1990: Starting from Baojia Street

In fact, Zhou Yan was not as confident as Huang Wencan thought. He was just thinking about the novel "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood" while he was writing "Xu Sanguan". He was trying his best to capture inspiration and had no time to think about other things.

What creators fear most when creating is that their minds are too confused and they are unable to do what they want.

Sometimes, even though this is what I am thinking about, when I am doing it I am worried that the audience will not buy it, so I become anxious and worried, and end up creating a work that cannot truly express myself.

After the second prize performance, the host directly announced the last two first prize works, namely "A Century-Old Legend" by Su Xia and "Sun Yat-sen" by Guo Zurong.

It's obvious that these two pieces of music were composed for this competition, so it's not surprising that they won first prize.

The two first prize pieces have been performed, and today's concert is coming to an end.

Finally, Xu Cong, vice chairman of the Music Association, came to the stage again, gave a closing speech, and then announced the end.

A lot of people suddenly gathered around Zhou Yan, and everyone came to congratulate him.

Guo Wenjing came over with his third-prize medal and said with a smile, "Zhou Yan, show me the difference between the second-prize medal and our third-prize medal."

Zhou Yan handed over the medal with a smile, "Hey, it's just a different color."

Guo Wenjing took it and compared it, then nodded and said, "Yes, the size, thickness, and even the weight are the same."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, they are all made from the same mold, so of course they are the same.

If his guess was correct, whether it was a gold, silver or bronze medal, the inside was copper, but the gold and silver medals were plated with gold and silver on the outside.

The style of the medals is the same, with a portrait of Mr. Sun Yat-sen on it and a line of words below the portrait: Yenching Sun Yat-sen 130th Anniversary Outstanding Composition Competition.

There is not even any marking for "first prize" or "second prize".

"The certificate for the second prize has a different shell than our third prize certificate," said Huang Wencan.

Guo Wenjing took Zhou Yan's certificate and looked at it, then nodded and said, "The shell of the second-prize certificate must be much more exquisite. The shell alone costs several dollars, but it doesn't matter. I know the person who made the shell. I'll spend a little more money to package it for him... and make it look like the second-prize certificate."

Seeing Guo Wenjing joking, Zhou Yan also said with a smile, "If you want to do it, don't make it look like a second-place winner. You should make it look like a first-place winner. That way, you will look good when you present it to others."

"I don't know what the certificate cover for the key first prize looks like."

"It's okay, just go ask Teacher Su for the certificate and have a look. If you're embarrassed, I'll help you shout."

As Zhou Yan was about to call out to Su Xia who was not far away, Guo Wenjing quickly pulled Zhou Yan back, "You kid!"

Guo Wenjing is more afraid of Su Xia because Su Xia is his teacher.

Su Xia was one of the earliest teachers in the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music. He had many students. Not only Guo Wenjing was his student, but Xu Zhenmin, who won the second prize, was also his student.

Zhou Yan just wanted to scare Guo Wenjing, of course he couldn't really call Su Xia. After being stopped by Guo Wenjing, he said with a smile, "Why don't you ask Senior Brother Su to help you steal Teacher Su's certificate and show it to you later."

The "Senior Brother Su" he mentioned is Su Xia's son Su Cong, the same Su Cong who won the Oscar for Best Original Score for his co-score for "The Last Emperor".

Su Cong was also a student of the Composition Department, Class of 77 or 78, and was a classmate of Guo Wenjing.

Guo Wenjing rolled his eyes. "Why don't you help me steal it? Isn't your dormitory upstairs from Teacher Su's house?"

"I haven't been back to my dormitory for a long time. Now that you mention it, I remember that I should find time to go back and clean it up."

"Let's not talk about hygiene for now. The organizer of today's concert is not hosting a dinner. How about we have dinner together?"

"You're still going out to eat at this hour?"

Guo Wenjing looked at his watch. "It's no problem to go out for dinner at this time. There's a food stall near the school that's open until two or three in the morning. So, I'll call Lao Tang and Lao Ye as well, and see if there's anyone else coming."

Then he looked at Huang Wencan and asked Zhou Yan, "Is this your friend?"

Zhou Yan introduced, "This is Mr. Huang Wencan from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music."

"Oh, Mr. Huang, do you have anything to do later? Let's go have a meal together?"

Huang Wencan wanted to go, but he also saw that Guo Wenjing and the others were from the same school and were having a party together, so he shook his head and said, "You're welcome, Teacher Guo. I have to go back to the hotel in a while."

Guo Wenjing was just being polite, and it wasn't a sincere invitation. Seeing Huang Wencan decline, he nodded and said, "Let's get together again next time we have a chance."

Then he said to Zhou Yan, "I'll go find Lao Tang and Lao Ye to ask them if they're willing to do it. Let's meet at the entrance of the concert hall later."

"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded.

After Guo Wenjing went to find Tang Jianping and Ye Xiaogang, Zhou Yan walked towards the door. Along the way, he met people he knew, and they all congratulated him.

……

Zhou Yan waited at the entrance of the concert hall for a while, and then Guo Wenjing, Tang Jianping and Ye Xiaogang came over.

Guo Wenjing smiled and said, "It's just us, so I won't call others."

Many of the people who came today were from their school, but the age gap between them and the others was too big.

Although Guo Wenjing and his friends are ten years older than Zhou Yan, they are still considered young musicians and belong to the same generation. Moreover, the four of them now hold similar positions in the school, so they can talk to each other.

A few people arrived at the "Fat Sister Restaurant" at the school gate. Before they sat down, Guo Wenjing said to the boss who was cooking at the gate, "Fat Brother, do you have any fish? Make a plate of braised fish. If there are any other dishes, you can help us. There are four people in total."

Guo Wenjing must be a frequent patron of this food stall and is very familiar with the owner.

The boss smiled and said, "Okay, you guys take a seat first, I'll make arrangements for you in a moment, what kind of wine would you like to drink today?"

"Bring two bottles of Red Star Erguotou."

"it is good."

Guo Wenjing asked Zhou Yan and the others to sit down.

Zhou Yan looked at the tall and thin boss and asked curiously, "Brother Guo, why do you call him Fatty? He used to be very fat?"

Guo Wenjing said with a smile, "As far as I know, this fat guy has never been fat."

"Then why..."

"Because the boss lady is Fatty, everyone calls her Boss, which is like the wife following the husband's lead."

"I see." Zhou Yan nodded, "It seems you come here often."

"His shop opened late and the food tastes good. Old Tang and Old Ye have come here with me before." "Well, I've been here three or four times. The boss's cooking skills are really good." Ye Xiaogang agreed.

Although it was already past nine o'clock, there were still quite a few customers in the stall, and they all looked like students.

Anyone who shows up here so late is most likely a student of the Central Conservatory of Music.

As soon as Zhou Yan and his friends came in, the students looked in their direction, probably because they knew them.

But since the students didn't greet me, they probably weren't from the Composition Department.

The four of them all teach in the Composition Department, basically covering all the students in the Composition Department. If they are students of the Composition Department, they can recognize them without the students taking the initiative to say hello.

Guo Wenjing also noticed the gazes of several students and said with a smile, "Students nowadays still have better living conditions. I remember when we were in school, it was not easy to go out for dinner at night."

"It's not that it's difficult to eat out at night, it's that it's not easy to eat out during the day. At that time, everyone ate in the cafeteria, and you couldn't eat out even if you had money." Ye Xiaogang said.

When they were in school, it was just after they finished their studies. There were no private restaurants at that time, let alone food stalls that were open so late.

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "Don't talk about your time. When I first entered the school, the business environment outside the school was not very good. It has improved a lot in the past ten years."

"Oh, Zhou Yan, you have been in school for ten years."

"Less than ten years, more than nine years."

"We both entered the school at about the same time, I entered in 85," said Tang Jianping.

"I'm 87 years old."

Tang Jianping studied for his undergraduate degree at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in 78, and later came to the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music for graduate studies in 85. He is also the first doctoral student in composition trained in China.

"You, the class of 87, are very talented. In addition to you, Jia Guoping also performed very well when he was in school." Ye Xiaogang said.

"There is also Li Tao," said Tang Jianping.

"Li Tao is indeed not bad, but his temperament is not very stable." Guo Wenjing said with a smile.

Ye Xiaogang rolled his eyes. "Old Guo, you make it sound like you have a very stable personality. I remember back then..."

"Can you please stop talking about the past? A hero never brags about his past achievements."

"Yeah." Ye Xiaogang nodded seriously, "Even a coward wouldn't open up old wounds."

"Who doesn't have scars? You don't have scars?"

"Okay, let's talk about the Class of 87. I've heard students say before that they are the silver generation of our school."

"If you ask me, the Silver Generation is not appropriate. It should be the Golden Second Generation... That's not appropriate either. If you say that, doesn't that mean we are admitted to be the Golden Generation?"

When it comes to the term "golden generation", Ye Xiaogang seems to be uninterested.

Although it is said that their two classes are the golden generation, there is a huge gap in the development of each person. Many of his classmates have developed better than him.

Ye Xiaogang returned to school to teach in 94. When he first returned to China, he was full of ambitions, but two years later, he felt that he was still standing still.

Especially tonight, the other three people present all won awards, but he was the only one who went home empty-handed, which made him feel a little upset.

Back then, he was one of the eight great talents in the composition department, and he and Tan Dun, Liu Sola, and Qu Xiaosong were all outstanding in the department.

Among the eight talents, most of them are still developing abroad. He and Guo Wenjing are now teaching in school, but his development in China is far inferior to Guo Wenjing.

In recent years, Guo Wenjing has won many awards and also became the deputy director of the composition department.

Some time ago, Ye Xiaogang did win an award, which was the first national film music award that became very popular because of Zhou Yan's award.

In that award selection, Zhou Yan's film "The Chorus" won the gold medal, but the film "After Dusk" for which he composed the music only won an insignificant Outstanding Composition Award. The gap between the two was huge.

The National Film Music Awards have been very popular recently, but there are few news reports about him winning the award.

In fact, the Outstanding Composition Award of the first National Film Music Awards is not bad. It is not the same as the Excellence Award of other awards. This award is more like a supplement to the Gold Award, which means that the organizing committee also recognizes the soundtrack of "Appointment After Dusk".

But because of the gold award for "The Chorus", other people no longer paid attention to his award.

In the past two years since he came back, Ye Xiaogang has felt a strong sense of disappointment.

Sometimes, he even doubted whether his choice to return to China was the right one.

He did not return to China because he couldn't make it abroad, but he took the initiative to choose to return to China and teach at his alma mater.

Before returning to China two years ago, he had just received the "Academic Outstanding Achievement Award" from the American "Lee Foundation". He had also won many awards in the United States in his early years. If he stayed in the United States, he would also be able to develop very well.

Zhou Yan noticed that Ye Xiaogang looked a little lonely, so he changed the subject and asked, "Brother Ye, have you been paying more attention to movie soundtracks recently?"

"It's not that I pay attention to film scores, but there have been a few movies that have asked us to compose music in the past two years. I am quite interested in this, so I took some jobs. Why are you asking this suddenly?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "You should also know that I have set up a studio, right?"

"Yes, I know." Tang Jianping nodded. "Isn't the Piano Youth Orchestra right below your studio?"

"Not only that, my studio also has a music engineering department that specializes in film music."

"I know this. Isn't Li Tao in your studio? And Zhao Lin as well." Guo Wenjing said.

"Yes, Li Tao is now in charge of the music engineering department, but in addition to them, our studio has also signed many external players, such as Wang Liping, Zhao Jiping and Xu Jingqing."

"These guys are all masters of music composition... Of course, you are the best. Su Cong won the Oscar for Best Original Score for The Last Emperor, and he worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto and others. In terms of gold content, it is far less valuable than the Oscar for Best Original Score you won for Sense and Sensibility."

"I was also lucky to come across the movie Sense and Sensibility," Zhou Yan said modestly.

Guo Wenjing smiled and waved his hands, "Don't be so modest in front of us. The film Sense and Sensibility is indeed well-matched. You are indeed unique in film soundtracks."

"Not only that, he's also good at making movies." Tang Jianping followed.

"Brothers, please stop teasing me. I just mentioned the studio because I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you. Do you want to sign with my studio and then take over the music composition? You just need to create, and the studio will help you with the rest. It will save you a lot of trouble."

Ye Xiaogang was not interested: "How long does it take for us to get a job? And we don't make much money. It won't be profitable for you to sign us." (End of this chapter)