1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Liu Qing and the others will stay in Yanjing for three days, but they have other things to do in Yanjing for the next two days, so Zhou Yan will not accompany them.

The adaptation of Knife in Clear Water was considered a verbal authorization. After Huang Jianxin returned, he had to draft a licensing agreement and send it to Zhou Yan. Then Zhou Yan signed it and sent it over. The matter was considered settled.

When leaving Yanjing, the two of them ran to Zhou Yan's dormitory to say hello to him, which was considered acknowledgment. It would be easier to find him when they came to Yanjing in the future.

Liu Qing originally wanted to invite Zhou Yan to Chang'an Studio during the summer, but he thought that he might have to follow Zhang Yimou to film Qiu Ju's Lawsuit in a while, so he didn't mention it.

It would be great if you could join the team. I heard that Teacher Zhao Jiping was also hired for the soundtrack of Qiu Ju's Lawsuit. Liu Qing sighed.

Zhou Yan smiled, not to mention he didn't have time, even if he had time, he wouldn't be willing to join the group as a soundtrack assistant.

He was able to serve as on-site director for Farewell My Concubine, partly because he was really interested in the movie, and partly because he had made an agreement with Zhao Jiping before that.

Zhao Jiping knew that Zhou Yan was the soundtrack director for Reply from Heaven, probably because of this, he did not approach Zhou Yan this time.

Now Zhou Yan, if Zhao Jiping asked him to be a soundtrack assistant again, it would be a slap in the face.

Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation later, Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Huang Jianxin also laughed, Yes, when the filming of Knife in Clear Water starts, I will ask you to join our production team, and then you can join forces.

That's good. Liu Qing smiled and rubbed his big head, The director and screenwriter will both be my buddies, and no one will dare to bully me.

Huang Jianxin snorted, Who in other crews would dare to bully you?

Hey, all these years were not in vain. Liu Qing laughed, then waved to Zhou Yan, Let's go.

Zhou Yan also waved his hand, Go slowly.

…

Two days after Huang Jianxin and the others left Yanjing, Zhou Yan received a telegram from Pengcheng.

The content of this telegram is very simple, only a string of numbers and the word Xiao Xian.

It is not difficult to guess that this telegram should have been taken by Hou Xiaoxian, and the string of numbers is probably a phone number.

Zhou Yan originally planned to contact Hou Xiaoxian in a few days, mainly because Huang Jianxin mentioned the film festival a few days ago and he wanted to ask what was going on. Unexpectedly, Hou Xiaoxian contacted him first.

Seeing such a concise telegram, Zhou Yan couldn't help but smile.

Nowadays, most people communicate with each other by writing letters. If there is an emergency and there is no way to get through on the phone, the best option is to send a telegram.

The efficiency of sending telegrams is definitely not as high as that of telephones, but one thing it is better than telephones is that it can reach basically anywhere.

It's just that telegrams are charged based on the number of words, so when everyone writes a telegram, they try to reduce the number of words while ensuring that the information can be conveyed accurately.

The movie The Black Cannon Incident that Huang Jianxin made a few years ago was about making telegrams.

In the movie, an engineer from a mining company likes to play chess. When he went to Germany on a business trip, he left the black cannon chess piece outside, and then sent a telegram with the content Black robe lost 303 looking for Zhao.

The people at the post office were very vigilant. When they saw this telegram, they felt it looked like a secret code. They suspected that he was a spy, so they reported it to their superiors, and then specialized personnel launched an investigation into the engineer.

Zhou Yan laughed because he didn't expect Hou Xiaoxian to care about the telegraph fee.

The economic gap between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is obvious these days, and the cost of telegraph is quite expensive for mainlanders. However, the average annual income per capita on Taiwan is US$9,000, so naturally they don't need to worry about the few yuan in telegraph fees.

Zhou Yan took the message, went out to find a public phone, and dialed the number on the message.

The phone rang for a while before it was picked up.

Hello, hello. A clear female voice came from the other side, with a strong Hong Kong accent.

Zhou Yan asked, Is Mr. Hou Xiaoxian here?

Look for Director Hou, wait a moment.

Then Zhou Yan heard the phone being put down and the sound of high heels walking away. The woman must have gone to find someone for Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, Good guy, girl, just call her and then walk over to look for her. The long-distance phone bill is not cheap, and he feels sorry for her.

More than a minute later, the phone was picked up again, and Hou Xiaoxian's voice came from the receiver, Hello, who's there?

Director Hou, it's me, Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan replied.

When he heard it was Zhou Yan, Hou Xiaoxian laughed and said, It seems you have received the telegram.

I just received it. Director Hou, do you have anything to do with me? Zhou Yan asked.

There are two pieces of news, one bad news and one good news. Which one do you want to hear first?

Zhou Yan didn't hesitate at all and said, Let's hear the good news first. I am a mentally fragile person. I need to hear the good news first to stabilize my mind.

The good news is that your short film Antfly won the special prize at the Kurta International Short Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and this short film was also favored by Brazil's Universal Television and the BBC, and they bought it. The right to broadcast the short film, the film festival bonus plus the copyright fees from the two TV stations, totaled US$9,682.”

Zhou Yan nodded, this is indeed good news, but the copyright fee is also very interesting, how come there is still a small amount.

Then what's the bad news? Zhou Yan asked again.

Hou Xiaoxian laughed, The bad news is that the money and the film festival trophies have nothing to do with you. They belong to Time Company. If you want to see the trophies, you have to come to Time Company.

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. It turned out that this was the bad news Hou Xiaoxian said. No wonder he was so happy when he heard Hou Xiaoxian's tone, because this was good news for them.

In fact, it's not bad news for Zhou Yan, because when they made this short film, they had already signed an agreement. All subsequent income from the short film, including the director's bonus from the Film Festival Award, will all belong to Time Company.

The content of the agreement is very clear and there is nothing to argue with.

Since there is none, it is not a loss. Since there is no loss, it is not bad news.

Zhou Yan also has a relatively calm mind. He should not have earned this money in the first place. If it hadn't been for the money provided by Time Company at that time, Antfly would not have been made.

Moreover, even if Zhou Yan had the money to film Antfly at that time, without the operation of Time Company, he would not have been able to win awards at film festivals and sell the broadcast rights to Brazilian and British television stations.

For film festivals, in addition to the high quality of the films themselves, the operation is also very important. Age Corporation has a department responsible for overseas sales that studies this matter.

They not only understand the operation mode of the film festival, but are also familiar with some relevant personnel.

In this world, not only China is a human society, but also foreigners, where personal relationships are very important.

As for Zhou Yan, he had no connections, and he didn’t even know what the Kurta Film Festival was, let alone send “Antfly” to the exhibition.

However, based on this calculation, Era’s investment in this short film has almost paid off. That's the good thing about low-budget films. You can make money back by doing whatever you want.

But ERA is willing to invest because the cost is low and the risk is not high.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, This is not bad news. Regardless of whether I can get the money or not, I hope this film will make a lot of money. If you suffer a loss, the cooperation will not last long.

Haha, it's impossible to make a lot of money. It would be great if you can even out the investment. The main thing is the honor of the film festival. Don't worry about this. Although the trophy will be placed in Mr. Qiu's office, no one will have the honor that belongs to you. It can be taken away. Although Kurta is a new film festival and not many people know about it, it is a film festival after all, and it can scare people if you tell it.

Hearing this, Zhou Yan secretly thought that Mr. Qiu's office was quite empty, and such an unknown film festival trophy was also placed in it.

But Hou Xiaoxian is right. Even if the Kurta Film Festival is not well-known, it is still very useful, especially in China.

In the future, when they introduce Zhou Yan, they will be able to say that his film won the Best Short Film at the Kurta International Film Festival. When people hear this, they will be surprised that he is actually a great international director, and his level will immediately rise.

Well, aren't people made up of names?

Zhou Yan thought of the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival again and asked, Director Hou, if I make another short film now, will it be enough to participate in the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival?

You want to make a short film again? Hou Xiaoxian was a little surprised, and then answered Zhou Yan's question, The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival will be held in January or February next year, but they will close the registration in October this year. If you want If you want to sign up for next year’s Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, it’s best to shoot your film before September.”

Then Hou Xiaoxian asked again, Do you have any new plans?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, I have some ideas, but they are not yet mature.

Hou Xiaoxian asked directly, Do you want to cooperate with Times Company again?

Of course I am willing to discuss cooperation with ERA. After all, we have a good foundation for cooperation before.

Zhou Yan did not directly say that he was willing to cooperate, but only said that he was willing to talk to them. Hou Xiaoxian naturally understood what Zhou Yan meant.

Cooperation is possible, but the conditions cannot be the same as before. After all, Zhou Yan is also a director who has won the Best Short Film Award at the Kurta International Film Festival, and his net worth is definitely different.

Hou Xiaoxian thought for a while and said, I'm in Pengcheng now, and I should go to Yanjing in late July. Will you be in Yanjing then?

He knew that Zhou Yan was not a native of Yanjing and might go back to his hometown during the summer vacation, so he asked this question.

Here, I will basically be in Yanjing this summer. Just contact me in advance before you come.

Hou Xiaoxian smiled and said, It's not convenient to contact you. Why don't you buy a big...buy a pager so that I can find you more easily.

He originally wanted to ask Zhou Yan to buy a mobile phone, but when he thought that Zhou Yan might not be able to afford it, he changed his mind and asked him to buy a bp machine.

In fact, Zhou Yan also felt inconvenient during this period. It was very troublesome for others to come to him if they had something to do. Just like a few days ago, Huayang came to see him and even made a special trip to his school, only to wait in the dormitory without seeing anyone else. For a long time.

If he has a bp machine, Huayang can just call his bp machine in the unit.

Okay, I'll buy one later.

Well, after you buy it, give me a call and give me your call sign. After thinking about it, Hou Xiaoxian smiled and said, Otherwise, you can go to Taiwan if you have time during the summer. I have I will stay in Taiwan for half a month.

Zhou Yan refused without thinking, I'm afraid I won't have time this summer.

He really didn't have time. He still had a lot of things to do during the summer. The key was that it was not easy to go to the other side now. It might take several days on the way back and forth. There was nothing special and he really didn't want to go there.

Hou Xiaoxian expressed regret for this, I was still thinking about you going there, so I will fulfill my promise and introduce you to some beauties.

Last time Hou Xiaoxian said he wanted to introduce a girl to Zhou Yan, and he drank a lot of wine. Zhou Yan thought he was talking drunkenly, but he didn't expect that he still remembered this matter.

There will be a chance in the future. Zhou Yan smiled.

Haha, let's talk about it later.

After hanging up the phone with Hou Xiaoxian, Zhou Yan ran to buy a bp machine.

Although this thing is not as expensive as his elder brother, it is not cheap either. Zhou Yan bought a new Chinese phone this year, the one that can display Chinese characters, which cost him more than 4,000 yuan.

Moreover, a BP machine cannot be bought and used. It also requires an activation fee of several hundred yuan. For subsequent normal use, a monthly rent of several tens of yuan will be required. The monthly rent for a Chinese machine is twice as expensive as that of a digital machine.

In movies and TV shows, many people like to hang BP machines around their waists, but Zhou Yan didn't do this. On the one hand, he felt frivolous, and on the other hand, this thing was not cheap. Hanging it on his waist was equivalent to showing off his wealth.

You know, his BP function is worth two or three years' salary of many people.

Although the public security in Yanjing is okay, it is still better to be cautious these days. If you accidentally encounter a robbery, you will be the one who suffers.

After the bp machine was completed, he gave his paging number to everyone he could contact one by one, so that they could call him if anything happened in the future.

…

The next morning, as soon as Zhou Yan got up, the pager beside his bed beeped.

He took the pager over and saw a message: Good morning, brother.

There was no name, but Zhou Yan knew that it must be Zhou Qing who called.

He touched his forehead and regretted giving his paging number to Zhou Qing and the others. He could foresee that Zhou Qing would most likely send him a greeting message every day from now on.

After he brushed his teeth and washed his face, the pager in his pocket rang again.

Come again? This girl doesn’t want to go to school?

Zhou Yan took out the bp machine, and this time it read: Wang Junzheng, come to the factory.

It turned out that it was not Zhou Qing, but Wang Jun who was looking for him.

Zhou Yan simply packed up and then rode to Yanjing Studio.

Seeing Zhou Yan coming, Wang Junzheng smiled and said, Having a pager makes it much more convenient. I can find you at any time.

Zhou Yan also smiled and said, Why do I feel that after having a pager, I will be much busier?

That's inevitable.

When there were no pagers, if it was a small matter, people would not call him. But now that there are pagers, if there is anything, just call him directly.

Sister Wang, what do you want from me? Is there something wrong with the tapes I recorded a few days ago? Zhou Yan asked.

Wang Jun was waving his hands, I'm not looking for you, it's Xia Gang who is looking for you.

Director Xia is looking for me? Zhou Yan was a little surprised.

Xia Gang is also a director at Yanjing Studio, but he works in the office next door. Zhou Yan rarely interacts with Xia Gang and they are just acquaintances.

Wang Junzheng smiled and said, What else can I do to you? Come on, I'll take you there.

After saying that, she got up and walked towards the next door, and Zhou Yan followed in a daze.

There were not many people in the office next door, and Xia Gang was sitting near the door.

Xiao Xia, I brought it to you. Wang Junzheng patted the pile of books on the table.

Xia Gang was reading with his head down. Wang Junzheng's voice startled him and he leaned back.

Looking up, he saw Wang Jun coming with Zhou Yan. Xia Jun stood up with a smile and said, Zhou Yan, you're here. I'm really sorry for bothering you to make a special trip.

Xia Gang is less than forty years old, about the same age as Chen Kaige and the others, but he is not tall and has a bookish aura, which is completely different from the fat and stupid Chen Kaige.

Every time Zhou Yan met Xia Gang before, he always smiled.

As he said that he was going to pour water, Wang Jun saw him holding two cups, and smiled and waved his hand, You still want to pour me water? Okay, I'll bring it to you. You guys can talk, I'll go over first.

After saying that, Wang Junzheng left, and Xia Gang just poured Zhou Yan a glass of water.

After receiving the water, Zhou Yan smiled and said, Director Xia, you're too polite. I wonder why you came to me?

It's also about the soundtrack. Xia Gang rubbed his hands and continued, At the beginning of the year, Director Chen made an appointment with Director Zheng Xiaolong and the others for a script called Unfamiliar Faces Have the Danger of Sweetness.

Zhou Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, what the hell is the name of this movie? Has Xia Gang ever filmed something like this?

He knew Xia Gang. He had previously filmed Half Fire, Half Sea Water, and later Big Sabbath and the City Trilogy.

As for Unfamiliar Faces Have the Danger of Sweetness, Zhou Yan had no impression at all.

He was sure that he had never seen this movie. Otherwise, he would definitely be able to remember such an awesome movie title. From this, he speculated that this movie must not be famous.

Is this movie going to be filmed? Zhou Yan asked.

Xia Jun shook his head and said, The script is still being revised. I heard Director Wang persuade me that I must determine the soundtrack director before shooting, so I wanted to chat with you. In fact, I wanted to wait for you to come over when you have time. At that time, I’d like to chat by the way, Director Wang insists on calling you over.”

Hey, it's okay, I'm close anyway. Zhou Yan waved his hand.

Zhou Yan is really grateful to Wang Junzheng. Ever since Wang Junzheng cooperated with him, he has been promoting the benefits of finding a music director in advance and helping him with the work.

The success of the film Forbidden City: Memory is directly related to Wang Junzheng, and now I have helped him find a new job in the factory.

Xia Gang pulled a bench and asked Zhou Yan to sit down, and then he also sat opposite Zhou Yan, Let me tell you about the script. This script mainly tells the story of the overseas Chinese family members... Do you know the overseas Chinese family members, it means the overseas Chinese stay in the country The dependents of…”

When Zhou Yan heard the word overseas Chinese family members, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Isn't Da Saba just telling the story of the family members of overseas Chinese? Could it be that the previous name of Big Saba was Unfamiliar Faces Are Sweet in Danger?

After the man sent his wife away, he happened to meet another couple. The husband was going abroad...

Xia Jun didn't know what Zhou Yan was thinking and continued to tell him the script.

After Xia Jun finished telling the general story, Zhou Yan nodded. Although the script Xia Jun mentioned was slightly different from the plot of Da Sabao that Zhou Yan had seen, Zhou Yan was sure that this movie was Da Sabao.

As a result, he was still a little interested.

When he just heard that the name of the movie was Strange Faces Are Sweet, Zhou Yan felt a little disgusted in his heart. He didn't want to take this job.

When will you start filming this film? Zhou Yan asked.

Xia Gang shook his head again, I'm not sure, I think it can be started before New Year's Eve, because we need to catch up with the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve, so as to set off the loneliness of the overseas Chinese family members staying in the country. But in the end, it depends on Zheng Xiaolong and the others. , wait until they have revised the script. Recently, I have been urging them, and it seems that it is already summer.

In Zhou Yan's impression, Big Sabbath is indeed full of winter scenes.

The script hasn't been finalized yet, and Zhou Yan didn't want to get involved too early, so he smiled and said, The story has not been determined yet, and the soundtrack work is not easy to carry out. My suggestion is to wait until the script is finalized before discussing the soundtrack.

Xia Gang smiled and nodded, I know this. As for me, I want to tell you in advance that if you are willing, you will be the soundtrack director of this movie. During this period, you don't have to go out of your way to do it. This is the soundtrack of a movie, but you can also think about this story while composing music, maybe you can get some inspiration, right?

This is Xia Gang's true thoughts. He has listened to the three long songs used in Reply from Heaven, and he is full of praise for each one, so he hopes to give Zhou Yan more time to prepare and try to get high-quality songs. song.

Do we need to go through any other formalities regarding the soundtrack guidance?

Zhou Yan expressed it more euphemistically, but he actually meant to ask Xia Gang if he had the right to make the decision. Wang Jun was looking for him to be the soundtrack director before, but after a lot of effort, the director Chen Zhigu finally made the decision.

Xia Gang also understood what Zhou Yan meant. He waved his hand and said with a smile, Don't worry, I can take care of the music and guidance.

He was very confident. This confidence was not because he had more power than Wang Junzheng, but because the situation was different now.

After cooperating with Heaven Replies, Zhou Yan's performance is obvious to all, and there is absolutely no way Chen Zhigu can put obstacles in this matter.

Even some time ago, when Chen Zhigu held a meeting with his director team, he even mentioned the soundtrack, which meant that everyone should pay attention to the soundtrack of the movie and not just focus on shooting the picture well.

Although Chen Zhigu never mentioned Zhou Yan's name from beginning to end, everyone knows that Chen Zhigu was able to say this because of Reply from Heaven.

Zhou Yan's soundtrack really adds a lot to Heaven Replies.

Seeing that Xia Gang was so confident, Zhou Yan nodded and said, Okay, I'll pay more attention during this time.

Xia Gang said with a smile, Then it's up to you.

After talking about business, the two chatted for a while, and Zhou Yan stood up to leave.

After coming out of Xia Gang's office, Zhou Yan said hello to Wang Junzheng, and then went to the editing building to see how the film was being edited.

Heaven Replies was not recorded live, it was all dubbed in the end, and the dialogues and everything else have been recorded. The studio is currently cutting the audio track, and it is estimated that the film will be mixed in July.

By this time, unless there is another big problem during the later review, there will basically be nothing wrong with Zhou Yan.

…

Before we knew it, June had passed, and it was July, and all of Yangyin's undergraduate courses were on vacation.

There are seven people in Zhou Yan's dormitory, and the other five have all gone home. Only Zhou Yan and Jia Guoping have not left. Jia Guoping is now a teacher, and his time is different from that of ordinary students. He still has a lot of work to do in school, and it is estimated that he will have to wait until Holidays are only available in mid-July.

During this period, the drama of life, separation and death was performed every day at Yangyin's door.

The graduates are about to usher in a long vacation. When they walk out of No. 43 Baojia Street, when they talk about Yangyin in the future, they will change it from our school to my alma mater.

Although they all hold on to the idea that they can meet again in the future, they are also afraid that this separation will mean that they will never see each other again.

These days, communication methods are scarce. After leaving school, people from all over the world may never see each other again in their lifetime. If you never see a person again, it is actually considered a dead farewell in a sense.

College students are full of emotions and have well-developed tear ducts. There is a lot of crying at the school gate every day.

When Zhou Yan came back from outside two days ago, he saw a violin professional playing Farewell. It was really sad to hear it and made everyone cry when he saw it.

The graduation season of Yangyin is like this. There are all kinds of music full of farewell emotions, and Farewell is definitely a high-frequency track.

On the morning of July 4th, Zhou Yan was about to go to Yanjing Studio, when he saw a couple performing a Giving Lover show in front of the school. The key was that there was an audience next to them.

If he hadn't had any musical instruments in hand, Zhou Yan would have wanted to play a piece of Butterfly Lovers for them to cheer them up.

Thanks to [Maxim Small Noodle Ball] for the 100 tip

Thanks to [Youfang Taoist Traveling Around the World] for the 1500 reward