Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At the organizing committee for the Spring Festival Gala.
The executives were thrilled.
"They're laughing, everyone's laughing!"
"The audience's response is very good!"
"What about the online reviews?"
"I've already checked it out. There are only praises!"
"Yeah, everyone is commenting about how funny it is! Hahahaha!"
"This is great! Big Sis Ci and Master Lian have absolutely nailed their performance today. It's even a step above their performance at the first and second dress rehearsals!"
"That's right, these are skit masters we're talking about here."
"They're both battle-hardened actors, the type who'd definitely perform well when they're put in the situation!"
"Director Zhang wasn't wrong to line up this skit at the beginning!"
"That's right! With this skit spearheading the acts, the effect will be great!"
…
In a group chat of the industry.
"Did anyone watch the first skit of the Spring Festival Gala?"
"I watched it."
"Hai, it was amazing."
"Old Ci is going to be on fire after this."
"Yeah, Big Sis Ci might be a regular on the Spring Festival Gala and a big player in the skit industry. She's also highly popular, but that's not the same. Big Sis Ci has never been a main pillar in the field of skits before. She has never had a breakthrough role that left a deep impression on the audience. But this time, it's different. With Zhang Ye's script, coupled with Big Sis Ci and Master Lian's acting, their performance was flawless. Big Sis Ci is going to rise a level after this."
"A good script is super important for a skit actor."
"Yes, Big Sis Ci ought to thank Zhang Ye for this."
"That's right. Such scripts are indeed priceless and to die for!"
"Zhang Ye is so generous to be willing to give it out. Why doesn't he keep it for his own use though?"
"Because he wouldn't be able to act in it. Even if he put on makeup to look older, he doesn't have Master Lian's image. He'd be too tall as well and couldn't bring out the hilarious side of the role."
…
In the production control room.
Little Wang came running in. "Director Zhang, 'Dance If You Like' is now trending at #2! It's only second to Little Hu Die's act! And it's probably going to catch up soon too! It's really popular!"
The staff in the room became excited and thrilled!
It was a good start!
They were off to a good start!
Was this year's Spring Festival Gala really going to experience a breakthrough?
Could it really get revived in their hands?
The production team's staff did not even dare think in that direction!
But Zhang Ye smiled and said nothing.
It hasn't even started yet.
This is only the first skit.
There are still many more headliners and killer acts lined up that hadn't been brought out yet!
The Spring Festival Gala would always aim to be all-inclusive, catering to the old and the young, whether they were men or women. There was no bias, and everyone's interests would have to be taken care of. This first skit Zhang Ye brought out had immediately generated a phenomenal amount of discussion, with many young people laughing like crazy over it. Even a lot of the elderly people liked it as well—all of it was planned by Zhang Ye. He did not just brainlessly replicate those classic acts from his previous world over here. Everything had to be arranged carefully to achieve the effect.
Which acts would be placed at the beginning?
Which ones would come later?
Which ones could be shown?
And which ones would not make the cut?
All of that had to be scrutinized properly.
Because this was a gala that spanned the entire evening and not a standalone show. It had to unite the different levels while paying attention to the quality of the acts and also take into account the overall experience. Of course, the resources he had on hand were also a problem. Some of the acts from Zhang Ye's previous world had characteristics that were too distinctive. Although the acts were good, he couldn't find a suitable person for the performance, so he had to give up on using them.
…
Watching TV.
The entire world's Chinese population was very surprised. They had not thought that this year's Spring Festival Gala would be like this. It was entirely different from what they had imagined!
"I'll tentatively give this year's Spring Festival Gala a score of 90 points!"
"Right, just based on the first few acts alone, I have nothing to complain about!"
"The skit was so amusing. My parents are 70 this year, and neither of them used to watch the Spring Festival Gala, nor liked watching skits either. But today, they were actually tickled."
"My grandparents too, they nearly pissed themselves laughing!"
"My mom is praising Zhang Ye too. She says that this skit was very well-written and reflective of our lives. It connects to the common folk very well and uses a fashionable language to depict the retirement lives of the elderly like them. It hits quite close to home for her."
"The next act is starting."
"Let's keep watching."
"What's coming up next?"
"I'm looking forward to it."
"This year's Spring Festival Gala is quite good so far. Let's see if that will continue or not."
"Yes, if they can keep it up until the end of the show, that would be really awesome."
"That would be too difficult."
"Yeah, the opening was great, but that makes it even harder to handle the later part."
"Surely Zhang Ye did not place the best acts at the beginning, right? There aren't any good acts left?"
"Shouldn't it be time for Old Chen and Old Fan to make their appearance?"
"Aren't the two of them are performing a duet this year?"
"These two are both megastars in the music scene even when standing on their own. But they haven't had any good duets between them, which is quite sad."
There were doubts.
There were concerns.
There was anticipation.
The world's Chinese population turned to stare at their televisions again.
…
On the stage.
The hosts were making some light-hearted conversation.
Hao Hailiang said, "There's a famous paragon couple. Do you two know who I'm referring to?"
Li Chen said, "A famous paragon couple? I know!"
Hao Hailiang said, "Tell us who."
Li Chen said, "It must be Director Zhang and his wife!"
The audience burst into laughter!
Zhang Ye and his wife?
He only just got married!
The SARFT's leaders and staff seated in the audience were also amused by this bootlicking.
Li Yan rolled his eyes and said, "You, that was too obvious. You can't just say that because Director Zhang is the executive director of the gala." Changing his tone, he suddenly said, "Actually, I think so as well. It must be Director Zhang and his wife."
The audience laughed.
"Hahahaha!"
"Hahahaha!"
Hao Hailiang said helplessly, "And who else?"
Li Chen said, "You must mean Chen Guang and Fan Wenli, right?"
Hao Hailiang said with a smile, "They're also here today."
"Oh?" Li Chen smiled. "Then let's listen to their love story."
…
In the production control room.
Zhang Ye had a mysterious expression on his face.
Little Wang asked in concern, "Director Zhang, what's the matter?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "It's nothing, I'm just feeling the pinch."
Little Wang asked in confusion, "What pinch? What do you mean?"
Zhang Ye was, of course, feeling pinched by this song. It had taken a lot out of him to give this song away even though he wasn't going to sing it himself. The real problem was that there was no one for him to sing this song with. He was married, but surely he couldn't get Old Wu to come out and sing this with him, could he? Old Wu also wouldn't agree to that. But even if Zhang Ye could not use this song for himself, it still pained him to give it away to other people. This was because the song was such a classic and so popular with the people in his previous world.
Hai.
He had to sacrifice this all because of the Spring Festival Gala.
Old Chen, Old Fan, if you two mess this up, I'll mess the two of you up!
…
The curtains came up.
The cameras zoomed in for a close-up.
The music also played.
With the effects of the dazzling stage lights, Chen Guang and Fan Wenli were standing at separate ends of the stage. Their costumes, bearing, and the stage design were impeccable!
The audience was stunned.
"Wow!"
"How beautiful!"
The two of them gently raised their microphones.
Chen Guang opened his mouth and sang 1 .
"Here is an old CD for you.
"Have a listen to our love from back then.
"Sometimes it slips my mind
"that I still love you."
Fan Wenli sang.
"I can no longer sing those kinds of songs.
"Just hearing them makes me blush and shy away.
"Though I often forget,
"I'm still in love with you."
The man's voice was full of charm!
The woman's voice carried a sense of etherealness!
Many of the viewers were enchanted!
"Because our love can't be easily hurt,
"Everything is always happy-go-lucky.
"Because our love grew simply,
"I can always be crazy for you.
"Because with love, how can there be sorrow?
"So we are still as we were when we were young.
"Because of the love that exists,
"people are still wandering out there,
"pacing back and forth."
…
Watching TV.
Many Chinese people around the world were also mesmerized by what they were hearing!
"Great song!"
"It's more than that! This song is fantastic!"
"Beautiful!"
"It's like they're filming a music video!"
"This song is so well-written!"
"Heavens, Old Chen and Old Fan finally have such a godly duet to their names!"
"Can it not be such a good song!"
"I love this song too damn much!"
"Yeah, it's only the first time I'm listening to it, but it's really touching!"
The songs had always been the least anticipated acts of the Spring Festival Gala. Everyone still preferred the crosstalks and skits, and even some of the dance and magic acts would occasionally amaze them. But songs were always met with a lukewarm response from the audience. For songs that they'd listened to before, no one would find it interesting and would probably have heard it thousands of times already. For songs that they'd not heard of yet, no one knew if they would like it after just listening to it once. This led to the songs on the Spring Festival Gala to be quite a difficult act to handle. So the executive director of every Spring Festival Gala would always put in some work for these acts by inviting the more well-known singers or by getting more people to boost the lineup for the songs. In the end, they even resorted to inviting Korean celebrities to perform, all for the sake of trying to reverse the unpopularity of such acts and giving the viewers a surprise.
But today, Zhang Ye had given them a lesson.
A quiet and gentle song could also be deafeningly loud!
Before this, no one could have predicted that a duet could wow the audience like this!