Holding the letter of introduction given by Chen Xiaoqi, Zhou Ziheng walked out of the China Record compound feeling somewhat despondent.
When he first arrived, he had assumed China Record would value him, sign him, record his tracks, and release an album.
He never expected such a twist of fate to occur.
Now, joining the China Record Planning Department was practically out of the question.
However...
He glanced down at the letter of introduction in his hand.
Actually, the current outcome wasn't bad at all.
Mainland China's music scene in the 1990s was booming, and the peak of the cassette market had prompted major record labels to reform.
Pacific Audio & Video might not compare to the China Record Planning Department, but the gap wasn't that wide.
Besides, Chen Xiaoqi had presented him with a blueprint he wouldn't have dared to imagine under normal circumstances.
Produce his own record, then hand it over to Pacific Audio & Video for distribution.
For other singers, this was a dead end because, lacking both money and connections, it was utterly impossible for them to guarantee that every single cassette they put out would become a massive hit.
If the cassette failed to turn a profit, they would end up losing their shirts just like any business that poured too much capital into production upfront.
Yet for Zhou Ziheng, this posed no problem whatsoever.
With countless classic songs of the future stored in his mind, all he needed was a channel, an opportunity.
Now, Chen Xiaoqi had thrown the doors wide open, allowing him to record his cassette at the China Record studio free of charge.
As long as this cassette succeeded, Zhou Ziheng would seize the chance to launch his career rapidly.
Li Chunbo's cassette had already caught the eye of the China Record Planning Department, and they were currently discussing whether to release it.
Since Li Chunbo had a lot to take care of at the planning department today, Zhou Ziheng didn't wait for him, opting instead to take the bus back to the Friendship Hotel by himself.
Back at the hotel, Zhou Ziheng didn't go out to perform on the streets again.
Just as Chen Xiaoqi had said, a cassette could certainly not consist of just one song.
If he wanted his cassette record published and distributed, he needed no fewer than ten songs.
Since he wasn't signed to a record company, naturally there was no company to scout songs for him or map out an artistic style for his record.
Therefore, he had to handle all of this himself.
Sitting at the old wooden desk in his room, Zhou Ziheng's thoughts raced as the titles of songs with styles similar to Wandering Song surfaced in his mind.
After a while, inspiration struck, and he wrote down the tracklist and sequence for the entire cassette on a piece of paper.
Wandering Song
Outside the Window
Wandering (originally titled Wandering Brothers)
New Migrant Worker Ballad
Child Far From Home
So-Called Life
Double Ninth Wine
Time to Go Home
Yearning for Hometown
Ninth Ninth Daughter's Red Wine
The song selection for the entire cassette wasn't uniformly themed around wandering.
Instead, it felt like telling a story.
Wandering Song served as the main theme.
Outside the Window marked the beginning of the wandering protagonist's story; he once had someone he loved and had countless times thought of confessing his feelings, but unable to offer her a decent life, he chose to leave home and hustle for a living.
Wandering, New Migrant Worker Ballad, and Child Far From Home portrayed the hardships of the protagonist wandering far from home.
So-Called Life expressed how, no matter how bitter or exhausting things got, the protagonist gritted his teeth and carried on, only allowing himself to harbor secret grief when he was entirely alone.
Double Ninth Wine arrived at the Ninth Month of the year, bringing another wave of homesickness for the protagonist.
Time to Go Home signified the protagonist's decision to return.
Yearning for Hometown represented the protagonist embarking on the journey back, with his homeland vivid in his mind.
Ninth Ninth Daughter's Red Wine brought the story to a close, echoing the girl from Outside the Window earlier; this could also be seen as a beautiful blessing—a blessing for every wanderer far from home that, upon their return, a happy and fulfilling future would be waiting to welcome them.
Looking at the ten song titles leaping off the page, Zhou Ziheng took a deep breath.
Ten songs, every single one of which had triggered a wave of passionate singing in the 1990s.
If these ten songs weren't enough to carve out a name for him in the Mainland China music scene, then needless to say, he could pack his bags immediately and head to Hong Kong and Taiwan or Japan.
After double-checking that his track selection had no major flaws, Zhou Ziheng didn't hesitate and began writing out the melodies and lyrics of these songs from memory.
Transcribing from memory was still transcription, not creation from scratch, so the lyrics and music for the ten songs didn't take up too much of Zhou Ziheng's time.
After about two hours or so, he finally finished writing all the songs.
With the songs finished, Zhou Ziheng pondered for a moment before stepping out quickly.
He went across to the opposite residential building and knocked on one of the doors.
"Who is it?"
After a few knocks, a voice responded from inside.
"Brother Liu, it's me, Ah Heng!" Zhou Ziheng replied.
Hearing his voice, Liu Jianguo inside muttered a few complaints before finally opening the door.
"Ah Heng, what's up? It's the middle of the morning!" Liu Jianguo asked, yawning.
Zhou Ziheng looked up at the sky.
Old Man Sun had already climbed straight overhead, blazing down fiercely onto the earth.
It was already past one o'clock, and he still called this the middle of the morning.
Yet Zhou Ziheng understood him.
Working in the cabaret circuit meant living a nocturnal life, especially for band members; even though the pay was decent, they had to accompany the show from start to finish.
Based on Liu Jianguo's usual routine, he probably hadn't gone to sleep until around four o'clock last night, so right now was prime sleeping time.
To him, this certainly counted as morning—his kind of morning.
"Brother Liu, I heard your band usually takes on some accompaniment recording jobs. Are you still doing that? I've got a few songs here and I'd like to ask you guys to help record the instrumental accompaniment."
Without beating around the bush, Zhou Ziheng stated his purpose directly.
Although Chen Xiaoqi had opened up the China Record studio for Zhou Ziheng to use, the backing band, mixing, mastering, and other work had to be handled by Zhou Ziheng himself.
Naturally, Zhou Ziheng couldn't afford a large orchestra, so he thought of Liu Jianguo's Speak Truth Band.
The Speak Truth Band wasn't the best band in the country, but having been in the business for years, they were experienced.
Moreover, since they were familiar with Zhou Ziheng, having them help record the instrumental backing would not only make it easier to negotiate a discount but also simplify communication.
"Record accompaniment? For those two songs you sang last night?"
Liu Jianguo didn't invite Zhou Ziheng inside, instead leaning against the doorframe as he asked.
"Yes!" Zhou Ziheng didn't mind being left standing outside.
Everyone in the cabaret circuit knew that Liu Jianguo was an old dog who still loved to flirt.
He often hooked up with female dancers or patrons from the club and brought them back for some hanky-panky.
By Zhou Ziheng's estimation, there was a nine-in-ten chance a woman was currently tucked under the covers inside the room.
"Recording accompaniment is fine, but Ah Heng, I need to make something clear beforehand: our band's rates aren't low.
Three hundred yuan per song for the accompaniment—you can accept that, right?"
Liu Jianguo didn't play games and quoted his price directly.
"Brother Liu, look, we're so close, this price..."
Hearing three hundred yuan per song, Zhou Ziheng's heart instantly sank.
That was way too damn expensive.
Ten songs would cost three thousand yuan.
Three thousand yuan was no small sum in the 1990s.
Even though Zhou Ziheng's previous daily earnings were around one hundred yuan, after deducting living expenses and the money he had sent home to pay off debts, he simply couldn't scrape together that much cash right now.
"Ah Heng, friendship is friendship, but business rules are business rules, and we don't bargain.
I know you're in a tight spot, but I refuse to believe you can't come up with it.
You made over seven hundred yuan in just one night yesterday—sing for a few more nights and you'll have the money, right?
For old friendship's sake, while others have to pay upfront, you can pay after the recording is done."
Liu Jianguo showed no intention of compromising on the price and spoke bluntly.
Hearing this, Zhou Ziheng made a quick mental calculation.
He currently had around fifteen hundred yuan to his name.
He was still short by half.
If he could pay after recording, then by running a few more street gigs during this time, combined with his earnings from the cabaret, it truly wouldn't take long to earn that amount.
Convinced he could make the money, and seeing Liu Jianguo's adamant refusal to haggle, Zhou Ziheng could only nod helplessly.
"All right then, I need to record ten songs, starting tomorrow. Brother Liu, get things ready on your end and come with me to China Record tomorrow morning to record."
"Not bad, kid! Recording ten songs—have you hooked up with a record company? Getting published?"
Hearing Zhou Ziheng's words, Liu Jianguo asked with a look of utter surprise.
"Not yet, I just want to record the songs first, kind of like Brother Chunbo did."
Zhou Ziheng didn't mention that he might hand the cassette over to Pacific Audio & Video for publication.
That matter hadn't even taken its first step yet.
Besides, some things were best kept under wraps.
In this day and age, there were plenty of people who couldn't stand to see you doing better than them.
When it was time to keep a low profile, it was better to stay low-key and avoid attracting jealousy.