Chapter 268

Summer of the Date Tree

"What, Xiaohong gave birth to a big fat boy?" Chen Lina answered the phone and didn't react for a while.

When I finally realized what was happening, I realized that she was a grandmother.

"You heard the song sung by Wei Guo, Wei Min, I want to ask you, is your brother singing well?"

Nie Weimin said on the phone, "The band Shenming is a hit. After it was aired on TV yesterday, all the guys in our mechanical engineering team specially recorded it and have been playing it all the time."

"Do you want me to take care of you during the confinement period? Where does Xiaohong live now? Dongfeng Hospital? I'll go there right away." Chen Lina said.

Turning around, she said to Nie Gong, "Wei Min, this child, hums and groans, and gave you a big fat grandson."

There are a series of activities to celebrate the leader’s birthday, and as an academician, Nie Gong must participate.

He was eating breakfast and spit out soy milk. "Really? Then let's go tomorrow and go to Dongfeng City to have a look."

Chen Lina waved her hand and asked Nie Weimin, "We will come to see you tomorrow, okay?"

Nie Weimin said, "There's no need to be so anxious. You are just a little, ugly red bastard now. Come back when you grow up. We are busy testing the engine recently. The entire Dongfeng City is under air traffic control. You can't come, really."

"Who will take care of the child?"

"Don't worry, anyone in our team who is on break will help me wash diapers. Really, right now there are three engineers competing to help him wash diapers. He doesn't even know what our hands are for, except washing his diapers."

Well, everyone has their own destiny. Since Chen Lina can't take care of the little bastard from Nie Weimin's family, just let him go.

So, what is the concept of fire?

Since his parents were at home, Nie Weiguo returned to his home in Dazhalan.

However, he would still go to his rented house during the day to write songs and record tapes with Li Mingcheng.

When he passed the store selling performance costumes, he turned around and saw the store owner eating a fried dough stick with chopsticks, soy milk dripping from his chin.

"The little sparrow on the jujube tree is gently scratching the summer. A butterfly is resting on the swing beside the playground. That girl is sitting on it and swinging. She got 5 points in the exam, and I got 8 points, but our scores can't add up. How many points do we have in total..."

A faint singing voice was heard from the TV.

Nie Weiguo stood outside with his arms folded, watching himself on TV. His red and yellow performance costume was very classy. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and strong muscles. On the color TV, he looked even more resolute and handsome than he actually was.

This is not the 8 o'clock show. That show was broadcast last night. This is the rebroadcast which was edited early this morning.

"That, that is really the band Shenming." The owner of the clothing store chewed a piece of dough stick and yelled in the store, "That piece of clothing came from me. His performance clothes also came from me."

He had completely forgotten that yesterday he was cursing Nie Weiguo, saying that he would never become famous.

The owner of the kebab stall was also in the same row of rental houses. He had just gotten up and turned on the TV. He was about to pour out the chatterbox when he heard the song on TV. He frowned and stared at the two men on the black and white TV for a long time. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Oh, isn't this Nie Weiguo from the band Shenming? He's on TV. Oh my god, he's on TV."

This row of rental houses is almost entirely occupied by people who have come from Beijing to do rock, sing, and paint. Well, it was early in the morning, which was their midnight, and they were all soundly asleep. However, someone was still woken up by the kebab vendor.

I turned my head to watch on TV and saw that everyone was rubbing their eyes.

"Nieh Weiguo, this is truly Nieh Weiguo's divine band." Someone said in a confused voice.

Someone else tapped the TV, but the song had already ended. Everyone looked at each other, turned around, and rushed into Nie Weiguo's room.

Erdan was very humble. "Because our songs are more mainstream, the TV station asked us to sing. But we are still a long way from becoming famous, really."

"No, no, do you have a tape of your song "Summer of the Date Trees"? Can you give me a copy? I want to listen to it." said the kebab seller.

This song had been recorded on a tape, and Nie Weiguo just gave me a copy.

As soon as we got the grilled lamb skewers, we opened early today. We put on the big tape recorder and started playing the song "Summer of the Date Trees" over and over again.

Hey, after all, I just heard it on TV yesterday, and many people actually stopped by the kebab stall to listen to it. This kind of popularity can be said to be explosive. You, the kebab vendor, are playing this song, but I, the noodle vendor, can't. Isn't it embarrassing?

As soon as the noodle shop put the goods on hold, the audio tape seller next door couldn't sit still anymore, so he started asking around with money in hand about where to buy the tapes of the Shenming band, and rushed over to buy more.

It is no exaggeration to say that within three days, three days, because of the good response, the TV station played those three songs of Nie Weiguo in every entertainment time slot. And his tapes that had been unsalable for a long time were sold out within three days.

Three days later, the entire city of Beijing, in every street and alley, was singing Nie Weiguo's songs.

Early that morning, Chen Lina rubbed her eyes and went out with the talk bowl in her hand. The moment she opened the door, she was stunned.

Because a group of people outside were shouting, "Father, father, are you there, Father? Can we reconsider the contract, Father?"

"Our company made Lingdian famous, and Cui Jian famous. Come on, father, sign with our company."

Chen Lina closed the door again and went into the bedroom but didn't find Erdan. She found the office of the clothing factory in front. As soon as she entered, she saw Erdan biting Tiantian.

She quickly backed out, knocked hard on the door, and said, "Everyone outside is looking for you, Erdan. You've become famous overnight, right? There's a swarm of mosquitoes out to bite this piece of fat meat of yours."

Chen Tiantian pushed Nie Weiguo away and pulled her skirt down. "Auntie Chen, what should I do if I become famous overnight?"

Chen Lina turned to look at Erdan; his face had swollen to the color of pig liver.

"I'm sorry, Mom." Pulling Chen Lina to the rooftop, he said, "I know it's wrong for me to do this, but...but..."

"There's nothing wrong with love between men and women. I'm not saying that you have to take responsibility after sleeping with someone. But there's one thing. No matter who you sleep with or what kind of woman you find, remember this: if you really love music and regard music as your life, you must keep yourself clean and self-disciplined. This is very important. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Erdan nodded vigorously.

The current Nie Weiguo is no longer the Nie Weiguo who could only sing but didn’t know how to package himself and enter the music industry.

For three years, he has been waiting for this moment, waiting for the day when his music can be spread more widely. What should he do?

"Mom, I want Chen Tiantian to be my financial manager. You don't object to this, right?" he said.

After all, Tiantian has been in Beijing for so long and has been doing business all along. She can do her best to ensure that he will not be cheated by others.

And, to be honest, when a singer becomes famous, drugs, sex, and drinking are often indispensable.

In Hong Kong, many of the hottest young stars are forced by gangsters to sing and film with guns pointed at their heads.

Erdan thought about it and decided that at this time, he should set up his own business company and have a reliable person to help him take care of everything, so that he could focus on pursuing his musical dream.

Chen Lina turned around and saw Chen Tiantian standing in the corridor downstairs.

When she saw Chen Lina looking at her, she covered her face.

The little girl next door has been sleeping with Erdan in Beijing for who knows how long, and she has kept it a secret from her parents.

Chen Lina had seen Sister Wang urging her to get married many times. When she scolded her the most harshly, she said that you only knew how to follow men when you were thirteen or fourteen years old, and now you are twenty-seven or twenty-eight and don’t want to get married. You have been disobedient all your life and don’t know how to be considerate of your parents.

As neighbors, Chen Lina has advised Sister Wang many times to be more positive.

She is not a pretty girl and she is not tall, but she has been out in the world since she was young. She is quick and capable, but she is not qualified to defend the country.

Alas, as a rock singer, Chen Lina never expected Erdan to live his life in an orderly manner like Nie Weimin, working, getting married, and having children.

She said, "If you really get into the rock industry, there will be plenty of young, pretty, and energetic girls. I don't know how long you and Tiantian can last, but in the end, you have to remember that if you break up, you must treat Tiantian well, okay?"

Chen Tiantian probably never thought about marrying Erdan. Firstly, she is older, and women always age faster than men. Secondly, there is no shortage of young and beautiful women in this circle. If she really married Nie Weiguo, she would be asking for trouble.

Nie Weiguo was on the rooftop, talking about music theory and his ideals with the people below.

Of course, when he talked about these things, the police, traffic police, and uncles and aunts in Dashilan all came to listen.

But the managers and CEOs of those financial companies are really troubled because this guy has no idea what making money means.

Chen Lina sent Nie Gong out, who was not surprised by the humiliation, nor was she very happy about the birth of her eldest grandson, nor was she too excited about her son's sudden fame. She watched the car take him away, and then came back with some vegetables, preparing to cook for Nie Weiguo.

Erdan loves to eat mutton, but nowadays a hot pot meal at Donglaishun is very expensive.

The main reason is that Erdan doesn't have much money, so he can't afford to eat there, but he doesn't want to spend his parents' money anymore, so he refuses to go no matter what. He even insists that he will get a sore throat if he eats the mutton from Donglaishun. What a joke.

Chen Lina walked around the market for a long time. No matter how delicious the mutton in Beijing is, it is not as good as that in the mining area. But it doesn’t matter. Miss Chen has plenty of ways.

She bought the meat yesterday morning and put it in the refrigerator. When it was almost hard, she went to the minced meat stall this morning and asked the stall owner to cut it into thin slices for her.

This is actually the way Donglaishun mutton is cut. It is first frozen hard and then sliced. The cut mutton is thinner and all the textures can be cut through without any stringiness.

Then she started to make the sesame sauce. It was not like the ordinary sesame sauce bowl, where you just need to add some water and stir it.

When Miss Chen makes sesame sauce, she needs to stir in water, and after it is cooked, she also needs to add salted chives, fermented bean curd, and sesame oil. In short, when a bowl of condiments is prepared, Nie Weiguo, who is boasting about the sauce, will stop drooling over it, and everyone will be attracted by the delicious taste.

"Mom, all the money we earned in the first year must be given to Li Mingcheng. In the Shenming Band, I am the priest and he is Mingcheng, neither of us can be missing. And his mother-in-law will not let him out as long as he doesn't make money, okay?" Erdan said.

Chen Lina smiled and said, "My expectation for you is that as long as you are not starving to death, it doesn't matter. I have my own money and I don't expect you to make money."

In fact, long before attending the concert, Nie Weiguo was thinking that if he really couldn't make it, he would let his parents watch a live concert of his and then go back to the mining area to drive a bus.

Now he is really famous, but he still has no money.

Chen Tiantian went into the kitchen and followed along all the way, wanting to see how Chen Lina prepared the mutton hotpot.

Chen Lina guessed that she wanted to learn it herself and cook it for Nie Weiguo. She explained it to Tiantian while she was cooking. She even told her the inside scoop about which shop's meat was good and which was not, and when to buy fresh meat, which were all insider tips that only housewives knew.

At noon, Erdan had a hotpot meal of mutton. Tears welled up in his eyes. His careful disguise was completely gone. "Mom, this really tastes like Donglaishun. Really, it tastes exactly like Donglaishun."

He said he didn't like it, but actually he just didn't have money and couldn't afford to eat it.

Chen Lina curled her lips and turned back to do her own thing.

She cut two pounds of raw meat slices, and Tiantian and Erdan didn't leave any, they ate it all.

In the afternoon, the two of them had something very, very important to do.

"Mom, we are going to persuade Minister Gao and Aunt He. Can you go with us?" Erdan said while pestering Chen Lina.

Chen Lina said, "I'm going to take Wei Xing, your aunt Anna, and Xiao Fengfeng to the mall this afternoon, and then have dinner. There's also a party in the evening. The entire city department store is going to be renovated. I want to buy the largest store in Wangfujing to be our CHAR's image store. You want to make money, but I don't? Sorry, I don't have time."

Erdan had no choice but to go to Li Mingcheng's house with Chen Tiantian.

They took a yellow-milk taxi and were heading to Minister Gao's house.

Unexpectedly, the songs playing on the radio were also theirs.

The taxi driver in Beijing is the most talkative. He kept playing songs on the radio and said to Nie Weiguo who was sitting in the back, "Did you hear the latest song by the band Shenming? The songs are so beautiful. To tell you the truth, I did much better than him in the exams when I was a kid. I was in the first grade of elementary school.

Nie Weiguo and Chen Tiantian were laughing the whole time and didn't say a word.

Erdan likes to hold Tiantian's hand when he's out, but Tiantian doesn't want to. After all, he's a singer and needs to define his identity. Nowadays, singers don't want to make their relationship public in order to attract young girls.

As for Erdan, he thought it was nothing.

He still has old-fashioned ideas and always thinks that the audience likes his songs rather than him as a person, right?

"Hello, Uncle Gao, hello, Aunt He." As soon as they entered the door, Erdan and Chen Tiantian bowed to Gao Feng and his wife.

Li Mingcheng was holding his little girl, wearing big slippers, and standing behind the two old men.

He Lanshan was so angry that she rolled her eyes. "Gao Xiaobing, the sneaky Nie Erdan finally showed up. I'll tell you the truth, the rock singers I've seen either have messy hair or stink. Your husband wants to hang out with that group of people. I'm your mother-in-law and I can't do anything about it. You decide for yourself."

Gao Xiaobing and her mother seemed to share the same hatred. "Mingcheng is really disobedient."

But he turned around and said, "It's okay, Mingcheng, go ahead and do your thing. I support you, really."

Gao Feng looked at his angry wife, then at Li Mingcheng, who was standing behind the two elders and holding his granddaughter. He shook Erdan's hand, patted him on the shoulder and said, "No matter what position you are in, be positive and work hard, okay?"

He usually doesn't get involved in housework, but once he says it, it's his final say.

Of course, Li Mingcheng can go out and do rock music.

Seeing that Chen Tiantian and Nie Weiguo were about to leave, He Lanshan could no longer hide his soft heart behind his sharp tongue. "Weiguo, please stay for dinner. Auntie is cooking in the kitchen."

Nie Weiguo turned around and gave He Lanshan a big hug. "Auntie, no need. As long as you let Mingcheng out, I will love you very much. Really, we should go home."

He is planning to have dinner alone with Tiantian tonight.

He Lanshan hugged Erdan and felt pretty good about himself. He turned around and asked Gao Feng, "Did I hug a rock star? That feels good. Oh, by the way, how could I forget to ask for the tape? This morning, Minister Liu's family asked me for their tape, saying that the song was good and she wanted to listen to it again."

As she said this, she staggered into the kitchen.

Chen Tiantian and Erdan came out of Minister Gao's house.

Tiantian was walking in front, twisting her hips happily.

Erdan followed behind and watched her shake her butt, thinking it was so fun.

He hurried forward and said, "Tiantian, how about we get married?"

Well, it was hard to say this when I had no money and no career, but now I can say it.

After all, he is going to be famous soon. Once he becomes famous, his tapes will sell well, and more people will invite them to hold concerts. With one commercial performance after another, he can make money.

Chen Tiantian enjoyed the fresh air outside the door, the wide and empty streets and greenery, and said, "Don't even think about it. You will definitely find a very good girl who is very suitable for you to marry. As for me, Erdan, don't think that I am with someone because I love you. I can't find a suitable partner, and you can't find a woman either. Let's just get along. After a while, you will find a good girl, really."

Anyway, she agreed to be his financial manager.

Erdan had no idea how hard it was for her to run the clothing business and be his financial manager at the same time.

Erdan didn't know that she wanted him to be on a TV show, but even selling a house was not enough to raise enough money, so she asked Nie Weijiang for help.

Of all the good things she had done for him, the only thing Nie Weiguo knew about was probably that performance costume.

She bought it for three thousand yuan without blinking an eye, and then let Li Ming sell it to him.

She always tried her best to maintain his face as much as possible.

Maybe they will separate in the future, maybe there really is a better girl who is close to a goddess waiting for Nie Weiguo on his singing career. Anyway, until this moment, there is only one goddess in Nie Weiguo's life, Chen Tiantian.

She was constipated, and he was outside cheering her on while she was squatting on the toilet.

She had acne and was afraid of the pain so she didn't dare to squeeze it, so he squeezed it for her.

She was the only one who would hold her nose while washing his smelly underwear.

His favorite buzz cut was so tight that the barber in the barber shop couldn't do it even though he was using those scissors, so Chen Tiantian had to do it for him.

When he finally had money, Nie Weiguo tried to live with Tiantian.

Well, life is a long journey, music is a form of practice, and life is also a form of practice.

Father Nietzsche, in fact, in the 1990s when the wave of capitalism surged into the Republic, no one believed that he would eventually become famous, and no one believed that he would remain clean after becoming famous.

After all, many people think that rock is a sport that consumes life, and if you don't take drugs, abuse your power, or get drunk every day, you can't be called a good rock singer.

But in fact, after they became famous, reporters often photographed Nie Weiguo emptying a spittoon in the alley, and Li Mingcheng riding a bicycle to pick up girls outside the school.

The band Shenming is a breath of fresh air in the rock world.

Of course, precisely because they are a pure stream, they are also evergreens in the music industry and remain popular for many, many years to come.

Without scandals, of course, you won't always dominate the entertainment gossip pages of newspapers, nor will you make a lot of money.

The Divine Band is just two singers who are household names across the country.