this man is not calm

Chapter 367 Taste of the Year
The central China region is located at the junction of the north and the south, and the New Year customs are quite complicated, with all kinds of them.

In Yunmeng, where my girlfriend Li Xuan lives, most people's living habits are similar to those of southerners. They can eat spicy food and have strong tastes, but most foods are seasoned with a little sugar.

Except for a few categories, Jin Shang is more accustomed to local tastes.

After a short rest in the afternoon, the weather turned better, so Jin Shang and Li Xuan went for a walk nearby, holding their hot packs.

It was not his first time here, but he had some impression. Jin Shang could still tell the directions. But Li Xuan, who had been studying abroad for a long time, was not very familiar with the changes in his hometown over the years. Many villagers looked familiar, but he could not match their names. When he met someone who said hello, he could only smile awkwardly and fool them.

"Hey, are there people fishing today too?"

"Fishermen are a group of magical creatures. As long as there is water and fish, nothing can stop them from fishing."

Looking at the other side of the river not far away, several middle-aged men came out to enjoy themselves when the wind was relatively light. Li Xuan felt helpless. In the countryside of a small county like her hometown, life is relatively comfortable. When there is not much entertainment, fishing becomes a popular activity.

"There wasn't any before. In the summer, there were more people fishing and catching shrimps. In the winter, some people would release water from the fish ponds and catch fish..."

After a pause, Li Xuan suddenly realized something and asked curiously:

"I always feel that winter used to be very cold. The ponds had very thick ice. Children played on it, but even big rocks couldn't break it. So at that time, generally not many people went fishing, and even fewer people went out. Now...it still snows in winter, and it's chilly, but the kind of heavy snow that blocks the door and makes it difficult to walk is becoming less and less common. The water in the stream doesn't freeze, and the ice period of the pond is very short, and the ice layer is not thick."

“The weather is getting warmer!”

Generally speaking, global climate change has become increasingly severe in recent years. On the one hand, the greenhouse effect caused by industrial development has caused the temperature to rise. From a large cyclical perspective, there will be a wave of rising temperatures in the next 20 to 30 years.

Due to multiple factors, the day when mosquitoes will be rampant in Siberia near the Arctic Circle may not be far away. In winter, it is a frozen tundra where everything is dead, and in summer, it is a swamp where people and animals cannot walk, which is not suitable for human life.

In this small county town in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the summers are getting hotter and humid, while the winters are getting warmer.

Corresponding to this is the northward movement of the rainfall belt, and many large areas of desert that were originally barren now have the possibility of greening.

It has to be said that the next few decades will indeed be a golden period of development with the right time, place and people.

The two chatted and walked for a while, watching the people coming and going.

"I never noticed before that so many people in my hometown actually bought cars."

Although they are not expensive luxury cars, they more or less show that ordinary people's lives are indeed much better than before.

The cement roads that were once used for bicycles, tricycles and animal-powered vehicles now seem a bit narrow.

"I lived in the school dormitory from middle school until I graduated from university. I was away from home for most of the year. I rarely came back in the past two years. It is normal for me to change a lot."

Jin Shang had seen such scenes in his previous life, but he grew up in the capital and seldom traveled, so he was a little unfamiliar with the customs and practices of different places.

In fact, this place is heavily influenced by central and southern Henan. There are records of ancestors of many families migrating from the south, and there are also many daughters-in-law marrying here from the north.

From this we can see that the trend of the population center moving southward has indeed been continuing, and it has not changed even in modern times. If the capital had not been located in the North China Plain, the differences between the north and the south would have become increasingly greater.

The Yunmeng area is not a typical southern area. Jin Shang can clearly feel that the pace of life here is obviously faster than that in the north.

My second uncle's hometown is near Julunbo. The villagers nearby are not as eager to make money as here. It is said that in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and other places, many Yunmeng people go to work in groups and engage in the textile and garment industry. Even half of the community is the business of people from one town.

Beijing is quite special. You won’t feel it if you stay there for a long time, but once you go out, you can experience the differences between different places.

Traditional conservatism and outward-looking development are only relative concepts, but they also made Jin Shang realize that the foundation of his business is in the north. If he wants to grow and develop, make a lot of money, and influence more people and things, he must come to the south as soon as possible to grab land.

They didn’t know how far they walked, but they felt the cold air from the sky coming down and it was getting dark, so Li Xuan and Jin Shang turned back home.
-
After having a sumptuous dinner and chatting with his girlfriend's family for a while, Li Xuan organized the event. A dozen young people, including three children, drove to the county town.

I'm not hungry, so I sing first.

After booking a large room, everyone started to have fun.

Jin Shang sat next to Li Xuan and whispered:
"There's such a high-end KTV place here. It looks like business is pretty good!"

"It's owned by my third uncle."

"Eh?"

"Cousin, not a relative. This is not surprising. Within a hundred miles, you can always find acquaintances. What's more, do you think this is the capital? There is a KTV for you to have fun on the third day of the New Year? I have already said it in advance..."

"No wonder. I said there weren't many people, but they still opened so many halls. Electricity is free, but you don't give overtime pay for overtime?"

Jin Shang understood the situation and couldn't help but imagine the mystery. It seemed that the Li family was very attentive to receiving the "future son-in-law".
"It's very automated. There's an online cash register system. They also accept coupons and discounts. I saw the Jin Xi Payment sign and an advertisement for Jin Xi Music..."

Hearing this, Li Xuan couldn't help but glance at her boyfriend strangely.

"It's a commercial cooperation. Where does the music library in commercial karaoke bars come from? They have to pay for the license. They are not informal KTVs hidden in the streets and alleys or residential areas. Especially for well-known chain KTVs, if they infringe the copyright, they will be fined heavily."

"I didn't know that Jinxi Music's business has expanded thousands of miles away."

"No, are you pretending to be stupid or do you really not know? Most of the most popular songs in the country in the past two years are from our company. We also spent tens of millions to buy exclusive copyrights and crack down on piracy. Isn't it just to catch up with this wave of commercialization of pop music and make a fortune?"

Then, Li Xuan explained the details of the situation, which surprised Jin Shang.

In the past, Master Jin thought that the bulk of his music division's revenue came from music album rentals and sales, as well as licensing for commercial performances, plus the rising revenue from mobile phone ringtones and color ringback tones. But now he realizes that there is also licensing for KTV music libraries, creating a luxurious three-legged situation.

"I... don't seem to have seen any data on this in this year's report."

Scratching the back of his head, Xiao Jin said somewhat embarrassedly,

"Did you miss it?"

"It should be that the prepayments or collections have not been settled yet and have been put into the next financial reporting cycle. In the past, no one paid attention to the benefits in this regard. After Jin Xi Music went bankrupt, it caused quite a stir in the industry." "How do you know so clearly? Lao Zhang didn't explain it to me in detail or mentioned it, so I didn't notice it..."

"If the music library is authorized, shouldn't we promote it one by one? People won't actively give us money. We have been busy with promotion for half a year. This happens to be one of the most important businesses of offline life at present."

"All right!"

It’s Jin Shang’s fault that he was too busy and didn’t notice the coordinated operations of the company’s various departments.

To be honest, in the current environment, it is basically a fantasy to want to make money by focusing on virtual online business and neglecting offline business. There are simply few online monetization channels, and it must be combined with offline business.

The era when "Little Penguin" can make tens of billions a year just from the gaming sector is still a long way off!
When talking about this, Li Xuan also had some doubts.

"It was all good, but now it's the end of the year, and the Music Association heard that we made a lot of money from ringtones and KTV, so they wanted to gather practitioners to grab our business."

"Profits are what move people! Wait, what association did you say?"

"Music Association?"

"Not the Musicians' Association?"

"Look at my lip movements, the Music Association..."

The noise in the hall was a bit loud, but I could still hear Li Xuan's words clearly.

Jin Shang knew about the Musicians Association. It was a formal organization with a lot of business, including music research, music education, music awards, international exchanges, etc. What was a Musicians Association? How come he had never heard of it before?

Anyone who is given a title like "XX" basically confirms his or her identity as an artist, and is a leader in the industry. It is very prestigious to say it out loud. Not everyone can join the Musicians Association. Dai Yiqun, who is so famous that he has no friends, is not up to the level of a musician, and doesn't even dare to call himself a singer. Without a rating certificate with a gold-stamped stamp, even his fart won't make any sound.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the Musicians Association, which has great power, wants to regulate domestic pop music copyright and seek benefits for practitioners. But where did this music association, a large and useless organization with no clear origins, come from?

"It is said that it was jointly established by some singers, songwriters, well-known rock bands and record companies in Beijing who have some influence among the people. They are jealous of Jinxi Music's money-making, but they are not capable of opening up their own business. They are greedy and shamelessly invite Jinxi Music to join..."

"A wild club, I wonder... how come something like this suddenly appeared? They don't even take Yuan Xiu, the famous music master in the industry, seriously?"

"You blow it!"

Li Xuan glared at her boyfriend and complained unhappily,

"Musicians have high standards and don't value this hard-earned money. The name of this so-called music association is quite intimidating. Who knows, it may cause trouble for us in the future."

"Then join. If you can play, play together. If not, form your own group and set up a few pop music charts, such as Billboard, Oricon, or Golden Melody Chart. It's all fine!"

No matter what others do, just keep your own footing. The licensing of KTV music libraries will not be popular for many more years. In another dozen years, all of them will become discos for middle-aged and elderly people. Young people will no longer play this.

When the Internet age comes, as long as Jinxi Music can gain a dominant position, everyone will be included in it.

From the beginning to the end, Jinxi Culture and the so-called music association were not competing on the same level.

"I also think they are not a big deal, but... there is always a fly buzzing around my ear, which is quite annoying."

"Assign an assistant to directly contact and handle this issue. It's a small matter, so just let the employees do it."

Not to mention the distant past, in a few months, the MP3 player will be released, setting off a new era of wave, and all the conceivable traditional ways of playing of the so-called music associations will be washed away without a trace.

The dimensionality reduction attack from across the border is simply not something that the old stubborn people with narrow vision and self-satisfied can resist.

As the two were talking, Li Kang sang a song on a high stool in front of the stage and said to his sister and brother-in-law who were mumbling:
"You're already here, what are you whispering about? Come up. I've heard that your brother-in-law is a famous singer who was delayed by his business."

"I am still an unknown poet and an unpopular novelist. These are just empty names and not worth mentioning."

Jin Shang stood up with a laugh and grabbed the microphone.

Jin Shang didn't have much experience singing with a lot of people, especially in front of laymen who had no musical literacy at all. Fortunately, when he was in a band before, he had a lot of experience performing in situations where there were a lot of people cheering, so he could easily handle this small scene.
-
The atmosphere was very lively. After singing happily for two and a half hours, the group went to a small but beautiful restaurant nearby, ordered some grilled skewers and side dishes, and drank some beer. After they were satisfied, they called a driver to take everyone home.

Jin Shang didn't drink much, and he was almost sober after a few gusts of wind on the road. With the help of the "Golden Finger", as long as he didn't drink intentionally to get drunk, he would basically be fine.

After returning home and washing up, I quickly lay down and fell asleep.

Over the next two days, Jin Shang met with most of Li Xuan's relatives. He also took some time to take a sightseeing boat ride along the Han River to Wuhan, a city dotted with lakes and ponds, to watch some celebrations and performances.

After the sixth day of the New Year, people who were eager to make money had to go to work one after another. Jin Shang's main task this time was to discuss the engagement with the Li family.

The specific procedures do not need to be finalized by Jin Shang. The main thing is to meet with everyone, go through the procedures, and get familiar with each other to avoid awkward dealings later.

After a few days of leisurely play, it was not until the eighth day of the Lunar New Year that Jin Shang and Li Xuan arrived in Wuhan again. They attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Central China Branch, looked at the promotion of the local PHS business, and then went to see the progress of the logistics center construction.

After a lot of experience, Jiang Long has improved a lot and has a more stable temperament. He took Jin Shang to visit the factory.

Generally speaking, Jin Shang was still satisfied.

After encouraging the direct employees who were sent here and distributing New Year gifts, Jin Shang and Jiang Long went to have lunch together and chatted while they were there.

"Manager Jiang did a better job than I thought."

"This is all thanks to President Jin's advice. I have also learned a lot from President Wei."

"You are too modest. There is something I would like to ask for your opinion on..."

(End of this chapter)