Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

The high-pitched suona sound reached its peak and then abruptly stopped.

The entire venue fell into dead silence.

Not a single one of the five hundred members of the jury spoke.

The deep-seated sorrow overwhelmed the earlier horror.

The living deserve the dead.

At the tender age of youth, she donned a bright red wedding dress and a red veil, yet she bowed before a cold, wooden memorial tablet.

Ignorant, absurd, hopeless.

This is the blood and tears etched into the old era of China.

The audience fell silent, a faint sadness welling up from the bottom of their hearts.

If the initial sound of the suona was somewhat frightening, the final suona, accompanied by festive music, evoked a profound sense of sorrow.

All these sensory experiences made the audience feel as if they were in the hall, witnessing this terrifying ceremony firsthand.

After a few seconds of pause, the chat in the live stream resumed scrolling.

The pace was much slower than before, and only a handful of people were expressing their feelings.

"The moment the suona came out, I knew this song was extraordinary!"

"Amazing! Shen Nian's rendition of this song was absolutely perfect!"

"It's the middle of the night, and I'm home alone. My legs are about to give way!"

"I was scared at first, but by the end, all I felt was want to cry."

"This is the old society that cannibalize people, and Shen Nian sang out that sense of powerlessness."

Front row of the jury.

An elderly music critic with a full head of white hair took off his reading glasses.

He took out a handkerchief, wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes, and sighed deeply.

Their generation is closer to that era and has heard more folk tales.

Only the older generation truly understands this old Chinese culture; it's a kind of helpless sorrow.

"What a tragedy," the old man muttered under his breath, leaning back in his chair, unable to calm down for a long time.

The overhead lights lit up one by one.

The studio was lit again.

Shen Nian stood in the center of the stage, her bright red wedding dress dazzlingly red under the lights.

She kept her head slightly lowered, her chest heaving, still caught up in her emotions.

Teacher He walked up from the side of the stage, holding a microphone, looking at the audience below.

"This song..." Teacher He paused, his eyes slightly red, "...has a very strong aftereffect."

He did not immediately ask for applause.

The scene was silent for a full ten seconds.

The applause started from the corner, then spread out and eventually lifted the roof off the entire venue.

Teacher He looked towards the mentors' seat.

"Please welcome our three mentors to give their comments."

Jay Chou was the first to pick up the microphone.

He stood up and looked at Shen Nian on the stage.

"Technically, it's impeccable."

"Many singers have tried combining traditional opera singing with pop singing styles, but it often sounds awkward. You, however, have handled it very smoothly."

"The whispers in the verses and the explosive power in the chorus, the seamless switching between true and falsetto voices—you sang the process of a girl driven to despair, from resignation to madness, with distinct layers."

Jay Chou put down the microphone, clapped twice, and sat back down in his chair.

Tang Yingxue picked up the microphone. She was wearing a white suit today and leaned back in her chair.

I'd like to talk about the lyrics.

"The 18th day of the first lunar month is an auspicious day." However, according to the old Chinese calendar, the 18th day of the first lunar month is an inauspicious day for weddings. The very first line of the lyrics reveals the absurdity of the situation.

Tang Yingxue took a deep breath, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

"Every word is written in tears. The wedding dress you wore today, paired with these lyrics, perfectly captures the theme of 'sorrow'."

Peter Chan pushed up his glasses. He didn't look at Shen Nian, but instead looked towards the side of the screen.

"I can only describe the arrangement of this song in four words—a complete annihilation."

The audience erupted in uproar. Peter Chan is a top-notch producer who usually speaks conservatively and rarely uses such extreme language.

"Thomas did a great job with Zhang Yihan's arrangement just now. He used low-frequency synthesizers to create a sense of pressure, which was very sophisticated."

"But 'Double Happiness' is different."

Peter Chan opened the documents in his hand.

"Erhu, Pipa, Guqin, Bangzi, Tanggu. These are all folk musical instruments of our Chinese nation."

"Especially that suona."

"Great joy and great sorrow are all contained in a single suona. Western electronic synthesizers are far too simplistic in the face of the suona."

He looked at Shen Nian.

"Please pass on a message to Jiang Fan for me. This song has brought back the soul of Chinese folk music."

After finishing speaking, Peter Chan gently placed the microphone on the table.

Teacher He walked to the center of the stage.

"Thank you for your feedback, mentors."

He paused for a moment, letting the echo of the word "comment" completely dissipate in the venue.

"Next—"

"We've entered the first round of voting for the semifinals."

Teacher He raised his cue cards and announced, "The voting channel is now officially open! Members of the jury, please pick up your voting devices."

"One vote per person. Please cast your vote for the performance of the theme of 'tragedy' that moved you the most tonight."

As soon as he finished speaking, the large screens on both sides of the stage suddenly switched.

On the left is a side profile of Zhang Yihan frozen on stage, wearing a black dress, smoky makeup, and with her eyelids lowered.

On the right is Shen Nian, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, her dress stained with blood, her eyes empty and desolate.

The two images side by side, one black and one red, create a peak visual impact.

"Please welcome Zhang Yihan back to the stage."

The side curtain is drawn back.

Zhang Yihan lifted her skirt and walked step by step onto the stage.

She was still wearing the black dress that was specially made to match the "melancholy" style, and her smoky makeup made her look a little tired under the lights.

The two stood in the center of the stage.

Zhang Yihan turned her head and looked at Shen Nian beside her.

At this moment, Shen Nian has not yet completely emerged from the music.

The redness around her eyes hadn't faded, and her eyes held a sorrow that was hard to look directly at.

On that bright red wedding dress, a phoenix embroidered with gold thread spread its wings as if about to take flight, but it was firmly nailed to the satin.

Zhang Yihan suddenly shivered.

As she got closer, she could feel the sorrowful atmosphere emanating from Shen Nian.

That was the lingering aftertaste of a song after one had completely dedicated oneself to it.

Zhang Yihan was lost in thought.

She recalled her performance on stage just now.

Thomas taught her how to control her breathing, how to use breathy sounds, and how to use facial expressions in conjunction with the lighting.

She did it perfectly.

But what about Shen Nian?

Shen Nian wasn't singing at all. She was just playing the bride who was carried into the grave on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month.

The techniques Thomas taught were utterly worthless in the face of pure emotion.

Zhang Yihan lowered her eyes.

I lost this match.

Backstage lounge.

Zhou Yutong crawled out from the corner of the sofa and patted her chest.

"Brother Fan, this song is absolutely amazing. I didn't even dare to breathe loudly just now."

Jiang Fan leaned back on the sofa and took a sip of water.

"Thomas's stuff might fool laymen. But when it comes to depth, the five thousand years of Chinese culture is far more profound than theirs, even a single hair."

Time passed as the voting went on.

The stage lights seemed to freeze.

Shen Nian lowered her head, counting the phoenix patterns on the hem of her wedding dress.

Finally, Teacher He returned to the center of the stage, holding a card with the results printed on it.

He glanced at it, his face showing an expression of neither surprise nor shock.

"The voting channel for the 1,000-member jury has been closed."

"The votes for both singers have been tallied."

On the large screen, two bar charts suddenly lit up.

No suspense.

The red pillar shot up like a rocket, reaching the very top.

The numbers jumped, then finally settled.

"Shen Nian, 732 votes!"

"Zhang Yihan, 368 votes!"

Absolute crushing defeat.

Never before has there been such a huge gap in votes on this stage.

There was a moment of silence at the scene.

Immediately, a chorus of gasps, more intense than ever before, swept across the entire arena like a tsunami.

The emptiness in Shen Nian's eyes gradually faded, and her pupils refocused.

She looked at the huge red number on the screen, then at Zhang Yihan beside her, who was pale-faced, and finally came back to the world of "Double Happiness".

Teacher He took a deep breath and raised his voice to the highest level.

"Let us—"

Congratulations to Shen Nian for advancing to the finals!