One song made me a legend, and the whole internet is begging me to focus on singing.

Chapter 29 Let's use a counter-strategy!

Hearing the familiar voice, Chen Fan slowly turned around and saw that Mr. Cheng was also there!

Not only Mr. Cheng, but the private room was filled with a whole table of people!

Holy crap! Did I accidentally stumble into a dinner party for big shots?

"Professor Cheng! Greetings, fellow teachers!" Upon seeing this, Chen Fan quickly pulled down his mask, grabbed Andy, and bowed to everyone.

The people present were actually the heads of CCTV's variety channel.

Because the latest episode of "Master Class" went viral in an unexpected way, people invited Mr. Cheng and several other experts to discuss how other programs could achieve the same effect.

So even the station director is here tonight.

But Chen Fan and Andy, those two silly fools, knew nothing about it.

Chen Fan keenly sensed the different temperament of the people at this table, so after bowing, he prepared to slip away with Andy.

As a result, a lady sitting near the head of the table next to Mr. Cheng recognized him.

"You're the young man who helped record the latest episode of 'Master Class,' right?"

The words were said to refer to Chen Fan, but the question was actually directed at Old Cheng.

The old man nodded repeatedly, "That's him! This young man has quite a lot of ideas. He suggested that I use currently popular songs to engage young people."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan awkwardly dug his toes into the ground and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no!"

"You're quite modest. Don't stand on ceremony, let's get a seat and chat!"

As soon as the lady spoke, the middle-aged man near the door immediately got up, opened the door to the private room, whispered a few words to the waiter, and Chen Fan and Andy were then seated near the door.

The woman then whispered to the leader on the right, "The things young people like should be discussed with them."

The leader nodded but did not speak.

Taking the opportunity, Chen Fan whispered in Andy's ear, "Focus on your meal and don't talk unless called!"

Andy didn't understand, but he was obedient and nodded vigorously.

After the two sat down, the discussion at the dinner table continued.

After speaking for a while, the female leader suddenly asked, "Mr. Cheng, music theory is interconnected. What did you think of the singer of 'Little River Flowing' today?"

After putting down his water glass and considering it carefully, Old Cheng said, "The technique is more than enough, and the emotion is sufficient, but how should I put it? It's just... lacking a certain feeling! I don't understand this as well as Old Huang does!"

An old man at the table waved his hands repeatedly, "Don't ask me! I'm too old! I don't understand what young people like these days. You can ask me about folk songs, but forget about anything else! I can't give you any guidance!"

After finishing his sentence, the old man shifted the blame, pointing at Chen Fan and Andy, who were engrossed in their food, and said, "Why don't you ask the young people about their problems?"

The female leader then smiled and looked at Chen Fan and Andy.

Seeing this, Andy immediately said, "Sister, my Mandarin isn't very good, why don't you ask my singer friend?"

Andy betrayed Chen Fan without even blinking.

Chen Fan quickly swallowed his food and said, "I didn't hear the live performance of this song, but for Mr. Cheng to say it didn't feel right, it's most likely that the singer's understanding or interpretation was wrong."

"That feeling is like, every note is perfect, but every sentence doesn't sound like what you really think."

Chen Fan's analogy made everyone present's eyes light up.

It really is!

Andy nodded repeatedly as he listened: "So, if you were asked to interpret an old song, what would you do?"

Chen Fan pondered for a moment and said, "Adaptation is nothing more than giving old tunes new meaning, or interpreting them from different angles, and conveying different messages through rhythm."

"Actually, one good thing about blues and rock music abroad is the rhythm."

"The same song, with different rhythms, can express different emotions."

"For 'Little River Flowing,' you could try adding a folk song dialogue to the intro, without accompaniment, to try and recreate the feeling of two people singing in the mountains. When it gets into the verse, suddenly switch to a whisper, like the timid feeling of wanting to shout but not daring to."

This change not only impressed Andy, but even Huang Lao was greatly encouraged.

"Tell me again?" Old Master Cheng urged after hearing this.

Chen Fan laughed and replied, "Sometimes I actually wonder, why are our songs all copying foreign things these days? Are their things really that good?"

"Take drum sets from abroad for example. Our ancestors had a complete set of chime bells, which are thousands of years old!"

"Besides that, we have all kinds of drums, including the tanggu, waist drum, banggu, flowerpot drum, war drum, long drum, and bronze drum. Can't we make rhythmic music in the style of traditional Chinese music?"

"No! It's just that nobody thought of using them!"

At this moment, Old Huang spoke up, "I agree with what you said. It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that even if I did, it wouldn't have the same spirit as others, and I'd be accused of trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog!"

"Why try to 'be like them'? It's about not trying to be like them!" Chen Fan said earnestly.

"Then tell me, how can I make it look like me?"

Upon hearing Huang Lao's words, Chen Fan realized he had spoken the truth and quickly explained, "I... I was just kidding, please don't take it seriously!"

To everyone's surprise, Old Huang didn't care at all, waving his hand and saying, "There are no outsiders here. You're Old Cheng's apprentice, what's wrong with you saying something? Speak up!"

Seeing that Elder Cheng nodded slightly to him, Chen Fan said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "The soul of folk music is not the instrument, but the people who use the instrument, who have lived on this land for generations."

"Take you guys for example! You've studied this instrument for decades, do you not know that the vibrato on the erhu, when fast, is joyful, when slow, it's mournful, and when broken, it's like wanting to say something but holding back?"

"The same principle applies: if you want to make music with a Chinese style, you have to have a Chinese soul."

"But many current adaptations directly use 'simulator' to replace the expression of human touch, and this expression itself is vague."

"Analogous singing can't capture the soul of an instrument. Without a soul in the melody, there can be no breath in the singing, resulting in a hodgepodge!"

The last few words struck everyone present as if they had been struck by lightning.

Without a soul and without energy, it becomes a creature that resembles nothing else!

It really is!

After everyone was shocked, Old Cheng's eyes were full of admiration, and he couldn't hide his pride.

Raising his glass to toast the female leader, Mr. Cheng sincerely suggested, "Shouldn't our production team consider this young man?"

Before the female leader could speak, the station director blurted out, "Why don't you consider whether this young man would be interested in filling in for us at the 'Young Singer Competition'?"

Chen Fan was stunned by the sudden windfall and had no idea how to react.

"Can I?" Chen Fan asked incredulously.

The station director was amused by the young man's straightforwardness and said to Old Cheng with a smile, "You've got the professional knowledge, but you'll still need to help guide us through this typhoon!"

Mr. Cheng readily agreed, "Of course, of course! It's all for the sake of promoting traditional culture!"

Afterwards, the group discussed some other things, and the station director announced that he would go directly to Master Cheng's teahouse the day after tomorrow to sign the contract. The dinner ended there.

After seeing Mr. Cheng off, Andy said to Chen Fan, "Chen, you're really amazing! You earned your spot in the CCTV Young Singers Competition on your own! I only got here because of my grandfather's connections and Mr. Cheng's recommendation!"

Chen Fan chuckled: "That's what makes you so amazing! By the way, you didn't tell Elder Cheng that I'm just an ordinary person who's extraordinary, did you?"

"Of course not!" Andy replied.

Chen Fan patted him on the shoulder and walked towards the parking lot. "You're a true brother! Can you take me back to my hotel?"

"Great! This is nothing!" Andy pulled out his car keys and headed towards the East Third Ring Road, completely forgetting that his father was still waiting in the private room to introduce him to a director.

On the way back, Chen Fan and Andy had a preliminary discussion about his counterattack plan.

"Let's turn the tables on them!"