They were pressed for time!
They had to race against the clock!
“So who’s going on?”
“Only Teacher Zhang can do it.”
“There’s no time left. Old Zhao is still waiting, so let’s hurry up and decide. We’re in a foreign country, and every move we make will affect our country’s image. We cannot afford to lose here.”
“Didn’t Teacher Zhang already say that he can do it?”
“Then it’s settled.”
“Teacher Zhang, we’re depending on you.”
Everyone came to an agreement.
Zhang Ye looked at them. “I’ll be taking the stage then?”
Amy sighed. “There’s no one else anyway.”
Zhang Ye nodded and said, “Alright, but I don’t have a band.”
Xu Meilan said, “A band?”
Big Qi said, “Yeah, how are we going to handle the band issue?”
Suddenly, Zhang Ye asked, “Amy, I heard that you can play the drums?”
Amy was taken aback. “Ah? Ah, yes, I can.”
Zhang Ye looked at Xiaodong. “Sister Dong, your skill on the bass hasn’t been lost, right?”
Xiaodong was dumbfounded. “Ah? It’s still OK.”
Zhang Ye glanced at Li Xiaoxian. “Classmate Xiaoxian, you can still play the guitar, right?”
Li Xiaoxian was taken back. “Uh, I guess.”
Zhang Ye snapped his fingers. “Alright, our band has been formed!”
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The members of Spring Garden exclaimed, “No, we can’t do it. This is a heavy metal performance. We haven’t even tried much of rock ‘n’ roll before, much less heavy metal. Teacher Zhang, please don’t pull us down with you. You should get someone else, or maybe borrow a band from the organizers?”
Zhang Ye glanced at them. “Do you guys think that I’m asking you because I want your level of playing? It’s just that there isn’t anyone else I can ask and the organizer’s in-house bands are all foreigners. It’s not like I had any practice in advance with them, nor can I properly communicate with them about the tune. There isn’t enough time either, so the three of you will have to make do!”
Big Qi said, “Yeah, there are only the three of you amongst us who are professional musicians.”
Ning Lan laughed and said, “Surely you all can’t expect Old Jiang and me to do it, right?”
Xiaodong finally crumbled. “Alright.”
Amy was on the verge of tears. “I’ll give it a try.”
Zhang Ye then called them over. “I’ll briefly explain it. I’ll be the lead guitarist, so Xiaoxian will accompany me. This is how the melody will sound like in general: When I increase the pitch, you’ll follow me—Sister Dong, this is your part—Amy, I don’t care what you do, just improvise—It doesn’t matter whether you can remember it or not as long as you keep up with my rhythm. Don’t mess up the tempo; hold steady. When we reach verse b, repeat these notes. All good?”
He explained and wrote it.
The members of Spring Garden were stunned.
Amy exclaimed, “Which song is this?”
Xiaodong also asked, “Why doesn’t it feel like I’ve heard this melody before? Does this song exist?”
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “Why do you care what song it is. I’m the one singing it.”
Li Xiaoxian was the most obedient one. “OK, I got it, Teacher Zhang.”
Zhang Ye checked his watch. “Come on, let’s go!”
Xiaodong facepalmed. She could only bite the bullet and follow Zhang Ye.
Amy clenched her teeth and stared. It was like she was staring Death in the eye.
Ning Lan watched as they walked into the distance and laughed. “These guys, why do they look like they’re walking onto the execution grounds?”
Big Qi said worriedly, “W-Will this work?”
Xu Meilan smiled and said, “Whether it works or not, it still has to be him.”
Big Qi said, “I’m just afraid that with Teacher Zhang’s English, he’ll make a fool of himself. Singing a song in English and pronouncing it wrong would be so embarrassing. There are so many foreigners watching in the audience today.”
Jiang Hanwei kept shaking his head. This last-second band was too thrown together.
Backstage.
Zhao Wuliu was pacing around.
Chen Guang was also with him to discuss a way to handle the problem.
At this moment, Zhang Ye arrived with his people. “When do we go on stage?”
Chen Guang was startled. “What are you guys doing here?”
Xiaodong gave a wry smile. “We’re here to save the day.”
Zhao Wuliu was astounded and surprised. “This is great! We must depend on our own people at such crucial moments! Teacher Zhang, are you the lead singer? Do you really know heavy metal?”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I know a lot.”
Chen Guang said, “Can you sing in English?”
Zhang Ye smiled but did not say anything.
Zhao Wuliu said, “Regardless, I’ll go and tell the organizers so that we can switch out.”
He brought along the interpreter to look for them and settled it after much discussion.
During this time, Zhang Ye seized the opportunity and communicated further with the members of Spring Garden about the song. He spoke to them on when to get into the flow and when to increase the power, detailing everything to them. It was a good thing that they were all longtime friends and had also performed on the same stage before, so they had some mutual understanding.
At this moment, a Korean staff member came over from the other side and said a few words.
The interpreter immediately relayed, “It’s your turn!”
Zhang Ye smiled. “Comrades, let’s go!”
Xiaodong said, “Alright!”
Amy said, “Hell, let’s do this!”
Li Xiaoxian said, “I’m gonna try my best too!”
Chen Guang called out to him, “Hey, why didn’t you change your clothes? You’re still wearing those Chinese clothes!”
But Zhang Ye just reached up and adjusted the collar of his Chinese jacket 1 . “There’s no need to change!”
Chen Guang looked really helpless and dared not imagine what sort of a performance they’d give.
The four of them took a deep breath backstage before Zhang Ye stepped up and led the others onto the stage!
It was a large venue!
There were nearly 10,000 people in attendance!
Everyone’s attention was suddenly on them!
…
The American audience.
“What?”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why do those clothes look so weird?”
“Is he Chinese?”
…
The Korean audience.
“Ah, isn’t that Spring Garden!”
“It’s them. That’s Xiaodong, Amy, and Li Xiaoxian.”
“Did they come to the wrong place?”
“Yeah, this is a heavy metal music festival, not some pop concert!”
“Who is that guy?”
“I know him, it’s Zhang Ye!”
“What? He is that Zhang Ye? That Heavenly King from China?”
“Yeah!”
…
The Chinese international students.
“Ahhh!”
“Zhang Ye!”
“It’s Zhang Ye!”
“Damn, what is that guy doing here?”
“Even Spring Garden is here?”
“What are they doing up there? Where’s Teacher Zhao Wuliu?”
“Why is there a change to the lineup?”
“How can Zhang Ye possibly know how to sing heavy metal!”
“That’s right. This fellow’s English cannot even be compared to a middle school student’s!”
“Is he wearing a tangzhuang?”
“That’s an updated form of it, right? How is he going to perform a heavy metal song wearing that? Shouldn’t he at least change into leather pants?”
“Pfft, what an unprofessional guy!”
“He must be trying to create trouble!”
…
The heavy metal bands from the different countries were all shaking their heads.
Especially the bands from Japan and Korea. They were very opinionated.
“What is this?”
“Are they even here to sing heavy metal?”
“You wouldn’t think so just by looking at them.”
“Where did they pop out from?”
“Are they Chinese? But China has no metal of their own.”
“They’re definitely going to cover a song. How uninteresting.”
“Of all the acts that this music festival is featuring, why did they choose to invite the Chinese? Are they trying to mess around?”
“Just because the song they prepared was performed by someone else, they don’t have any other songs they can perform? Trash tier.”
“What do you mean?”
“One of the Korean bands changed songs for their performance, which clashed with one of the songs the Chinese selected.”
“That happened? So they can’t sing it anymore? And had to change their lineup? Well, I guess it’s not surprising. The Chinese don’t have their own metal. How many songs could they possibly know?”
…
In the VIP seating.
Chen Guang and Zhao Wuliu came over to join the others.
Ning Lan told them, “Take a seat, it’s about to start.”
Chen Guang was not looking forward to this at all.
Zhao Wuliu’s heart was pounding as he silently cheered them on.
Xu Meilan’s pair of beautiful eyes were staring at the stage.
Big Qi shouted, “Come on! Come on!”
…
On the stage.
Zhang Ye stood there calmly.
Xiaodong and the others were behind their instruments.
Seeing the audience muttering, hearing the lukewarm applause from them, Zhang Ye was very unhappy. The bands that appeared before them did not receive the treatment that they were getting. Was it just because of his Chinese jacket? That they assumed he didn’t know heavy metal? Just because he was Chinese, they thought that he didn’t know heavy metal?
Zhang Ye found this ridiculous and sighed.
Thinking back to the prosperous Great Tang, how mighty was China back then?
What did we not have at that time?
What could we not do at that time?
Who was not convinced by us at that time?
Change clothes?
Change into something that would befit metal?
Don’t be stupid!
Today, this is what I’ll wear!
Today, I’m dressed in this Chinese jacket!
I’ll let you all listen to China’s heavy metal!
Zhang Ye’s electric guitar rang out!
A deafening melody filled the arena. It was a melody that carried a strong feel of heavy metal in it as it stirred everyone who heard it up in surprise. All of them raised their heads and stared straight in a stunned manner at Zhang Ye who was up on stage!
The sound of the bass came in.
The drums started playing as well!
The melody’s pitch was getting higher and higher!
Zhang Ye’s face had a reminiscent look on it. He suddenly shut his eyes and a voice that was heavily laced with a sense of heavy metal suddenly rang out across the venue. The moment he opened his mouth, the entire audience at the venue exclaimed. The foreign Chinese students were dumbfounded, Chen Guang was dumbfounded, Xu Meilan was dumbfounded, Ning Lan was dumbfounded, and even the trio of Spring Flower Garden who were playing with Zhang Ye were so shocked that they nearly took their hands off from their instruments!
Zhang Ye sang 2 .
” Chrysanthemum, sword, and wine! 3
“Infused into the noisy garden via coffee!
“Another nation worships the ancient moon at a sun altar!
“The Kaiyuan 4 golden age charms people!”
Everyone was stunned!
It was in Chinese!
Jesus!
Why was it in Chinese!
Chen Guang and Zhao Wuliu looked at each other, stunned!
Ning Lan gasped!
Big Qi stared with wide eyes!
Xu Meilan leaped to her feet!
Zhang Ye sang in his head voice 5 .
” The wind! Can’t blow away sorrow! 6
“Flowers! Can’t satisfy nostalgia!
“The snow! Can’t reflect the land!
“The moon! Can’t fulfill old dreams!”
He then raised his right hand and unfurled his fingers, singing loudly.
“Our fate’s imprinted in the lines of our palms!
“Tonight is sober and dreamless!
“Following my destiny, going toward a myth!
“Dreaming of the Tang dynasty-y-y-y!”
A dream?
Of the Tang dynasty?
A majestic picture was painted for all to see!
Instantly, the Chinese international students stood up and started screaming madly!
The Western audience stood up in shock. How was this possible!
The Korean audience was at a loss for words as they gave expressions of disbelief!
God!
This was China’s heavy metal?
This was China’s very own heavy metal music?!
But that was impossible!
Didn’t China not have its own heavy metal music!
This was not possible at all!
Why does this song sound even more complete than our heavy metal music?
A lot of people were stunned!
Zhang Ye sang loudly.
“Tonight’s goblet reflects the bright moon!
“Feudal peoples, a busy Silk Road!
“Tonight’s goblet reflects the bright moon!
“A collection of treasures and talented people!
“Tonight’s goblet reflects the bright moon!
“The smell of paper and ink, the artist’s soul flooding out!
“Tonight’s goblet reflects the bright moon!
“Heroes radiating courage to the universe!”
Amy could feel her blood pumping as she drummed furiously!
Xiaodong was playing the bass and was captivated by the music!
Zhang Ye suddenly switched to an operatic style of singing and growled.
“Reminiscing about golden ages!
“Close friends from all over the world!
“A vision of a borderless world!
” If only millions of manors could be built! 7 ”
He fist-pumped his right hand!
Chen Guang raised his hand!
Zhao Wuliu raised his hand!
Big Qi raised his hand!
Even someone like Ning Lan who did not enjoy heavy metal got caught in the moment and raised her right hand!
The atmosphere had hit a fever pitch!
The entire venue responded!
One hand!
100 hands!
1,000 hands!
Zhang Ye took a deep breath and howled.
“Our fate’s imprinted in the lines of our palms!
“Tonight is sober and dreamless!
“Following my destiny, going toward a myth!
“Just like returning to the Tang dynasty in a dream-m-m-m-m-m-m!”
This magnificent scale!
This resplendent sight!
These overwhelming emotions!
These towering heroics!
It was crazy!
Everyone had gone crazy!
Chen Guang and Zhao Wuliu could feel their pulse coursing!
The Chinese international students’ tears were streaming!
This is our very own style of heavy metal!
Today, China has finally truly gained its own identity in heavy metal music!
…
On this day.
On this date.
This pioneer heavy metal piece from China in Zhang Ye’s previous world, this most classic heavy metal piece that made everyone go crazy over it, “Dreaming of the Tang Dynasty” debuted!
Dressed in a Chinese jacket.
And with “Dreaming of the Tang Dynasty.”
Zhang Ye roped in Spring Garden with him and shocked Asia!