People in Tokyo, the world is clear

There's always a certain unwavering confidence that's a little strange.

To myself.

To her too.

Even if she is just an ordinary person who is floating in the bitterness of life, a loser who is stuck in the mud and has no highlights.

Still, like this.

Chapter 18: Puxin is the mast for sailing

Where does such confidence come from?

Lin Sen replied:

"Just a simple letter."

Ordinary but confident.

Qingshan Xiazhi always hears some words from this strange friend that seem to come from another era.

Different from the seriousness of the great rivers, seas and times, there is a weird deconstructive self-mockery, giving people a sense of strength like an old friend who shakes off the dust, stands up indifferently, and helps you up.

It's weak, doesn't get your blood boiling, doesn't offer any false motivation to rally you, but it's just enough.

So the girl was still very sad.

But she finally reached out to wipe away the tears of despair that were squeezed out from the corners of her eyes by the reality of another failure and hardship, and they hid behind the back wall of a small roadside shop.

Look at the people around me spreading out their notes seriously.

The girl leaned over and saw the few scribbled strokes clearly.

“The target group is very important.”

Lin Sen's finger landed on a deliberately capitalized word. "The style of these new songs we've created isn't suited to this kind of casual evening drinking scene."

In this era, rock music is the child of the city, born with the genes to be crazy and popular.

Just like the future, electronic music, in the hotbed of the Internet, will integrate the world's increasingly large music system.

But the present wasn't the future. Without the catalysts of electronics and the internet, without more powerful tuning equipment and accessible software, the newly emerged JPop scene in 1980s Tokyo brutally isolated itself from the remnants of the old era.

The love and pursuit of new trends will always kick away the old things that are struggling not to be eliminated.

The wave of development linked to urbanization has brought more and more urban residents to Tokyo.

The economy, which is expanding like fireworks, is like a dream, so the new generation of this city no longer sympathizes with the melancholy of rushing to a distant and unknown city with a backpack sewn by their mother or lover.

Folk music, born in the countryside, will eventually return to the land with green grass, wooden buildings and wind chimes.

The statement made the facts seem even colder. The girl remained silent and lowered her head.

"So, in the end, it's better for someone like me who can only sing folk songs to go home and farm...right?"

She seemed to be biting her lip, but she raised her head in surprise at Lin Sen's next words.

"If it were someone else, they would probably advise you this. But I wouldn't do that."

In fact, Japanese folk songs are one of the enduring styles in Japanese music.

The death of folk music in the 1980s was just an illusion.

Folk songs are like Rei Kaiou, the character created by Keisuke Itagaki. Even if his body is in decline or even dead, his broken limbs and spirit can be used countless times in any kind of music.

Not to mention that with the economic downturn in the 1990s, even many rock musicians tried to incorporate folk styles to tell the sorrow of the times.

After the rise of the giant Internet, what has almost been eliminated in the mainstream music world is the currently popular but lacking in inclusiveness and difficult to mix and match with other styles, Citypop-style music.

But that's all for later. The current facts are carved into a large plaque -

I have thought about it and led three prayers.

Aoyama Xiazhi, a folk singer drifting in Tokyo, is so unsuccessful that he can't even get a residency. He is hopeless and should just go home and take a shower.

But Lin Sen took off the template and smashed it on his raised knee.

"Because I have a way."

Under Qingshan Xiazhi's confused and somewhat naive gaze, Lin Sen pointed to another word in the notebook.

“The silent minority?”

The sentence the girl read out was met with nods in response.

"Correct."

Lin Sen temporarily retracted the notebook he was holding in front of the other person.

He raised his hand and pointed at the poster on the alley wall.

[Nakajima]'s last name stands out like a sign.

"Let me ask you first, Qingshan. Do you think you can become a top star like an idol?"

Lin Sen stared at the girl's face and all he got was a frightened expression of innocence.

"How can it be..."

After being shocked, Qingshan Xiazhi's response to him was a big self-deprecating look.

Accompanied by the awkward action of scratching his head.

"I might still daydream at first... but after all this time, I've come to terms with the reality. I'm working so hard now just to get a chance to support myself with my dream. If I can actually do that, I'll be very, very satisfied."

"If that's what you think, then you're right."

"correct?"

Amidst the confusion, the notebook was turned over and handed back.

New vocabulary appears in front of Qingshan Xiazhi.

[Differentiated track]

Another word I haven't seen before.

Fortunately, when I was halfway through understanding something, there was a tour guide by my side.

"Actually, this is what I said at the beginning. However, I wasn't sure at the time myself."

Lin Sen took out a pen from the back of his notebook and drew a circle around the new word to emphasize it.

"Your voice and singing style are actually very recognizable and unique, Qingshan. But forcing yourself to fit in and please the current mainstream music audience will only make you lose your unique characteristics."

His finger reached out to the poster on the wall, attracting the girl's gaze.

"Ultimately, your idol is a big star and an industry leader. Her attempt to transition to a rock style and adapt to the trend is a testament to her confidence in her abilities and her vast audience base. In other words, even if she fails, she still has a loyal audience and connections within the industry, so she can easily make a comeback. And now that she's succeeded, everyone is naturally happy. But you're different."

The little soldier from the country has nothing.

Personal characteristics are the biggest and most important life-saving straw.

Ignoring your personal advantages and turning to the mainstream track to compete with thousands of competitors is tantamount to little John Khan taking the Don't Laugh Challenge - the worst choice.

"But, everyone seems to like listening to JPop these days, and this year's hit albums are basically all in this style..."

"This relates to what I was talking about earlier."

Lin Sen turned the paper back.

“The silent minority. It’s that audience you’re trying to reach.”

"It's true that a popular genre will attract a large number of fans, even squeezing out other genres. But that's just the way the world works. There will always be people who don't like to follow trends, and there will always be people who get bored after the initial excitement and turn to pursue new stimulation. What you need to do is to attract this group of people."

Lin Sen, who had been staring at Qingshan Xiazhi, did not miss the expression on the other person's face when he was halfway through his words.

Life is so long and full of disappointments.

But it was the first time I had such a wonderful experience where everything was as expected.

Lin Sen didn't know why. Seeing the girl before him, after trying hard to think, suddenly reveal a slightly unconvinced expression, wanting to gently refute his words, he suddenly felt like smiling.

So he didn't hide it at all.

He even gave up squatting and sat down on the ground to relieve the numbness and soreness from squatting for a long time.

"Let me guess. What you're trying to say is, as a musician reduced to the point of having to perform in bars to promote yourself, how can you possibly find those rare listeners hidden among the masses?"

"!"

Lin Sen snapped his fingers as the girl's reaction showed that he had been read through.

"Remember what I just said? I have a way. Let me do it."

So Qingshan Xiazhi once again witnessed the relaxed and slightly decadent smile of the young man in front of him.

ordinary.

confidence.

As he said.

Chapter 19 Tell Your Story, Then Wait

"What I can be sure of now is that you have strength, and a lot of it. What you lack is just the promotion of your own characteristics."

"Is... that so?"

"That's it—correct and pertinent. Therefore, what you need to do now is to regain this confidence, Qingshan."

Lin Sen ignored Qingshan Xiazhi's skeptical expression.

He gradually began to guess what the girl was thinking.

She was like a child at heart, but she fell down again and again in the process of climbing to the other side of her dream, so much so that even the edge of her self-confidence was almost worn away.

Trembling and timid.

No one knows all this better than Lin Sen.

Because he had fallen into such a trap before.

The most urgent thing is to build up confidence, then go around behind her, hold her back, and push forward.

Granted, she might not be that good.

But definitely not bad.

Lin Sen believes in his own aesthetic taste and his own judgment as a future person who has some knowledge of the country's music history.

If you want to make a small living in the hellish contemporary music scene with just a broken guitar and a few songs, you must first learn to hold your head high.

Save Wu Ling Yiba Mio Jiuling Wine

"Then it's important to put together your own ordinary and moving story."

"My, story?"

"Yes."

Lin Sen put away the notebook and pen he was using for pretending.

He glanced at him and took in the other person's somewhat uneasy and confused expression.

"You're from Kansai, right?"

"Eh?"

Surprise is tantamount to acquiescence.

Lin Sen then laid out the basis for his judgment:

"My dad is a regional guy. Thanks to that new kid, he's been super sensitive to any Kansai accent since he was little. So, the occasional intonation you let slip is hard to hide from me."

“This is it.”

Tokyo drifter Qingshan has always had a sharp eye.

I keenly sensed from the tone and expression of the young man in front of me the malicious intention of non-regional discrimination.

Some of the harshness was probably directed at his father.

So she breathed a sigh of relief, relaxed, and admitted it generously.