House Dad’s Literary Life

Hong Kong,in Tianxiang Records’ recording studio, Chen Yijie was sitting in front of thepiano, playing with his eyes closed. He was wearing casual clothes, wonderingif he was contaminated with Yang Yi’s habits. He was also wearing a pair ofshorts, and pair of slippers, completely different with his usual image duringhis concerts.

But perhaps,playing “Long Time No See”, he just needs to be so casual. He doesn’tneed the audience to pay attention to his attire. They just need to close theireyes and listen quietly.

“Holdingthe photograph you gave to me, the familiar street…” With a deep voice andin an exhilarating state, Chen Yijie performed the song even more touching.

“Oh,it’s a pity. It’s a Mandarin song.” Next to him, a cool man wearing ajacket and a cowboy hat shook his head with regret, and said to Chen Yijie, whowas still in the aftertaste after singing.

He is themusic producer of Chen Yijie’s new album and a deputy director of Tianxiang Records,Mr. Mao Su. He is an excellent songwriter himself, and has won many awards as asinger.

“Mandarinsongs are not unacceptable. I have sung many Mandarin songs before.” ChenYijie said.

Mao Sutouched his moustache and said with a smile, “It’s not that I don’t likethis song. On the contrary, I think it’s a good song. It’s just that Eason, youhave to make sure you define your album’s position. The songs in it are all inCantonese, but the main song is a Mandarin song. Will it lead to disapproval onboth sides?”

Chen Yijie’sexpression became serious, and he has also realized this problem.

Mao Su added,”If Eason’s album featured Cantonese songs and included a Mandarin song,there will be no major problem.”

Aftercareful consideration, Chen Yijie shook his head and said, “No, chooseanother song to be the main song. I’m not going to fight for it.”

The mainother songs, compared to this, the gap is somewhat obvious, but putting “LongTime No See” in the back position, on the contrary, make it easier to winover the audience.

Mao Suthought of a way, he clenched his fists, and his eyes under his cowboy hat lookeda little excited: “How about this, let’s get help, with this song, andfill in the lyrics of a Cantonese song! Use the Cantonese version as the main song,and use the Mandarin version as the second main song, so you don’t have toworry anymore!”

This idea isreally good. Chen Yijie nodded too. Mao Su has begun to figure out which masterto help fill in the lyrics, but there are four great song kings in Hong Kong…

“Ithink, I can let Mr. Yang try!” Chen Yijie suddenly said.

“Mr. Yang?Isn’t he the songwriter of this song, Mu Li’ang? ” Mao Su asked insurprise. “Does he know Cantonese?”

“Mu Li’angis his stage name, as for Cantonese…” Chen Yijie recalled theirconversation that day. Because he had no problem communicating in Mandarin, butwas stuck in negotiations, he simply spoke in Cantonese, and Mr. Yang acted asinterpreter.

“Notonly does he, he is proficient!” Chen Yi-Jie smiled bitterly. “Mr. Yangspeaks Cantonese better than many people in Hong Kong!”

Although MaoSu was still skeptical, Chen Yijie still insisted on asking Yang Yi for help. Aftera phone call, Yang Yi thought about it and said, “All right, give me onenight!”

Actually,Yang Yi promised to do so because the song itself has a Cantonese version! And itis not less sophisticated than the Mandarin version – what a joke? What aboutthe words Lin Xi filled out? Else, there wouldn’t be any difference, right?

However,Yang Yi did not intend to be too shocking, so he left a gap for one night.

But that wasenough to shock them! Neither Chen Yijie nor Mao Su believed that Yang Yi couldfill out a Cantonese lyric in one night.

But the nextday, they foolishly saw an email lying quietly in their computer mailbox. Did hereally fill in the lyrics?

“BetterNot To Meet?” Judging from the rhyme of the lyrics, the Cantonese lyricsare correct.

But justlooking at the name of the song, Chen Yijie and Mao Su suddenly felt the heavyweight of the song.

“Tryit?” Mao Su still has some doubts.

Chen Yijie wasvery serious: “Try it!”

The piano’slonely prelude started.

“Youcan hardly avoid getting wet…” Chen Yijie is worthy of being a super-levelsinger. Looking at the printed lyrics, he pondered in his heart for a while,and then sang out the charm it deserved.

“Italways rains in Hong Kong.

Feelingsleepy waiting to catch an early flight.

Waiting tosee you just once…”

Surprisingly,it was pleasant to listen to? Mao Su cheered up, as if he had acquired the mostprecious treasure. He also closed his eyes and savored it carefully.

“Then Ifound that very shop was locked. When I was thinking that we could go back tothe time when we were in love…”

The firstpart of the lyrics was still relatively plain, but that plainness was slowlybrewing an intoxicating mellow fragrance. And finally, it’s about to break out.

“Somethinghas changed, our minds got corrupted. But then…who doesn’t change throughoutlife?” Chen Yijie used a little skill here to sing out the helplessness inthe lyrics, as if he were sighing gently.

“Wewere eager to see each other, but found there were 10 years between us

That smilingface that I yearned to see was just a memory…”

In fact, afterhearing this, there was no need to try anymore. They were absolutely certainthat Yang Yi has filled in excellent Cantonese lyrics. Perhaps even the fourgreat song kings can’t do any better.

But now wasnot the time to comment on the lyrics.

Mao Su closedhis eyes and listened, listened to the trace of melancholy, listened to the irreversibledespair, listened to the plainness and sadness of tearing one’s heart andlungs. Unknowingly, tears slid down behind his sunglasses.

He was stillunmarried in his forties, and he remembered his first love. Although he hadbeen associated with many women, the eight years of his youth were the mostmemorable.

Yes, thatsmiling face that he yearned to see was just a memory, that smile like flower.

“… Itwas just like waiting 100 years and then realizing

That even ifwe meet again,

Actingmaturely, like adults…”

What if theymeet again? They’ll act natural to each other, pretending to be calm and askeach other how they are doing.

So, what if theymeet again? She’s already married to someone else and was no longer the shygirl in his arms.

What willchange if they meet again? Additional pain and sadness?

Chen Yijiegently sang out the last sentence: “Better Not To Meet…”

Um…

“Mr.Mao! Mr. Mao!” He didn’t know when the singing and piano sound stop, butwith Chen Yijie’s call, Mao Su finally came back to his senses.

“Whatdo you think of this song, Mr. Mao? I like it very much!” Chen Yijie wasvery excited. He said, “it should be all right for it to be the main song,right?”

Mao Su calmlywiped away the tears under his sunglasses. He coughed twice and said,”Yes, very good! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would havethought it was filled out by an authentic Hong Kong resident. But Eason, whenyou sang, there were a few paragraphs that weren’t handled well…”

Mature mencan always hide their inner feelings very well.

After guidingEason, Mao Su went to Hu Yongxiang’s office.

“A’Su,how’s Eason’s new album going?” Hu Yongxiang had a good relationship withMao Su. He also poured tea for him himself, smiling and caring.

“Noproblem. We’re basically ready for work. After recording the MV and the lasttwo songs, we’ll release the album in July.” Mao Su smiled confidently.”I can’t wait to see Eason’s new album go on sale!”

“Oh? Soconfident?” Hu Yongxiang joked.

“Ofcourse, I have confidence not only in Eason, but also in the songwriterrecommended by your father! Maybe we can hit a platinum record!” Mao Su said.

“Myfather? Oh, you mean that Yang Yi?” Hu Yongxiang still has a good memory,even though he has a lot to take care of.

“That’sright! Old Hu, we may have found a treasure!” Mao Su took a deep breath.”He’s a genius!”

“If youcan, I hope the company will pay more attention to him and inspect him. Beforeother companies dig up Yang Yi and sign him down with the best contract…”

_____

TN: Other translation of the song is “Rather We Didn’t Meet”. And here’s the last sentence of the song, where the title “Better Not To Meet” came from: “It would probably have been better not to meet after all.”

TN: To those interested in the song. Here.

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