The Friendship Salon Cabaret might not compare to Botong 100, but it was still a medium-to-large-scale cabaret.
Especially this year: at the start of the year, the kneeling service pioneered by Friendship Salon had genuinely taken Guangzhou by storm.
With many people knowing that the Friendship Salon near the railway station offered top-notch service, they flocked there in droves.
As business boomed, the cabaret's owner naturally had to invest more effort into the performances.
Not only did they assemble a backing dance troupe consisting entirely of beauties, but they also hired a respectable band.
There were also seven or eight other resident singers, among whom Zhou Ziheng and Li Chunbo were numbered.
At seven o'clock, Zhou Ziheng arrived at the dressing room backstage.
"Ziheng, you're here! Look at my stage outfit for tonight, is it pretty?"
"Heng Zai, the Little Tigers are holding a concert in Guangzhou next month, and I managed to grab two tickets. Will you come with me, please?"
Because of his striking appearance, Zhou Ziheng not only won the affection of some audience members, but the female backing dancers in the cabaret were equally fond of him.
Zhou Ziheng had roughly calculated that throughout the entire cabaret, there were no fewer than five colleagues who had confessed their feelings to him, either openly or subtly.
Naturally, being favored by female colleagues inevitably drew the exclusion of the male colleagues.
"Oh! Isn't this the great singer Zhou! I heard you've been working on some songwriting lately—how's that going? It won't scare people half to death when you sing it, will it?"
An obnoxious voice came from behind. Without even looking, Zhou Ziheng knew it was Jiang Hua, the resident singer who harbored the most hostility toward him in the cabaret.
Glancing back at him, Zhou Ziheng couldn't be bothered to engage.
People like this were just like rabid dogs: the more attention you paid them, the more they would howl and bark.
"The outfit is very pretty. Tonight, you'll definitely be the most dazzling one in the place."
"Sister Li, I'm not a fan of the Little Tigers, and I'm afraid I won't have time then either. I'm sorry!"
After brushing off the two pretty colleagues who had crowded around him, Zhou Ziheng strode into the cubicle to change his clothes.
"Brothers! My cassette tape has already been recorded, and I'm about to mail it to New Era. Does anyone have any comments or advice to share?"
Finding no sense of validation from Zhou Ziheng, Jiang Hua began loudly announcing to the other colleagues that he had recorded a tape.
It sounded like he was asking everyone for feedback, but the reality was that he was simply showing off.
Inside the cubicle, Zhou Ziheng curled his lip in disdain.
If those songs of his could catch the eye of a record label, Zhou Ziheng would dare to eat a whole cassette tape on the spot.
He simply couldn't understand how the boss could shell out money to record such utter trash for him.
As expected, having a sister in the right place made all the difference.
At Friendship Salon, there was no such thing as a definitive headlining star among the resident singers.
If there truly were any, they would be Zhou Ziheng and Li Chunbo.
One of them grounded himself in the local flavor, while the other was simply handsome.
The two of them were the most popular among all the resident singers, and every audience member who came to the cabaret praised them lavishly.
Yet, no matter how good your performance metrics were, they could never defeat pillow talk.
Jiang Hua's sister was the boss's girlfriend, and a few words whispered in bed were all it took.
Even though Jiang Hua was terribly mediocre, the boss still forked out the money to connect him with a recording studio, planning to have him record a cassette tape to be sent off to record companies.
"What a waste of such a good opportunity!"
Muttering to himself, Zhou Ziheng put on his shoes and stepped out of the cubicle.
Outside, Jiang Hua continued to boast to the other colleagues about how incredible his songs were, making it sound as if the moment his album was submitted to a record company, it would be instantly published and go on to smash sales records.
The other colleagues played along, flattering him one after another.
Unwilling to listen to his brazen bragging, Zhou Ziheng left the cubicle and headed straight for the cabaret floor.
"Brother Liu!"
The waiters in the outer area were busy setting up the tables.
The cabaret's backing band was currently tuning their instruments and checking the sound equipment.
He walked straight toward the band's leader, Liu Jianguo.
"Ah, it's Heng Zai!"
Liu Jianguo was in his thirties, with a protruding belly that made him look more like a big boss.
"Brother Liu, did you look over the score I gave you earlier? I might sing this song later," Zhou Ziheng inquired.
Singing in a cabaret naturally required more than just simple guitar accompaniment.
To better bring out the charm of Wandering Song, he had sought out Liu Jianguo yesterday, handing him the sheet music for Wandering Song in the hope that he would coordinate with him tonight.
"I was just about to talk to you about that!"
Liu Jianguo pulled Zhou Ziheng aside. "Ah Heng, how should I put this? This song is just too..."
"Too rustic!" Zhou Ziheng finished the sentence for him.
"Right!" Liu Jianguo nodded.
"Not only is the musical style of this song way out there, but the lyrics and melody are far too simple! I don't think it can touch the audience at all!"
At this, Zhou Ziheng looked at Liu Jianguo.
As expected, there was a reason Liu Jianguo had spent six or seven years knocking around Guangzhou without ever making it big.
The song was rustic!
Zhou Ziheng agreed with that point.
Yet he actually believed the audience wouldn't like the song.
To that, Zhou Ziheng could only say inwardly:
"Brother, your perspective is a bit too narrow!"
Looking across the entire history of Chinese popular music, you would actually find that the songs with the highest sing-along rates and the greatest popularity were precisely the ones deemed rustic by industry insiders.
Li Chunbo's Xiaofang, Chen Xing's Wandering Song, The Phoenix Legend's Most Dazzling Ethnic Style, Chopstick Brothers' Little Apple.
These were the very songs dismissed by peers as utterly pedestrian, yet they achieved unprecedented heights that no other songs could match.
Not only were their sales explosive, but these tracks were practically hummed by everyone.
What was the reason for this?
Zhou Ziheng had analyzed it himself.
The secret actually lay in the melody.
The simpler and more pleasant a melody was, the easier it was to get stuck in people's heads.
Xiaofang was like that, Most Dazzling Ethnic Style was like that, Little Apple was like that, and even much of Dao Lang's early work was the same.
Wandering Song was similarly a song with a simple melody.
Coupled with the fact that it fit the era, catering to the migrant workers' wandering state of mind and homesickness, it allowed the song to rapidly explode in popularity nationwide.
What Zhou Ziheng needed was precisely this.
He needed to make himself blow up overnight.
Only then could he make more money and pursue so-called high-brow music.
As for high-brow music, Zhou Ziheng had far too much of it in his head.
If he were willing, he could even drop Blue and White Porcelain directly in the 1990s.
However, if these songs were released now, would anyone in this era actually listen to them?
Take love songs, for instance—a genre that remained evergreen throughout the 1990s and the future.
Yet the love songs of the two eras were completely different.
Love songs in the 1990s expressed a pure and simple romance, focusing on emotional clarity and straightforwardness.
In contrast, modern love songs increasingly highlighted the complexity and diversity of contemporary society, focusing on emotional depth and intricacy.
Different songwriting styles represented the differing aesthetics of two eras.
Even in the 2000s, some people struggled to accept Jay Chou's music; just imagine what kind of situation you would have if you dropped it into Mainland China right now!
Therefore, conforming to the times was the choice Zhou Ziheng had made.
He chose to prioritize catering to the masses, and once he gained enough strength, he would slowly guide them to adapt to him.
Because of this, he resolutely chose Wandering Song as his opening number.
Still, Zhou Ziheng knew that Liu Jianguo was approaching him out of good intentions.
He was worried that Zhou Ziheng would ruin tonight's show.
It would be one thing if Zhou Ziheng's performance simply failed to garner any interest.
If he accidentally made the patrons feel it was utterly unlistenable, then Zhou Ziheng would most likely face trouble from the boss.
"Brother Liu, don't worry, I know what I'm doing. You guys just focus on the accompaniment later, everything will be fine," Zhou Ziheng reassured him.
"Anyway, I've warned you. If you insist on going your own way and really wreck the show, I'm not taking the blame for you."
Liu Jianguo said.
"Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, I'll shoulder it myself!"
Once he confirmed that Liu Jianguo's Speak Truth Band was on board, Zhou Ziheng found a corner to adjust his state of mind.
Whether he would seize the opportunity to ride the momentum of Guangzhou's burgeoning music scene, or slink off to Hong Kong and Taiwan to compete for scraps with mega-stars like the Four Heavenly Kings—everything hinged on tonight.
Time ticked away.
Patrons began entering the cabaret, ordering a small drink, and sitting in the booths to await the start of the show.
As the clock struck eight, the opening act of the cabaret was about to begin.
Zhou Ziheng stood up from his booth; once the opening act finished, it would be his turn to perform shortly thereafter.
Because Li Chunbo was taking the night off to entertain visitors from the China Record Planning Department, Zhou Ziheng had to cover his shift and sing an extra song, making his appearance time somewhat earlier than usual.
"Ziheng!"
Just as he was about to head backstage, a shout suddenly came from the entrance.
He looked back and saw Li Chunbo walking in with two middle-aged men, taking a seat at a booth near the stage.
After exchanging a few words with the two middle-aged men, Li Chunbo excitedly waved at Zhou Ziheng, motioning for him to come over.
"Brother Chunbo!"
Zhou Ziheng walked over quickly.
"Ziheng, let me introduce you. These two gentlemen are Mr. Chen Xiaoqi and Mr. Li Guangping from the China Record Planning Department."