Chapter 99: Spring Festival Gala

January 31, 2003, lunar twenty-ninth, New Year's Eve.

Thousands of lights glowed, fireworks burst into the sky, and firecrackers crackled in a continuous chorus.

The entire city was immersed in the festive atmosphere.

While everyone else gathered with family, joyfully celebrating the New Year, Cheng Chen had already been waiting backstage at the CCTV Studio for a long time.

The acrobatic act "Hua Die" was currently onstage; normally, Cheng Chen would have watched it closely.

But now he simply had no mood for it.

After "Hua Die" ended, the hosts Ni Ping and Zhu Jun came out to introduce the next segment.

Immediately after, Cheng Chen received his cue to go onstage—crew members had come to guide him to his position.

Cheng Chen took a deep breath, adjusted his breathing, then stepped forward under the crew's hand signals.

Dressed in a Zhongshan Suit, Cheng Chen stepped calmly onto the Spring Festival Gala stage…

…

Xiang Province, Tanzhou.

After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, Yan Danchen's family sat in the living room watching TV.

At that moment, Yan Danchen sat beside his grandmother, peeling a banana for her.

His grandmother was already in her eighties, yet her spirit remained strong, her kind eyes fixed on the television.

"Those acrobats just now were truly impressive."

His grandmother smiled warmly and praised.

"Yes, they must have suffered greatly behind the scenes for this performance."

Yan Ma nodded in agreement.

"One minute on stage, ten years of practice offstage—acrobatics and acting are the same. Our Chenchen works hard every day too; for them, stepping onto the stage means no effort was wasted."

His grandmother patted Yan Danchen's head affectionately.

"Hehe, Mom's right—our Chenchen works hard too. There was a time he memorized lines every day, almost went mad. It's not easy at all."

Yan Ba chuckled.

"Hahaha, isn't there a saying: 'If you're not obsessed, you won't survive'? But our Chenchen mustn't turn into a little madman."

"Grandma, you can't talk about me like that."

Yan Danchen pouted at the elder.

"Hahahaha."

The whole family burst into laughter.

At that moment, the TV hosts appeared to announce the next act; when they introduced Cheng Chen's performance,

Yan Danchen's eyes instantly locked onto the screen.

"The Red Sun Rising in the East ascends, flooding the path with radiant light—how fortunate I am to be born in your embrace.

Carrying one bloodline, sharing hardship and joy, we stand tall with unyielding spine.

Our nation, vast and boundless, thrives with benevolence—a faith unextinguished for a thousand years…"

Dressed in a Zhongshan Suit, Cheng Chen stood tall and upright, exuding an air of noble vigor.

"Oh, whose child is this? So fair and lovely—he's singing opera? It's so beautiful."

As soon as Cheng Chen appeared, his grandmother pointed at the TV and laughed.

"The lyrics are excellent—full of depth—and the singing style is unusual… they've blended opera into it.

I remember now—wasn't this song featured on official media's newspaper recently?"

Yan Ba suddenly realized.

Yan Danchen's eyes remained fixed on the screen, yet spoke:

"Dad, you're right—the official media published that it was him singing this song. He composed the melody, wrote the lyrics, and performed it himself.

He's incredibly talented—less than a year since his debut, he's become a top-tier singer in the Chinese-language music scene.

He once saved a young man who wanted to jump off a building with just one song on a radio show, and he…"

Yan Danchen's beautiful eyes sparkled as he stared at the screen, yet details about Cheng Chen spilled out one by one from his lips.

The three adults exchanged glances, then his grandmother smiled warmly and asked:

"Chenchen, do you know this boy on TV?"

"Huh?"

Yan Danchen turned his head,

only then realizing all three adults were staring at him.

His face slowly turned red…

…

Hui Sheng, Nan County.

Cheng Chen's home was decorated with lanterns and streamers, bustling with festivity.

Ever since Cheng Chen returned home, the entire Lao Cheng family had transformed.

The three-story villa, due to winter conditions, remained only a rough shell—no interior work done yet.

Yet anyone entering the village could see this massive structure of steel and concrete.

Everyone who saw it couldn't help but whisper: Isn't this the richest family's house in the village?

The old ancestral home, though made of mud and tiles, now had electricity; the Lao Cheng family sat around the TV watching the Spring Festival Gala.

Besides the six members of the Lao Cheng family, others had brought their own small stools to join them.

In Nan County, there's no tradition of eating the New Year's Eve dinner; instead, they usually feast on fish and meat at noon on New Year's Day.

Once the dumplings were wrapped in the evening, the family would set off a long string of firecrackers at home, then start boiling the dumplings.

After eating, the whole family would gather around the television, watching the Spring Festival Gala while playing cards.

The children, meanwhile, would all run outside, gathering in little groups of three or five, taking the New Year's lucky money they'd received to buy firecrackers and set off fireworks.

After midnight had passed, the family would set off another string of firecrackers, boil another pot of dumplings, and gather around to eat them together.

Only this year was a little different—the Lao Cheng family had acquired a rare novelty: a television.

In an era when some households still burned kerosene lamps and hadn't yet been connected to electricity, a television was absolutely a rare treasure.

The Lao Cheng family, who had always felt the television used too much electricity and rarely turned it on, today unusually switched it on and welcomed the neighbors to come by and watch as they pleased.

Cheng Mingliang also kept bringing out plates piled high with candy, sunflower seeds, and roasted peanuts to entertain the crowd.

The reason was none other than this—their own child, Cheng Chen, was on television!

"So this is a television! Tsk tsk tsk, amazing—you can see so many people on it!"

"This thing must cost a fortune. I heard from folks who came back from working out of town that one TV set costs several thousand!"

"Where's Cheng? Why hasn't he come on yet? Didn't they say Cheng was going to be on TV?"

A crowd of people cracked sunflower seeds, pointing at the television—peering here, glancing there—all waiting for Cheng Chen to appear.

And when Cheng Chen finally appeared, every person in the room held their breath, staring intently at the tiny television screen.

After one song was done, Cheng Chen left the stage.

"Ah, that's it already? I haven't heard enough yet!"

"So this is the Spring Festival Gala! Tsk tsk tsk, city folks really are something—the houses they live in are so big and so beautiful!"

"Cheng's done well for himself, getting on TV. The Lao Cheng family has produced a fine young man this time!"

The neighbors chattered away, their mouths full of nothing but praise for Cheng Chen.

Cheng Mingliang stood to the side, grinning broadly, his vanity enormously satisfied.

His son had made something of himself—of course the old man's face shone with pride too!

This was exactly the effect he had wanted.

Otherwise, why pull out a television that uses so much electricity just to watch? And the milk candy, sunflower seeds, peanuts—don't those cost money?

Mm, the peanuts they'd roasted themselves admittedly didn't cost cash, but they were still crops grown in the field!

……

"Good work, Teacher Cheng."

"Ah, you've worked hard too."

"See you later, Teacher Cheng."

"Teacher Cheng, your singing just now was really wonderful!"

After leaving the CCTV Building, Cheng Chen let out a long breath—at last, it was over.

"Happy New Year."

After sending two text messages, Cheng Chen put away his phone and headed leisurely back……

……