Chapter 1077: 'Exaggerated' brought to life!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
It went quiet!
There was dead silence in the theater!
There was also dead silence at home!
When Wild Rose saw that everyone was looking at her, she chuckled and bent down to pick up her mask. "Aiyo, my mask fell off. I'm sorry about that, hur hur."
Zhang Yuanqi!
It was the Heavenly Queen Zhang Yuanqi!
The entire place was shocked!
Or rather, the place was dumbfounded!
Zhang Xia was startled. "Yuanqi?"
Xiaodong stared hard. "Sister Zhang?"
"Sister Zhang, it's you!" Amy and Li Xiaoxian simply could not believe it!
Fan Wenli didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "And I was just wondering who could have sung so well!"
Jiang Hanwei said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Flowing Time was sweating nervously now and looked embarrassed. He had wanted to give a hug to Wild Rose earlier, but was rejected with a simple response from her. Flowing Time had been infuriated by her rejection, but now, he could not even get angry. With Zhang Yuanqi's status in the entertainment industry, even if she did not accept his hug and had criticized him on the spot, he would still have to stand there and take the abuse.
Why was it her?
Why was it Zhang Yuanqi?
How could The Clown have possibly managed to invite her!
How could The Clown have possibly moved the Heavenly Queen with his invitation!
In an instant, the place blew up!
A lot of people had only just returned to their senses!
"Holy shit!"
"Oh my god!"
"It's Sister Zhang!"
"It was her who sang 'Love of a Lifetime' just now?"
"Goddamn!"
"This is too insane!"
"How could Sister Zhang take part in a competitive show? It's impossible!"
"Did The Clown invite her? Who on earth is The Clown! He even managed to invite Sister Zhang?"
"A newcomer? Who the fuck said that they were newcomers? Huh?"
"Is Sister Zhang a newcomer? Can you guys not be so funny?"
"I've realized that we were wrong; we've made a colossal mistake! Who said that they didn't take off their masks because they were unknowns? Huh? Who said that? The Clown is amazing! He even invited Sister Zhang to be his celebrity guest partner? What kind of a person is he?"
Everyone was so shocked that they were unable to get a hold of themselves!
Han Qi's jaw dropped!
Even Hu Fei, Hou Ge, Xiao Lu, and the rest of the program team staff went slack-jawed. They did not know who Wild Rose really was either! The Heavenly Queen had come to King of Masked Singers?
Backstage, Spinach was watching the show on TV in shock!
Li Xiaoxian could no longer bear it and asked, "Sister Zhang, why didn't you take off your mask earlier then? If you had done it…"
Zhang Yuanqi smiled. "He wouldn't let me."
Fan Wenli said in surprise, "Why not?"
Zhang Xia said, "Yuanqi, who on earth is he? He could even convince you to come?"
Amy said, "Both of you should have taken off your masks in the first round!"
No one knew what The Clown was thinking. If Zhang Yuanqi had taken off her mask and revealed herself in the first round, The Clown would surely have been crowned champion, without question. No matter if it was King of Oddity using his charity card, or if Flowing Time had invited Huo Dongfang or Jiang Hanwei and played the emotional card, all of those would have been meaningless. As long as Zhang Yuanqi was standing beside The Clown, he would definitely have been the champion tonight!
Yao Jiancai and Zhang Xia looked at The Clown who was already standing onstage!
The live audience looked at him!
The TV viewers looked at him!
It was the second round now and the last song of the competition. How can you still catch up? Even if Sister Zhang's identity has been exposed, you still can't catch up!
You clearly could have won!
You clearly could have taken a huge lead in the first round!
But why?
Just why didn't you?
All eyes fell on The Clown.
Onstage.
Zhang Ye stood there quietly.
He was dressed in a suit, all in white, and looked particularly clean and quiet at present. Spinach's words kept playing in his mind, echoing over and over again. When he saw Spinach getting eliminated, Sunset Glow falling behind in the rankings, and Petal Shower being unable to fight Flowing Time's tally even though she had sung so well, Zhang Ye couldn't help but think of what he had gone through in the past. Without a face, without a background, and without anything to speak of, all he had was a burning passion and his determination. But journeying down this path was so difficult and such a struggle that no one would be able to see or understand it!
Determination, is it wrong?
Hard work, is it wrong?
Why do you guys only see the fancy things in life?
Why don't you even glance at the people working slowly and steadily?
Can't you all see me?
Can you really not see people like us?
Everyone was asking Zhang Ye why!
But in Zhang Ye's heart, he was also asking everyone why!
I'm not going to take off my mask!
I'm not going to canvass for votes!
I'm not doing any gimmicks!
I just want to sing in peace!
Is that not allowed?
Why can't I do that?
The music played!
The notes of the piano flowed like water!
It sounded rather heavy!
It sounded rather sad!
Zhang Ye suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the other contestants, the live audience, the live broadcast cameras. With anger and questioning, he raised his microphone 1 .
"You only see the brightest of stars in the starry night sky.
"In a crowd you adore the one with the hottest stories, the most come by."
The audience was stunned!
Zhang Xia was stunned!
Zhang Yuanqi was also stunned!
This song…
Zhang Ye lightly laughed. "Who doesn't long to stand at the center of the stage."
He looked up at the lights around him. "The halo shining only for me.
"After the show's over and the curtains come down, who cares what you think,
"and who cares what you do then?
"Exaggeration is not a crime.
"It can fill an empty and tedious lifetime.
"Those prying eyes, that gossiping mouth, they spice up every get-together's downtime."
In the audience, those who had been talking and criticizing The Clown for not understanding how to adapt suddenly fell silent. They could not say anything at all!
Zhang Ye's voice went higher as he made a mocking gesture!
He was questioning them!
He was questioning all of them!
"Do we really have to exaggerate?
"Whether it is right or wrong, false or true?
"Comparing style, image, and value!"
Zhang Ye pointed at everyone and sang loudly.
"Who would speak their mind?
"Who would speak their mind?
"As long as the picture is shocking!
"As long as the story blows up in kind!
"Flowing out of my mouth is mocking,
"hyperbole, and laughter aligned!
"Only at night before the mirror can I secretly tell the truth unrefined!"
Zhang Ye now laughed insolently and rudely. It was a laugh of ridicule and derision!
King of Oddity's face had turned green from anger!
Flowing Time's face was at once flush red and flush white!
King of Oddity's and Flowing Time's fans in the audience were also angered!
"What is this!"
"He's obviously implying something!"
"Damn, who're you trying to criticize?"
"This Clown is awful!"
"He's exactly the type of person I dislike!"
"I don't like him either. Why is he accusing our Flowing Time for no reason!"
However, The Clown's voice rang out again!
Zhang Ye sang to those in the audience.
"Whether you like me
"or don't like me,
"that is your choice!"
Those people who had been talking ill of The Clown were stunned!
"I'm just hoping to voice myself sometimes and catch your ear.
"Since I sang the first note of my musical dream,
"I have never given up here!
"There are too many obstacles from myself, circumstances, and onlookers.
"Good or bad, I have bear it."
Zhang Ye sang high.
"So I want to sing a song of praise!
"And in the song set my emotions ablaze!
"Though there's many options, how many good songs are there that can move people and give them feeling?
"Do we really have to exaggerate?
"Whether it is right or wrong, false or true?
"Comparing style, image, and value!
"Who's the big winner!
"Who's the big winner!
"As long as the picture is shocking! / As long as the story blows up in kind!
"Flowing out of my mouth is mocking, hyperbole and laughter aligned. / Only at night before the mirror can I secretly tell the truth unrefined!
"Ahhh.
"Ahhhhh."
Chen Guang could no longer help himself and stood up. "Great!"
Absorbed in the music, Fan Wenli said, "Now this is singing!"
Zhang Yuanqi sighed and said, "Now this is a musical genius, as well as a musical madman!"
For some reasons, Li Xiaoxian's eyes reddened.
Everyone had been shocked by this song!
They were in disbelief that there could be this sort of song! How could anyone sing a song like this! He was a natural-born singer! The Clown really was the favored Son of Heaven! He seemed to have been born just for this industry! Even genius singers like Fan Wenli and Chen Guang felt a little envious of him! A singer like you should've already become world famous. So why? Why was someone as lucky as you—
However, The Clown's next line dumbfounded them once again!
Zhang Ye shook his head and flapped his hands.
"The lucky one is not me.
"Because the path I've chosen is very tough!
"If I'm remarkable but can't stand out enough,
"I must at least make sure there's no one else like me!"
Canvassing for votes?
Resorting to gimmicks?
They could make speeches better than they could sing?
Using charitable acts as a weapon?
Morally abducting the audience?
Should I also do the same?
Do I really have to learn from all that to win?
Zhang Ye suddenly raised his voice and went into his head voice. He grabbed his chest tight and poured all his confusion, doubt, and anger into song.
"Do we really have to exaggerate?
"I too grappled with it in my heart!"
He pointed at himself, jabbed his chest.
"When I was working hard on my own,
"did anyone see me?
"Would anyone know?"
For a song, I did not sleep for two days!
I always try my best in everything I do!
I've really worked my tail off!
But did you guys see?
Did you know?
The audience was falling into low spirits!
They suddenly felt something heavy tie up their hearts, something that made them want to cry!
Meanwhile, Zhang Ye seemed to go crazy. He shout-sang.
"Singing until my thoughts dissolve!
"And until my throat goes hoarse!
"You can say that I am enthralled!
"That I've gone crazy!
"But if I can't be carefree, how can I call myself a singer?
"Ahhh!"
He pointed at the camera, at all of the audience members. He shouted with a staunch and stubborn look in his eyes, "Look at me shining for you-u-u-u-u-u-u-u!"
Spinach cried!
Li Xiaoxian could no longer hold back her tears and they rolled down her cheeks!
They did not know why they were crying, they really did not know why!
But as they watched and cried at The Clown's onstage mournful shout-singing, many other people started crying their hearts out as well!
All of the live audience stood up in shock!
The home viewers got the goosebumps from listening to the song and stood up in shock as well!
Zhang Ye pointed at the audience and yelled.
"Whether you like it or not,
"please accept me graciously!"
All of a sudden, his voice soared an octave higher!
Yelling!
Screaming!
Fury!
"As the next moment is when I'll sparkle for you-u-u-u!
"HEEEEEEEYYYYY!"
Look at me!
Please, all of you. Look at me!
I am The Clown!
I am singing for every one of you!
The place exploded!
Everyone went insane!
Everyone stood up as though they had gone mad and were screaming like crazy!