Reborn in 1977

Chapter 706: Publication of the Thesis

Below the stage, everyone watched Chen Fan's performance with rapt attention.

With just a prelude, He Lao nodded unconsciously, "The rhythm of the music is very cheerful, which fits the theme of this song."

After a short prelude, Chen Fan launched into the rhythm and began to sing.

Compared to the various singing techniques of later generations, the singing style of this era is relatively simple, but simple does not mean monotonous.

Long breath control, clear enunciation, firm and powerful tone, and clean and neat intake and exhalation are all basic requirements for singers, which are completely different from the pop singing methods of later generations.

Chen Fan drew energy from his dantian and resonated with his head cavity. His clean and powerful voice burst forth, giving people a feeling of high morale and youthful vitality.

Even many of those present were musicians, they couldn't help but feel a jolt of energy, and their eyes became more focused.

As for the kind of closed-eyed, intoxicated enjoyment of music, it simply didn't exist here. Even if someone wanted to indulge in it, Chen Fan's extremely penetrating voice would wake him up.

As the phrase "Glory belongs to the new generation of the 1980s" was repeated three times in a row, the singing and piano music ended simultaneously.

Immediately following was a particularly enthusiastic round of applause from the audience.

Chen Fan stood up, supported himself with one hand on the piano, bowed slightly to take his leave, and then turned and left the stage.

Arriving backstage, the performing artists waiting here all gave him warm applause.

Chen Fan repeatedly bowed slightly to express his gratitude, and waved around with a smile, then prepared to return to his seat.

At this moment, a staff member walked over and said softly, "Vice Chairman Chen, Elder Ba would like to see you."

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment. There was still a performance going on, could he just change seats?

In the next second, he came back to his senses. Not to mention this kind of internal get-together, even on the first two live Spring Festival Galas on CCTV, the audience under the stage was wandering around, cracking melon seeds, chatting, and drinking, just like they were at home, without any sense of restraint.

Now it was just changing a seat, what did it matter.

He nodded lightly, "Okay."

Without needing a staff member to lead the way, taking advantage of the next group of performers preparing, he bent over and trotted to Elder Ba's table.

The old gentlemen who were originally at the table were all there, except that a seat had been added between Elder Ba and He Lao.

He pulled out a chair and sat down. Before he could greet the old gentlemen, He Lao said, "Have you joined the Jiangnan Musicians Association?"

Chen Fan "uh"'d and smiled, shaking his head gently, "Not yet."

He Lao frowned slightly, "Your piano skills are very high. I can hear that you have reached the performance level, no worse than the pianists in the symphony orchestra. As for your singing skills, although this song doesn't show much difficulty, I can tell from your enunciation and breath control that there are few people in the country who are better than you. It's a pity not to join the Musicians Association with this level of skill."

Chen Fan pursed his lips and smiled, and quickly said, "No, no, I still need to work hard. And music is not my main profession, so I don't have any plans to join the association."

He Lao looked at him, a few traces of appreciation appearing in his eyes, "From your song, I can see the enthusiasm, unrestrainedness, and self-confidence of young people. The lyrics are very well written, very in line with the times, and also in line with your own identity and age.

The melody is also very excellent. You should have listened to some foreign songs. The rhythm in it has a bit of the passionate musical characteristics of Latin America. But I didn't expect that you yourself are so humble and cautious."

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but admire him secretly.

This song was indeed created by Gu Jianfen by borrowing a bit of Latin American musical elements. That was back in 1978, when she went to Latin America with a delegation for exchange visits, gathering inspiration.

At that time, she was inspired and wanted to integrate this musical element into it. It wasn't until she saw a poem published by Zhang Meitong in the third issue of the magazine "Lyricism", "The New Generation of the 1980s", that her inspiration exploded and she created this song.

In this era of inconvenient information, it is indeed very rare for He Lao to be able to understand foreign music.

Originally, Chen Fan didn't think about directly copying it, but songs are different from novels. With novels, knowing a general plot outline, you can write it in your own way, change the background and change the characters, no problem.

But a song is just a few lines of lyrics and a few sections of melody. Even if Chen Fan's literary and musical attainments are not low, it is not an easy task to write poems and music of the same quality, let alone to be in line with the current spirit of the times.

He also thought about creating another song praising the motherland and the nation, but in the end, he chose a song that was more in line with his age, a song about young people.

Under the current social background, no song is more suitable than this "Young Friends, Come and Meet". Rather than creating a seemingly similar "new song", it's better to use the original work. Finally, the stage of today was presented.

Thoughts flashed through his mind. He looked at He Lao, grinned and smiled, but before he could speak, Elder Ba interrupted with a laugh,

"Your health is not good, and you have been recuperating at home for many years, so your information is not well-informed. If you just come out more often and chat with old friends, you will know the nature of this kid."

Chen Fan's face stiffened, and he looked at him helplessly. Was this the rhythm of tearing down the stage?

He Lao's eyes lit up, he looked at him, then turned to look at Elder Ba, and asked curiously, "Could it be that I'm wrong?"

Elder Ba didn't care about Chen Fan's resentful eyes, and chuckled, "I can't say you're wrong, just not completely right. When I first met him, he was also so humble and polite. As a result, after getting familiar, he started to become unrestrained.

That day, he took a steel pen from me that was captured on the northern battlefield. The third time he came to my house, he also swiped a Zisha teapot from Gu Jingzhou. Later, every time he went to my house, I had to lock the study, otherwise a few paintings and calligraphy would be lost."

When the old gentlemen at the table heard this, they couldn't help but laugh and applaud.

When the two actors performing cross-talk on the stage saw this, they immediately became more energetic, and their eloquence became three points sharper.

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched, and he retorted in court, "Then you still ask me to write every time, and if you don't count it yourself, you spread it in the unit, so everyone knows. As a result, I get sore hands every time there is a writers' association meeting."

Xia Lao had already put the notebook aside, looked at He Lao and smiled, "Comrade Xiao Chen is still very good. Although he is unwilling to suffer even the slightest loss, he doesn't easily take advantage of others. At least he hasn't scammed me yet today."

Chen Fan maintained a helpless smile. Were you explaining for me, or kicking me when I'm down?

Xia Lao joked, then turned to look at him and said, "I wanted the adaptation rights to three of your novels. Two of them have been made into movies, and only one has completed post-production. It will be released in a few days. The specific time is January 7, which is Sunday. You can go and see it then."

Chen Fan's eyes lit up, "Is it 'The Ferryman'?"

Xia Lao nodded lightly, "Yes, it's 'The Ferryman'.

"The Ferryman" was the first novel that Old Xia adapted, and the filming location was found near Taihu Lake. After nearly half a year of post-production, it was finally ready for its official release.

As for premiere ceremonies and the like, they naturally didn't exist in this era. Not only that, but Chen Fan had to buy his own ticket to see his own work in the cinema.

There was no other way; the higher up you went, the stricter the rules became.

To put it bluntly, the ticket seller's and ticket collector's neighbors could enter without a ticket, but if a leader wanted to go in, they couldn't unless the cinema's leader accompanied them, even if the leader had their work ID.

So, Chen Fan was already thinking about which cinema to buy a ticket from.

Unfortunately, film copies were severely lacking in this era, and distribution companies in each province arranged screenings in cities on a rotating basis. By the time the copy reached Yunhu, it would probably be summer. Otherwise, with Chen Fan's face, he wouldn't need to buy a ticket in Yunhu; he could just walk in.

After mentioning this "inside information," Old Xia looked at Old He and said with a smile, "Your mood now is the same as mine was back then. It's just a pity that Chen Fan isn't from Shanghai. Otherwise, he would definitely have joined our Dramatists Association by now, and maybe we could get a discount when buying adaptation rights from him in the future."

Old He had just tilted his head back and laughed when an old comrade from the next table turned around and grunted twice, saying, "Then our Seal Carving and Calligraphy Research Association will definitely snatch him up before you."

This remark was met with another burst of laughter.

Today's party had a rich program, including solo songs, choir performances, band performances, solo instrument performances, cross-talk, acrobatics, storytelling while playing stringed instruments, and more. Several calligraphers and painters also took to the stage to create several works.

If it were according to Old Ba's previous habits, he would probably have asked Chen Fan to show off his skills at this time.

However, today, one vibrant song, "Let Us Meet When We Are Young," was already enough. As the saying goes, you can't drain the pond to catch all the fish. This opportunity should be saved for next time.

Chen Fan luckily escaped this calamity.

Although there were many performances, the party didn't end very late.

This was because many of the old comrades present were not in good health. For example, Old He and Yu Ling had suffered a lot and had only been able to come out for recuperation two years ago. Being able to sit and watch an entire party was already not easy.

So, as soon as the meeting ended, cars were arranged to take them home first.

Chen Fan also got a task: to drive several old comrades from the Writers Association, including Old Ba and Old Xia, who lived not far away, back home.

After finishing up, he hurried to pick up people.

...

First, he picked up Jiang Lili from Fangda University. Chen Fan planned to send her home first and then pick up Jiang Tiantian.

Turning the steering wheel to make a U-turn, Chen Fan looked at her and asked, "When did it end?"

Jiang Lili held her face in her hands and smiled, "It just ended not long ago. You came just in time and didn't delay anything."

Chen Fan chuckled twice, "Then I'll send you back first and hurry to pick up your sister. I guess she's finished by now too. Don't let her wait too long."

Jiang Lili said, "No need to go back. Let's go pick her up together. That'll be faster."

Chen Fan nodded, "Alright."

When the car drove onto the main road, Jiang Lili looked at him curiously and asked, "Was the arts and literature party lively?"

Chen Fan said, "It was lively. They were all performing artists. Not only was the program rich and colorful, but the quality was also particularly high..."

They chatted and laughed along the way. He told Jiang Lili about the situation at the party today, which made the little girl exclaim in surprise, "Wow, so many celebrities! Even the old Mr. He Luting went? I especially like his song 'The Wandering Songstress.' The melody is particularly beautiful..."

After gossiping about the celebrities for a while, Jiang Lili asked again, "Xiao Fan, did everyone like your songs? They must have liked them a lot, right?"

Looking at the hopeful light in her eyes, Chen Fan raised his forehead slightly, but his face was indifferent. "What are you saying? How can you say they must have liked them a lot? They liked them very much! Let me tell you, I was originally sitting at the Writers Association's table, but after my performance, Old He directly invited me to the main table and praised me a lot.

He said that I played the piano particularly well, that even the pianists of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra were not as good as me, that my singing ability was also superior, that I could reach the high notes that others couldn't, and that I could reach the low notes that others couldn't..."

Jiang Lili looked at Chen Fan sideways, her little face full of expressions, and her eyes were filled with irresistible intoxication.

My man is awesome!

Until the car stopped in front of Fudan University, she was still somewhat unsatisfied.

Chen Fan looked towards the entrance. The accumulated snow had already lost its original color. Looking at the messy series of footprints, he knew that the New Year's Eve party had already ended.

He unbuckled his seat belt and said to Jiang Lili, "You wait in the car. I'll go take a look."

Jiang Lili was about to nod when she suddenly pointed at the school gate. "Sister's coming out."

Chen Fan looked forward and saw Jiang Tiantian carefully running towards this side.

After a few seconds, he suddenly chuckled, "Your sister's Baguazhang skills are about to surpass yours. I saw her slip several times, but she was able to stabilize her stance."

Jiang Lili pouted and couldn't help laughing, "I thought you were watching to see if she would fall, but it turns out you were examining her kung fu."

Chen Fan waved to Jiang Tiantian, who was running closer, "If her footwork wasn't good, I would have had to go pick her up."

Jiang Tiantian quickly ran over, opened the car door, got in, closed the door smoothly, and, still panting, pulled a magazine from her arms and handed it to Chen Fan, excitedly saying, "Xiao Fan, your, your thesis has been published! The teachers in the history department have given it very high praise. You're so amazing!"

Chen Fan and Jiang Lili looked at each other in confusion.

What thesis?

He reached out and took the magazine, which was still warm, but didn't look at it. Instead, he turned to look at Jiang Tiantian, "Catch your breath first. I was just praising Lili for how well you've been practicing your kung fu, daring to run on the snow, but when you ran over just now, you forgot even the basic breathing techniques."

Jiang Tiantian's pretty face, already flushed with excitement, turned even redder. She immediately took a few deep breaths, adjusted her breathing according to the method Chen Fan taught, and quickly calmed down.

Then, holding the back of the front seat, she said, "Your thesis has been published, and it was published in the authoritative historical journal 'Historical Research.' You should take a look."

Only then did Chen Fan turn around, sit properly, and open the magazine in his hand.

This was a professional magazine founded by Peking University and also a core national historical journal, "Historical Research."

His thesis title was printed on the cover.

As expected, it was the assignment he had submitted to the teacher, a thesis that approached history and literature from the perspective of antiques.

However, why wasn't it published in Jiangda University's historical journal, but submitted to Peking University's "Historical Research"?

Jiangda University's journal isn't that much worse.