1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

The next morning, Cheng Xuemin, along with Gong Xue, Zhu Lin, and Li Lianjie, were arranged to enter the country by Fu Qi and then boarded a train to Guangzhou.

"Oh dear, I forgot!"

On the train, Li Lianjie suddenly slapped his bald head and slapped his leg, shouting.

"What did you forget? Why are you making such a fuss?"

Cheng Xuemin was too lazy to pay attention to this fussy nonsense, but Zhu Lin casually asked him a question out of curiosity.

Gong Xue chuckled repeatedly from the side, feeling nervous inside.

After all, this was her first time recording a tape, and she didn't know how it would differ from her usual performances.

"Brother Cheng, I should have flown to Shanghai with Director Huang!" Li Lianjie suddenly realized and said regretfully, "That way, I could have gotten a free bottle of Moutai and a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes on the plane!"

Uh……

This left Cheng Xuemin both amused and exasperated!
indeed!

Originally, whether flying from Hong Kong to Bolin or from Bolin to Hong Kong, since it's not our own international flight, there was no Moutai liquor served on the plane.

However, the flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai is our only 'international flight' to the outside world, so a bottle of Moutai is given away for free on board.

They had already picked up a bottle when they flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

However, the bottle that Cheng Xuemin had taken had already been drunk by Fu Qi and the others from Great Wall when they transited through Hong Kong earlier.

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin never thought about it that way.

Li Lianjie, on the other hand, had just put his luggage on the train when he realized that he still had a bottle of Moutai liquor in his bag, which was given away for free on the plane.

Only then did he realize that going to Guangzhou with his brother Cheng to join in the fun had made him miss the free bottle of Moutai on the direct flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Yes, and there was also a pack of cigarettes!

"Look how much this kid is worried about it," Cheng Xuemin said with a smile, teasingly. "Look at you, so stingy. You're so reluctant to part with just a bottle of Moutai?"

"Then let's just go back the way we came; maybe we can catch up with Director Hu and the others!"

There's no way they can make it. Director Hu and his team booked an early morning flight, so they've probably already arrived in Shanghai by now.

Old Huang and Old Xie probably already have the free Moutai in their pockets.

This kid only just realized it now, too late!
"Brother Cheng, you're making fun of me again! I was just joking!" Li Lianjie was still quite honest at this moment, continuing to stroke his bald head and smiling憨憨地.

He then said to Cheng Xuemin with a grin, "By the way, Brother Cheng! After you and Sister Xue finish recording the tapes, could you ask them to have Pacific Company send me a few tapes too?"

"Qiuyan and the others will definitely like it!"

"Yeah, Xuemin, they should send us a few boxes, right?!" Zhu Lin, standing nearby, was also eager to try, clearly Xiao Li had hit the nail on the head.

"We'll see when the time comes!"

"If they don't offer it, it won't cost us much if we pay for it ourselves!"

Cheng Xuemin nodded. Pacific Music Company was the only company in China that recorded pop music tapes.

Its predecessor was the China Music Film Studio.

Unfortunately, although the recorded tapes were distributed nationwide, Cheng Xuemin, who wrote the lyrics and composed the music and was even conscripted to record the tapes himself, received no copyright royalties whatsoever, just like the royalties.

Not to mention sales commissions.

Pacific Music is now recording tapes, basically like the Japanese getting something for free from us.

There might be some copyright fees.

But a song has several lines of lyrics. If you were to pay royalties based on the number of lines or words, you'd starve to death.

Therefore, those who create new songs and tunes in this era are almost all doing so out of hobby.

Or they work in specialized units where their daily work involves creating new songs and compositions.

For example, Gong Xue and her fellow performers Li Shuangjiang and Dong Wenhua are singers in the troupe's singing group. In addition to covering other authors' revolutionary songs, they also write lyrics and compose music for their own songs.

There will definitely be no royalties, but there might be some bonuses from the performing arts troupe.

"Hey Cheng, is recording a cassette tape fun? Can I record one too?" Li Lianjie egged him on again. "I'll record that ending theme song from our Tai Chi show!"

"Like this!"

Li Lianjie simply got into character and started singing on the train: "The sky is dark, the moon is bright, I can fly across a thousand miles of rivers and mountains..."

This kid is good at being silly. Although his voice isn't great, too clear and not deep enough, "Who Will Be the Hero" is inherently stirring.

He had only just started singing and hadn't even sung two lines when he instantly attracted the attention of the passengers in the same carriage, who all turned to look at him with surprise!
"Monk!"

"What a handsome young chef!"

"What song is that? I've never heard it before."

"It sounds pretty good!"

……

Hearing the chatter in the carriage, Li Lianjie sang even more enthusiastically.

His voice, which was originally a bit immature, now had more confidence, and he sang the martial arts spirit in the ending theme song of "Tai Chi" quite well.

The sky has darkened, but the moon remains as bright as ever; I can traverse a thousand miles of rivers and mountains at my leisure.

The song draws people in, who turn to look around, inviting the moon to dwell deep within the green mountains.

The hero is none other than me!

I've gone through countless hardships, just to win your heart.

Who is the hero but me?
My passion has turned to dust and earth, all for the sake of catching your glimpse of my beauty.

The hero is none other than me!

When he finished singing the last line, "Who is the hero but me?", enthusiastic applause rang out in the carriage.

"This young singer sings really well!" A middle-aged man wearing glasses across from us spoke first, clutching a well-worn copy of "Popular Cinema" magazine. He asked, "Is this a new song? I've listened to the radio and read records, and I've never heard such an energetic tune before!"

"Yes, little master, you sang so well! Could you sing it again so I can write down the lyrics?" A little girl nodded repeatedly and even took out a notebook and pen, clearly wanting to write down the lyrics.

"I'm not a little master, I'm an actor!" Li Lianjie quickly waved her hands to correct him, her little face full of pride. She pointed to her bald head and said, "I shaved it for a role!"

"I just got back from the Bolin Film Festival with Brother Cheng and the others. This song is the end credits song for the movie we made called 'Tai Chi,' in which I played the male lead!"

"The Bolin Film Festival?" A woman holding a child next to me widened her eyes. "That's the international film festival mentioned in the newspaper? You went to compete?"

"Not only did we participate in the competition!" Li Lianjie raised her chin slightly, her voice rising a few decibels, deliberately lowering it yet ensuring those around her could hear, "Our 'Tai Chi' sold in Bolin..."

"Cough cough!"

That's gone too far. The achievements of Tai Chi at the Bolin Film Festival are now classified as top-secret national secrets.

Little Li turned around and completely forgot all the instructions and warnings he had given him.

Seeing that he was about to blurt out "two thousand...", Cheng Xuemin quickly coughed and stopped him with a sharp look. Li Lianjie also realized what was happening and quickly shut her mouth, no longer daring to reveal any more information.

"What did you sell?! Little driver, please continue!" Seeing Li Lianjie suddenly stop, the passengers next to her were all curious and asked.

"Anyway, our Tai Chi film was amazing! At the Bolin Film Festival, all those foreigners said it was great!" Li Lianjie was intimidated by Cheng Xuemin's gaze and immediately hid to the side like a coward, completely losing her previous smugness.

Cheng Xuemin smiled helplessly, nodded to the surrounding passengers, and said:

"We did go to the Bolin Film Festival, and we gained a lot!"

"The song that Leonardo DiCaprio sang just now is the ending theme song of our Tai Chi series. It's called 'Who is the Hero?' It hasn't become popular yet!"

"The ending theme song of 'Tai Chi'? What's this movie about? Is it related to Tai Chi?"

"It's definitely an action movie! Just listen to the song and the movie title, you can tell how powerful it is!"

"When will it be released in China? I'll definitely go to the cinema to see it!"

Everyone chimed in, their eyes filled with anticipation.

The woman holding the child grabbed Li Lianjie's hand and said, "Little actress, you have to tell us when this movie will be released."
My husband loves watching Cheng Long's kung fu movies. If we made one that good, he'd be overjoyed!

Most of the passengers on the trains from outside the Great Wall to Guangzhou are probably traveling between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. It's normal that they've watched too many of Cheng Long's movies!

Li Lianjie was a little stunned by the question and dared not say anything more. She could only turn to look at Cheng Xuemin.

Cheng Xuemin then smiled and continued, "The domestic release is still being arranged, but it should be soon. Once the date is confirmed, cinemas will definitely promote it in advance, so everyone should keep an eye out for it."

"Then we'd better hurry!" the bespectacled man said excitedly. "Your Tai Chi film can represent the country on the world stage and will be popular with those foreigners. It's sure to be a great film!"

"Yes! Since the foreigners like it so much, didn't they give us any kind of award?"

"Oh right?! Did you win any awards?"

"We're sure to win an award! Didn't you hear from the young master that our Tai Chi was very popular with foreigners at the film festival?"

"If you're welcomed, you're guaranteed to win an award!"

The atmosphere in the carriage grew increasingly lively, with some people starting to wonder if anyone had won an award!
Look!

Serves you right for being so cocky and having such a loose tongue!

Now you're saying we didn't win an award? How can these emotional passengers accept that?

"No, we still have to keep working hard!" Cheng Xuemin smiled awkwardly. If you didn't win an award, you didn't win an award. There's no need to pretend you did.

Moreover, if someone were to lie about winning an award just to save face, people would immediately help promote it as soon as they arrive in Guangzhou, and it might even be reported in the news and on the radio before anyone else!

That would be a huge blunder!

Upon hearing that they hadn't won an award, everyone sighed again, but they were all very honest and didn't blame Cheng Xuemin and his team for not performing well enough. They were all saying that those foreign devils were really hard to please.

They welcome our film on one hand, but then they're so exclusive that they won't even give us a consolation prize. That's so stingy!

Then the carriage became fun and lively!

Some people were curious whether Gong Xue also had a role in the movie, while others asked Cheng Xuemin about the local customs and culture of Bolin.

Li Lianjie, who is bald, was surrounded and encouraged to make a few moves.

This guy is a show-off; one minute he's gesturing like he's in a movie, the next he's talking about what he saw and heard in Bolin, all while gesturing wildly and excitedly.

Even the frustration of not getting Moutai before was thrown to the winds.

Gong Xue sat to the side, watching the lively scene, and couldn't help but whisper to Zhu Lin, "I really didn't expect everyone to be so excited about 'Tai Chi'."

Zhu Lin nodded, her eyes filled with pride: "Of course, we've gone global!"

What people are really looking forward to right now is not the movie Tai Chi, but the movie that has gone international and is popular with foreigners. What is it like?
It's a pity that the exact release date wasn't announced, leaving them with something to look forward to.

"You little rascal, if you keep talking like that on the train, don't follow me around anymore!"

After getting off the train, Cheng Xuemin felt it necessary to give Xiao Li a stern warning again.

The reason we brought him to Guangzhou was because we were afraid that his loose tongue would return to Beijing early and go around the world spouting nonsense about Tai Chi at the Bolin Film Festival, making a fortune in foreign exchange.

Otherwise, don't wait for Cheng Xuemin to waste two days in Guangzhou, and while he's at it, wait for the contract that's still on its way. By the time he gets back to Yanjing, the whole world will already know.

Wouldn't we be in a very passive position then?

"Yes, yes, yes! Brother Cheng, I was wrong, I was wrong! Brother Cheng, I really know I was wrong, I will never dare to say anything like that to anyone again!"

"Brother Cheng, please don't abandon me!"

Li Lianjie had been out and about too much, and after seeing the dazzling world outside, she was determined to run away.

Cheng Xuemin also subtly hinted that if he wanted to continue making movies with him, he should obediently listen to him and not cause any trouble.

Especially when Cheng Xuemin was in Bolin, in Hong Kong, or at Yan Film Studio, he was very generous with money for them!

So Little Li has decided that Cheng Xuemin is his big brother, and from now on he only wants to follow Cheng Xuemin!

The training has yielded some results.

As the old saying goes, no one can be a big brother if they don't have money. If you're unwilling to spend money or share with your underlings, you can't be a big brother either.

During his trip to Bolin, Cheng Xuemin bought the boy a watch worth three or four hundred US dollars, as an early investment for him.

They fed Leonardo DiCaprio until he was extremely grateful!
"It's good to know!"

Cheng Xuemin subtly pointed out that he didn't really trust his words and could only keep him close by for the next few days.

As soon as I exited the train station, I saw people from Guangzhou Pacific Audio-Visual Company holding up a sign and waiting.

When Cheng Xuemin left Hong Kong this morning, he asked Fu Qi to call here and inform them that they would be coming to record the tape today.

Of course, the other team, led by Hu Jian, also called Ding Daming of China Film Group early in the morning to report their return to Beijing today.

The person from Pacific Audio-Visual Company was of a very high rank; it was their then-general manager, Liu Qinlong.

This guy is on the same level as Wang Yang, the former director of Yanying Film Studio!

"Is this Comrade Cheng Xuemin?"

"Welcome back triumphantly from the Bolin Film Festival! I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from Mr. Fu Qi of Great Wall Film Studio this morning!"

"Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome to Comrade Xuemin for visiting our Pacific Sound and Image Manufacturing Plant and providing guidance!"
It's turned into the 'Pacific Sound and Image Factory' again?

That's actually not wrong!
Their Pacific Audio-Visual Company began its establishment last year, in November 1978.

It was officially established in January of the following year, which is January of this year, and went into production in May of the same year.

It was initially called Oriental Audio-Visual Tape Factory, but was renamed "Pacific Audio-Visual Manufacturing Plant" in February of this year, and is known externally as "Pacific Audio-Visual Company".

Until December 1986, it was officially registered as "Pacific Audio-Visual Company" in the business registration!
Therefore, the internal name is still Pacific Sound and Image Manufacturing Plant!

……

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