Chapter 153: The Concert

PS: Thanks to book friends "Sa Tuo Xiao Mian" and "Die Qi Wo" for their tips!

Before one knew it, the date had arrived at March 11th.

Once upon a time, this day had nothing special about it, but starting from 2011, March 11th became a significant date.

On this day in 2011, a magnitude 9.0 mega-earthquake occurred in Japan, the largest in Japanese history and the fourth largest in human history.

This earthquake caused nearly 20,000 casualties and resulted in immeasurable economic losses; it was the greatest natural disaster Japan had faced since World War II.

Every year since then, the entire nation has held solemn mourning on March 11th.

However, the situation this year was slightly different. Japanese society had just weathered the clouds of the 2016 Tokyo mega-earthquake. At that time, when major earthquakes were occurring frequently across various regions of Japan, almost everyone thought Japan was about to sink, and the entire society had fallen into a state of darkness and pessimism.

During that period, countless wealthy Japanese fled abroad with their assets, while ordinary people who lacked the means to leave could only joke on the internet: "Everyone is just waiting to die."

Under the shroud of this immensely solemn atmosphere, only one person's singing continued to encourage everyone not to give up and to hold onto hope for the future.

This person was Luo Quan. Her new song, "Don't Give Up," released in August, became the song that occupied the top of the Oricon charts for the longest time. Its download, streaming, and sharing numbers broke multiple records, and every television and radio station played it intermittently around the clock.

In those days, it was no exaggeration to say that the entire nation was singing "Don't Give Up."

It was precisely because of this song that the Japanese public finally pulled through the gloom and continued to live optimistically and diligently.

The Japanese stock market, which had come to the brink of a circuit breaker several times, also miraculously began to warm up, even reaching its peak for the year.

Before this, countless economic experts had predicted that Japan's second bubble era was about to arrive: first the stock market circuit breaker, then the collapse of debt and housing prices, company bankruptcies, investors jumping to their deaths in despair, mass unemployment, and the national economy regressing by thirty years.

This was basically the consensus of everyone at the time.

However, after the release of "Don't Give Up," it miraculously turned the tide and dragged the collapsing Japanese stock market back to life. This phenomenon was later referred to by many stock traders as the "Springwater Miracle."

Although the Japanese stock market did not continue to rise after warming up, remaining in a half-dead state after a small recovery, at least Japanese society regained a fair amount of vitality.

On the streets, the indifferent Japanese citizens began to smile, strangers on the trains started to communicate, and the relationships between neighbors were no longer as tense as enemies.

These were visible changes. Television stations mentioned more than once: "This is the most harmonious time for Japanese interpersonal relationships since the new century!"

The person responsible for all this might not have been Luo Quan alone, but she was certainly the one who deserved the most credit.

As a foreigner, holding the status of a national idol in Japan was a situation that had never appeared in the history of Japanese entertainment.

It was precisely because of this that the 311 Charity Concert became the most anticipated program in Japan for the first half of 2017.

Before the concert even began broadcasting, there was no telling how many people had long since turned on their televisions and mobile phones, tuning to the channel.

When eight o'clock in the evening arrived and the concert's broadcast appeared on the screens right on time, all the viewers who had been waiting for so long became excited, calling out to their families, and then choosing the most comfortable position to lie down.

There was no opening monologue; the concert started singing directly as soon as it began.

Responsible for warming up the crowd was the currently red-hot Japanese rock band, Super. The song they performed was naturally their signature hit, "Re: make." A passionate performance made the Tokyo Dome and the viewers outside the screens all excited.

Once the song ended, the two hosts walked out amidst the cheers of the audience.

The two first praised the Super band's wonderful performance, then began thanking various sponsors, while also reminding all viewers that the off-site donation channels were open, hoping everyone would contribute according to their means to help rebuild the earthquake-stricken areas.

After finishing these messages that had to be conveyed to the audience, the two hosts chatted for a bit, and then it was time for the second singer to take the stage.

The scale of this charity concert was very large. Almost all first and second-tier singers in the Japanese entertainment industry had come, making it a gathering of big names, with a quality comparable to a certain music program in China back in the day—"The Same Song."

It was just that this charity concert would likely only be held this once, so the level of importance placed on the two could not be mentioned in the same breath.

On stage, the singers were performing with great enthusiasm, while backstage, Luo Quan appeared as calm as still water.

As the absolute protagonist of this concert, Luo Quan became the target of reporters scrambling for interviews as soon as she arrived backstage.

Because the occasion was relatively important today, Luo Quan had, for the first time ever, applied makeup before coming. The dress she wore was a Chanel purple long dress chosen for her by the designer Raphael, highlighting an elegance that was also full of charm.

As soon as Luo Quan, looking like this, walked into the backstage area of the concert, it caused gasps to erupt one after another, followed by a blinding array of camera flashes that made even the incandescent lights pale in comparison. The shutters clicked and clacked, and reporters surged over, wanting to interview Luo Quan.

Miki stepped forward, blocking all the reporters: "Everyone, Luo Quan's task today is to perform. If you all want to interview any gossip, please wait until the press conference in the future."

Ordinary celebrities are usually desperate for reporters to interview them, the more reporters the better, so that they can have more exposure.

Luo Quan, on the other hand, did the exact opposite, not giving the reporters any face at all.

To put it bluntly, with so many big-name stars at the scene, for them all to come and interview you is giving you plenty of face, yet you don't appreciate it at all!

However, these words could only be said in one's heart at most. Luo Quan was currently at the height of her popularity and had plenty of capital to be unconventional. Moreover, as long as she didn't make any errors in principle, she could continue to be this willful, and no one dared to say anything against her.

After dismissing the reporters, the noisy backstage of the concert became much quieter. Luo Quan sat alone in a corner, waiting to take the stage at the final moment.

After sitting for about half an hour, her partner arrived.

Tonight, Jinggong Ya Zuo, like most male singers, was wearing a crisp suit. Although it had no special features, his figure and appearance were both excellent, and paired with the suit, he had quite the temperament of a noble young master. As soon as he appeared, he attracted the gazes of many female stars.

Because of intermarriage, the appearance of the Japanese imperial family had never been very high, until Jinggong Ya Zuo's grandfather, Emperor Akihito, finally broke the tradition of intermarriage and found an Empress who had no blood relationship but had a quite good appearance.

And the appearance of Jinggong Ya Zuo's mother was even more the best among all the crown princesses in history; she simply had the appearance of a top-tier star, and she was also a high-achieving student who had studied abroad in the UK, possessing both talent and beauty.

Jinggong Ya Zuo completely inherited his mother's appearance characteristics; his facial features were soft, but his facial contours were very firm, making him indisputably handsome.

Starting a few years ago, Jinggong Ya Zuo had consistently been ranked among the top of the world's most handsome royal members, and this year he was also selected for the world's 100 most handsome faces.

It was precisely because his son was so handsome that the support rate of Jinggong Ya Zuo's father among the citizens was much higher than that of his own younger brother. If nothing unexpected happened, the next Emperor would be within his grasp.

"You look very beautiful today." Jinggong Ya Zuo brought over a stool and sat down next to Luo Quan. As her partner for tonight, Jinggong Ya Zuo was the only boy besides Miki who dared to sit next to Luo Quan.

Luo Quan smiled: "You're not bad today either, it's just that the suit is too cliché. Your build is suitable for wearing a coat."

"You even have research on men's clothing matching?"

"I saw it in a fashion magazine. Even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen pigs run, right?"

After a bit of awkward chatting, the two started playing with their phones.

Little did they know, ever since Jinggong Ya Zuo sat down next to Luo Quan, many reporters backstage had already turned off their shutter sounds and flashes, secretly starting to take photos and videos.

If one were to ask what gossip news was the hottest in Japan recently, it would inevitably be the story that had to be told between the Goddess of Springwater and His Highness the Crown Prince.

The two were in the same school, the same campus, and the same activity room, seeing each other every day. Now they were even singing the same song at the same concert. You say there's nothing fishy about it? Who would believe that?

In fact, these were all coincidences, but when there are too many coincidences, in the eyes of outsiders, it's not that simple.

Usually, both were at school, and it was basically impossible to take photos of them appearing in the same frame. Now that it was finally so easy to sit so close, how could these reporters let go of this excellent opportunity?

Anyway, film didn't cost money, so naturally, they would take as many as they could.

Once these photos were obtained and processed, and released tomorrow, the performance bonus for this month would all be there!

And Luo Quan and Jinggong Ya Zuo were completely unaware of this.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. When it was time for the second-to-last singer to take the stage, Luo Quan and Jinggong Ya Zuo had already stood up to exercise their bodies, which had become stiff from sitting for a long time, and began to warm up their voices.

After a round of warm-ups, both had adjusted their states to the best.

At the same time, on the concert stage, after the second-to-last singer finished the performance, the host walked to the front of the stage.

"Tonight's performance has finally reached the end. I believe everyone has already enjoyed an ultimate musical feast, but don't relax just yet, because tonight's highlight is about to begin!"

The audience who had seen the concert program list already knew who was about to appear. This was the goal for which most people had bought tickets to come.

Countless fans stood up, applauding and cheering Luo Quan's name. At first, it was relatively chaotic, but in the end, it actually became orderly on its own without any organization.

"Izumi!"

"Izumi!"

"Izumi!"

At the Tokyo Dome stadium, tens of thousands of fans were shouting one person's name in unison. The momentum, like a landslide or a tsunami, seemed as if it were going to tear the entire sky apart!