"Walking and walking and walking and walking,"
"How many years of youth have gone by?"
"The spring grass is just sprouting,"
"Another spring and summer passes..."
Zhou Ziheng's voice filled the entire cabaret through the wired microphone.
Downstairs, the patrons who were not drunk stared closely at him.
"Sob, sob..."
Suddenly, a man sitting near the door burst into loud, abrupt sobs.
Even in the noisy cabaret filled with various sounds, his crying cut through clearly.
"Sob... I miss my mother! Sob, sob, sob..."
Many people cast glances in his direction, but this time, remarkably, no one laughed.
Because through Zhou Ziheng's simple song *Wandering Song*, many patrons who rarely returned home could not help but think of their hometowns and their mothers.
Like the protagonist in the song, many of them drifted away from home spring after spring, never returning.
At that moment, caught up in the deeply moving song and stimulated by alcohol, their emotions broke for a fleeting second.
The crying middle-aged man seemed to remember where he was, and he quickly stopped weeping.
Once he stopped crying, he made a gesture that affected the entire room.
He beckoned a waiter over, whispered a few words, and handed over some money.
Soon, the waiter ran up to the host's position and whispered a few words in his ear.
The host immediately announced in a loud voice: "Thanks to Mr. Chen Ronghua from Sichuan for presenting our singer with a flower basket worth fifty yuan!"
Following the middle-aged man's lead, it was as if a chain reaction had been triggered.
More and more people began beckoning the waiters, and garland after garland, basket after basket of flowers were delivered to the stage.
Downstairs, Chen Xiaoqi and Li Guangping exchanged glances upon seeing this scene.
Both of them confirmed each other's thoughts in the other's eyes.
That is, he was worth signing.
Whether a song is truly suitable for release can be clearly seen in a venue like a cabaret.
To arouse such enthusiastic love in a cabaret was enough to prove that the song possessed no small market potential.
"Sing another one!"
"On stage, sing another one!"
Today's patrons were exceptionally enthusiastic. As the song ended, before Zhou Ziheng could even leave the stage, many customers loudly demanded another number.
Among them, a woman directly pulled out two crisp, green hundred-yuan bills and shouted, "Sing another one, when you're done these are all yours!"
Compelled by circumstances, Zhou Ziheng could only cast a glance at the cabaret's music director.
The cabaret's performance schedule was planned out and could not be disrupted casually.
If Zhou Ziheng sang one more song, someone else would have to sing one less, and the resident singers' pay depended on the number of appearances they made.
Stealing someone else's performance opportunity meant they would go home empty-handed tonight.
That was a very good way to make enemies.
Therefore, Zhou Ziheng passed the hot potato to the music director.
To Zhou Ziheng's surprise, the music director nodded without a moment's hesitation, signaling for Zhou Ziheng to continue.
Receiving the authorization, Zhou Ziheng paused for a moment, and for the first time, he picked up the microphone and spoke to the audience:
"Since you are all so insistent, I will sing one more!
However, I won't sing *Wandering Song* just now.
Everyone comes to the cabaret to relax, and *Wandering Song* is a bit too heavy.
Next, I will bring you a Cantonese rock song with a more passionate style."
With that, Zhou Ziheng rummaged through his pockets for a sheet of music and handed it to the bewildered Speak Truth Band.
The entire band, including Liu Jianguo, was indeed bewildered at that moment.
Big brother, handing out a score on the spur of the moment like this is a huge gamble!
To perform directly without any rehearsal was something they had truly never experienced before.
Yet Liu Jianguo said nothing more, taking the sheet music and beginning to read through it.
After looking over the score, a weight lifted from his heart; the song was not difficult. As long as they grasped the rhythm, they could pull it off even on the first try.
"Is he going to perform a song on the spot that the band hasn't rehearsed?"
Downstairs, Li Guangping frowned when he heard Zhou Ziheng announce that he was going to sing a new song he had written himself, especially since he was handing out sheet music to the band right in front of everyone.
"What an interesting fellow!" Chen Xiaoqi, by contrast, looked thoroughly intrigued. "Let's see what kind of song he can pull out!"
He was genuinely interested in Zhou Ziheng now.
If he and Li Guangping had come to the cabaret because of Li Chunbo, then by the time Zhou Ziheng had sung halfway through *Wandering Song*, he had already made up his mind to sign him.
Talented, decent-looking, and blessed with an extraordinary voice—to be honest, people like this were rare even in Yangcheng, which was currently crowded with singers.
Even if *Wandering Song* was a bit earthy, he was already prepared to sign *Xiaofang*, so one more song like *Wandering Song* was no big deal.
On stage, the members of the Speak Truth Band passed the sheet music among themselves. Having memorized the notes, Liu Jianguo flashed an OK sign at Zhou Ziheng.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziheng secured the microphone.
"One, two, three..."
With a sudden sweep of his right hand across the guitar strings, a slightly piercing yet rhythmic guitar chord rang out.
As his guitar started, the Speak Truth Band behind him kicked into gear as well.
Thump, thump, thump...
A rhythmic drumbeat emerged.
"Startled awake by cold wind in pitch black,"
"Sighing that this moment is merely a dream."
"Wanting to hold her close at three in the morning,"
"What my heart desires has already turned to wasteland..."
Zhou Ziheng had already plugged the microphone into the stand in front of him and started playing the guitar himself.
"This..."
Downstairs, hearing this melody, Li Guangping could not help rubbing his eyes.
He never expected that the person who had just been sentimentally singing such an earthy song like *Wandering Song* could shift styles so quickly in less than two minutes, rocking out on stage.
Moreover, possessing sound musical literacy, he could immediately recognize the quality of this song.
At the very least, in the current Yangcheng, this caliber of Cantonese rock had never appeared before.
More importantly, unlike the howling, rebellious rock music flooding the current market that constantly picked fights with the heavens and the earth, while Zhou Ziheng's song was rock in style, the lyrics did not contain anything that made people frown.
In fact, he didn't even need to rely on his professional musical judgment.
Just looking at the live audience was enough to tell that Zhou Ziheng's song was genuinely adored.
As the slightly impassioned music and vocals swelled, the audience downstairs seemed to be carried away.
The cabaret, which had been somewhat silenced by *Wandering Song*, came alive in less than a minute as the patrons raised their hands one by one, swaying along to the musical rhythm.
"The aura of a master!"
Chen Xiaoqi couldn't help exclaiming aloud.
As a songwriter admired even by James Wong, Chen Xiaoqi had seen his share of big scenes.
For the sake of his musical work, he had frequently attended concerts of top Hong Kong and Taiwan singers to observe and learn.
At that moment, in Zhou Ziheng, he seemed to catch a glimpse of those top-tier Hong Kong and Taiwan artists.
His rapid shifts in musical style and his stage presence—which quickly whipped the audience into a frenzy—both struck Chen Xiaoqi with wonder.
On stage, Zhou Ziheng continued his performance.
He didn't look like he was merely performing at all; he looked like he was having fun.
While singing, he reached out to shake hands and interact with the audience.
In fact, halfway through *Second Hand*, he even jumped straight off the stage to share a drink with a table of patrons whose shrieks of excitement filled the entire cabaret.
Yet, casual as he was, his vocals were completely flawless.
On several occasions, when the band stumbled due to playing the song for the first time, he even deliberately adjusted his singing to accommodate the accompaniment.
Naturally, while performing, Zhou Ziheng was also keeping an eye on Chen Xiaoqi and Li Guangping.
Why did he choose to sing *Second Hand*?
Aside from the fact that the song truly suited the cabaret atmosphere, there was another reason: he wanted to show Chen Xiaoqi and his companion his strength.
*Wandering Song* was, after all, a bit rustic, and he worried they might be reluctant to sign him based on that song alone.
Thus, he chose to perform *Second Hand* as well.
In addition, he had another purpose in singing this track: to prevent himself from being pigeonholed by Chen Xiaoqi and the others as a mere gig singer.
A singer's style often defined their body of work.
If Chen Xiaoqi's group categorized him as a singer who could only perform tunes like *Wandering Song*, it would become extremely difficult for him to release records of other genres in the future.
Only by letting Chen Xiaoqi and his colleagues see that he had the chops to handle other styles would the China Record Planning Department allow him to sing different genres after debuting with an album centered around *Wandering Song*.
Some might ask: since he was reborn, why not just become his own boss instead of signing with a record company to split profits with them, maintaining the freedom to sing whatever he wanted?
To that, Zhou Ziheng could only say that people were thinking too simplistically.
This wasn't the era of private record companies from later generations.
Back in the 1990s in Mainland China, whether it was film or record distribution, everything was run by state-owned enterprises.
For a private individual to open their own company and handle distribution was practically a pipe dream.
During this period, among all audiovisual products, only a handful held publishing qualifications.
Even international record companies from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad had to hand their audiovisual productions over to Mainland audio publishers or record companies for manufacturing and distribution.
For someone like Zhou Ziheng, who had neither power nor connections, it went without saying: becoming an employee of a Mainland record company was the only viable path.
The past two years were actually considered an improvement; influenced by cultural shocks from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad, the Mainland had gradually begun implementing the signed-artist model, and singers' earnings had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation compared to the past.
The China Record Planning Department was a division established under this very model.
Singers signed to the China Record Planning Department didn't just earn a fixed salary like they did in the 1980s; they also had the opportunity to earn royalties.
It was safe to say that the China Record Planning Department was undoubtedly the best place for a singer's treatment in the Mainland at present.
At the same time, it was also the most singer-friendly environment available.
Therefore, if you wanted to make a name for yourself in the Mainland during this era, your best bet was to sign with one of the major Mainland companies. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to get your cassette tapes published.