1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After going up to the second floor, walking through the corridor, and walking to the door, Hou Xiaoxian did not rush to disturb Zhou Yan, but quietly watched Zhou Yan play.

Waiting until the song ended and Zhou Yan adjusted his posture to play the next song, Hou Xiaoxian finally said, Hello.

Zhou Yan stopped and turned his head.

The person calling him was a short, middle-aged man in jeans and a Polo shirt. The man looked quite special, with thick eyebrows, short eyes, and a standard bulbous nose. His accent sounded like he was from the South, not Hu. It was built in Taiwan.

Who are you? Zhou Yan asked.

I am Hou Xiaoxian.

It turned out to be Hou Xiaoxian. Zhou Yan had watched several Hou Xiaoxian movies, but he didn't recognize Hou Xiaoxian's face. In fact, when he heard the accent just now, he guessed that the other person was either the producer Hou Xiaoxian or the investor Qiu Fusheng.

The capital behind Raise the Red Lantern is Hong Kong's Times Film Company, which was established by Qiu Fusheng in order to avoid the Taiwan authorities' policy prohibiting cross-strait cooperation in filmmaking.

After the company was established, it signed two film contracts with Zhang Yimou. It can be said that Era Film Company was established just for Zhang Yimou.

Zhou Yan did not expect Hou Xiaoxian to come so early. Although Hou Xiaoxian was the producer of Raise the Red Lantern, it was more like a nominal one. Everything on the scene was listened to by Zhang Yimou.

Hello, Director Hou, hello. Zhou Yan walked over enthusiastically and held Hou Xiaoxian's hand, Have you just arrived?

Hou Xiaoxian nodded, Yes, I heard you playing the flute when I first got here. I thought the music was quite interesting, so I came up to ask, what is the name of the music?

I'm afraid I can't tell you that.

Why is this? Hou Xiaoxian asked in surprise, Can the title of the song be something that needs to be kept secret?

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Director Hou, you misunderstood. It's not that I want to keep it a secret from you, but because this piece of music doesn't have a name yet. I composed it today.

Hou Xiaoxian's expression froze. He did not expect to get such an answer. This flute music was actually composed by the young man in front of him.

The reason why he was so eager to know the name of this piece of music was because he felt that this piece of music was particularly suitable for Chen Feipu to play when he saw Songlian for the first time. It felt right.

Therefore, you need to find out clearly in advance. If you really want to use this song later, it will be more convenient.

Seeing Hou Xiaoxian's shocked look, Zhou Yan felt a little embarrassed, because this piece of music was not completely original to him, but was adapted based on the piece he had watched played by Chen Feipu in Raise the Red Lantern. The main credit is Still Zhao Jiping.

However, this embarrassment soon dissipated. Zhou Yan looked at Hou Xiaoxian and thought about it, Director Hou, this is my first time playing this piece today. You are also the first person to ask about this piece. Since you Since this song is so fateful, why don’t you help me come up with a name.”

Although Hou Xiaoxian is also a person who has seen the world, he was still a little moved by Zhou Yan's words, and he really believed that he was destined to this piece of music.

However, he still shied away and said, This is your song, how can I name it?

Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, Hey, even if you give birth to a child by yourself, don't you still have to ask a highly respected person to help choose a name? And I also want to hear the audience's impressions of this song. I think you gave it to me. The name definitely represents how you actually feel.”

Hou Xiaoxian was a little confused by Zhou Yan's ecstasy soup. He couldn't help but nodded and said, It does make sense.

Zhou Yan struck while the iron was hot and said with a smile, Then don't be polite and give me a name.

Hou Xiaoxian pondered for a while and then said, What do you think of the name Songlian?

Songlian... Zhou Yan lowered his head and thought for a while, then said with his hands, This is a good name. To be honest, I have been thinking about this scene every day for the past few days, and my mind is full of Songlian, so I made it. Director Hou, you really have a unique vision for this piece. From now on, this piece will be called Ode to the Lotus.

When Zhou Yan said that he was thinking about this scene every day, Hou Xiaoxian didn't think much about it. He thought Zhou Yan was thinking about this scene as a composer.

Hou Xiaoxian was about to say something more, but suddenly Jiang Mengfei called him downstairs, Director Hou, Director Hou, Director Zhang is back and has something to do with you.

Okay, I got it. Hou Xiaoxian responded, and then said to Zhou Yan, I have a lot of things to do when I get here today. I will go to Director Zhang Yimou first, and then I will go to you after I finish my work.

Hey, okay, go ahead and get busy.

After Hou Xiaoxian left, Zhou Yan started playing the flute again, but this time he played not Ode to the Lotus but a famous bangdi song Happy Encounter.

…

Here Hou Xiaoxian went downstairs and followed Jiang Mengfei to Zhang Yimou's room.

After meeting, the two exchanged a few words, and then Zhang Yimou said in a serious tone, Director Hou is here this time, and I still want to ask you to give us more guidance. Your rich experience is particularly worth learning from.

This scene was quite blunt, and Hou Xiaoxian also knew that Zhang Yimou was not telling the truth. Zhang Yimou was the same type of person as him, and he would not let others interfere in his movie.

In fact, most directors are like this. No one wants others to interfere with their work.

He is here to serve as the producer this time. He will not interfere too much in the filming. He will help coordinate the scene and control costs.

Director Zhang was joking. This time we have a clear division of labor. You will be in charge of the filming of the film, and I will assist with matters other than filming.

Zhang Yimou stopped being polite and said with a smile, Thank you for the hard work.

It's all as it should be.

I heard from Jiang Mengfei that you went to see Zhou Yan just now?

Zhang Yimou heard from Jiang Mengfei that Hou Xiaoxian ran upstairs to find Zhou Yan as soon as he arrived, without even entering his own room, so he was particularly curious.

Hou Xiaoxian smiled and nodded, Yes, I was just about to tell you this. Zhou Yan wrote a flute song. I think it is very suitable for Chen Feipu to play. We can spend some money to license the song.

Zhang Yimou subconsciously looked in the direction of the second floor. Did Zhou Yan write a flute song? How come he doesn't know about this?

Seeing Zhang Yimou's doubts, Hou Xiaoxian smiled and explained, It's a coincidence that he just wrote this piece today and played it for the first time. I just happened to hear it when I came here.

These words solved Zhang Yimou's doubts, but instead he was surprised. He didn't expect that Zhou Yan could not only play, but also write music... By the way, he almost forgot that Zhou Yan was originally a composer.

This Zhou Yan can always surprise people.

Zhang Yimou had just come back from outside and had not heard the song Hou Xiaoxian mentioned, so he could not judge whether the song was suitable for Chen Feipu. He mused, We will talk about the song later. Let me tell you about the character Chen Feipu first.

Hou Xiaoxian nodded, You said last time that no one would be released from the actor troupe who played Chen Feipu. What's going on now? Has the matter been resolved?

Now I have replaced the person.

Replace who?

Zhang Yimou smiled and said, That's the Zhou Yan you just met.