Chapter 394: Who could have written this song?
The music was fading out!
The song was ending!
It was as if the accompaniment was set to the lowest volume to allow the two women's voices to resonate even more clearly. It was an enchanting scene!
Zhang Xia smiled vibrantly, "I have a flower, it grows within my heart."
Zhang Yuanqi grasped Grandma Zhang's shoulders, "No one understands true love. The weeds of the land, are growing throughout the hills....."
Up until here, the two women, who were no longer considered young, looked straight into each other's eyes. They did not speak, but slowly revealed their smiles and sang the last bit of the song. It was very gentle and light, "A woman alone.....by herself.....has the most heartache."
On this stage meant for the young ones!
In this world of the younger generation!
The two women, who had been doubted by so many and had being labeled as things of the past by countless media outlets, at a time when their chances to appear in the gala seemed to be non-existent, had appeared on stage together. They had fought against all odds and sang with the youthfulness in their hearts. They showed their vibrancy in what might be their last time on this stage!
Narcissism?
No! They were not narcissists!
All the older people in the audience at this point in time were applauding with all their might for the two great women on stage!
"Great!"
"Who says that both of you are getting old!"
"Grandma Zhang, you are beautiful tonight!"
"No one wants to appreciates the both of you? We will appreciate you!!"
On stage were a middle-aged woman and an old lady, but to everyone right now, they were younger than the young! You've both given so much to the audience and lost so much! Even if time has crept up onto your faces! The both of you are still the most beautiful ‘Women Flower’ in the world!
Tears......
Excitement.....
Sadness.....
Moving.....
The audience all had different expressions as they were touched by this "Woman Flower" song. They were also moved by these 2 women who had dedicated their entire lives to the stage!
Back in his previous world, "Woman Flower" was the most classic work of Anita Mui. A song composed by Chen Yaochuan and written by Li Anxiu, paired with the husky and deep voice of Anita Mui. It was arguably one of the most godly works to have existed, but today, Zhang Yuanqi and Zhang Xia's version had a different kind of effect. Though it lacked Anita's sense of resentment, it added a sense of confidence and calm. Those who did not know, might never be able to appreciate the depth of this song. "Woman Flower" had no parts that required soprano singing, no increase in pace of tempo, no fancy changing of pitches and just played out with a steady and flat melody. If judged by the young, this song would have been considered as a failure, but those who had truly aged with time and experience, especially women, were the only ones who could understand the message within this song!
It's speaks for the life of a woman!
It describes the loneliness beneath the beauty!
It was the desolation behind the bustle and the final bloom within that desolation!
"They....they really haven't had it easy all their lives." Master Zhou was full of emotion.
Mrs. Zhou said while wiping her tears, "Big Sis Zhang has sung for over 30 years and spent her life on stage. Zhang Yuanqi debuted since she was just a few years old and also spent over 30 years of her life performing. No one knows how hard they have worked and no one knows how much they have given. When the Spring Festival Gala needed them, they were here, dedicating their lives. Now that the Spring Festival Gala doesn't need them anymore, what would they do? Where can they go?"
Master Zhou held his wife's hands, "The Spring Festival Gala still needs them!"
Master Wei silently looked at the stage, "Yes, the singing world still needs them!"
To many of those in the audience, Lee Anson's "LOVE-ONE" was quite a good performance and entertaining as a popular act, but it wasn't art. Zhang Yuanqi and Zhang Xia's "Woman Flower" was what they would call real art!
......
Backstage.
A 40 year old female technical staff had lost her composure. When she heard the song, it had reminded her of her life. When she was born, going to school, starting work, getting married, giving birth, going through her divorce, all sorts of emotions came rushing in. This song had overwhelmed her!
Why?
Why did they stop such good singers from appearing on stage?
The female staff from the production simply stared at the screen and said, "When I heard them sing it earlier, I thought it was quite good, but I never expected it to sound so amazing when they sang it live! It's really too amazing! I almost cried when I heard them sing! It isn't easy being a woman."
The oldest man in the production team smiled and said, "Zhang Xia is still as good as before! Who says that only the young singers are popular? 'Woman Flower'? These two women has shown us a lot today!"
They had all heard the song earlier and knew that it was a good song, but never did they expect this song to be able to move so many people. It seemed like it was true when Zhang Xia and Zhang Yuanqi mentioned that they did not sing it well that afternoon. Only on stage during the live performance, did they sing it with all their heart and soul!
Perfect!
The interpretation of the song was too perfect!
What a great pairing of two music veterans!
Even Director Peng Yiyu, who had been insistent on the Spring Festival Gala not needing Zhang Xia and Zhang Yuanqi anymore could not help but be moved by the song. He thought over it for a moment and then quietly took out his phone to send a message to his wife, "It's been hard on you all these years."
His wife replied very quickly, "Ah? What does this mean?"
Peng Yiyu said, "Nothing, I just wanted to thank you."
His wife replied, "Hur Hur, why are you being so mushy? Go work, you are still busy. I've wrapped dumplings. Let's eat them later when you are back from work."
Peng Yiyu replied, "Don't wait up for me, I don't know what time I will be back."
His wife said, "I will wait up no matter how late. There's no need to reply, focus on your work."
......
At the studio.
"There have been songs about women that I felt were quite good before, but when compared to 'Woman Flower', why do those songs feel like they're not that good anymore?"
"That's right. Those songs that sing praises of women only cover the issue superficially and are too dignified in a sense, but this 'Woman Flower' really touches on what being a woman is really about! The song writer must understand women really well to their bones. It's really too understanding of us women! The song is so well written. Zhang Xia and Zhang Yuanqi sang it so well too!"
"It's a perfect work of art!"
"Those two women are really as good as ever!"
The young people did not understand any of this.
"What song was that, it's terrible!"
"Yea, it's so lousy compared to Lee Anson's song!"
"Only the melody was not bad. Everything else was not so good."
But there were also other younger people who liked the song, "What do you know? If this song was not good, then there aren't any good songs anymore! Don't tell me you all didn't understand Grandma Zhang and Auntie Yuanqi's message from the song at all?"
A girl said, "Right, it's really so nice to listen to!"
A guy, whose eyes were full of admiration, said, "Grandma Zhang and Sister Zhang are too beautiful! That aura, that charm, they really didn't feel old at all! I will fight it out with whoever dares to say otherwise!"
Although this song was about women who were older, the message it sent was not necessarily only applicable to those with age. It also channeled a special kind of energy in the younger ones!
Then, whether it was the audience or people in front of their TVs, a lot of them suddenly had a question! Which master could have written such a good song that so accurately depicted women? Didn't they say that Zhang Xia and Zhang Yuanqi's songs were canceled? Why did they suddenly appear again to sing this song? If it was already composed beforehand, then it wouldn't be possible that their performances would have been canceled. Why wasn't this song brought out earlier to prevent that? The people who watched the gala included children, teens, and old people. There were men....and naturally women too. This was a fitting song singing about women, so why did they not bring it out earlier and instead only bring it out after the last rehearsal had ended?
Could it be that the song was composed spontaneously at the last minute?
It can't be? How could such an amazing song be so "casually" written and composed at a moment's notice?
The next program had started by now. It was a show of four songs being continuously performed one after the other. The performing artist was a more popular male singer in recent times, but at this moment, most of the audience had their minds on something else. There were limits to how much emotion a human mind could take. As "Woman Flower" was performed right before the current segment, everyone was too emotionally invested into that and had not recovered from the greatness of it!
There was still a voting round to come!
Every year, during the Spring Festival Gala, there would be a vote!
According to previous years programs, a language based performance would usually be voted to be the top one. Whether it was cross-talking or skits, they were usually the most popular amongst the audience whether they were young or old. In the merry mood of the Spring Festival, everyone would enjoy light hearted and fun programs like these, which was why language based performances usually had an advantage over others!
But this year....
A lot of middle-aged people had gone online to cast their votes!
Every year, they would always cast their votes to language type performances, but this year, they wanted to vote for "Woman Flower" instead!
Everyone knew that the total votes at the end for a song performance would never outnumber votes for the language performances. Even if this year's language performances were not good, and no matter how good the performance of "Woman Flower" was, it would never happen, but they still chose to vote for "Woman Flower" simply because they had been touched by those two great women! Zhang Yuanqi and Zhang Xia had gone against all odds and made it happen, telling the world of their persistence and dedication! And so, they, as the audience, also had a sudden urge to tell everyone else, to tell the whole nation, to tell the whole world, that they were not old at all! Everyone of them were blooming flowers! Even at the end of their lives, they could still contribute that power of theirs to the world!
30 years old, so what?
50 years old, so what?
70 years old, so what?
90 years old, so what?
Even if no one would understand, even if only we felt that we were still worthy of praise, even if everyone thinks that we are a thing of the past, so what?!
We will speak for ourselves!!