In a private room of a restaurant, Cao Xuan met the buyer Liu Huan introduced to him.
He was not tall, had a round face, and wore glasses. Cao Xuan was no stranger to him. He was Zhang Yibai, a well-known love director in later generations.
At this time, Zhang Yibai had just finished filming his debut film "Love to the End" and was highly recommended by Liu Huan, so he came to Cao Xuan to buy the theme song.
Speaking of director Zhang, the most famous incident is that he was caught taking drugs. In addition, this is why he was ranked among many famous directors to participate in the tribute film "My Motherland and Me".
In fact, Zhang Yibai's resume is not bad. He came from a major in Chinese opera. In his early years, he made music videos and collaborated with various celebrities in the music industry.
This is also the reason why Liu Huan knows him.
Later, he completed his initial accumulation by shooting music videos, and shot his debut film "Love to the End", which made Xu Talented a star, quickly entered the Beijing circle, and became one of the representatives of the sixth generation of directors.
However, Zhang Yibai's position as a director is very awkward.
Let's say he is not a famous director. He does have works. But if you say he is a famous director, most of the works he directed have not received very outstanding reviews, or even some bad ones.
If I must give an objective evaluation, a mediocre director with personal characteristics would be more suitable.
Later, even Zhang Yibai thought about it. He stopped working as a director and became a producer instead.
"My Homeland and Me" and "My Hometown and Me" are two tribute films. His real identity is the producer and chief planner, and the director just makes up the numbers.
Fortunately, director Chen Da sacrificed himself to save others, and took his American son with him. The father and son went together to film "Day Meteor" and shared most of the firepower. Otherwise, it would be Zhang Yibai who should be criticized...
But leaving aside future generations, Zhang Yibai's current film "Love to the End" is still very good.
Not only was it the first youth love-themed TV series in mainland China, it also made Xu Jinglei, Li Yapeng, Wang Xuebing, and the still-unfamous Liao Fan famous.
Xu Jinglei was rated as one of the four great actresses, and Li Yapeng became a bearded male god, starring in many Jin Yong dramas produced by him.
This movie "Carry Love to the End" deserves a lot of credit.
So much so that in 2011, Zhang Yibai invited the original cast and produced a movie of the same name, which was a box office hit, but the theme song became a hit.
It is the classic song that Wang Fei and Chen Yixun sang in the Spring Festival Gala - "Because of Love".
If possible, Cao Xuan would like to throw this king bomb directly to Zhang Yibai.
However, although the TV series "Love to the End" and the movie have the same title, the former is about youth love in college, while the latter is about the life of the male and female protagonists after they have been married for several years.
"I'll give you a CD from the past. Listen to our love at that time. Sometimes you suddenly forget that I'm still in love with you."
The lyrics of "Because of Love" don't match the plot of the TV series at all. No matter how good the quality is, they are useless.
In addition to the movie version of "Because of Love", the TV series version actually also has a golden song, the ending song "Waiting for You to Love Me" sung by Chen Ming.
It is said that this song was originally just an interlude, but was later cut into the ending song because it was so popular.
This statement needs to be verified, but "Waiting for You to Love Me" did later become the theme song of "Carry Love to the End".
Chen Yixin also sang this song in the movie version, but in the end it was not as good as the classic "Because of Love".
From the quality of these two songs, it can also be seen that Zhang Yibai has a good appreciation of songs, and he is worthy of being a director who has a background in making music videos.
With the golden song "Waiting for You to Love Me", Cao Xuan had to come up with something real if he wanted to sell it at a higher price.
He used the excuse to ask Zhang Yibai about the synopsis of the story of "Carry Love to the End" and searched frantically in his mind for a song that would fit the plot as well as be nice.
It didn't take long for him to think of a song that met the requirements, asked the waiter for pen and paper, and started writing the simplified score.
………
Looking at Cao Xuan who was immersed in "creation", Zhang Yibai watched with cold eyes and slowly sipped tea.
In fact, he had no intention of approaching Cao Xuan to invite him to sing. He had been in the music industry for so many years and knew many people who could write songs.
The main reason why I came here today was to give Liu Huan face and go through the motions. Then he would say he was dissatisfied and Liu Huan couldn't force him to buy the song, so the matter would be dealt with.
If Zhang Yibai can be so open in the Beijing circle in the future, what Zhang Yibai is best at is doing things smoothly and properly, and trying not to offend others as much as possible.
After Cao Xuan finished writing the lyrics of the simplified music score, he handed it to Zhang Yibai: "Director Zhang, let's see how it goes."
Zhang Yibai knew music. He took the paper and browsed it briefly. He put away his careless expression, sat up straight, read it carefully, and looked at Cao Xuan.
"Can you sing it again?"
"no problem."
Cao Xuan cleared his throat, recalled the melody and lyrics in his mind, and sang softly.
"If you are the fireworks on the sea
I am the foam of the waves
At a certain moment, your light illuminates me
If we say you are a distant galaxy
So dazzling that it makes you want to cry
I'm chasing your eyes
Always look at the night sky when I am lonely
………
I can follow you
Like a shadow dreamwalking after the light
I can wait at this intersection
Whether you will pass by or not
………”
After singing the song, Cao Xuan was just about to ask Zhang Yibai for his opinion when he saw that Zhang Yibai's eyes were already red.
"Some love is like heavy rain but still believing in the rainbow. This word is so well written. Love is so humbling, but it has a firm sense of belief."
Cao Xuan was immediately stunned.
He has lived so long that he has never encountered a grown man almost crying while listening to music in front of him, so he is somewhat at a loss.
I'm not sure if Zhang Yibai was inspired by the scene or if he was substituting the inner emotion of the song.
Do all these young literary and artistic people who advocate love have such a surging heart?
But speaking of it, it’s no wonder that Zhang Yibai lost his composure. The song Cao Xuan sang just now still has some origins.
"Light Chaser" is an episode of the TV series "The Summer Solstice Has Not Come" starring the famous measurement unit "Shuang".
The fate of this song is very similar to that of "Because of Love". As the main film and television work, it failed to hit the market, but as an auxiliary and embellished interlude/theme song, it became popular.
"Light Chaser" became one of the hottest songs in 2017, and was even listed at the top of the list of "bad movie songs" for many years.
The melody of this song is clean and soothing, and the lyrics touch the heart directly. Cao Xuan deliberately imitated the original singer, and his voice is warm and healing, which can bring the audience into the song.
Cao Xuan chose this song not only because it sounds good, but also because it fits the plot of "Carry Love to the End".
In this TV series, the male and female protagonists secretly fall in love with each other, break up and get back together, and also have low periods, which is relatively consistent with the meaning of the lyrics of "Light Chaser".
At the same time, there is a plot that runs through the whole drama, that is, the protagonists run in a relay race when encountering trouble, which symbolizes rebirth, farewell, inspiration and other turning points in the plot. It also fits the word "chasing light" in "Light Chaser".
If I rely on my feelings, you are my light, I will chase you from behind, and I will never leave you, but I can’t love you.
Rely on life, light is your dream and goal, chasing the light is inspirational struggle, and you can become your own light.
The Chinese language is broad and profound, and one word has multiple meanings. As long as the Chinese reading comprehension is good, the eyes of the dead fish can reveal hope and unyielding, and the same lyrics can naturally be interpreted with different meanings...
………
After Zhang Yibai's feelings subsided for a while, Cao Xuan quickly revealed his "creative concept".
He also emphasized that the inspiration for "Light Chaser" came from the story outline proposed by Zhang Yibai just now.
After all, copying songs written before and "tailor-making" them as a sudden inspiration are two completely different concepts. Not only does it sound good when you say it, but the key price can also sell better.
As for whether Zhang Yibai believes it or not, it doesn't matter. What matters is whether he wants this song or not.
If you want it, whatever Cao Xuan says is what it is.
If he didn't want it, he wouldn't care if Cao Xuan made up smallpox.
Zhang Yibai, who had already been impressed by "Light Chaser", obviously chose the former.
However, although Lao Zhang is full of emotions, his rationality is still there, and he is not ambiguous when it comes to bargaining.
The lion on Cao Xuan's side opened his mouth and asked for 30,000 yuan, so he chopped off the ankle and lowered the price to 2,000 yuan.
After that, the two of them negotiated, constantly making concessions and compromises, until they were so noisy that they finally decided on the price.
Zhang Yibai won the copyright for "Light Chaser" for 12,000 yuan, and also offered 3,000 yuan to invite Cao Xuan to sing and record it.
In other words, Cao Xuan earned 15,000 yuan from the song "Light Chaser" and got an opportunity to sing the theme song in a TV series that is expected to become a hit.
Zhang Yibai not only got a high-quality theme song, but also gained Liu Huan's favor.
Both parties get what they need and everyone is happy...
