Chapter 151 - A Man Should Strengthen Himself

The woman in Chinese dress was in her twenties, but she was wearing a white embroidered buttoned Chinese jacket with Beizi, and a white satin embroidered lily skirt. Two black silk hanging down her waist, and her hair was tied in double bun. (TN: Think of ancient Chinese dress. I think something like these: here.)

This was a very popular retro dress. A well-made women’s Chinese dress is expensive. Moreover, it was not easy to put on a real ancient charm. Appearance and body temperament are indispensable. (TN: Retro – return to ancient.)

But for this woman, it was not a problem at all.

She seemed to be someone who has walked out from an ancient painting of a beautiful woman. Her skin is as white as snow, her eyes are as elegant as stars, her temperament is elegant and cold, which makes people think that they can only see her from afar and dare not have any obscene idea.

When she stepped into the elegant room, the whole room seemed to become more brighter and colorful.

“Oh!”

Seeing the woman in Chinese dress, Gao Yue asked in surprise, “Qin Qing, why are you here?”

The woman in Chinese dress bowed politely and said, “Hello, Professor Gao, Professor Chen, Director Zhang, Uncle Chen.”

She greeted the four guests in one breath, and her eyes finally fell on Lu Chen.

With a little bit of curiosity and scrutiny.

Chen Pu and Zhang Wentian both nodded with a smile. Chen Jianhao exclaimed, “Qin Qing is becoming more and more beautiful, and if you continue to be beautiful, I’m afraid no one will be worthy of you in the future!”

Qin Qing pouted and said with a light smile, “Uncle Chen is making fun of me. There is no such exaggeration.”

Her voice is sweet and beautiful, like a jade bead rolling on a golden plate, which was pleasant to hear, giving people a very comfortable feeling.

And her smile was fleeting, and she immediately regained her original elegance.

Chen Jianhao said to Lu Chen, “Little Lu, this is Qin Qing, who is studying folk music in Beijing Conservatory of Music. You will go to Beijing Conservatory of Music to attend a lecture later. If you encounter anything, you can ask her for help.”

Lu Chen stood up and said, “Hello, I am Lu Chen, Lu of “mainland”, Chen as in “morning”.” (TN: Mainland in Chinese is Dàlù and Morning is Chén.)

Qin Qing nodded: “Hello.”

Her expression was light and she has an indescribable temperament.

After the greeting. Qin Qing said to Gao Yue, “Professor Gao, I heard that you want a big drum here. We only have a knotted Taiko in our tea garden. I don’t know if it meets the requirements.” (TN: Knotted Taiko: here. Human for scale.)

Gao Yue said with a kind smile, “It’s all right. We have a song that needs accompaniment, and a knotted Taiko is fine.”

A knotted Taiko is a kind of Taiko. The Taiko originated in China and was developed after being introduced to Japan, and then spread back to China in modern times. It is mainly divided into big Taiko, knotted Taiko and snare Taiko, which is usually called big drum, tenor drum and small drum.

What the two waiters brought in was a knotted Taiko drum, which had holes around it, red ropes around it, and a wooden stick perpendicular to the drum surface, which is most suitable for men to beat and play.

Qin Qing’s eyes lit up and asked, “Can I listen in here?”

Zhang Wentian said with a smile: “You can, you’re always welcome to join us. You can also give some advice after listening.”

Qin Qing replied very earnestly, “Okay.”

She sat down in the corner of the room, where she had placed a zither.

Zhang Wentian couldn’t wait to say to Lu Chen, “Little Lu, do it again!”

Lu Chen nodded and picked up the drumstick.

He had never played this kind of drum before, but he had seen others play it and knew how to do it.

Fortunately, he was only playing the drum for accompaniment, and didn’t need much skills. He immediately grasped a mallet in each of his hand and played the prelude.

Even if it wasn’t with a Chinese big drum, the sound of the real leather drum couldn’t be compared with the chopsticks just now. Just a short prelude already made the people feel hot-blooded.

Singing again, Lu Chen no longer deliberately lowered his voice.

“Vigorous when facing the beatings of ten thousands heavy waves,

Ardent just like the rays of the red sun!

Having courage like forge iron and bones as hard as refined steel,

Having lofty aspirations,

And excellent foresight.

I worked extremely hard, aspiring to be a strong and courageous hero!

In order to become a hero,

One should strive to become stronger everyday,

An ardent man shines brighter than the sun!

……”

In Lu Chen’s dream world, this classic theme song is inseparable from a series of martial arts movies, which can be called the pinnacle. The lyrics are full of the heroic spirit of men.

It has been adapted from a Chinese folk song called “The General’s Mandate”. Both the melody and the lyrics are very imposing, showing a kind of “The king has descended to the world” majesty. The surging passion can suddenly shock every audience!

The melody in the song is full of spirit, and this “spirit” is not only the momentum of the song, but more importantly, it shows the national courage of the Chinese descendants, the noble spirit between heaven and earth. And the fusion of these “spirits” gave birth to the most exciting and majestic soundtrack in Chinese films at that time.

Recalling the plot of the film in the dream, Lu Chen’s momentum suddenly rose up, and his emotion was fully integrated into it.

He sang more powerfully!

“……

Allowing the sky and sea to amass energy for me,

To split heaven and part the earth to fight for my aspirations,

Watching the stature and grandeur of jade colored waves,

at the same time watching the vastness jade colored sky, let our noble spirit soar,

I am a man and I must strive to strengthen myself!

Walking in firm steps and standing upright let us all aspire to be a pillar of the society, and to be a hero,

Using our hundredfold warmth, to bring forth a thousandfold of brilliance!

Be a hero,

Being ardent and with strong courage,

Shine brighter than the sun!

……”

The original elegant atmosphere in the teahouse was instantly destroyed by Lu Chen’s drums and singing. However, all the people present didn’t feel that he was cooking cranes and burning a string instrument. Instead, they listened attentively. (TN: cooking cranes and burning a string – destroy something valuable. In this case, they didn’t feel he destroyed the elegant atmosphere.)

Zhang Wentian, in particular, was simply beaming with joy. He wanted to pound the table and shout praises several times, but he forcefully refrained himself

Qin Qing’s delicate hands gently pressed the strings, and her eyes were flashing with a strange look.

She came because she was curious. When she first saw Lu Chen, the latter gave her the impression of being handsome and polite.

It’s just that there were really too many excellent boys who have appeared in front of Qin Qing. Lu Chen has nothing special, and naturally there was no special feeling to speak of. He was just an ordinary passers-by.

Until Lu Chen beat the drums and sang!

At the beginning, she saw at a glance that Lu Chen didn’t know how to play the knotted Taiko. He completely played the knotted Taiko like an ordinary leather drum, and his movement seemed clumsy and awkward.

But the song “A Man Should Strengthen Himself” instantly changed her impression!

The rhythm of Lu Chen’s drum beating was extremely powerful, and his singing voice was full of heroic spirit that doesn’t match his age and appearance. It was so sonorous and loud that even a girl like her became somewhat hot-blooded when she listened to it.

He was so focused, as if everything around him didn’t exist, and his whole mind was immersed in the song.

It was this kind of serious and incomparable attitude that inadvertently touched Qin Qing’s heartstrings.

She has little more favorable impression.

“……Being ardent and with strong courage, shine brighter than the sun! “

The drumbeat suddenly stopped and his singing stopped abruptly, but his voice was still lingering.

“Good!”

Zhang Wentian was the first to applaud. He was overjoyed: “That’s it!”

Of all the people present, he was the most chivalrous. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen such a script as his first blockbuster to make a comeback, so he was also the easiest one to be moved by this song “A Man Should Strengthen Himself”. (TN: Blockbuster – big budget movie with big star casts.)

In fact, when Lu Chen began to sing again, the great director had already decided to use this as the theme song.

On this basis, the tone of the soundtrack of the whole film can be determined.

He no longer has anything troubling his mind. He can now stop thinking about it.

Therefore, Zhang Wentian was very grateful to Lu Chen for bringing him a wonderful work.

Gao Yue and Chen Pu also applauded, and the latter said with a smile, “Old Zhang, you finally got what you wanted.”

“Good song, good tune…”

Gao Yue sighed, “We are really old.”

No matter the melody or the lyrics, this song was perfect for Zhang Wentian’s upcoming film. Basically, there was nothing to be picky about, and the most important thing was to put more efforts on the arrangement and accompaniment.

And find someone else to sing it?

Lu Chen was still too young. Even if it was his own work, it didn’t mean that he can sing it the best.

Of course, this didn’t affect Gao Yue’s appreciation of Lu Chen. It was purely from a professional point of view.

Chen Jianhao directly gave a thumbs up to Lu Chen.

He thought he knew Lu Chen well. Now he found out that his previous understanding was too superficial.

Lu Chen is like an endless treasure trove, always bringing people a steady stream of surprises.

The style of this song “A Man Should Strengthen Himself” is completely different from his previous works. It has the atmosphere of a master, and its strength can only be described as unfathomable.

Qin Qing was surprised. Listening to what they said, it seems that this song was an original work of Lu Chen?

That’s amazing!

Lu Chen, holding a drumstick in hand, bowed with a smile and said, “Thank you.”

In the face of praise and honor, Lu Chen was never complacent and proud because he knows the source of his glory.

And it was precisely this modesty that made the two professors and Zhang Wentian specially have a good impression.

Zhang Wentian said, “Lu Chen. I’ll take this song. Which company did you sign up with?”

There are rules in the industry. if he wants to buy a song from Lu Chen, he must first negotiate with the company that Lu Chen signed a contract with.

Because according to the artist contract, the works created by Lu Chen, the signing company has full possession or priority to the copyright.

Unless he is a top artist, there can be no exception.

Lu Chen’s answer came as a surprise to Zhang Wentian: “Director Zhang, I have opened my own studio. If you like this song, I can license it to the investors of the film for free.”

The theme song of a multimillion-dollar blockbuster. The influence is very great, not to mention free authorization, Lu Chen is even willing to pour out money. It would be best to make Zhang Wentian owe a favor.

If one wants to make more money, one must have a long-term vision. it is not wise to be greedy for small profits.

Zhang Wentian was dumbfounded at first. He didn’t expect that Lu Chen actually opened his own studio and didn’t rely on other companies.

However, he reacted quickly and laughed and said, “No, I won’t get it for free. The fee should be given…”

After a pause, he asked, “All the main actors in my film have been decided, but there are still a few supporting actors with few scenes. I wonder if you are interested in giving it a try?”

Lu Chen was immediately overjoyed: “Thank you, Director Zhang. I’m very interested!”

If such an opportunity is missed, he will be struck by thunder and lightning.