1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan did not ask too many questions in a hurry, but chatted with them about some simple topics.

Compared to Li Haining, Xia Guobao was much less vigilant. While chatting, he told Zhou Yan their information.

Through Xia Guobao's words, Zhou Yan also roughly knew their situation.

Both of them are from Shandong Province. Because their parents came to Yanjing to work, they followed them.

And the Chunsheng Middle School they were talking about was actually a school run by one of their fellow villagers. This school only accepted children of migrant workers.

The tuition is not expensive, but the management is also very poor. Now, except for one principal, all the teachers have resigned, so there is a holiday.

Zhou Yan even doubted whether the school's operations were in compliance with regulations.

The students didn't go to school and couldn't stay at home. Many of them went out to find jobs. The two of them met Boss Cui by chance. Because they could sing well, they became regular members of the choir.

However, Boss Cui claimed that they were students from Yangyin High School.

Because Li Haining sings very well, he can really scare many students' parents.

According to Xia Guobao, although they met Boss Cui, a liar, they had better luck than other students, because other students basically went to some restaurants to work as handymen, working from morning to night every day for only one or two yuan at most. , and they can get twenty yuan for one performance.

If they can sing more times a week, they can even get a salary similar to their parents. And singing in a choir is not as hard as working in a restaurant.

After having a general understanding of their situation, Zhou Yan said, If the school does not resume classes, you will come here every day from now on, and I will have someone teach you how to sing. If you learn a song, I will give you twenty yuan.

We learn to sing, and you give us money? Li Haining looked surprised, Don't we want to perform on stage?

Zhou Yan shook his head, Your level is not yet up to the standard of performing on stage.

Hearing this, Li Haining was a little unconvinced, but he did not refute, but was concerned about the salary, Is it twenty yuan for one person, or twenty yuan for the two of us combined?

Twenty per person.

Can it be settled in advance? Li Haining was afraid that Zhou Yan would be like Boss Cui and not pay them.

Zhou Yan shook his head, You can also choose not to do it if you learn how to pay for each song.

Hearing what Zhou Yan said, Li Haining gritted his teeth and said, No problem, we'll do it.

You can only represent yourself. Zhou Yan looked at Xia Guobao again, Where are you?

Xia Guobao glanced at Li Haining and said, I listen to Haining.

Zhou Yan nodded, You can go back today. Teaching will start tomorrow.

The two children looked at each other, then stood up to leave.

When they walked to the door, Zhou Yan said again, Let me remind you one thing. The studio is in charge of food at noon and evening. If you want to have lunch, I suggest you come here in the morning.

The two children's eyes lit up when they heard that the studio was still in charge of food.

Li Haining was still a little hesitant at first, but after hearing that he was in charge of food, he made up his mind to come. Even if they didn't get paid, as long as they had food to eat, it would be worth it.

Why so many of their classmates choose to work in restaurants is because restaurants take care of the food. For these children, even if they don't get paid, as long as they take care of the food, they can reduce the pressure on their families.

After Li Haining and Xia Guobao left, Zhou Yan called the logistics again.

I'll report three people for the lunch and evening work lunches tomorrow.

Boss, are there any guests coming? Do you want to increase the meal standard?

No, just carry on as usual.

Understood.

After talking to the logistics department on the phone, Zhou Yan went to the large recording studio again.

Fang Xiu was having a meeting with the band members. When she saw Zhou Yan coming, she immediately ran to Zhou Yan and asked, Brother, is something okay?

Are you familiar with the Department of Vocal Music and Opera? Zhou Yan asked.

It's okay, what's wrong?

Find me some classmates with good professional abilities.

Are we going to add vocals to the next tracks, or are we going to build a new vocal group?

No, I want them to teach a few children.

How old is the child?

About twelve or thirteen years old.

Are there any gender restrictions?

No, it's best to have teaching ability and plenty of time.

That's no problem. When will we let them come?

tomorrow morning.

OK.

…

The next morning, when Zhou Yan arrived at the studio, Xiao Li at the front desk said to him, Boss, the two children came yesterday. I arranged for them to wait for you in the lounge.

When did they come?

When I came, they were already waiting at the door.

Xiao Li went to work at 8:30 and usually arrived a little earlier, which meant that Li Haining and Xia Guobao came very early.

Okay, I get it.

Zhou Yan nodded and went to the lounge.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Li Haining and Xia Guobao stood up quickly.

Zhou Yan joked, If you come so early, there is no breakfast served here.

It's okay, we don't want breakfast.

Li Haining and the others came so early not for breakfast, but because they wanted to learn singing quickly.

The sooner you sing a song, the sooner you get the money.

You guys sit down for a while. If you feel bored, there are books on the bookshelf that you can read. I'll come back to you later.

OK.

After Zhou Yan left, Li Haining walked to the bookshelf, took down a book and flipped through it.

There are not many books on the bookshelf in the lounge. Some are various novels, and some are professional books related to music.

Li Haining happened to take a copy of The Temple of Earth and Me. After reading two paragraphs, he couldn't stand it anymore and put the book back.

For a thirteen-year-old child, a book like The Temple of Earth and Me is naturally not attractive. Moreover, Li Haining's education was not good, and he did not even know many words in the book.

After putting down The Temple of Earth and Me, he found another music-related book and quickly put it down.

If Me and the Temple of Earth is just obscure and boring, then reading books on music is like reading a book from heaven, and he cannot understand it at all.

After flipping through two books, Li Haining lost interest in this bookshelf. He would rather sit in a daze.

Xia Guobao took out a few books and read them, but the result was the same as Li Haining. He couldn't stand it at all. It was a pity in his heart. It would be great if there were some comic books and other comic books here.

After returning to the sofa and sitting down, Xia Guobao whispered, Haining, what if Boss Zhou is like Boss Cui and doesn't give us money?

Li Haining shrugged, At least we got fifty yuan and didn't suffer any loss.

But that's our money.

Without the money from him, we won't be able to get it back to us. Besides, if you really don't give us the money, that's easy. He has a lot of musical instruments here. If you just take one out, you can sell it for a lot of money.

Isn't that stealing?

If he doesn't owe us money, it's called stealing, but if he owes us money, it's called recovery. Do you understand?

oh.

…

Zhou Yan returned to his office and stayed for a while. When it was about nine o'clock, Fang Xiu came with two students, a boy and a girl.

These two students were from the vocal music department, so naturally they both knew Zhou Yan.

The boy's name is Ma Shuguo, who is in his first year of graduate school, and the girl's name is Sun Wenjuan, who is a junior. Both of them have really good professional skills, and Zhou Yan also has an impression of them.

After chatting with the two for a while, Zhou Yan said, There are two boys who may have poor foundation, but have good talents. I will take you to meet them later. They have not received professional training before, so they may need more from you. patience.

Ma Shuguo smiled and said, Don't worry, Teacher Zhou. I have been a teaching assistant and have been in contact with several children's vocal groups. I still have some experience in teaching these children.

Seeing that Ma Shuguo was so confident, Zhou Yan took them to see Li Haining and Xia Guobao without saying anything.

After that, the four of them went to the practice room. The two teachers wanted to conduct some simple tests on Li Haining and the others. Only by knowing the children's situation can they teach students in accordance with their aptitude.

Zhou Yan did not follow, but returned to the office.

An hour later, Ma Shuguo found Zhou Yan with a frown on his face.

Teacher Zhou, the talents of these two children are indeed good, especially Li Haining, who is a rare talent, but their foundation is too poor, and no one has taught them before, so they have many bad habits when singing. This Forget it, the key point is that these two children are too distracted, Xia Guobao is better, and this Li Haining keeps asking me when I can learn a song.

Then you teach them a song first.

Ma Shuguo frowned and said, In their current situation, it's best to get a solid foundation first. There is no need to teach them to sing the entire song.

Everyone's situation is different. Just listen to me and find a song to teach them. But you don't have to teach it too hastily. The main thing is to correct their singing habits. In addition, be strict with them.

Is it harsh?

Ma Shuguo was quite surprised to hear this from Zhou Yan, because in his impression, Zhou Yan had always been smiling and should be the kind of teacher who was friends with the students.

In fact, it was Ma Shuguo who didn't understand Zhou Yan. If he had more contact with Zhou Yan's students, he would know that Zhou Yan was very strict with his students.

The reason why Zhou Yan specifically warned Ma Shuguo in this way was because he knew that Li Haining was not easy to manage, and he would not be able to be strict.

In fact, most teachers want to make friends with students, but the reality is that if the teacher is not dignified, it will be difficult to achieve effective teaching.

I understand, Teacher Zhou.

…

Later, Zhou Yan didn't care about Li Haining and Xia Guobao, and just left them to be taught by Ma Shuguo and the others. During this period, he didn't even visit the practice room once.

Normally, Ma Shuguo or Sun Wenjuan would teach Li Haining for two hours a day, and the rest of the time would be for the two children to practice on their own based on what the teacher taught that day.

Four days passed like this, and after Ma Shuguo finished teaching the day's class, Li Haining hurried to Zhou Yan's office.

Zhou Yan was completing the storyboard for Spring in the Cowherd Class when he heard the door open and looked up to see Li Haining standing angrily at the door.

He put down his pen and said in a deep voice, To enter my office, you must at least learn to knock on the door.

Li Haining was stunned for a moment, and the anger he had accumulated along the way suddenly dissipated. He knew that it was really impolite for him to open the door and come in like this, but it would be too embarrassing to go out and then knock on the door to come in.

Seeing him in a dilemma, Zhou Yan said again, What do you want from me?

Li Haining then remembered that he had something to do with Zhou Yan, I think Lao Ma is deliberately making things difficult for me. I have sung Let's Swing the Oars very well, but he still hasn't done it.

Who is Lao Ma?

Li Haining didn't understand what Zhou Yan meant and said in confusion, It's Teacher Ma Shuguo.

Zhou Yan snorted, Tell me, Teacher Ma, he is indeed quite strict.

Old... Teacher Ma is not being strict. I think he is deliberately not letting us pass.

Zhou Yan glanced at Li Haining, picked up the tea cup and said, Do you think I ordered Teacher Ma not to let you pass, so that I don't have to pay you forty yuan?

Isn't it?

Zhou Yan didn't defend himself. He took a sip of tea and said, If you and Xia Guobao want to leave, you can leave at any time. As long as you leave, I will pay you twenty yuan each.

real?

Really. Zhou Yan nodded and added, But I want to remind you that if you choose to leave, you will not have the opportunity to come in again.

I--

Li Haining originally wanted to be angry and say that he didn't want to come in again, but the words came to his lips and he couldn't say them out.

Although he has not made a dime from Zhou Yan after being here for a few days, he can feel that Zhou Yan is not an ordinary person, and the two teachers who came to teach them are also very high-level, and they are not at all like a liar like Boss Cui. One thing.

In the past few days, following Ma Shuguo and Sun Wenjuan, he did learn something.

The most important thing is that the food is taken care of here and the food is very good.

When he and Xia Guobao had their first meal in the studio, they were both dumbfounded. There was unlimited meat and vegetables, and no one cared about how much they wanted to eat.

At noon that day, the two of them had such bulging stomachs that they could hardly walk.

A good meal is not just that one meal. In the following days, every meal will also include meat.

If he left now, what he would be most reluctant to part with would be these two meals a day.

Seeing that Li Haiyin didn't speak, Zhou Yan said, If you don't want to leave, then listen carefully to the lessons taught by Teacher Ma and Teacher Sun. You think we are making things difficult for you, but ask yourself, what Teacher Ma and Teacher Sun taught you, you Have you mastered it? After the two teachers left, did you work hard enough when practicing? If the answers to these questions are yes, then you can indeed suspect that we are making things difficult for you. If not, then Think about your own problems.

After saying that, Zhou Yan waved his hand, Hurry up and practice, remember to close the door.

Li Haiyin stood there for a while, then turned around without saying a word and gently closed the office door.

Seeing the door being gently closed, Zhou Yan showed a smile.

About half an hour later, the office phone rang, and he picked it up, Hello?

The call was from Xu Feng.

I have good news for you. The copyright for A Cage of Nightingales has been negotiated. I will go out to sign the contract in the next two days, and the rest of the work can be officially started.

Zhou Yan smiled and said: Sister Feng, I also have good news to tell you. I have someone selected for the role of Lin Ai.

Xu Feng said unexpectedly, Really? Found it from Yang Tuan?

No, I haven't gone to Yang Tuan's side yet.

Which group is that? Which other group have you made an appointment with?

It doesn't belong to any group, just a kid I met by chance.

You've piqued my interest. I can't wait to see our Lin Ai.

There's no rush. We're still cultivating. We'll check back after a while. There may be surprises.

Haha, you're still cheating on me. Okay, then we'll go see you later. Anyway, I won't be able to go to Yanjing during this time.

How much did the copyright cost? Zhou Yan asked.

Fifty thousand dollars.

Fifty thousand US dollars is more expensive than I thought.

It's 50,000 US dollars for all the copyrights, not just the adaptation rights.

When he heard that all the copyrights were packaged for US$50,000, Zhou Yan was surprised, It's so cheap?

This movie came out in 1945, and many of the copyrights will expire in the year after next. The other party is very happy to get 50,000 US dollars. If we hadn't happened to make it, and the copyright would have expired in a few years, they would have lost all the money. Can’t catch one.”

Zhou Yan was right when he thought about it. If they don't film it, when the copyright expires, the copyright owner will get nothing.

Even if they want to save money, they can postpone the filming of the movie for a year or two without having to pay.

Zhou Yan chatted with Xu Feng for a few more words, then hung up the phone. Then he called Jiang Xia, Xiao Jiang, please contact Teacher Li Xuejian and tell him that I invite him to audition.

…

As soon as Li Xuejian arrived at the Experimental Theater, he heard from his colleagues that the director was looking for him.

Arriving at the dean's office, Li Xuejian asked, Dean Zhao, are you looking for me?

Zhao Youliang said with a smile, Xue Jian, another crew is here to see you.

Is there another crew? Li Xuejian asked doubtfully, Who is it this time?

The reason why Zhao Youliang said one word after another was because a few days ago, Zhang Yimou had just called the Experimental Theater, hoping to invite Li Xuejian to participate in their new movie Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge.

Before this matter was settled, a new script came out.

Li Xuejian received a lot of invitations. Various units and crews often came to borrow him, but having Director Zhao call him over in person proved that the other party had a lot of background.

The young director who has become popular recently, Zhou Yan.

Oh, it's him.

Li Xuejian nodded. He had naturally heard of Zhou Yan's name. Some time ago, Zhou Yan's name and Zhou Yan's new movie The Sixth Sense often appeared on TV and in newspapers.

This movie broke the Neon box office record for Chinese-language films in the summer, and the domestic media wrote a lot about it.

Li Xuejian also went to the cinema to watch The Sixth Sense. The movie was indeed pretty good, but he didn't think it was good because it was not the type of movie he appreciated.

If Zhang Yimou and Zhou Yan were compared together, he would naturally be more optimistic about Zhang Yimou. The former has more works and has won more international awards. The key is that Zhang Yimou's film style is more to his liking.

Therefore, he was very interested when he learned that he could participate in Zhang Yimou's new movie, even if he was not playing the leading role.

Seeing Li Xuejian's lack of reaction, Zhao Youliang smiled and said, Why, you're not even interested in Zhou Yan?

That's not true. Zhou Yan is a very good director, but I have to look at the script and the shooting time.

That's no problem. I also asked for you. It seems that their movie will not start shooting until next spring. It will be separated from the filming of Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge.

Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma's Bridge will start filming in two months, and will be filmed until next spring, so it won't conflict with Zhou Yan's new movie.

Hearing Zhao Youliang's words, Li Xuejian was relieved. This was what he was thinking about.

If the shooting times of the two movies overlap, he will most likely reject Zhou Yan and choose Zhang Yimou.

By the way, the one who invites you to audition for this movie is the protagonist.

Li Xuejian didn't have much reaction to this news. He actually didn't care too much about whether he was the protagonist or not. He valued the character itself more.

If the character is thin, even the protagonist will not be able to attract him. On the contrary, some characters, although they are supporting characters or even villains, will still arouse his interest as long as the characters are full.

He feels that if an actor cares too much about the protagonist and positive role, he will kill his own path.

Then let's get in touch first.

Okay, I'll tell them right now.

Zhao Youliang acted vigorously and resolutely, so he immediately picked up the phone and dialed.

Well, I'm Zhao Youliang... Yes, Li Xuejian agrees to the audition. You can arrange a time... for the afternoon? No problem, then you can come over in the afternoon.

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Youliang smiled and said, The director happens to have time and will come over in the afternoon.

…

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Yan and Wang Xiaoshuai arrived at the Central Experimental Theater. Director Zhao Youliang personally greeted them with Li Xuejian.

After meeting, Zhao Youliang held Zhou Yan's hand cheerfully and said, Director Zhou, welcome to our experimental theater.

Zhao Youliang is tall and tall. Although he is nearly fifty years old, he is very handsome and handsome.

He is also an actor himself, and he played Qu Qiubai a few years ago.

On the other hand, Li Xuejian was half a head shorter than Zhao Youliang, and his figure was not as tall and straight as Zhao Youliang.

Li Xuejian off-screen is also younger than Bai Jing on-screen.

The role of Jyl was played by him four or five years ago, but looking at him now, he looks much younger than when he played Jyl. This shows that in order to play that role well, he changed his appearance a lot.

If you look at Li Xuejian in reality, you can't imagine Jyl's image at all. Maybe this is a good actor. They make themselves look like the characters instead of making the characters look like themselves.

I heard that when I was playing LB, I was refused to shake hands by LSQ’s wife at the scene because my performance was too expressive.

Dean Zhao, you're welcome. I'm particularly afraid of affecting your work.

Isn't our job just to be actors? If you come here, you can only promote it, but there will be no influence.

Zhou Yan smiled and greeted Li Xuejian again, Hello, Teacher Li.

Hello, Director Zhou. Li Xuejian responded with a smile.

Li Xuejian didn't talk much, but he kept smiling.

Zhou Yan introduced Wang Xiaoshuai to them, This is Wang Xiaoshuai, the assistant director of the new film. He just won the best director at the Taormina International Film Festival this year.

Director Wang, I'm disrespectful. Zhao Youliang shook hands with Wang Xiaoshuai again, Let's not stay at the door and go to the reception room to chat.

Then Zhao Youliang took Zhou Yan and the others to the reception room.

A few people chatted in the reception room for a while. Zhao Youliang was also very sensible and stood up to say goodbye, Director Zhou, Director Wang, please continue chatting. I have something else to do, so I'll excuse you now.

Well, Dean Zhao, you are busy.

After Zhao Youliang left, Zhou Yan took out the script and handed it to Li Xuejian, Teacher Li, this is the script of my new movie. I invite you to play the role of the school superintendent Zhou Xuewen.

Li Xuejian took the script and nodded, Okay, let me take a look.

Before getting the script, what came to Li Xuejian's mind was The Sixth Sense. He felt that the movie Zhou Yan would make this time would most likely be of the Sixth Sense type.

But after watching Spring of the Cowherd Class for a while, the original impression was broken.

Although he only watched a little bit, he was sure that this was not the same kind of movie as The Sixth Sense at all. From the perspective of rhythm alone, the pace of this story was much slower than that of The Sixth Sense.

This is a story related to education and music. The protagonist Zhou Xuewen has no talent and goes to serve as the superintendent of a special school in the countryside, where he matches wits and courage with the problem students.

As the story develops, Li Xuejian becomes more and more surprised. The character Zhou Xuewen is so charming. He is dull but wise, he is meek but has infinite passion. He is dedicated to the good of the students, but he is not mindless. Instead of giving and caring, we use music to guide them step by step.

This is a story full of ideals, but the protagonist is not that kind of mindless and glorious figure. He is more like an ordinary teacher with his own emotions, rather than a simple symbol.

Nowadays, many such movies have a common problem. The characters are too glorious and idealized, and the characters themselves are very vague, leaving only a conspicuous label.

Take Jyl for example, I'm not saying this Jyl is bad, but if the characters in ten or a hundred movies are all the same as Jyl, it won't be interesting.

Zhou Xuewen is exactly the kind of role he expected.

After Li Xuejian read the script, he suddenly felt a little ashamed. He shouldn't have such a stereotype about Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan can not only make commercial movies like The Sixth Sense, but also The Cowherd Class. Spring is a kind of warm movie full of literary and artistic flavor.

He suddenly remembered that Zhou Yan had another identity, an internationally renowned musician. It was natural for Zhou Yan to make a musical movie like Spring of the Cowherd Class.

Putting down the script, Li Xuejian said very sincerely, I am willing to challenge the role of Zhou Xuewen.

Hearing Li Xuejian's words, Zhou Yan smiled. He knew that it was impossible for an actor like Li Xuejian to let a script like Spring of the Cowherd Class slip away from his eyes.

Zhou Yan nodded, Teacher Li, we have to conduct a short audition.

No problem. Where are we going to audition? Have you brought a camera?

Zhou Yan waved his hand, No need for a camera, I just use my eyes to see.

The so-called audition, normally speaking, naturally requires a camera, because what the eyes see is not necessarily the same as what the camera captures.

Sometimes, when two actors perform the same scene, one may feel better with the eyes, but the other may feel better when filmed.

However, those types of movies basically have high requirements for the image of actors, so actors are often asked to wear makeup for auditions. However, the role of Zhou Xuewen who was auditioning today did not have such requirements, so Zhou Yan watched it with his eyes.

Li Xuejian didn't find it strange. Sometimes, when a role fits the role, the director doesn't even audition and just uses it.

Then I'll come directly? Which section should I try?

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, Let's try the part where Zhou Xuewen first meets Li Xiujun.

Li Xiujun is Lin Ai's mother, and Zhou Xuewen can be said to have fallen in love with her at first sight.

The scene where I first met Li Xiujun was quite a test of the actor's expression changes. The reason why Zhou Yan asked Li Xuejian to try this scene was because Zhou Yan had no impression of Li Xuejian's emotional scenes.

Zhou Yan felt that there would be no problem with Li Xuejian's other scenes, but in this scene, he wanted to see how Li Xuejian performed.

OK.

Li Xuejian nodded and found this paragraph in the script, Then I will start acting from the moment I enter the door until the end of the conversation. Should I act alone, or will one of you cooperate with me?

Let me cooperate with you. Zhou Yan said.

Please give me a few more minutes so I can memorize my lines.

Okay, you can familiarize yourself with the lines, but you don't have to go off-script.

Um.

After a few minutes, Li Xuejian said, Director Zhou, I'm ready.

Okay, let's get started.

After saying that, Zhou Yan ran to the window and took a seat, and Li Xuejian also walked outside the door.

He walked a long way, and then when Zhou Yan said start, he started walking towards the reception room.

At first, Li Xuejian walked very fast. When he reached the door, he looked up in Zhou Yan's direction and stopped.

There was a little bit of imperceptible surprise in his eyes, and a trace of nervousness. These expressions were not very obvious, and they flashed across his face.

Seeing Li Xuejian's expression, Zhou Yan nodded secretly. This expression was well done. If it were less, it would look dull and unable to convey any information to the audience. If it was too much, it would be too exaggerated and not in line with the character.

A good actor is a good actor. In this period of time, he can play the role of Zhou Xuewen so well.

Of course, it's not perfect, but after all, the time is short, and Li Xuejian doesn't wear makeup, so it doesn't particularly fit Zhou Xuewen's character, so it's already amazing to be able to achieve this.

Li Xuejian made a motion to push the door, and at the same time a smile appeared on his face, but only half of the smile appeared, and he suppressed it again.

This is very detailed. From Zhou Xuewen's perspective, he is a teacher. When he sees the students' parents, he is also a very elegant woman. He wants to be kind, but he is afraid that his smile will be exaggerated and appear frivolous.

So after opening the door, he returned to the teacher's unique expression when meeting parents.

Hello.

Zhou Yan replied: Hello.

I'm the new superintendent of the school.

Zhou Yan greeted him, I am Li Ai's mother.

Hello, Mom Li Ai.

I know today is not a visiting day, but I only have time today.

…

After correcting several lines, Zhou Yan was surprised to find that Li Xuejian's memorization ability was also quite good. This line was quite large, but he only glanced at the script.