Chapter Ninety-One: Choir

Although Lu Zhixuan and Tian Le made one blunder after another later on in the game, Team Tian Le ultimately claimed victory thanks to the outstanding performance of Lin Qihua and Gu Yuhan, winning the competition as a whole.

As the winners, they received gifts from the sponsor, as was only proper. The audience was thoroughly delighted, especially by the moments when Lin Qihua and Gu Yuhan performed together. A handsome man and a beautiful woman, both brimming with talent—the scene was almost too lovely to behold, leaving the fans reluctant to let it end.

"Today, my biggest gain was successfully riding the wave of popularity," Lin Qihua said frankly in his acceptance remarks. "Among everyone onstage, I was the least well-known, but standing beside our goddess, my visibility shot straight up. I gained a lot."

"My greatest feeling is this," Lu Zhixuan said sorrowfully. "The goddess is clearly in our team, and yet even with the moon right beside the riverbank, we still can’t reach it. How tragic. Lin Qihua, just wait. Next week, I’m going to take my revenge on stage."

"Should I be flattered by that threat? Does that mean you really see me as an opponent?" Lin Qihua asked in return.

"Who would dare not treat you as an opponent now? If they did, the end would be miserable, wouldn’t it? I certainly don’t want to be eliminated this soon," Lu Zhixuan said with mock pride.

"Heh."

"All right," Tian Le said, smoothing things over. "Thank you all for watching today’s program. For the finale, let us invite the newly formed boy band to perform their debut song. Please welcome them with applause."

Aside from Lu Zhixuan and Lin Qihua, the others moved to the side of the stage. The two exchanged a smile, picked up the guitars waiting at the edge of the stage, slung them over their shoulders, and began to play.

Lu Zhixuan sang first:

"That is the one I long for day and night,
the one I love with all my heart.
How am I supposed to say it?
Will she accept me?"

Lin Qihua smiled faintly and then continued:

"Maybe I’ll never say those words to her.
I’m destined to roam the world,
so how can I have any attachments?
Dreams are always just out of reach—
should I simply give up?"

"Is he singing about me?" Zhao Wanting stared at Lin Qihua as he sang and played, her expression slightly dazed. It seemed to summon the bitterness and pain she had felt when she first entered the training camp. It had been hard, so hard, yet with his support and encouragement, she had somehow never felt the suffering at all; instead, every day had overflowed with energy, with the expectation of debuting with excellent results and becoming a great star.

That had been the promise, yet just as they were about to debut, fate played a cruel joke on them. No matter how beautiful a vow might be, it could not withstand the force of reality. From then on, they went their separate ways. She had thought they would never meet again, so why were they standing face to face on this stage once more? She had thought she would not cry, so why did the corners of her eyes grow damp?

"Youth is like a surging river, gone without return, too late even for farewell. All that remains is the numbness in me, bereft of the passion I once had."

In an instant, youth was gone. After tasting the bitterness and sweetness, the joys and sorrows of the world, the original spirit had been worn away, and the dreams once held were lost. Childhood companions had long since fallen out of contact; no one knew where they were scattered now. The person once deeply loved had gradually blurred into forgetfulness. As time passed and the protagonist’s years slipped away, after all the vicissitudes endured, looking upon the world as it is now and seeing how everything has changed, he could only turn back to the past and cry out in lament.

At first, the audience had been watching merely for entertainment, but gradually they were drawn in by the singing. Slowly, it seemed the voices of the two performers stirred memories hidden deep in their hearts. They remembered the girl they had once been too afraid to confess to, the youth already gone, and those foolish years spent chasing dreams before finally abandoning useless struggle to accept reality and settle into steady work, marriage, and children. Dreams—what were those, anyway? Could you eat them?

And yet, why did the mere thought of them always bring a faint ache? Why did the sight of the two men onstage fill them with envy?

"If tomorrow comes, may you be blessed, my dear."

The harmonized voices of the two gradually faded away, like every unrealized dream belonging to everyone there, destined at last to vanish.

"That was sung beautifully," Tian Le said as he stepped forward to applaud. "It reminded us of so many things."

"I’ve discovered that Teacher Tian is crying," Lu Mingjie reported.

"Crying means the song succeeded," Lu Zhixuan said with a slight nasal tone. "Honestly, I was moved too. When Qihua brought up this plan, I thought we’d just have some fun together. I never expected that as I sang, I would start wanting to cry myself. I almost lost control toward the end."

"Because everyone has dreams, whether they come true or not," Lin Qihua said with a smile. "In truth, dreams are like classics—they never fade with time; if anything, they become more precious. I dedicate this song to everyone who has ever had a dream, to everyone who has ever pursued one. Whether successful or not, it will always remain a memory in our hearts."

"Well said," Tian Le said, laughing as he clapped his hands. "Yes, whether successful or not, it will always remain a memory in our hearts. When we sit quietly and look back, when we examine the roads we once traveled and the times we chased our dreams, we realize that even if it seems foolish, it is still a memory we treasure beyond measure."

"So I really admire Qihua. Every song he writes seems to strike right at people’s tear ducts and move them without warning," Lu Zhixuan said with feeling. "That’s an astonishing ability—one might call it master-level creative talent. Sometimes I really want to crack his head open just to see how his brain is wired."

"Indeed. Every one of Qihua’s songs is deeply moving," Tian Le said with a smile, then turned to Gu Yuhan and the others. "What does everyone think of their performance?"

Xu Weifeng was the first to praise it. "A song full of feeling."

"Very beautiful," Zhao Wanting said. Her emotions were somewhat complicated, though she showed none of it on her face. "The song is good, and the singing is good too."

"Yes, it really is. I’m impressed," Jia Peng echoed.

"It’s a little sad. I’m not sure why, and I don’t really understand what it means," Gu Yuhan said with a frown. "But it’s definitely a good song. I saw quite a few people in the audience wiping away tears, which means it really resonated with them. A song the audience likes is a good song."

"Haha, a song like this, you need us middle-aged uncles to sing and hear it before you can truly understand its meaning," Lu Zhixuan laughed. "A young girl like you, how could you possibly grasp all the layers it contains? Still, what you said is very good indeed. A song the audience likes is a good song—that goes straight to the heart."

Lin Qihua also smiled in agreement. Gu Yuhan had not offered empty praise; instead, she clearly stated both her feelings and her objective assessment, and that made Lin Qihua quite fond of her. She really was an unusual girl.