anything, Zhang Youan would definitely do the publicity.

Zhang Youan may not raise the price, but the fact that Shiseido wants to spend three million Hong Kong dollars to buy The Street Where the Wind Lives will definitely make the news.

Although Xu Feng didn't like Zhang Youan's style, he still didn't fire him because his ability was indeed good.

Zhang Youan naturally deserves a lot of credit for Zhou Yan's development so smoothly. As long as Zhang Youan seizes a chance, he can create a wave of momentum for Zhou Yan.

He not only creates momentum, but also takes advantage of it.

For example, when Shiseido came to Zhou Yan this time, he knew that Shiseido wanted to build momentum for the next new product launch.

Since Shiseido wants to build momentum, Zhang Youan naturally cannot give up such a good opportunity. He will also use the momentum created by Shiseido to promote Zhou Yan.

It's a lot of trouble to build your own momentum, but it's easier to borrow the momentum of others.

Zhang Youan did not delay Zhou Yan for too long. The two chatted for a while, then he left, and then Zhou Yan set off to find Wang Zuxian.

They made an appointment to meet at Sensoji Temple, and Zhou Yan arrived first. Sensoji Temple is quite popular on weekdays.

It is said that Sensoji Temple is the temple with the oldest neon history and is also a must-visit attraction for tourists after arriving in Tokyo, just like foreigners who go to Yanjing must go to the Forbidden City.

Comparing the National Palace Museum with Sensoji Temple is a bit bullying. The entire Sensoji Temple may not be as big as the National Palace Museum.

However, the business of Sensoji Temple is very good. You can see some small stalls before entering. Wang Zuxian said that there is a commercial street with a long history here. The main purpose of their visit to Sensoji Temple today is to visit that commercial street.

In fact, standing at the door, you can see the commercial street inside, and there are indeed many people.

After standing at the gate of Leimen for a while, Zhou Yan saw Wang Zuxian from a distance.

He was about to raise his hand to say hello, but suddenly noticed a man following not far behind Wang Zuxian.

About twenty or thirty meters away, this man was still holding a camera in his hand, and his attention was focused on Wang Zuxian.

Realizing that Wang Zuxian might have been followed by the paparazzi, Zhou Yan did not say hello to Wang Zuxian, but stepped into the gate of Sensoji Temple and leaned against the door.

At this time, Wang Zuxian also saw Zhou Yan. She was about to wave to Zhou Yan, but she saw Zhou Yan running towards the door.

Seeing Zhou Yan entering Sensoji Temple, Wang Zuxian was filled with questions.

Wang Zuxian soon thought of a possibility. She did not turn around immediately, but walked forward slowly, then pretended to be looking for someone, and started to turn around and look around.

When she turned around, she saw a man turning around too.

The man was facing her sideways, holding a camera in his hand.

In a place like Sensoji Temple, it is very normal to hold a camera, but the camera in this man's hand is obviously more professional. The key is that he is a little sneaky and very suspicious.

Knowing that he might be being followed, Wang Zuxian didn't worry. He first walked to the thunder gate and pretended to be waiting for someone.

She noticed that after she stopped, the man also stopped and kept pretending to take pictures of the building next to him.

In fact, there is nothing interesting to see next to the Kaminarimon Gate, just some ordinary modern buildings. The temple is inside, and you have to go through the commercial street inside to see it.

It’s definitely not normal to take photos here and for so long.

Seeing the man's behavior, Wang Zuxian was sure that he was a paparazzi.

Fortunately, Zhou Yan has good eyesight, otherwise she would have been photographed today. She is not afraid to disclose it to Zhou Yan, but there is a difference between them taking the initiative to disclose it and being photographed and then forced to disclose it.

Wang Zuxian stayed at the door for a while. When she saw that the man had his back turned to her, she immediately turned around and walked around from the Leimen to the commercial street, and then quickly hid herself among the crowd.

When the paparazzi turned around, he found that Wang Zuxian had disappeared, and he quickly ran in the direction of Leimen.

After passing through the Thunder Gate and looking at the bustling commercial street, the paparazzi had a headache. With so many people, Wang Zuxian could not be seen at all.

Although Wang Zuxian is tall, he is not taller than most men, so it is difficult to see him in the crowd.

But there was no way, his target was Wang Zuxian, so he could only sigh and squeeze into the crowd, trying to find Wang Zuxian.

Wang Zuxian disguised himself alone. He must have dated someone. If he wanted to take a picture of the other party, it would be big news.

Therefore, he did not want to give up easily.

Zhou Yan was standing behind the door. The closest distance between him and the paparazzi was only two meters apart.

Seeing the paparazzi, Zhou Yan looked confused, where did Wang Zuxian go?

After the paparazzi squeezed into the crowd, Zhou Yan walked to the Leimen again and searched around but couldn't find Wang Zuxian.

At this time, he felt a little regretful. He should have brought a mobile phone with him so that he could call Wang Zuxian.

But he didn't move, because he knew that in this case, if he stayed here, he could still wait for Wang Zuxian, but if he ran around too, it would greatly increase the difficulty of the encounter.

Zhou Yan stood at the door for about ten minutes when a red-haired girl wearing a top hat and leather jacket walked towards him.

Because this woman's walking posture was extremely exaggerated, her whole body twisted like a water snake, so Zhou Yan took another look.

The woman walked past him, but quickly turned around and came back, saying in neon, Hello.

When Zhou Yan heard this voice, he twitched his lips. No wonder the twisting posture looked familiar. It turned out to be Wang Zuxian.

Now, where did you get this new outfit?

Hearing that Zhou Yan recognized him, Wang Zuxian was surprised and said, How did you recognize me?

Zhou Yan pointed to his ears, Do you know what your boyfriend's ears are for?

I even changed my voice specially... Wang Zuxian muttered.

Zhou Yan looked up and down Wang Zuxian's clothes again. Except for his shoes, he had changed his whole body, but this outfit was really a hodgepodge.

Black leather jacket, long red hair, blue jk skirt, purple leggings, the whole Victoria non-mainstream style, quite a bit of post-modernism.

But her legs are straight and long, and she can even wear this short skirt with purple leggings.

The biggest flaw of this disguise is this. The legs are too eye-catching. If you want to disguise, you should change to a pair of loose pants.

Should we change places? Zhou Yan asked.

Wang Zuxian shook his head, Why change the place? If I change the place, wouldn't my clothes be changed in vain?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, That's true. Then let's go shopping in the commercial street?

Let's go.

Wang Zuxian held Zhou Yan's arm and walked toward the commercial street.

This commercial street basically sells snacks and accessories, and there are many traditional items from the Edo period.

Walking on the street, you can see people with all kinds of hair colors and clothing. Even Wang Zuxian’s red hair is not unusual.

There are also many people wearing kimonos. There should be a place specializing in renting kimonos to tourists.

The shops on this street are very attractive to girls. The two of them basically never stop in one shop and stop in front of each shop to take a look.

Walking to a stall selling royal guards, Wang Zuxian pointed at the two royal guards and said, This is pretty good-looking.

The two guards are obviously a pair. There are two little figures embroidered on them with similar clothing styles. They look like cartoon characters, one male and one female.

It's quite beautiful.

Zhou Yan nodded and asked the boss in English, How much is it?

The boss smiled and gestured with four fingers, Four thousand neon coins.

Oh, four thousand...

Then Zhou Yan realized that the boss actually spoke Chinese, and it was very standard, with no accent.

Boss, are you Chinese?

The boss shook his head and said, I'm from Korea.

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. A Korean who opened a shop in Neon spoke fluent Chinese, which sounded a bit magical.

Wang Zuxian was also very surprised, Boss, you speak Mandarin really well.

I have been in Shenyang for two years, so I can speak fairly well.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh, this boss's language talent is really good, he can speak such fluent Chinese after only staying in China for two years.

Many people who have been in China for more than ten years may not speak Chinese as well as he does.

The boss also does not forget to promote his products, You two have very good taste. This is a pair of lovers you have chosen, and they are also the best pair in our store. The embroidery on them is all made of silk, and the workmanship is very good. You can also see that the characters are lifelike, and it will be very suitable whether you wear it on your body or hang it on your bag after buying it.”

Wang Zuxian took off the one with the girl embroidered on it. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it. She turned to Zhou Yan and said, Isn't there a pendant missing on your bamboo flute? This one can just hang on it.

Okay, I bought it.

Zhou Yan paid without saying a word.

When the boss saw that the business was done, he was very happy and said, Would you like to wrap it up for you two?

Wrap this up. Wang Zuxian handed the female version to the boss, then took off the male version and said to Zhou Yan, Put it on for me.

Zhou Yan nodded and put the guard around Wang Zuxian's neck.

While helping them pack, the boss reminded them, There are some scriptures and other things in this royal guard that have been prayed for, so don't open them out of curiosity.

clear.

After buying Yushou, Wang Zuxian was very happy and soon touched it and took a look.

The two walked slowly inside. When they got to the front, they saw someone asking for a fortune. Wang Zuxian pulled Zhou Yan over again.

She must have been prepared. When she arrived at the place, she stuffed two hundred silver coins into the box, then picked up the lottery tube and started shaking it.

While shaking, she was still reciting something silently.

What are you reading? Zhou Yan asked.

Wang Zuxian glanced at Zhou Yan and said, It won't work if you say it.

As she said that, she shook out a signature with fifty-six written on it. She followed the number to find drawer No. 56 on the cabinet, and then took out a signature from it.

There are several lines of large characters on the signature, and the header reads Fifty-sixth is not auspicious.

The signatures in the four vertical columns below are still read from right to left.

Life is full of joys and sorrows. You grow old before you grow old. You have to work a thousand times before you meet a noble person and stay with you.

There were densely packed neon annotations next to the Chinese characters, which Zhou Yan couldn't understand.

But this signature is really vernacular, like a jingle.

The signature is quite auspicious overall. Although there will be some ups and downs in the first half of life, the results in the later period are very good, so it belongs to Xiaoji.

This kind of signature is very vague, and most people can get it right.

Wang Zuxian read the signature several times, then carefully folded it up and put it in his bag, and said to Zhou Yan, You want one too.

Zhou Yan nodded and gave him all the money. If you don't ask for anything, it's free. Although a hundred neon coins are small, mosquito legs are also meat.

He also picked up the lottery tube and shook it, and a lottery came out. Wang Zuxian quickly picked it up, and then exclaimed, It's No. 1.

Zhou Yan stretched his head and took a look, and it was indeed number one.

Wang Zuxian ran to the drawer No. 1 again and pulled out a signature from it.

The best luck

The Seven Treasures Pagoda is placed on the top of the peak. Everyone is looking up at it. Don't wait and see.

Sure enough, it was the No. 1 lottery. The lottery was so good that it couldn't be further from the truth.

What did you ask for just now? Wang Zuxian asked curiously.

I--

Just when Zhou Yan was about to speak, Wang Zuxian suddenly reacted and immediately covered Zhou Yan's mouth, Don't say it, it won't work if you say it.

In fact, when Zhou Yan shook the lottery tube just now, he didn't think about anything. He just thought that all the money was given away, and if he didn't shake it, it would be nothing.

But seeing that Wang Zuxian took it seriously, he nodded.

Seeing him nodding, Wang Zuxian let go of his mouth.

In fact, Zhou Yan didn't know why he couldn't tell others what he was asking for. In many places, when asking for a signature and looking for someone to interpret it, the first thing people asked was what they were asking for.

After letting go of Zhou Yan, Wang Zuxian looked at the signature again, and the more he read, the happier he became. This signature must require a career.

This kind of signature is best for asking for a career, but it would be weird if it was asking for something else, such as marriage.

If you are seeking marriage, how should you interpret the phrase Seven Treasures Pagoda, placed on the top of the peak?

It is even harder to explain the phrase Everyone is looking up to you, don't wait and see.

And if you are looking for a career, it couldn't be more reasonable.

But this signature is really a bit outrageous. Even if most people get this signature, I would probably be embarrassed.

Most of them are ordinary people. This sign says Safe at the top of the peak and Everyone looks up to you. It is impossible for ordinary people to achieve it.

But this lottery was obtained by Zhou Yan, which made people think a lot.

Wang Zuxian folded the signature carefully and put it into the bag.

I'll keep it for you.

Then they entered the main hall of Sensoji Temple.

There is nothing special inside the temple. Europeans and Americans might be surprised when they come here, but Zhou Yan and his friends are from China, so there really is nothing special about Sensoji Temple.

But something interesting happened in the middle. They met the paparazzi who was following Wang Zuxian just now in the temple.

But Joey Wong had changed his clothes now. They passed each other and the paparazzi didn't recognize them.

…

The two of them walked around Sensoji Temple until 4:30, then changed places and went to Ueno Park for a stroll.

In fact, Zhou Yan prefers Ueno Park to the lively Sensoji Temple.

Although there are quite a lot of people in the park, the density is not comparable to that of the commercial street. Compared to people, there are still more trees.

Ueno Park is known as the city park with the largest neon lights. This kind of park located in a busy city is a bit like a clear spring in the desert, which is quite rare.

This is a good place to watch cherry blossoms, but it's a pity that the cherry blossoms don't bloom until March and April. Although Ueno Park doesn't look bleak now, it also looks a lot plainer.

Ueno Park is not just a park, it also has a zoo and some cultural venues, such as museums, cultural centers, art galleries, and even concert halls.

Because it was getting late, the two of them did not enter any museum, but casually walked across the road in the park.

Traveling still depends on your state of mind. As long as your state of mind is adjusted, even taking a casual walk in the park will feel good.

After passing through some cultural places in the middle, the two of them arrived at the artificial lake. They were a little tired when they walked here. There happened to be a bench next to it, so they sat down to rest.

There are many pleasure boats in the lake, which are small kayaks that need to be paddled.

After working for about seven or eight minutes, Zhou Yan heard a burst of music not far away and turned his head to look.

Seventy or eighty meters away from them, there was a group of people playing musical instruments.

Wang Zuxian also heard the sound and looked over.

Those people were holding traditional musical instruments that are common here in Neon, such as shakuhachi, neon pipa, shamisen, bamboo flute, sheng, and Xiao.

Wang Zuxian turned around, put his two long legs on Zhou Yan's legs, then leaned his head on the back of the bench with his hands and looked over there, Are they going to have an outdoor performance?

Zhou Yan smiled, I think they are more like some students practicing outdoors. These should be students of traditional musical instruments.

That's similar to Ma Dongfang and others.

Yeah, almost.

That one looks like an erhu.

Zhou Yan looked around and saw that the shapes of the shamisen and the erhu were somewhat similar.

That's the shamisen, which evolved from the Chinese three-stringed string.

Is it the same as the erhu? It's also played. It sounds like it has more strings than the erhu.

Zhou Yan shook his head, It's not the same thing. Sanxian and shamisen are both plucked instruments. The way they are played is actually more like a guitar. The material of shamisen is very different from that of shamisen, so the timbre is also very different. There are many neon songs in it. They all use shamisen. Do you see that thing that person is holding in his right hand?

I can't see clearly. It looks like a rice spoon.

...

Rice spoon...not to mention, Wang Zuxian's description is quite appropriate. The shamisen picks used by many people look very similar to wooden rice spoons.

You can think of it as a guitar pick, only one size larger. As for the shape, it depends on personal preference. There is no fixed formula.

Oh. Wang Zuxian then pointed to another musical instrument, Is that a pipa?

Well, that's a pipa, but a neon pipa.

What is the difference between a neon pipa and a normal pipa?

There are many kinds of pipa, and all pipas evolve from one shape. Compared with the Chinese pipa, the neon pipa is smaller in size and covered with animal skin at the bottom. Its sound is thinner and duller than the Chinese pipa.

I feel they all look similar, but you can tell at a glance. Wang Zuxian sighed.

This is not an amazing skill. If you hang around with musical instruments every day, you can recognize it. In fact, musical instruments are not that complicated. They are always the same. There are only a few ways of pronunciation. If you know why, it will be easy to understand. Of course.

Do you know how to play these instruments?

Zhou Yan said with a smile: It depends on how you define the word knowledge. If it just means being able to play simple music, then I can play any instrument in the world in less than half an hour.

Zhou Yan was modest for half an hour. As long as it was a conventional musical instrument, he could play simple pieces in a few minutes.

Even if you give him a pile of stones, as long as he takes the time to try out the sound of each stone, he can still play a tune, and there will definitely be no problem with the melody of an ordinary popular song.

so smart?

Zhou Yan touched Wang Zuxian's leg and said, Do you believe that I can use your legs to record a song?

That's too exaggerated. Wang Zuxian curled his lips, and then said curiously, You try it.

Okay, let me try. Zhou Yan rolled up his sleeves and straightened Wang Zuxian's legs, Don't move, otherwise it will affect the pitch.

Well, I won't move. Wang Zuxian bounced his legs straight.

Don't jump too tight, otherwise the sound will be difficult to find.

Oh. Wang Zuxian relaxed again.

After she relaxed, Zhou Yan slowly started patting her legs, in different positions and with different intensity, after roughly finding a few required sounds.

He started filming.

After taking seven or eight shots, Wang Zuxian said in surprise, It's a little star!

Zhou Yan nodded, Yeah, little star with a flat tone.

After the tone is lowered, the difference is quite big. The reason why Wang Zuxian can hear it is because the rhythm is here.

In many songs, even if there is no tone, you can hear the rhythm just by listening to it.

Is it possible to shoot a more complex song? For example, The Street Where the Wind Lives.

Zhou Yan curled his lips, and then said seriously, Yes, yes, but you need to use an iron ruler to shoot, otherwise you won't be able to shoot a lot of sounds.

Although he knew Zhou Yan was joking, Wang Zuxian still couldn't help but shrink back when he heard the iron ruler.

How painful it is!

The two of them played for a while, and the students over there also adjusted and started practicing the music.

After listening to a piece, Wang Zuxian asked Zhou Yan, What kind of music is this?

Zhou Yan shook his head, I haven't heard of it.

When Zhou Yan said he had never heard of it, Wang Zuxian also laughed and said, It turns out that you also have songs that you have never heard of.

That's too much.

The piece played by these students is very ordinary. It seems to have been carefully arranged, but the key is very strange, not smooth at all, and the orchestration is not good.

This piece of music is generally high-spirited, but with the addition of neon pipa, it feels a bit wrong.

Of course, these are the simplest things. If you are studying composition, you will not understand it. These people are either students who have no composition major and are messing around on their own, or they just want to do experiments.

Some composition students like to be unconventional and create a sense of contrast when arranging, and they euphemistically call it experimental.

Many people have fallen into the misunderstanding that what is incongruous is experimental music.

In fact, most experimental and avant-garde music just sounds incongruous, but they all have their own set of rules, but this set of rules is different from traditional and classical music.

Zhou Yan listened for a while and concluded that these students should be playing sketches written by himself.

Neon's music market is huge, and the overall level of popular musicians is higher than that of China, but the level of these students is not very good.

If these students were from Yangyin, Zhou Yan would definitely have to go up and give them guidance. The harmony and orchestration of these pieces were a mess, and there were too many problems.

Even Joey Wong can tell that these songs are of average quality.

It doesn't sound good.

She couldn't say what was wrong with it, she just felt it sounded bad.

Let's go. Zhou Yan patted Wang Zuxian's leg, It sounds uncomfortable.

It's not that these songs are unpleasant to listen to, it's just that when he hears these songs being made so inconsistent, he always wants to go up and talk to them.

This is also an occupational disease of teachers. When they encounter problems, they just can't see them and always want to guide others.

So, just go out of sight and go somewhere else.

okay.

Wang Zuxian took his legs back, and then the two of them got up and walked in the other direction.

But just after walking about 20 meters, a familiar music sounded. Wang Zuxian was surprised and said, It's Walking in the Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms.

When he heard these students playing Walking in the Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms, Zhou Yan also stopped and turned to look at them.

The music was written, but the instruments were rearranged.

It's not that bad, but it still feels awkward. This piece was originally played with Western instruments, mainly violins and clarinets.

If you want to adapt it into a traditional musical instrument, bows and strings are indispensable. However, when the orchestra in front of me played Walking in the Snow to Seek Plum Blossoms, the main melody was realized by the neon pipa, which was much worse in taste.

It will be much better if you play Erhu.

Seeing Zhou Yan's interest, Wang Zuxian pulled him again and said, Let's get closer and listen.

Zhou Yan nodded and followed him over.

At this moment, there were already some people gathered around. Although the music played by these people was mediocre, it was a free performance after all, and it looked quite formal, so passers-by inevitably joined in the fun.

As they got closer, Zhou Yan found that there was an erhu next to it, but they didn't put it in, and they didn't know what they were thinking.

In fact, it is not impossible to arrange it this way, but the music needs to be changed, and this orchestra is playing completely based on the original music, so the taste is naturally not good.

There were two drums at the scene, but the sound of the drums was not right.

Zhou Yan frowned and shook his head from time to time. (End of chapter)