Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 706 Paper Publication
Below the stage, everyone watched Chen Fan's performance with rapt attention.

After just one intro, Mr. He nodded unconsciously, "The rhythm of the music is very cheerful, which matches the theme of the song."

After a brief intro, Chen Fan began to sing.

Compared to the various singing techniques of later generations, the singing style of this era was relatively simple, but simple does not mean monotonous.

Long breaths, clear and resonant enunciation, firm and powerful intonation, and clean and crisp breathing are all basic requirements for singers, completely different from the popular singing style of later generations.

Chen Fan channeled his energy from his diaphragm and resonated in his head cavity, unleashing a clean and powerful voice that gave people a sense of high morale and youthful vigor.

Even though many of those present were musicians, they were still struck by the sound and their attention became even more focused.

As for the situation of closing one's eyes and immersing oneself in the music, that doesn't exist here at all. Even if someone wants to get lost in it, Chen Fan's extremely penetrating voice will wake them up.

As the song and piano music ended with the phrase "Glory belongs to the new generation of the 1980s" repeated three times, the music faded away.

Immediately following was a surge of enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Chen Fan stood up, placed one hand on the piano, bowed slightly in thanks, and then turned and left the stage.

Upon arriving backstage, the performing artists waiting in the wings gave him a warm round of applause.

Chen Fan bowed slightly to express his gratitude, then waved and greeted everyone before returning to his seat.

At this moment, a staff member walked over and whispered, "Vice Chairman Chen, Mr. Ba requests your presence."

Chen Fan was taken aback. The performance was still going on. Could he move to a different seat?

The next second, I came to my senses. Not to mention this kind of internal party, even during the first two live broadcasts of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, the audience members were all running around, eating sunflower seeds, chatting, and drinking. They were all as comfortable as if they were at home, without any sense of restraint.

It's just a change of position now, what does it matter?

She nodded slightly, "Okay."

Without needing staff to lead the way, and while the next program was being prepared, he jogged over with his back bent to Ba Jin's table.

The original group of elderly gentlemen at the table were all present, except for an extra seat placed between Mr. Ba and Mr. He.

He pulled out a chair and sat down. Before he could even greet the elderly gentlemen, Mr. He asked, "Have you joined the Jiangnan Music Association?"

Chen Fan made an "uh" sound, then smiled and shook his head slightly, "Not yet."

Old He frowned slightly. “Your piano skills are very high. I can tell that you have reached the performance level, no worse than some pianists in a symphony orchestra. As for your singing, although this song does not show any difficulty, I can tell from your pronunciation and breath control. There are few people in the country who can sing better than you. It’s a pity that you are not in the Music Association with such a level.”

Chen Fan smiled and quickly said, "No, no, I still need to work harder. Besides, music isn't my main profession, so I have no intention of joining the association."

Looking at him, Mr. He's eyes showed a hint of appreciation. "From your song, you can see the passion, exuberance, and confidence of young people. The lyrics are very well written, very much in line with the times, and also in line with your own identity and age."

The music is excellent; you've probably heard some foreign songs before. The rhythm has a touch of the passionate, Latin American musical style. Surprisingly, the person in question is quite humble and cautious.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but admire him secretly.

This piece was indeed composed by Gu Jianfen with some Latin American musical elements. It was created in 78 when she went to Latin America with a delegation for exchange and visits, and collected folk songs.

Inspired by this, she wanted to incorporate this musical element. Then, when she saw a poem by Zhang Meitong, "The New Generation of the 1980s," published in the third issue of the magazine "Lyrics," she was suddenly inspired and created this piece.

In this era of limited information access, it is truly remarkable that Mr. He was still able to learn about foreign music.

Chen Fan hadn't originally intended to copy it directly, but songs are different from novels. With a novel, you only need a plot outline to write it in your own way, changing the background or characters is no problem.

A song only has a few lines of lyrics and a few verses. Even though Chen Fan's literary and musical skills are not low, it is not an easy task to write poems and music of the same quality, let alone one that conforms to the spirit of the times.

He also considered composing another song to sing about the motherland and the nation, but in the end he chose a song that was more suitable for his age and sang about young people.

In today's social context, no song is more suitable than "Young Friends Come to Meet." Rather than creating a dubious "new song," it's better to use the original, which ultimately leads to today's stage performance.

Thoughts flashed through his mind. He looked at Elder He, grinned, but before he could speak, Elder Ba chuckled beside him.
“You’re not in good health and have been recuperating at home for years, so you’re not well-informed. If you just went out more often and chatted with your old friends, you’d know what this guy is really like.”

Chen Fan's face stiffened, and he looked at him helplessly. Was this guy trying to sabotage him?

Old He's eyes lit up. He looked at him, then turned to Old Ba and asked curiously, "Could it be that I saw it wrong?"

Ignoring Chen Fan's mournful gaze, Ba chuckled and said, "It's not entirely wrong, just not comprehensive. When I first met him, he was just as humble and polite, but after we got to know each other, he started to become unruly."

That day, he took a fountain pen I had captured on the northern battlefield. On his third visit, he also stole a purple clay teapot by Gu Jingzhou. After that, every time he came to my house, I had to lock my study, otherwise several paintings and calligraphies would be stolen.

Upon hearing this, the elderly gentlemen at the table couldn't help but burst into laughter, clapping and laughing heartily.

Upon seeing this, the two actors performing crosstalk on stage became even more enthusiastic, and their speech became even more eloquent.

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly, and he immediately raised his objection in court, "Then why do you always make me write? Not only do you not care about it yourself, but you also spread it around your workplace so that everyone knows. As a result, my hand aches from writing every time there is a meeting of the Writers' Association."

Old Xia had already put the notebook aside and looked at Old He with a smile, "Comrade Xiao Chen is quite good. Although he is unwilling to suffer any loss, he also doesn't easily take advantage of others. At least he hasn't cheated me yet."

Chen Fan maintained a helpless smile. Are you trying to explain for me, or are you kicking me when I'm down?

Old Xia chuckled, turned to look at him, and said, "I've acquired the adaptation rights to three of your novels. Two of them have already been made into movies, and only one has completed post-production. It will be released in a few days, specifically on January 7th, which is Sunday. You can go and see it then."

Chen Fan's eyes lit up. "Is it 'The Ferryman'?"

Old Xia nodded gently, "Yes, it's 'The Ferryman'."

"The Ferryman" is the first novel that Xia Lao adapted. The film was shot in the Taihu Lake area, and after nearly half a year of post-production, it is finally ready to be officially released.

As for premieres and such, those don't exist these days. Not only are they nonexistent, but if Chen Fan wants to see his own film in a movie theater, he has to buy a ticket himself.

There's no way around it; the higher you go, the stricter the rules become.

To put it realistically, the neighbors of ticket sellers and ticket inspectors can enter without a ticket, but if a leader wants to go in, unless they are accompanied by a cinema manager, they really can't get in, even if that leader has a work ID. So at this point, Chen Fan was already thinking about which cinema to buy tickets for.

Unfortunately, there was a severe shortage of movie copies these days. The distribution companies in each province scheduled screenings in rotation according to the city. It would probably be summer before the copies reached Yunhu. Otherwise, with Chen Fan's face, he wouldn't need to buy a ticket in Yunhu; he could just walk in.

After sharing this "rumor," Old Xia looked at Old He and said with a smile, "Your feelings now are the same as mine back then. It's just a pity that Chen Fan isn't from Shanghai, otherwise he would definitely have joined our Dramatists Association by now. If we buy the adaptation rights from him in the future, we might be able to get a better price."

Just as Mr. He looked up and chuckled, an elderly comrade at the next table turned around, hummed twice, and said, "Then our Seal Carving and Calligraphy Research Association will definitely beat you to it."

This remark was met with another burst of laughter.

Today's party was very rich in content, including solo singing, chorus, band performances, solo instrumental performances, crosstalk, acrobatics, storytelling, and so on. Several calligraphers and painters also took to the stage to create several works.

If it were according to Ba Lao's previous habits, he would most likely let Chen Fan go up and show off his skills at this time.

However, today's vibrant song "Young Friends Come to Meet" is enough. As the saying goes, we cannot exhaust the resources to catch all the fish, so let's save this opportunity for next time.

Chen Fan thus narrowly escaped death.

Although there were quite a few performances, it wasn't very late when the party ended.

This is because many of the older comrades present are not in good health. For example, Mr. He and Ms. Yu Ling have suffered a lot of hardships and were only able to recuperate two years ago. It is already quite remarkable that they can sit and watch a variety show.

So as soon as the meeting ended, the first thing we did was arrange a car to take them home.

Chen Fan also received a task: to drive several veteran members of the Writers Association, including Ba Jin and Xia Lao who lived not far away, back home.

After finishing my work, I rushed to pick up the person.

……

Chen Fan first went to the Textile University to pick up Jiang Lili, and then planned to take her home before picking up Jiang Tiantian.

Turning the car around, Chen Fan looked at her and asked, "When did it end?"

Jiang Lili cupped her face in her hands and smiled, "You came so soon after we finished, you didn't delay us at all."

Chen Fan chuckled twice. "Then I'll take you home first. I need to hurry and pick up your sister. She should be done by now, so don't keep her waiting too long."

Jiang Lili: "No need to go back, we'll go pick them up together, it'll be faster that way."

Chen Fan nodded. "That works too."

Once the car was on the main road, Jiang Lili looked at him curiously and asked, "Was the arts and culture gala lively?"

Chen Fan: "It's so lively! They're all performing artists. The programs are not only diverse but also of exceptionally high quality..."

He chatted and laughed all the way, telling Jiang Lili about the party that day. The little girl exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, so many celebrities! Even Mr. He Lüting went? I especially love his song 'The Wandering Songstress,' the melody is so beautiful..."

After gossiping about celebrities for a while, Jiang Lili asked, "Xiao Fan, do people like your songs? They must really like them, right?"

Seeing the hopeful light in her eyes, Chen Fan raised his forehead slightly, but his face remained calm. "How can I say that you must really like it? You really like it. Let me tell you, I was originally sitting at the Writers' Association table, but after my performance, Elder He invited me to the main table and praised me a lot."

"I play the piano exceptionally well, better than any pianist in the Central Philharmonic Orchestra. My singing is also superior; I can hit high notes that others can't, and low notes that others can't reach..."

Jiang Lili turned to look at Chen Fan, her small face displaying a rich array of expressions, her eyes filled with uncontrollable infatuation.

My man is amazing!
She was still somewhat reluctant to leave even after the car stopped in front of Fudan University.

Chen Fan looked towards the door. The snow had lost its original color, and the messy footprints indicated that the New Year's Eve party had ended.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and said to Jiang Lili, "Wait in the car, I'll go check."

Jiang Lili was about to nod when she suddenly pointed to the school gate and said, "My sister is coming out."

Chen Fan looked ahead and, sure enough, saw Jiang Tiantian cautiously running towards him.

After a few seconds, he suddenly chuckled and said, "Your sister's Baguazhang skills are better than yours. I saw her slip and fall several times, but she was still able to keep her balance."

Jiang Lili pouted and couldn't help but laugh, "I thought you were watching to see if she would fall, but it turns out you were testing her kung fu."

Chen Fan waved to Jiang Tiantian, who was running closer, and said, "If she's not good at footwork, I should go and pick her up."

Jiang Tiantian quickly ran over, opened the car door, got in, and closed it behind her. Still panting, she pulled a magazine from her pocket and handed it to Chen Fan, excitedly saying, "Xiao Fan, your paper has been published! The history professors all gave it high praise. You're amazing!"

Chen Fan and Jiang Lili looked at each other in bewilderment.

What paper?
He reached out and took the magazine, which was still warm from his body, but didn't look at it. Instead, he turned to Jiang Tiantian and said, "Catch your breath first. I was just praising you to Lili for your kung fu skills, for daring to run on the snow. But after running here, you've forgotten even the basic breathing techniques."

Jiang Tiantian's already flushed face from excitement, she immediately took a few deep breaths and, following Chen Fan's instructions, regulated her breathing and quickly calmed down.

He then grabbed the back of the seat in front of him and said, "Your paper has been published, and it's in the authoritative historical journal 'Historical Research'! You should take a look!"

Chen Fan then turned around, sat down, and opened the magazine in his hand.

This is a professional journal founded by Peking University, and it is also a core journal in the field of history nationwide, namely "Historical Research".

The title of his paper was printed on the cover.

As expected, it was the assignment he submitted to his teacher, a paper that approached history and literature from the perspective of antiques.

However, why was it submitted to Peking University's "Historical Research" instead of being published in Jiangnan University's history journal?

The journals from Jiangnan University aren't that much different.

(End of this chapter)