Chapter 154: Calm the Mind, Settle the Words

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“As a singer who has performed live as a true vocalist, teacher, I don’t like how you phrased that,” Zhang Tan said, feeling deeply hurt. To be told his singing was inadequate stung sharply. Back at the Hefei Lobster Festival, his live performances had been lively and met with enthusiastic audience responses.

“That was amateur singing. With your amateur-level voice, you can manage that, but for TV drama songs, you need a voice with a wide range and distinctiveness to better guide the interaction between the song and the drama,” the music teacher replied without entertaining Zhang Tan’s complaints. Instead, he suggested, “Xiao Zhang, I see you have ideas. How about learning composition from me?”

Zhang Da Huzi also encouraged him: “Xiao Zhang, thanks for creating such a good song. Don’t worry, I bought it at a high price; you won’t lose out.” Yet, no one mentioned the idea of Zhang Tan singing.

“Sigh, the frustration of lacking talent.” Zhang Tan had always been proud of his singing, never imagining that professional musicians would find his voice so unremarkable. It was a blow, but since singing was only a hobby, not his main career, it was bearable.

Youthful hormones made it easy for him to rekindle his passion quickly. Although he couldn’t sing “Who Is the Great Hero,” the music teacher’s suggestion sparked some interest. It was the melody’s complexity and his poor memory of the Cantonese lyrics that had prevented him from tackling the theme song of the 1983 version of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes.”

Now, with the chance to collaborate with a renowned professional music producer, Chang Guangyin, who had composed for many major domestic singers, and under expert guidance, it was feasible to work out the melodies and piece together the three songs. However, these songs would inevitably be sung by others.

Even a somewhat light-hearted song like “I Am the Great Hero” was deemed too lacking in subtlety when Zhang Tan sang it, let alone the richly emotional and technically dazzling male-female duets such as “Iron-Blooded Loyal Heart,” “A Life of Meaning,” and “The World Is Always Good to You.”

The original singers, Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng, were veterans of Hong Kong’s film and TV golden hits, with top-tier voices—his blending strength and gentleness, hers balancing softness with strength. Without skilled vocalists, those songs would never capture the right feel.

“Sigh. Looks like my fate is to work behind the scenes writing lyrics and composing,” Zhang Tan sighed. Feeling the need to work hard, he decided to create these classic songs. After all, the novels and the TV series were already done, but these beloved classic songs were missing—a significant loss.

Thus, the collaboration began.

Professional musicians were different. Zhang Tan only had to hum a melody casually, and the other party could immediately get inspired, quickly fleshing out the entire composition. With a full song and rhythm, Zhang Tan began writing lyrics.

His memory was incomplete, recalling only some chorus sections. He struggled over the words, revising repeatedly and consulting another lyricist, Zhuang Hao, invited by the production team.

In the end, with the combined efforts of Zhang Tan, Chang Guangyin, and Zhuang Hao, and after more than a week of work, they completed “Iron-Blooded Loyal Heart” and “The World Is Always Good to You.” Unfortunately, “A Life of Meaning” was abandoned due to the inability to recall the tune and lyrics.

Thus, “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” had three songs. Any of these could serve as the theme song.

Zhang Tan didn’t inquire further about how these three songs would be arranged; since he wouldn’t be the one singing, he only cared that the copyright fees were paid properly.

As the main creator, Zhang Tan held full copyright over the songs. Chang Guangyin and Zhuang Hao, who provided input and revisions, only had co-authorship rights on “Iron-Blooded Loyal Heart” and “The World Is Always Good to You.”

Zhang Tan was no naive idealist. After writing the songs, he wouldn’t casually let others use them or hand over the copyrights, even though Chang Guangyin and Zhuang Hao repeatedly offered large sums to buy exclusive credit. Zhang Tan refused.

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To be honest, given Zhang Tan’s fame, he didn’t need to fuss over song rights. But these were classics from his past life’s memories; he would never let others exploit them for selfish fame.

The creation of the three songs had drained much of Zhang Tan’s energy. After handing the songs over to the Luzhou Studio for operation, he threw himself back into novel writing, indifferent to the commercial scheming—only caring about how much money he made. Only by earning enough could he afford a villa and luxury cars, living the carefree life he dreamed of.

He wanted to buy a house in Beijing, but recently, he was short on cash. His family already owned several properties in Hefei, and the studio had operational costs. The money earned from writing was nearly all spent.

Fortunately, “The Return of the Condor Heroes” had already been published. Its sales were promising, and Anhui Literary Publishing House was to settle the first royalty payment by the end of September. It might not be much, but it was more than enough to pay for a large house within Beijing’s Third Ring Road in 2003.

“Boss, Manager Li called. The general manager of Xishanju Studio wants to invite you to lunch. Are you free at noon?” Ma Weiwei knocked and entered.

Zhang Tan was holding his notebook, pondering an outline.

After thinking, he said, “Let Li Yan represent me. I won’t go. I’m not much into games, and I’ve wasted too much time recently. I just want some quiet time to think.”

“Alright, I’ll call Manager Li back,” Ma Weiwei replied.

Xishanju Studio, under Kingsoft Software, was interested in Zhang Tan’s “The Legend of the Condor Heroes,” planning to adapt the novel into a single-player game to rival Taiwan’s Softstar’s “The Legend of Sword and Fairy.” As one of China’s top game studios, Xishanju had produced several beloved games.

Though the idea of a game adaptation excited Zhang Tan, he had no intention of getting too involved. He didn’t understand commercial negotiations and only played games like CS and Red Alert casually—no need to waste time. Meeting game company people wouldn’t yield much useful input for adaptation. It would just be eating, drinking, and chatting with no novelty. Better to stay home in peace.

He had been procrastinating for nearly two months, yet the outline for “Four Great Constables: Against the Cold Current” remained unfinished, progressing at an exasperatingly slow pace.

“It’s because my attention has been too divided lately; I can’t get into the zone,” Zhang Tan realized the issue.

It was a matter of focus.

He’d been involved in the production crew’s hustle, working on theme songs, had quarrels with the screenwriter, and attended multiple book signings—draining his energy on unrelated matters.

One’s energy was limited.

Back in high school at Shuangdun, his life was simple—school and home—quiet and peaceful, enabling him to write novels quickly.

Now, with too many distractions, his mind was unsettled.

Naturally, this led to poor creative state, with chaotic revisions of the outline.

This not only affected his novel writing but also clashed with his pursuit of life.

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“Cut down unnecessary socializing. Focus, focus,” he told himself.

After spending two consecutive days holed up in his rental room without visiting the film crew, Zhang Tan finally calmed his mind. The inspiration and creativity he had hidden away returned.

The previously messy outline of “Four Great Constables: Against the Cold Current” suddenly became clear.

…

Inside the door, all was serene as still water.

Outside, the noise was bustling like a market.

“The Legend of the Condor Heroes” maintained high public interest. Just days after the excitement settled, another major announcement arrived: Zhao Yanzi, one of the Four Little Leading Actresses, had dropped out of the role of Huang Rong due to scheduling conflicts.

“The little sparrow is so ungrateful! Zhang Da Huzi gave her the chance to play Huang Rong—he sees potential in her. ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’ is definitely a hit drama. To look down on it is just foolish!” angry fans vented online.

Of course, many fans celebrated: “Haha, Zhao Yanzi isn’t playing Huang Rong anymore—great! I always thought she was unsuitable. I recommend Zhou Taiping, also one of the Four Little Leading Actresses, to play the role. She’s my favorite actress!”

Immediately, other fans retorted: “Can you stand Zhou Taiping’s duck-like voice? Don’t ruin Huang Rong’s image in my heart! Even if her voice isn’t as sweet as a lark’s, she should at least be lively and cute. What’s with the whole duck voice thing?”

“I prefer Zhu Zixia from Xiang Alley; she’s beautiful, spirited with a touch of mischief—perfect for Huang Rong.”

“Get lost. Our Old Xu is still best for the role!”

“Old Xu writes great blogs, I admit, but she’s really not suitable to play Huang Rong—completely the wrong type!”

“How about Zhang Guoji?”

“Ha, probably can’t afford her—she’s a Hollywood star now.”

Netizens speculated endlessly online, but in reality, the production team had long chosen a replacement. Zhou Taiping had already signed to play Huang Rong.

Zhang Tan felt frustrated upon hearing the news.

Though Zhou Taiping was attractive and skilled, her duck-like voice was a serious flaw.

“Let’s not expect the quality of the ’83 or ’94 versions—this will be the 2003 version… But putting aside the nostalgia for the earlier versions, the 2003 ‘Legend of the Condor Heroes’ is quite faithful to the original novel, though the plot is a bit scattered. Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun’s acting was criticized, but their portrayal of Guo Jing and Huang Rong was acceptable, just lacking a developmental arc. They played the characters in the same way from start to finish.”

Especially Li Yapeng’s slow speech tone suited Guo Jing’s southern journey, but because it stayed the same throughout, the growth and change in Guo Jing’s character were lost.

Coupled with everyone’s preconceived impressions of Huang Rihua and Zhang Zhiling, it was no surprise Li Yapeng faced backlash.

“Forget it. I won’t worry. Zhang Da Huzi and the others can cast whoever they want.”

“I’ve already put my best ideas into the script. If the story is filmed according to the script, that’s enough for me.”

“When Jin Yong’s works were adapted messily back then, the master didn’t fuss much. With excellent source material as confidence, a failed adaptation once or twice was nothing.”

“I should learn to have that mindset.”

Putting aside these small frustrations, Zhang Tan focused on continuing his novel writing. (To be continued.)