OBS Chapter 1 Rebirth in 1992
Chapter 1 Rebirth in 1992
1992 was not a spring.
The old man's Southern Tour speech has ended.
The reform and opening up policy has begun to show results.
With the improvement of the national economy, the entertainment industry has also ushered in its spring.
December 29st, Friday.
It's quite hot in Kyoto.
An office at the China Conservatory of Music, its door ajar.
Professor Jin Tielin, the head of the vocal music department, sat upright in a sofa chair.
"Xiao Ye, come in."
Zhang Ye, who had just reached the door, heard the teacher call her and quickly went inside.
She had just finished practicing her voice when a junior sister called her over.
She said the teacher had something to say to her.
Zhang pushed open the door and saw his teacher, who was known for his composure, with a furrowed brow.
Even her usually meticulously combed hair looked somewhat messy.
A student file was spread out on the desk.
Zhang also caught a glimpse of that familiar name: Lin Hanjiang.
"Teacher, you wanted to see me?"
Zhang asked softly, but he already had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
In the past few days, news about the incident at the home of my junior classmate Lin Hanjiang has been circulating within a small circle in the department.
What's even more worrying is that Han Jiang himself seems to have gotten himself into a dead end.
Jin Tielin pointed to the chair opposite him and asked Zhang Ye to sit down, then sighed heavily.
"You know about what happened to Hanjiang's family, right?"
Zhang nodded without saying anything.
In those days when the average monthly salary was only a couple hundred yuan, a debt of 200,000 yuan was nothing short of a mountain that could crush any family.
"He came to see me yesterday morning and said... he said he wouldn't sing folk songs anymore and wanted to switch to pop. He said that pop music is the only way to make money and pay off the family's debts quickly."
When Jin Tielin spoke, there was a clear sense of unspeakable sorrow.
How can such a promising talent sing popular songs?
"This kid, his dad went into business and incurred 200,000 yuan in debt, a mountain of debt, that's his dad's problem. But why does he have to go down this wrong path? If he goes into popular music, won't his voice and all the skills he's worked so hard to develop over the past four years be completely wasted?"
Jin Tielin became more and more excited as he spoke, and pointed his finger forcefully at Lin Hanjiang's file.
"Your teacher's wife and I have both tried to persuade him, but it's no use. This kid is determined to pursue popular singing. How often does he listen to you? When he's practicing, he corrects the mistakes you point out faster than anyone else. Go and talk to him; this is urgent, and we can't let him go astray!"
Zhang Ye's heart also tightened.
She knows Lin Hanjiang too well.
Her junior brother, who was two years younger than her, was extremely talented and had a wide and clear vocal range.
They possess an almost instinctive sensitivity to the nuances of folk songs.
Teacher Jin has said privately more than once that Hanjiang is the most promising student among the students in recent years to win the gold medal in the CCTV Young Singers Competition and even appear on the Spring Festival Gala stage.
The teachers in the department had high hopes for him, and the path they had planned for him was very clear.
Before graduation, she aimed to win the CCTV Young Singers Competition, using it as a springboard to perform on the Spring Festival Gala. Like Zhang Ye, she will steadily continue on the path of folk vocal music.
But now, this sudden mountain of debt is about to crush this promising seedling.
"Teacher, where is Hanjiang now?" Zhang also asked.
"I'm going home. They said the house was emptied out, so I went back to check."
Jin Tielin shook his head and rubbed his temples wearily.
"And tonight is the semi-final of the Young Singers Competition. If he loses his composure or gets preoccupied with other things, it's questionable whether he can even perform normally, let alone make it to the final."
"Furthermore, does popular singing guarantee success? Mao Amin, Liu Huan, Yang Yuying, and Mao Ning became famous, but only one in many achieves that. Han Jiang has already reached the professional level in folk singing, yet he chooses to forgo the easy path and insist on squeezing onto that narrow bridge of thousands of competitors... Isn't he just playing with his future?"
Zhang remained silent.
The teacher's words were all reasonable.
But she also knew that from Han Jiang's perspective, he was burdened by a debt of 200,000 yuan.
All talk about artistic future and professional career paths is nonsense.
For a young person who has just graduated and has no savings, the path of folk singing may be elegant and orthodox, but it takes a long time to become famous and the monetization is slow.
Popular songs, once they become hits, generate money much faster through record royalties, commercial performances, and gigs.
"I'll go talk to him," Zhang said solemnly as he stood up.
"Try to persuade him; he's as stubborn as a mule."
……
at this time.
In a somewhat old residential area in the north of Kyoto.
Lin Hanjiang stood at his doorstep; the lock had been smashed.
The door and the wall outside the door were spray-painted with the words "Pay back your debts" written on them.
He pushed open the door and was greeted by a bare-walled space.
The living room, where the sofa, TV cabinet, and coffee table used to be, is now completely empty.
The bedroom door was open, and the bed was missing.
The bookcase, wardrobe, and chest of drawers are all gone.
This is the true scene left behind after his father's business failed miserably.
We were still a step too late.
He had just been reborn and was eager to go home to see his family.
I wanted to ask for leave, but I was lectured for half a day by Teacher Jin and Teacher Ma, who were both teachers.
After all, tonight is the semi-final of the Young Singers Competition. Instead of practicing my voice properly at school and focusing on the competition, I have to go out.
It's also his fault; he was in a hurry to sing popular music and make money from pop music.
Otherwise, the teacher wouldn't have gotten so angry.
The house will be sealed off by the court in a couple of days.
His father is currently trying to avoid debt collectors and also to make money.
He went to Hainan to get involved in real estate, hoping to make money and turn his life around.
His mother and sister went to his maternal grandmother's house to avoid trouble.
A once happy family has fallen apart.
My family started out with small businesses and has accumulated some wealth over the years; we are quite well-off.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have a house of about 100 square meters in Kyoto.
My dad is thinking about expanding the business and making more money.
He borrowed money from relatives and friends and expanded recklessly, resulting in a mountain of debt.
Who says that rich kids who start businesses are likely to ruin their families?
This generation of entrepreneurs can also become a generation of failures.
Lin Hanjiang recalled his past self before his rebirth. His father lost more and more money the more he started businesses, like a bottomless pit.
Finally, he committed suicide by jumping off an unfinished building in Hainan, thus ending his debts.
The mother also died of depression as a result.
He also suffered from debt problems, which affected his performance in the CCTV Young Singers Competition, causing him to lose the path to success that his teacher had given him.
He started traveling around to make money.
At first, I even did a residency at a bar, and then went south to Guangzhou to participate in a talent show and win some prize money.
When folk singing styles were adapted for popular audiences, it was absolutely devastating.
Later generations of netizens referred to them as national team players, the most famous of whom was undoubtedly his junior teammate Tan Jing.
Lin Hanjiang gradually accumulated some capital and started his own business, becoming a boss in his own right.
Now, he has returned to 1992, on the eve of his college graduation, when the debt crisis had just broken out and everything was still salvageable.
Having witnessed too much of the coldness and warmth of human relationships, he knows what is most important.
That means making money. Only with money can you pursue what you want.
It can also allow one to return to their original family.
Lin Hanjiang's gaze fell on the empty room, and he sighed.
"We must make money as soon as possible."
How do you make money?
Not to mention that winning the CCTV Young Singers Competition and appearing on the Spring Festival Gala is a very long process, and it's not a quick fix for immediate needs.
Even if he could win the championship immediately, in 1992, a rising star of folk singing.
Its commercial value and performance fees are far less than those of a popular pop singer.
Look at the market now.
Na Ying is rising to prominence with songs like "The Mountain Doesn't Turn, the Water Turns".
In Guangzhou to the south, Yang Yuying and Mao Ning, this "golden couple," are extremely popular.
Their record sales and performance invitations were unmatched by other ethnic singers of the same period.
Not to mention the popularity of Hong Kong and Taiwan singers, which swept through record stores and radio stations across the country.
The next few decades will undoubtedly be the golden age of popular singing, or popular music.
This is the tide of the times, and he must ride it.
However, I still want to win the CCTV Young Singers Competition.