"Mr. Chen, Mr. Li, this is Zhou Ziheng, the one I told you about."
Li Chunbo first introduced the two middle-aged men to Zhou Ziheng, and then introduced Zhou Ziheng to them.
"Hello!"
The two men smiled and shook hands with Zhou Ziheng.
Wearing glasses, Chen Xiaoqi smiled and said, "Chunbo told us not only that you sing well, but also that your songwriting skills surpass his. We hope you can give us a demonstration shortly. If you can impress us, the newly established China Record Planning Department will open its doors to you!"
"Thank you both for the opportunity. I certainly won't let you down!" Zhou Ziheng cast a grateful look at Li Chunbo.
This brother was definitely a true friend.
Clearly, if not for him, these two might not even have stepped foot inside the dance hall, let alone come specifically to evaluate him.
"I hope you're as talented as Chunbo claims. Let's get the ugly truth out of the way first: if your performance fails to move me, I will not agree to sign you with China Record!"
Compared to the relatively mild-mannered Chen Xiaoqi, Li Guangping's words sounded rather harsh.
Zhou Ziheng was unbothered, saying earnestly, "I have a lot of confidence in myself. You two definitely won't regret this trip."
"Let's hope so!" Li Guangping didn't take this guarantee too seriously.
As someone trusted by China Record Guangzhou Branch to hold a key position in the Planning Department, over the years he had seen far too many singers who bragged about their extraordinary talent, only to turn out to be so utterly trashy that they made him want to vomit.
If Li Chunbo hadn't strongly insisted that he come and listen to Zhou Ziheng sing, he probably wouldn't have even stepped into this dance hall.
He certainly wasn't idle enough to go looking for singers in dance halls.
If he genuinely needed to find a singer, he would go look at the Young Singer Grand Prix, or perhaps head over to Botong 100 — that was where true masters gathered, places where you could pull anyone off the street and they'd be able to headline at any other dance hall.
Zhou Ziheng was no fool.
He understood very well that until he produced the talent to impress these two, he had no qualification whatsoever to converse with them.
Even Chen Xiaoqi — don't let his mild manner fool you.
In truth, that was merely a strategy the two of them used to deal with Li Chunbo.
His gentleness ensured Li Chunbo wouldn't feel his request had been ignored, while Li Guangping's ruthlessness would allow them to decisively reject Zhou Ziheng if he failed to meet their standards.
Unequal communication was not something Zhou Ziheng enjoyed.
He loathed this kind of interaction.
Therefore, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, he used the excuse of his impending stage appearance to leave the booth.
As he walked away, Li Chunbo hurried after him.
"Ziheng, don't put too much pressure on yourself. I believe you can do it. Just be like you usually are and bring your normal level!"
Zhou Ziheng looked earnestly at Li Chunbo, who cared about him so much.
He had a million words of gratitude in his heart, but none of them passed his lips.
Words were useless; no amount of thanks was as effective as a bit of practical action.
In any case, deep down he already regarded Li Chunbo as a true brother.
"Don't worry! I won't mess it up."
...
"Lovers seeking new romance, you have your grief."
"Why still harbor foolish hopes, learn from me and play along."
"Come forget lost love, saying goodbye to that heartache."
Once the show began, Jiang Hua took the stage first.
He was singing "Forget-Me-Not Samba" by Grasshopper, the most popular group in Hong Kong over recent years.
This was Guangzhou, the place closest to Hong Kong.
Popular hits from Hong Kong were equally massive sensations here, and that included this "Forget-Me-Not Samba".
The song had a fierce, passionate rhythm and had practically become a mandatory number in all major dance halls.
Jiang Hua's singing was quite mediocre.
Even so, the song's musical style was dance music after all, which made it very easy to stir up emotions.
Combined with the temptation of alcohol and the bold, sultry provocations of the backup dancers, the patrons' moods were quickly whipped into a frenzy; some howled like ghosts, while others leaped into the dance hall to throw themselves into chaotic, wild dances.
Near the stage, Zhou Ziheng hugged his guitar and quietly watched this psychedelic, chaotic world.
The multicolored lights spun and flashed wildly across the entire dance hall like a raving lunatic, as if trying to fracture the entire world.
A rendition of "Forget-Me-Not Samba" quickly came to an end, and the patrons in the dance hall returned to their booths still wanting more.
"Hoo..."
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Ziheng cradled his guitar and stepped onto the stage.
"I heard you're going to sing a new song. I don't know where you get the guts. You'd better sing it well—if you blow the gig and hurt the dance hall's business, my brother-in-law might not blame you, but I won't let you off!"
As he passed Jiang Hua, the latter lowered his voice to issue a warning.
His words actually caught Zhou Ziheng somewhat by surprise.
He hadn't expected Jiang Hua to care about whether he sang well or not.
On second thought, though, it seemed rather normal.
Boss Wang was genuinely good to him, even if he wasn't really a true brother-in-law. Under the circumstances, it was natural for Jiang Hua to consider the dance hall's business.
Zhou Ziheng said nothing; no amount of rhetoric could ever compare to a stunning performance.
He stepped onto the stage.
There was no speech; Liu Jianguo and his Speak Truth Band immediately began playing the accompaniment for Wandering Song.
Resident singers weren't big stars; once you got on stage, unless the audience specifically requested it, you were nothing more than a street busker, and it was best to keep the chatter to a minimum, otherwise you were likely to get beaten up.
Liu Jianguo started beating the drum in front of him according to the rhythm.
Dong, dong...
After a few beats, Zhou Ziheng's guitar followed right behind.
Rustic as it might be, the intro to Wandering Song still possessed an extraordinary charm.
As soon as the intro began, many people off stage were captivated by this unfamiliar yet pleasant melody.
"Wandering person far away, thinking of you."
"Dear mother."
"Wandering footsteps walk the ends of the earth."
Zhou Ziheng's voice—how should he put it?
In the terminology of later generations, the voice belonging to this body was a rogue timbre.
What was a rogue timbre?
It meant that for the exact same song, when sung alongside others, his voice functioned as a dimensional reduction strike.
If one truly wanted to find a voice similar to his, it would probably be Chen Sheng and Li Jian from later generations.
Clean, ethereal... you couldn't find words to properly describe such a voice.
You only knew that the sound was incomparably melodious, so much so that hearing it felt as though your ears were about to get pregnant.
Coupled with lyrics and music possessing immense emotional contagion, the moment he started singing, the crowd below immediately grew much quieter.
Some patrons who had still been locked in drinking games were captivated by his singing, raising their heads one after another to look at Zhou Ziheng on stage.
"This song, Wandering Song, was written by Ziheng himself. I feel like it completely captures the inner voice of us wanderers away from home. Brother Chen, Brother Li, I don't know how you two see it, but in my view, this song is definitely worth publishing."
Li Chunbo had been keeping his eyes on Zhou Ziheng, and seeing that the moment he opened his mouth he captured the gazes of most people in the room, he immediately looked toward Chen Xiaoqi and Li Guangping.
"What do you think?" Chen Xiaoqi looked at Li Guangping.
"The voice is great, but the musical style is a bit..."
As Li Guangping spoke, his gaze shifted to Li Chunbo.
Regarding Li Chunbo's "Xiaofang", both Li Guangping and Chen Xiaoqi agreed unanimously that the track had immense potential and could make a huge splash in the cassette market.
However, there was one problem: the other staff members inside the current China Record Planning Department simply didn't feel the song was publishable.
Their mindset was identical to that of the majority — they thought the song was too rustic.
And at that moment, Li Guangping's implication was that Zhou Ziheng's Wandering Song, much like "Xiaofang", might be written off by the rest of the Planning Department as unpublishable.
"So do you think we can sign him?" Chen Xiaoqi asked.
Li Guangping furrowed his brows, as if mulling it over.
After a long pause, he raised his head. "Let's see the audience's reaction first."
"Alright!" Chen Xiaoqi nodded.