Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 68: Fooling Jay Chou

The clock goes back to yesterday afternoon, May 2002, 5, at Mei Yanfang's residence.

Assistant Dani and socially anxious artist Jay Chou got out of the car in front of the Heng'an Pavilion mansion and looked around at the mansion, which was currently beyond their financial means, as if they had never seen the world before.

"Dani, can I afford this house now?"

"Selling yourself is almost enough."

"Oh, not funny."

"Oh, you're funny."

The two people, whose conversation was extremely boring, went up to the second-floor terrace under the guidance of the housekeeper. Mei Yanfang and Lu Kuan had been waiting for a while.

"Welcome Jaylen!"

Jay Chou cautiously stepped forward and shook hands with the Hong Kong big sister. Although she could not be considered an idol, she was still a senior worthy of respect.

In fact, he didn't know why the other party invited him to his home.

The only time Anita Mui and Jay Chou performed on the same stage together was at the Jade Solid Hong Kong Awards Ceremony in January 2003.

Mei Yanfang passed away in the same year. In 2004, Jay Chou covered "Woman Flower" in his concert to pay tribute to her.

In such occasions, it is usually Dani who is responsible for socializing, otherwise Jay Chou would be unable to say a word even if he was beaten with ten sticks.

This artist is difficult to lead!
"Hello, Sister Mei. I'm Da Ni, Jaylen's assistant. I know you've been feeling unwell lately. This is the Alishan black tea we brought from Taiwan. It's refreshing and helps relieve fatigue. It's a token of my appreciation."

"Okay, thank you Jie Lun, thank you Dani, please take a seat."

Mei Yanfang had also heard of this rising star in the music scene who had recently become popular across Asia. After a few more pleasantries, they got down to business.

"Jay, the first reason I invited you here is to make friends and meet some of the younger generation in the Chinese music scene who are even better than me."

"The second one is Mr. Lu, a domestic film director, who would like to invite you to sing a movie ending song."

Jay Chou and Dani then turned their attention to the leisurely young man standing beside them. He looked handsome, but they didn't expect him to be a director. He was so young.

They are in the music industry, which has information barriers to them compared to the film industry. Information doesn't spread as quickly these days as it does in later generations, so they don't know much about the wide road.

"The ending theme song is called 'Chasing Dreams with a Childlike Heart'. Here are the lyrics."

Lu Kuan took out the demo and lyrics manuscript and handed them over.

"Let Jaylen listen first."

Jay Chou is a veteran social anxiety sufferer and was eager to hide away to listen to music. He nodded and took his things to Mei Yanfang's home music studio.

First there was a melodious prelude. Xiao Jin had done his best to add some elements of traditional musical instruments according to Lu Kuan's description. It still sounded a little strange when listening to it through the headphones.

Huh? After listening for a few seconds, he felt something was wrong. Looking at the song "Chasing Dreams with a Childlike Heart" in his hand, it was completely not this song?

I turned a few pages and saw a picture of "Blue and White Porcelain".

Just when I was about to ask what was going on, I turned around and saw three people on the terrace laughing and chatting.

Forget it, let’s listen to the song first.

Turn up the volume to the maximum and enter the main song:

The plain embryo outlines the blue and white strokes from dark to light
The peony depicted on the bottle is just like your first makeup
Ran Ran, sandalwood, through the window, I know what's on my mind
I put my writing halfway down on the rice paper...

Jay Chou couldn't help but sit up straight. Half of the main song gave him a vague sense of familiarity, as it was very similar to the tonality of "Dong Feng Po" which he was currently composing.

He couldn't really say what style it was, but the company was very surprised that he suddenly switched from the blues-based "Octave" to this classical style of music.

Looking at the lyrics again, the first three lines describe the scenery of blue and white porcelain, and through the part where the sandalwood incense shines through the window, it seems to be narrating the story of a lady putting on makeup.

Continue listening:
The charm of the glaze rendering of the lady's figure is privately hidden
And your sweet smile is budding
Your beauty fades away

Going to places I can't go...

From the outline of the blank to the color rendering, and from the beauty putting on makeup to her disappearance, the most popular chorus part follows.

When the song ended, Jay Chou replayed it without hesitation, forgetting everything about "Chasing Dreams".

It was another pure enjoyment of music, and Jay Chou then awkwardly interrupted the three people's heated conversation.

"Um... Director, did you get the wrong sample?"

Boss Lu looked shocked: "No way? Let me see."

He rummaged through his briefcase and another sample book with the word "Chasing" on it fell out. He then handed it over with an awkward smile.

"Wrong, wrong, it's this plate."

Jay Chou remained unmoved: "Well, I want to know who wrote this song? If it's convenient, I'd like to buy it."

"Oh... that's another humble piece I wrote. I don't plan to sell it."

The prey has been hooked, and Boss Lu is sitting back and enjoying the benefits.

The young king still refused to give up. He vaguely felt that this song would be very effective in helping him make a breakthrough in Chinese-style themes.

"Director Lu, I'll sing the ending theme song for you for free. Please spare me this song."

Boss Lu pretended to hesitate for a moment: "Well... let's do this, 60, full copyright."

Seeing that Mei Yanfang went to take medicine, Li Fengni became bolder: "You are trying to rob us! No, our Jay Chou can write songs by himself!" Selling songs at the beginning of the new year is not a good business. Wang Feng can't even sell songs for 1 yuan each.

Unfortunately, the socially anxious artist failed to understand her intention to lower the price.

"Dani, buy it."

He thought that if the company didn't agree, he would pay for it himself.

"I...you..." She felt that these two people were of the same mind.

"It's not up to me to decide whether to buy songs. I have to ask Mr. Yang."

This is true. She is just an assistant, and Yang Junrong is his real agent.

Boss Lu said, "How about this, Jay Chou? I'll invite you to act in this movie, and I'll give you the song for free. How about that?"

The price of 60 he offered was already far beyond the actual market price, but he didn't expect Jay Chou to accept it and quickly change his tone.

"Me? I can't. I can't even speak in front of the camera."

Because of music, Jay Chou and Lu Kuan became closer, and he rejected the invitation without any pretense.

"Jay Lun, didn't you perform in 'Star Garden' this year? You should be familiar with acting, right?"

This drama has a unique theme and is 156 episodes long. It was put together by Zhang Xiaoyan, the producer of "Meteor Garden".

156 celebrities were invited to perform in their real names, including Nicholas Tse, who is in a sister-brother relationship, Wang Fei, and Naying, who is madly in love with Gao Feng, as well as Wang Leehong, Jolin Tsai and others.

The TV series interprets an emotional story adapted from real life. Because many celebrities participated in it, it was very popular at the time.

Jay Chou waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, that's just a joke, movies are too formal."

Lu Kuan sighed and decided to raise the stakes. He then took out a sample copy of "Lanting Preface" from his bag like a magician.

"Jaylen, listen to this song again."

Li Fengni stared with wide eyes as she watched Lu Kuan drugging his own artist, but she could do nothing about it.

Just five minutes later, the rising Asian superstar, whose bangs speak more than he does, gave his assistant an unquestionable order.

"Contact Mr. Yang and sign the contract!"

at dusk.

Lu Kuan happily took the memorandum of understanding faxed from Taiwan Province.

Because there are still many details in the performing contract that need to be discussed, it is not something that a female assistant like Li Fengni can decide.

Therefore, the two parties first signed a memorandum of understanding, and a few days later, after Jay Chou arranged his itinerary and flew to Beijing, they signed subsequent documents on the contract details.

"Kuanzi, you're quite clever. I really don't know how smart you are."

Mei Yanfang looked at her younger brother with pride, and even spoke incoherently when she was excited.

Wang Minhui also did not hide her admiration at all: "Sister Mei, I feel that Lu Sheng does not look like he is 19 years old, but more like he is 91 years old."

Mei Yanfang smiled and said, "Little brother, can you please help your sister write a few songs sometime?"

"It's a stalk~"

Boss Lu had been with them for a long time and had learned some Cantonese.

He considered it carefully and decided that if Nicholas Tse, who was the most suitable role from a movie perspective, decided to withdraw, Jay Chou would be the best choice.

There are three reasons:

First of all, Jay Chou has a huge fan base in Asia, and his "Octave Space" will win the sales championship this year.

Second, Jay Chou has a better musical foundation than Nicholas Tse, and jazz drums are not a problem for him after a period of training.

Third, Jay Chou’s personality is very similar to the character in the play. Both come from single-parent families and are timid and taciturn.

Although his acting skills cannot be compared with Nicholas Tse, just like Liu Yifei’s outstanding performance in playing Wang Yuyan and Zhao Linger, Jay Chou is very well suited to this role.

The remaining question was how to convince him, so Lu Kuan specially asked Jin Zhiwen to make these two demos before leaving.

He just wanted to quietly copy the song and then surprise Jay Chou.

"Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding~~"

The Nokia 7650 in Boss Lu's pocket started ringing. This was a new phone he bought to beg for money from the sponsors of "Whiplash", and it was the first Motorola phone with a camera function.

"Director Qiu, what's wrong?"

"Director Lu, the police called and said the mastermind behind the sit-in has been detained. They're now collecting evidence from the crew."

His voice was very excited. Qingying Studio hadn't made a film in two years. He had the quotas given by the higher-ups but no works. As the director, he was doing worse than the cleaning lady.

Lu Kuan secretly clenched his fists. It seemed that his carefully planned move had worked.

Little Yanei, little Yanei, let me see how high you can jump!

It takes magic to defeat magic!

(End of this chapter)