CH 23

The original owner broke into the entertainment circle by accident. He had not received any professional singer training before, so his songs were all very low-difficulty songs, except for one. This was the only slow rock song, no matter the tune or the lyrics, it was very mature.

If the original owner’s other songs are “Forcibly expressing sorrow with words”, then this “Night City” was “I want to say it, but it’s cool in autumn”.

“A street with neon lights, wandering alone.”

As soon as the sound came out, the recording hall seemed to be hit with a stop note, and the scene suddenly fell silent. The special voice was endowed with ‘mature’ qualities, like an adult who had experienced many things and had become mature and restrained.

“Abandoned bicycles, empty wine bottles on street corners, homeless people.”

On one side, Tao Ran clenched the armrest, watching the people on the stage refusing to blink. The host in the audience took a deep breath and showed an expression of disbelief: This was Ke Yinong?

The hoarse and gentle voice was like the sound of a cello heard on a lonely street, or like a glass of cold wine. The audience’s eardrums seemed to be teased by feathers, and goosebumps appeared on their arms. Online and offline, the expressions of the audience were involuntarily serious: they couldn’t insult the seriousness of the singer with those joking and indecent looks.

“The stars are twinkling, in this tragic night, they can’t illuminate the past that never comes back…”

The singer doesn’t deliberately exaggerate sadness, but just lets the loneliness linger as if it doesn’t exist. However, audience members who have had stories before somehow recalled the gray fragments in their memories.

In the city at nightfall, dim street lights, mottled walls, empty beer cans clanging in the silent streets, rolling all the way, and abandoned bicycles left in one place. That was the forgotten corner of the City. Looking up, the stars in the sky and the neon lights in the distance were twinkling together, but the prosperity and excitement had nothing to do with me.

The hearts of the audience were pinched and tightly closed. Who in this era didn’t have their own story? And who had never wandered alone at night?

Lovelorn, unemployed, oppressed by reality to the point of collapse…Memories flooded their minds. No matter how strong a person was, there are moments like this when they want to be alone on a deserted street, facing the dark night and releasing the anguish and unwillingness in their heart.

Even Zhao Ze, who had a deep prejudice against An Yinong in front of the screen, was brought into this deep loneliness. Zhao Ze’s loneliness was even worse. After the freshness of rebirth passed, the loneliness of being drunk all over the world and being awake alone began to cover him. He could not find a confidant in this world, because no one would believe such a thing as rebirth.

He closed his eyes, forgot to care about who was singing, and just quietly listened to the hoarse voice that was just right.

“When the world ends, reconcile with yourself and forgive the past…”

As the chorus started, the audience slowed down their breathing, and the live broadcast screen was blank, without a single message, for fear that one of their own breaths would interrupt the rhythm of the song.

The general manager was standing at the boarding gate at this moment, with a mobile phone in his hand. He had been standing there for a long time. Passengers passed him one by one, and time passed by. The radio had urged him several times, but he was reluctant to turn off his phone.

Passengers walking around, luggage carts going back and forth, everything in the hustle and bustle receded from his world. He thought of the past and seemed to have had a sense of innocence. The general manager looked at the young man on the screen, and many netizens looked at the young man on the screen, and heard him sing the last sentence in a whisper:

“Memories are dim, thoughts are broken, in this lonely night, a night with no one.”

This was a song sung to them.

When they were young, they talked and laughed happily, and felt that nothing was impossible. However, the reality was always cruel. All dreams and ambitions were smoothed by time. The dazzling teenagers were ground into plain middle-aged people. When did people start getting old? Probably…after losing their dream.

An Yinong raised his head, he had already finished singing, but the scene was silent, and even the host forgot to come on stage.

The corners of his eyes were a little red, and everything from the past was still in his heart: “I am still lucky, and I have the opportunity to start all over again.”

An Yinong calmed down, then walked to the front of the stage and bowed deeply: “My name is Ke Yinong, and I am a singer. Thank you everyone for listening to my song.”

The audience woke up like a dream, and the applause was like a tide, surrounding An Yinong, and some people stood up and waved to the people on the stage. 

This was the first time this variety show had such excitement, the director in the audience patted his knees: “We are about to be slapped in the face by a guest this time, that’s great!”

“This is the host I chose, isn’t it amazing!” The system jumped on the stage, its movement was hot as if it was going to break down.

The system finally understood why the host was not willing to buy those instant cheats. In front of his singing, the “King of Songs” produced by the system mall was just a skillful robot! No matter how beautiful the fake flowers were, they were not as vibrant and moving as the real ones.

Tao Ran stared blankly at the stage, he wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with the tissue that An Yinong handed him, and also smiled: “That’s great.”

Even the host was gentle for a while, instead of rushing to the stage, he left the stage to An Yinong, allowing him to feel the enthusiasm of the audience for two more minutes.

The live broadcast room was like an exploding lake. Netizens “resurrected from the dead” once again sent dense bullet screens, which directly covered the screen.

“I actually cried when I heard a song, damn.”

“I lost my job and lost my relationship some time ago. I wanted to find some happiness… Forget it, let’s not talk, I can’t hold back anymore.”

“Such a person, I just think he looks good? No, he is simply shining!”

The host came on stage again, and he wiped his eyes at the audience: “In the past, I was the only one who cried at the guests, but today it was my turn to be sung and cried by the guests.”

The audience let out good-natured laughter, and the atmosphere slowly came out of the feeling of loneliness and sadness just now.

“You know, after we invite a guest, we will carefully read the guest’s work to understand each other, so,” the host Ying Qing asked, “What happened this year? Why did you have such a radical change?”

“Because of an accident, I lost my original voice.” An Yinong said in a hoarse voice, “It took me a year to accept this reality.”

“Why? The voice is very good now.” The host was puzzled.

“No,” An Yinong shook his head, “Many people have sentenced me to death, including myself. I once thought that I would never be able to sing again.”

Everyone remembered the hot search not long ago, “My Show My Way” openly despised ‘Ke Yinong’ as a useless person. Even Lai Qing among the guests said the word “it’s a pity” in a strange way.

Indeed, most of the current pop music world had sweet, indifferent voices, this kind of hoarse voice, which had not been sung yet, and everyone had already said in their hearts, “This kind of voice can’t sing”.

“But you’re still here.” The host couldn’t help guessing what happened to An Yinong.

“Yes, I’m still here, because my dream doesn’t want to die, and my heart doesn’t want to die either.”

Huge applause broke out again at the scene, and they fully understood the emotion in that song. Facing the irretrievable pain of the past, the loneliness abandoned by time, and struggle.

The audience sympathized with him because of the song. They saw the denied Ke Yinong stand on the stage again, as if they saw his repeatedly denied self stand up again. A part of their souls was projected upon this young man.

“Ke Yinong, please keep singing!” A girl’s almost broken voice rang out from the auditorium.

“Ke Yinong, please keep singing!” Countless voices gathered from all directions, making An Yinong on the stage at a loss. On the screen, the corners of his eyes were red, and there was an indescribable sense of vulnerability in that flattered gesture.

He bowed deeply to the audience to the left, right, and center. “Thank you all.”

An Yinong didn’t really want to complain, but the emotion brought by the stories he experienced was the reason why this song could move people. A song with only skills could only make people feel good, but a song with skills and emotional blessing could become a classic.

“I’ve followed this show for three episodes, and this is the first time I’ve seen this kind of show. My tears are worthless, Ke Yinong, you have to keep singing!” Netizens were also infected.

They originally came to watch jokes in the entertainment industry and see how ugly the artists were, but at this moment, these people sincerely wished the best for the young singer on stage.

“It’s said that the music world is cold, but there are still people working hard. Maybe it’s not that the pop music world is hopeless, but that some trash jumps too high, covering our eyes.”

“He is really amazing. He just said one word, but for a whole year, his voice was ruined, he had two surgeries, he was rejected by countless people, and he still refused to give up. It must have been so difficult.”

There were also some media people in the audience, who keenly felt that a new hot search was taking shape. His throat was poisoned by drugs, he fell to the bottom, hibernated for a year, then was reborn from the ashes… There were too many topics to choose from. By the way, there was also the matter of being abandoned by “My Way, My Show” before.

From the media, people’s writing and thinking were like a spring, and they wrote like madmen.

Some people also noticed this special voice: “Originally, this kind of hoarse voice was difficult to be accepted, but Ke Yinong turned this defect into a unique flavor through song selection, which is amazing.”

If one had to use any description, it would be black pepper or other spices. He sang this kind of story, that was, like black pepper on the steak, for mutual achievement. There were also a few people who noticed An Yinong’s singing skills.

“Teacher, come and listen to this song.” A student handed the mobile phone to his tutor and opened the previously recorded video.

“Night City” just started, and his teacher was taken aback: “This vibrato…”

She listened to it twice in a row, and when she was about to listen to it for the third time, the class bell rang. “Can you lend me your phone? I’ll return it to you after class.”

“Of course.” The student said, but he was a little puzzled: Isn’t it convenient to go back and watch the recording?

Unexpectedly, the teacher walked onto the stage with a mobile phone and connected the mobile phone and computer with a data cable: “Today, let’s enjoy a special piece of music.”

“Is he really Ke Yinong?” Zhao Ze looked at the familiar face on the screen and suddenly felt strange. He couldn’t tell what it was, but the momentum was completely different. It was like a sniper gets their gun and the warrior draws their destined sword.

“He seemed to be glowing.”

It didn’t matter whether he was good-looking or not, tall or short. When An Yinong didn’t pick up the microphone, he was just a quiet, ordinary, beautiful young man, but when he picked up the microphone, he instantly became radiant, and one could only see him on the stage, his eyes were firmly attracted, and he couldn’t turn away no matter what.

This was a true star. Inferior props, rough background… Everything was like a dark night, but the darker the night, the brighter the stars. They even feel that every word he sang will tap his chest lightly, breaking through layers of defenses and touching his soft heart.

Zhao Ze, who had never been chasing stars, understood the madness of fans for a moment, but why was it Ke Yinong? In his previous life, Ke Yinong became ordinary and desolate after leaving the entertainment circle, became obedient and would not resist. He stayed at home quietly, like a stray cat, always cautiously worried about being abandoned by the owner.

Zhao Ze had a sense of confusion about where dreams and reality intersect. In the dream, the ordinary man wearing an apron, and the star now in the spotlight on the stage, walked back and forth in Zhao Ze’s brain. Zhao Ze unconsciously opened the contact list in the phone, found the name ‘Ke Yinong’, and closed it in surprise.

“He’s too dazzling.” Yes, it’s all because he is too dazzling, and it was Ke Yinong’s fault.