Chapter Sixteen: Zhou Xiao's Desperate Situation

  "I said I couldn't understand it, but that's because I don't understand the value of publishing. However, whether something is good or not, I can still tell." said Uncle Inoue.

  "How...how is it?" Zhou Xiao asked somewhat nervously, despite being confident in her work.

  "...I don't see anything special here, although it's written quite well. But whether this kind of thing can actually be published is something I just can't guarantee, after all you're an author with almost no experience." said Inoue.

  "Then I'll sing a song for you, listen to me singing." said Zhou Xiao.

  "Good!" Inoue nodded.

  Zhou Xiao took out his guitar and started singing to Inoue, because he was singing for Uncle Inoue, Zhou Xiao didn't need to use those AKB songs to make up the numbers. He chose all the good songs that he had modified in the past few days, which would be top-notch in Japan.

  "Rain After Sunshine", a famous song by Yuzi thirteen years later, with a very beautiful melody.

  "Powder Snow", accompanied by a liter of tears, has high requirements for the singer's singing skills. Zhou Xiao warmed up for a few minutes before barely managing to sing it.

  These two songs were already more than enough, especially when singing "Fen Xue", Zhou Xiao saw the expression on Jing Shang's face was first extremely shocked, and then appeared on his face was incredible and ecstatic. "Fen Xue" is a very good song, even if Jing Shang didn't understand the level of the song, he could easily feel its value.

  After singing these two songs, Zhou Xiao looked at Jing Shang's appearance and smiled, he was not prepared to let go of Jing Shang, and once again plucked the strings, Zhou Xiao used his finishing move!

  Gently plucking the strings, the prelude of this third song lasted for a full 23 seconds. In the small, shabby house, two men held their breath, with only the guitar melody flowing between them.

  Finally, Zhou Xiao opened his mouth and sang:

  "In that vast ocean, on that side"

  Someone is getting hurt now...

  Like fledglings still unable to fly

  I lamented my own incompetence...

  The original author of this song is Japan's national treasure, and the quality of both the melody and lyrics has already reached a state of perfection.

  Because he has the mindset and experience of his past life, Zhou Xiao, although seemingly only eighteen years old, actually has experiences and personality that are close to thirty years old. However, even so, he still can't fully express the emotions in this song, let alone one hundred percent, even fifty percent is questionable for Zhou Xiao. But even if it's just fifty percent, it's already enough.

  The role of songs is different, and each song has its own role. This means that AKB48's songs are light, simple, and easy to sing along to when selling them. Yuzu's "Rainy Day" melody is beautiful and pleasant, but the actual quality is not good enough to be passed down through generations. "Powder Snow" is of high quality and can sell well, but it's too difficult to sing. Even Jinbo Kohta, a member of the idol group Kanjani Eight, who appeared in the movie "A Liter of Tears", sang this song as if he was at a car accident scene. It can be said that before singing "Powder Snow", you need to warm up your voice for over 10 minutes and get into the mood, otherwise, it's impossible to sing well unless you're a professional singer who has reached the pinnacle of their craft. For semi-professional singers like Jinbo Kohta or idol singers, picking up a guitar and singing this song is not possible.

  The third song that Zhou Xiao sang to Uncle Inoue does not have such high requirements for the singer's level, and it will not be impossible to sing without straining one's vocal cords. Singing this song well is not possible, but wanting to bring out all the flavors of this song is something that Zhou Xiao cannot do now.

  "Good... it seems to be hers..." Although Uncle Inoue is not a music industry person, but even so, when Zhou Xiao sang this song, he still caught the real singer's name very keenly.

  That's right, Zhou Xiao sang this song called "Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon", and the author is Japan's famous national treasure-level female singer Nakajima Miyuki!

  Nakajima Miyuki is a person who doesn't need to be explained, Baidu Encyclopedia has written out her achievements very completely. She is also extremely important to the Chinese music scene. From the 80s to the 21st century, countless Chinese singers have covered her songs. There's a saying that Nakajima Miyuki single-handedly supported half of the Chinese music scene. Although this statement is greatly exaggerated, it still shows the role of this superstar in the Chinese music scene.

  Zhou Xiaochuan's version of "Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon" is one of her works after 2000, and in the Chinese music scene, it was also covered by Fan Weiqi as "The Original Dream". It can be said that when writing this song, Nakajima Miyuki's understanding of music had already reached its peak. Perhaps this song won't rush to millions of singles like AKB's songs, but in terms of quality, it is absolutely top-notch. No matter who sings it, as a listener, you will definitely be shocked and surprised, because this song is simply too excellent.

  "Is this also something you've done?" Inoue asked.

  "What do you think?" Zhou Xiao did not directly answer this question.

  "...At first, why did you choose to become a comedian? Not singing but becoming a comedian? It's simply...". Inoue shook his head in dissatisfaction. As mentioned earlier, the first dream of many comedians is not this profession. The lack of talent, the yearning for the entertainment industry and the actual ability in comedy are often the reasons that drive them to become comedians. But if things were turned around, it would be almost impossible. A guy with great singing talent wouldn't sing but instead insist on becoming a comedian who is often booed off stage? Maybe this has never happened in Japan's entertainment industry in the past 100 years!

  "Hmm... I wasn't lacking in confidence about my musical talent from the start..." Zhou Xiao, of course, couldn't say that he had just crossed over, so he could only say this.

  "I... well, most of the people I know in the entertainment industry are comedians, so there's not much I can do to help you with releasing a single. But don't give up," Inoue said after a moment of thought: "In this regard, once you have 100,000 words of draft, I'll try to ask around for you. Although I think the content and writing style are both very good, and it's definitely possible to publish a book in the future, don't have too high hopes for now."

  "I know, Uncle Inoue," Zhou Xiao nodded and said.

  "Oh, and by the way, there's something else I need to tell you today besides the fact that tomorrow's performance has also been cancelled." Ikegami said suddenly.

  "What's wrong?" Zhou Xiao asked.

  "I'm not working at the theater anymore, but since I have some old acquaintances at the TV station, I'm thinking of going to work at the TV station for a while next. If the TV station is still hiring, would you go? Even if they are hiring, it's probably just temporary work." Ikeda asked.

  "Go! Why not go!? There's money to be made and a boxed lunch to eat!" Zhou Xiao immediately agreed without hesitation. Originally, in Zhou Xiao's expected income, apart from singing, there were also performances at the small theater, and the pay for those was relatively more stable. But now that he couldn't go to the small theater, Zhou Xiao had essentially become completely unemployed. At this time, having a place to work was undoubtedly a very good thing for him, not to mention it was a TV station, where he could get in touch with TV production firsthand and even get a free meal every day at noon. He didn't have the right to be picky about his job now.

  "Alright, I'll give you a call once things are settled on my end. You don't have to stop singing and all that for the next few days," said Inoue.

  "Ah, great! Finally got a job!" said Zhou Xiao.

  "But you've changed a lot in these few days." Inoue said looking at the excited Zhou Xiao.

  "Why say that?"

  "The last time I saw you before the show, you were still a little guy who only wanted to be a comedian and looked down on any other profession."

  "Uh... Uncle Jie, you don't know, the night before the performance, I had gone two or three days without eating, and the previous night, I was completely starving to the point of fainting, not sleeping. It was that one time of fainting that made me realize many things." Zhou Xiao said.

  "This can be considered a blessing in disguise! You look much more reliable now!" Uncle Inoue patted Zhou Xiao on the back.