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

Chapter 83 Niche Lyrics Will Turn the Tide! (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

“Shen Ming'en…”

When Director Bai in the front row heard Shen Ming'en's name, he seemed to think of something. This seemingly sophisticated middle-aged man looked at Mr. Yao beside him with a very strange expression, a half-smile on his face.

"...Why are you looking at me like that?" Mr. Yao's lips twitched slightly.

"Haha, it's nothing, it's nothing," Director Bai scratched his head and made a "difficult" expression, saying, "I was thinking, given your relationship, should I give you a back door later, Lao Yao?"

Mr. Yao: "(￢_￢) Shoot"

"Whether his work can be promoted depends entirely on his ability," Mr. Yao said, raising his head proudly. "Besides, I have no relation to him whatsoever, we've never met before."

"Haha..." Director Bai laughed heartily, "Yes, yes, we've never met before! We've never met before!"

Amidst the laughter, he shook his head and glanced down at Shen Ming'en's information. To be honest, he was quite looking forward to Shen Ming'en, after all, they had heard about the various patriotic songs that this kid had been performing recently.

Official media outlets are practically itching to promote his works every day...

I was deeply moved when Shen Ming'en sang "Me and My Motherland" at the gala just now. I wonder what kind of performance he will bring tonight.

Will it still be as eye-catching as before?
To be honest, he found it difficult...

Because every single singer invited to the event today is incredibly talented.

They are definitely not comparable to the lazy pop singers that Shen Ming'en usually comes into contact with.

Given the quality of Zhou Chujian's song just now, it would be extremely difficult for Shen Ming'en to surpass it...

This wasn't just Director Bai's opinion; almost everyone on set shared it.

Shen Ming'en is very famous, everyone knows him, but this is an occasion where ability matters, fame is useless...

After Zhou Chujian presented his classical Chinese works, many people in the audience felt ashamed of their own abilities. Even if Hajime could surpass others, he might not be able to overshadow Zhou Chujian.

So, quite a few people are still waiting to see the joke happen...

Zhou Chujian, sitting in the audience, crossed his legs and waited with a mocking expression for Shen Ming'en's clumsy work.

Under these circumstances, Shen Ming'en slowly walked onto the stage...

"Rare characters?"

At this moment, Director Bai, who was in the front row, received the lyrics and sheet music for the song that Shen Ming'en was going to sing from the organizer. To be honest, his eyes lit up when he saw the title, but after reading the first few lines of lyrics...

He couldn't help but scratch his head.

What does this have to do with uncommon characters?
Before he could continue reading, melodies began to play, filling the air and reaching everyone's ears.

The sounds of flute, guzheng, drums... and other introductory melodies filled the air, giving everyone a sense of traditional Chinese style. But no one was surprised, because...

Because almost everyone on site used traditional Chinese style arrangement techniques!
Everyone knows that the main theme songs for CCTV should be in the traditional Chinese style!

Everyone knows that singing traditional Chinese songs has an advantage in this kind of setting!
To be honest, Shen Ming'en's intro with its traditional Chinese style had no advantage whatsoever, and people didn't react much; most were just waiting to hear his performance.

"Boom..."

After the intro ended, the drumbeat quickened, and Shen Ming'en, holding the microphone, sang at a relatively fast pace:

……

"Our Chinese characters, once written, form pictures and have left behind five thousand years of history..."

"Let the world know!"

"Every stroke in Chinese characters tells a story!"

……

There's a short pause after each few lines of lyrics, but to be honest, when I heard Shen Ming'en sing those few lines...

"..."

The scene was actually quite quiet.

Everyone's expression was somewhat strange...

how to say……

Because of Shen Mingen's fame and his reputation as a "red song spokesperson," despite the high quality of the works by the previous creators and the fact that people do not believe Shen Mingen can stand out, they still have high expectations for him.

But the piece that Shen Ming'en presented...

To be honest, it's a bit disappointing.

We live in a fast-paced world. Everything we do is about speed. Writing a book needs to be fast, writing a song even faster. You need to grab everyone's attention right from the start, to be incredibly captivating from the outset—like a "thunderbolt opening"! Only then can people continue to enjoy the show…

Everyone understands this principle, which is why many people's works can capture everyone's attention with just a few lines.

But Shen Ming'en's song...

From the very beginning, it gave people the feeling of having taken a huge dump.

To say it's bad wouldn't be an exaggeration; it's quite standard, and no one can say Chinese characters, which praise our country, are bad. But the problem is...

As for the work itself, there are no particularly outstanding highlights.

Director Bai, sitting in the front row, couldn't help but show a slightly embarrassed expression when he heard these lyrics, because he felt that Shen Ming'en's song was a bit like showing off his limited skills in front of an expert among the works of these "demons and monsters".

That's a bit too easy...

Please, what kind of songs did Shen Ming'en sing before?!

It's "My Motherland and I", "Ode to Young China", "Ten Thousand Frontiers", and "The Great Wall Will Never Fall"!

Bel canto and Peking opera singing are both powerful weapons, but he didn't use either of them!
This makes it impossible for Director Bai to do this even if Mr. Yao gives him special treatment!
Mr. Yao, who was standing to the side, also frowned.

As for Zhou Chujian...

"I told you I shouldn't have tried to befriend this guy, it was all for nothing!"

He had screamed the words "This is superfluous" countless times in his mind. He thought to himself, why should a god who has come down from the mountain think so highly of these people who have come up? What kind of trash are they? Do they even deserve to fight with him?!

Anyway...

At that moment, everyone probably thought that Shen Ming'en's song was definitely doomed.

The guy who was sleeping and snoring next to Shen Mingen had initially looked up a couple of times when Shen Mingen went on stage to sing, but now he simply lay back down and went back to sleep.

Probably everyone thinks that Shen Mingen made a huge mistake, right?
But Shen Ming'en on stage remained completely calm...

He continued singing:

"Kneeling before the torch, devout like the Daoguang Emperor, the fields in all directions are filled with the sound of drums..."

"The ancients used pictographs, phonetics, and semantics to distinguish between good and evil..."

When he sang this part, everyone in the audience still had the same expression as before, as if he had made a huge mess.

until……

Shen Ming'en sang a line:
“魃魈魁魕魑魅魍魉”.

When they heard this lyric, many people in the audience were stunned...

Everyone heard the words "魑魅魍魉" clearly, but what was he singing before that?

What's the pronunciation of that?

What the hell?

"What was he singing???" Many people in the audience looked completely confused.

Before they could even react...

Shen Ming'en immediately started "high-energy output"!

Warning: High-energy content ahead!
"wu~"

"Again, yet again~"

"wu~"

"Fire flames~"

"wu~"

"Watery expanse~"

"bao (I can't type it... it's the character 'bao' with four 'gold' characters stacked together, third tone)"

Shen Mingen's short lyrics left everyone completely bewildered!

The more he sang, the more confused these people became!
"ber... what's this?"

"What the hell is he singing???"

"I don't understand any of this, what is it?"

"Are those lyrics legitimate???"

Many people at the scene started whispering to each other. To be honest, whispering in such a serious setting isn't appropriate, but mainly...

They were really puzzled!

What kind of nonsense is Shen Mingen singing?!

They were already completely bewildered by the first four words of "魑魅魍魉" he sang, and they could only make out a few words of what came after...

What are all these things: water, fire, etc...

That's completely disorganized!
Is this in Chinese?

If Shen Ming'en hadn't sung in Chinese earlier, they would have even suspected that he was singing in a foreign language!
And it's not just any foreign language; some people even suspect it's French or Russian, because the pronunciation is just too unique!
Even the underworld wouldn't produce such a strange pronunciation, let alone the living world!
"Has this kid gone mad...?"

Zhou Chujian frowned as he watched this scene. Although he didn't understand what was happening and felt that Shen Ming'en had truly gone mad, he had a bad feeling about it for some reason...

It's worth mentioning that the guy who was listening to Shen Ming'en sing the first half of the verse and found it boring, and was sleeping soundly on the table, suddenly raised his head and his face lit up with excitement!

Mr. Yao, sitting next to Director Bai, also had a gleam in his eyes and his face lit up with excitement...

"What is he even singing?" It's worth mentioning that even Director Bai found it baffling. Mr. Yao, standing next to him with his arms crossed and a smile on his face, said, "Why don't you just look at the lyrics?"

"lyrics……"

Director Bai held Shen Ming'en's song lyrics and sheet music, glancing down at them twice.

It's okay if you don't watch it...

Upon seeing it, his eyes widened immediately, and his face lit up with excitement!
"Isn't it... this thin???" he said in surprise. "No wonder it's called 'Rare Characters'..."

These lyrics are really obscure!

So rare that some characters can't even be typed using an input method!
And this is just the beginning...

The real excitement is yet to come!

Is this not?

Director Bai had just looked down at Shen Ming'en's lyrics when Shen Ming'en had already started "continuous output"!

He sang:

"Alone and isolated, yet in cahoots!"

"Walking alone, I was enlightened!"

"May your descendants flourish endlessly, and may this serve as a guiding principle!"

"The dragon roams freely, reaching every nook and cranny..."

"Graceful and slender, tears streaming down her face, chattering incessantly, neither mediocre nor filthy..."

After listening to this part!
"..."

The scene immediately went silent!

Don't get me wrong, the silence now is different from the silence just now when it felt like Shen Ming'en had taken a huge dump...

The current silence has left everyone completely bewildered!

"Ber, what's this?!"

"This is incredibly underhanded!"

"This is way too spooky!"

"Your mother!"

"Are you serious about using such obscure characters?!"

“I knocked on your byd*&%￥#@…”

Many creators at the scene went wild!
In other words, he's too embarrassed to say it directly in front of the leaders. But if there were no leaders here and everyone was a creative person, these people could drown him in their spittle!

We're all Chinese. When you listen to Shen Ming'en's chorus, who can't tell that those are rare characters and words in our Chinese language?
no……

The topic is "Language, Writing, and Mandarin," and you're seriously giving us such obscure characters?!

Who can understand any of that stuff you're talking about?!

What!

This is so gloomy!!!
"Wow, I..."

Zhou Chujian in the audience went wild!

Zhou, who had been sitting casually with his legs crossed, thinking he had the victory in his grasp, was now sitting upright, almost so angry that he stood up and started yelling insults at Shen Ming'en!

Whenever the leader isn't here, he'd immediately lead the charge!
Zhou Chujian wasn't stupid; he could sense that Shen Ming'en was somewhat targeting him...

Look at the way Shen Ming'en occasionally glances at him on stage.

That expression seemed to say, "Are you trying to be high-class and sophisticated? Fine, let's see who comes out on top!"

You're so capable, yet you've even put it in classical Chinese?

Classical Chinese is indeed a national treasure, but it is undeniably obscure and difficult to understand. The "National Language and Culture" program aims to promote the national language and Chinese character culture, and Classical Chinese is certainly a major representative of it. However, many young people today simply don't listen to it at all...

If you try to reason with him, he'll say you're full of fatherly vibes. But if you try to use classical Chinese, he'll ask you why you keep talking about your father all the time.
In comparison, the angle of rare characters is unique and refreshing. It is no less educational or promotional than classical Chinese, and it can also arouse the interest of young people because the pronunciation of many characters is completely unfamiliar to them!
It can better use the complexity and profundity of the language to highlight cultural heritage and arouse the national pride of the Chinese people!
Both are "obscure and difficult to understand", but rare characters are simply far superior!

This is absolutely a game-changer!
"Hahaha……"

Director Bai, who was in the front row holding Shen Ming'en's "Rare Characters" lyrics and looking at the sheet music, couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying:

"This kid is so afraid we won't recognize these characters that he even marked the pinyin. The most amazing thing is that he even used rare characters for the middle 'breath'!"

This isn't just idle talk...

After the previous part of the song ended, during the simple humming section, Shen Ming'en didn't use the usual "ang" but instead used "ang"!
This can only be seen when looking at the musical score!

Even Mr. Yao, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but smile knowingly.

For some reason, I started to find that kid on stage somewhat agreeable.

At this moment...

Almost all of his colleagues present looked ashen-faced.

What did Shen Mingen do during this period?
He subjected his colleagues to a merciless "whipping" of their corpses!
He continued singing:

“Duh! A gluttonous beast, a vengeful old man…”

“Locked up, covetous, quarrelsome…”

“The monkey-like creature, stubbornly clinging to its wicked ways, is incorrigible…”

"Their snarls were snarling and their larvae were filthy..."

"To promote and punish the corrupt and wicked, to criticize the abuses of the time..."

"Narrowly arranged, opening and closing..."

The song was sung in just a few short lines...

The expressions on the faces of everyone present were like this: "(╬￣皿￣)"

To be honest, if this occasion weren't so formal, do you believe that these colleagues who had prepared so meticulously only to be completely outshone by Shen Ming'en's rendition of "Rare Characters" would have rushed onto the stage and torn him to pieces?!

Even they are like this...

How furious would Zhou Chujian be?!
Zhou Chujian: “(艹皿艹)”

If someone were sitting near Senior Zhou, they would have noticed that he was already red-faced and grinding his teeth. Judging from his posture, anyone who didn't know better would think he was about to fight Shen Ming'en to the death!
Indeed, this was the case, and at this moment, Zhou Chujian really wished he could kill Shen Ming'en!
God knows how much preparation he put into the promotional song for this CCTV propaganda program!
He had been implicated in the Shen Mingen and Wei Zihan incident and had been keeping a low profile lately. He had originally planned to use this classical Chinese poem in conjunction with CCTV's activities to clear his name...

Now look what happened! The floor cleaning is ruined, and it only serves to highlight Shen Ming'en!
Without securing a spot on this promotional song, Zhou Chujian will likely struggle to get a good segment in future major events!

How can he explain this to the people around him? How can he face the network of connections behind him?

Thinking of these...

Zhou Chujian was on the verge of a breakdown!
If it weren't for Director Bai and Mr. Yao still being here, he really wouldn't be able to sit here any longer!

"Hahaha... Oh hahaha..."

In contrast, Director Bai in the front row was smiling very happily.

People don't know how meticulously Shen Ming'en writes lyrics until they see them; they realize how perfectly they are written, and they perfectly match his taste!
After hearing those obscure characters, listening to him sing "Our Chinese characters, with their brushstrokes, create paintings; five thousand years of history have made the world aware of them..." makes those lines feel completely natural. Not only do you no longer feel like he's rambling, but you might even think...

This is simply divine wine!

What the hell is this Demon Orb's pee? This is nectar!
What a rich and mellow nectar!

drink!
Drink it all!

Mr. Yao, who was standing to the side, had to admit that Shen Ming'en's song "Rare Characters" was indeed very much in line with the requirements of Director Bai and his team's program.

Before Mr. Yao could even voice his opinion, Director Bai, perhaps overjoyed, suddenly patted him on the shoulder and said:
"Hey, Lao Yao, you've got a great son-in-law! I think he's really good!"

As soon as these words came out...

Mr. Yao: "..."

The smile that had been playing on his lips vanished instantly.
The previously beaming face suddenly froze.

Ber……

That's what we're saying!

Why bring this up at a time like this?

All the little bit of goodwill I had managed to develop towards Hajime was completely ruined by that one sentence!

Amidst laughter...

With Shen Ming'en's performance over, the audition officially came to a close.

Under the leadership of Director Bai and Mr. Yao, the organizers voted collectively, and the final result was as expected: Shen Ming'en's "Rare Characters" won first place, leading Zhou Chujian, who came in second by a wide margin.

Although today's audition was just a formality and the final decision on which song to choose will depend on the program's creative team, based on the results of today's audition and the unique perspective and high quality of Shen Ming'en's "Rare Characters," it's absolutely a done deal that his work will be selected as the promotional song for the "Guoyu Guoyun" program!

"Squeak..."

Zhou Chujian is so energetic!

Those back molars were almost ground to dust!
As soon as the event ended, he immediately called Shen Ming'en's agent, venting all his anger on Ma Ling, giving her a thorough dressing-down, and ending with:
"From now on, there will be no possibility of me working with Ruixing Entertainment again. Don't even think about having any of your artists appear at next month's event. We'll never see each other again!"

Ma Ling: "???"

Misfortune struck from the sky while everyone was at home. Hajiling thought that after all her repeated instructions, her father, Shen Ming'en, would give her face, but she never expected that things would still go wrong...

Now, the company really can't participate in that next event!
Haji-ling's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was in turmoil again...!!!

……

P.S.: There are still several chapters today. If you get enough monthly votes and first-day subscriptions, there will be plenty of updates!

(End of this chapter)