Chapter 216: Appreciated by Both the Refined and the Popular

Although Miss Luo Quan's improvement in singing technique was primarily due to the System, she had not been without effort behind the scenes. Thus, even though she hadn't managed to draw an Attribute Enhancement Card, her singing had improved significantly compared to half a year ago.

It was just that no qualitative leap from S+ to SS- had occurred.

Once any attribute reaches S, every level gained thereafter represents two completely different concepts. Unfortunately, Miss Luo Quan likely couldn't raise her singing level in the short term.

However, for the vast majority of people, S+ singing ability is already top-tier. In China, it is basically equivalent to the level of a quasi-national team member. Coupled with Miss Luo Quan's top-notch vocal conditions and her "Iron Lung" specialty, she could handle certain songs with effects even better than some national team singers.

For instance, the song she was singing now, "Time to Say Goodbye"—while no Bilibili singing-up-master dared to attempt it, many domestic masters of pop and bel canto had long since begun practicing it.

Some songs are destined to become classics the moment they are released. It is foreseeable that in the near future, the chances of "Time to Say Goodbye" appearing on various galas on CCTV or local stations will certainly not be few.

Since these singers are frequent guests at such galas, it is understandable that they would want to learn it.

However, judging from the practice clips released by many singers so far, none of them have that "flavor" that Miss Luo Quan possesses.

Perhaps it is because the time has been too short; in any case, no cover has yet appeared that can surpass the original.

Listening to the original singer perform "Time to Say Goodbye" live is an experience no less than attending one of Miss Luo Quan's solo concerts, and a luxury version in a professional concert hall at that.

As the song ended, everyone from the examinees to the examiners praised Miss Luo Quan's perfect performance and broke into applause.

The examinees finally understood where Miss Luo Quan's nickname, "The Walking Record," came from. The pitch and intonation of this live performance were exactly the same as on the record, and perhaps even more pleasant to the ear!

As for the examiners, this was not a tense, serious exam at all, but a form of enjoyment—enjoying Miss Luo Quan's heavenly voice.

After it was over, Miss Luo Quan unsurprisingly received a perfect score, once again securing the first-place spot in the second round of the art exam in advance.

However, after the exam, as Miss Luo Quan prepared to leave, she was called over by Dean Zheng, who asked her to sit in the exam room for a while as a few people wanted to see her.

Since it was Dean Zheng's request, Miss Luo Quan certainly couldn't refuse, so she returned to her previous seat, took out her phone, and started playing with it on her own.

Although playing with phones is not allowed in the exam room, honor students always enjoy privileges. Moreover, for a super-honor student like Miss Luo Quan, even if she were caught, the examiners would turn a blind eye.

As for the other examinees, while marveling at Miss Luo Quan's brilliant performance, they were also relieved that she hadn't sung the song they were about to perform, preventing the exam room from becoming a scene of public execution.

Although Miss Luo Quan didn't keep count, at least five of the examinees who went up afterward still sang "Listen." As for how they sang, she didn't pay much attention; in any case, none of them sang as well as she did.

Of course, the music academy is large, and not all students participating in the exam were applying for the Vocal Music Department; there were many from other departments, though the competition wasn't as fierce as in the Vocal Music Department.

In fact, aside from the Vocal Music Department, there weren't many applicants for other departments, especially the Conducting Department. Because of Lin Zheyuan, Miss Luo Quan had specifically paid attention to the applicants for this department, but after staring for a long time, there seemed to be only two.

Miss Luo Quan couldn't tell how their skill levels were, but their scores were quite high. It was probably because there were too few applicants; if the scores were marked lower and a few more were cut, a department might not even be able to assemble a five-person team for a League of Legends internet cafe session.

After the second round of the art exam concluded, the enrollment situation for this year was basically settled.

This is an exam that determines whether one stays or leaves; if you can create a gap between yourself and others, you stay, but if others create a gap between themselves and you, you can only wait for the next year.

As for the third exam, it is basically just a formality, and the focus needs to be placed on the college entrance exam.

After the exam ended, the examinees experienced a mix of joy and sorrow; some were high-spirited and proud, while others were listless and dejected. Miss Luo Quan watched this panorama of life in the exam room quietly, as if everything had nothing to do with her.

After most of the examinees had left, Miss Luo Quan stood up and walked toward the stage, where Dean Zheng and two of the examiners remained.

"Dean Zheng, may I ask what you wanted to see me for?" Miss Luo Quan asked respectfully.

"Let me introduce you first. This is the Department Head and Professor of the Composition Department, Wang Zhujun," Dean Zheng said to a middle-aged man of about forty who sported a small mustache and a ponytail.

He looked very artistic, truly like someone involved in the arts.

"Hello, Professor Wang." Miss Luo Quan nodded in greeting.

Dean Zheng continued: "Don't let his age fool you; although Professor Wang is only thirty-six this year, the music he has composed has already won many major awards both domestically and internationally. He is also one of the few Chinese musicians to have won a Grammy."

Hearing Dean Zheng's introduction, Wang Zhujun laughed: "Those achievements aren't much compared to Miss Luo Quan. This year, Miss Luo Quan is set to sweep most of the major Grammy awards."

"Professor Wang, you are too modest." Miss Luo Quan's attitude showed no trace of arrogance or neglect; she had great respect for these musicians who worked silently:

"In the pursuit of truth, there is no distinction between first and last; in the arts, one specializes in one's own field. Since you have achieved success both domestically and internationally, you have already proven your talent. As a junior, I still have much to learn from you."

Dean Zheng applauded: "Well said! If all the singers in China had your mindset, they wouldn't have failed to write a few decent songs for so many years, nor would they have held foreign songs and awards in such high regard."

Professor Wang sighed: "In the current music circle, both those inside and outside are too impetuous. There are very few who are willing to calm down and seriously make music. Too many just think about applying those melodies already tested by the market, filling them with nonsensical lyrics, and then making a quick buck.

What's even more pathetic is that the market actually eats this up, just like that hit song on the major music charts recently, called... what was it called again?"

"'Drunkenly Pairing the Beauty,'" Miss Luo Quan, who had just happened to glance at the Tencent Music hit chart yesterday, blurted out.

Originally, she thought the charts should have been dominated by her songs; whenever she was bored and looked at these charts, she always felt a sense of pride, like "standing at the very peak."

However, yesterday, a song suddenly rose to prominence called "Drunkenly Pairing the Beauty," and its popularity was far higher than any of Miss Luo Quan's songs from any period.

Miss Luo Quan listened to it and felt that life was truly strange. Condensing a novel's plot into a jingle, adding a high-energy DJ background track, and it could easily garner over five or six hundred million views—this was something she had never imagined.

But it truly existed, and looking at it this morning, the views had already exceeded one billion. Various live streaming platforms, music platforms, and short video platforms were flooded with a large number of covers or imitators; it was practically a nationwide participation.

"Yes, that's the song. It's simply vulgar beyond endurance!" Professor Wang's expression was filled with sorrow for their misfortune and anger at their lack of ambition:

"In my view, this kind of thing doesn't deserve to be called music at all. There is no melody, only repetitive rhythms and nonsensical lyrics. What difference is there between this and 'Shuulibao' or 'Lianhualuo' (folk storytelling/singing)?

The people who chase after these things are truly outrageous. With so much high-quality music available domestically and internationally, how could they come to like this kind of stuff?!"

Although Miss Luo Quan didn't like this kind of "music" either, Professor Wang's remarks were actually a bit extreme. She said cautiously: "Actually, I think that although this song 'Drunkenly Pairing the Beauty' has no artistic value, since it appeared and became popular, it still has its significance."

Hearing this, Professor Wang showed an expression of extreme shock: "You don't mean to say that existence is reasonable, do you?"

Last night, after listening to this song, he had angrily denounced its author and singer on Weibo, feeling that they were dragging Chinese music, which was already standing still, into a desperate retreat.

However, this Weibo post didn't resonate much; instead, he was criticized by the vast majority of netizens, and the term netizens used most was this "existence is reasonable."

Miss Luo Quan paused for a moment, thought carefully, and then said: "It's not that it can't be used."

Professor Wang shook his head, suppressing his anger: "But in my view, the existence of this kind of thing is completely irrational, so where is the reason or unreasonableness? This is just a universal excuse for those people."

Miss Luo Quan continued in a gentle tone: "'Existence is reasonable' is Hegel's argument, which belongs to the viewpoint of idealism. Its original meaning is that the appearance of a thing has its reasons, but whether the thing itself is right or wrong is unknown.

The appearance of the song 'Drunkenly Pairing the Beauty' shows that the general public likes this kind of work, which perhaps cannot even be called proper music. Perhaps it is not a good thing or a good phenomenon, but its appearance is indeed rational."

"As for what you call 'vulgar beyond endurance,' you don't actually need to be so extreme."

"In fact, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen probably only account for 0.33% of the country's total area. Adding the new first-tier cities, they only account for 3% of the country's total area."

"In the remaining 97% of the land, there are about 300 prefecture-level cities, 3,000 counties, 40,000 towns, and 660,000 villages. About 84% of the country's population consumes and grows here."

"What you think is 'vulgar beyond endurance' is actually half of China."

"Not everyone can possess good musical appreciation skills, and not everyone can like high-brow art. Sometimes, the so-called 'earthy' music of the common people can actually capture the hearts of the general public more effectively."

"And I have always believed that as a music creator, one should never be detached from the masses when creating. Popular things may not all be good, and niche things are not necessarily all good."

"Only by being appreciated by both the refined and the popular is the best music in my mind."

"Well said!" Dean Zheng took the lead in applauding. "These words of yours have exhausted the true meaning of artistic creation and also pointed out the current status of the Chinese music audience."

"Although the situation is grim, it can also spur us to move forward."

Dean Zheng praised her highly, while Professor Wang was dumbfounded. He didn't expect Miss Luo Quan, being so young, to be not only overflowing with talent but also to have such profound personal insights in this regard.

It was reasonable and well-founded; it was hard not to be convinced.

Professor Wang sighed deeply: "Truly, the younger generation is to be feared. I was indeed extreme in this matter. Refinement and vulgarity have never been opposites; they can coexist!"

Miss Luo Quan nodded: "That is true, but to be fair, the fewer songs like 'Drunkenly Pairing the Beauty' in the future, the better."

Several professors laughed out loud.

Miss Luo Quan was also laughing, but she was muttering in her heart.

Don't look at how she said one thing after another about being appreciated by both the refined and the popular, high-brow art and low-brow art—whether she actually thought that way in her heart was another matter entirely.

If one were to ask who the most popular singers or groups were in the twenty years around the new century in China, perhaps everyone would have different answers.

For example, the Mandopop King Jay Chou, or the comedian and hotpot restaurant owner Qian Ge, or the group of original singers who dominated the new era of the internet.

There have been too many popular singers, and singers who have been popular... mentioning anyone might lead to disagreement... except for the Phoenix Legend.

This group, which emerged from the "Star Avenue" show, is the true King of Pop in the Chinese music scene.

The popularity of this group's songs is so widespread that it could apply for a Guinness World Record. Almost every night in every square, and on every mobile phone ringtone, one could hear this group's songs.

If Miss Luo Quan had been willing to take these songs out and sing them earlier, not to mention sales, her national popularity could have risen by at least two levels!

At least!

However, Miss Luo Quan never once had the thought of singing these songs.

Despite all the high-sounding rhetoric, in her heart, she still found these songs vulgar.

But there was no help for it; if one wants to be liked by the general public, it certainly has to be a bit more vulgar.

Rap is so popular in the United States now, but aren't the lyrics just about big gold chains, beautiful women, and sports cars? It's not that elegant either.

Anyway, Miss Luo Quan couldn't sing a song like "Drunkenly Pairing the Beauty"; she would get goosebumps just by looking at the lyrics for a few seconds.

Although this song was indeed the most popular song in China at the moment, its popularity and discussion volume had already far exceeded "Time to Say Goodbye."

After Professor Wang finished his introduction, Dean Zheng continued to introduce the other examiner who had stayed behind: "This is our academy's professor of bel canto, Zhao Ying, a national first-class singer, and also a world-class coloratura soprano!"

"Hello, Professor Zhao," Miss Luo Quan said respectfully.

This Professor Zhao looked a bit older than Professor Wang; her figure appeared somewhat plump, and she was likely around forty-five, with a beaming smile.

Zhao Ying smiled: "You sang that 'Time to Say Goodbye' very well just now, and your vocal talent is extremely high-pitched. Have you ever thought about pursuing advanced studies in the bel canto major?"

This question really stumped Miss Luo Quan. ===== CHAPTER 217 =====