Chapter 1079: The grand champion is born!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At the venue of the grand finals.
The Clown walked back to his seat in the front row.
Amy came over and asked anxiously, "Teacher, which famous figure are you, really? Can you stop teasing us like this? I beg of you, please tell me! I"m dying of curiosity!"
Xiaodong stared at The Clown.
Li Xiaoxian and the others were also looking at him.
The final song had been performed. However, The Clown still did not take off his mask. A lot of people were very curious but also very worried about The Clown at the same time. There was not much time left as it was the last performance in the battle for the grand champion. Since this was the final sprint, why are you still not taking off your mask? What are you still waiting for? It"ll be too late to reveal yourself when the results are announced! You still have some time to increase your number of votes if you reveal your face now!
Flowing Time was feeling rather nervous as he looked at The Clown.
King of Oddity was feeling the same, his fingers continuously fidgeting and tapping his thigh. Clearly, he was not as calm as he looked.
They naturally did not wish for The Clown to reveal himself!
This song had actually impressed the two of them. Although the lyrics were scolding them, they were still impressed with it!
w.a.n.g Zhuishu asked, "Who are you?"
The Clown still did not answer.
He had promised Spinach!
Is there no recognition for those of us who just want to sing earnestly?
Zhang Ye wanted to tell her that this path was not a dead end and that she could still continue journeying down it!
Therefore, he was very insistent on not revealing his face!
"Teacher?"
"Famous person?"
"Say something?"
The Clown smiled and shook his head in silence.
Amy huffed and tried again to change his mind.
Li Xiaoxian tugged at her. "Don"t."
After listening to the song "Exaggerated," they understood Teacher Clown"s character. He definitely would not change his mind once he had decided on something. Li Xiaoxian clearly understood that before the results were announced, The Clown would surely not take off his mask. There was no reason, but she just knew that it would be like this.
Dong Shanshan appeared back onstage.
She checked the remaining time before announcing, "Now that the final song has been performed, we"re only three minutes away from the end of the voting. The voting window will close in three minutes!"
In the audience.
His mother quickly said, "I"m going to vote as well. Mengmeng, how do I vote? Help me vote, quickly!"
His third sister took the cell phone from her and asked, "Who do you want to vote for?"
His mother said, "For The Clown, of course! Do you even need to ask? This young man sang so well! His parents are also here today, and they"re seated here in the crowd with us. How can we allow his parents to witness him getting last place despite singing so well? Just how heart-wrenching would that be! Hurry up and vote!"
His father nodded firmly. "Well said. Mengmeng, take my cell phone too."
His third sister went right into action. "OK, I"ll help the two of you to vote!"
His second sister said loudly, "I voted for The Clown too. Is there still time to catch up? There"s probably not enough time for that, right?"
His eldest sister slapped her thigh and said, "The difference in the votes from earlier was just too much! If it was just a difference of a few hundred thousand votes, he could definitely catch up. But the difference was 2 to 3 million votes! So how can he possibly catch up?"
His second sister slapped her forehead and said, "Oh no, oh no! My idol won"t be crowned grand champion!"
At the venue, many of the audience members were rus.h.i.+ng to vote as well!
There were less than 3 minutes left!
Dong Shanshan announced, "Alright, let"s take a look at the latest tallies. Can we have our staff pull it up on the big screen? Thank you."
These words made everyone even more nervous!
When they heard, everyone immediately looked up!
Zhang Yuanqi looked at the screen with narrowed eyes!
Zhang Xia stared with wide eyes!
Chen Guang and Fan Wenli did not blink at all!
Everyone"s attention focused on the big screen!
The television viewers were also watching intently!
Li Xiaoxian clenched her fists!
Backstage, Liao Yiqi (Spinach) took a deep breath, as she was so nervous that her hands were trembling!
The Clown"s liaison, Han Qi, had already closed her eyes. She was afraid to even peek. Clasping her hands together and facing the big screen, she kept chanting some words that the staff around her could not understand. She sounded like she was praying!
Only King of Oddity and Flowing Time felt a little relaxed. When they heard that The Clown would not be taking off his mask, they felt completely at ease and heaved a long sigh of relief. To them, as long The Clown did not take off his mask, he would have no chance of winning today even if Zhang Yuanqi"s ident.i.ty had already been exposed. The main issue here was that Zhang Yuanqi"s mask had fallen off too late, during the last few minutes of the compet.i.tion before the final song began. It would not help The Clown much even if she was the Heavenly Queen!
First place should stay with Flowing Time!
King of Oddity"s position in the top three was also guaranteed!
Xiao Lu said, "What a shame."
Dafei sighed. "It was a bit too late. If it happened a little earlier…hai!"
Hou Ge said, "He really had the ability to be crowned the champion, but it was too little, too late!"
Following that, the tallies were displayed on the big screen!
When they saw the results, the entire venue fell dead silent!
First:
Flowing Time, 4.01 million votes!
Second:
The Clown, 3.56 million votes!
Third:
Petal Shower, 3.21 million votes!
Amy was dumbfounded by the results!
Fan Wenli and Chen Guang looked at each other in astonishment!
Zhang Yuanqi smiled!
Xiaodong screamed, "Oh my goodness!"
The audience suddenly boiled over with excitement!
Many people jumped up in shock!
His parents got very excited!
Zhang Ye"s three sisters wore shocked expressions!
Zhang Xia, Yao Jiancai, and the others were all staring at the screen in disbelief!
"He"s catching up!"
"f.u.c.k, The Clown is catching up!"
"He"s catching up from a million votes behind!"
"His votes tripled?"
"Ahhhh!"
"Are you serious?"
"The difference is only 400,000 votes! It"s only a difference of 400,000 now!"
"Oh my G.o.d!"
"This is crazy! This is f.u.c.king crazy!"
Flowing Time was so shocked that he nearly fell out of his chair!
How is that possible!
Just how is that possible!
How could he have caught up?
There"s no reason for him to have caught up!
Jiang Hanwei was stunned and his jaw dropped!
King of Oddity and his guest partner were also stunned!
It…it was just impossible!
There were only 90 seconds left to go!
Flowing Time"s tally had already stopped moving. It seemed to have stopped at 4.01 million votes while The Clowns" tally was still surging up at an incredible rate!
3.60 million!
3.70 million!
3.80 million!
Dong Shanshan froze onstage!
No one thought The Clown would actually catch up!
No one thought The Clown would actually achieve a feat that even the G.o.ds might not be able to achieve!
There were still 40 seconds to go!
There were still 39 seconds to go!
The entire audience stood up!
A lot of people could not take this excitement and were so nervous that their hearts nearly burst from their chests!
Countless viewers watching TV started screaming. They were witnessing a miracle right now!
3.85 million!
3.90 million!
3.95 million!
Counting down to the last ten seconds!
Backstage, Spinach was finding it hard to stifle her emotions as she rushed back into the theater!
Han Qi looked at the tally on the screen, and tears rolled down uncontrollably!
Dumbfounded, Hu Fei gazed at the screen!
Everyone looked at the screen with stunned faces!
3.98 million!
Five seconds!
Four seconds!
3.99 million!
4 million!
4.01 million!
4.02 million!
At this moment, the voting ended!
Looking at the final results of the voting, everyone was stunned. Then, they suddenly screamed and cheered!
"He won!"
"He won!"
"He really won!"
"The Clown is the Masked King!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
The audience started chanting in unison!
Even the ceiling was almost blown away!
Chapter 1080: Gu Cheng"s "Life Fantasia"!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
On the stage.
Dong Shanshan announced loudly, "The grand champion of the first season of King of Masked Singers is—The Clown!"
All the cameras focused on The Clown!
All the guests and audience members stood up to clap for him!
Han Qi cried as she hugged Xiao Lu, who was next to her, and shouted, "We"ve won! We"ve won!"
Spinach"s tears were also flowing. Teacher Clown! Thank you! Thank you! You"ve really carried out your promise to me! I will continue journeying down this path. From now on, I won"t waver again!
A miracle!
This was a crazy miracle!
The Clown had managed to jump from last place with slightly over a million votes to first place with his final song and in the last few minutes of voting. There had never before been such a turn of events at any of the other singing compet.i.tions! Never!
Everyone was dumbfounded!
King of Oddity felt a sense of bitterness.
Flowing Time was crying out "impossible" over and over again in his head!
He should have been the champion!
The grand champion was supposed to be him!
But why did it end up like this?
Why did so many people vote for The Clown?
This influence, this appeal, this singing, they couldn"t have come from someone who was just an unknown!
Who are you?
Just who the h.e.l.l are you?
Suddenly, a female audience member shouted, "Take off your mask and reveal yourself!"
Instantaneously, many others joined with her!
All of the audience started chanting in unison!
"Reveal!"
"Reveal!"
"Reveal!"
"Reveal!"
Then, even the guests followed along and chanted!
Zhang Xia laughed and said, "Reveal!"
Amy said loudly, "Reveal!"
Fan Wenli said, "Reveal"
Li Xiaoxian said, "Reveal!"
Zhang Yuanqi was keeping a close eye on The Clown, who was walking away.
Zhang Ye exited the stage and went backstage to change costumes. He still had another song left to perform as the compet.i.tion allowed the grand champion to get one final performance!
Dong Shanshan looked slightly excited onstage. She said loudly, "Today, the first grand champion of King of Masked Singers has been born. We"re extremely excited to witness the birth of a legendary singer. Perhaps he might have been an unknown singer that few know of. Perhaps he might have been a bright and s.h.i.+ning star. We don"t know who he was, but we all want to know who he is. We all want to see what the face beneath The Clown"s mask looks like, and to know what sort of a person he is!"
The theater fell silent!
The home viewers were staring at their TVs with hanging jaws!
Dong Shanshan said loudly, "Now the chance has finally come after waiting so long. The Clown will be taking his mask off very soon. I know you"re all as anxious as I am, but please give Teacher Clown a minute to get changed. He still has one song left to perform. Later, during the song, The Clown"s ident.i.ty shall be revealed!"
...
Weibo was blowing up!
The King of Masked Singers" thread was flooding with comments!
"He really won!"
"He"s finally going to reveal himself!"
"Quick, go and watch Beijing TV!"
"The Clown is going to reveal his face soon!"
"I freaking wanna know who the h.e.l.l this saint is!"
"He"s really amazing! Amazing!"
"What? The Clown was crowned champion? Didn"t he have no chance? I stopped watching just now! What happened? What happened during the last few minutes?"
"Previous poster, just go and cry yourself to sleep!"
"Something big happened during that time! The Clown totally turned the tide with his efforts!"
"Holy s.h.i.+t! Seriously? He could even catch up in those circ.u.mstances? Who on earth is he?"
"That"s what we wanna know too!"
"Your question is being asked by people all over the country right now!"
...
Within the industry.
The music industry.
Whether it was the newcomers, the active singers, or even the retired musicians, all of them were alarmed at this moment. They all had their televisions switched on and were currently staring intently at the screen!
"Did anyone manage to guess who he is?"
"No!"
"No one was able to guess at all!"
"Who is he, where did he get his songs—n.o.body knows!"
"He"s about to reveal himself!"
"Wait for him to finish changing his costume!"
It was not only the people from the music industry!
People from other professions in the entertainment industry were also watching their televisions in amazement!
Huo Dongfang was watching!
Ning Lan was watching!
Tang Dazhang was also watching!
...
The viewers.h.i.+p rating kept soaring!
The viewers.h.i.+p rating for King of Masked Singers at this point in time had reached a historical high. Even when The Clown was singing "Exaggerated," the viewers.h.i.+p rating was not as high as this moment!
Backstage.
The waiting room door opened.
Zhang Ye had changed into his costume and was about to walk out!
However, the staff who were standing and waiting outside were all surprised when they saw him!
Han Qi was stunned!
Xiao Lu was dumbfounded!
Dafei nearly fainted on the spot!
Xiao Lu pointed at The Clown"s outfit and cried out, "A-Are you gonna wear that?"
Dafei said, "Did you change into the wrong outfit?"
The Clown laughed. "No, this is the correct one."
Han Qi said anxiously, "B-But how can you wear that? How can you wear something like that!"
However, The Clown said, "This is it. Let"s go already!"
Along the way, all the staff who saw him were also startled, without an exception. They all stood there and watched him, dumbfounded, then turned to stare at each other with odd expressions!
At the venue.
The piano played!
The music was starting!
The audience was very confused by this.
"Where is he?"
"Why isn"t anyone coming out yet?"
"Did they play the music too early?"
"Where"s The Clown?"
"Eh, why is there music playing?"
n.o.body was sure of what was going on.
In the audience, his mother was blinking and wondering what was happening.
His father peered at the waiting area.
Right at this moment, before even appearing on stage, The Clown"s voice rang out through the venue. It was him speaking. He was speaking against a musical backdrop!
"There are always people asking me why I came to this stage. There are always people asking me what is it that I"m trying to achieve. Today, I will happily answer those questions. The reason why I came here and those songs that I chose were all for a dream that I have. A rather laughable, but very great dream."
The Clown"s microphone was already connected to the sound system!
He was walking over from backstage!
The mood of the audience was once again lifted. Everyone p.r.i.c.ked their ears up to listen!
With the piano accompaniment, The Clown"s voice drifted out from all sides as he recited.
"Put my visions and dreams
"in a slender seash.e.l.l.
"Wind my roof wove of willows
"with the long song of the summer cicada.
"I tighten the stays, the wind blows the sail through the morning fog.
"And I"m off,
"without aim,
"drifting through the blue sky."
The audience was stunned by what they were hearing!
What was this about?
A poem?
A…poem?
Zhang Xia"s expression changed!
Jiang Hanwei"s pupils dilated!
His mother suddenly stood up. "This…this…"
Zhang Ye"s three sisters were also dumbfounded!
A lot of people"s jaws dropped!
The Clown smiled.
"Night is a valley,
"the day a mountain peak.
"Sleep! I close my eyes
"and the world falls away.
"The horse of time
"collapses.
"The yellowtail waxwing
"builds a nest in my carriage.
"I want to keep roaming the world—
"To deserts, jungles, the remotest spots.
"I impress my footprints, like seals into the earth
"and the world
"mingles into me."
The Clown"s voice was getting louder and louder!
The outline of his figure could be seen. He raised his leg and stepped up onto the stage!
The audience started exclaiming in shock!
They were confused by what The Clown was wearing!
He was in his pajamas!
The Clown had worn his pajamas onto the stage!
He was even barefoot!
No one had dared to dress like this before!
This was a live show!
People from all over the country were watching!
Why aren"t you wearing something more proper?
Why are you dressed so casually?
What are you planning to do?
What will you be singing?
The Clown stood onstage and looked at everyone with a smile.
"I want to sing
"a human song
"that ages from now
"will chorus through the universe."
Everyone was stunned with their mouths agape!
All of the audience and guests, as well as all the staff at the venue, had seemingly gotten their tails stepped on as they nearly jumped up in shock!
You…
You…
You"re…
Chapter 1081: The Clown takes off his mask!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Flowing Time gasped!
Different expressions were s.h.i.+fting and running across King of Oddity"s face!
When "Life Fantasia" from The Clown"s world was recited, a lot of people felt as though their sweat glands had suddenly exploded! This was a poem they had never heard before. It was such a ridiculously good poem that many people became very engrossed in listening to it! However, the reason for their shock was not because of how good this poem was. What shocked them was totally unrelated to this poem"s literary and artistic standards!
It was because this poem had suddenly reminded them of someone!
At this moment, everyone watching on TV and those at the venue all thought of one man!
Zhang Xia said anxiously, "Is he?"
Amy said, "Surely that can"t be, right?"
Yao Jiancai said, "Holy s.h.i.+t!"
Chen Guang stared with wide eyes and said, "That"s impossible!"
Xiaodong also shouted in astonishment, "It can"t possibly be him! It"s absolutely impossible!"
No one believed that The Clown could be that man!
Who are you?
Just who are you?
The music suddenly started playing gently.
The t.i.tle of the song was already displayed on the teleprompter screen: " I Am What I Am 1 "!
When everyone saw this, they were stunned!
"I Am What I Am"?
The Clown smiled as he walked around the stage barefoot.
Standing at center stage barefoot, it felt very cooling and comfortable. The pajamas he had on gave him a very relaxed sense of unparalleled coziness. It was as though all his disguises and burdens had suddenly been dropped and he could finally get back to being himself again in front of everyone!
It was such a good feeling!
Ever since he was banned, he had never felt so happy!
Being secretive? Hiding here and there? This was not actually something he enjoyed. He wished to stand in the light and sing to the entire world!
This was the real him!
This was who he really was!
The Clown lifted his microphone.
He started singing softly.
"Happiness is that there"s more than one way to be happy.
"The greatest blessing is that everyone is the pride of the Creator."
The platform below him started to rise!
Bit by bit, it took Zhang Ye higher!
One meter…
Five meters…
Eight meters…
Before long, The Clown was standing at the highest point in the venue, ten meters up in the air where he could see everyone!
Dressed in his pajamas and standing barefoot, he sang loudly as though he had seemingly forgotten himself.
"There"s no need to hide.
"I live for the life I appreciate.
"No need for a disguised side.
"In the bright corner I"ll wait!"
The audience was stunned when they heard!
Xiaodong, Fan Wenli, and the others were also stunned!
No hiding?
No disguising?
Waiting in a bright corner?
You…
You…
At this moment!
The Clown suddenly raised his hand and ripped off his mask. Flinging it, the mask flew outward. A face that shocked everyone was exposed onscreen!
The eldest young sister shouted, "Ah!"
His second sister screamed!
His third sister"s mouth was hanging there like she had forgotten how to scream!
Ha Qiqi, who was in the audience, was dumbfounded!
Zhang Zuo was dumbfounded!
Spinach looked at him in shock!
Han Qi was dumbfounded as she sat there unable to move!
It"s you!
Why is it you?
How could it possibly be you!
At this moment, the venue erupted!
At this moment, everyone watching on TV went crazy!
This was really crazy!
Looking at that very familiar face, everyone went insane!
The Clown suddenly exploded with a high note!
Who am I?
You"re all still asking who I am?
I"m not anyone else!
Lose the honorific.
The surname is Zhang.
He screamed as he looked up and pointed to his chest and sang loudly.
"I am what I am!
"A firework of different colors!
"The broad sky and open seas!
"I"ll be the strongest bubble as I please!
"I like what I am!
"May the wild rose blossom at ease!
"Even in a lonely desert,
"Blooming in plain sight, unhurt!"
Banning?
Censoring?
Criticizing me?
Insulting me?
Bullying me?
It doesn"t matter! It really doesn"t matter at all!
Even if there is only one person looking at me, even if there isn"t a single person left! I still won"t retreat and let this world change me!
I am what I am!
No matter where I go, I am what I am!
Like that stubborn wild rose that blooms in the desert.
Can you all understand that?
Can you all see that?
In the audience, his mother suddenly cried as she pointed at the stage and shouted, "That"s my son! My son!"
His father also teared up a little!
So earlier, when The Clown had said that his parents were here too, he was actually referring to them!
His mother was choking back her tears. "It hasn"t been easy for Little Ye! It really hasn"t been easy at all!"
His third sister shouted, "Brother!"
The eldest young sister and second sister were also so excited that they were unable to get ahold of themselves!
Currently, all of the audience"s reactions were similar to theirs!
Shock!
Enthrallment!
Astonishment!
Disbelief!
It was Zhang Ye!
The Clown was actually Zhang Ye!
The Clown laughed!
He laughed without restraint!
"How happy I am,
"Enjoying life in a gla.s.s house."
He pointed to the sky and sang loudly.
"And telling the world!
"What it"s like to be bright and open!"
A sustained note made the entire audience stand up!
Screams!
Applause!
Everything else was drowned out in an instant!
A lot of people were crying!
A lot of people were shocked!
The man who insisted on singing when he had nearly fainted on the stage due to a fever during the first episode—that was Zhang Ye!
The man who sang "The Internationale" with anger when he was faced with censors.h.i.+p from several television a.s.sociations—that was Zhang Ye!
At this moment, many of The Clown"s songs floated uninhibited into the minds of the audience!
I am a beautiful, beautiful wild rose! / Hating the Heavens for being unfair!
I"m ugly, / but I am so tender!
Arise! / ye pris"ners of starvation! / "Tis the final conflict!
You only see the brightest of stars in the starry night sky!
Zhang Xia cried out, "It"s Little Zhang!"
Xiaodong shouted, "Oh my G.o.d!"
Zhang Yuanqi was the first person to guess that The Clown might have been Zhang Ye. But when she saw The Clown take off his mask and the face behind it, she still found it unbelievable!
Dong Shanshan was dumbfounded!
High up in the air!
The Clown pointed at himself.
"I am what I am!
"A firework of different colors!
"The broad sky and open seas!
"I"ll be the strongest bubble as I please!
"I like what I am!
"May the wild rose blossom at ease!
"Even in a lonely desert,
"Blooming in plain sight, unhurt!"
It was too shocking!
This song had turned the theater upside down!
This song was written with Zhang Ye in mind!
Every single word was about him!
Many of the audience members were waving their arms and screaming for Zhang Ye!
Countless viewers watching TV were shouting and yelling in shock and going crazy for Zhang Ye!
Zhang Ye closed his eyes.
He lowered his voice.
"Even in a lonely desert,
"Blooming in plain sight…unhurt."
The entire audience stood up!
It was as if everyone had agreed beforehand that they should stand up in unison!
Han Qi covered her mouth and cried. She had already lost count of the number of times she had cried today. It was really touching. She was captivated by his unique charm! So much so that she couldn"t free herself!
Han Qi suddenly raised her hands and shouted, "Zhang Ye! Zhang Ye!"
In an instant, cheers erupted throughout the venue!
A female audience member shouted in tears, "Zhang Ye!"
A male audience member bellowed, "Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
The audience had gone out of control!
The audience had gone insane!
This night belonged to The Clown!
This night belonged to Zhang Ye!!
Chapter 1082: A national sensation!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At Old Rao"s house.
The live broadcast of King of Masked Singers was showing on the television.
Yang Shu, sitting on the sofa, was staring with her mouth agape!
Rao Aimin was stunned!
Chenchen was also so shocked that her jaw had fallen to the floor!
Yang Shu said "Th-This is my senior bro?"
...
At Peking University.
It was almost summer break. The teachers from the Chinese Department were having a dinner party.
When "I Am What I Am" was performed on television in the restaurant"s private room, when The Clown who was on screen suddenly ripped off his mask, the entire room fell silent. Before the song was finished, no one moved their chopsticks. Everyone looked like they had seen a ghost as they kept staring straight at the television!
"Zhang Ye?"
"It"s Professor Zhang!"
"How could The Clown turn out to be him! d.a.m.n!"
...
At the SARFT.
In Old Wu"s office.
Secretary Bai Li pushed open the door and came into the room. "Chief Wu, something has happened!"
"What"s the matter?" Wu Zeqing was working overtime to handle some doc.u.mentation work. When she heard Bai Li, she did not even look up as she continued writing something calmly with her head lowered.
Bai Li said in horror, "Zhang Ye is on TV!"
Only then did Wu Zeqing slowly look up. "Oh?"
Bai Li said anxiously, "Take a quick look at King of Masked Singers!"
Wu Zeqing picked up the remote control and immediately turned on the television.
The figure of Zhang Ye appeared on screen!
Then Wu Zeqing laughed. "OK, I see."
But Bai Li could not laugh at all, because Zhang Ye was currently on the ban list. As the tone had been set long ago, these people were supposed to be restricted from appearing onscreen for a certain amount of time! But who could have expected Teacher Zhang Ye to take on another persona and appear on the most popular, currently running variety show while hiding behind a mask? Further, he revealed himself during the live broadcast. This was something that no one had expected at all!
...
At an entertainment company.
Fang Weihong stared at the television in shock!
A lot of her surrounding colleagues were also stunned!
Today, they were waiting for The Clown to take off his mask and were discussing whether they would be able to poach him to their company. The proposal was already written and the offer had been decided on as well. All that was left was for The Clown to reveal his true self. As long as they knew who he was, they could find and approach him!
But when Zhang Ye"s face appeared behind the mask, their office fell silent!
Silence!
Then, Fang Weihong threw the proposal straight into the trash can and said, "There"s no need to try to poach him anymore." Since it is him, there would be no talent agency that could ever poach him even if he was a free agent!
Her colleagues gave bitter smiles as they knew that their proposal was written in vain!
It was Zhang Ye?
The Clown f.u.c.king turned out to be Zhang Ye?
Oh my G.o.d!
What"s happening with this world?
They felt as though that this world had gone crazy in this moment!
...
On television, the live audience was screaming in excitement!
On Weibo, the reactions were about the same as well!
A fan club that had kept a low profile ever since their idol went silent suddenly came alive and appeared again. This fan club that had previously made people tremble in fright countless times in the entertainment industry was called—Zhang Ye"s fan club!
"Zhang Ye!"
"It"s Teacher Zhang!"
"Oh my G.o.d!"
"Comrades, so Teacher Zhang did not disappear after all!"
"f.u.c.k, when did our Old Zhang pick up singing?"
"I"m so surprised! This is so f.u.c.king surprising!"
"How could it be Zhang Ye! G.o.ddammit!"
"I"m so shocked!"
"Is this for real? Is this really happening?"
"I love you to death, Teacher Zhang! I"ve been wondering why The Clown"s bad temper felt so familiar!"
"I should have known! He even admitted defeat just so that he could eliminate Li Yu? How many people like him are there in the entertainment industry who dare to fall out and pick a fight with someone like that!"
"I"ve only been a braindead fan of two people in my entire life. One is Zhang Ye and the other is The Clown. In the end, the two of them are actually the same person! Can you guys imagine the shock? Can you? This is too unbelievable! Teacher Zhang, I love you to death! You"re fantastic! You"re really fantastic!"
The acting leader of Zhang Ye"s fan club, Big Saber Bro, who had disappeared for a long time, suddenly appeared again!
Big Saber Bro: "My large saber is again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again unable to endure the thirst! Brothers and sisters! Follow my lead!"
In an instant, Li Yu"s and Flowing Time"s Weibo were filled with condemning voices!
Previously, they had not known about The Clown"s ident.i.ty. But now that they knew who he was, they definitely had to seek an explanation about the issue from back then. If they did not receive one, then they would scold them until they gave one!
Elsewhere.
Many netizens were shocked by what they were seeing.
"f.u.c.k!"
"Zhang Ye"s fan club has been revived!"
"They"ve started their insulting again!"
"These people are f.u.c.king warriors just like Zhang Ye!"
"Hahahaha, I haven"t witnessed such a sight in such a long time. It feels pretty nostalgic to me!"
"Yeah, an entertainment circle without the presence of Zhang Ye"s fan club is definitely incomplete. After such a long time without seeing them banding together for something, I really do miss them!"
"This Zhang Ye is amazing!"
"I thought that Teacher Zhang didn"t know how to sing? Was he just pretending in the past?!"
"How devious of him! He"s way too devious!"
"That"s right, I"ve never before seen someone as awful as him!"
"But it"s really such a nice song! I"ve realized that I"ve also become a braindead fan of Zhang Ye"s! What should I do!"
...
At the King of Masked Singers" venue!
The song ended!
The live broadcast was still ongoing!
The entire venue was still going crazy!
Thousands of audience members began chanting Zhang Ye"s name in unison as the atmosphere reached its climax. There was no way to calm them down!
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
The live broadcast was coming to an end!
Dong Shanshan was not feeling any calmer than the audience. She raised her microphone and said loudly with a smile, "Thank you, everyone. With Teacher Clown"s song over, the King of Masked Singers grand finals has come to a perfect ending. Tell me, do you guys still wish to watch and listen to these teachers" performances again?"
The audience shouted:
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Dong Shanshan announced loudly, "If so, I would like to send out an invitation to everyone on behalf of Beijing Television and the King of Masked Singers program team. King of Masked Singers will be holding a live concert next Sat.u.r.day night! Contestants like The Clown, Petal Shower, Sunset Glow, Flowing Time, King of Oddity, and Spinach, whom you all like so much, will be appearing at the live concert! Then, I welcome everyone to join us for the event! At that time, let us witness the glory together!"
There was still more?
There was still going to be an episode showing the live concert?
When the audience heard, they became exceedingly excited!
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Fan Wenli!"
"Liao Yiqi!"
Everyone was madly shouting the names of the contestants they liked!
Counting down: three, two, one!
The live broadcast signal was shut off!
The night of the King of Masked Singers" finale had officially come to an end!
Zhang Ye, who had just gotten off from the stage, was immediately surrounded!
Yao Jiancai chided him with a laugh, "You sure are good, Little Zhang! Why didn"t you tell me you joined the compet.i.tion? You"re a real puzzle! A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma!"
Zhang Ye felt a little embarra.s.sed. "Ahem."
Fan Wenli smiled and said, "Director Zhang, it"s been a while."
Zhang Ye was amused and said, "It hasn"t been that long. We meet each other every week."
Chen Guang asked with great surprise, "Were all the songs that you sang onstage written by you?"
"Yes." Zhang Ye grinned and said, "Please excuse my poor writing."
Zhang Xia pointed at him and said, "You"re just great! I never expected that it would be you! You even pretended to be a northeasterner? Pretended to be a Hong Konger? And even pretended to be Hokkien?"
Zhang Ye said awkwardly, "Grandma Zhang, that was because I didn"t dare to reveal myself. The air pollution doc.u.mentary problem hasn"t been dealt with yet. I"m still banned, unlike all of you."
At this moment, Dong Shanshan suddenly rushed down from the stage to question him.
"You!" Dong Shanshan shouted at him loudly.
Zhang Ye rubbed his nose. "Yo, if it isn"t Teacher Shanshan."
Dong Shanshan pointed at him and said, "When I called you that one time, I asked you if you were The Clown. You even denied it back then and swore that you were not him, didn"t you?"
Zhang Ye smiled sheepishly. "Did I? I"ve forgotten already."
Li Xiaoxian laughed and said, "Was that song of yours really dedicated to Teacher Shanshan?"
Xiaodong exclaimed, "Didn"t they explain it online? That Shanshan"s birthday was not on that day?"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "We"ve been cla.s.smates for so many years and were even seated in front and behind of each other, so how could I not know when her birthday is? Her recorded date of birth on her household register is the wrong date."
Dong Shanshan rolled her eyes. "Then why did you claim that I never told you about it before?"
Zhang Ye said innocently, "But it"s true that you never told me about it. I only knew because I overheard when you were telling another cla.s.smate back in school."
Dong Shanshan asked, "…Then how did you suddenly learn how to sing?"
Zhang Ye laughed, "That"s a secret."
Zhang Yuanqi also walked up to him and said with a smile, "How many favors do you owe me this time?"
Zhang Ye replied nervously, "Isn"t one more than enough?"
Zhang Yuanqi said, "I guessed it was you."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "But you weren"t very sure about it."
"Right, because I"ve heard you sing on the spot before," Zhang Yuanqi said.
Zhang Xia also remembered the day Zhang Ye wrote "Woman Flower" and sang it on the spot for her and Yuanqi backstage during the Spring Festival Gala. They really did not find anything flattering about his singing skill and voice at that time. Coupled with "A Letter to Home," which he sang on Beijing Television"s Spring Festival Gala, no one had expected that Zhang Ye would know how to sing. This was also the reason why no one thought of him as a possibility! As such, when everyone saw The Clown after he took off his mask, that shock was really too great to handle!
Over there!
The Beijing Television staff also rushed up to him all at once!
Dafei shouted, "Director Zhang!"
The moment Hou Ge came up to Zhang Ye, he gave him a bear hug. "How could it be you!"
Xiao Lu came over!
Hu Fei came over!
Han Qi also excitedly ran up to him!
"Teacher Zhang!"
"You were so amazing!"
"We were trying to guess who The Clown was! Why is it you! How could it possibly be you!"
"Did you really win?"
"I was wondering who could have written so many heaven-defying cla.s.sics!"
Han Qi"s eyes reddened a little as she got very excited at seeing her idol. "Teacher Zhang, I like every one of your songs! I love them to death!"
Zhang Ye looked at her and said with a smile, "Thank you, Little Han. Thanks for all your hard work these past several days." Then he gave the group a fist and palm salute. "Everyone, I"m sorry that I had to hide this from you. I was afraid that if my ident.i.ty was exposed, the show would be dragged down by me, so I had to keep it a secret. If there"s anything that I did wrong, I"ll treat everyone to dinner as an apology at a later time! Haha!"
All of a sudden, someone wrapped their arms around Zhang Ye"s waist and lifted him up!
Then a lot of people from Beijing Television surrounded Zhang Ye and raised him up high!
They threw him up in the air!
They caught him!
They threw him up in the air again!
They caught him again!
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
Today!
He was a national sensation!
Chapter 1083: Zhang Ye"s latest celebrity ranking?
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
The next day.
Sunday.
At his parents" house, Zhang Ye slept all the way until 10 in the morning.
After he had sent his parents home from the compet.i.tion venue last night, he headed straight to bed and dozed off immediately for a full 11 hours of sleep. Over these past few days, he had become incredibly tired. It was much too tiring having to do the production, choose his songs, arrange music, practice his singing, record the show, and attend the live broadcast. He was just like a warrior who did not know what fatigue meant. Throughout the duration of the compet.i.tion, he even experienced staying up for two days and nights in a row, as well as not succ.u.mbing to a fever of 40°C! It had been two months, and now the compet.i.tion was finally over. When the tension he had been experiencing was released, he was immediately overcome with a heavy sense of fatigue that made him sleep until now.
His cell phone had run out of battery.
He rolled over and plugged it into the charger before turning his phone on, all without stepping out of his bed.
There were quite a few notifications of missed calls and messages received on his cell phone"s display.
His old colleague, Ha Qiqi: "Director Zhang! Me, Zhang Zuo, Little w.a.n.g, and everyone else all saw the moment you got crowned champion onstage. Great job! Congratulations!"
Central TV Department 14"s Director Yan Tianfei: "Teacher Zhang, you"re really not being a bro here. Why didn"t you let me know about such an important thing? Haha, I couldn"t get through to you, so I"m sending you this message to congratulate you. I thought that you"d really stopped doing things after getting banned and were really going to behave yourself from now on, hur hur. But seeing that you"re back now, I"m relieved! You"re still the same old Teacher Little Zhang that I knew, always going around and stirring up trouble every other day!
His university cla.s.smate, Yu Yingyi: "Old cla.s.smate, you"re really on fire now! In the entire entertainment industry, you"re the most popular one of all! When are you going to treat us to a meal? Quickly set a date! I can"t wait!"
His old colleague, Tian Bin: "Old Zhang, do you intend to ascend to the Heavens!"
A-list movie star, Ning Lan: "Did you have to make such a big splash?"
His friends and colleagues all came to congratulate him and express their shock at the same time!
Zhang Ye was lying in bed and smiling as he read the messages, replying to them one by one.
For the entire morning, the Internet, newspapers, and news broadcasts were all reporting about The Clown and Zhang Ye, as well as King of Masked Singers. Admittedly, Zhang Ye"s position was slightly more awkward since he was currently soft banned without any official statement or clarification from the authorities. Any news reports regarding him were also greatly controlled. However, yesterday"s live broadcast had caused such a big stir that there was no one who did not know about it anymore. So the media couldn"t possibly avoid not mentioning Zhang Ye"s name and not report about it even if they wanted to!
"Curtains fall on King of Masked Singers: The Clown crowned champion!"
"Inconceivable! King of Masked Singers" The Clown"s true ident.i.ty!"
"The Clown turns out to be Zhang Ye!"
"The Clown"s "I Am What I Am" send shockwaves through audience!"
"Zhang Ye performs another astonis.h.i.+ng crossover!"
"A layman sweeps away the music industry!?"
"King of Masked Singers to hold live concert next week. Zhang Ye"s appearance still unknown!"
"Our reporter inquires over the phone; authorities yet to make statement!"
"Zhang Ye—entertainment industry"s professional "s.h.i.+t stirrer"!"
"Watch out, music industry musicians! Here comes Zhang Ye!"
People throughout the country were still in a state of shock!
Fan Wenli had also taken her mask off yesterday, as did Li Xiaoxian. But as their ident.i.ties had long since been speculated by the netizens, there didn"t exist an element of surprise. However, no one had been able to guess The Clown"s real ident.i.ty all this time. Then there was also the fact that the name of Zhang Ye itself had always been a focal point, and his status was unlike Fan Wenli and Li Xiaoxian"s, who were professional singers. A host, director, mathematician, and someone who meddled in the Chinese language had been crowned the grand champion of King of Masked Singers by taking down a series of professional singers like Fan Wenli, Li Xiaoxian, Zhao Qiquan, and many others. This made many of the industry insiders want to vomit blood! This was too unreasonable! Zhang Ye, did you intend to blast off from Earth?
Any topic related to Zhang Ye had always been this hotly debated!
He was truly the most wondrous person in show business. No one could predict what he would do next. Ever since his debut, everything he did would always shock a group of people!
Just look!
It was no exception this time!
...
Outside, the door opened.
His parents came home in a laughing mood.
Zhang Ye quickly got out of bed and strolled into the living room. "Dad, Mom, where did you go?"
"You just woke up?" His mother was grinning from ear to ear. She placed the plastic bags in her hands down. "Your dad and I went grocery shopping. I must cook some good dishes for you in the afternoon to celebrate!"
His father glanced at his wife and said, "What grocery shopping? Your mom went out early this morning to brag. She reached the market at 8 AM and started bragging the moment we b.u.mped into every neighbor we saw. Look at the time now. It"s already 11 AM."
His mother was having none of it. "What"s wrong with me bragging about my son!"
His father threw his hands up and said, "Alright, alright, I didn"t say that it was wrong."
His mother harrumphed. "My son is so popular. Why am I not allowed to tell others about it?"
His father pursed his lips at Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Mom, just go ahead and tell anyone you like; no one will stop you. Let"s quickly eat lunch. I"m getting hungry already. I haven"t had anything much to eat at all."
His mother immediately said, "Wait a bit, wait a bit. It"ll be ready soon!" Just before stepping into the kitchen, she suddenly turned around and asked, "By the way, son, what"s your popularity score now? Where are you ranked?"
Zhang Ye was taken aback. "Oh, I would have forgotten if you hadn"t mentioned it."
His mother urged, "Quickly go and check! You were at the last two places on the A-list rankings last time, but it should have changed by now! Go check and see how many spots you"ve advanced!"
Zhang Ye nodded. "Alright."
In recent days, his popularity score had been at a standstill while the celebrities behind him had kept increasing their popularity and were catching up to him. Like Li Yu, who had exposed his own ident.i.ty on King of Masked Singers. He was close to returning to the A-list Celebrity Rankings once again. Meanwhile, Zhang Ye, who hadn"t been appearing much onscreen and had few new works, had dropped to the last two spots on the A-list rankings. He was in a very precarious position. Yesterday"s unmasking was a turning point for him as he finally did not need to worry about dropping back down to the B-list rankings. He would definitely advance in the rankings although he did not know by how many positions he would advance.
He quickly went back to his room and powered on his computer.
Zhang Ye typed in the address to the official website of the Celebrity Rankings Index and loaded the page.
But the page could not load.
"Please try again."
This notification was all that was on the page.
Zhang Ye refreshed the page.
The page was still unable to load!
What was happening?
Why couldn"t he access the site?
He immediately went onto Weibo to check. Be it the netizens or the industry insiders, everyone was confused about what was going on.
"The Celebrity Rankings website is not loading?"
"I"m experiencing the same thing. Is there something wrong with my connection?"
"It"s not your connection. The site has been inaccessible since midnight."
"Eh?"
"But that"s not possible."
"This is the official website! Nothing like this has ever happened before!"
"Yeah, what"s going on?"
"This has never happened in the past!"
"What"s their technical team doing? We"re at a crucial point in time right now!"
"I was hoping to check out Fan Wenli"s popularity ranking!"
"I was waiting to see Zhang Ye"s! He was about to drop off the A-list rankings the last time I checked!"
A lot of those in the entertainment industry were also waiting. The influence of King of Masked Singers was so widespread. Its songs dominated the Top Chinese Music Chart, and the popularity score gain it gave was also astonis.h.i.+ng. Those involved in the show would always check their own rankings the following day to see if there were any changes in their rankings and how much their popularity scores had increased by. Even the celebrities and people from the talent agencies who did not have anything to do with the show would also check. They wanted to know if those who were on the show would have any changes in their ranking and whether they would be overtaken by them in the rankings!
Popularity was the lifeblood of a celebrity!
And this Celebrity Rankings Index was the lifechart of the entertainment industry!
...
This issue was also being discussed in the Goof Group.
Ning Lan: "It"s still not out yet? It"s still not loading?"
Huo Dongfang: "I don"t know, perhaps something happened."
Chen Guang sent a sweating emoji. "On my lovely wife"s request, I"ve been waiting up all night in the hopes of checking the rankings. I can wait no longer, so it"s time to sleep."
Xiaodong appeared. "Hahaha, Brother Chen. You"re truly a model husband!"
Amy: "I"m waiting for our Xiaoxian"s ranking to come out. Hurry, hurry!"
A male star said: "This has never happened before in the many years it"s existed, so what"s going on today?"
...
Noon.
12 o"clock sharp.
There was finally an official announcement!
It was an announcement that dumbfounded the entire entertainment industry and the public!
The announcement was as follows:
Explanation regarding the temporary inaccessibility of the Celebrity Rankings Index Website:
Due to the rising influence of a certain variety show in recent times, the data statistics of the Rankings Index have been affected to a certain extent. In addition, the popularity score of a certain celebrity has seen fluctuation on too wide of a scale. The amount of data collected has exceeded more than what our systems can handle and this caused a temporary outage to our system. At the moment, our technical team is stepping in to rectify it as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for inconveniencing everyone. We will be making another announcement when the Rankings Index is updated and returns to service.
A certain variety show?
Wouldn"t that be King of Masked Singers?!
A certain celebrity?
Wouldn"t that be Zhang Ye?!
When this announcement was made, everyone was dumbfounded!
On Weibo.
"What?"
"Zhang Ye"s popularity score has greatly fluctuated? And it even crippled their systems?"
"Pfft, are they serious?"
"Why is it that everything that goes wrong has to do with Zhang Ye, hahaha!"
"Holy cow, just how much did Teacher Zhang"s popularity score increase by! It even f.u.c.king crippled their systems?"
"That"s nothing strange with that. When The Clown took his mask off yesterday, that was an instantaneous moment. Because of that, the system would have to transfer all of The Clown"s popularity score from the previous month or so to Zhang Ye. Perhaps the data for that really did overflow! Pfft, Teacher Zhang is really great. He even brought down the Celebrity Rankings Index that had been operating fine for so long!"
"I"m cramping up from laughing!"
"Teacher Zhang is so mighty!"
"Teacher Zhang is so impressive!"
Suddenly, someone posted the poem that Zhang Ye recited at last night"s grand finals!
"Life Fantasia."
Especially those last few lines. No matter how you looked at it, it was got the blood going!
Many of the netizens hadn"t read Zhang Ye"s poems in a long time, but it was still as domineering, earthshaking, and moving as ever.
I want to sing
a human song
that ages from now
will chorus through the universe.
The netizens started posting in the comments below.
"I like Zhang Ye so much!"
"His poems are always so awesome!"
"His songs as well!"
"Earth no longer has a place that can contain Zhang Ye!"
"Congratulations, Teacher Zhang. You"re already blasting out into the universe!"
"The Celebrity Rankings Index website could even get crippled? I really have to take my hat off to Zhang Ye!"
The people in the industry didn"t know how to react!
The website crashed?
It was Zhang Ye"s fault?
d.a.m.n, just how much did your popularity score go up by this time!
Chapter 1078: Shocking the world!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Things got out of hand!
The place blew up!
The entire live broadcast venue was reverberating with The Clown"s scream of madness at the end. All that oppression, confusion, rage, and determination were let out with that final scream. He blew up entirely and screamed to the point that his lungs almost tore apart. The artistry and soul of this song from beginning to end were all a.s.similated into this last outburst!
The entire song.
All of the lyrics.
Every part of his singing.
It could only be described as shocking!
Fan Wenli was shocked!
Zhang Xia, Xiaodong and the rest were also taken aback!
What kind of song was this?
What kind of person was this?
Li Xiaoxian was already in tears. She raised her hand high and gave a thumbs up!
In the staff area, Han Qi was also crying. She was covered in gooseb.u.mps and was so emotional that she did not know how to express herself. All she could do was vent in the most primitive of ways by shouting, "The Clown! The Clown! The Clown!"
In the audience.
His mother stood up and shouted, "The Clown!"
Zhang Ye"s three sisters literally jumped out of their seats. "The Clown!"
Ha Qiqi shouted, "The Clown!"
Zhang Zuo raised both his hands and shouted loudly, "The Clown!"
A male audience member screamed, "The Clown!"
A female audience member was in tears and saying, "The Clown!"
"The Clown!"
"The Clown!"
"The Clown!"
One person!
A hundred people!
A thousand people!
The shouting was becoming more and more united!
The shouting was getting louder and louder!
Suddenly, someone in the audience shouted out something different that caused everyone to follow suit!
That person shouted, "Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
His mother was shouting!
His father was also shouting!
The audience was shouting like crazy. With this song, the previous performances by Flowing Time, Petal Shower, and King of Oddity had all been thrown to the back of everyone"s minds. None of those songs mattered anymore!
Onstage, Zhang Ye"s voice had gone hoa.r.s.e. Even after the music had stopped, he was still deeply immersed in the emotions of his singing. It was the shouting that brought him back to reality. When he saw the sea of people in the audience standing up and chanting his stage name, mixed with calls of "champion," Zhang Ye froze for a moment. He suddenly understood why he was able to persevere up till now.
Hu Fei sighed, "He"s really, really great!"
Xiao Lu wiped away her tears and said, "Why, why am I reminded of Teacher Zhang!"
Hou Ge said, "Yeah, these lyrics also made me think of Teacher Zhang. He"s just like The Clown, always encountering those difficult situations along the way and getting ignored by people. Others may not know and simply criticize him. But those who have ever worked with Teacher Zhang know! Do they even know how much hard work Teacher Zhang puts into making his shows? Have they seen it for themselves? Whether it"s Teacher Zhang or The Clown, both of them really have not had it easy!"
Dafei said, "The lyrics were so well-written!"
This song was called "Exaggerated."
The original was Eason Chan"s Cantonese version 1 , but Zhang Ye chose to sing Terry Lin"s Mandarin version 2 for his performance. These two versions were both very good songs and he liked them very much as well. However, the meanings behind them were polar opposites. He had chosen to sing the Mandarin version because it expressed the exact situation that he was in now, and it was also what he had been hoping to say all these years!
In all fairness, this was not a song that one would be amazed with when they first heard it. At least, Zhang Ye did not feel this way when he first heard the song. Whether it was the Mandarin or the Cantonese version, he did not feel much for either of them and could not remember the lyrics either. In fact, he did not even know what the songs were trying to convey. The melody was also not that beautiful. But when he listened to it for the fifth time, and then the tenth time, he suddenly felt very surprised by it. Afterwards, it was only a matter of falling in love with the song.
This was the type of song that slowly became nicer with time. But today, Zhang Ye made it popular almost immediately due to the atmosphere, setting, and message behind it!
Zhang Ye walked off the stage.
Using the window of time before he returned to his seat, Amy looked at Chen Guang and asked, "Teacher Chen, if you had joined the compet.i.tion and faced The Clown onstage, who do you think would win?"
She did not mean it maliciously.
Amy really was just being curious.
For those at today"s taping, if they mentioned the two best singers present at the venue, the best would definitely be Zhang Yuanqi. But second best would not be Fan Wenli, Zhang Xia, Li Xiaoxian, nor Xiaodong. It would be Chen Guang—this was not Amy"s personal ranking of them, but the long accepted opinion of the public and the industry.
Chen Guang smiled wryly. "I wouldn"t want to think about that."
Amy did not understand. "Ah? What do you mean?"
Fan Wenli laughed and said, "What Old Chen is trying to say is that he wouldn"t want to be standing on the same stage and competing against someone like The Clown." Then, she gave Chen Guang a look. "Afraid you"d lose?"
Chen Guang rolled his eyes but did not answer.
Would he lose?
Chen Guang did not know.
He only knew one thing. To beat The Clown…it would be extremely difficult!
Especially this song The Clown sang today called "Exaggerated." Even if it was Zhang Yuanqi competing against The Clown, she might not be able to beat him. The Clown was really insane today. This song was insane. His singing was insane. Everyone who was here today was seemingly baptized from head to toe by this song! This was the charm of song, the charm of music. But most importantly, it was the charm of the singer. Chen Guang questioned whether he could sing this song as well as The Clown if it had been given to him. That final scream at the end was a mixture of complex emotions and not something that just anyone could sing!
He could not do it.
Fan Wenli could not do it.
Li Xiaoxian could not do it.
Flowing Time could not do it.
Even Sister Zhang would probably not be able to do it.
That scream could only have come from The Clown!
...
In the outside world.
Shock had also descended upon everyone watching at this moment!
Among the viewers who were watching the King of Masked Singers grand finals on their televisions, nine out of ten were stunned by what they saw!
They hadn"t been interested in listening to The Clown"s last song originally, thinking that the results had already been decided. Every one of them knew that The Clown would not have a chance of being crowned champion anymore. But when Wild Rose"s mask fell off, when "Exaggerated" played on TV, almost all of them got a shock!
They had been shocked by "Exaggerated"!
They had been shocked by The Clown"s determination and anger!
"Quick, tune into the live broadcast!"
"Holy s.h.i.+t!"
"The Clown has blown his top!"
"This song is just too G.o.dd.a.m.n awesome, isn"t it?"
"Oh G.o.d, I"m going crazy from listening to this!"
"What"s this song called? G.o.ddammit!"
"It"s called "Exaggerated"!"
"How can there be such an awesome song in this world! It"s even an original? Today"s the first time it"s been sung? f.u.c.k, who the h.e.l.l wrote this song for him!"
"It"s the last song of the finals? Ah! Quickly go and vote!"
"Oh right, voting is still ongoing!"
"I already voted for Flowing Time. What do I do now?"
"My vote has been cast as well. I f.u.c.king gave it to King of Oddity! f.u.c.k, curse these hands of mine! If only I had known, I wouldn"t have voted so early on! I would definitely, 10,000%, have voted for The Clown! I can"t even take back my vote now! No, I can"t just let this be. I"ll go get my parents" cell phones to vote!"
"Hurry, everyone!"
"We don"t have much time!"
"Comrades, give your votes to The Clown!"
"If a singer like him were to place last in this compet.i.tion, that would really be too deplorable! That would be an insult to the entire music industry!"
"I"m here!"
"I"ve voted!"
"d.a.m.n, do we need you to tell us? I"ve voted already!"
"I"m gonna call my sister and brother to get them to vote as well!"
"Just based on this song, I don"t care who The Clown turns out to be after he unmasks himself. I will f.u.c.king become his braindead fan for life! For life! With this post as my witness!"
"Count me in!"
"Count me in too!"
"Since "The Internationale," I"ve been a diehard fan of The Clown. But with this "Exaggerated," I"m going to turn into a braindead fan from now on!"
"No impulsiveness, no exaggeration, no bluffing! The Clown is the only true singer!"
"He"s the only person to sing with all his soul on this stage!"
There was an explosion of comments on Weibo!
The industry insiders were blowing up with excitement!
"Exaggerated" had shocked the world!
Chapter 1079: The grand champion is born!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At the venue of the grand finals.
The Clown walked back to his seat in the front row.
Amy came over and asked anxiously, "Teacher, which famous figure are you, really? Can you stop teasing us like this? I beg of you, please tell me! I"m dying of curiosity!"
Xiaodong stared at The Clown.
Li Xiaoxian and the others were also looking at him.
The final song had been performed. However, The Clown still did not take off his mask. A lot of people were very curious but also very worried about The Clown at the same time. There was not much time left as it was the last performance in the battle for the grand champion. Since this was the final sprint, why are you still not taking off your mask? What are you still waiting for? It"ll be too late to reveal yourself when the results are announced! You still have some time to increase your number of votes if you reveal your face now!
Flowing Time was feeling rather nervous as he looked at The Clown.
King of Oddity was feeling the same, his fingers continuously fidgeting and tapping his thigh. Clearly, he was not as calm as he looked.
They naturally did not wish for The Clown to reveal himself!
This song had actually impressed the two of them. Although the lyrics were scolding them, they were still impressed with it!
w.a.n.g Zhuishu asked, "Who are you?"
The Clown still did not answer.
He had promised Spinach!
Is there no recognition for those of us who just want to sing earnestly?
Zhang Ye wanted to tell her that this path was not a dead end and that she could still continue journeying down it!
Therefore, he was very insistent on not revealing his face!
"Teacher?"
"Famous person?"
"Say something?"
The Clown smiled and shook his head in silence.
Amy huffed and tried again to change his mind.
Li Xiaoxian tugged at her. "Don"t."
After listening to the song "Exaggerated," they understood Teacher Clown"s character. He definitely would not change his mind once he had decided on something. Li Xiaoxian clearly understood that before the results were announced, The Clown would surely not take off his mask. There was no reason, but she just knew that it would be like this.
Dong Shanshan appeared back onstage.
She checked the remaining time before announcing, "Now that the final song has been performed, we"re only three minutes away from the end of the voting. The voting window will close in three minutes!"
In the audience.
His mother quickly said, "I"m going to vote as well. Mengmeng, how do I vote? Help me vote, quickly!"
His third sister took the cell phone from her and asked, "Who do you want to vote for?"
His mother said, "For The Clown, of course! Do you even need to ask? This young man sang so well! His parents are also here today, and they"re seated here in the crowd with us. How can we allow his parents to witness him getting last place despite singing so well? Just how heart-wrenching would that be! Hurry up and vote!"
His father nodded firmly. "Well said. Mengmeng, take my cell phone too."
His third sister went right into action. "OK, I"ll help the two of you to vote!"
His second sister said loudly, "I voted for The Clown too. Is there still time to catch up? There"s probably not enough time for that, right?"
His eldest sister slapped her thigh and said, "The difference in the votes from earlier was just too much! If it was just a difference of a few hundred thousand votes, he could definitely catch up. But the difference was 2 to 3 million votes! So how can he possibly catch up?"
His second sister slapped her forehead and said, "Oh no, oh no! My idol won"t be crowned grand champion!"
At the venue, many of the audience members were rus.h.i.+ng to vote as well!
There were less than 3 minutes left!
Dong Shanshan announced, "Alright, let"s take a look at the latest tallies. Can we have our staff pull it up on the big screen? Thank you."
These words made everyone even more nervous!
When they heard, everyone immediately looked up!
Zhang Yuanqi looked at the screen with narrowed eyes!
Zhang Xia stared with wide eyes!
Chen Guang and Fan Wenli did not blink at all!
Everyone"s attention focused on the big screen!
The television viewers were also watching intently!
Li Xiaoxian clenched her fists!
Backstage, Liao Yiqi (Spinach) took a deep breath, as she was so nervous that her hands were trembling!
The Clown"s liaison, Han Qi, had already closed her eyes. She was afraid to even peek. Clasping her hands together and facing the big screen, she kept chanting some words that the staff around her could not understand. She sounded like she was praying!
Only King of Oddity and Flowing Time felt a little relaxed. When they heard that The Clown would not be taking off his mask, they felt completely at ease and heaved a long sigh of relief. To them, as long The Clown did not take off his mask, he would have no chance of winning today even if Zhang Yuanqi"s ident.i.ty had already been exposed. The main issue here was that Zhang Yuanqi"s mask had fallen off too late, during the last few minutes of the compet.i.tion before the final song began. It would not help The Clown much even if she was the Heavenly Queen!
First place should stay with Flowing Time!
King of Oddity"s position in the top three was also guaranteed!
Xiao Lu said, "What a shame."
Dafei sighed. "It was a bit too late. If it happened a little earlier…hai!"
Hou Ge said, "He really had the ability to be crowned the champion, but it was too little, too late!"
Following that, the tallies were displayed on the big screen!
When they saw the results, the entire venue fell dead silent!
First:
Flowing Time, 4.01 million votes!
Second:
The Clown, 3.56 million votes!
Third:
Petal Shower, 3.21 million votes!
Amy was dumbfounded by the results!
Fan Wenli and Chen Guang looked at each other in astonishment!
Zhang Yuanqi smiled!
Xiaodong screamed, "Oh my goodness!"
The audience suddenly boiled over with excitement!
Many people jumped up in shock!
His parents got very excited!
Zhang Ye"s three sisters wore shocked expressions!
Zhang Xia, Yao Jiancai, and the others were all staring at the screen in disbelief!
"He"s catching up!"
"f.u.c.k, The Clown is catching up!"
"He"s catching up from a million votes behind!"
"His votes tripled?"
"Ahhhh!"
"Are you serious?"
"The difference is only 400,000 votes! It"s only a difference of 400,000 now!"
"Oh my G.o.d!"
"This is crazy! This is f.u.c.king crazy!"
Flowing Time was so shocked that he nearly fell out of his chair!
How is that possible!
Just how is that possible!
How could he have caught up?
There"s no reason for him to have caught up!
Jiang Hanwei was stunned and his jaw dropped!
King of Oddity and his guest partner were also stunned!
It…it was just impossible!
There were only 90 seconds left to go!
Flowing Time"s tally had already stopped moving. It seemed to have stopped at 4.01 million votes while The Clowns" tally was still surging up at an incredible rate!
3.60 million!
3.70 million!
3.80 million!
Dong Shanshan froze onstage!
No one thought The Clown would actually catch up!
No one thought The Clown would actually achieve a feat that even the G.o.ds might not be able to achieve!
There were still 40 seconds to go!
There were still 39 seconds to go!
The entire audience stood up!
A lot of people could not take this excitement and were so nervous that their hearts nearly burst from their chests!
Countless viewers watching TV started screaming. They were witnessing a miracle right now!
3.85 million!
3.90 million!
3.95 million!
Counting down to the last ten seconds!
Backstage, Spinach was finding it hard to stifle her emotions as she rushed back into the theater!
Han Qi looked at the tally on the screen, and tears rolled down uncontrollably!
Dumbfounded, Hu Fei gazed at the screen!
Everyone looked at the screen with stunned faces!
3.98 million!
Five seconds!
Four seconds!
3.99 million!
4 million!
4.01 million!
4.02 million!
At this moment, the voting ended!
Looking at the final results of the voting, everyone was stunned. Then, they suddenly screamed and cheered!
"He won!"
"He won!"
"He really won!"
"The Clown is the Masked King!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
"Masked King!"
The audience started chanting in unison!
Even the ceiling was almost blown away!
Chapter 1080: Gu Cheng"s "Life Fantasia"!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
On the stage.
Dong Shanshan announced loudly, "The grand champion of the first season of King of Masked Singers is—The Clown!"
All the cameras focused on The Clown!
All the guests and audience members stood up to clap for him!
Han Qi cried as she hugged Xiao Lu, who was next to her, and shouted, "We"ve won! We"ve won!"
Spinach"s tears were also flowing. Teacher Clown! Thank you! Thank you! You"ve really carried out your promise to me! I will continue journeying down this path. From now on, I won"t waver again!
A miracle!
This was a crazy miracle!
The Clown had managed to jump from last place with slightly over a million votes to first place with his final song and in the last few minutes of voting. There had never before been such a turn of events at any of the other singing compet.i.tions! Never!
Everyone was dumbfounded!
King of Oddity felt a sense of bitterness.
Flowing Time was crying out "impossible" over and over again in his head!
He should have been the champion!
The grand champion was supposed to be him!
But why did it end up like this?
Why did so many people vote for The Clown?
This influence, this appeal, this singing, they couldn"t have come from someone who was just an unknown!
Who are you?
Just who the h.e.l.l are you?
Suddenly, a female audience member shouted, "Take off your mask and reveal yourself!"
Instantaneously, many others joined with her!
All of the audience started chanting in unison!
"Reveal!"
"Reveal!"
"Reveal!"
"Reveal!"
Then, even the guests followed along and chanted!
Zhang Xia laughed and said, "Reveal!"
Amy said loudly, "Reveal!"
Fan Wenli said, "Reveal"
Li Xiaoxian said, "Reveal!"
Zhang Yuanqi was keeping a close eye on The Clown, who was walking away.
Zhang Ye exited the stage and went backstage to change costumes. He still had another song left to perform as the compet.i.tion allowed the grand champion to get one final performance!
Dong Shanshan looked slightly excited onstage. She said loudly, "Today, the first grand champion of King of Masked Singers has been born. We"re extremely excited to witness the birth of a legendary singer. Perhaps he might have been an unknown singer that few know of. Perhaps he might have been a bright and s.h.i.+ning star. We don"t know who he was, but we all want to know who he is. We all want to see what the face beneath The Clown"s mask looks like, and to know what sort of a person he is!"
The theater fell silent!
The home viewers were staring at their TVs with hanging jaws!
Dong Shanshan said loudly, "Now the chance has finally come after waiting so long. The Clown will be taking his mask off very soon. I know you"re all as anxious as I am, but please give Teacher Clown a minute to get changed. He still has one song left to perform. Later, during the song, The Clown"s ident.i.ty shall be revealed!"
...
Weibo was blowing up!
The King of Masked Singers" thread was flooding with comments!
"He really won!"
"He"s finally going to reveal himself!"
"Quick, go and watch Beijing TV!"
"The Clown is going to reveal his face soon!"
"I freaking wanna know who the h.e.l.l this saint is!"
"He"s really amazing! Amazing!"
"What? The Clown was crowned champion? Didn"t he have no chance? I stopped watching just now! What happened? What happened during the last few minutes?"
"Previous poster, just go and cry yourself to sleep!"
"Something big happened during that time! The Clown totally turned the tide with his efforts!"
"Holy s.h.i.+t! Seriously? He could even catch up in those circ.u.mstances? Who on earth is he?"
"That"s what we wanna know too!"
"Your question is being asked by people all over the country right now!"
...
Within the industry.
The music industry.
Whether it was the newcomers, the active singers, or even the retired musicians, all of them were alarmed at this moment. They all had their televisions switched on and were currently staring intently at the screen!
"Did anyone manage to guess who he is?"
"No!"
"No one was able to guess at all!"
"Who is he, where did he get his songs—n.o.body knows!"
"He"s about to reveal himself!"
"Wait for him to finish changing his costume!"
It was not only the people from the music industry!
People from other professions in the entertainment industry were also watching their televisions in amazement!
Huo Dongfang was watching!
Ning Lan was watching!
Tang Dazhang was also watching!
...
The viewers.h.i.+p rating kept soaring!
The viewers.h.i.+p rating for King of Masked Singers at this point in time had reached a historical high. Even when The Clown was singing "Exaggerated," the viewers.h.i.+p rating was not as high as this moment!
Backstage.
The waiting room door opened.
Zhang Ye had changed into his costume and was about to walk out!
However, the staff who were standing and waiting outside were all surprised when they saw him!
Han Qi was stunned!
Xiao Lu was dumbfounded!
Dafei nearly fainted on the spot!
Xiao Lu pointed at The Clown"s outfit and cried out, "A-Are you gonna wear that?"
Dafei said, "Did you change into the wrong outfit?"
The Clown laughed. "No, this is the correct one."
Han Qi said anxiously, "B-But how can you wear that? How can you wear something like that!"
However, The Clown said, "This is it. Let"s go already!"
Along the way, all the staff who saw him were also startled, without an exception. They all stood there and watched him, dumbfounded, then turned to stare at each other with odd expressions!
At the venue.
The piano played!
The music was starting!
The audience was very confused by this.
"Where is he?"
"Why isn"t anyone coming out yet?"
"Did they play the music too early?"
"Where"s The Clown?"
"Eh, why is there music playing?"
n.o.body was sure of what was going on.
In the audience, his mother was blinking and wondering what was happening.
His father peered at the waiting area.
Right at this moment, before even appearing on stage, The Clown"s voice rang out through the venue. It was him speaking. He was speaking against a musical backdrop!
"There are always people asking me why I came to this stage. There are always people asking me what is it that I"m trying to achieve. Today, I will happily answer those questions. The reason why I came here and those songs that I chose were all for a dream that I have. A rather laughable, but very great dream."
The Clown"s microphone was already connected to the sound system!
He was walking over from backstage!
The mood of the audience was once again lifted. Everyone p.r.i.c.ked their ears up to listen!
With the piano accompaniment, The Clown"s voice drifted out from all sides as he recited.
"Put my visions and dreams
"in a slender seash.e.l.l.
"Wind my roof wove of willows
"with the long song of the summer cicada.
"I tighten the stays, the wind blows the sail through the morning fog.
"And I"m off,
"without aim,
"drifting through the blue sky."
The audience was stunned by what they were hearing!
What was this about?
A poem?
A…poem?
Zhang Xia"s expression changed!
Jiang Hanwei"s pupils dilated!
His mother suddenly stood up. "This…this…"
Zhang Ye"s three sisters were also dumbfounded!
A lot of people"s jaws dropped!
The Clown smiled.
"Night is a valley,
"the day a mountain peak.
"Sleep! I close my eyes
"and the world falls away.
"The horse of time
"collapses.
"The yellowtail waxwing
"builds a nest in my carriage.
"I want to keep roaming the world—
"To deserts, jungles, the remotest spots.
"I impress my footprints, like seals into the earth
"and the world
"mingles into me."
The Clown"s voice was getting louder and louder!
The outline of his figure could be seen. He raised his leg and stepped up onto the stage!
The audience started exclaiming in shock!
They were confused by what The Clown was wearing!
He was in his pajamas!
The Clown had worn his pajamas onto the stage!
He was even barefoot!
No one had dared to dress like this before!
This was a live show!
People from all over the country were watching!
Why aren"t you wearing something more proper?
Why are you dressed so casually?
What are you planning to do?
What will you be singing?
The Clown stood onstage and looked at everyone with a smile.
"I want to sing
"a human song
"that ages from now
"will chorus through the universe."
Everyone was stunned with their mouths agape!
All of the audience and guests, as well as all the staff at the venue, had seemingly gotten their tails stepped on as they nearly jumped up in shock!
You…
You…
You"re…
Chapter 1081: The Clown takes off his mask!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Flowing Time gasped!
Different expressions were s.h.i.+fting and running across King of Oddity"s face!
When "Life Fantasia" from The Clown"s world was recited, a lot of people felt as though their sweat glands had suddenly exploded! This was a poem they had never heard before. It was such a ridiculously good poem that many people became very engrossed in listening to it! However, the reason for their shock was not because of how good this poem was. What shocked them was totally unrelated to this poem"s literary and artistic standards!
It was because this poem had suddenly reminded them of someone!
At this moment, everyone watching on TV and those at the venue all thought of one man!
Zhang Xia said anxiously, "Is he?"
Amy said, "Surely that can"t be, right?"
Yao Jiancai said, "Holy s.h.i.+t!"
Chen Guang stared with wide eyes and said, "That"s impossible!"
Xiaodong also shouted in astonishment, "It can"t possibly be him! It"s absolutely impossible!"
No one believed that The Clown could be that man!
Who are you?
Just who are you?
The music suddenly started playing gently.
The t.i.tle of the song was already displayed on the teleprompter screen: " I Am What I Am 1 "!
When everyone saw this, they were stunned!
"I Am What I Am"?
The Clown smiled as he walked around the stage barefoot.
Standing at center stage barefoot, it felt very cooling and comfortable. The pajamas he had on gave him a very relaxed sense of unparalleled coziness. It was as though all his disguises and burdens had suddenly been dropped and he could finally get back to being himself again in front of everyone!
It was such a good feeling!
Ever since he was banned, he had never felt so happy!
Being secretive? Hiding here and there? This was not actually something he enjoyed. He wished to stand in the light and sing to the entire world!
This was the real him!
This was who he really was!
The Clown lifted his microphone.
He started singing softly.
"Happiness is that there"s more than one way to be happy.
"The greatest blessing is that everyone is the pride of the Creator."
The platform below him started to rise!
Bit by bit, it took Zhang Ye higher!
One meter…
Five meters…
Eight meters…
Before long, The Clown was standing at the highest point in the venue, ten meters up in the air where he could see everyone!
Dressed in his pajamas and standing barefoot, he sang loudly as though he had seemingly forgotten himself.
"There"s no need to hide.
"I live for the life I appreciate.
"No need for a disguised side.
"In the bright corner I"ll wait!"
The audience was stunned when they heard!
Xiaodong, Fan Wenli, and the others were also stunned!
No hiding?
No disguising?
Waiting in a bright corner?
You…
You…
At this moment!
The Clown suddenly raised his hand and ripped off his mask. Flinging it, the mask flew outward. A face that shocked everyone was exposed onscreen!
The eldest young sister shouted, "Ah!"
His second sister screamed!
His third sister"s mouth was hanging there like she had forgotten how to scream!
Ha Qiqi, who was in the audience, was dumbfounded!
Zhang Zuo was dumbfounded!
Spinach looked at him in shock!
Han Qi was dumbfounded as she sat there unable to move!
It"s you!
Why is it you?
How could it possibly be you!
At this moment, the venue erupted!
At this moment, everyone watching on TV went crazy!
This was really crazy!
Looking at that very familiar face, everyone went insane!
The Clown suddenly exploded with a high note!
Who am I?
You"re all still asking who I am?
I"m not anyone else!
Lose the honorific.
The surname is Zhang.
He screamed as he looked up and pointed to his chest and sang loudly.
"I am what I am!
"A firework of different colors!
"The broad sky and open seas!
"I"ll be the strongest bubble as I please!
"I like what I am!
"May the wild rose blossom at ease!
"Even in a lonely desert,
"Blooming in plain sight, unhurt!"
Banning?
Censoring?
Criticizing me?
Insulting me?
Bullying me?
It doesn"t matter! It really doesn"t matter at all!
Even if there is only one person looking at me, even if there isn"t a single person left! I still won"t retreat and let this world change me!
I am what I am!
No matter where I go, I am what I am!
Like that stubborn wild rose that blooms in the desert.
Can you all understand that?
Can you all see that?
In the audience, his mother suddenly cried as she pointed at the stage and shouted, "That"s my son! My son!"
His father also teared up a little!
So earlier, when The Clown had said that his parents were here too, he was actually referring to them!
His mother was choking back her tears. "It hasn"t been easy for Little Ye! It really hasn"t been easy at all!"
His third sister shouted, "Brother!"
The eldest young sister and second sister were also so excited that they were unable to get ahold of themselves!
Currently, all of the audience"s reactions were similar to theirs!
Shock!
Enthrallment!
Astonishment!
Disbelief!
It was Zhang Ye!
The Clown was actually Zhang Ye!
The Clown laughed!
He laughed without restraint!
"How happy I am,
"Enjoying life in a gla.s.s house."
He pointed to the sky and sang loudly.
"And telling the world!
"What it"s like to be bright and open!"
A sustained note made the entire audience stand up!
Screams!
Applause!
Everything else was drowned out in an instant!
A lot of people were crying!
A lot of people were shocked!
The man who insisted on singing when he had nearly fainted on the stage due to a fever during the first episode—that was Zhang Ye!
The man who sang "The Internationale" with anger when he was faced with censors.h.i.+p from several television a.s.sociations—that was Zhang Ye!
At this moment, many of The Clown"s songs floated uninhibited into the minds of the audience!
I am a beautiful, beautiful wild rose! / Hating the Heavens for being unfair!
I"m ugly, / but I am so tender!
Arise! / ye pris"ners of starvation! / "Tis the final conflict!
You only see the brightest of stars in the starry night sky!
Zhang Xia cried out, "It"s Little Zhang!"
Xiaodong shouted, "Oh my G.o.d!"
Zhang Yuanqi was the first person to guess that The Clown might have been Zhang Ye. But when she saw The Clown take off his mask and the face behind it, she still found it unbelievable!
Dong Shanshan was dumbfounded!
High up in the air!
The Clown pointed at himself.
"I am what I am!
"A firework of different colors!
"The broad sky and open seas!
"I"ll be the strongest bubble as I please!
"I like what I am!
"May the wild rose blossom at ease!
"Even in a lonely desert,
"Blooming in plain sight, unhurt!"
It was too shocking!
This song had turned the theater upside down!
This song was written with Zhang Ye in mind!
Every single word was about him!
Many of the audience members were waving their arms and screaming for Zhang Ye!
Countless viewers watching TV were shouting and yelling in shock and going crazy for Zhang Ye!
Zhang Ye closed his eyes.
He lowered his voice.
"Even in a lonely desert,
"Blooming in plain sight…unhurt."
The entire audience stood up!
It was as if everyone had agreed beforehand that they should stand up in unison!
Han Qi covered her mouth and cried. She had already lost count of the number of times she had cried today. It was really touching. She was captivated by his unique charm! So much so that she couldn"t free herself!
Han Qi suddenly raised her hands and shouted, "Zhang Ye! Zhang Ye!"
In an instant, cheers erupted throughout the venue!
A female audience member shouted in tears, "Zhang Ye!"
A male audience member bellowed, "Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
The audience had gone out of control!
The audience had gone insane!
This night belonged to The Clown!
This night belonged to Zhang Ye!!
Chapter 1082: A national sensation!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At Old Rao"s house.
The live broadcast of King of Masked Singers was showing on the television.
Yang Shu, sitting on the sofa, was staring with her mouth agape!
Rao Aimin was stunned!
Chenchen was also so shocked that her jaw had fallen to the floor!
Yang Shu said "Th-This is my senior bro?"
...
At Peking University.
It was almost summer break. The teachers from the Chinese Department were having a dinner party.
When "I Am What I Am" was performed on television in the restaurant"s private room, when The Clown who was on screen suddenly ripped off his mask, the entire room fell silent. Before the song was finished, no one moved their chopsticks. Everyone looked like they had seen a ghost as they kept staring straight at the television!
"Zhang Ye?"
"It"s Professor Zhang!"
"How could The Clown turn out to be him! d.a.m.n!"
...
At the SARFT.
In Old Wu"s office.
Secretary Bai Li pushed open the door and came into the room. "Chief Wu, something has happened!"
"What"s the matter?" Wu Zeqing was working overtime to handle some doc.u.mentation work. When she heard Bai Li, she did not even look up as she continued writing something calmly with her head lowered.
Bai Li said in horror, "Zhang Ye is on TV!"
Only then did Wu Zeqing slowly look up. "Oh?"
Bai Li said anxiously, "Take a quick look at King of Masked Singers!"
Wu Zeqing picked up the remote control and immediately turned on the television.
The figure of Zhang Ye appeared on screen!
Then Wu Zeqing laughed. "OK, I see."
But Bai Li could not laugh at all, because Zhang Ye was currently on the ban list. As the tone had been set long ago, these people were supposed to be restricted from appearing onscreen for a certain amount of time! But who could have expected Teacher Zhang Ye to take on another persona and appear on the most popular, currently running variety show while hiding behind a mask? Further, he revealed himself during the live broadcast. This was something that no one had expected at all!
...
At an entertainment company.
Fang Weihong stared at the television in shock!
A lot of her surrounding colleagues were also stunned!
Today, they were waiting for The Clown to take off his mask and were discussing whether they would be able to poach him to their company. The proposal was already written and the offer had been decided on as well. All that was left was for The Clown to reveal his true self. As long as they knew who he was, they could find and approach him!
But when Zhang Ye"s face appeared behind the mask, their office fell silent!
Silence!
Then, Fang Weihong threw the proposal straight into the trash can and said, "There"s no need to try to poach him anymore." Since it is him, there would be no talent agency that could ever poach him even if he was a free agent!
Her colleagues gave bitter smiles as they knew that their proposal was written in vain!
It was Zhang Ye?
The Clown f.u.c.king turned out to be Zhang Ye?
Oh my G.o.d!
What"s happening with this world?
They felt as though that this world had gone crazy in this moment!
...
On television, the live audience was screaming in excitement!
On Weibo, the reactions were about the same as well!
A fan club that had kept a low profile ever since their idol went silent suddenly came alive and appeared again. This fan club that had previously made people tremble in fright countless times in the entertainment industry was called—Zhang Ye"s fan club!
"Zhang Ye!"
"It"s Teacher Zhang!"
"Oh my G.o.d!"
"Comrades, so Teacher Zhang did not disappear after all!"
"f.u.c.k, when did our Old Zhang pick up singing?"
"I"m so surprised! This is so f.u.c.king surprising!"
"How could it be Zhang Ye! G.o.ddammit!"
"I"m so shocked!"
"Is this for real? Is this really happening?"
"I love you to death, Teacher Zhang! I"ve been wondering why The Clown"s bad temper felt so familiar!"
"I should have known! He even admitted defeat just so that he could eliminate Li Yu? How many people like him are there in the entertainment industry who dare to fall out and pick a fight with someone like that!"
"I"ve only been a braindead fan of two people in my entire life. One is Zhang Ye and the other is The Clown. In the end, the two of them are actually the same person! Can you guys imagine the shock? Can you? This is too unbelievable! Teacher Zhang, I love you to death! You"re fantastic! You"re really fantastic!"
The acting leader of Zhang Ye"s fan club, Big Saber Bro, who had disappeared for a long time, suddenly appeared again!
Big Saber Bro: "My large saber is again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again unable to endure the thirst! Brothers and sisters! Follow my lead!"
In an instant, Li Yu"s and Flowing Time"s Weibo were filled with condemning voices!
Previously, they had not known about The Clown"s ident.i.ty. But now that they knew who he was, they definitely had to seek an explanation about the issue from back then. If they did not receive one, then they would scold them until they gave one!
Elsewhere.
Many netizens were shocked by what they were seeing.
"f.u.c.k!"
"Zhang Ye"s fan club has been revived!"
"They"ve started their insulting again!"
"These people are f.u.c.king warriors just like Zhang Ye!"
"Hahahaha, I haven"t witnessed such a sight in such a long time. It feels pretty nostalgic to me!"
"Yeah, an entertainment circle without the presence of Zhang Ye"s fan club is definitely incomplete. After such a long time without seeing them banding together for something, I really do miss them!"
"This Zhang Ye is amazing!"
"I thought that Teacher Zhang didn"t know how to sing? Was he just pretending in the past?!"
"How devious of him! He"s way too devious!"
"That"s right, I"ve never before seen someone as awful as him!"
"But it"s really such a nice song! I"ve realized that I"ve also become a braindead fan of Zhang Ye"s! What should I do!"
...
At the King of Masked Singers" venue!
The song ended!
The live broadcast was still ongoing!
The entire venue was still going crazy!
Thousands of audience members began chanting Zhang Ye"s name in unison as the atmosphere reached its climax. There was no way to calm them down!
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
The live broadcast was coming to an end!
Dong Shanshan was not feeling any calmer than the audience. She raised her microphone and said loudly with a smile, "Thank you, everyone. With Teacher Clown"s song over, the King of Masked Singers grand finals has come to a perfect ending. Tell me, do you guys still wish to watch and listen to these teachers" performances again?"
The audience shouted:
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Dong Shanshan announced loudly, "If so, I would like to send out an invitation to everyone on behalf of Beijing Television and the King of Masked Singers program team. King of Masked Singers will be holding a live concert next Sat.u.r.day night! Contestants like The Clown, Petal Shower, Sunset Glow, Flowing Time, King of Oddity, and Spinach, whom you all like so much, will be appearing at the live concert! Then, I welcome everyone to join us for the event! At that time, let us witness the glory together!"
There was still more?
There was still going to be an episode showing the live concert?
When the audience heard, they became exceedingly excited!
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Fan Wenli!"
"Liao Yiqi!"
Everyone was madly shouting the names of the contestants they liked!
Counting down: three, two, one!
The live broadcast signal was shut off!
The night of the King of Masked Singers" finale had officially come to an end!
Zhang Ye, who had just gotten off from the stage, was immediately surrounded!
Yao Jiancai chided him with a laugh, "You sure are good, Little Zhang! Why didn"t you tell me you joined the compet.i.tion? You"re a real puzzle! A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma!"
Zhang Ye felt a little embarra.s.sed. "Ahem."
Fan Wenli smiled and said, "Director Zhang, it"s been a while."
Zhang Ye was amused and said, "It hasn"t been that long. We meet each other every week."
Chen Guang asked with great surprise, "Were all the songs that you sang onstage written by you?"
"Yes." Zhang Ye grinned and said, "Please excuse my poor writing."
Zhang Xia pointed at him and said, "You"re just great! I never expected that it would be you! You even pretended to be a northeasterner? Pretended to be a Hong Konger? And even pretended to be Hokkien?"
Zhang Ye said awkwardly, "Grandma Zhang, that was because I didn"t dare to reveal myself. The air pollution doc.u.mentary problem hasn"t been dealt with yet. I"m still banned, unlike all of you."
At this moment, Dong Shanshan suddenly rushed down from the stage to question him.
"You!" Dong Shanshan shouted at him loudly.
Zhang Ye rubbed his nose. "Yo, if it isn"t Teacher Shanshan."
Dong Shanshan pointed at him and said, "When I called you that one time, I asked you if you were The Clown. You even denied it back then and swore that you were not him, didn"t you?"
Zhang Ye smiled sheepishly. "Did I? I"ve forgotten already."
Li Xiaoxian laughed and said, "Was that song of yours really dedicated to Teacher Shanshan?"
Xiaodong exclaimed, "Didn"t they explain it online? That Shanshan"s birthday was not on that day?"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "We"ve been cla.s.smates for so many years and were even seated in front and behind of each other, so how could I not know when her birthday is? Her recorded date of birth on her household register is the wrong date."
Dong Shanshan rolled her eyes. "Then why did you claim that I never told you about it before?"
Zhang Ye said innocently, "But it"s true that you never told me about it. I only knew because I overheard when you were telling another cla.s.smate back in school."
Dong Shanshan asked, "…Then how did you suddenly learn how to sing?"
Zhang Ye laughed, "That"s a secret."
Zhang Yuanqi also walked up to him and said with a smile, "How many favors do you owe me this time?"
Zhang Ye replied nervously, "Isn"t one more than enough?"
Zhang Yuanqi said, "I guessed it was you."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "But you weren"t very sure about it."
"Right, because I"ve heard you sing on the spot before," Zhang Yuanqi said.
Zhang Xia also remembered the day Zhang Ye wrote "Woman Flower" and sang it on the spot for her and Yuanqi backstage during the Spring Festival Gala. They really did not find anything flattering about his singing skill and voice at that time. Coupled with "A Letter to Home," which he sang on Beijing Television"s Spring Festival Gala, no one had expected that Zhang Ye would know how to sing. This was also the reason why no one thought of him as a possibility! As such, when everyone saw The Clown after he took off his mask, that shock was really too great to handle!
Over there!
The Beijing Television staff also rushed up to him all at once!
Dafei shouted, "Director Zhang!"
The moment Hou Ge came up to Zhang Ye, he gave him a bear hug. "How could it be you!"
Xiao Lu came over!
Hu Fei came over!
Han Qi also excitedly ran up to him!
"Teacher Zhang!"
"You were so amazing!"
"We were trying to guess who The Clown was! Why is it you! How could it possibly be you!"
"Did you really win?"
"I was wondering who could have written so many heaven-defying cla.s.sics!"
Han Qi"s eyes reddened a little as she got very excited at seeing her idol. "Teacher Zhang, I like every one of your songs! I love them to death!"
Zhang Ye looked at her and said with a smile, "Thank you, Little Han. Thanks for all your hard work these past several days." Then he gave the group a fist and palm salute. "Everyone, I"m sorry that I had to hide this from you. I was afraid that if my ident.i.ty was exposed, the show would be dragged down by me, so I had to keep it a secret. If there"s anything that I did wrong, I"ll treat everyone to dinner as an apology at a later time! Haha!"
All of a sudden, someone wrapped their arms around Zhang Ye"s waist and lifted him up!
Then a lot of people from Beijing Television surrounded Zhang Ye and raised him up high!
They threw him up in the air!
They caught him!
They threw him up in the air again!
They caught him again!
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
"Cham-pi-on!"
Today!
He was a national sensation!
Chapter 1083: Zhang Ye"s latest celebrity ranking?
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
The next day.
Sunday.
At his parents" house, Zhang Ye slept all the way until 10 in the morning.
After he had sent his parents home from the compet.i.tion venue last night, he headed straight to bed and dozed off immediately for a full 11 hours of sleep. Over these past few days, he had become incredibly tired. It was much too tiring having to do the production, choose his songs, arrange music, practice his singing, record the show, and attend the live broadcast. He was just like a warrior who did not know what fatigue meant. Throughout the duration of the compet.i.tion, he even experienced staying up for two days and nights in a row, as well as not succ.u.mbing to a fever of 40°C! It had been two months, and now the compet.i.tion was finally over. When the tension he had been experiencing was released, he was immediately overcome with a heavy sense of fatigue that made him sleep until now.
His cell phone had run out of battery.
He rolled over and plugged it into the charger before turning his phone on, all without stepping out of his bed.
There were quite a few notifications of missed calls and messages received on his cell phone"s display.
His old colleague, Ha Qiqi: "Director Zhang! Me, Zhang Zuo, Little w.a.n.g, and everyone else all saw the moment you got crowned champion onstage. Great job! Congratulations!"
Central TV Department 14"s Director Yan Tianfei: "Teacher Zhang, you"re really not being a bro here. Why didn"t you let me know about such an important thing? Haha, I couldn"t get through to you, so I"m sending you this message to congratulate you. I thought that you"d really stopped doing things after getting banned and were really going to behave yourself from now on, hur hur. But seeing that you"re back now, I"m relieved! You"re still the same old Teacher Little Zhang that I knew, always going around and stirring up trouble every other day!
His university cla.s.smate, Yu Yingyi: "Old cla.s.smate, you"re really on fire now! In the entire entertainment industry, you"re the most popular one of all! When are you going to treat us to a meal? Quickly set a date! I can"t wait!"
His old colleague, Tian Bin: "Old Zhang, do you intend to ascend to the Heavens!"
A-list movie star, Ning Lan: "Did you have to make such a big splash?"
His friends and colleagues all came to congratulate him and express their shock at the same time!
Zhang Ye was lying in bed and smiling as he read the messages, replying to them one by one.
For the entire morning, the Internet, newspapers, and news broadcasts were all reporting about The Clown and Zhang Ye, as well as King of Masked Singers. Admittedly, Zhang Ye"s position was slightly more awkward since he was currently soft banned without any official statement or clarification from the authorities. Any news reports regarding him were also greatly controlled. However, yesterday"s live broadcast had caused such a big stir that there was no one who did not know about it anymore. So the media couldn"t possibly avoid not mentioning Zhang Ye"s name and not report about it even if they wanted to!
"Curtains fall on King of Masked Singers: The Clown crowned champion!"
"Inconceivable! King of Masked Singers" The Clown"s true ident.i.ty!"
"The Clown turns out to be Zhang Ye!"
"The Clown"s "I Am What I Am" send shockwaves through audience!"
"Zhang Ye performs another astonis.h.i.+ng crossover!"
"A layman sweeps away the music industry!?"
"King of Masked Singers to hold live concert next week. Zhang Ye"s appearance still unknown!"
"Our reporter inquires over the phone; authorities yet to make statement!"
"Zhang Ye—entertainment industry"s professional "s.h.i.+t stirrer"!"
"Watch out, music industry musicians! Here comes Zhang Ye!"
People throughout the country were still in a state of shock!
Fan Wenli had also taken her mask off yesterday, as did Li Xiaoxian. But as their ident.i.ties had long since been speculated by the netizens, there didn"t exist an element of surprise. However, no one had been able to guess The Clown"s real ident.i.ty all this time. Then there was also the fact that the name of Zhang Ye itself had always been a focal point, and his status was unlike Fan Wenli and Li Xiaoxian"s, who were professional singers. A host, director, mathematician, and someone who meddled in the Chinese language had been crowned the grand champion of King of Masked Singers by taking down a series of professional singers like Fan Wenli, Li Xiaoxian, Zhao Qiquan, and many others. This made many of the industry insiders want to vomit blood! This was too unreasonable! Zhang Ye, did you intend to blast off from Earth?
Any topic related to Zhang Ye had always been this hotly debated!
He was truly the most wondrous person in show business. No one could predict what he would do next. Ever since his debut, everything he did would always shock a group of people!
Just look!
It was no exception this time!
...
Outside, the door opened.
His parents came home in a laughing mood.
Zhang Ye quickly got out of bed and strolled into the living room. "Dad, Mom, where did you go?"
"You just woke up?" His mother was grinning from ear to ear. She placed the plastic bags in her hands down. "Your dad and I went grocery shopping. I must cook some good dishes for you in the afternoon to celebrate!"
His father glanced at his wife and said, "What grocery shopping? Your mom went out early this morning to brag. She reached the market at 8 AM and started bragging the moment we b.u.mped into every neighbor we saw. Look at the time now. It"s already 11 AM."
His mother was having none of it. "What"s wrong with me bragging about my son!"
His father threw his hands up and said, "Alright, alright, I didn"t say that it was wrong."
His mother harrumphed. "My son is so popular. Why am I not allowed to tell others about it?"
His father pursed his lips at Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Mom, just go ahead and tell anyone you like; no one will stop you. Let"s quickly eat lunch. I"m getting hungry already. I haven"t had anything much to eat at all."
His mother immediately said, "Wait a bit, wait a bit. It"ll be ready soon!" Just before stepping into the kitchen, she suddenly turned around and asked, "By the way, son, what"s your popularity score now? Where are you ranked?"
Zhang Ye was taken aback. "Oh, I would have forgotten if you hadn"t mentioned it."
His mother urged, "Quickly go and check! You were at the last two places on the A-list rankings last time, but it should have changed by now! Go check and see how many spots you"ve advanced!"
Zhang Ye nodded. "Alright."
In recent days, his popularity score had been at a standstill while the celebrities behind him had kept increasing their popularity and were catching up to him. Like Li Yu, who had exposed his own ident.i.ty on King of Masked Singers. He was close to returning to the A-list Celebrity Rankings once again. Meanwhile, Zhang Ye, who hadn"t been appearing much onscreen and had few new works, had dropped to the last two spots on the A-list rankings. He was in a very precarious position. Yesterday"s unmasking was a turning point for him as he finally did not need to worry about dropping back down to the B-list rankings. He would definitely advance in the rankings although he did not know by how many positions he would advance.
He quickly went back to his room and powered on his computer.
Zhang Ye typed in the address to the official website of the Celebrity Rankings Index and loaded the page.
But the page could not load.
"Please try again."
This notification was all that was on the page.
Zhang Ye refreshed the page.
The page was still unable to load!
What was happening?
Why couldn"t he access the site?
He immediately went onto Weibo to check. Be it the netizens or the industry insiders, everyone was confused about what was going on.
"The Celebrity Rankings website is not loading?"
"I"m experiencing the same thing. Is there something wrong with my connection?"
"It"s not your connection. The site has been inaccessible since midnight."
"Eh?"
"But that"s not possible."
"This is the official website! Nothing like this has ever happened before!"
"Yeah, what"s going on?"
"This has never happened in the past!"
"What"s their technical team doing? We"re at a crucial point in time right now!"
"I was hoping to check out Fan Wenli"s popularity ranking!"
"I was waiting to see Zhang Ye"s! He was about to drop off the A-list rankings the last time I checked!"
A lot of those in the entertainment industry were also waiting. The influence of King of Masked Singers was so widespread. Its songs dominated the Top Chinese Music Chart, and the popularity score gain it gave was also astonis.h.i.+ng. Those involved in the show would always check their own rankings the following day to see if there were any changes in their rankings and how much their popularity scores had increased by. Even the celebrities and people from the talent agencies who did not have anything to do with the show would also check. They wanted to know if those who were on the show would have any changes in their ranking and whether they would be overtaken by them in the rankings!
Popularity was the lifeblood of a celebrity!
And this Celebrity Rankings Index was the lifechart of the entertainment industry!
...
This issue was also being discussed in the Goof Group.
Ning Lan: "It"s still not out yet? It"s still not loading?"
Huo Dongfang: "I don"t know, perhaps something happened."
Chen Guang sent a sweating emoji. "On my lovely wife"s request, I"ve been waiting up all night in the hopes of checking the rankings. I can wait no longer, so it"s time to sleep."
Xiaodong appeared. "Hahaha, Brother Chen. You"re truly a model husband!"
Amy: "I"m waiting for our Xiaoxian"s ranking to come out. Hurry, hurry!"
A male star said: "This has never happened before in the many years it"s existed, so what"s going on today?"
...
Noon.
12 o"clock sharp.
There was finally an official announcement!
It was an announcement that dumbfounded the entire entertainment industry and the public!
The announcement was as follows:
Explanation regarding the temporary inaccessibility of the Celebrity Rankings Index Website:
Due to the rising influence of a certain variety show in recent times, the data statistics of the Rankings Index have been affected to a certain extent. In addition, the popularity score of a certain celebrity has seen fluctuation on too wide of a scale. The amount of data collected has exceeded more than what our systems can handle and this caused a temporary outage to our system. At the moment, our technical team is stepping in to rectify it as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for inconveniencing everyone. We will be making another announcement when the Rankings Index is updated and returns to service.
A certain variety show?
Wouldn"t that be King of Masked Singers?!
A certain celebrity?
Wouldn"t that be Zhang Ye?!
When this announcement was made, everyone was dumbfounded!
On Weibo.
"What?"
"Zhang Ye"s popularity score has greatly fluctuated? And it even crippled their systems?"
"Pfft, are they serious?"
"Why is it that everything that goes wrong has to do with Zhang Ye, hahaha!"
"Holy cow, just how much did Teacher Zhang"s popularity score increase by! It even f.u.c.king crippled their systems?"
"That"s nothing strange with that. When The Clown took his mask off yesterday, that was an instantaneous moment. Because of that, the system would have to transfer all of The Clown"s popularity score from the previous month or so to Zhang Ye. Perhaps the data for that really did overflow! Pfft, Teacher Zhang is really great. He even brought down the Celebrity Rankings Index that had been operating fine for so long!"
"I"m cramping up from laughing!"
"Teacher Zhang is so mighty!"
"Teacher Zhang is so impressive!"
Suddenly, someone posted the poem that Zhang Ye recited at last night"s grand finals!
"Life Fantasia."
Especially those last few lines. No matter how you looked at it, it was got the blood going!
Many of the netizens hadn"t read Zhang Ye"s poems in a long time, but it was still as domineering, earthshaking, and moving as ever.
I want to sing
a human song
that ages from now
will chorus through the universe.
The netizens started posting in the comments below.
"I like Zhang Ye so much!"
"His poems are always so awesome!"
"His songs as well!"
"Earth no longer has a place that can contain Zhang Ye!"
"Congratulations, Teacher Zhang. You"re already blasting out into the universe!"
"The Celebrity Rankings Index website could even get crippled? I really have to take my hat off to Zhang Ye!"
The people in the industry didn"t know how to react!
The website crashed?
It was Zhang Ye"s fault?
d.a.m.n, just how much did your popularity score go up by this time!