"Oh, what a blessed child!"
"A daughter is wonderful, truly wonderful! When she grows up, she’ll definitely be a beauty!"
With the start of the video, an excited voice rang out. Then, the voice faded as background music wove in, growing louder.
The audience below was instantly drawn to this voice. So recognized it at a glance as a clip from a TV drama, while others were curious about the significance behind it.
Then, the scene shifted. The screen still displayed the sa village, only now it had beco much quieter. A lone, white-haired elderly person sat at a doorstep, eyes fixed on the seemingly endless road ahead, as if waiting for soone.
"The old tree by the door sprouts new leaves,"
"In the courtyard, dead wood blossoms anew."
"Half a lifeti of words stored away,"
"Hidden beneath a head full of white hair."
Xu Qingqiu’s voice, which had been brewing for a long ti, suddenly resounded. It was like the background music for the video, yet also as if the protagonist of the video were telling their own story.
But as soon as her voice erged, accompanied by the simple yet story-rich lyrics, it instantly pierced the hearts of everyone present.
Just then, the scene changed again. In the yard, a little girl with pigtails, wearing a floral jacket, was laughing and running endlessly around the wall.
"HAHAHA, co and catch !"
"HEEHEEHEE, you can’t catch , you can’t catch ~"
"Dad, you’re so clumsy, you can’t even catch this!"
"Oh my, Little One runs too fast! Daddy can’t keep up. Let Mommy try to catch you."
...
"Those little feet in mory,"
"That chubby little mouth."
"A lifeti of love given to them,"
"All for that one call of ’Mom’ and ’Dad’."
After the song, it seed as if ti itself sped up. The chasing figures of the family of three instantly froze, becoming an immobile picture.
Then the image began to fade, growing old and mottled. In the blink of an eye, it was covered with the traces of years.
At the sa ti, photo after photo appeared incessantly, like stacked leaves falling.
From full moon photos, to kindergarten, to primary school, to secondary school, to...
The photos chronicled one person’s first half of life and two people’s second half.
It was clearly a matter of over ten years, even decades, yet it seed to pass in a blink, just like the scenes before their eyes.
And what remained, apart from those few photos, were the parents’ wrinkled faces and white hair, and you and I, insignificant in the vast sea of people.
"Where has the ti gone?"
"Barely tasted youth before it aged."
"Raising sons and daughters, a lifeti spent,"
"Mind filled with children’s tears and laughter."
Ti is the cruelest of knives, cutting to the bone without drawing blood.
It had to be said, Xu Qingqiu’s singing was, as if by magic, flawless in tone to begin with. But when she poured all her emotions into it, it resonated most deeply with people.
Paired with the video playing behind her, its impact was devastating.
The originally sowhat restless venue had quieted down by the ti she sang the first verse.
By the chorus, many of the few dozen staff mbers sitting in the audience were already in tears.
Who hadn’t been a child once? Who didn’t have a childhood?
For so, who hadn’t consciously thought about it before, the mont the song began, images of their parents’ aging faces suddenly flooded their minds. They tried to rember how their parents looked when they were young, but they couldn’t recall, no matter how hard they tried. All they rembered was sitting on their father’s shoulders back then—those shoulders so broad, like sitting atop a mountain. But now, they suddenly realized that even that mountain could stoop, that the father who seed so tall in their childhood wasn’t even as tall as they were now.
The mother of their childhood was a goddess who loved beauty; she had all sorts of costics. As a thoughtless child, they had secretly sared on lipstick and worn her huge high heels; their little feet seed lost inside those shoes, as if in a bottomless pit. Lipstick drawn all over their face, vanishing cream sared all over their body... the most vivid mory was of the stinging spanking they received after being caught, yet they couldn’t rember the nas of those costics.
When was it that Mother never wore makeup again? It seems that makeup products haven’t been seen in the house for a long ti. And the high heels—since what year had Mother stopped wearing them?
In their mory, she was most often by the stove, preparing all sorts of their favorite dishes, or sitting in front of the TV, watching those mindless dramas. But wasn’t she once a lively and cheerful girl? She would put on beautiful makeup, invite her best friends to go shopping, follow celebrities, and sing the latest popular songs. So why is it that, when they searched through all their mories, they found only the mundane details of household chores and daily life? Is that really how a mother should be? No, it isn’t! Just as fathers shouldn’t beco n who work all day only to be silent at night, mothers shouldn’t spend their entire days consud by housework, year after year revolving around the kitchen. What was it all for? For this family? To raise them?
They thought about themselves, working in major cities, shuttling every day through high-end office buildings in the busiest districts, drinking coffee, wearing designer brands, keeping up with the world’s latest fashion trends, their vision filled with the glamour of celebrities. It was as if they were standing at the forefront of global fashion, yet they had forgotten their parents, who seed to have been left behind by ti.
In an instant, complex expressions appeared on many faces. So clutched their chests, feeling an oppressive tightness there.
"Mom, Dad, I’m back."
With the song’s end, the video also reached its conclusion.
The young figure pushed open the old door, shouting just as always, but their shouts could no longer reach the people who had once been there day and night.
When the cara turned to the two black-and-white photos hanging on the wall in the room.
When the person in the video knelt, choking back sobs and calling out for their parents.
Every single person in the audience, without exception, broke down in tears.
"Damn it!"
So cursed out loud, frantically wiping away tears, but the tears seed to have a mind of their own, streaming down relentlessly.
"This song is incredible, it’s..."
"SOB SOB SOB, I haven’t been ho for a year..."
"Isn’t this just a show? Why are they twisting the knife like this, damn..."
Unlike the unrestrained emotional expressions of the younger people, the older ones were mostly silent, just shedding tears quietly.
Zhao Fengsheng took off his glasses and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He looked at Xu Qingqiu, still standing on the stage, then hurriedly put his glasses back on and applauded vigorously.
"Great! That was fantastic! This act is a lock! We must have this song!"
After saying this, he turned to everyone present and said with a smile, "No one has any objections, right? Or any different thoughts?"
Normally, even as the director, he would usually discuss which act to choose with the team. Of course, if he really set his heart on one, it wouldn’t be a problem; as the chief director, who could say otherwise? Moreover, now that Zhao Fengsheng had spoken, there was even less chance of opposition.
The key point was, nobody wanted to object to this act in the first place.
"I agree, this act is too good!"
"Director Zhao, this act is like a bomb, especially for the Spring Festival Gala. I’m afraid the entire nation will be in tears."
"That’s precisely the effect we want from this ’bomb’! Young people these days like to venture out and forge their own paths. Whatever paths they take is fine, but they shouldn’t forget their parents."
"The Lunar New Year is a ti for family reunions. This song could evoke so warmth, and if it inspires them to honor their parents during the holiday, then our program will have truly served its purpose!"
Once the key figures agreed, the others had little to say.
But it had to be admitted, the song truly deserved such recognition.
The song itself was good enough, but damn, that video—whoever made it—was an absolutely perfect match for the lyrics. It really was a tearjerker bomb.
"Co here, Xu, don’t rush off. Let’s have a good chat. Don’t worry, your act is a go. Unless sothing completely unexpected happens, I guarantee it’ll be in the Spring Festival Gala!"
Zhao Fengsheng was all in. Mainly because he loved the song so much, he didn’t even bother with appearances and boldly guaranteed its inclusion then and there.
Only Xu Qingqiu on the stage was at a loss.
Just by singing a song once, it was decided? After the lukewarm responses she had received before, she thought her chances were slim. So why such a drastic change?
The truth was, it wasn’t so much a drastic change in attitude as it was the sheer power of the performance. Damn, it had moved an entire room to tears! If they didn’t approve it after that, finding a plausible excuse would be incredibly difficult.
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