Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 907 Invitation

Chen Fan sat there thinking, and after Ma Jiajia finished her call and left, he finally had an idea.

First of all, the timing is wrong. These days, the best talents have all been handed over to the state. Who will train them? It's possible to train a few skilled workers, but even then, you'd have to find a collective unit to affiliate with, like the skills training class in Lujiawan. Don't even think about training management talents.

In the next ten years, good management talent will only flow in three directions: first, overseas; second, state-owned enterprises; and third, going it alone.

Working for a private individual?
Stop dreaming.

Secondly, human nature is unpredictable, and he doesn't believe he can keep others' secrets.

He had previously decided that he would absolutely not be reckless before 92. Even if some projects needed to be done ahead of time, such as the Yunhu Film and Television City, they were all done in the name of Zhou Zhengdong or Zhou Yali, and he was at most a relative.

Don't be fooled by Bian Huifang's clinging to his leg; it's because she believes that following him and staying within the system will lead to a better future. Let's see if Comrade Bian gives up her position.
I'll definitely try it and then run away.

Therefore, we should postpone the matter of cultivating talent until later.

Since the Zhou family has an inexhaustible supply of talent, it wouldn't be a bad idea to allocate resources internally.

Why make trouble for yourself?
Training people is exhausting; it's actually quite nice to just sit back and reap the rewards.

Managing things with the Zhou family is just like a venture capital firm decades from now: just invest money and ideas, and wait to collect the money. You don't have to worry about anything else, and there's no risk of being betrayed. How great is that?

Having learned to make peace with himself, Mr. Chen felt more at ease and his mind became more open. He turned around, opened the piano lid, and played "Ballade pour Adeline".

Ma Jiajia moved a chair to the doorway, with a notebook on her lap and a pen in her hand. Under the light from the living room, she was preparing to draft the articles of association for the establishment of the three-way cooperative telecommunications company when she suddenly heard the sound of a piano and was momentarily lost in thought.

After listening for a while, she couldn't help but frown slightly; the sheet music was wrong.

The rhythm sounds very similar to "Ballade pour Adeline," a piece composed by French composer Paul Seneville in 1976 for his youngest daughter, Adeline. This piano piece caused a sensation in the music world after its creation, and many pianists wanted to obtain the right to perform it.

To this end, Paul Seneville held a unique audition to publicly recruit the pianist most suitable to play the piece. In the end, Richard Clayderman, who was only 23 years old, stood out from many auditionees and became the premiere of the piece.

Because of this, the piece caused quite a stir in society at the time. With Richard Clayderman's successful performance, the piece spread throughout the Western world and even reached the East. It is said that many people in the Soviet Union also liked it.

Ma Jiajia had attended several live concerts and bought piano music records while in New York. She had also studied piano herself, so she was quite familiar with this piece.

At this moment, when the young master started playing, the rhythm was very similar, but some parts seemed to be different.
As she listened to the piano music, she frowned, and her pen tip landed on the paper, but instead of the company bylaws, it produced a series of musical notes.

Noting music by ear isn't a particularly difficult skill, especially when it's a favorite piece that you've heard countless times. The key is simply to pay attention to the differences.

Unfortunately, she had only memorized a small portion of it when the shrill ring of the telephone rang in the room, making Ma Jiajia roll her eyes in anger and secretly curse who it was that was calling at night.

Don't you know it's after get off work hours?
The pianist, Chen, was also annoyed. He got up, walked to his desk, pulled out a chair, sat down, picked up the receiver, and put it to his ear. "Hello, who is it?"

Old Xia's voice rang in my ears, "Did you get shot? Why are you so angry?"

Chen Fan immediately coughed, his voice full of exhaustion, "Oh, it's Elder Xia. I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you."

Then his tone changed, and he sighed, "You're absolutely right. I've been shot, and I'm really irritable. I'm currently filming 'Monk Comes Down the Mountain 2,' and the comrades at Jiangying Studio, a small studio, lack experience, so there have been some bumps along the way, and it's inevitable that they're a bit irritable."

Hearing him say that, Old Xia chuckled. "Hehe, kid, that's how it is when you're a director. I've never seen a director who doesn't get angry while directing. Don't even mention you, even Old Xie and his group, whose skills and mentality are already superb, can't help but get angry when they pick up the director's microphone. You still have a lot of practice to do."

Chen Fan chuckled, "Yes, yes, I still have a lot to learn from the seniors..."

Before he could continue, Old Xia smiled and said, "Whether you learn or not is not important. You've done a pretty good job of self-studying. Old Wu from the Shanghai Theatre Academy must have given you a lot of teaching materials. I can see from the two movies you've made that you've mastered many techniques. You've performed even better than those students who came from formal training. Not bad, not bad."

Chen Fan held the receiver, wondering to himself: So, he called today specifically to praise me?

After praising me a few times, Old Xia suddenly changed the subject, "Forget about studying, but you can relax a bit. There's something going on in the capital; someone asked me to handle it. If you have some free time, why not take a couple of days off and go take a look around?"

Chen Fan blinked, thinking to himself, "I've only been filming for two days, and you're already giving me a break?"
I don't care whether I relax or not, but Kuang Mingyi and the others might go crazy.

However, since Old Xia called personally, whether or not we go, we should at least ask what it is about.

Chen Fan then asked, "Mr. Xia, I've even retired from my job at the Writers' Association. Besides making my own films, I'm focused on managing Yunhu Film and Television City. Is there anyone who needs my help?"

Old Xia smiled and said, "I've heard about your situation. Whether you've left the Writers' Association or become the general manager of a travel company, you're still the youngest member of the Film Writers' Association, aren't you?"

"And those two movies you made are still playing in theaters in many places, causing quite a stir. How could the film industry miss any major events?"

Chen Fan blinked, puzzled, and asked, "Major event? What major events are happening in the film industry right now?"

Old Xia, "Didn't you pay any attention at all?"

Chen Fan was confused. What?

What major events have occurred in the film industry this year?
I don’t make it.

Before he could figure it out, Old Xia hummed twice and said, "You, as a filmmaker, really need to get closer to the organization."

Before Chen Fan could ask a question, he continued, "On March 1, 1964, the 3rd Hundred Flowers Awards for Popular Films began collecting votes. After collecting the votes, nearly 900,000 votes were finally received, and a total of 15 categories and 45 awards were selected."

However, the award was never presented!

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately understood, "They're going to reinstate the 'Hundred Flowers Award'?"

Old Xia: "Hmm."

His tone suddenly became somewhat dejected, "Since the awards for the third edition were not given out, this is still the third edition."

Chen Fan felt a little dazed. After pausing for several seconds, he asked, "What about the films selected in 64?"

Old Xia sighed almost imperceptibly, "Blurring it out."

What do you mean?
Chen Fan scratched his head. So, was the award given or not?
Mr. Xia seemed unwilling to discuss this, and then said, "Popular Cinema magazine has been collecting audience votes for some time now, and the voting has ended, moving on to the next stage of statistical work."

However, although it is an audience-selected event, it cannot be separated from the guidance of professionals. Moreover, in 64, the higher authorities entrusted the Hundred Flowers Awards to be hosted by the Film Association, and jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Film Department of the General Political Department of the Army, the Propaganda Department of the General Engineering Corps, the Propaganda Department of the Youth League, and the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Corporation.

This time, it was the Film Association that decided to revive the Hundred Flowers Awards, and several other organizations also sent representatives to participate in the joint organization. They formed an internal selection committee, choosing a group of filmmakers of all ages to participate in the selection process, and your name was among them.

Chen Fan was increasingly confused as he listened. He scratched his head and was about to speak when he heard Elder Xia continue, "I recommended you for membership. Your two films were very popular, but they weren't included in the shortlist due to their release dates. Don't have any complaints about that."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan quickly shook his head, "No, no."

(List of nominees for the 3rd Hundred Flowers Awards)
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Xia continued, "Since your work cannot be judged for awards, it's a good opportunity for you to judge other films. I also agree with this."

"It's just that the Film Association's council couldn't contact you, and since I was the one who introduced you to the membership, they came to me."

Chen Fan blinked as he listened and couldn't help but ask, "How come you can't contact me? Director Wu and Director Kuang from Jiangying Film Studio can both contact me."

Upon hearing this, Old Xia couldn't help but chuckle. "You don't think that just anyone from any film company can join the Filmmakers Association, do you?"

Chen Fan couldn't help but click his tongue, "Even the director of the provincial film studio isn't good enough?"

"It really won't work."

Old Xia hummed twice and said, "Those who have achieved something, like you, even if you have never made a movie yourself, but have had a work adapted into a movie, or have written a script, and have achieved something, are qualified to be recommended to join the association."

"I don't care which film studio director or manager they are; if they can't even make a single film, what kind of filmmaker are they? The Film Association isn't a place just anyone can join."

Chen Fan pursed his lips, silently feeling sorry for Director Wu and Director Kuang for two seconds. They'd worked in the film industry for half their lives, and yet they couldn't even get into the Film Association—how pathetic.

After explaining the situation and confirming that it would only take two or three days and wouldn't take too much time, Chen Fan agreed to go and then hung up the phone.

Hearing the sound of the receiver colliding with the landline, Ma Jiajia got up and went inside, asking, "Young Master, are you going on another business trip?"

Chen Fan sighed, "Yes, we need to go to the capital. It will probably take three or four days."

The work only takes two or three days, and there's even time for commuting.

Luckily, I was the director; if I were an actor, I would have been torn to shreds by criticism.

However, the director doesn't care. He'll let Kuang Mingyi shoot something simple first, and he and the actors will definitely be happy to do so.

Then I thought of this year's Hundred Flowers Awards.

These days, there are no award ceremonies, but rather commendation meetings. The awards ceremony will be held on May 23rd at the CPPCC Auditorium in Beijing.

Yes, that's what Old Xia told him just now.

Honestly, Chen Fan hasn't been slacking off lately. When he wasn't so busy before, he was hiding in the provincial library writing his novel, and for a while, he didn't have time to read "Popular Cinema" magazine.

There's not much to see anyway.

As for others, the Writers' Association and Jiangnan University wouldn't talk to him about these things, and even the people at Jiangnan Film Studio treated him with a degree of awe, so no one talked to him about the movie voting.

Perhaps because the selection was limited to films from 78 to 79, neither of the two films from Jiangxi Film Studio were selected, which is why no one told him about it.

He only learned about this today when he received a call from Elder Xia.

Now that the Hundred Flowers Awards have been reinstated, the Golden Rooster Awards can't be far behind, right?
In what year was the Golden Rooster Awards established?

Oh, it's next year, 1981. Because it's the Year of the Rooster, it's named after the Golden Rooster.

That should be right, right?
The organizers are the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Film Association, representing professional awards; the Hundred Flowers Awards represent audience awards; and finally, the Huabiao Awards represent the government. These three awards together constitute the three major awards in my country's film industry.

That's not right.

Chen Fan frowned in thought. The predecessor of the Huabiao Award was the "Outstanding Film Award of the Ministry of Culture". It was awarded once in 57 and then it was interrupted. It was officially resumed last year, in 79.

Why weren't you invited to participate in the selection process when the awards were presented last year?
Oh, I was brought into the circle by Mr. Xia at the literary and art congress at the end of last year. I wasn't a filmmaker back then.
That's fine.

After thinking it through, Chen Fan picked up his teacup, took a sip, turned to look at Ma Jiajia standing in front of him, and asked, "What is it?"

While asking the question, she was thinking, "Why do Ye Yufeng and Ma Jiajia both like to live in my house? Could I ask my uncle for some rent?"

If he doesn't agree, then I'll just use Yunhu Film and Television City's official account; I can't let myself suffer a loss.

Although I'm not short of money, collecting rent doesn't conflict with what I deserve. I should still take what I'm entitled to, right?

Ma Jiajia had no idea that her cousin, whose net worth was hundreds of millions of dollars, was actually concerned about a few dollars' rent a month. She held up her notebook, showed him the sheet music, and asked, "Young Master, where did you hear that piano piece you just played?"

Chen Fan looked at the sheet music. "Hmm? Is this what you just wrote down?"

Then he looked at her and asked, "Why are you writing this down?"

Ma Jiajia said seriously, "I've heard 'Ballade pour Adeline' countless times, but the version you played seems quite different, yet it sounds even better than the original. Where did you get your piece from?"

Chen Fan blinked. Had this piece already been composed?
Wasn't it Richard Clayderman's award-winning performance in the "Stars of the 90s" competition held by France 1 TV in 1990?
He won the only "Golden Piano Award" with this piece, which made him famous all over the world, and even people in China knew about him.

Little did the musician Chen know that he only had a superficial understanding of the piece. Richard Clayderman did win an award for this piece, but the piano version he played at that time was an arrangement by Duchamp based on the original, which naturally differed from the version Ma Jiajia heard.

But none of this matters.

Chen Fan shook his head and looked at her, asking, "Why are you asking this?"

Ma Jiajia's face immediately lit up with excitement as she said, "Young Master, if you could record this song and send it to Madam for the radio to play, it would definitely be a hit."

"Aren't you in charge of Yunhu Tourism Company now? Once this song becomes popular, it'll definitely attract more people!"

Chen Fan looked at her with a face full of questions. If I really wanted to become famous, would I still need to record an album?
(End of this chapter)