1990: Starting from Baojia Street

During the banquet, the wine had passed three rounds, and Wang Xiaoshuai walked up to Zhou Yan again holding a wine glass.

Director Zhou, let me toast you again and thank you for your continued support of me.

Zhou Yan picked up his wine glass and clinked it with Wang Xiaoshuai, You're welcome, we help each other, and my two movies cannot do without your support.

After finishing a glass of wine, Zhou Yan asked Wang Xiaoshuai, Do you have any new plans recently?

Zhou Yan asked Wang Xiaoshuai this question last time. At that time, Wang Xiaoshuai said that he had not thought about it. The answer was the same this time.

For the second movie, I think I should be more cautious. Although someone sent me a script, I don't like it yet.

Zhou Yan nodded, If you have time tomorrow, go to my studio. I have something to tell you.

Wang Xiaoshuai blinked a few times and nodded, Okay without asking what was going on.

…

The next morning, Wang Xiaoshuai went to the studio.

When he saw Zhou Yan, he was still a little dizzy. Many people drank too much last night, and he was one of them.

There were many people at the banquet who offered wine to Zhou Yan and Xu Feng, but they did not dare to let Xu Feng and Zhou Yan drink too much.

Not to mention Xu Feng, he is the boss, and he is not very familiar with the grassroots staff.

As for Zhou Yan, although he is usually very friendly, he is their leader after all, so naturally he is not easy to drink.

But Wang Xiaoshuai is different. He is the deputy director and is not far away from them. The key is that Wang Xiaoshuai has an average drinking capacity and is easy to overcome.

If it were Zhou Yan, and most people would come to him to drink, they might have to drink first.

Wang Xiaoshuai is not a good drinker, but he was really happy yesterday. This year is his harvest year. In so many years, this year is the best mood for him.

Zhou Yan poured a cup of tea for Wang Xiaoshuai and sat down opposite him with a smile, You have a good drinker. Last night I saw that you refused everyone who came, and you were so powerful.

Wang Xiaoshuai waved his hand, I made you laugh. I didn't feel anything until the end of the drink, and I can't remember who sent me home.

Gifted by Li Hong.

Xiao Li is still reliable. Wang Xiaoshuai rubbed his head, Director Zhou, what do you want from me?

Zhou Yan did not beat around the bush with Wang Xiaoshuai, I have a new movie to shoot, and I would like to invite you to be the assistant director. What do you think?

Wang Xiaoshuai nodded without hesitation, No problem.

Would you like to read the script first?

Whether I read the script or not, it doesn't affect my decision.

Wang Xiaoshuai was so straightforward, so Zhou Yan didn't pretend to be pretentious, Then it's settled. It's a bit humiliating to let you be the assistant director, but I attach great importance to this movie. If I find someone else to be my assistant director, I won't be too concerned about it. rest assured.

Don't worry, Director Zhou, I will definitely assist you seriously.

In this case, I will give you a script right away. We will take action within about a week. Let me tell you the general situation first. Sister Feng and I have decided on the choice of the male protagonist and are planning to invite Teacher Li Xuejian. Acting, other...

Zhou Yan then told Wang Xiaoshuai about the general situation of the movie, and then gave him a script and asked him to go back and study it on his own.

After Wang Xiaoshuai left, Zhou Yan got up and went to a practice room.

There was no one else in the practice room at the moment. Only Wang Zuxian was sitting in front of the piano. She had learned a little piano, but she didn't play well.

She is playing Forever Together at the moment. She likes this piece of music very much and plays it often, but she still doesn't play it well.

Zhou Yan listened from behind and did not disturb her.

It wasn't until he finished playing a piece of music that Zhou Yan applauded and said, Congratulations to the great performer Ms. Wang Zuxian, your piano skills have improved again.

Hearing Zhou Yan make fun of himself, Wang Zuxian rolled his eyes and said, I hate it, I even played it wrong in the middle.

Zhou Yan walked over with a smile, squeezed on a piano bench with Wang Zuxian, and played a piece casually, Are you talking about this piece? The beauty of art is that it can accommodate mistakes. Although your piece is different from the original score, but It sounds pretty good too.”

Is this what I played just now? Wang Zuxian expressed doubts, Why does it sound completely different?

She only remembered that she played this part wrong, but she couldn't remember what notes she played. The key was that Zhou Yan played it, which sounded much better than hers.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, Are you questioning my ears again?

Then he raised his hand and played a melody. This piece of music was brisk, bright, and had a little expectation, which was different from Forever Together.

Is this what I just played too?

Zhou Yan shook his head, That's not the case. I adapted this section based on the one you played wrong.

This section is also very nice.

That's because the ideas you provided are good. Zhou Yan smiled and said, Would you like to go for a walk? You will leave tomorrow.

Okay, where to go?

Zhou Yan shrugged, It doesn't matter, just wandering around, or do you have somewhere else you want to go?

Then just wander around.

…

The two of them didn't go too far. They walked around Shichahai first, and then went to Xidan.

At four or five o'clock in the afternoon, the two returned to the courtyard where Zhou Yan lived, put down the car, and then started walking around to look for food.

Coming out of the alley, I passed by the Yanjing Concert Hall before walking a short distance.

Wang Zuxian suddenly suggested, How about we go see if there are any concerts we can listen to.

There shouldn't be any concerts during this time.

Even so, the two of them walked towards the door of the concert hall.

When they arrived at the door, they saw several posters. Fortunately, there was a performance today called Master Performance - Beethoven's Life.

The title was very large, but the band information below was very small, and it was a band that Zhou Yan had never heard of: Tianlai Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

Seeing this unique style of poster and the name of the band, Zhou Yan felt that something was wrong.

He was about to tell Joey Wang that he didn't want to listen anymore, but he heard Joey Wang say, I rarely hear you play Beethoven. There is also Moonlight Sonata in this program. Let's just listen to this one.

In fact, Zhou Yan usually plays Beethoven a lot, but he has never played music such as Moonlight Sonata in front of Wang Zuxian.

Seeing that Joey Wong was very interested, he didn't say anything to dampen the mood, so he decided to take Joey Wong to listen. Although he had never heard of this band, there might be some surprises there.

Even if there are pitfalls, how many pitfalls can there be?

Okay, I'll buy two tickets.

After saying that, Zhou Yan went to the ticket office and bought two tickets.

The ticket price is not high, only 40 yuan per ticket.

For symphony concerts in the Mainland, if it is not an orchestra with a special gimmick, the ticket price is basically difficult to get.

When the Piano Youth Orchestra goes out to perform, the maximum ticket price for each performance is only eighty to ninety yuan. This is a very high ticket price. The reason why it can reach this price is naturally because of Zhou Yan.

Of course, the ticket price cannot be too low. After all, a concert also has costs. If the ticket price is too low, you will not make any money at all.

The average ticket price is 40 yuan. Even if 800 tickets are sold, it will only be more than 30,000 yuan. Excluding venue fees and other miscellaneous expenses, you will not make much money.

Most symphony orchestras are considered successful as long as their ticket sales can cover their appearance fees.

The performance started at 7:30, and there was still quite a while, so Zhou Yan and Wang Zuxian went to have a meal nearby.

After finishing their meal, the two of them strolled to the concert hall, checked in and entered the concert hall. They found that there were quite a lot of people.

Their seats were in the middle and back rows, while the first few rows were basically full.

At this time, ticket checking is almost over, and the occupancy rate in the concert hall has exceeded 50%.

When the performance was about to begin, the attendance rate even exceeded two-thirds.

Such an attendance rate is already very impressive for an unknown band.

Before the concert started, Zhou Yan heard two young people chatting behind him.

I heard that this band is a sister band to Piano Boy.

I heard it is, and it was said that most of the members graduated from Yangyin.

The ticket price is really cheap.

Yes, and look at this program list, it's really beautiful.

Zhou Yan frowned. He suddenly felt something was wrong. Why did this band get connected with the piano boy?

He wanted to ask the two people where they heard that this band was related to the piano boy, but he was afraid of being recognized.

Wang Zuxian naturally heard the conversation between the two, turned sideways and asked Zhou Yan in a low voice, Is what they said true?

Of course not. Zhou Yan said.

Wang Zuxian nodded. If it was true, Zhou Yan should have told her just now.

Maybe they said that because all the people in this orchestra are from Yangyin.

Zhou Yan shook his head, I don't know.

There are so many people who have graduated from Yangyin, it’s hard to say.

After a while, the performing band began to take the stage.

A piano player, a violinist, a violist, a cellist.

Zhou Yan was stunned for a moment when he saw four people coming up.

That's it?

Piano quartet?

Or are there other musicians coming up soon?

The key problem is that Yanjing Concert Hall is a medium-sized concert hall, which is actually quite big. The quartet's voice is not loud enough, and the audience in the back row will not have a good experience.

It would be fine if there were only one or two programs like this, but if it was all a quartet, it would be a bit silly.

At 7:30, neither the host nor the conductor came up, and the musicians started playing directly.

Zhou Yan was stunned in the audience.

And then there was even more confusion behind.

The first piece the orchestra played was Moonlight Sonata. When the first section ended, Zhou Yan's face was already wrinkled.

Among these four people, only the pianist is good, while the other three violinists are average.

Of course, Zhou Yan's requirements are relatively strict. In fact, to ordinary people, the personal level of these musicians should be pretty good.

However, when they played together, they were not as good as their individual players.

If Zhou Yan were to rate it, the pianist's level would be sixty-five points, the other three violinists' levels would be about fifty points, and the level of their ensemble would not even be ten points.

This means that they must have not rehearsed sufficiently before and there is no tacit understanding between them.

Zhou Yanren was a little confused. Was he dreaming?

Is he attending a concert or watching a few students rehearse daily?

This scene can be found in any piano room in Yangyin.

Although he knew that there might be a pit before, he never expected that the pit would be so big. The Mariana Trench might not even be that deep.

Just pick up a few students from Yangyin and let them practice together for a day or two, and they won't behave like this.

Even if Zhou Yan and other composition students got together, it wouldn't be like this.

Third brother, it seems...

Wang Zuxian whispered something, but thinking that this was a concert and he couldn't disturb others, he didn't say anything further.

Zhou Yan curled his lips, even a non-professional like Wang Zuxian could tell the difference in performance so quickly.

He shook Wang Zuxian's hand and whispered back, There's no rush.

The first song passed in agony, and then came the second song.

The second piece is Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, also known as the Pathétique Sonata to the public. Like the Moonlight Sonata, it is also a piece that is relatively recognized by ordinary listeners.

When it comes to the second song, the musicians haven’t changed, it’s still the same four people.

The level is equally poor, even worse than the Moonlight Sonata just now.

When the second song was about to end, Zhou Yan took Wang Zuxian's hand and wanted to go out. He could not continue to be tortured by them here.

When they walked to the aisle, the song ended, and there was sparse applause.

Some of these people who clapped did not understand at all, while others clapped out of politeness.

But amidst the sparse applause, a loud shout suddenly broke out.

Why are you applauding? Is this performance worthy of your applause? I have listened to so many concerts, and I have never heard even one so bad. What kind of stuff are played in these two songs? This is not an obvious scam. Well.

The speaker was a middle-aged man. His voice was loud and his words were so ruthless that several of the musicians performing on the stage were frightened.

These musicians must still be students. I have never seen such a scene.

The other audience members were silent at first, but as soon as this big brother showed up, they all started talking.

Yeah, isn't this money fraud? Just listen to this stuff for thirty yuan?

I bought forty tickets.

Don't you mean the Piano Boys Sisters Band? I've heard of the Piano Boys Sisters Band before. It's not the same thing at all.

Are you from Yangyin?

…

As the scolding got louder and louder, several musicians on the stage turned pale with fright. Zhou Yan noticed that the girl playing the violin was crying.

Just when the scene was about to get out of control, a middle-aged man walked up from the background.

This man is about forty, wearing a suit and leather shoes, with his hair slicked back.

He took the microphone and went on stage, and then said, Everyone, calm down for a moment. I am the band leader. Please listen to what I have to say.

Seeing the person in charge coming out, the noise at the scene also became quieter. Everyone was ready to listen to what the person in charge had to say.

After there was no sound at the scene, the person in charge said, Art is a very subjective thing. Everyone has their own aesthetics. This is very normal. Maybe the performances of the performers on the stage today did not meet your aesthetics. , but it doesn’t mean that their performance level is not good. I can assure you that these performers are very professional and of very high level. Each of them has won many awards in competitions and has also gone abroad for further study.

Fart, at this level, can you go abroad for further study? It was still the big brother who took the lead just now, and he continued to output at this time.

The person in charge looked at the leading brother and said with a smile, This gentleman questions the level of several of our performers. Does that mean you are a professional?

I'm not a professional, I'm just an ordinary listener.

The threshold for classical music is very high. If you are not a professional, it is difficult to give a correct evaluation. Why do we say that it is difficult for classical music to enter public life? It is because it is difficult for people who have not been influenced by music to understand it. The beauty of classical music.”

Bullshit, I've attended so many concerts, how can I say that I haven't been influenced by music?

The person in charge had a pretty good psychological quality. After being scolded, he still said with a smile: I don't think that an elegant person who has been influenced by music is full of swear words. This is a concert hall, a place to appreciate elegant art. That's not the case. A vegetable market for quarrels.

Zhou Yan pulled Wang Zuxian and stood in the aisle, lamenting that he had seen the world today. During the concert, the person in charge actually quarreled with the audience.

The person in charge is obviously a veteran, and this is probably not the first time he has faced this situation.

The leading brother had a bad temper, but he was indeed not a professional. He could only roar, Stop trying to pressure me with these things. If I don't accept this, please give me your money back as soon as possible.