Chapter 09: The Tool
Liu Yifei said to Aunt Liu, "Mom, I told you before, Xiao Jianzi is a big star now, his songs are really good, and this new album, he wrote all of it himself, and the MV was also filmed by him, he's really amazing."
Then she asked Yang Jian, "Xiao Jianzi, where is the song you wrote for me?"
Aunt Liu, who was standing nearby, saw that her daughter didn't treat Yang Jian like an outsider, and slightly frowned, reminding her, "Qian Qian..."
Liu Yifei saw her Mom frown, stuck out her tongue, and then blinked at Yang Jian, as if to say, "Sorry, Xiao Jianzi."
Yang Jian was amused by her little gesture and laughed, "Of course I didn't forget, the song is written, it's on the computer, I'll show it to you in a bit."
He was quite conflicted about what song to prepare for Liu Yifei before, he hadn't heard this girl sing, he only remembered that she seemed to have released an album, but it didn't make much of a splash, so he figured it flopped, which meant her singing skills were questionable.
Later, he thought, she had released an album, at least she wasn't tone-deaf, if it really didn't work, finding a good sound engineer would be enough, so he prepared a sweet song for Liu Yifei - "ningxia".
This song was released in the original timeline in September 2004 and is one of the representative works of the sweet song diva Ning Jing.
Aunt Liu was surprised to see that Yang Jian really wrote a song for her daughter, and then a smile appeared on her face, "Xiao Yang, thank you for writing a song for Qian Qian, let's talk alone in a moment."
Yang Jian was also curious about what Aunt Liu wanted to talk to him about, so he nodded and agreed.
Liu Yifei took the three of them to her resting place, and after inviting them to sit down, she impatiently said, "Xiao Jianzi, hurry up and show me, I'm so curious."
Not only was Liu Yifei curious, but Aunt Liu, Zhou Yang, and Wang Jia were also very curious, after all, Yang Jian's "fairy tale" was too popular, even if they were idiots, they knew Yang Jian was talented.
Yang Jian opened the computer, clicked on the folder, and then turned the computer around, but the three female classmates studied performance, and only Aunt Liu understood a little, but not much, in the end, there was nothing he could do, Yang Jian had to hum a few lines.
"The cicadas have also fallen asleep, peacefully asleep;"
"In my heart, a quiet summer;"
"The cicadas have also fallen asleep, peacefully asleep;"
"In my heart, a quiet summer..."
After listening, everyone thought it was good, especially the three young girls.
"Wow, Xiao Jianzi, it's really good."
Liu Yifei said with stars in her eyes, while Wang Jia and Zhou Yang on the side also nodded repeatedly.
"If Zhou Yang and Wang Jia want to sing, and you get inspiration, I can also help you write songs."
Yang Jian couldn't be partial, they were all classmates, and if he treated Liu Yifei specially, how would others see him?
"Forget it, I know my level, I won't trouble you!"
Zhou Yang said with a smile.
"That's right, that's right, we should still study acting properly."
Wang Jia also nodded in agreement.
Yang Jian smiled indifferently, "Then don't regret it later."
Aunt Liu interjected at the right time, "Qian Qian, you stay here with Xiao Zhou and Xiao Wang for a while, Xiao Yang and I will go talk about the song."
Aunt Liu was very concerned about her daughter's career, she found a quiet place, and after the two sat down, she said, "Xiao Yang, name your price for this song."
"Aunt, how about this, I won't charge you money, but the copyright is still mine, and we'll split the subsequent profits fifty-fifty."
Aunt Liu's expression changed, she thought about it for a moment and then agreed, she somewhat knew how excellent the song "ningxia" was, for her daughter, what was important was not how much money she could make from this song, but whether she could gain fame.
"Then when we return to Beijing, we'll sign the contract."
"Just listen to Aunt Liu."
Given how much Aunt Liu valued Liu Qianqian's classmates, if he gave it away for free, people would probably kick him out on the spot, thinking, 'Does this kid have some designs on my daughter?'
Even if she accepted the song, she would probably be more wary of Yang Jian.
This way, it could somewhat alleviate Aunt Liu's concerns, the most important thing for a song is copyright, with the copyright still in his hands, it looks like a business transaction, so he wouldn't be accused of having ulterior motives, right?
Honestly, treating Liu Yifei as a tool somehow felt really good!
After they finished talking, Aunt Liu left on some pretext, and Yang Jian also returned to Liu Yifei's resting place, where the three of them were chatting animatedly, occasionally letting out faint laughter.
"What are the three beauties talking about, so happy, you're showing your gums, haha..."
The three of them simultaneously frowned, and angrily said in unison, "Xiao Jianzi (Jian Zi), do you want to die?"
As they spoke, they also raised their little fists.
"Just kidding, just kidding, the three beauties are like celestial beings descending to the mortal world, showing gums and stuff, that's simply not the case."
Yang Jian pretended to back down and quickly spoke to explain (or rather, argue).
They chatted for a while, and Aunt Liu came over to inform Liu Yifei that filming was about to start and she should go get ready.
Yang Jian and the other two had nothing to do, so they stood on the periphery and watched from a distance.
They were filming a martial arts scene, it was far away, so although they couldn't really see what was going on, it didn't stop him from watching the excitement.
Yang Jian watched for a few minutes and immediately felt bored!
He felt it wasn't as interesting as watching people operate excavators before, this fight scene was almost entirely the stunt doubles demonstrating a set of moves first, and then letting the actors go up and strike a pose, what was there to watch?
On the other hand, Zhou Yang and Wang Jia beside him were full of envy.
Shaking his head and sighing, he didn't know what was so good about it, and ignoring the two of them, he moved a chair and found a place to sit and space out.
Damn it, do you think everyone is like you? If you didn't have the System, you wouldn't be so calm now.
Who in the performance department doesn't want to start acting earlier?
...
"Young man, what are you spacing out here alone for?"
Yang Jian was emptying his mind, and in a trance, he heard someone talking to him, for a moment he didn't react, he looked around blankly and found a sturdy middle-aged man standing in front of him, with a fleshy face, looking at him curiously.
Seeing that he didn't answer, the middle-aged man continued to ask, "Young man, you don't look like an extra, are you here for an internship in the crew?"
Yang Jian felt that the person in front of him looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was, he just assumed he was a crew member.
"No, I'm here to visit my classmate, Liu Yifei, you know, the one who plays Wang Yuyan..."
As he spoke, he stood up and pointed to his classmate Liu Qianqian who was touching up her makeup in the distance.
"Brother, what's your name? I'm a student from Beijing Film Academy's Performance Department, class of 02, my name is Yang Jian, I'm also a singer."
He first introduced himself, then shook hands with the middle-aged man, maintaining the necessary social etiquette, his Yang Jian was a good young man of the new era.
"Beijing Film Academy, huh, my name is Zhao Jian, I'm the director and action director of 'demi-gods and semi-devils'."
Damn, so he wasn't just a regular crew member, he was a director.
"So it's Director Zhao, I've heard a lot about you, I've heard a lot about you."
He really knew Zhao Jian, and had even met him a few times, of course, the other person didn't know him, he had just worked in Zhao Jian's crew in his previous life and had specifically looked up information about him.
He didn't recognize him just now because Zhao Jian was still young now, when he was working in Zhao Jian's crew in his previous life, it was already 2009, he was fatter and darker then than he was now.
This person was Zhang Da Hu Zi's right-hand man, born into a family of traditional opera, he went to Hong Kong to work hard in his early years, working under Tsui Hark, he acted, served as an action director, and later returned to the Mainland, where he has been the action director and director for Zhang Jizhong's TV series for many years.
"You know me?"
Zhao Jian listened to Yang Jian's flattering words with a face full of disbelief, thinking that this kid was young, but no different from an old hand.
"Of course I know you, 'Once Upon a Time in China III: The Lion Dance', Zhao Tianba, you played it really well."
Zhao Jian played the role of Zhao Tianba in the movie "Once Upon a Time in China III: The Lion Dance", his expression and actions were exaggerated and comical, very humorous, and at the same time extremely arrogant, although he played a villain, he was very likable to the audience.
Yang Jian even imitated Zhao Tianba's line, "If you're not a person of my Da Ping Hao, then don't be a person anymore."
This imitation was not a hundred percent accurate, but it was close enough, but it was useless, as someone else did the voice acting for him.
"Hey, you even noticed that, most people wouldn't pay attention to these things, they all watch Jet Li, you actually remember the lines, hahaha."
Zhao Jian laughed heartily, looking very happy, this young man not only knew him, but could even recreate the lines of the character he played, instantly feeling a good impression of +99 towards the young man in front of him.
Why wouldn't he have a good impression? When talking about Huang Feihong, everyone thinks of big stars like Jet Li and Guan Zhilin, how many people would pay attention to a villain like him? And even care about who the actor playing the villain is? Let alone remember his lines.
The more Zhao Jian looked, the more pleasing this young man was, although he wasn't acting anymore, being praised for the character he once played well, who wouldn't be happy?