Chapter 341

The killing power of "Fairy Tale" was enough to dominate the entire year even in 2005, a year saturated with the poison of various Korean dramas and idol dramas, forcing Jay Chou, who had already ascended to Guo Tianwang status, and his "Nocturne" to keep their heads down; naturally, its power in 2002 needs no further explanation.

Do not say that "Nocturne" suffered a disadvantage due to its late release; in fact, if one were to compile statistics on the data of these two songs over a one-year cycle, "Nocturne" would have lost even more miserably—

There is only one reason: "Fairy Tale" has a larger audience base, covers a wider age range, and is simultaneously more capable of tricking fans into shedding tears.

This year, eleven-year-old Deng Shiying, after tricking herself into having not even a single pack of tissues left, tearfully established significance; this year, twenty-year-old Zhang Jie's tear ducts were not as developed as a child's, but after listening to the song and watching the MV, he vaguely had the thought of following his roommate to light up a cigarette.

However, hindered by the fact that he still had to work part-time singing at a bar to earn tuition and living expenses, this thought in his mind was fleeting and never took shape.

When the plot of "Fairy Tale" drew to a close, a very simple confessional MV immediately followed—

"Mr. Lonely."

As always, the name Zhou Yi was written in the lyrics, composition, and arrangement columns, and the him appearing in this MV, compared to the previous few MVs, looked somewhat haggard in complexion.

"Your smile is a blessing~

"The world is so rarely beautiful

"So I chase, needing you to accompany

"Pity that instinct will eventually turn beautiful sweat into tears~"

Just like "Fairy Tale," the opening was a mournful melody composed of piano. Before this, Zhou Yi, who rarely sang in low registers, directly used this opening section, which was almost a soft chant, to display his vocal talent that was enough to make others envious.

The content of these first four lines of lyrics would not cause confusion for those who missed listening to "Fairy Tale," allowing it to be heard as a brand new song, while simultaneously allowing the audience who had seen "Fairy Tale" to deeply immerse themselves in the plot of the previous MV—

Beautiful sweat ultimately turned into tears.

"The reason the night is dark~

"Wakes the ghost in people's hearts...

"Persuading, lingering, what inside me is destroying me

"Leaving scars upon scars~~"

Having just emerged from the immersed emotions, Zhang Jie suddenly heard these four lines of lyrics from "Mr. Lonely," and instantly shivered—

The ghost in the heart???

Destroying???

Instinctively, his first thought was of the second song on side A of Zhou Yi's "Lianshan" album: "Ghost."

That was a song reflecting social human relationships, where an alienated society and family environment forced people into becoming ghosts, the dark side of the human heart.

Zhang Jie very much liked the expression of this song, but deep down he was also very clear that absolutely no large number of listeners would find this kind of song pleasant to hear.

It belonged to the category brought out only when fans were bragging about so-called musicality or when music critics needed to analyze so-called social significance.

Although he did not attend a music academy, he was at least a proper university student at Sichuan Normal University; because of his love for music, he was considered to know a little bit about this area.

Originally, he thought that side B of this album was a compromise Zhou Yi made for the commercial market, but now, a different thought vaguely arose in Zhang Jie's heart—

"Eh? Zhang Jie, what are you doing? Aren't you listening to 'Mr. Lonely'? It's the last song."

"Nothing, I'm just getting the lyric booklet."

Because he bought the deluxe CD, the included lyric booklet directly covered the lyrics of all ten songs from "Can You Feel My World" to "Mr. Lonely," allowing Zhang Jie to intuitively use the information on the lyric booklet to constantly verify the guess floating in his mind.

In the MV, Zhou Yi sat alone in the exact center of the stage, with only a simple beam of light shining on him; the high notes that rose abruptly from the ground instantly shook Zhang Jie's heart—

"I can, it doesn't matter!!!

"Loneliness keeps shedding tears~"

The look of deep sorrow, the self-analysis in the dead of night, Zhou Yi in the backlight had a unique sense of fragile vulnerability.

Just this single scene was enough to make many people who had previously gritted their teeth at the "Fairy Tale" MV empathize with this heart-wrenching singing, leaving them with nothing but pity for Zhou Yi.

A nightingale in front of the screen, infected by the emotions, wanted to sing along with the second chorus, but the moment she opened her mouth, she completely cracked—

"I can, it doesn't matter! Cough cough..."

Voice cracked.

"Damn! Why is this song so hard to sing?! Why does Zhou Yi look like he's singing without any effort???"

The roommate cursed under his breath, then turned his head to look at Zhang Jie: "Zhang Jie, you are good at singing, can you sing this song? I feel that if you sang this at a bar, many people would definitely send you flowers."

No joke, being able to sing such a high-pitched chorus in a bar would undoubtedly make one of the most outstanding guys in the whole venue.

"I don't know, I can try to learn it."

Zhang Jie, feeling he had discovered a new continent, was very excited; after "Mr. Lonely" ended, he was reaching out to rewind to the first song, preparing to find evidence to verify his guess. However, after the screen went black and silent for eleven seconds, a different, cold instrument sound came from the television—

?

What is this? A guzheng? Or something else?

Why is there another song?

Wasn't it just ten songs?

Zhang Jie was stunned, and then quickly lowered his head to check the lyric booklet in his hand.

It was indeed ten songs.

"Fireworks Cool Easily?"

When the screen that had been black for eleven seconds lit up again, accompanied by a scene resembling strolling through a film city, Zhou Yi, wearing a modern magenta T-shirt paired with black cargo pants, holding a rolled-up paper tube and wearing a baseball cap, walked through the set of a period drama.

"Hey, Cheng Hao, how many times do I have to tell you? This is a story based on 'The Record of Luoyang Qielan'; the plot segment today is sad, you cannot be too frivolous."

Zhou Yi, suspected to be the director, gave Chen Hao, who was playing Cheng Hao, a thorough scolding: "If you really can't cry, can't you just use eye drops?"

"I'm sorry, Director, I didn't mean to ruin your commemorative work."

The Chen Hao on the screen, no longer possessing the style of a gangster's daughter as in the "On the Father's Name" MV, timidly apologized.

After that, the singing voice unfolded slowly as Zhou Yi spent days filming and interacting with Chen Hao—

"The sound of prosperity flees into the empty gate, humbling the world

"The dream is somewhat cold, turning over a lifetime; how many books of emotional debt~"

Zhang Jie stood dazed in place, watching up close as the elements that had appeared many times in "Fairy Tale," "Little Dimple," and "Today You Marry Me" in the MV were quoted by Zhou Yi; Sun Yanzi's favorite period drama, her favorite storybook, long dead...

At the same time, as if two timelines had fused and converged, the proud, scheming mafia heiress Chen Hao from the "In the Name of the Father" MV became a new Cheng Hao in this timeline, crossing paths with Zhou Yi.

An inexplicable sense of fated destiny across timelines surged into Zhang Jie's heart, and he immediately reached for the remote and started rewinding—

Could it be that…

Could it be?!

"Hey, Zhang Jie, what are you doing?"

"Hold on, I'm looking for something."

Facing his roommate's confusion and resistance, Zhang Jie's eyes flashing with excitement began, after rewinding the Side A songs, to observe every MV second by second and memorize every lyric—

Finally, in "The Killer," he noticed that the frozen frame of the film the female lead was watching bore some resemblance to the moving scene in "Fairy Tale," and even spotted what appeared to be Sun Yanzi's legs swaying endlessly on the back of a truck.

And at the end of the normal five-minute MV version of "In the Name of the Father," Zhou Yi, now the lonely godfather, slowly left his home; the TV screen flickering with snow in the living room suddenly cleared with a hiss—

A fleeting image of a home happened to be the frame Zhang Jie froze on.

And that image was precisely the opening scene of Side A's fifth song, "Dad and Mom." At the same time, in the "Dad and Mom" MV, there was also a TV flickering with snow because it couldn't get a signal.

Yes!

That's it!!

My guess was right!!!

It all connects!!!

Zhang Jie's breathing suddenly grew heavier; the smile curling at his lips made him quickly grab paper and pen to start jotting down these timestamps, and then he got up and left his roommate's home—

"Hey, Zhang Jie, where are you going?"

"To the internet cafe, I've got something to do. Don't wait for me when you eat."

Zhang Jie, buoyed by the satisfying feeling of "I've understood my idol's painstaking efforts," was utterly thrilled.

He felt he had to properly practice the songs on Zhou Yi's album—they were definitely going to blow up!

(End of chapter)