Chapter 210: The Voice of Dreams (3) Regarding the present...

Whether in reality or in stories, there are always many parents who are "heartbroken for their children," and people who are moved and touched by their words and actions.

Then, this usually becomes the starting point, continuing into a legendary story of being entrusted with a task and being loyal to the person.

However, in this movie, the male protagonist Dai Weiguang, played by Shang Hanyou, was not immediately moved by Mrs. Chang's frankness and request.

Because he knew that if he, like those people, easily accepted this heavy responsibility on a whim, the likely outcome would be that the "child" entrusted to his care would suffer the "harm" of another person who did not understand the ways of "being a parent".

Educating a small child is already an incredibly difficult task, but educating a "big kid" who has just reached adulthood but whose values ​​are not yet fully formed is an even more challenging problem that would give any biological parent in the world an immense headache.

He can't even take care of himself, let alone others.

Moreover, Mrs. Chang's daughter, who is determined to excel in music competitions, doesn't seem to have much of a "musical talent."

Even if he wanted to take on a student to inherit his mantle, he shouldn't have started with such a difficult challenge right away...

Having known each other for so long, Mrs. Chang probably had already anticipated that Dai Weiguang wouldn't agree to her request at once. So when Dai Weiguang shook his head, saying that he didn't think he could shoulder such a big responsibility, she just smiled and said that she could hold on for a while and would try to pay attention to other candidates.

Although Mrs. Chang was not very educated, she was still quite adept at navigating social situations after living for so many years. With just a few simple words, she eased the tense atmosphere and gave both sides a way out, making it seem as if the "entrustment of the orphan" had never happened.

However, words are sometimes like a seed.

When you pay close attention, it lies dormant quietly, as if it had never been there before.

However, once a trace is deliberately revealed, it seems that it can be connected through subtle details within the ever-present and ever-present wrapping.

Reality isn't something you can just decide to do as you please. Even if Dai Weiguang wanted to move after this, he couldn't find a more suitable place right away. So, for the rest of the time, he continued to rent the room next to the Chang family, trying to capture the melodies and lyrics he wanted to write amidst the vague and fragmented inspiration, while enduring Chang Xiaoman's "ear-piercing" voice...

…

While herding ducks to swim in the river during the day, Chang Xiaoman would get up early to practice singing; when he herded the ducks home in the afternoon, Chang Xiaoman would still be practicing singing—without any professional guidance, Chang Xiaoman's singing remained the same no matter how he practiced.

The only thing that could bring some joy was that since Chang Xiaoman decided to stay at home, her relationship with Mrs. Chang had improved considerably.

Perhaps it is the peaceful and slow-paced life close to nature that can unconsciously eliminate the damage to the mind caused by the fast-paced life in big cities.

With Dai Weiguang's occasional careful observation, he could discover that Chang Xiaoman, the notorious troublemaker in the walled village, was not actually that sharp-tongued. His attitude and behavior towards others also lacked the rebelliousness that he had initially thought was unique to teenagers.

Girls like Chang Xiaoman are very good at sensing how others perceive them.

So, after Dai Weiguang gradually changed his opinion of her, she also changed her hedgehog-like attitude and seemed to become more "peaceful".

Over time, whenever Chang Xiaoman saw Dai Weiguang, her neighbor and tenant, passing by, she would wave to him. She seemed quite friendly, unlike what other villagers said about Chang Xiaoman being a rebellious and impolite child.

Perhaps because of her appearance, which was considered a "villainous" persona in the still quite traditional walled village, the villagers dared not have much contact with her, fearing that their family members would be "corrupted" by her.

After the villagers' background conversations and attitudes subtly conveyed this signal to the audience, when we look at the two of them again, Dai Weiguang's feeling of being an "outsider" blends with Chang Xiaoman's sense of incompatibility due to fear and exclusion from her own people, creating a similar kind of loneliness.

The fast-paced editing of a segment of daily life jumps around, showing how the two people have developed some common ground in their brief daily interactions, but they still maintain a certain distance from each other. Although the walled village has a strong old-fashioned feel, times have changed and people are no longer the same. The thoughts and personalities of this generation, influenced by social trends, are no longer as easy to get close to as before.

But life is always full of surprises. One day, when he passed by Chang Xiaoman again, he vaguely heard that her voice had reached a bottleneck. Finally, Dai Weiguang couldn't help but point out her problems with singing.

"Big Rice Jar, you know how to sing?" That's why a brat is a brat; even if his attitude is a little better than before, he'll still take advantage of any slight provocation. Dai Weiguang merely...

After giving him just a few pointers, Chang Xiaoman immediately felt that he was someone who would talk to her nicely. As soon as he opened his mouth, he gave Dai Weiguang a nickname based on the pronunciation of his name.

"I only know a little bit." Intending to tease this mischievous kid, Dai Weiguang calmly replied, immediately eliciting a small burst of laughter from the audience in the screening room.

After all, whether it's the character setting and the actor, whether it's on or off screen, he's known as the "God of Songs".

Such a nonchalant reply, "I only know a little bit," instantly maximizes the dramatic effect.

Anyway, when Li Sishi was filming this scene, she could already foresee that Shang Hanyou's words, "having a smattering of knowledge," would very likely become a major force in the internet age's screenshot-style meme community, and might even have the chance to rival the "Do Whatever You Want" series, becoming the top choice for Versailles enthusiasts...

The camera returned to the screen, revealing that Chang Xiaoman had indeed listened to him and started trying to change her way of speaking. Dai Weiguang, too lazy to argue with this bratty kid about nicknames anymore, smiled slightly, waved his hand to herd the ducks that were hovering around his feet and staring at the two of them back to the duck shed in the yard, and then looked like he was about to go inside.

No matter how much Chang Xiaoman tried to tease him, he didn't say another word.

"What a strange person..." Chang Xiaoman muttered as she practiced for a while longer. When she turned around and went home for dinner, she couldn't help but talk to her mother, Mrs. Chang, who had been spoiling her a lot lately, about Dai Weiguang.

When she was studying away from home, she would only take the bus home on weekends and holidays for convenience. In the past, she would always quarrel with her biological mother, Mrs. Chang, and they didn't talk much. Not to mention Dai Weiguang, who rented the house next to theirs.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Chang gave a brief explanation, carefully guiding Chang Xiaoman's perception of him. She said that Dai Weiguang was actually a very talented artist, and that the main reason he didn't live in the city but came to the countryside was to seek inspiration and peace of mind.

Hearing that her mother had such a good impression of him, Chang Xiaoman was also quite intrigued: "What works has he created?"

That's probably human nature; we feel more distant from people we don't know well. Take an "artist" for example.

Renting the house next door to them in search of inspiration was a "surprising surprise" for Chang Xiaoman, a mischievous kid who doesn't follow the usual path.

"These are all old songs, maybe not suitable for a kid your age, but he's really talented..." Mrs. Chang said. "So it's a good thing he's offering you guidance. When you have time, bring him some groceries from home."

"Only through giving can there be receiving..."

Mrs. Chang chattered on and on, while Chang Xiaoman listened with nods. This scene of the two sitting opposite each other, eating and "chatting about everyday things," was incredibly heartwarming, but it also carried an indescribable sadness.

She thought that she and her mother had improved their relationship because of their shared desire to participate in the competition, and she looked forward to a future where the two of them could depend on each other... Little did she know that the truth was that she had long ago wished to take care of her parents, but they were no longer there.

With Dai Weiguang's occasional guidance, Chang Xiaoman practiced singing for a while, and then confidently took her mother, Mrs. Chang, out of the city to participate in the first round of auditions on the TV station.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Chang Xiaoman, whose baby voice was slightly weaker than before but sounded even worse, managed to create a scene of constant laughter both on and off stage every time she appeared. Those who didn't know better might have thought it was a clown performance rather than a singing performance.

However, by sheer coincidence, today's entertainment industry, which prioritizes entertainment to the point of exhaustion, needs a "clown" to ignite everyone's emotional response.

The fact that Chang Xiaoman was able to advance to the next round despite her performance is clearly a publicity stunt by the competition organizers, which reminds one of the story of this year's Miss Hong Kong vs. Miss Asia Pacific pageant.

And stories often come from life—this year's Miss Hong Kong pageant in TBL was uneventful, with no super hot favorites like Li Sishi who was a celestial being descended to earth in 1993, nor a grand feast of beauties with an exceptionally high average level of contestants in 1994.

It started off uneventfully, and no matter how much TBL invested, it couldn't make it work. From the preliminary rounds to the semi-finals and then to the finals, it ended uneventfully, like a story that started strong but ended weakly, leaving people dissatisfied with the ending.

In contrast, the Miss Asia Pacific pageant held by the neighboring Taiwan Liying was just like how they changed the name of a student who didn't know how to flatter the training class teacher and was eventually punished for poor performance and expelled, to an outstanding graduate. From the very beginning of the selection process, they had been making a series of strange moves: following the previous rule that local Hong Kong beauties were not limited to participating, this year Liying even put forward the slogan of open recruitment without age limit for the contestants.

Under such a slogan, this year's Miss Asia Pacific pageant produced a 47-year-old "super-aged" contestant. With her mature beauty and daring, provocative and excessive performance, no matter how much the media tried to prove that she had concealed her marriage, children, and family background, she was still able to maintain her integrity on stage and insist that the information she provided when she entered the pageant was correct. During that period, she attracted the attention of the entire Hong Kong.

Of course, this

These attention-grabbing "contestants" are simply products of a scheme orchestrated by the bigwigs behind the TV stations to generate buzz and attract attention.

As for the top three winners in the final beauty pageant, they all have to be young and beautiful women.

Therefore, in reverse, Chang Xiaoman, this human-shaped Christmas tree and professional baby voice, is another form of "47-year-old beauty pageant contestant who is not only about to be used by the TV station as a clown to generate hype and attract attention, but also as a supporting role to other contestants, and finally discarded after being used up, just like a pineapple core that has been eaten clean."

If Chang Xiaoman had the thick skin and ability of that 47-year-old beauty pageant contestant, she could probably have gained popularity and strengthened herself from this farce where she was treated like a clown. But the problem is that Chang Xiaoman, this clueless brat, failed to see the intricate web of interests involved.

Mrs. Chang, who vaguely realized the truth behind her daughter's advancement, was unwilling to shatter her daughter's false dream that she had achieved satisfactory results through her recent hard work in practice.

However, the conflicting thoughts of not wanting to see her daughter's dream shattered, and not wanting to see her daughter being used for sensationalism by television stations and the media, caused Mrs. Chang's condition to worsen rapidly during this period of worry.

Chang Xiaoman seemed to have sensed something. The next time she chose a song to cover live, she no longer chose the rock rap that made every lyric seem both understandable and incomprehensible. Instead, she chose an old song that Chang Xiaoman used to play on her record player all the time—the classic hit "Walking Through Life" by Yun Ni Jun, the queen of sweet songs.

Unfortunately, just as Chang Xiaoman seemed to be learning to understand her mother's hardships, her mother's health condition, which she wanted to care for, no longer allowed her to accompany her out of the city from time to time to handle various competition-related matters.

Worried that her naive daughter would suffer at the TV tower, Mrs. Chang persuaded Dai Weiguang, who had been quite relaxed lately, to "come out of retirement and help take care of her daughter."

Looking into Mrs. Chang's expectant and pleading eyes, and then at the mischievous child next to her dressed as a Christmas tree but whose clear eyes were still visible, Dai Weiguang suddenly, as if possessed, agreed.

Even if this is just a rehearsal for him to take on this unruly child, it's hard for any normal person to resist the pleading look from an elderly person they've known for a long time and with whom they have a pretty good relationship when they are seriously ill.

But to Dai Weiguang's surprise, when he set foot in the city again and came to the TV station again,

By sheer coincidence, I ran into my old friend Awen, who was also looking surprised.

Upon learning that Dai Weiguang had brought Chang Xiaoman, a "clown" manipulated by capital games, his old friend Awen, who had once formed a band with him, looked heartbroken and lamented why he had to ruin himself like this.

“It’s not that you can’t write songs, it’s just that you don’t want to,” sighed A-Wen, the old friend played by Li Dewen, as he was about to make a phone call. “You’ve been gone for so many years, and A-Ling and I have missed you terribly. Why are you doing this to yourself?”

Dai Weiguang stopped him: more than the mockery and scolding, it was the look of heartache in his eyes that made him feel sorry for his "self-degradation" that he found most unbearable.

“I’m doing very well now, you don’t need to worry about me.” Dai Weiguang shook his head. “Now I can write whatever songs I want, I don’t need to participate in those people’s commercial games anymore, and I even have the opportunity to cultivate a singer who is willing to sing my songs…”

"Her?!" As one of the judges for the next round of the competition, old friend Awen had naturally seen the contestants' information. Upon hearing Dai Weiguang's words, he widened his eyes in disbelief.

After making some grand promises to his old friend Awen, Dai Weiguang took Chang Xiaoman back to the walled village and quickly studied the strange phenomena on Chang Xiaoman's body. Finally, he rushed to write a transformation plan overnight.

"They want to reform me?" Chang Xiaoman asked with some concern upon hearing this. "Is it like mainstream music teachers, starting from the basics and working my way up step by step..."

With the next round of competition approaching, she no longer has the time to cram for the basics.

"No, time is tight for the competition, so for you right now, I can only use some... 'unconventional' methods."

What was said in jest was taken to heart. In the early stages of this film, when it relied on "drawing inspiration from reality" to spawn the initial version of various talent shows that used sob stories and ugliness to grab attention, the "non-mainstream" makeover plan and the female lead Chang Xiaoman's gaudy Christmas tree image finally, years later, made a group of teenagers who longed for care and desperately tried to "unique" their appearance feel as if they had finally received rain after a long drought.

From then on, the non-mainstream trend that swept across China in the new millennium, under the influence of Li Sishi, whom they revered as the "godmother of non-mainstream culture," became an indelible part of the youthful memories of a generation...