1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 73 Passionate Singing
Then, amid applause from the crowd, Liu Xiaoli slowly walked onto the stage.

She was dressed simply in a blue-gray cotton coat, holding a microphone in her hand, with two pigtails, standing quietly on the stage.

She looked at the audience with a hint of melancholy and longing in her eyes, as if she was standing quietly at the entrance of the village like Xiaofang in the lyrics.

As the music started, the girl's peaceful face appeared in the photographers' cameras.

Then came her slightly low voice, gently telling the unknown story of that era:

“There is a girl named Xiaofang in the village, she is pretty and kind.

A pair of beautiful big eyes and thick and long braids.

The night before returning to the city, you and I came to the river.

Tears that have never been shed flow along the stream, thank you for the love you have given me.

I will never forget you in this life, thank you for the tenderness you showed me.

Accompanying me through that era, I have looked back many times at the road I have traveled.

My sincere blessings to you, kind girl. How many times have I looked back at the road I have traveled.

You are standing next to the village."

……

The audience followed the song and the blank spaces in the lyrics, and immersed themselves in the sad memories.

I seem to hear the chirping of cicadas in the summer night, and step on the clear river water barefoot...

I shuddered and seemed to see a man and a woman sitting by a creek, crying and singing.

It was not until the song was finished that the audience seemed to wake up, as if they had just experienced a dream.

"Has Xiaofang been abandoned? Xiaofang is so pitiful."

Some girls were moved by the singing and shed tears.

"It's so beautiful. The lyrics and Liu Xiaoli's voice are so fitting. They perfectly depict in our minds a picture of a woman with long braids and flowery clothes standing at the entrance of the village, waiting for her lover to return day after day and night after night..."

At the leadership table, Leader Wang, who had read the entire story, had unknowingly wet his clothes with tears. Leader Wang wiped his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Lao Wang, what's the situation with this song? Which talented person in your Fangcao magazine wrote this song? It's quite nice!"

Several leaders nearby were very curious. They all knew that Lao Wang was from the Jiangcheng literary and artistic background and was now the president of a magazine. Although he didn't have much management responsibility, he still had to go to class and read books on weekdays.

"This was written by an author from our magazine. He was responsible for both the lyrics and the music. But that's nothing. The novel called "Fragrant Grass" is a true literary work," explained Leader Wang.

"Fangcao? Are you saying that the name of this novel is the same as the name of Fangcao Magazine?"

Several leaders looked at him in surprise. They didn't expect that instead of asking about a song, he asked about the name of a novel. What's more, the name was very strange, as it was the same as the name of the magazine.

"Yeah, maybe this is fate."

"Fangcao is a good name, 'Fangcao Qingqing Yingwuzhou', but you said it's a real literary work? I don't believe it. Let's see how good the novel that you, Old Wang, have praised it to be is!"

"Later, I'll let you see the young talents from the capital!"

Leader Wang praised with a smile. He felt more and more that Comrade Xiao Cheng was a rare talent. He could write articles and songs. Whether it was novels or songs, everything he wrote was so good. He could even play the piano.

Such an all-round talent in literature and art is rare. If Comrade Xiao Cheng was not from Beijing, Leader Wang would have wanted to promote him to the literary and artistic system in Jiangcheng. "Oh, what a pity, such a good talent."

Leader Wang thought to himself.

At this moment, someone else talked to him, "Lao Wang, the circulation of Fangcao Magazine was not very good last month. This month, I asked the comrades in the Distribution Bureau, and your magazine's sales were not very good either, less than 50,000."

Leader Wang was furious. He looked up and saw that it was the president of the Changjiang Literature and Art Club next door. He immediately retorted, "Just wait!"

Provoked by this, Leader Wang felt unhappy and began to think about publishing Fangcao ahead of schedule.

Fangcao is a monthly magazine, which means it is published once a month. The latest issue was published on February 1st, but the response was very average.

"Cheng Kaiyan's novel was originally scheduled to be published in March. Is that too late? Also, there are too many words in "Fragrant Grass" to be published in one go. However, we can consider publishing a special New Year issue.

Bookstores and shops will not close on New Year's Eve, and sales will not be affected. On the contrary, students will have lucky money to buy books, which is a big benefit."

……

"The singing is so good, and the song written by Cheng Kaiyan is also great!"

An Shaokang stared in amazement at Liu Xiaoli, who was shining brightly on the stage.

Zhou Xiaomin on the side didn't look very happy. She didn't expect that the song sung by Liu Xiaoli was so good. She has worked in the literary and art circles for many years. In her opinion, this song is a rare masterpiece in China and has the potential to become a big hit.

Zhou Xiaomin looked at Liu Xiaoli on the stage, humph, Liu Xiaoli is fine!

This kid named Cheng actually has such talent?
It’s outrageous!
She was very reluctant to believe it because she had previously said something disparaging about Cheng Kaiyan and Liu Xiaoli in front of Teacher Jiang Ling.

But now, all those words turned into powerful slaps coming back at her.

When she thought of this, Zhou Xiaomin could already foresee how the girls in the dance troupe would tease her behind her back in the next few days.

……

The singing gradually faded away and the host walked onto the stage at the right time.

"I saw Comrade Liu Xiaoli's singing was very wonderful. I just saw many audience members in the audience were moved to tears.

You may not know that this song "Xiao Fang" actually comes from a novel called "Fang Cao".

It tells the story of a girl who grew up in a rural area in southern Xinjiang and met an educated youth from Beijing during the massive movement of educated youth going to the countryside. This song is a poem that the young man gave to Xiaofang on the night he returned to the city.

The audience in the audience started talking when they heard this.

"'Xiao Fang' is taken from a novel? A young man from the city falls in love with a girl from the countryside. It sounds interesting."

"Is it a love story of educated youth? I thought it was scar literature. It's really novel. Which novel is it? I'll buy it and read it tomorrow!"

"I won't read anything that's not scar literature!"

The host introduced with a smile: "It seems that everyone is very curious. The novel "Fang Cao" will be published in our former "Jiangcheng Literature and Art", which is now Fang Cao magazine. Yes, you heard it right. Fang Cao will be published in Fang Cao soon, and everyone will be able to read this novel then."

Audience 1: "So it's Jiangcheng Literature and Art! I have to take a good look at it!"

Audience member 2: "What a strange book title, it's the same as the name of their magazine!"

(End of this chapter)