Friday.
On the day of recording.
Since morning, a lot of unverified news appeared all over the Internet.
"Zhang Ye faces yet another ban!"
"The King of Masked Singers program team gets investigated!"
"King of Masked Singers to stop broadcasting soon?"
"With the introduction of new regulations, all songs in violation will be banned!"
"King of Masked Singers in an awkward position!"
"Guidance and suggestions from the Ministry of Culture to variety singing sings: Promote positive energy and boycott pessimistic and negative musical pieces."
"The SARFT yet to make a statement!"
The netizens were getting very anxious.
"Are they really going to stop the broadcast?"
"Impossible. This must be fake news."
"They can"t stop such a large show just like that!"
"But there"s no doubt that King of Masked Singers has been implicated in a sticky situation!"
"I heard that the contestants were called up individually for talks!"
"Have you seen Li Yu"s Weibo yet? He had sung about his mother telling him of the hopelessness of life, and then there"s that "I Really Hate You." Now though, he has to step forward to make an apology and even declare that he is fully supportive of the authorities" guidance and suggestions and that all his works from now on will contain positivity."
"This Old Li! He"s so spineless!"
"He has no other choice since the general environment"s like this."
"I wonder if King of Masked Singers can carry on recording as usual today!"
"Yeah, the contestants might be greatly affected by this!"
"The Clown seems to have been called out and criticized as well!"
"Petal Shower and Sunset Glow were called out and criticized too. They"ve also performed love songs onstage that seem to have crossed the regulations" line."
"What the heck are they trying to do!"
For the past two days, this matter was constantly being discussed online. Everyone was worried that King of Masked Singers would really be taken off the air.
Later that morning.
At Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
Han Qi was already calling him for the third time.
"Teacher Clown, you"re still not here yet?"
"I have something to do, so I"ll be running a little late."
"I"ve already drawn the lots on your behalf. You"ll be the sixth contestant to go onstage today."
"OK, thank you."
"Th-Then, please hurry and don"t be too late."
After hanging up, Zhang Ye, dressed all in black, found his way and walked forward.
For some reason, when he woke up this morning, Zhang Ye suddenly thought of coming here to chat with Old Wei. He did not know why; he just wanted to come.
There were some reporters and cameras in front.
Zhang Ye immediately recognized them to be employees from the Central TV News Channel as he had met the host once before. When he saw them, Zhang Ye did not go over but stood in a distant, inconspicuous corner.
Other than the portrait of the deceased and the birthday on Old Wei"s tombstone, a line inscribed on it: "When some people live, they are already dead. / When some people die, they are still alive." This was from the poem Zhang Ye had recited at Father Wei"s funeral. After Old Wei pa.s.sed, this line served as an epitaph inscribed on his tombstone to accompany him on his journey of eternal sleep.
Besides the reporters and cameras stationed around the tombstone, 20 to 30 students were standing there.
"Father!"
"Father Wei!"
"Sob, we miss you!"
"Father Wei, we"re doing very well right now. You don"t need to worry about us anymore. My second mock exam results were very good. The teacher said that I would definitely qualify for Peking University. I"ll be taking the college entrance examination in a few days" time and I"ll definitely work hard to do well. By the way, Tongtong has already been a.s.sured of a place in a university. He was your favorite back then and he did not disappoint you at all!"
"Father, please come back to us!"
"We really miss you so much!"
Some of them were crying out to the tombstone, while the others did not speak at all and just covered their mouths as they cried.
It was Old Wei"s birthday today and the children brought many things to pay their respects to him.
When the Central TV News reporter heard what the children said, she quietly turned around to wipe away her tears. "…With that, we have come to the end of our report here."
They finished packing their equipment.
The television station staff left and were gradually followed by the children.
Zhang Ye, who was still standing far away, decided to slowly make his way over at this time. Standing in front of the tombstone, he smiled and said, "Old friend, I"m here to see you. How are you doing?" Then he sat down and smiled at the tombstone. "I did not bring anything with me today, but I guess there"s no need for it either, really. Just look, so many of your children have been thinking of you, and so many people miss you. With them bringing you so many offerings and things, you must definitely be living a good life on the other side."
The cemetery was quite peaceful.
Zhang Ye was the only one around and he muttered to himself.
"I really envy you, really. Haha, you don"t know how popular you"ve become. You"re respected by many and your name has been immortalized for the ages. But I know that you definitely do not care about that because you"re different from me in that you don"t covet riches or fame. Look at me now. I have it far worse than you. There are people criticizing me every day, with some wanting to censor me and others trying to step on me. By the way, this bro has been banned yet again. Even when I sang a children"s song, people were whispering and pointing their fingers at me.
"I"ve been shrouded in an especially bad aura these past two days. I"m not afraid that you"ll laugh at me, so can you tell me what I"m slogging so much for? Hur hur, I don"t even know what I"m doing all this for anymore! You must be enjoying yourself since there"s definitely no air pollution in Heaven. Oh yeah, there probably aren"t traffic jams either? You can cause as much trouble as you like in such a vast place. How wonderful would that be? But just look at where I am. Before I even rise up, my head is struck. Any little thing that I do, people nitpick and tell me what to do. Do you think this is interesting? It"s way too f.u.c.king uninteresting! But I still have to continue moving forward. I"m not as carefree as you, leaving just like that without even saying goodbye to me.
"Old Wei, do you think I"m a huge failure? Everyone says that I"m successful, but why don"t I feel that way? Please don"t find me annoying, Old Wei. I"m only able to say these words to you. I"ll feel better when I let everything out. Then I"ll have to go and perform after this!"
Ring ring ring. His cell phone rang again.
Han Qi was calling again.
Zhang Ye did not take the call. He waved the cell phone at the tombstone and said with a smile, "See? Everything is about work, and they"re hounding me again. Alright, I"ve said enough to you. I"ll come back to see you again when I"m free. Oh yes, don"t worry about your daughter, Wei Ying. She"s doing quite fine and has gotten quite a good job as well. I"ve given her my number, so if there"s anything she needs help with, I"ll definitely help her out. With me around, you can rest a.s.sured."
He stood up.
Zhang Ye was about to walk off, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned back for a last glance. "I"m leaving now."
At Beijing Television.
In the King of Masked Singers" recording studio.
Recording had long since begun and four contestants had already finished performing.
Onstage, Flowing Time was currently singing.
"The king sent me on mountain patrol!
"To capture a monk as his dinner roll!"
He was performing Zhang Ye"s song that had gotten really popular over the past few days.
Hu Fei said anxiously, "Is The Clown still not here?"
Hou Ge looked at Han Qi. "What"s going on?"
Han Qi also said anxiously, "He should be here soon, he should be here soon!"
"It"s gonna be his turn next." Hu Fei said, "Pester him a bit more."
When Han Qi was just about to make the call, an employee rushed over from elsewhere and said, "The Clown is here and is waiting in the waiting area. We can continue to record normally!"
Hu Fei nodded. "Great!"
Han Qi heaved a sigh of relief. The Clown had been a very punctual and polite person and had never been late before. So she was unsure as to what was going on with The Clown today.
Could it be that the investigation had left him unsure about what song he should sing?
Anyway, what was The Clown"s first song going to be today?
Han Qi immediately checked the t.i.tle of the song. When she saw it, she was a little stunned.
Eh?
This t.i.tle is a children"s song?
It was going to be another children"s song?
Three contestants had already sung a children"s song today!
Han Qi suddenly felt a little disappointed and helpless!