Chapter 50: The Generous Tu Honggang (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

As soon as Wu Yuchen heard the name Tu Honggang, he was overjoyed.

When it came to this kind of ancient-style heroism and masculine spirit in the Chinese music scene, if Tu Honggang claimed second place, no one dared to claim first.

If he could get Tu Honggang to sing *Soul of the Chinese Martial Arts*, it would be absolutely perfect!

However, Wu Yuchen hesitated and asked, "Is Teacher Tu easy to invite?"

"Hey, don't worry about that. Old Tu is a person who values chivalry and loyalty very much. If he sees your song, he will definitely be very happy and would be eager to sing it himself!"

Sun Chuan stood up to make a phone call, and then smilingly invited Wu Yuchen to go over together.

Tu Honggang was trained in Peking Opera, specializing in the "copper hammer" painted face role for 7 years.

Later, as Hong Kong and Taiwan pop music spread to the mainland, he became obsessed with it. He participated in a campus singer competition and won an award, after which he began covering a large number of songs by Hong Kong and Taiwan singers and performing everywhere. In 1990, he participated in the Spring Festival Gala and began to be known by the public after recording songs for the Asian Games.

However, he went to America to do business in 1991, suffered a crushing defeat, and returned to the music scene three years later. He established his own company and was currently planning to produce the song *Farewell My Concubine*.

In fact, the current Tu Honggang wasn't very famous yet; after all, *Farewell My Concubine*, which made him explode in popularity, hadn't been released yet. It was Wu Yuchen who had a biased impression.

In the recording studio, listening to Tu Honggang's singing, which contained a trace of sorrow within the grand passion and softness within the masculinity, he truly sang *Soul of the Chinese Martial Arts* with great spirit and soul-stirring power!

He was truly worthy of being the real Tu Honggang!

After he came out of the recording studio, Tu Honggang laughed heartily:

"Satisfying! Truly satisfying!

Old Sun, I really thank you for sending me such a good song! I was just worrying about not finding a song suitable for me!"

Although Tu Honggang had already recorded *Farewell My Concubine*, he felt that one song was too little, so he had been soliciting songs recently. He didn't expect that a good song suitable for his style would be delivered to his door while he was sitting at home.

"Don't mention it, this song isn't mine, it's Little Wu's!" Sun Chuan hurriedly explained.

Tu Honggang looked at Wu Yuchen, generously held up two fingers, and said with a smile:

"Little brother, how about you sell this song to me? I won't let you suffer a loss, 2,000 yuan, and your name will be credited for both lyrics and music."

Seeing that Wu Yuchen didn't speak, Tu Honggang thought he felt it was too little, so he said:

"Little brother, it's not that your big brother is cheating you. You aren't an insider, so you don't understand. This is absolutely a conscientious price. Newcomers just entering the industry get one or eight hundred yuan. Do you know Gao Feng, the one who sang 'Great China'? He has been writing for many years, and if he hadn't made himself famous, the lyrics and music combined would only be a few thousand yuan. If you don't believe me, ask Old Sun. How about this, this song suits my taste, I'll add another 500 for you."

Wu Yuchen naturally knew the song "Great China"; it was very popular and appeared on the Spring Festival Gala twice. People who had heard it on the roadside would hum along, "We all have a home, its name is China~," "There are two dragons coiled in the home, they are the Yangtze and the Yellow River."

He wasn't dissatisfied with the price; the price Tu Honggang gave was really not low, and he even gave him credit. Thinking that the guy "Ai Dajin" only got 800 yuan for the lyrics and music of "My Classmate" last year, Old Tu giving Wu Yuchen, a newcomer, 2,500 yuan was truly generous!

Wu Yuchen was just lamenting in his heart about the cheapness of being a lyricist and composer in the country. Thinking that Wang "Leather Belt" was also considered a top-tier singer in the country, but he had written hundreds of songs himself, and his copyright income over twenty years added up to less than 600,000, which couldn't compare to a third-rate singer performing once. Therefore, as long as there was hope to become a singer, no one was willing to hide in the back and work for others for nothing; the gap was really too big.

"Teacher Tu, I have no opinion on the price. I should be the one thanking you for being willing to sing it. However, this matter still needs the consent of our production team."

"Hahaha, that's as it should be!" Tu Honggang wasn't worried. He dealt with many people within this system; as long as he could sing the song well, it would be easy to talk to them.

A few days later, in the Prince Gong Mansion, the members of the production team gathered in front of the television. The videotape playing inside was the theme song *Soul of the Chinese Martial Arts*. Now, not only was the song recorded, but Wu Yuchen had also selected various classic scenes from martial arts films to edit into an MV. Now, everyone was watching the finished MV.

Tu Honggang's singing combined with the heroic, passionate, or tragic film footage that Wu Yuchen had edited in was more than just one plus one equaling two; it gave everyone present goosebumps. This was what martial arts was!

The older comrades present were not young, but at this moment, they were also infected by the MV of *Soul of the Chinese Martial Arts*, and even felt a sense of boiling blood.

Tu Honggang, standing on the side, stared straight at it. He knew what level his own singing was. But after the song was combined with these edited scenes, the effect was far beyond listening to the song alone, which surprised and shocked him, the singer, greatly.

MVs weren't popular in the country yet, and the shooting effects were very rough; many were still in black and white. Let alone five-cent special effects, it was good enough if they gave you some beautiful scenery. How could it be compared to this MV composed of classic scenes from dozens of martial arts films?

If one had to talk about the person who shot the first MV in the mainland music scene, it was none other than Tu Honggang himself. In 1990, he took 70,000 yuan and found Zhang Guoli to shoot MVs for 3 songs, thus giving birth to China's first music MV, *Feeling Myself*.

But after Tu Honggang finished watching the MV of *Soul of the Chinese Martial Arts* in front of him, and then thought about the things he and his peers had shot, he only felt that what they had done in the past was making poop!

"Little Tu sang really well, and Little Wu edited it well too! Even my old bones feel like dancing along a few times!" Everyone spoke up to praise them.

Tu Honggang cupped his hands: "I am honored by the praise of all the teachers, but I have a presumptuous request."

Jia Leilei smiled warmly: "Speak."

"I really like this MV I saw, and I want to take it out to use. I wonder if you could make it convenient for me?"

Jia Leilei pondered for a moment without speaking.

Tu Honggang said anxiously: "I'll pay!"

Jia Leilei waved his hand: "Strictly speaking, this documentary of ours is a research project, and it is currently non-profit, so it cannot be sold for money."

In 1995, the market economy was far less open than it would be later. For units within the system like this, many things couldn't be linked to money. If you took it out to sell, it would be a violation of discipline.

However, Jia Leilei thought that after all, the song was sung by Tu Honggang, and he hadn't asked them for money, so it was only human nature that he wanted to use it. But after all, they were a research institute, not a television drama crew, and Jia Leilei wasn't sure if it was appropriate to let Tu Honggang use this thing.

His gaze swept to Wu Yuchen, and he had a flash of inspiration. This kid wasn't a person from their unit; at most, he could be considered a temporary worker.

Jia Leilei smiled:

"Little Tu, I understand your situation, but we don't have clear regulations in our institute. However, this MV was edited by Little Wu. Actually, you should go and discuss it with him."

Wu Yuchen was stunned. Good heavens, had he become the legendary temporary worker who was brought out to take the blame when something happened?

Tu Honggang's face beamed with joy. He pulled Wu Yuchen to a side room in the side hall. After entering, he held up two fingers again:

"Little brother, your big brother isn't a stingy person, 20,000!"

Nowadays, shooting an MV outside started at tens of thousands. Since Tu Honggang had picked up such a good one for free, he naturally felt embarrassed to offer too little.

Wu Yuchen opened his mouth but didn't speak.

Seeing this, Tu Honggang put his arm around his shoulder and lowered his voice:

"I understand, this money isn't to buy the MV from you, it all counts as your lyric and music fee, don't worry!" ===== CHAPTER 51 =====