1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The scene was simpler than Zhou Yan had imagined. There were no banners or posters. It was unclear whether Harry Kane was too short of time to prepare them, or whether he really just wanted Zhou Yan to come for a stroll and had no intention of taking advantage of Zhou Yan at all.

Although it was morning, the flow of people in the bookstore was quite good. As everyone walked in, Harry Kane introduced, "The first floor is a comprehensive area, with both records and books. Both books and records are filled with recent popular works, such as your "Raining Bells" and Mariah Carey's "Daydream."

Zhou Yan looked in the direction Harry Kane pointed. At the position closest to the doorman in the bookstore, there were two revolving bookshelves, one for books and the other for records. Zhou Yan's "Yu Linglin" was in the C position of the record shelf.

Because there are more than one picture, it is very conspicuous and basically customers can see it as soon as they enter the door.

Seeing the location of "Yu Lin Ling", Zhou Yan couldn't help but smile. He guessed that this was probably specially arranged by Harry Kane because he knew he was coming.

The sales of "Rain Bells and Rain" in the United States can only be considered good. It is not at the same level as the sales of popular records such as "Daydream". Now, "Rain Bells and Rain" is in a better position than "Daydream".

Also on the shelf are MJ's "Scream" and Whitney Houston's "Waiting to Exhate", both of which seem to have been defeated by "Rain in the Rain".

The albums on this shelf are basically those that have been very popular in the past year or so, and "Yu Ling Lin" is also a rare pure music album among them.

Perhaps guessing that Zhou Yan would think so, Harry Kane also explained with a smile, "Since its release, "Rain Bells and Rain" has been on this bookshelf, and has never moved from the same position."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan looked at Harry Kane in surprise.

Logically speaking, there is no need for Harry Kane to tell such a lie. Is this true?

Zhang Youan had told him before that Harry Kane liked his music, and he thought it was just a compliment, but now it seems that it might be true.

In fact, it’s not just “Yu Lin Ling” that’s in the center of the record rack. Zhou Yan’s previous two albums, “Piano Boy” and “Mysterious Country” are also on the rack, but they’re just slightly below and not as conspicuous as “Yu Lin Ling”.

Zhou Yan expressed his gratitude to Harry Kane, who smiled and said, "I am very grateful that you can come to our bookstore. The second floor is where records are placed. I will take you up there to have a look."

Then Harry Kane took Zhou Yan and Zhang Youan to the second floor. Just as Harry Kane said, the second floor was dedicated to records and there was not even a single book.

The single-floor area of ​​the Little Bear Record and Bookstore is quite large, and the utilization rate of the second floor is obviously higher than that of the first floor.

Perhaps to facilitate the exhibition and the passage of guests, the first floor is quite empty and the passages are wide.

But the second floor was a little different. As soon as Zhou Yan went up to the second floor, he felt like he had walked into a small music and video store in Yanjing. Records were everywhere, and it seemed very crowded.

The passage between the shelves was very narrow, and if two people wanted to pass each other, they had to turn sideways. If it were two fat people, they probably wouldn't be able to pass each other even if they turned sideways.

The records sold in the Little Bear Record Bookstore are very diverse, including classical, pop, jazz, basically you can find any type of record you can think of here.

There are also many old records here. Zhou Yan saw quite a few records from decades ago. They were well preserved, but the prices were also quite high.

"Although we don't specialize in selling jazz records, we still attract a lot of jazz fans because we can always find some valuable old jazz records in our store. Usually, some jazz fans will gather here on Sunday nights."

"Oh, isn't today Sunday?" Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Well, what a coincidence, but also a pity, that your concert happens to happen to be tonight... Do you usually listen to jazz?"

Zhou Yan shook his head. "I don't listen to a particular type of music now."

Then he made another joke, "What I listen to most now is the homework submitted by students."

"Oh, I almost forgot, you are also a teacher." Harry Kane patted his forehead. Zhou Yan's achievements and reputation in music and film made it easy for people to forget that he is also a teacher at the music conservatory.

What Zhou Yan listens to most often is naturally not his students' homework. Although he does not take time out to listen to music, if conditions permit, he will play some traditional music while working. However, compared with traditional works, students' homework leaves a deeper impression on him.

Of course, sometimes Zhou Yan would go out of his way to look for some traditional works he had never heard of to expand his music library.

For composers, the amount of music they listen to is very important.

Some people may wonder, for someone like Zhou Yan who has been learning music since childhood, is there likely to be many classical and traditional music works that he has not heard?

In fact, compared with the vast number of famous songs, what Zhou Yan has heard is just the tip of the iceberg.

There are so many famous composers throughout history, both in China and abroad, and each famous composer has created many works. The works of Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and others are enough for ordinary people to listen to.

There are also some people who are very strong but not as famous as these people.

The same is true in China. Zhou Yan has been learning the flute since elementary school, but he has never heard many excellent flute pieces, whether southern or northern, with or without a source, it's dizzying to watch.

In fact, this is also a big problem in studying music. As time goes by, there will be more and more songs. The representative works of each period alone are enough for students to study. Can they still spend time studying modern and contemporary music works?
However, if one does not study modern and contemporary works, one cannot improve one's musical level, and most people can only make choices among them.

Zhou Yan also took a look at the places where classical works were concentrated, and found that the most modern ones were those of Shostakovich, who had been dead for more than 20 years.

There must be some works by living classical composers in this bookstore, but Zhou Yan hasn't found them yet.

Zhou Yan was more interested in the second floor, so they spent quite a long time there. Every time they came to a certain area, they would stop to look around and chat.

Later, when they arrived at the pop music area, Zhou Yangang picked up a copy of Whitney Houston's self-titled album "Whitney" when a surprised voice suddenly sounded next to him.

"Y?!"

Zhou Yan and the others turned around and saw two young girls standing at the end of the long and narrow corridor, looking at them with surprise.

As expected, he was recognized. Zhou Yan smiled and greeted the two girls: "Hello."

Salori and Olivia were originally choosing records in another adjacent aisle. When they heard someone mention the name "Y", they walked around out of curiosity to take a look, and then they saw Zhou Yan.

Seeing Zhou Yan respond to them, Saloli almost jumped up in surprise, "It's really you!"

She was just wondering whether the other party was talking about why or Y.

Saloli couldn't help but walk towards Zhou Yan, saying as she walked, "We just watched your concert last night. I didn't expect to see you here today."

“Thank you for your support and I hope you were not disappointed with last night’s performance.”

"Of course I wasn't disappointed. It felt much better to listen to it live than on TV, and the performance last night lasted so long, so we were very satisfied."

"That's good." Zhou Yan smiled and then asked, "Do you often come to this bookstore?"

"Well, we come here at least twice a week." Salori nodded, and then whispered to Zhou Yan, "Y, let me tell you, the owner of this bookstore must be your fan. Your album has always been on the shelf at the door, and I can see it every time I come here."

Zhou Yan couldn't help but glance at Harry Kane next to him, thinking that these two girls were not arranged by him, right? Harry Kane was very happy and said with a smile, "You are right, the boss is indeed a fan of Y."

"I knew it would be like this." Salori smiled and said to Zhou Yan, "I wish you a smooth performance at tonight's concert and the ones that follow. We will always support you."

"Thank you." Zhou Yan nodded, and then took the initiative to ask, "Do you want me to sign for you?"

"Is it okay?" Faced with the sudden happiness, Saloli was even a little bit unbelieving.

"Of course no problem, do you have a pen? Where should I sign?"

Saloli felt her pocket and didn't find the pen, then she looked at Olivia behind her, who also shook her head.

Harry Kane smiled and said, "Wait a moment, I'll get you a pen."

After saying that, Harry Kane actually ran downstairs to find a pen.

Less than a minute later, he came back with not only a pen but also a stack of albums in his hand.

Zhou Yan took the pen and record and signed without saying a word.

There are six albums in total, two each of "Piano Boy", "Mysterious Country" and "Rain Bells and Rain".

After signing, Zhou Yan handed over six albums to Saloli.

After taking the album, Saloli was dumbfounded. She was just thinking about where she should sign, whether she should go downstairs to buy an album and then come back, or just let Zhou Yan sign on their clothes.

Unexpectedly, they brought up six albums directly.

"Thank you, thank you, I'm so happy. I'll go downstairs to pay the bill now." Saloli held the record and prepared to go downstairs to pay the bill.

But Harry Kane smiled and said to her, "No need, these six albums are for you."

The surprise in Saloli and Olivia's eyes grew even stronger. They didn't understand how such a good thing could happen in the world. Not only could they get Y's signature, but they also got six records for free.

Seeing the confused looks of the two little girls, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "This is the bookstore owner you just mentioned."

Harry Kane took over the conversation, "Thank you for helping me verify my identity as a Y fan. These six albums are a gift."

Saloli and Olivia could only thank them repeatedly and left excitedly.

After the two girls left, Harry Kane laughed and said, "These two people are really not the actors I hired."

Zhang Youan laughed and said, "So you also know that they look like actors."

“It’s indeed very similar.”

Such little episodes also made the atmosphere between them more relaxed, and Harry Kane and Zhou Yan became familiar with each other.

Later he took Zhou Yan to the third and fourth floors.

The Little Bear Record and Bookstore sells both records and books, but its main business is actually books. The third and fourth floors are filled with all kinds of books, but occasionally there will be one or two small corners where records are placed, mainly to help adjust the atmosphere.

After visiting four floors, they returned to the first floor. Harry Kane meant to take Zhou Yan to the rest area to sit and have a cup of coffee, but they were recognized after just a few steps.

The bookstore now has more customers than when Zhou Yan first arrived, so the probability of him being recognized is also much higher.

One person recognized him, which quickly attracted the attention of others. After a while, many people gathered around him.

After being recognized, Zhou Yan was very open and chatted with them in a casual manner while leading them to a more empty place so as not to interfere with the bookstore's business.

Someone asked if he could sign an autograph, and Zhou Yan readily agreed, and directly took out the pen that Harry Kane had just found.

Zhou Yan has the habit of writing in a smooth manner. Just now, after signing for the two little girls, he put the pen directly into his pocket. The whole set of movements was smooth and flowing.

Once one person got an autograph, others naturally followed suit, and soon everyone spontaneously went to buy records and then lined up to wait for Zhou Yan's autograph.

Harry Kane was considerate enough to find a table for Zhou Yan in the lounge area and let him hold a makeshift book signing event in the bookstore.

Many people in the bookstore didn't know Zhou Yan, but when they saw people gathering around, they followed suit to join in the fun.

Those who knew Zhou Yan began to introduce Zhou Yan to these people.

"Y-chou, an internationally renowned musician, has many famous songs. Have you heard of "young and beautiful"? Have you heard of "yellow"? Have you heard of none of them? Then have you heard of "tears", "kite" and "reunion"? Have you heard of them either..."

Just as the person introducing the song was scratching his head anxiously, he suddenly pointed to the top of his head and said, "Listen, have you heard this song before?"

"Oh, isn't this The Wilderness? I've heard of it."

"This is 'Always Together', what wilderness."

“There was a nature show before, called ‘Wilderness’.”

……

Many people have actually heard Zhou Yan’s music, but they don’t know the name or origin of the music.

Although Zhou Yan's music is not played as frequently in the United States as in Japan and China, there are still many places such as shopping malls and cafes that like to play Zhou Yan's music, and some TV programs also like to use it.

Over time, this situation has arisen where many people would find Zhou Yan's music familiar to them, but they just don't know what the song is called.

Of course, there are some people who know Zhou Yan and are familiar with his music, but they just don’t know what Zhou Yan looks like.

Although it was a spur-of-the-moment signing event, there were still quite a few people. Zhou Yan spent half an hour signing about seventy or eighty records.

Seeing this scene, Harry Kane secretly felt it was a pity. If he had promoted it a little bit in advance, even if he just put two posters at the door in the morning, he could have signed at least a few hundred records today.

Harry Kane didn't really care about the sales. He just thought it was a good opportunity for publicity for their bookstore and Y. The key was that it didn't take much effort and was a piece of cake. (End of this chapter)