Chapter 93

Perhaps due to the excessive hard work in his youth, as he grew older, Mr. Xie Jinshun's health rapidly deteriorated. After retiring, he almost never left his house, only venturing out with his family's company during the particularly good weather of spring and autumn to bask in the sun.

According to traditional customs in the country, younger sons and daughters can have relatively more freedom to arrange their lives after growing up, but the eldest son is mostly expected to stay by his parents' side to take care of and accompany them.

Xie Mingyuan returned to the country for this very reason.

After about twenty years of development, the domestic pop music industry had largely established its order, forming a dominant framework led by Sony Records, Huage, and Xinda, the three major record companies.

Sony Records, of course, had a Japanese background. However, unlike the timeline Li Qian experienced, in this timeline, although China and Japan had engaged in two major wars, the decisive battles took place on the Korean Peninsula and the Indochina Peninsula. Japan had briefly invaded Northeast China but was repelled within a few years before it could cause much harm. Therefore, while there were conflicts between China and Japan, the national enmity was far less severe than in the timeline Li Qian had experienced.

At least among the people of China and Japan, there was not much hostility or hatred. However, the Chinese people, influenced by thousands of years of thinking, habitually considered Japan a vassal state of China. Japan, due to its rapid economic development and rise, had always tried to increase its influence over China, but with limited success. When China implemented the reform and opening-up policy, Japan became one of the first countries chosen for the introduction of capital and technology.

Thus, at the beginning of the domestic record market's liberalization, to quickly cultivate this market and guide the development of the domestic music industry, Mr. Xie Jinshun, considering the relatively advanced entertainment culture of Japan and the extremely similar cultural backgrounds, made three trips to Japan and eventually invited Sony Records to set up a branch in China.

By 1986, as the domestic music market became increasingly prosperous, Sony Records' headquarters wanted to increase investment in China and promote their recently developed D technology. However, at that time, there were still significant restrictions on foreign investment in the cultural propaganda industry. In the end, they chose to invite a large number of musicians, led by Mr. Xie Jinshun, to invest, fully Sinicizing Sony (China) Records. The Japanese side retained only 45% of the shares, thus firmly taking root.

In 1991, Mr. Xie Jinshun's eldest son, the internationally renowned violinist Xie Mingyuan, returned to China and took up the position of Music Director at Sony China, thereby taking the lead in the domestic pop music industry. This has continued for more than four years.

Xie Mingyuan is tall and handsome, enjoys a high reputation in the international music scene, and has achieved remarkable results since taking charge of Sony Records. He is highly regarded in the industry, and even singers of the caliber of Liu Mingliang, Zhao Xinfu, and Zhen Zhen would certainly be submissive before him. In his work, he is indeed a very authoritative figure. Otherwise, Sony China would have a general manager responsible for everything, and he, as the Music Director, would not be considered one of the three major figures in the domestic record industry.

However, when he returns home and faces his parents and children, he is a completely different person, speaking and laughing freely, often acting like a big boy.

In his early years, he traveled and performed in Europe, living in Paris for several years, where he married a local French teacher and had a son and a daughter. However, Mr. Xie Jinshun was extremely dissatisfied with his eldest son marrying a foreigner. Although he doted on his grandchildren, he always had issues with his daughter-in-law.

Moreover, the old man, who was known for his broad-mindedness and generosity in his youth, was inexplicably stubborn about family lineage. For example, during the negotiations for Sony's investment, he insisted that the Japanese side's shareholding must not exceed 50%, or he would refuse to invest, seemingly retaining many of the old Chinese values.

Ultimately, due to his old age and poor health, Xie Mingyuan decided to return to China to serve his parents. However, because of the old man's stubbornness, he always found fault with the foreign daughter-in-law, and there were indeed cultural integration issues. As a result, the French teacher left for France alone after a year in China, and they divorced.

After her departure, Xie Mingyuan vowed never to remarry, feeling somewhat guilty towards his children. In front of his children, he was always a loving father, and the old man doted on them even more. In the end, the two children became so unruly that their grandmother had to step in as the strict one to keep them in line.

Today is the last day of the year. While Chinese people may not pay much attention to New Year's Day, the two little treasures of the Xie family had grown accustomed to celebrating both Christmas and New Year's Day. So in the afternoon, Xie Mingyuan took the two children out to play, returning only when it seemed like it might snow.

The two little rascals were so tired that they fell asleep in the car. When they got out, Xie Mingyuan had to carry the older one, while the nanny carried the younger one into the house. The old man, who had been a bit dazed all day, suddenly perked up at the commotion, smiling silently at the sight of his grandchildren sleeping with drool on their faces.

After putting the two children to bed, Xie Mingyuan instructed the nanny to keep an eye on them and then went downstairs. After dinner, he sat on the sofa and chatted with the old man, telling him about recent industry developments. Although the old man always said, "I'm retired, don't tell me these things anymore," he never said that before hearing the news. Xie Mingyuan knew that, despite his retirement, the old man's life's work was tied to the domestic record market, and he was still very concerned.

Today, there were two pieces of news.

First, with the sales of D technology increasing in the second half of the year, it was clear that the market had accepted this high-definition audio format. As people's lives became more prosperous, fans were also becoming less concerned about the slightly higher prices of D devices. Therefore, the Japanese side proposed increasing investment and had been secretly contacting some of the original shareholders, offering high prices to buy their shares to achieve absolute control over Sony China.

Of course, Xie Mingyuan promised the old man that as long as he was at Sony, he would never allow Sony Records to fall back under Japanese control.

The second piece of news was that Zhou Mo had divorced, reportedly due to domestic violence, and she had been beaten twice.

After hearing the first piece of news, Mr. Xie Jinshun was silent and looked unhappy. But after hearing the second piece, he sighed helplessly. Zhou Mo was one of his disciples, and although she was as hard as a rock, the old man had always favored her.

After a moment, he finally said, "She... is too devoted!"

Xie Mingyuan nodded, saying nothing.

After saying that, the old man seemed to fall into a reverie, but after a while, he suddenly came to and said, "Sometimes, I really wish she would never fall in love again. With her personality, if she doesn't like someone, it's fine, but once she likes someone, she will give her heart completely, and in the end, she will be hurt... She's too foolish! Too devoted!"

Xie Mingyuan nodded, feeling the topic was too heavy, and smiled, saying, "By the way, do you remember? I once told you that I believed the domestic pop music industry had a solid foundation and was likely to enter the idol era in the next few years. Well, before I could make a move, someone else did! Ha ha, you know who... remember Liao Liao's album?"

Mr. Xie Jinshun recalled for a moment and hesitantly said, "Li... Li...?"

"Li Qian!" Xie Mingyuan smiled, "He recently produced an album for a female group at Huage. The timing was perfect, and the approach was right. I don't know how to say it, but he seems to have predicted that the idol era is coming, so he produced this album. But he's... too smart. He knows that even if you're making idols, you can't just focus on that. You need to produce some deep, meaningful works as well to ensure longevity. But, ha ha, I can hardly believe it, a seventeen-year-old with such maturity, and the works he produced... Oh, right, I have the D of his new album in the car, I'll get it for you!"

The old man didn't speak, but Xie Mingyuan got up, took a few steps, then stopped, checked his watch, and decided, "Forget it, I won't get it. It's almost time, let's just watch the New Year's Eve show. Our people at Oriental Star say they opened with a song from that female group, and it was... very impressive. I think we should just listen to that version!"

As he spoke, he found the remote control, turned on the TV, and switched to Oriental Star TV.

It was already 7:40 PM, less than twenty minutes before the show started. The old man asked where he had taken the children and what they had done, and before they knew it, it was almost 8:00 PM.

As the opening of the New Year's Eve concert began, both father and son fell silent.

After the opening, the camera cut to the stage, where there were no grand dances, only five extremely beautiful girls standing in the center. A moment later, one of the girls began to sing, "Beyond the long pavilion, by the ancient road, the green grass stretches to the sky."

At this line, Mr. Xie Jinshun's eyes, which had been half-closed, instantly opened wide.

After several rehearsals and recordings, the girls' nervousness had decreased, and their performances had improved. The version chosen by the Oriental Star TV staff was clearly the best.

After the first verse, Mr. Xie Jinshun's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. By the second verse, his eyes began to moisten.

The older and more experienced a person is, the more they are moved by this simple and melodious tune with its sorrowful and beautiful lyrics. This had been proven countless times in the timeline Li Qian experienced.

When the song ended and the girls left the stage, the host appeared in elegant attire. Xie Mingyuan turned to see that the old man's eyes were already blurry with tears, so he turned off the TV and handed him a tissue.

The old man took the tissue, wiped his tears, and sighed after a moment.

Xie Mingyuan patted the old man's hand, saying nothing.

After a while, the old man said, "The songs he made last time were all good! This time, even better!"

Xie Mingyuan nodded and smiled, "Did it remind you of old friends? Hey, old man, how old are you? Crying? Isn't that embarrassing? Who said you would set an example for your grandchildren?"

Mr. Xie Jinshun smiled, looking up at the stairs with a kind expression, pointing to the turned-off TV screen, "He's a great talent!"

Xie Mingyuan smiled, "But he's said to have a very strong personality!"

Mr. Xie Jinshun glanced at him, "Is he more individualistic than you were a few years ago?"

Xie Mingyuan laughed, "I'm not as good as him!"

After a pause, he said, "Liao Liao's songs, He Runqing's song, and this one, he's definitely going to win the Golden Melody Award this year. The problem is, he's said to be unwilling to debut because he wants to go to university! Ha ha, I'm curious to see if he will continue to pursue his studies or become a guest professor at a music college."

Mr. Xie Jinshun was silent for a moment, then said, "A person who loses their individuality can't create good things!"

Xie Mingyuan nodded, silent for a moment, then said, "It's a pity he's still too young. He doesn't know that just because you have the ability, others won't betray you. And the album he produced for those girls was too complete!"

Mr. Xie Jinshun, who hadn't heard the entire album, fell silent but then said, "So, isn't this the best opportunity for you?"

Xie Mingyuan indeed smiled proudly, "Exactly! Huang Zhongda and Du Xiaoming are smart, but too smart people are often not very honest! That's when I'll make my move!"

***

Today's votes aren't very encouraging, have they? We've been overtaken. Can everyone give it another push? (To be continued)

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