Chapter 335 This Is Mingcai

After Zhou Yan returned to school, it was already on vacation within a few days.

Although school is on holiday, Zhou Yan has not been idle at all. The Piano Youth Orchestra is about to start a new round of tour, and rehearsals are being strengthened during this time.

Zhou Yan himself was not lazy, and would take some time to practice with them almost every day.

Although Zhou Yan is very busy, he still practices musical instruments whenever he has time.

Even if the intensity of practice cannot be guaranteed, as long as you can touch the instrument every day, it will be of great benefit to maintaining your condition.

Moreover, Zhou Yan himself went to rehearse every day, which also served as a role model for the students in the orchestra. Seeing that Zhou Yan was still so persistent, they were naturally embarrassed to slack off.

On the afternoon of July 2nd, Zhou Yan had just finished practicing with the orchestra and saw Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng when he returned to the office.

Because he has come here so many times, Yu Hua no longer regards himself as an outsider. Every time he comes here, regardless of whether Zhou Yan is there or not, he treats this place as his own home.

When Zhou Yan saw these two people, they had already made tea and were chatting around the coffee table.

Seeing Zhou Yan coming back, Yu Hua smiled and said, "Would you like a cup of tea?"

With such an attitude, those who didn't know it thought he was the owner of this office and Zhou Yan was the guest.

Zhou Yan had long been accustomed to it. He waved his hand, returned to his desk, sat down, and asked with a smile, "Why are you here today?"

"It's too hot today. You have air conditioning here."

Air conditioners are no longer a novelty these days. After entering the 1990s, the domestic home appliance market developed rapidly. Cities like Yanjing were among the first to popularize household air conditioners. Many families have installed air conditioners in the past few years. .

But most people still don’t have air conditioners in their homes. Even if they do, they may not be willing to turn them on. After all, electricity bills are not cheap.

Here in the studio, we don’t skimp on the use of air conditioning.

Speaking of which, their studio has to pay a lot of money for electricity every month, especially in the summer, because the electricity they use here is much more expensive than that of residents, but Zhou Yan never saves money on this. The weather is getting hot, it’s time to turn on the lights.

Zhou Yan joked, "Remember to pay for the tea and air-conditioning fees later."

Yu Hua said with a bachelor look on his face, "We have no money."

"It doesn't matter. I'll just deduct it from your royalties later. That should be enough."

Although the sales volume of the three of them's collection "Zhou Yan·Yu Hua·Shi Tiesheng" did not explode, it sold well on Neon. For such a long time, they still received some royalties from time to time.

The royalties from the collection will be paid to Zhou's Entertainment first, and then Zhou's Entertainment will pay them separately, so Zhou Yan can deduct their money.

Yu Hua shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter. I will write a novel called "Brahms and Grandet" later, specifically to accuse you of cheating this week. I think many magazines will be willing to publish this novel, and maybe some tabloids will as well. The rush to give you money will be enough to offset the royalties you withheld."

Shi Tiesheng gave Yu Hua a thumbs up, "If you don't tell me, you still have a lot of ideas."

Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head, "You can't bear any loss, so you should be more generous. I won't dare to give you a dime of your royalties. But speaking of royalties, I still have something to tell you. explain."

"What's up?"

"Shueisha invites us to go to Neon to hold a book signing. The time is up to us. My idea is that while the band is on tour in Neon, you two can join me and hold a book signing." Zhou Yan explained the situation to them with a smile. , and then added, "Shueisha is very sincere."

He said it implicitly, but his meaning was clear. The "red envelope" given by Shueisha this time was quite big.

The two of them were a little moved by what Zhou Yan said, but it wasn't the size of the red envelope. The key was that being able to go abroad for autograph signings was a very attractive thing.

"Zhou Yan·Yu Hua·Shi Tiesheng" sold well in Neon, and I heard that many Neon readers liked them very much, so they also wanted to go to Neon to experience it.

If you go abroad and do a book signing, you will suddenly become an "international writer".

But Shi Tiesheng smiled and shook his head, "You go ahead, I still won't go."

He didn't say the reason, but both Zhou Yan and Yu Hua knew that he should be thinking about his legs.

After all, he was in a wheelchair and had various health problems, so it was inconvenient to go anywhere. Yu Hua and the others had just taken him around the country, but if he went abroad, he would encounter many problems.

Yu Hua patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "What are you afraid of? In the worst case, Zhou Yan and I will carry you on the plane together. We are now a team, and this team will not work without you."

Zhou Yan also helped, "He is right. Shueisha has invited three of us this time. If there is one less person, the red envelope will be greatly reduced. You don't care about your own pockets, but also care about our pockets."

"Oh, Zhou Yan is extremely rich, so of course you don't have to worry about my pocket, but you have to pay more attention to my pocket. Now that Haiguo is getting older, he has more and more places to spend money. It's impossible not to make money."

Shi Tiesheng was silent for a long time, and finally nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll have to work hard for you."

Of course he also wanted to visit Neon, but mainly because he had great trust in Yu Hua and Zhou Yan, and because of their relationship, he was willing to trouble Zhou Yan and Yu Hua.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Are you overthinking things? To be honest, going to Neon is much more convenient than going to Shenyang."

Yu Hua and his friends took Shi Tiesheng to Shenyang before, but they took a train for more than ten hours. Whether it was time or riding environment, it was definitely not as good as flying to Neon.

After hearing what Zhou Yan said, Yu Hua's mind turned around, "Zhou Yan is right. Going to Neon is faster than going to Shenyang. It only takes a few hours."

Shi Tiesheng nodded gently, "Yeah."

"Since you all have no problems, I will reply to Shueisha and ask someone to do the formalities for you."

Then Zhou Yan looked at Yu Hua again, "There is another thing. Goryeo's Green Forest Publishing House wants to publish the Goryeo version of "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood". I heard that a professor who studies Chinese literature in their country is very interested in your work, so he asked Green Forest Publishing House to contact him, and Green Forest Publishing House found Zhou."

"Goryeo? Xu Sanguan Selling Blood?" Yu Hua was a little confused.

It was normal for him to have doubts, because he had no contact with Goryeo before, and "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood" had just been published, and there was not even a single volume in China.

Now suddenly a Goryeo publisher wanted to translate this book into a Goryeo version and bring it to Goryeo, he would definitely be confused.

"Did you do something?" Yu Hua asked again.

The only possibility he could think of was that Zhou Yan did something in the middle.

Although he had not heard that Zhou Yan was doing well in Goryeo, Zhou Yan was now very famous in Asia after all, and naturally he could do something that others could not do, such as helping him contact a publishing house.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Even if I do something, I will do it to get your novel to Japan. After all, I am more familiar with Japan, and you are also more familiar with it."

Yu Hua must have more contact with Japan than Goryeo. Before "Zhou Yan·Yu Hua·Shi Tiesheng" was published, Yu Hua's novel had already appeared in Japan.

Earlier, Professor Iizuka Rong, a sinologist in Japan, translated his short story "Eighteen-year-old Journey" and published it in the Japanese magazine "Modern Chinese Fiction".

Although that novel did not stir up any waves, it was indeed the first time that Yu Hua's novel appeared in Japan. Later, Iizuka Rong came to Yanjing and met Yu Hua.

Last time Shueisha was going to publish "Zhou Yan·Yu Hua·Shi Tiesheng", Yu Hua also recommended Iizuka Rong to translate it, but in the end this suggestion was not adopted.

Hearing Zhou Yan say this, Yu Hua smiled and said, "You are not greedy for credit, so what do you think I should do when Green Forest Publishing House comes to me this time?"

"Of course I agreed. No matter what, I can always earn some royalties."

"Will this book have a market in Goryeo?" Yu Hua said unsurely.

Zhou Yan curled his lips and said, "Do you need to care whether there is a market or not? I found that since the sales of your novels have increased, you have started to have an idol burden."

"Hehe, idol burden, this word is interesting. But you are right, whether the book is popular or not, I will not suffer any loss. Then this matter..."

"If you agree, I will let Zhou help you operate it, and don't worry about anything else."

Yu Hua laughed heartily, "To be honest, you are too good to us. Sometimes I wonder if you are trying to get something from us."

Zhou Yan couldn't help rolling his eyes, "What do you want? Do you want me to eat and drink every day?"

"You make me feel embarrassed."

Although Yu Hua said so, Zhou Yan didn't see any embarrassment on his face.

Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head, and said nothing more.

The fact that "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood" was to be published in Goryeo had nothing to do with him. It was the Green Forest Publishing House that took the initiative to contact them.

And the reason why Green Forest Publishing House contacted them was indeed because of a Chinese professor in Goryeo, who was said to be a female professor, but Zhou Yan didn't know her specific name.

However, Green Forest Publishing House does not seem to be very optimistic about this book, so the first print run will definitely not be very large. It would be good if they can negotiate 7,000 to 8,000 copies.

Zhou Yan's attitude towards this is that it is better to have something than nothing. As long as Yu Hua's novel can appear in Goryeo, there is always hope that it will take root.

After sitting in Zhou Yan's office for a while, Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng to the rehearsal room.

They like to come to the studio so much, of course, not just to drink tea and use air conditioning, but mainly to listen to music.

Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng are loyal listeners of the Piano Youth Orchestra. They have listened to all the songs played by the Piano Youth Orchestra, and many times.

When the orchestra rehearses, they will listen to it. It is normal to listen for a long time, and sometimes they will stay for a whole day.

...

Not long after Yu Hua and others left, Han Zhen, the head of the administrative department, knocked on the door of Zhou Yan's office with a piece of paper.

"Boss, MCA-VICTOR sent the lyrics of "Snow Flower"."

"Oh?"

Zhou Yan took the lyrics and looked at them. Probably influenced by the title of the song "Snow Flower", the lyrics written by MCA-VICTOR have a lot to do with snow.

The theme is "Waiting for Love", which probably describes a woman waiting for a distant love in winter, and the person she loves has not appeared yet.

This lyric has nothing to do with the original version by Mika Nakashima, but Zhou Yan thinks the lyrics are okay. The key is that he doesn't understand Japanese, so he doesn't know what the lyrics will sound like when sung.

He said to Han Zhen, "Call them back and ask Akina Nakamori to sing a demo, and then send it to me to listen to."

Han Zhen nodded, "I understand."

After saying that, Han Zhen turned around to leave, but Zhou Yan stopped him again, "Wait."

Han Zhen turned around again, waiting for Zhou Yan's instructions.

Zhou Yan pondered for a moment, then said: "Tell the other party to ask Akina Nakamori to call me and sing it to me on the phone."

Recording the demo is still a bit troublesome.

"When is a convenient time for you?"

"Before eight o'clock tonight, or tomorrow morning, just call this office number."

"Okay, I understand."

...

At six o'clock in the evening, Zhou Yan had lunch in the cafeteria and returned to the office. Not long after sitting, he received a call from Akina Nakamori.

After the call was connected, Akina Nakamori first said in Chinese: "Hello, Mr. Zhou."

Then she spoke a paragraph of Neon language, and then another female voice sounded on the other side, saying in not particularly fluent Chinese, "I'm ready, shall I sing "Snow Flower" for you now?"

This woman should be the translator found by Akina Nakamori.

"Wait a moment."

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, he went to get the tape recorder, pressed the tape recorder switch, and pressed the hands-free.

"You can sing."

After he finished speaking, he heard Akina Nakamori clear her throat and start singing.

Because it was Neon language, Zhou Yan couldn't understand it.

But it didn't matter if he didn't understand it. He mainly listened to the rhythm of these lyrics. In addition to expressing emotions literally, the more important thing is that the rhythm should fit the melody.

The most direct manifestation of fitting the melody is rhyme, but it is not just rhyme, it also includes many things, there is no complicated things, it mainly depends on the sense of hearing.

Akina Nakamori deserves to be called the Showa Diva. Her singing skills and singing quotient are beyond reproach, and her timbre is varied and infectious.

She must have gotten the lyrics in advance and sang them many times. She sounded very proficient, and it didn't seem like she was singing a new song.

Zhou Yan wrote down the parts he thought had problems while listening.

After Akina Nakamori finished singing once, Zhou Yan said, "I think there are some problems with the lyrics in a few places, such as the second sentence..."

Although Zhou Yan didn't know the lyrics, he could remember which section had problems.

There weren't many problems, and it didn't matter if they didn't change them. After the lyrics came out, Akina Nakamori and the record company must have studied them, and they would only send them to Zhou Yan if they thought there were no problems.

However, in line with the principle of striving for excellence, Zhou Yan still raised these problems.

On the other end of the phone, Akina Nakamori listened to the translator next to her translating the questions raised by Zhou Yan. While she was writing them down, she secretly sighed that Zhou Yan was too demanding.

She had never seen a composer who was so meticulous about lyrics.

Now she wrote down the questions, and she would communicate with the lyricist later, but she was not afraid of trouble, and she was not angry with Zhou Yan for it.

In any case, Zhou Yan would be better for her if he was more meticulous.

After finishing the questions, Zhou Yan asked, "Have you written them down?"

His tone was like a teacher confirming with students after assigning homework. Although Akina Nakamori did not understand Chinese, she could feel Zhou Yan's tone.

Akina Nakamori also curled her lips. When she was talking to Zhou Yan, she felt like she was back in her student days. Zhou Yan had a strong teacher flavor.

"Written down."

"Just write it down. Let's talk after the revision. That's it for today."

"Okay."

Then Zhou Yan did not talk much with Akina Nakamori, and hung up the phone directly.

The translator listened to the dead tone on the phone, looked at Akina Nakamori, and couldn't help but be amazed. Mr. Zhou Yan was really a cold guy. This was Akina, and Mr. Zhou Yan hung up the phone too quickly. (End of this chapter)