HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 453 [453] No, buddy, do you own the Spring Festival Gala?
February 11, 2002, Lunar New Year's Eve, one of the grandest traditional festivals in China.

At the beginning of the century, the Spring Festival was still quite festive, with most migrant workers returning to their hometowns to reunite with their families.

Huang Yucheng, an ordinary working man, was no exception.

However, his situation this year is a bit special. He didn't go back to his own home, but went to his girlfriend's hometown to meet her parents and spend the Chinese New Year there.

On his first visit, he brought some fine cigarettes and tea, as well as two bottles of Wuliangye liquor endorsed by Qi Yuan.

Speaking of this, Huang Yucheng felt a pang of regret, as the price of Wuliangye had risen considerably in the two years since Qi Yuan became its spokesperson.

Fortunately, his girlfriend's family approves of him, thinking he's a tall and handsome young man.

If all goes well, we'll soon be able to move on to discussing marriage.

There is happiness, and there is bound to be boredom.

He was unfamiliar with the area in his girlfriend's hometown, and without her to guide him, he could only stay at her house watching TV. He couldn't connect with the older generation in her family due to the age difference, and he wanted to play "Legend of Mir" but couldn't find an internet cafe.

It's not that he can't make friends here.

He gets along quite well with his girlfriend's dog, Da Huang.

This is his closest friend in the whole village besides his girlfriend. From baring her teeth at him when they first met, to now grabbing his trouser leg whenever she sees him, it's almost like they're about to burn joss paper and become sworn brothers.

After a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, Huang Yucheng and his girlfriend's family sat in front of the television to watch this year's Spring Festival Gala.

Because of Qi Yuan, Huang Yucheng actually found common ground with his girlfriend's father.

They both agreed that the Spring Festival Gala was getting worse every year, and then they started talking about Qi Yuan.

My girlfriend's father said, "I heard that the young man who sang 'Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales' three years ago is going to be on the Spring Festival Gala again this year. He's a good young man; the newspapers say he's so famous in America that he's making money off Americans. I don't understand why the Spring Festival Gala doesn't invite him every year. He sings much better than those young singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan."

Huang Yucheng and his girlfriend are both fans of Qi Yuan. He usually goes online and knows the situation.

Does that mean the Spring Festival Gala doesn't want to invite Qi Yuan every year? It's because they can't get Qi Yuan to come, okay?

However, he knew the importance of listening more and doing less when visiting someone for the first time, so he simply nodded obediently and waited silently for Qi Yuan to make his appearance.

That year's Spring Festival Gala opened with a song and dance performance titled "Come with Spring," and the hosts included Ni Ping, Zhu Jun, and Zhou Tao.

Then came Song Zuying's performance of the song "The Scenery Here Is Especially Beautiful," and the skit "On Stage and Off Stage" performed by Feng Gong, Guo Donglin, and Lu Ming.

These programs were of very high quality, far superior to the dumpling-making programs of later generations.

The Spring Festival Gala started promptly at 8 p.m., and around 8:30 p.m., the program that Huang Yucheng and countless viewers had been most looking forward to finally began.

A screen appeared on the stage, painted with exquisitely crafted portraits of maids in an antique style.

The camera suddenly cuts from a close-up of the screen to a wide shot, where two rows of women dressed in white and blue traditional costumes are holding traditional Chinese musical instruments such as the pipa, erhu, xiao, bamboo flute, and guzheng on either side of the screen.

The prelude to "Blue and White Porcelain" also quietly began at this time.

Qi Yuan emerged from behind the screen, dressed in a white robe embroidered with ink wash landscape patterns. His dark blue shirt, matching the color of the blue and white porcelain, gave him a dignified and elegant appearance.

It's obvious who the Spring Festival Gala's favorite is.

All the audience members could see how biased the production team was; the costumes designed for Qi Yuan were so beautiful, much better than those of the people who went on stage before her.

However, it's also because Qi Yuan is handsome; good clothes are just the icing on the cake.

With Qi Yuan's face and figure, he'd look good even in a burlap sack. "Hello everyone, I'm Qi Yuan, wishing you all a Happy New Year!"

Qi Yuan greeted the audience at the scene and in front of the television, and the scene erupted in applause, cheers and screams.

These days, the Spring Festival Gala is relatively more flexible.

"The unglazed porcelain is outlined with blue and white brushstrokes, thick at first and then thinning; the peony painted on the vase is like your first makeup; the rising sandalwood incense through the window reveals my unspoken thoughts; the brush on the rice paper stops halfway here..."

As soon as Qi Yuan opened her mouth, all the viewers sitting in front of the TV could tell that she was singing live.

Qi Yuan's singing skills are as solid as ever, her timbre is as roguish as ever, and her pronunciation is very clear.

Huang Yucheng's girlfriend's 78-year-old grandmother praised him, saying, "This young man is so handsome and sings so well."

Qi Yuan's melodious and delicate singing voice and lyrics full of classical charm alone drew rounds of applause from the audience and amazed viewers in front of their televisions.

"The banana leaves outside the curtain attract the sudden rain, the door knocker attracts the verdigris, and I, passing through that Jiangnan town, attracted you. In the ink wash landscape painting, you are hidden in the depths of the ink..."

When Qi Yuan sang this part, the screen on the stage was removed, and two backup dancers pulled up a huge ink wash landscape painting behind Qi Yuan.

As Qi Yuan sang the lyrics, he turned around and tore the landscape painting off with one hand. Huang Yucheng, like countless viewers in front of the television, was completely stunned.

Holy crap! There's another surprise?
The person sitting in the chair is actually Fan Xiaopang?
Fan Xiaopang was wearing a white, fitted cheongsam with lots of blue embroidery, giving it a porcelain-like feel.

With a beaming smile, she stood up and walked forward hand in hand with Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan continued singing, while Fan Xiaopang performed some simple dances. With the guidance of the Spring Festival Gala choreography team, every movement was very graceful.

It was truly a feast for the eyes to see two people with "photo-op killer" traits standing on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

This can be seen from the applause at the Spring Festival Gala, which shows that people highly approve of the good-looking duo of Qi Yuan and Fan Xiaopang.

Of course, actresses like Li Bingbing and her sister, Gao Yuanyuan, Liu Tao, and Asa probably wouldn't agree.

Why weren't they the ones who appeared on the Spring Festival Gala with Qi Yuan?
That damned Fan Xiaopang, she eats all the good food. So what if she has a face that could bring ruin to a country?
The song "Blue and White Porcelain" came to an end.

Fan Xiaopang and his backup dancers all left.

The time allotted for the Spring Festival Gala is precious; not a single second can be wasted.

Especially the time period that Qi Yuan is in is absolutely the golden period within the golden period.

After the opening programs set the stage, the fourth and fifth programs usually bring the peak in viewership.

After the fourth and fifth programs, the audience had been watching for forty or fifty minutes and their attention was no longer as focused.

Therefore, the time slot from 8:30 to 8:40 is the most valuable.

Qi Yuan started singing "Blue and White Porcelain" solo at 8:30, giving the company a lot of prestige.

But soon, something happened that shocked Huang Yucheng and countless viewers across the country.

Fan Xiaopang and his backup dancers disappeared, leaving Qi Yuan standing alone in the center of the stage, showing no intention of leaving.

All the viewers had one question: What is he trying to do?
Qi Yuan raised the microphone, smiled, and said, "Happy New Year! Here's 'Wishing You Prosperity' for everyone! Wishing you all great wealth in the new year!"

This surprise caught the entire nation completely off guard!
Wait, buddy, did you own the Spring Festival Gala? Two songs in a row? And it's a solo performance?

(End of this chapter)