Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 911 (910) "Finding Friends"

This song will probably not be released for another nine years. Its original title was "Golden Light Shines All Over the World".

The lyricist and composer were a brother and sister. The sister was a worker at the Sixth Glass Factory in Luxian County at the time, and the brother was a primary school student.

The lyrics went through four versions before finally being changed to the well-known version in 72.

Didn't that old bastard question me in the newspaper? Well, I'll write a solid, patriotic piece of my own slap on the tongue and see how he tries to argue back!

Actually, "On the Golden Mountain of BJ" is also very good, but because it has a strong Tibetan style, it can only be legitimately "created" after field research. Tang Zhitong did not have the opportunity to go there, so it is naturally not easy to copy it.

However, this song is also quite good; it's catchy, easy to learn, and has a wider appeal.

"You just came up with this?!" Upon hearing this, Xiao Wang stopped washing clothes and looked at her husband with bright eyes full of admiration.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now." Faced with Xiao Wang's admiration, Tang Zhitong's vanity was unprecedentedly satisfied.

"It's catchy and easy to remember. Is this all? It feels a bit short."

"If it's short, just repeat it again. I think adding anything else would be superfluous." Tang Zhitong racked his brains and came up with an excuse. The fourth version of this song has stood the test of time and history, and no newer versions have appeared, which fully demonstrates its rationality and that it should not be changed.

“That makes sense. Let’s write it down!” Little Wang threw his clothes into the basin, eagerly wiped his hands, and walked to his desk to pick up a pen and paper.

Tang Zhitong hummed and sang, while Xiao Wang recorded his voice on paper as musical notes.

Although the song was simple, Tang Zhitong's pitch wasn't very accurate. After writing it, Xiao Wang sang it and had her husband listen to see if it sounded right. They went through several revisions before finally finishing the song.

"Now I can report back to Editor Yang. I have a feeling this song will be loved by the masses!" Xiao Wang checked the manuscript paper, then reluctantly folded it and stuffed it into the envelope.

"Make a copy first, and we'll submit it to Editor Yang as a children's song. If she thinks it's too short and won't publish it, we can try submitting it to Uncle Wu instead." Love and affection can't be hidden. This song is suitable for all ages, as can be seen from its popularity in later generations. Tang Zhitong agreed with Xiao Wang's suggestion, but it was still doubtful whether Editor Yang and the Central Radio and Television Station would dare to produce and broadcast it. The two of them had been busy for a while, and they couldn't go back and compose it all over again. It was safer to make a copy first.

"You're overthinking things." Xiao Wang took the letter out of the envelope again and started copying it down on his desk.

Tang Zhitong chuckled to himself, which was taken as tacit agreement.

This year, most parts of the country have experienced severe drought, making the already scarce food supply even more difficult to meet.

If you're not full, you're bound to have some complaints.

With more opinions, it's inevitable that some different voices and perspectives will emerge.

But now is not the time to argue about this. What we need now is to unite as one, work together with one heart and one mind, and overcome these difficult times.

Tang Zhitong hopes that this song can reduce some of the criticism in certain aspects.

As for what might happen to him because of this song twenty or thirty years from now, Tang Zhitong couldn't care less at the moment. It might have some impact, but overall it wouldn't be a big problem.

Xiao Wang copied the sheet music, while Tang Zhitong drew a blueprint of a hospital bed.

This time, Tang Zhitong didn't draw in great detail. He only provided the length, width, and height of the hospital bed and roughly sketched the transmission device. He left the rest to the students in the research class, trusting their intelligence and talent.

"What about Uncle Wu? Have you thought about what to write?" After copying, Xiao Wang put one copy into his drawer and the other into an envelope.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, let's take it slow." Tang Zhitong glanced up at the bookshelf. Although he said this, he already had a rough idea of ​​what to write.

There's a set of "Selected Works of Mao Dun" on the bookshelf, the signed kind.

There was a seminar at the National Library of China a while ago. Xiao Wang bought some books and then asked the authors to sign them. Besides Lao She, this was the only other one.

This controversy caused by a children's song is, in a way, a slap in the face to the cultural authorities. Tang Zhitong wanted to write "Little White Poplar" ahead of schedule.

The little white poplar is great! I can say that I was inspired by reading "Ode to the White Poplar" in "Selected Works of Mao Dun".

However, there is a problem here. The lyrics of "Little White Poplar" contain elements such as sentry posts, northern Xinjiang, and border defense, which are also elements that Tang Zhitong lacks in his experience. He needs to go on field trips to unlock them. Fortunately, these elements are easier to achieve than going to Tibet, so he plans to collect all the elements before "creating".

"Editor Yang still has two more poems to write, it feels like the task is very urgent." Xiao Wang put down the letter and sat back down in front of the washbasin to wash clothes.

"Many lice won't bite, many debts won't worry me. Come on, sing me a little tune to cheer me up and find some inspiration." Tang Zhitong is easygoing. Writing songs is not like writing essays. You can write 800 words in an essay class, but you can't do that with songs. This thing is like grinding, it's normal to produce one song every two or three months.

"Pah, shameless!" Little Wang stretched out her wet hand, made a delicate pinky gesture, and then flicked it sharply, splashing water all over her husband's face.

Seeing her husband reach out and touch her face, Xiao Wang giggled, and then started singing.

Although the couple only collaborated on two songs, they had already communicated privately and decided to only release the children's songs to Yang Lin, so Xiao Wang is currently humming children's songs.

One minute it's "Little Swallow," the next it's "Drop the Handkerchief," and there's even "One Cent," all of which are very popular children's songs these days.

"I'll skip the ones I've already heard. I mainly want to sing some songs I haven't heard before, so I can learn from others." Tang Zhitong didn't request any songs, letting Xiao Wang have his fill. He could also take the opportunity to eliminate some that had already been created, so he wouldn't run into problems when he tried to create (plagiarize) his own work.

"Okay, let me hang the clothes up and I'll play you a foreign song so you can experience some exotic charm." Xiao Wang wrung out her husband's shirt, hung it on the clothes rack, and tugged at it to make sure there were no wrinkles.

After hanging up the clothes outside, Xiao Wang went back inside and pulled the hair tie at the back of his head, letting his long black hair cascade down.

"Wow, you need a whole hairstyle to sing?" Tang Zhitong was completely captivated by the fleeting charm of Xiao Wang's head toss, and even considered braiding her hair into two little braids herself. "Hmph, I'll give you the full performance so you can draw some inspiration." Xiao Wang had pulled down her hair tie because her hair was a bit loose, so she gathered it up again, tied it securely, and then stretched out her hand, ready to do a little jump in the room.

"Let's skip the dancing, you're carrying a little one." Upon hearing that Xiao Wang wanted to go all out, Tang Zhitong immediately shook her head and refused. Compared to Xiao Wang's safety, this inspiration was better off not having.

"Don't worry, I'm very gentle. If I don't jump now, my bones will rust." After tying her hair up, Xiao Wang walked up to her husband, put her hands around his waist, and snuggled into his arms, acting coquettishly.

"Well... alright then." Little Wang isn't Daji, but Tang Zhitong felt that if he were an emperor, he would definitely be even more incompetent than King Zhou of Shang.

Xiao Wang wanted to dance, but Tang Zhitong couldn't provide accompaniment, so he could only move the tables, chairs, benches, and other odds and ends in the side room to the next cubicle to make more room for her.

Without any musical accompaniment, Xiao Wang hummed a tune to himself and danced to the beat, making small, very small jumps.

Tang Zhitong thought that he could learn a musical instrument in the future, and the two of them could play it at home to adjust the atmosphere and boost their mood. It seemed like a good idea. But why did this tune sound a little familiar?
"What is this piece of music? It feels a bit familiar." Sometimes my brain just doesn't work; I can't quite place something I know very well.

"Does this sound familiar?" Xiao Wang was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized and said, "You have indeed heard of it. During the May Day holiday, when we went to the Working People's Cultural Palace, the Hungarian art delegation performed there."

"Oh, I knew it! I felt like I'd heard it somewhere before. What's this tune? It sounds pretty cheerful." Tang Zhitong touched his nose to cover his embarrassment. He had been so busy watching the foreigners hugging and jumping around that time that he hadn't paid any attention to the accompaniment.

"In Hungary, it's called 'Invitation Dance,' which seems to be a piece of music that expresses freedom and friendship." After stretching his muscles, Xiao Wang picked up a towel and started wiping his sweat. There's no air conditioning or fan at home, so even a little exercise makes him sweat profusely.

"There's only a melody, no lyrics?" Tang Zhitong silently took the towel and wiped the parts that Xiao Wang couldn't reach.

"Yes, but I don't remember it all. It seems to be... Aylin, Sabacha, you are my good friend." Xiao Wang recalled for a moment and sang it out.

When Xiao Wang sang it, Tang Zhitong was completely baffled. Wasn't this the children's song "Finding Friends"? No wonder it sounded familiar!

"What's wrong?" Xiao Wang asked softly when she saw her husband looking lost in thought.

"This song sounds great, hasn't anyone thought about translating it into Chinese?" Tang Zhitong asked tentatively.

"Localization? You mean rewriting the lyrics, right?"

"Yes, has anyone done this?" Tang Zhitong was a little expectant. If no one had done it before, he would have another piece of music to hand in for his task.

"I've never heard of it, and I've never heard anyone sing it," Xiao Wang replied, tilting his head and thinking for a moment.

“Then let’s write new lyrics! Let’s call it ‘Finding Friends’!” After Xiao Wang confirmed that no one had done this before, Tang Zhitong made up his mind to rewrite the lyrics. There may not be many people doing this now, but once pop music becomes popular, many singers will buy the copyright and do Chinese localization, and some songs will even become more popular than the original.

The melody for "Invitation Dance" is fixed, so Ms. Wang didn't need to confirm the tune or details with her husband; she wrote it herself based on her memory.

Tang Zhitong's version was even simpler; he just sang "Finding Friends" once.

After copying it, Tang Zhitong was very pleased. Although "Finding Friends" is not long, it has left unforgettable memories for the childhood of several generations with its light and cheerful melody and lyrics without any political overtones. Who knows, he might be interviewed about it in the future.

"Have you ever eaten Western food?" Tang Zhitong was still immersed in her daydreams about the future when Xiao Wang, looking at the completed artwork, suddenly asked.

"Western food? No, no." Tang Zhitong immediately returned to reality from his soaring, high-flying state, denying it with such decisiveness. How could a good-natured, single-minded young man like himself possibly have the chance to indulge in Western cuisine?

However, I've heard and seen a lot about it, including Czech flirting and Ukrainian women. Some people have even summarized their experiences and feelings, explaining the differences between white and black people in a very clear way.

"I don't know if the Jishilin restaurant in Dong'an Market is still open. I'll treat you to it when I have the chance." Although Western food is a bit expensive, Ms. Wang wanted to take her husband to experience it.

"Huh?! No need, why spend that money? I'd rather save it to buy you some fruit." Tang Zhitong waved her hands repeatedly. It turned out that Xiao Wang was referring to the Western food; the two of them were thinking of completely different things.

Although Xiao Wang hasn't eaten much of the proper Western food he mentioned, he has tried it before, such as steak, pizza, and fried shrimp. They give it a fancy name and dare to sell it for a hundred or so yuan a serving. It's kind of like paying to broaden one's horizons.

“You have me in your heart, and I have you in mine. I want you to try it.” Hearing her husband say this, Xiao Wang became even more determined to let him try it. She even used her charm, tugging at her husband’s arm and shaking it.

"As you wish, as you wish, but we'll have to wait until things get better before we go." Tang Zhitong was young and impetuous, and had been holding back for quite some time. He couldn't stand this any longer. At the same time, he found a reason for himself: the reason he had thought of something inappropriate earlier was because he had been holding back.

Xiao Wang wanted to go in the next few days, and she spent a lot of time and effort persuading her husband to agree. She talked until her mouth was dry and her lips were almost worn out, but Tang Zhitong remained unmoved because eating Western food was not a necessary requirement.

Apart from the Old Mo restaurant in Xizhimen, most of the Western restaurants in Beijing are located in the Dong'an Market.

Dong'an Market is less than 500 meters away from the Women's Federation dormitory in a straight line, and is diagonally opposite Wangfujing Department Store.

Tang Zhitong wasn't surprised that Xiao Wang had eaten there, since they lived nearby.

Jishilin is a window unit to the outside world, so the supply is quite sufficient.

In fact, not only Jishilin had a sufficient supply, but even the supply in the Andong market was much better than in other markets. If you didn't know, who would know that the following photo was taken in 1959?

Jishilin is located at Dongqinglou, south of the Dong'an Market. It is also known as "Qishilin". Its headquarters are in Tianjin, and this branch is located in Dong'an Market.

Although the staff are all Chinese, their service attitude is very proper. When asking for guests' opinions, they always bow slightly and maintain a polite demeanor. Of course, the prices of the dishes are also quite high.

Given Tang Zhitong's personality, he would definitely bring his younger siblings along when he went out for a big meal or to broaden his horizons. With more people, the price would go up, and one meal could probably cost as much as a month's worth of food at home. This was the biggest reason why Tang Zhitong was reluctant to go, since he still had to prepare the money to pay the difference when he changed courtyards.

(End of this chapter)