After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 161 Longing, Helplessness, and the Tenderness of a Tough Man!

The erhu, a traditional Chinese bowed string instrument, has a unique and distinctive timbre, both among traditional Chinese musical instruments and instruments worldwide.

While its timbre is outstanding, its "use case" is somewhat unique...

For example... funerals?
Haha, people say that when the erhu plays, it's either an ascension to heaven or a wedding ceremony. There's nothing you can do about it, given how "melancholy" its tone is.

Besides the melancholy, the sound of the erhu also seems to carry a sense of "longing," and the melodies played by erhu masters can make the word "longing" overflow.

Therefore, when the prelude to Shen Ming'en's "Green Flowers in the Army" slowly unfolded with the accompaniment of the erhu, everyone felt a kind of longing that seemed to pierce their hearts.

"Hasn't this gone off-topic?"

Backstage, many singers known for their patriotic themes immediately frowned, sensing something was amiss...

But the bel canto tenor Yue Huochuan frowned, raised his hand to rub his chin, and looked thoughtful.

Nostalgia... for military life...

It seems that integration is not impossible.

It even gave him a very unique kind of inspiration.

This angle...

Ye Que Shi was as typical of Shen Ming'en, very much in his style. He really is still that unremarkable angle-finding expert...

While everyone had different reactions to the accompaniment, Shen Ming'en on stage had already picked up the microphone and, with precise timing, began the verse, singing:

……

"The cold wind blows, and the leaves fall."

"The army is like a green flower~"

"My dear comrade, don't miss home~"

"Don't think about Mommy~"

……

Shen Ming'en's singing was captivating, carrying a sincere sense of longing that was accurately conveyed to every listener along with the accompaniment...

To be honest, the singing style is a bit old-fashioned. In today's trendy and fashion-driven era, this kind of singing style doesn't have an advantage on a competitive stage.

However, the emotions that the song wants to express can only be conveyed most clearly and directly through this kind of singing style.

The lyrics, as always, are meticulously crafted.

The opening lyrics, "The cold wind blows and the leaves fall," immediately evoke a sense of desolation and resilience, accompanied by the mournful sound of the erhu. It's as if the listener is instantly transported to the perspective of a soldier's melancholy gaze from the window in a cold military camp on a cold night.

Military life is tough. When you're stressed, you miss your family, and that feeling often comes stronger in the middle of the night.

Almost everyone who hears these lyrics has a very vivid image in their mind.

The seemingly straightforward lyrics actually contain a profound message encouraging soldiers to uphold their duties, while also revealing their longing for family and showcasing the complexity of soldiers' emotional world.

That's quite remarkable!
……

"I call out to you day and night~"

So many heartfelt words~

"Don't let your eyes well up with tears when we part."

"The barracks are our warm home~"

……

Is being a soldier tough?
How could it not be hard work...

He's only in his early twenties, yet he lives a life of constant vigilance, working from dawn till dusk, and remaining on high alert the moment he closes his eyes. He dedicated his youth to the military, his uniform to camouflage, his combat boots to his Air Jordans, his love to distance himself, his kindness and good temper to the people, and his sweat and heartache to himself...

There are no superheroes, just a group of kids who changed their clothes and stood in the ranks, learning from their predecessors to protect their country.

No one sees the pressure inside the walls, so no one can understand the grievances inside. Only those who have served in the military know how tiring and cold the night watch is, how difficult and exhausting the five-kilometer run is, and how heartbreaking it is during holidays.

Military life...

Haha, how many people look as glamorous as they do on the outside?

In other words, many people only see the glamorous image that every soldier presents to the public, without seeing how hard they train day and night.

Even when the program "Chinese Music Awards" celebrates them with the theme of "military life", many creators' first reaction is to show their masculinity and perseverance in various aspects, just like in the documentary, which is always completely different from real military life.

The patriotic singers on the "Chinese Music Awards: Red Song Season" program have also considered praising the hardships of military life from various perspectives, and they know that the soldiers have it tough...

but!

Their "difficulties" are only mentioned briefly in the lyrics.

It's that simple.

Because they have never experienced real military life, they only know that it is tough, but they don't know exactly why it is tough...

Strictly speaking, Shen Ming'en didn't know either, but from this song "Green Flowers in the Army," he and everyone else were able to glean some clues.

I'm so glad that he has the honor of singing this song in a parallel world. I'm so glad that our country has so many soldiers who are willing to dedicate everything to us!
In the eyes of outsiders, the angle he chose, called "longing," truly makes people feel the "bitterness" of military life even more!
He sang:

……

"Mom, don't worry~"

"My child, I've grown up now~"

"Standing guard and performing duties is to protect the country!"

"I'm not afraid of wind or rain!"

……

With its simple language, soothing melody, and ingenious blend of patriotism and personal emotion, Shen Ming'en's "Green Flowers in the Army" not only praises the loyalty and responsibility of soldiers but also expresses their guilt and longing for their families. There is nothing else in Shen Ming'en's song but "genuine feelings"!

[Damn it... Shen Ming'en, were you ever in the army?]

Many people in the online live stream were discussing:

[It's been many years since I was discharged from the military, but listening to this song seems to have instantly brought back memories...]

Sigh, I still remember when I first joined the army, I called home for the first time in months, and I cried my eyes out.

[It's tough! Before seeing my family, everyone was working just as hard every day, so I didn't really feel it. But once I talked to my family on the phone, it felt like all that pain came back to me.]

[I'm alright, I'm used to only sharing good news and not bad. When I called, everyone else was crying their eyes out, but I was the only one saying it was nothing, nothing at all. My mom was crying like crazy, haha... Sigh, even though that's what I said, I really cried my eyes out in bed that night after hanging up.]

Only those who have served in the military know what it feels like to go from a state of complete freedom to one of constant restriction and having to push your limits. It's truly tough, makes you want to cry, and makes you miss your family.

I was only eighteen when I joined the army that year...

Family is always the softest spot in everyone's heart...

……

"Who isn't a baby at heart?"

It's a phrase that sounds a bit pretentious, even nauseatingly cheesy, and you'd probably laugh at someone who says it in everyday life...

But in real life, which family doesn't cherish their own child?

At home, they were all pampered and spoiled by their families. But when they went to the army, they soon had to face so much tough training. The changes in their hearts were simply indescribable.

You can't cry or shout outside. It's considered good if you can cry when you see your family. Many people are afraid of worrying their families, so they only report good news and not bad news...

Doesn't she know whether it's hard work or not?
Who doesn't miss home and family when they're away from home all year round?

Aren't these most tender feelings in everyone's hearts the main theme of military life?

……

"My heartfelt blessings to my mother!"

May my mother enjoy good health and a long life!

"I'll go home after the celebration!"

"Visiting my dear mother again~"

"I'll go home after the celebration!"

"Visiting my dear mother again~"

……

Even tough guys have a soft side...

The tougher a man is, the more tender he may be. The profound meaning conveyed in the song resonated deeply with every listener. This was evident not only in the online live stream, but also offline, where many viewers, after listening to the entire verse and chorus, couldn't help but show expressions of emotion; some even…

Her eyes welled up with slightly red tears.

In the studio, there seemed to be a few men who had served in the military. When the director's camera panned across them, you could see complex expressions on their faces, and their eyes seemed to be glistening with something.

"Clap clap clap..."

Backstage, in the control room, after listening to the complete verses and chorus of Shen Ming'en's "Green Flowers in the Army," the chief director, Niu Zhi, couldn't help but raise his hand and applaud Shen Ming'en.

"It has to be Teacher Ming'en..." someone nearby couldn't help but praise.

"Mmm..." Everyone nodded in agreement.

To be fair, Shen Ming'en's angle was indeed excellent. In the subject of "military life," he was able to integrate this "longing" into the story, perfectly portraying the image of a soldier who combines iron will and tenderness. It was simply too wonderful.

His skills are as good as ever; he's still that unremarkable angle-finding expert!

Meanwhile, on stage, Shen Ming'en's performance continued...

……

There's a lovely girl in my hometown~

I often dream about her.

"Even soldiers have feelings~"

"I'd also like to travel the world with you~"

……

In section B, Shen Ming'en changed his style from section A, which praised his longing for his family, and instead entered a sentiment called "romance".

In reality, a person's life is nothing more than wandering among interpersonal relationships such as family, lovers, and friends.

Family members and loved ones are all very important.

Choosing to join the army and enter the military means accepting militarized management, losing contact not only with family but also with one's spouse. Short video platforms often feature images of People's Liberation Army soldiers returning home honorably, greeted by their girlfriends with flowers at airports or train stations.

To be honest, that scene is quite enviable...

But what story lies hidden behind it all?

Couples are inseparable and full of tenderness, but no matter how sincere the feelings are, a lack of contact over a long period of time will breed resentment...

However, soldiers are not allowed to carry their phones around all day, let alone take a break during training to check their messages to their partners...

They might contact each other every three to five days, or they might not hear from each other for ten days or half a month at all.

We're in different places, can't see each other, and can't even contact each other...

Who can understand that kind of torment?
Who would have known how difficult it was for their passionate love to finally blossom into marriage?
Even soldiers have feelings!
……

"Simply because I bear a heavy responsibility~"

"I'll have to put love aside for now."

"The white clouds drift by, carrying my love~"

"A green flower from the army was given to her~"

……

Shen Ming'en was singing, the guys in the audience were crying, and the chat in the online live stream next door was scrolling wildly:

[Sigh... My boyfriend and I are also in a military relationship. You have no idea what he's doing. He's never there when I need him, and even in the little time he has left, he just wants to be alone. 300 out of 365 days a year, it's really exhausting...]

The phrase I heard him say most often was: "Time to hand in my phone again..."

So I really admire those military couples who manage to make it work. Compared to military relationships, long-distance relationships are nothing.

Yes, even in long-distance relationships, you can still video chat, make calls, and reply to messages. But military relationships mean you're completely cut off from each other...

[Hmm... Sisters, don't be pessimistic. At least in a military relationship, you know he's not replying to messages because he doesn't have time to check his phone. Otherwise, if he doesn't reply, you really don't know what he's doing...]

Many girls in the comments section seem to be experiencing military relationships. In fact, every couple who starts a military relationship thinks they can get through it, but how many relationships in this world can truly withstand the ups and downs?

Many relationships can't even withstand the test of being in a long-distance relationship, let alone military relationships where even communicating by phone isn't an option...

There were many pessimistic voices in the comments section, but at this moment, a sister stood up and posted this:
I want to say a few words to the sisters who are going through military relationships: I hope you can be more understanding of him, because it's really not easy for him...

He won't tell you how tired he is, how he has to get up before dawn, how he can never get enough sleep, how he gets punished no matter what he does, how he gets injured and bleeds a lot during training, how he has to get up in the early morning to stand guard while he's still sleepy and can't move, how he has to do chores after a long day of training, and how he secretly sheds tears in bed...

He misses home, and he misses you too, but he's truly exhausted, both physically and mentally. He finally manages to video chat with you, and hopefully, it's to make you happy. He hasn't complained about his unhappiness; he only shares good news. He hopes you won't bring your own emotions or prejudice into the conversation, and won't speak to him with a blaming tone…

Men need to be pampered too. He actually craves attention more than you do, because in the monotonous and tedious military camp, you might be one of the few things that keep him going!

……

"The cold wind blows, and the leaves fall."

"The army is like a green flower~"

"My dear comrade, don't miss home~"

"Don't think about Mommy~"

……

"Green Flowers in the Army," a song whose style seemed somewhat out of place with other creators' works, came to an end under Shen Ming'en's interpretation.

That moment...

"..."

Many people seem to be still immersed in the mood of the song, unable to extricate themselves for a while.

A few moments...

"Oh……"

When they came to their senses, cheers filled the entire studio!
"Clap clap clap..."

"it is good!"

"No wonder he was handpicked by CCTV to be a creator of mainstream narratives!"

"Well done, Shen Ming'en!"

"His skill is as good as ever!"

……

Many people were moved by the emotions in Shen Mingen's song "Green Flowers in the Army". The song is really immersive. Before Shen Mingen started singing, many people said that he had been busy with Olympic-related matters recently. Would he neglect his work on "Chinese Music Center"?
They were unaware of Shen Mingen's relationship with those investors, and assumed that as Shen Mingen became increasingly popular, those investors would "support" him, indirectly causing him to become less attentive...

But now it seems that the audience was really overthinking it.

There was once a saying among fans: "Anything produced by Ming En is guaranteed to be of high quality!"
It can only be said that the value of this statement is constantly increasing!

"Clap clap clap..."

Backstage, in the control room, Director Niu and others couldn't help but raise their hands to applaud Shen Ming'en. Although this song "Green Flowers in the Army" interprets "tough guy with tender feelings" and the style of the song is more "tender", it is completely enough to beat the group of mainstream singers backstage in terms of both quality and concept.

Their meticulously crafted works, created with the help of so many veteran mainstream creators, pale in comparison to Shen Ming'en's "Green Flowers in the Army."

"Let's announce the vote rankings," Director Niu said casually.

"Okay." The staff member nodded and went to operate it.

"Ugh……"

Director Niu sighed silently, thinking to himself, "Teacher Ming'en, this is all I can do to help you!"
Their show didn't actually have a "vote count announcement" segment at the beginning; they usually announced the singers' rankings for the episode directly after the performance...

But isn't this all to "protect" Shen Ming'en?
Yesterday, those entertainment industry capital groups put a lot of pressure on Director Niu's side. Fortunately, Director Niu was smart and used the excuse of needing to create a "vote announcement segment" to give more brand sponsors advertising opportunities. With sponsors backing him up, those entertainment industry capital groups definitely wouldn't dare to utter a single word.

Director Niu knew very well that the best way to protect Shen Ming'en was through real data like this!

As long as his data is explosive and he remains at the top, he will not be eliminated!

Everyone knows all too well how irreplaceable he is!
It's funny, really...

Director Niu never expected that someone as adept at playing the "behind-the-scenes game" would one day be able to obtain "real data."

On stage.

After Shen Ming'en's performance, the online and offline real-time audience voting rankings were released!
In the 500-seat audience in the live studio, Shen Ming'en received 487 votes!

In other words, out of 500 audience members, only 13 people did not vote for Shen Ming'en!

That's outrageous!
What an outrageous number of votes!

It's worth noting that among the other mainstream singers, the veteran Yue Huochuan, who had the highest vote count, only managed to get 453 more votes!
The others either scored just over 400, or between 300 and 400...

It's safe to say that Shen Ming'en was absolutely dominant in this game!
That's it!

There were still many people cursing in the online live stream room:
Those thirteen audience members have it tough too. It's already a miracle that deaf-mute people can even attend a live show; let's not expect them to vote.

[Persistence is a risk; perhaps they have other disabilities, such as being unable to move their hands or feet and therefore unable to vote?]

In my heart, Shen Ming'en deserves a unanimous vote!

……

In the offline studio, many people felt that Shen Ming'en's votes were already high enough, enough to put him in a lead...

But it wasn't until they saw the online live voting that they realized just how exaggerated and overwhelming Shen Ming'en's lead was!

Data shows that Shen Ming'en received a total of 8136875 votes from netizens through online voting channels!

More than eight million votes!

How many votes did Yue Huochuan, who came in second place, receive?

Yue Huochuan: "38165470 votes!"

Your mother only has a little over three million!

What happened next was even worse...

Having three million is already considered very good!

To know!
Thanks to Shen Ming'en, "Chinese Music Center: Red Song Season" is currently the hottest national phenomenon variety show in the Chinese entertainment industry, with an incredibly high number of viewers. At its peak, the number of people watching the online live stream at the same time easily exceeded ten million!

To put it bluntly, it's like out of more than ten million people, more than eight million voted for Shen Ming'en!
Only two or three million people voted for Yue Huochuan and others...

The difference between one-quarter and three-quarters is just too exaggerated!

This is like everyone's waiting to vote for Shen Ming'en, it's ridiculously exaggerated!

"I go……"

Even the director, Niu, didn't expect this scene.

Actually, Director Niu knew beforehand that Shen Ming'en was very popular, and they would count the number of votes backstage every episode...

But he still didn't expect that in this episode, the first time the voting data was released in real time, Shen Ming'en's popularity would be so exaggerated!

really!

The Olympics have brought him so many benefits!

What exactly does it mean to be a national-level top influencer?

In comparison...

Yue Huochuan and the others didn't look so pleased...

The work, which had been meticulously crafted for more than half a month, was crushed and rubbed into the ground as soon as Shen Ming'en returned. The vote count was also so "overwhelming". The moment it was announced, it was like a huge slap in the face!
you say!

How could they not be heartbroken?!
"Don't rush..."

A singer performing patriotic songs backstage gritted his teeth, thinking to himself, "There's still one more round!"

Yes, that's right...

Since the previous episode of "Chinese Music Awards: Red Song Season" praised the Navy, the audience response was very good because each person had two songs. So, this episode was also set as a two-song battle to determine the overall voting results.

The burning of the crotch is also aimed at Shen Ming'en...

After all, he's been so busy lately with the Olympics in Beijing, and he's already been incredibly prolific, producing works like "Beijing Welcomes You," "Thousands of Mountains and Rivers," "Me and You," and "Proud Youth." For him to come up with a deeply moving piece like "Green Flowers in the Army" is truly remarkable...

Not to mention, they produced a second high-quality patriotic work.

At that moment, how could they have imagined that Shen Ming'en would completely crush them in the second round with his rendition of "We Are Soldiers"?

……

(End of this chapter)