On that night.
The event came to a successful end.
The International Heavy Metal Music Festival concluded with Zhang Ye’s singing.
However, the nearly 10,000-strong audience in the arena were reluctant to leave. They were still in a state of elevated emotions as they continued shouting a name crazily—it was the name of a Chinese person!
“Zhang Ye!”
“Zhang Ye!”
“Zhang Ye!”
“Zhang Ye!”
“Zhang Ye!”
With “Dreaming of the Tang Dynasty”!
And with “Ashamed”!
It gave the attendees of the event goosebumps!
It was great!
It was awesome!
…
On the returning bus.
Zhang Ye had a lingering look on his face.
Tang Dynasty’s song.
Black Panther’s song.
He had brought them out today and it felt great! It was so fun!
Zhang Ye might not be a professional rock ‘n’ roll musician, but he did have a rock ‘n’ roll heart!
On the bus.
Zhang Ye and the Spring Garden members got “surrounded” by everyone!
Big Qi gave them a thumbs up and said excitedly, “There’s nothing I can say except that it was awesome! It was so impressive! Did you all see the atmosphere in the arena? Nearly 10,000 people were chanting your name! Nearly 10,000 people were screaming and shouting! This sort of atmosphere isn’t something that we usually experience in a normal concert back at home. Such a level of craziness can only be felt in a heavy metal performance like this! I got so pumped up listening from the audience. Old Chen, Old Zhao, and I screamed until we were hoarse!”
Zhang Ye laughed. “Haha.”
Amy exclaimed, “I had such a good time too!”
Xiaodong said happily, “Today was such a nice outlet!”
“Yeah!” Li Xiaoxian said, “Who says that China doesn’t have its own form of heavy metal!”
Xu Meilan then laughed. “Today, I finally understood where the nickname of ‘Face-smacking Zhang’ came from. In the past, I didn’t really pay much attention to it and kept wondering why people were always calling him that.”
Amy said, “Haha, you’re only learning this now, Sister Lan? Teacher Zhang has been walking the path of smacking faces for so many years! He’s even expanding it outside of China!”
Ning Lan laughed and said, “I never used to listen to heavy metal music. Listening to the others perform today only sounded like I was listening to noise. It really pained my ears to hear them sing. But when Teacher Zhang sang his song, I didn’t find it annoying at all. I even found it rather entertaining, so what was with that? That is what our Teacher Little Zhang is capable of! Haha!”
Zhang Ye pretentiously waved it off. “Sister Ning, let’s be more modest, more modest!”
Zhao Wuliu gasped and said, “Director Zhang, I really have to take my hat off to you today. I’m entirely convinced! Just what do you not know? You can even come up with a Chinese style heavy metal song? And it was even created on the spot? Do you know how many bands in China could not make it in the scene even after many years? If we had known, we would have come to you for guidance long ago! Then China’s rock ‘n’ roll scene would’ve been able to proudly say its name on the international stage several years earlier!”
Zhang Ye said, “I was just helping you out back there. I’m not a professional at this.”
Chen Guang belly laughed. “How was that just helping out? You absolutely killed it, you know? With today’s performance, it’s opened a new chapter for China’s heavy metal! Those two songs of yours are the stepping stones to the empire of China’s metal scene! It’s an extremely valuable contribution! It has also set a direction for the Chinese heavy metal bands who are still struggling to find their way in the international metal scene. This is as good as being the founding father of the industry. When future generations play metal, who can avoid being linked to you? In the future, when people mention the development of metal music in China, the first name they will bring up is yours! They would all talk about the 5th International Heavy Metal Music Festival! This will benefit all future generations!”
Zhang Ye exclaimed, “It’s not that great, it’s not that great.”
When Xiaodong heard this, she rolled her eyes playfully. “Hey, hey, what about us? Why isn’t anyone mentioning us?”
Amy also said unhappily, “Right, right, what about our contributions?”
Everyone hastily started to flatter them as well.
“You guys were great too.”
“Right, your names have already gone down in history!”
“Haha, Sister Dong’s bass playing was great!”
“Amy’s drumming was also very on point.”
“That’s right, it’s very difficult to imagine that you guys had only refined the details just before getting onstage.”
“The singing was very good too!”
“That ending shout that the three of you did, that was so heavy metal!”
With this, the three ladies of Spring Garden got extremely spoiled by the compliments.
Amy puffed out her chest. “From now on, the three of us have also become rock singers!”
Xiaodong also joked, “That’s right, we’ve switched genres and won’t be carrying on as an idol group!”
Zhang Ye and Li Xiaoxian were speechless.
Everyone was amused.
But today really was an exhilarating day for all of them!
The four of them had really done China proud!
…
Elsewhere.
Somewhere in Seoul.
At Lee Anson’s office studio.
“Oppa! Oppa!”
“What’s the matter?”
“That Zhang Ye is in Seoul!”
“What? What is he doing here?”
“I think it’s for tomorrow’s charity banquet. But just a while ago, he and the Chinese celebrity team members attended the International Heavy Metal Music Festival. He even went onstage and outdid our famous Korean Storm band, as well as the other foreign bands! The venue’s atmosphere was totally crazy! It was simply unbelievable!”
“How is that possible!”
“It’s true! One of our staff members was present at the venue!”
“How would a Chinese guy know how to sing heavy metal!”
…
On a Korean social network.
“The video is out!”
“Let me recommend a clip to everyone. All of you, have a listen to this!”
“What is it?”
“It’s a song that was performed at the heavy metal music festival!”
“Wow, this is a great performance!”
“What a stunning performance, I can feel my blood surging from listening to it!”
“Who is he?”
“This is a Heavenly King from China. He’s also an Asian A-list celebrity!”
“I don’t know this person.”
“I don’t know him either.”
“Ah? Isn’t that the world number one in Go?”
“Yes, that’s him!”
“Oh, oh, oh! I remember him now that you mention it!”
…
Japan.
Online.
“That was such a classic!”
“Those who like heavy metal music should all listen to this!”
“It’s really difficult to believe that this song was performed by a Chinese guy!”
“Who is Zhang Ye?”
“It’s that teacher from the Chinese university. He led some students to scold our countrymen some time ago.”
“Ah? It’s him!”
“He even knows how to sing?”
“Yeah, I heard that this person is one of the top celebrities in China!”
“Right, he’s also on the Asian A-list rankings!”
…
The media in Asia also followed up with reporting this news!
The reporters in Asia were very shocked!
This news was indeed quite unbelievable to them!
“The International Heavy Metal Music Festival Opens!”
“A Chinese celebrity amazes the venue with a spectacular performance!”
“China’s heavy metal music comes to Asia!”
“‘Dreaming of the Tang Dynasty’ sweeps an entire music festival!”
“A Chinese celebrity steals the limelight!”
“Zhang Ye: An Asian A-list celebrity with a tainted past!”
…
The clip from the music festival went viral!
The two songs that were recorded live went viral!
Instantly, Zhang Ye’s name became common knowledge across Asia!
And this was even Zhang Ye’s first time stepping onto a stage abroad. It was also the first time he used this method to introduce himself to the citizens and media of Asia!
On this night.
The Asian Celebrity Rankings Index was updated.
On the rankings, Zhang Ye’s popularity score had actually increased by quite a bit!