Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

"I'm sorry, Zhou, your performance during your internship did not meet the company's expectations..."

Zhou Ketong, a senior majoring in art management at Yunnan Arts University, stood in front of a cultural company, clutching her personal belongings, the HR's words echoing endlessly in her mind.

Over the past three months, she had put in the same effort she did during the final stretch of her college entrance exam preparation, but in the end, she still lost to a fellow alumnus from the vocal music department who had a better appearance and temperament.

She can't imagine what lie she should use to cover up the promise she made to her parents three months ago that she would never return to her hometown in Dizhou.

Frustrated, she took out her phone, exchanged the little pig for a 4 yuan voucher, and took a taxi back to school.

At that moment, the car radio was playing "Those Without Ideals Don't Get Hurt." The line "There's no space for me..." almost brought tears to her eyes.

She, who never listens to rock music, felt that there was a song that could completely reveal her current state of mind. The last line, "I don't want to die in failure and loneliness, I don't want to live underground forever..." gave her endless positive energy.

Compared to those popular love songs, it seems that this rock music, which she had never been involved in before, not only soothed her soul but also gave her the courage to continue striving in the provincial capital.

At that moment, Hong Ke's interview with Bian Lang was playing on the radio. Upon hearing the name Jianshe Road, she said to her driver, "Driver, I'll change my destination. Let's go to Jianshe Road!"

"I say, you young people are really strange. Why do you all head to Jianshe Road as soon as you hear this song? You're the third one today..." Zhou Ketong didn't offer any explanation, using laughter to cover up her embarrassment.

When they arrived, the driver kindly pointed out the entrance to Paradise Records to her: "That's probably what you're looking for."

As the sun set, its afterglow reflected off the glass curtain wall of the building opposite and onto the entrance of Paradise Records. The four somewhat rusty bronze characters, illuminated by this light, gave off a sense of decay.

But inside the store, the scene was completely different – ​​a vibrant and bustling one. A small queue had formed in front of the wall where the Rolling Stones had taken photos. At each shelf displaying CDs, people were searching for their own soulmate's soundtrack.

Bian Lang stood on the backdrop like a mascot, signing autographs and taking photos with people. The most frequent complaint that Dayong, who was in charge of scanning QR codes and paying, heard was: "Bian, you've made such a big fuss about promoting your new song, but you haven't even released an EP?"

Zhou Ketong took out her phone and spent one yuan to download the Rolling Stones' only song on NetEase Cloud Music. Looking at the band's photo and comparing it with the one on the wall in the store, she finally understood what her teacher had said in music appreciation class: good music can not only resonate with you, but more importantly, it can help you regain confidence in life.

After entering the store, she didn't queue up for photos; instead, she went straight to the cashier and asked, "Excuse me, where are the Rolling Stones CDs?"

Dayong had heard this sentence so many times he was practically sick of it: "There's no such plan yet. Scan the QR code to follow our Weibo account, and we'll announce it as soon as it's ready."

"Oh, okay, thank you!" As Zhou Ketong took out her phone to scan the QR code and follow the account, she noticed a recruitment poster for Rolling Stone Records next to her. After reading the requirements, she tightened her backpack strap, took a deep breath, and asked Dayong, "Excuse me, is this where Rolling Stone Records is recruiting?"

Two hours after returning, Dayong finally heard something new. He craned his neck to look at the poster, then pointed to Chen Shuting, who was using a computer in the back rest area, and said, "Go find Sister Chen."

Zhou Ketong adjusted her breathing, straightened her glasses, and headed towards the rest area. Seeing that Chen Shuting was busy, she waited patiently beside her, and when she noticed Chen Shuting's cup was empty, she proactively refilled it.

It wasn't until Chen Shuting finished her work that she replied, "Thank you, witch. I was just confirming with Producer Chung... Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?" Realizing she had mistaken someone for someone else, Chen Shuting quickly added an excuse.

"Sister Chen, I'm here to apply for the job."

Chen Shuting raised an eyebrow. Considering Zhou Ketong's actions just now, she had already taken a liking to this girl: "Sit down and tell me, which school are you from, and what is your major?" From that youthful face, Chen Shuting directly judged her as a recent graduate.

Zhou Ketong thanked her and, after sitting down, took out a stack of documents from her small backpack and handed them over: "I am a senior majoring in Arts Management at Yunnan Arts University. I was just rejected from my internship today, so I didn't bring my resume with me."

Chen Shuting glanced at the brand-new agent qualification certificate at the top and asked with a smile, "Which company did you fail your internship at? What position were you applying for?"

"An assistant creative director at a cultural company..."

Half an hour later, Zhou Ketong walked out of Paradise Records with light steps, holding her first official offer in her life.

At 8 PM, the first promotional trailer for the movie "Tractor Band" was officially released on Bilibili. Zhou Mo, who originally planned to start the pre-release promotion in August, received a call from Bian Lang saying that he wanted to promote the release of his new song, so he did not hesitate to bring forward the time.

Various performance scenes of the band in the movie are interspersed in Huang Wei's retro disco-style music video. Coupled with the magical and catchy style of "Hand-held Tractor Ski", the video was immediately ruined by video creators shortly after it was released.

In addition, Huang Wei was one of the first female stars in China to play electronic music. Although these young people don't know her now, she still has a large fan base among those born in the 70s and 80s, so the video went viral very quickly.

Thanks to the movie's promotion and the video's popularity, "Hand-held Tractor Ski" entered the top 50 of the China Music Chart within just one hour of its release.

Two seemingly unrelated things were compared because Bian Lang's video of singing "Hand-held Tractor Ski" at Dadonghai had previously gone viral.

Then some sharp-eyed people noticed that the lyricist and composer of both songs were the same person—Bian Lang!

This caused quite a stir among those in the industry who were unaware of the situation.

The only information available online is from an encyclopedia entry:

Bian Lang is the lead singer and guitarist of the band New Pants, a songwriter, and a musician under Rolling Stone Music Studio.

Bian Lang had Chen Shuting deliberately put it up there. Although Chen Shuting was a little puzzled, she figured that Bian Lang probably wanted to add a few more singers to his studio to enhance its image, so she didn't ask any more questions.

Upon learning of the situation, Pan Xiulong immediately summoned Wei Lan: "Wei Lan, you know best about Bian Lang's situation. What's going on with the New Pants band?"

"Brother Xiulong, I think this New Pants band is something they created in the early stages of their studio to avoid looking too bad, just to put on a good show."

After nodding to indicate that he understood, Pan Xiulong continued to Wei Lan: "Tell Yi Liang not to be affected by Bian Lang's side, and to focus on preparing the album and the Xi Mang Mang Music Festival. There are four spots for bands at the Nanyin Music Festival this time. Now that Bian Lang and his group have gone there, they will definitely take one of them. When they meet, don't let them outdo you in terms of momentum."

"Okay, Brother Xiulong!"

On her way home after finishing overtime work, Wei Lan called Li Yiliang and mentioned Bian Lang's online activities, telling him not to worry too much and to focus on rehearsing for the music festival.

Li Yiliang verbally agreed, and as soon as he hung up the phone, he logged onto Weibo and posted: "@Rolling StonesBianLang, you can do it!"