Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

"Ellie?"

"Boss, what's the matter?"

"Help me find someone, William Zhu, an American of Chinese descent. He used to work in the Google business, and now he should be involved in publishing."

"Yes, I should be able to get in touch with them for you."

"Help me make an appointment with him. Depending on his schedule, we can meet there in July, or at another time in China."

"Okay. I'll let you know after we make the appointment."

On the evening of May 3rd, in a hotel room in Suzhou.

The hotel booked by the crew of "Back to 20".

Fang Yuan came to visit the set at the director's request, and also took the opportunity to relax during the holiday.

The filming is nearing its end, and the director and actors are in high spirits.

Huang Xiaoming came over and moved in with Fang Yuan.

He carried a bag of peanuts, two bottles of cola, and two packs of beef jerky up from the convenience store downstairs, flopped onto the bed, and clutched the remote control in his hand.

"How many more shows are scheduled for her?"

"Two or three," Fang Yuan said, leaning against the headboard.

"Sister Hua has a lot of influence; she managed to get Sister Zeng Li on a Beijing TV gala."

Huang Xiaoming, peeling peanuts, said, "Is her album going to be released soon?"

"Let's see how the reaction goes after the party."

"Do you think I can sing?" Huang Xiaoming tossed a peanut shell into the ashtray.

"You should focus on acting first. Once you become a big star, you can sing whenever you want, and even if you don't sing well, you'll still have many admirers to support you."

"Are you saying I sing badly?"

"Don't you even know if it sounds good or not?"

Two people were chatting when there was a knock on the door.

Fang Yuan got up and opened the door.

Director Li Hong, Yan Danchen, and Li Xinyu walked in, carrying a large bag of delicious food.

The group chatted and laughed while eating and drinking.

Soon, it was time for the TV gala program.

The stage set has been changed.

The screen, the gauze curtains, and the lamplight were all pressed into a dark gold color.

Zeng Li emerged from behind the screen, wearing a moon-white long robe, her hair tied up, and her face without any extra makeup.

She stood in the middle of the stage.

Someone in the audience shouted "Pei Pei." Applause and screams erupted.

The prelude is played with the pipa's tremolo technique.

The last bit of background noise from the audience was gone.

She began to speak. The first line of the verse started softly, with each word uttered at the same point.

At the very last line before the chorus, she narrowed her voice and clenched it in her hand.

Then the chorus started. It was in the style of traditional Chinese opera.

It found a gap between the true voice and the falsetto, and that voice stood out in that gap.

It is thin and tough, like a thread that gets longer and longer as it is drawn out.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines instantly.

Huang Xiaoming didn't peel the peanuts.

He stared at the screen, waiting for the last sentence to finish.

Silence. Less than two seconds later, someone in the front row on the screen stood up.

Applause spread from that corner to both sides.

Huang Xiaoming clapped his hands. "It's done."

"Wow! Zeng Li's Peking Opera singing is amazing!" Li Hong exclaimed, as it was the first time she had heard this song.

Yan Danchen and Li Xinyu were also very envious.

The phone rang. Wang Jinghua.

"Have you seen it?"

"Um."

"Director Sun said that none of the audience reaction scenarios from the four camera angles were cut, and the quiet time on set lasted twice as long as he had anticipated."

There was still background noise from the scene near Wang Jinghua's location.

"Let's meet at the studio tomorrow at 2 PM. I'll invite Li Zi along."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yuan said to Li Hong, "I'll go back to school first thing tomorrow morning. You can handle things with the film crew yourselves."

"Sister Hua told me that you plan to release 'First Love' during the summer season and 'Back to 20' during the National Day holiday?"

"Hurry up, there's still a lot of work to be done in post-production and promotion."

"Xinyu, you'll be going back to school next month. Sister Hua has already made arrangements for you; you'll be the female lead in Director Feng's Lunar New Year film, 'Endless.'"

"Okay, I'll call Sister Hua later." Li Xinyu was pleasantly surprised.

Several of them have already had leading roles, but she has always been a supporting actress.

"Don't be too anxious. Actually, two films a year is good. Try not to take on bad films."

The next afternoon, in the studio of the Central Academy of Drama rehearsal building.

When Fang Yuan arrived, Wang Jinghua was already there, sitting in a folding chair with a notebook spread out in front of her and tea she had brewed herself.

She had been to this studio countless times, and knew the location of the tea leaves better than Fang Yuan did.

Xiaomei is busy with her own things outside.

She looked up at Fang Yuan. "How's the filming going? Almost done shooting, right?"

"Yes, it'll be soon! Basically, the only remaining collaboration with Shanghai Film Group and Forbidden City Film Group is 'Flying Colors'."

"Once the next film is finished, the relationship between the three companies will be temporarily suspended, and we can discuss future collaborations later."

Footsteps echoed in the corridor.

Zeng Li pushed open the door and came in, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, with her ponytail tied low.

Wang Jinghua opened her notebook.

According to the TV station's data, the four minutes of "Red-Clad Ladies" had nearly two percentage points higher viewership than the average ratings of the gala.

The audience sampling showed that the 15-25 age group was the peak.

Li Zi's fans of "Eighteen-Year-Old Sky" have been revitalized.

The online reaction was that more than two hundred new posts appeared on Tianya and Xici Hutong, half of which were asking where they could listen to the studio version, and the other half were arguing with people who said she was just "doing it for fun".

Teacher Zhang responded on our behalf to some of the criticisms raised within the Peking Opera community.

Wang Jinghua closed her notebook. "The problem now is that knowing Li Zi can sing and being willing to pay for her album are two different things."

When an actor releases an album, the public's instinctive reaction is that it's just a hobby.

"So we need to look at it from a different angle."

She pushed several sheets of paper stapled together to the center of the table.

Fang Yuan had a bad feeling.

"The first step is to promote Fang Yuan. He is a Hollywood screenwriter who has won Best Screenplay awards at the three major European film festivals: Venice, Cannes, and Berlin. He is the screenwriter of 'Eighteen-Year-Old Sky,' 'Lost in Thailand,' and 'Be There or Be Square.'"

The author of "Twilight" has readily available royalty data for seven or eight novels in China.

Creator of the Chinese-style song series.

The lyrics, music, and arrangement of "Red-Clad Ladies," along with "Beyond the Temple"—your name has resonated in these areas. By promoting this name, the album becomes a collaboration between musicians and actors creating a Chinese-style album.

"I never showed my face when those novels were published, but now they've all been leaked?" Fang Yuan said helplessly.

"For actors, releasing an album is just a hobby, but for popular screenwriters and bestselling authors to write songs for their own shows, that's called crossing over."

"Is this really necessary?"

"It's bound to happen sooner or later, so let's maximize our profits!"

Wang Jinghua turned to a new page in her notebook.

"The second step is an exclusive interview. Release the resume you just mentioned to the media."

In the one-hour program "Cultural Perspective," you will discuss the relationship between the concept of Chinese style and your various identities, while Li Zi will sing two songs live.

The complete version of "Red-Haired Girl" plus the chorus of "Hair Like Snow".

The album was released on the same day the interview aired, simultaneously by Shanghai Audio-Visual Publishing House, China Record Corporation, and Beijing Literature Publishing House.

"The synchronization is insufficient," Fang Yuan said.

"Send the chart-topping CDs to the radio station two weeks in advance."

On the night of the broadcast, a premiere event was held at the BJ Audio-Visual Building, and the products from three different channels were simultaneously available that day.

Posters and counter displays are all in place.

Wang Jinghua said, "The article was published at the end of May, followed by an interview in early June, and then the album was released. Is your 'Beyond the Temple' being released ahead of schedule?"

"Sure, we'll release it when it's published to warm up the market. Results don't matter; our focus is on this album."

The meeting lasted another half hour.

Wang Jinghua went through the distribution plan, including the budget, revenue sharing among channels, and key points of the press release.

When the meeting ended, Fang Yuan stood up and stretched.

"Sister Hua, wanna go for hot pot tonight?"

"Go ahead."

"Xiaomei, reserve a table!"