Chapter 998: Friendship is Priceless
We managed to survive until the end of March, ushering in the cherry blossom season in Tokyo, and things were finally done at Dannomiya Restaurant.
Up to this time, Ning Weimin's suppressed mood finally bloomed like a flower, and he felt that he had some autonomy in time.
However, when he saw the cherry blossom trees in Tokyo full of rose-colored buds that were about to bloom, the biggest feeling in his heart was not the yearning for pink cherry blossoms.
But I feel full of guilt for Matsumoto Keiko.
Because although on the surface, it seemed that he was accommodating Matsumoto Keiko during his busy schedule and was forced to meet with her frequently.
But to be honest, from ancient times to the present, there is no way to release men's anxiety and relieve stress more than "playing poker".
In fact, Ning Weimin himself needed such a meeting far more than Matsumoto Keiko, and gained the most benefits from it.
Especially in the recent period, it seems that because of being too busy and having a big Yali Mountain, Ning Weimin's desire has become particularly strong and he has become more and more impatient.
So much so that his love for Matsumoto Keiko turned into a fire that could burn the other person.
When the two of them were together, he often couldn't wait for Matsumoto Keiko to get into the mood and started acting recklessly.
Once impulsive, you will often ignore it and completely fall into your own desires without realizing it.
Sometimes it is inevitable that violent and extreme behavior will occur, which is basically equivalent to aggression.
Only when he is fully satisfied can he regain his senses and realize how much he has gone too far.
He often regrets that he has hurt the other person and left a painful mark on Keiko.
On the other hand, how did Matsumoto Keiko treat him?
As Keiko herself said, she loves him so much!
So I didn’t blame Ning Weimin for his abnormal behavior and tolerated him very considerately.
Not only do I try my best to comfort his spirit and body every time.
On the contrary, he endured the tension and discomfort, and even endured the pain, and sent him to the paradise world.
Even for those things that Ning Weimin asked casually, Matsumoto Keiko did her best.
In about a week, the relevant price list of the music production company was handed over to Ning Weimin.
The production company that issued the quotation is called "Alido". It is a medium-sized music production company under Colombia and based on the Japanese market.
The only album "Flowers in the Water of Love" released by Matsumoto Keiko in 1980 was produced by this company.
Therefore, the price offered by this company cannot be said to be favorable enough, but it is very professional and detailed.
Whether it is recording studio usage fees, band performance fees, lyrics, composition, arrangement, singing, recording, mixing, mastering, packaging, food and miscellaneous fees...etc., all are detailed.
Ning Weimin did some calculations and found that he would provide his own singer instead of hiring a famous artist, and the band fee could also be included in the arrangement fee.
The main billing standards are 100,000 yen for arranging a song, 70,000 yen for mixing, 8,000 yen for one hour in the recording studio, and 20,000 yen for three hours.
It takes almost 200,000 yen to record a song.
In other words, Zhang Qiang and Cui Jian's two albums have less than twenty songs in total, so they stopped at four million yen.
Including rehearsal fees, the maximum amount is 6 million!
Ning Weimin himself was shocked when the price was calculated!
Why is it only six million yen?
It’s actually equivalent to about 140,000 to 50,000 RMB?
Even according to the black market price, it is less than 300,000 yuan. How can it be similar to that in China?
Of course, Ning Weimin thought that he had made a mistake.
But I calculated it several times later, but I couldn't find any fault with the calculation.
After careful consultation with Matsumoto Keiko, Ning Weimin finally understood what was going on.
I dare to love you for nothing else, just because the Japanese music industry is so developed, and the overall level far exceeds that of the domestic one.
Not only is he the leader of the entire Asian trend, but his maturity has reached the point of industrialization of music.
Therefore, there are many relevant practitioners, and they have extremely rich experience in producing pop music.
For example, domestic synthetic electronic music only has two tracks, but here the drum sound alone is recorded on six tracks.
The so-called professionals in our country may not even be able to hold a microphone if they want to work here.
On the other hand, something that requires several people to stay up late at home can be easily done by one person in a few hours here.
It’s such a big gap.
In addition, many audio equipment are produced by local Japanese companies, such as Yamaha and Sharp.
Then equipment that is expensive and scarce in China is just a bargain here, and the 24-track music recording equipment that can shock the Chinese people is nothing at all.
As for the most expensive aspect of Japanese music production, it is actually music royalties and copyright royalties.
But Ning Weimin didn't have to spend a fortune on this.
The final result of this is that for Ning Weimin and others, Japanese music production is cheap and beautiful.
Thanks to Keiko Matsumoto, I was able to scoop up the wool of developed countries.
Especially looking at it from the other side, there is another most important issue: the capacity of the market is still different.
A music album that can sell millions of copies in Japan is already an earth-shattering platinum album.
In fact, Matsumoto Keiko's only album sold more than 500,000 copies, while Ishida Ryoko's album "Blue Yokohama" that became popular in Asia only sold 1.5 million copies.
Momoe Yamaguchi’s debut album only sold 440,000 copies.
In the eight years since his debut, the cumulative sales of all eight music albums in his acting career have been only 16.22 million.
This is the first Showa singer in Japan whose album sales exceeded 10 million.
Therefore, this leads to the fact that before any music album in Japan is produced, it is necessary to rigorously calculate the minimum sales figure that can recover the cost.
Because it is really possible to lose money.
But if these millions are placed in the mainland of the Republic, it would be too ordinary.
In this era, unknown new singers in China must achieve sales of 600,000 before they can release a second album.
The "stars" who have become famous, and those who are a little famous, have to pass the test in the millions.
For example, Cui Jian’s album last year failed because it did not sell enough 600,000 yuan. But with just a few hundred thousand sales, it would still be a best-selling album in Japan, and it would definitely make a lot of money for the publishing company.
For example, Zhang Qiang’s first album in China has an initial sales of 2 million, which can be called double platinum, which is really nothing in China.
At the beginning, Ning Weimin was suffering from insufficient funds, so he focused on stability and set this relatively conservative number.
After several additional issuances, Zhang Qiang’s first album has been sold for 3.5 million, but the full market potential has still not been explored.
Based on the actual market demand, it should at least be able to catch up with Wang Jieshi and Xie Lisi, and sales of five million will not be a problem.
If such achievements are to be placed in contemporary Japan, it would have to be said that Japan has finally given birth to a peerless singer who dominates the music scene.
Not to mention that it is unprecedented, it is also unprecedented.
So when he really learned the inside story, Ning Weimin was overjoyed.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what he had done was really beautiful and the price-performance ratio was too high.
That means you can engage in music smuggling openly and even legally.
Yes, this is the way to go. From now on, he will produce albums in Japan, record master tapes, and return to China for mass production.
Low price, high-end quality.
How could it be the turn of those Hong Kong cowards and Canadians who are chasing little Japanese ass as their apprentices and come to the mainland to rip them off!
He remembered that in the original history, Cui Jian's "Rock and Roll on the New Long March" was jointly created by several domestic audio-visual publishing houses and a record company in Hong Kong City in 1989 and recorded in Hong Kong City. .
It is said that the production cost is as high as one million, and all it can play is a set of 24-track equipment.
Looking at it now, isn’t this a ridiculous deal?
This price is too much, Hong Kong is really brave.
To report expenses like this is simply to treat mainlanders as amateurs.
Are you annoyed or not?
Hateful or not?
In addition, Matsumoto Keiko also gave Ning Weimin a clear clue about how to contact the hospital for Qu Xiao’s mother.
Matsumoto Keiko probably appointed people from her own office to handle this matter, because she could never accomplish it on her own.
During this period, Ning Weimin frequently checked the Yellow Pages and made phone calls, but also encountered obstacles. He still did not understand what the problem was.
Thanks to Matsumoto Keiko, he figured out what was going on.
The medical system in Japan is very different from that in China.
Japan’s medical care adopts three types of medical systems: national, public and private.
The country has comprehensive national medical and research institutions, and local governments set up public hospitals.
Then the largest number are private hospitals located throughout the country, especially in communities, most of which are specialty clinics.
The entire Japanese society is to go to a clinic near your home for minor illnesses, that is, a private hospital.
The clinic feels that your disease requires further detailed examination or surgery, then the doctor at the clinic will give you a letter of introduction and then you can go to a large hospital for treatment and surgery.
And unlike in China, the doctors in these small clinics are quite professional.
Many private hospitals and clinics such as internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and surgery have been passed down from generation to generation, and most of the deans are doctors of medicine.
Moreover, doctors in non-state hospitals in Japan are allowed to work part-time, so the specialists in many clinics are famous medical experts and medical professors, rather than interns who have just graduated from medical universities.
So to put it bluntly, in Japan, serious medical treatment is not something you can do just by asking. It has nothing to do with money. You must first have a letter of introduction.
Then make an appointment with a large hospital with a letter of introduction before you can go to a large hospital for consultation. This is the normal procedure.
Matsumoto Keiko has already said hello to the director of a private hospital, and is willing to conduct an initial diagnosis for Qu Xiao’s mother and issue a letter of introduction for her.
If surgery is really necessary, there is a certain degree of certainty that she can make an appointment with well-known surgeons and experts from specialized hospitals to perform the surgery.
So what Ning Weimin has to do now is to pick people up from the capital.
In addition to the cost of treatment, there is an additional financial expense, which is to hire a professional medical translator who is proficient in Chinese to accompany him throughout the diagnosis and treatment process.
This is also a mandatory requirement of the government. In order to avoid disputes caused by language issues when foreigners see a doctor, such a translator is needed to ensure communication between doctors and patients.
To be honest, if it weren't for Keiko Matsumoto, it would have been almost impossible for Ning Weimin to handle such a trivial matter in such a short period of time.
To put it bluntly, when he agreed, he didn't understand his own situation, and he was a bit ignorant of the sky and the earth.
How can such a life-threatening matter be based solely on good intentions?
It almost delayed him and failed.
It’s okay now. Thanks to Keiko Matsumoto, it’s not too long to wait. We can arrange for Qu Xiao’s family to come over.
If I could really save someone's life, it would definitely be better than building a seven-level pagoda, which would also seal my fate of meeting Qu Xiao.
But this is not the end yet.
Matsumoto Keiko actually took the initiative to ask about the opening time of Dan Gong Restaurant.
Said he was willing to come forward and invite some friends in the industry to support Ning Weimin.
Of course Ning Weimin welcomes it.
Let alone others, people like Atsumi Kiyoshi and Chieko Tojoe are big stars recognized by both China and Japan.
It would be a great honor to invite him.
Moreover, people from the embassy also said that they would come, and they would be surprised and cordial to be accompanied by the Torajiro brother and sister from the movie "The Story of Torajiro".
Not to mention having a movie queen like Matsumoto Keiko to add glory to herself.
The lineup of this literary and artistic friend is no worse than when it first opened in China.
In short, Ning Weimin saw in his eyes and remembered Matsumoto Keiko's dedicated efforts, and was deeply grateful.
The happy news is, "Holding my hand, what else can I ask for?"
The sad thing is that friendship is priceless and I feel ashamed.
He really doesn’t know how to repay such love.
(End of this chapter)