"What a penny-pinching man."
In the audience, Lin Yanyu looked at Su Yu with a strange expression.
She never expected Su Yu to advertise his new drama at such a grand event.
Even more absurd was that the official organization hadn't rejected it.
"Why not save millions in advertising fees and buy ribs to eat?" Su Yu's lips curved slightly upward.
This song, "Rivals," was naturally Xu Song's "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: Rivals." It was perfectly fine to have Gong Juren sing this song, and it would also lay the groundwork for his next television drama, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils."
"The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" was nearing its end, and during this time, Zhang Li had been constantly seeking scripts from Su Yu.
Zhang Li felt that he was not far from becoming a master director, and with one more work, he would be stable.
After some thought, Su Yu decided to give "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" to him.
The timeline of this drama was even earlier than "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," making it a prequel to the trilogy.
The story of Qiao Feng, Duan Yu, and Xu Zhu, with its focus on ensemble characters, was something the previous film and television works lacked.
And this song, "Rivals," was about Qiao Feng and Azhu's story, making it an excellent choice for an theme song.
"It's more than millions; this advertisement is probably worth tens of millions," Lin Yanyu chuckled lightly.
Generally speaking, the sponsorship fees for such large-scale entertainment galas would definitely reach the tens of millions.
After all, the audience present was made up of singers from the entire Chinese music scene. With so many fans watching the gala, the exposure even surpassed that of "The Masked Singer" before it!
"It's all thanks to Dad. I just mentioned it to him, and he said he would handle it without any problem." Su Yu deeply admired Lin Chaoyang. Having such a father-in-law, he fully enjoyed the fun of being a rich second-generation, or rather, the pleasure of relying on a wealthy woman.
The Lin family's support was truly wonderful.
...
The prelude had already begun.
Instead of starting with traditional Chinese instruments like ordinary ancient-style songs, it used a piano to play a melody full of ancient charm.
The audience was already accustomed to Listening Rain's unconventional approaches.
They quickly moved on from the advertisement matter and refocused their attention on the song.
Gong Juren was not wearing a traditional ancient-style robe this time, but an outfit more akin to a swordsman, with a rougher feel.
After the prelude.
The next second, he held the microphone.
"Where will I meet you?
Perhaps fate is already set,
Flying across the distance of time and space,
Yet trapped within the light and shadow of swords..."
These few lines of lyrics and melody conveyed the core theme of the song.
Rivals, or perhaps destiny.
The story of Qiao Feng and Azhu was the most sincere and touching emotional line in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils."
Of course, Duan Yu and Xu Zhu also had their emotional lines. In fact, these few lines could summarize them without much issue, but Qiao Feng and Azhu's story was more tragically beautiful.
"When it comes to ancient Chinese style, it still has to be Listening Rain!"
"Listening Rain's songs paired with Gong Juren's voice are simply a perfect match!"
"I love their collaborations so much. 'A Thousand Degrees,' 'Luzhou Moon,' 'Qingming Yu Shang' are all representative works of Gong Juren. Now, with another song in the same style, 'Rivals,' my playlist will have another good song!"
"Others say Gong Juren is lucky and deeply favored by Listening Rain, but they don't see how suitable Gong Juren is for these songs!"
"Every time he appears, he shows significant growth, and this time is no exception. His live performances are as stable as a CD!"
The viewers in the live broadcast room gave very high praise.
In fact, Gong Juren had always had very good public appeal, even surpassing other singers in the group.
First, there was his persona as a rich second-generation; if he didn't sing well, he could go back to inherit a hundred billion family fortune.
Secondly, he had always shown himself to be very hardworking.
Of course, due to the influence of traffic stars, the word "hardworking" had become a derogatory term and was even used by many for memes.
But Gong Juren's hard work was directly linked to his visible growth.
Therefore, he had excellent public appeal. Moreover, with Listening Rain's favor, many of Listening Rain's fans also followed him.
"Spring flowers gradually awaken in March,
Who grows old with the passing years?
Whether it's tribulation or fate, it follows my heart,
Except for you, I am immune to all enemies..."
The main verse's buildup completely outlined the emotions of a pair of江湖 (jianghu - martial world) lovers.
Coupled with the lyrics' antique charm, it created a strong sense of imagery.
It was as if in the world of sword light and sword shadows, a fleeting glance became a lifetime of devotion.
"When grievances are split in half, how can I embrace them all?
The lanterns are stained with blood, it's too late to seek revenge,
The gatekeeper sighs under the moon, last night was peaceful Chang'an..."
When the chorus began.
On stage, a woman in ancient costume appeared. She danced alone in the center of the stage, her movements showcasing the beauty of traditional Chinese dance.
Gong Juren walked towards the woman while singing.
His steps were slow, giving the impression of being close yet a world apart.
The stage design this time was not provided by Su Yu but was arranged by Gong Juren himself based on the song's content.
It was a refreshing sight when combined with his performance.
"Little Gong is already a mature singer!"
Even Su Yu, sitting in the audience, couldn't help but exclaim.
"When the river of stars in the sky turns, my fate is sealed,
When the ink dries on the final stroke, rivals are already attacking,
The loneliness I borrowed from you, I fear I can never repay in this life..."
The beautiful lyrics, along with the depiction of intertwined grievances and resentments, brought the song's core theme of "destiny" to its peak.
In the audience, Mo Yan slowly opened his eyes, which had been slightly closed.
"In terms of Chinese style music, Listening Rain is almost invincible!"
He gave an extremely high evaluation directly in front of several music gods.
"Wasn't he invincible long ago?" Fang Lingyu said with a wry smile.
Because he often wrote songs for wuxia or xianxia dramas, Fang Lingyu had the most experience in this type of Chinese style music. However, since Listening Rain appeared, none of his songs had become popular. This was because Chinese style music was also one of Listening Rain's signature genres. In fact, before his appearance, this genre was collectively known as ancient style, and Listening Rain had pioneered the classification of Chinese style!
"I agree with your statement. 'When grievances are split in half, how can I embrace them all?' is used so brilliantly. I feel like those people in the Literary Association will start clamoring again, saying it's a waste of Listening Rain's talent not to join the Poetry Association."
Jiang Qian said with a half-joking tone.
"It's a waste of Listening Rain's talent" had become a very popular meme online, originating from various associations and then imitated by netizens.
Listening Rain had received extremely high praise from experts in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and martial arts. It could be said that if he didn't write songs and just pursued any of these other fields, he would become a leader in them.
This was why the phrase had remained popular to this day.
And the lyrics of "Rivals" gave a sense of ancient elegance, which would likely be reposted by the big shots in the Poetry Association, along with the comment, "It's a waste of Listening Rain's talent not to join the Poetry Association!"
...
ps: A reader mentioned that since the "Condor Trilogy" was written, it wouldn't be complete without "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils." I think they are right, so I plan to add another television drama...