Hello Everyone, a new work has been started called "Surviving the Endless Sea" on my account. Please check it out.
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Chen Xuejian, the old director, realized for the first time that he could feel such deep sorrow for someone he had never truly met. His voice had already become hoarse. Every few words, he couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh, as if the story on the screen had placed an invisible weight on his chest.
"Everyone doesn't know him now. We only know one thing." He slowly raised the microphone, his expression unusually solemn. "His ability to resonate with sad songs is terrifying. That alone is enough to prove that his heart must be filled with countless scars, or that he has endured far too much bitterness in his life."
The audience fell silent, and no one interrupted him as everyone was listening with focus.
"From the romantic perspective of poetry and artistic creation, nobody would have imagined that this sick man who deals with vegetable vendors and black factories every single day could actually have such a beautiful, galaxy-like poetic world hidden inside his heart..." Chen Xuejian paused, and his eyes were slightly red. "As for this piece of music, Flower Has Bloomed, the way he communicated with Shuying without ever revealing his true identity... It was almost exactly like what he had always done."
"He wanted to shine for his entire life, but he was dying. And the only thing he could leave behind... Was his child." His voice became increasingly low. "So, in the end, he only had this song. A song to comfort his youth. Because after that... All that remained for him was bitterness and sadness."
The entire studio was quiet.
Chen Xuejian had come from the Great Empire. Although many of the films he had directed in his early years had been criticized as failures, he later devoted himself to literary films. As he grew older, his personality became increasingly literary and contemplative. Therefore, when he watched this story, he noticed things that many ordinary viewers had overlooked.
He saw that Yu Ye had deliberately packaged himself into the image of a young cancer patient. A young man who was desperately eager to live yet fate seemed determined to strike him again and again.
Every time he tried to stand up, another blow would come.
Every time he saw a glimmer of hope, reality would cruelly snuff it out.
But what did Yu Ye do? He was still not afraid.
He still continued forward.
He still continued to smile.
He still continued to teach.
And, most importantly, he used this spirit to tell Shuying something without ever saying it directly.
You have to persevere.
You must keep going.
That was the true meaning behind learning the piano.
It was no longer about forcing a child to practice.
It was no longer about grades.
It was no longer about defeating other people.
It was not even about becoming a genius.
It was about falling in love with music from the depths of one's soul.
And because of that, Shuying now had a story in her heart. She could imagine that whenever she played this piece of pure music, there would always be a teenager standing somewhere in her memory, smiling gently at her. A teenager who had once told her that the world could still be beautiful.
It was just that she didn't know... That boy had never truly existed in the way she imagined. He was merely the dream of an old father who could no longer do anything else.
A dream he had desperately constructed.
A dream whose only purpose was to make Xiao Shuying continue to shine brightly.
Chen Xuejian slowly lowered his head, then he raised the microphone again. "I'm looking forward to meeting you. Show up!"
His voice was hoarse, but there was an almost childlike anticipation hidden inside it. He scanned the audience, then he looked toward the camera. Finally, he bowed deeply.
At this moment, applause suddenly erupted, and the entire studio seemed to tremble. The people present were all looking forward to the same thing. They wanted to know. Where was that person? Who was the mysterious young man behind the song? And what kind of story would he bring?
At this moment, the playback on the screen continued. Many years later, countless people would call this scene by another...
"As long as your belief is strong enough... You may also become a genius."
On the other side, inside Shuying's bedroom, she didn't even have time to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. Her emotions had already completely broken through the last line of defense. She let herself fall into that deep sorrow.
And within that sorrow, a melody slowly appeared inside her mind. It was as if someone was singing directly inside her heart. That person... Was even sadder now.
Who picks the flowers for?
Who picks flowers for failure?
Looking at the old city south of the city.
You are no more.
Chengnan flowers bloom again.
Waiting for your arrival.
The melody gradually dissipated, and the voice faded away, but the emotions remained. At that moment, Shuying suddenly felt as if she could see someone standing before her.
A young man, and he was smiling. There was no resentment in that smile. No anger, only a faint sense of relief. As though he were saying, maybe the gods saw that this world was simply too bitter, so they took me away in advance.
The thought appeared and then, that faint sadness suddenly spread throughout her heart. It was quiet. Almost imperceptible at first. But then, the dark and mournful emotion exploded completely.
Shuying seemed to see the back of a young man.
Once upon a time, he had been peerless.
Brilliant.
Proud.
Full of dreams.
And now, he was gone.
Perhaps God truly felt that this world was too bitter.
Perhaps taking him away was also a form of redemption.
At least he no longer had to endure the endless torment of illness.
He no longer had to endure chemotherapy.
He no longer had to endure the pain.
He no longer had to struggle against a body that was slowly abandoning him.
The melody ended, and only a lingering haze remained.
Shuying wiped her eyes, then she picked up her phone and slowly typed out a long message.
I will make a piece of pure music exclusively for you.
It will be called Flower Has Bloomed.
I will also tell the audience your story through this song.
I want them to know that there was once a teenager who fought desperately against fate.
I want them to know that he once tried his best to live.
At this moment, on the program station, the audience watching the live broadcast finally understood everything. The cause, the beginning, and the reason behind that legendary piano piece.
No wonder! No wonder years ago, Shuying had been able to compose such an astonishingly beautiful and sorrowful piece. The scars behind that story were simply too heavy.
After that piano piece first appeared, the forum years ago had practically exploded. Countless composers had been completely stunned. At that time, the characteristics of the era were still dominated by old songs, so Shuying's pure piano piece had appeared like something completely different. It made people realize that there really was such a thing as genius.
Only a genius could transform sorrow into music so naturally.
Only a genius could make a melody so touching that listeners would unconsciously immerse themselves in the emotions within it.
But now, everyone finally understood. It turned out that beneath the so-called genius... There had always been a lonely shadow. A lonely shadow that had silently supported everything behind that dazzling glory.
On the stage, in the guest area.
"It was Yu Ye who sang so sadly, and that indirectly led Shuying to create this song. But she didn't know the truth, and neither did many other people." Yuan Quan, an old doctor, wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes.
He had been a doctor for many years, so he had witnessed countless births and deaths.
He had seen people laugh.
He had seen people cry.
He had seen families reunite.
He had also watched families fall apart.
Yet even he couldn't remain unmoved by this story.
"The story is real. The cancer is real. Everything is real. But this time... There is something even deeper. Fatherly love." Yuan Quan's voice trembled slightly. If there had been no playback before, no one would have known.
Years ago, that man had fabricated everything. He had fabricated an entire identity. He had created an entire story. He had even allowed his own daughter to believe that she was communicating with a dying teenager.
But why? Not for fame. Not for money. Not for attention. Not even for sympathy.
Everything he did had only one purpose: To make his daughter open the door to her own talent.
He used a real story.
He used his own suffering.
He used the pain of cancer.
He used a fictional identity.
And finally, he used music to make his daughter understand what learning the piano truly meant.
She wasn't learning it to compete with other people.
She wasn't learning it to win praise.
She wasn't learning it to prove that she was better than everyone else.
She was learning it because music had become a part of her soul.
Because she wanted to become an artist.
And that was perhaps the most arrogant... And also the most difficult path of all. This was no longer simply silent and selfless education; it was a father who was willing to sacrifice everything he had, even his own final days, just to push his daughter toward the light.
Zhang Cihai's voice was extremely depressed and his eyes were red. He felt as though something was pressing heavily against his chest. He seemed to see that rooftop again.
The lonely and silent Yu Ye. Standing there. Alone. Looking out at the distant city.
At the moment when he hummed the melody.
At the moment when he taught his daughter the piano.
He was probably very happy.
Because only at that time... Could he truly have a heart-to-heart conversation with his daughter. Only then could he communicate with her like a friend.
Not like a father.
Not like a teacher.
But like someone standing on equal ground with her.
The cancer that Yu Ye had spoken about was real.
The photographs were real.
The painful story he had told his daughter after becoming sick was even more real.
He really endured everything, but that wasn't the scariest part. The most terrifying thing was that even after all of this... He still continued teaching.
After chemotherapy.
After the severe side effects.
After Alzheimer's disease began to destroy his memory.
Even when his pockets were filled with notes and reminders because he could no longer remember everything himself, he was still teaching Shuying.
He was still sitting beside her.
Still guiding her fingers.
Still reminding her of the melody.
Still correcting her mistakes.
Still trying to make sure she could walk farther than he ever had.
The saddest thing about this man was not that he had become sick. It was that even after suffering the severe sequelae of brain cancer, he still desperately tried to teach her.
He didn't complain.
He didn't sigh at fate.
He wasn't angry.
He never asked why this had happened to him.
He simply endured and continued walking forward because he had promised his daughter.
And because, in his heart, there was still one final thing he wanted to accomplish.
Zhang Cihai suddenly thought of the motto he had always loved throughout his life. A motto that, at this moment, seemed to perfectly describe Yu Ye.
I want to fight with life for a few more years. Or I destroy it. Or I'm destined to become brilliant. If one day you find me bowing my head before mediocrity... It can only mean that I'm dead. Or that she has already turned into light.