Chapter 95 The time has come; it's time to talk to Tan Zhi...
Fang Xin remained rooted to the spot, his gaze fixed on Jing Yitong, slightly lost in thought. His Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke, and after a long while, he finally mustered the courage to say, "Yes, it's related."
Jing Yitong stroked his face and said gently, "Can you tell me about it?"
"……Um."
Fang Xin pushed Jing Yitong to sit on the sofa in the living room, straddled his lap, and buried her upper body in Jing Yitong's arms.
Jing Yitong let Fang Xingu's head rest on his shoulder, using his cheek to hold Fang's head, one hand around his waist and the other stroking his back, forming a close and intimate position between them.
Fang Xingu really liked Jing Yitong hugging him like this; it gave him a great sense of security. He rubbed against Jing Yitong's shoulder like a little animal before asking, "Did you guess something?"
Jing Yitong responded, "I have a feeling."
“Okay,” Fang Xingu hugged Jing Yitong’s waist, took a deep breath, and smelled the reassuring scent on Jing Yitong. “I told you before that I wrote a song for you. Actually, this song is called ‘Please Listen to His Explanation’.”
Jing Yitong suddenly stopped patting Fang Xingu's back. After a moment, he sighed and said with a wry smile, "It really is true?"
Actually, when Fang Xingu told him the last time, he had some doubts in his heart, but he really didn't want the truth to be as he guessed.
Since Fang Xingu said he would write a song for him, even if he didn't sing it himself, he would definitely put his name in the list of songwriters. However, there is no trace of Fang Xingu in "Please Listen to His Explanation".
What exactly happened in between? Why didn't Fang Xingu ever tell him?
Jing Yitong's voice was somewhat low: "Can you tell me what exactly happened in between?"
Fang Xin finally revealed the truth behind the matter to Jing Yitong: "After visiting the set of 'Us Without Tomorrow' that year, I started writing this song for you - it's this song 'Please Listen to His Defendant'. Later, through You Zhicheng's introduction, I submitted the song to Tan Zhi's studio... In short, when I returned from abroad, the song had become Tan Zhi's original song, but the lyrics and music were indeed the version I wrote back then."
Jing Yitong listened with increasing disbelief, his voice filled with barely suppressed anger, and he even raised his voice unusually: "So he just plagiarized your song like that?"
Because their upper bodies were pressed together, Fang Xingu could clearly feel Jing Yitong's chest heaving violently, and even his breathing became heavy. He was obviously angry and had been taking deep breaths to try to calm down. Fang Xingu quickly sat up and patted his chest: "Hey, don't be angry."
But how could he not be angry? Jing Yitong thought to himself, the person he loved had endured so much for him for so many years and suffered so many grievances, yet he knew nothing about it.
Jing Yitong was not only angry at Tan Zhi, but also at herself.
He felt his hands trembling slightly, but his touch on Fang Xingu was still gentle. He tenderly pulled Fang Xingu's hand, which was resting on his chest, and said, "Why are you comforting me? You're the one who should be angry the most."
Fang Xingu thought for a moment and replied, "I was indeed angry at the time, but so many years have passed and I've calmed down a long time ago. But I still have to take revenge. Actually, before the first episode of 'New Voice' was recorded, You Zhicheng came to me and said that the time was right and it was time to settle accounts with Tan Zhi, which is why this happened today."
Jing Yitong understood now. He suppressed the burning anger in his heart and patiently analyzed, "So you and You Zhicheng had planned this all along. Was 'New Voice' a trap you dug specifically for Tan Zhi?"
Fang Xingu blinked: "I guess so. Anyway, You Zhicheng and I planned before the recording of 'The Voice of China' that I would sing 'Please Listen to His Explanation' on the show. After the show airs, we will continue to guide Tan Zhi to reveal his true colors and then take the opportunity to expose the fact that he stole my song back then."
Jing Yitong hugged Fang Xingu and lay down on the sofa together: "This is a good idea. Tan Zhi couldn't have just stolen your lyrics and music. He's definitely not clean. I'll have someone dig deeper and we'll definitely find more dirt. But it's also quite strange. I know that some singers in the music industry do hire others to write songs for them, but they always discuss it beforehand or pay someone to settle things. How come this Tan Zhi is so stupid? He just took your song for himself without saying a word?"
Fang Xin had never figured this out either: "Maybe Tan Zhi and his group have some kind of connection behind the scenes, but I'm too lazy to think about it."
“That’s true. You’re the victim, so you shouldn’t be the one to think about the logic behind their actions,” Jing Yitong kissed Fang Xingu’s nose, then asked with some doubt, “But why haven’t you made this public all this time?”
Fang Xingu lay on top of Jing Yitong, hesitated for a moment, and only after confirming that Jing Yitong's expression was normal and showed no signs of anger did he say, "Back then, I didn't want to affect your chances of winning awards with the role of Qin Zhe. After all, this matter would have a certain negative impact on you, and the Golden Rooster Awards..."
Jing Yitong was speechless, but he knew in his heart that Fang Xingu's worries were justified.
He gained fame by winning the Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer awards at the Golden Horse Awards for his role as "Qin Zhe".
However, the jury of the Golden Horse Awards is actually conservative to the point of being rigid. A few years ago, it was rumored that an actor who was originally a strong contender for the Golden Horse Best Actor award was caught up in a public opinion storm. Even though it was just a small rumor, he ultimately missed out on the award, which was a great pity.
Jing Yitong thought that if Fang Xingu had revealed this matter back then, it would have been uncertain who would have won the Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer awards.
But was it all really worth it? In his heart, Fang Xin's status was far more important than the two awards.
Ke Jingyi knew he absolutely couldn't say those words. Since the incident had already happened, he should feel sorry for Fang Xin's efforts, not deny everything he had done.
Jing Yitong sighed, hugged Fang Xingu tightly, and felt a deep sense of guilt rising in his heart: "I regret it a little."
"Um?"
Jing Yitong said in a muffled voice, "If only I hadn't asked you to write a song for me back then, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much injustice these past few years."
"What are you talking about?" Fang Xingu smiled and pressed his neck against Jing Yitong's. "Even if you didn't ask me to write a song for you back then, I would have written one when I came back from the film set. After all, when I wrote 'Please Listen to His Explanation,' I was really moved by it. The character 'Qin Zhe' is also very thought-provoking. You chose a very good script."
“It’s because our new song is good,” Jing Yitong never hesitates to praise the other party’s new song. “No wonder when the crew gave me this song, I really liked it.”
Fang Xin looked up and smiled, "Really?"
“Really, you can ask the crew members at the time if you don’t believe me,” Jing Yitong explained. “The crew brought over a few songs for me to choose from, and I immediately took a liking to ‘Please Listen to His Defendant’. I was quite surprised when I saw that the lyricist was Tan Zhi, as the song’s style was completely different from Tan Zhi’s previous work.”
Jing Yitong's words were not made up. In fact, over the years, there have been discussions about whether "Please Listen to His Defendant" is Tan Zhi's style. However, some people feel that Tan Zhi's style has changed a lot since this song. He tries to write and sing in all kinds of styles. Maybe he opened up his Ren and Du meridians when he wrote this song.
Halfway through his thought, Jing Yitong realized an even more important issue: "But you could have told me this back then. I'm the one who should have shared this burden with you the most."
"Well, I went to participate in 'Star Journey' afterwards, and I was so busy that I didn't have time to think about it," Fang Xingu said, then started to feel guilty again. "Later, I was a little afraid to be honest with you. Qi Qiu said that you definitely wouldn't want me to compromise for you, and that you would definitely be angry when you found out... So were you angry?"
Jing Yitong smiled, just about to ask why he was angry with Fang Xingu, but then realized something was wrong—no, how come You Zhicheng and Qi Qiu knew about this before him?
Jing Yitong asked instinctively, "Who else knows about this?"
Fang Xingu didn't think much of it and replied truthfully: "Zhou Xiaoyou, several employees of my studio, and our company's President Zhong and President Lu also know. Oh right, and Jiang He also knows."
It took Jing Yitong a while to remember who Jiang He was. When he heard this string of names, his forehead twitched, and taking advantage of Fang Xingu's inattention, he slapped him on the buttocks a few times.
"ah!"
Fang Xingu let out a short cry. Jing Yitong had hit him quite hard. Although it didn't hurt, the sound of the slaps was really loud in the quiet room. Fang Xingu had never been spanked like this before. Jing Yitong had never done this to him before. At this moment, Fang Xingu even felt his buttocks shaking from the slaps.
Shame made Fang Xingu blush and try to shrink away, but Jing Yitong used his arms and legs to lock him tightly, trapping him in his arms so he couldn't move, and he was slapped a few more times.
Fang Xin's face flushed red as he said, "You promised you wouldn't be angry with me!"
Jing Yitong snorted: "Tell me first, you're not so much making this up because you're about to expose Tan Zhi's secrets in public, are you?"
Fang Xin glanced at him guiltily: ...How come this person is so perceptive?
He genuinely felt that Jing Yitong shouldn't be kept in the dark any longer than the audience, which is why he chose to tell Jing Yitong the truth today. It was a forced confession after dragging it out as long as possible.
Fang Xingu dared not speak for fear of giving himself away, but Jing Yitong knew him so well that he knew he had guessed the truth as soon as he saw Fang Xingu's reaction of pretending not to hear.
He was both annoyed and amused. He flipped over and pinned Fang Xingu down, biting his lower lip hard. "I've changed my mind. I'm angry now. I'm going to vent my anger on you!"
Fang Xingu realized he wasn't really angry, so she laughed and dodged him, saying, "Can you please stop turning everything, black and white, into yellow?"
Jing Yitong groped him all over: "What I'm best at right now is being a pervert with you."
Fang Xin tried to curl up into a ball, but Jing Yitong pressed him down so he couldn't move. He could only plead for mercy in a coquettish way: "Please let me go, brother."
Unexpectedly, Jing Yitong actually stopped what he was doing, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Then sing me a song."
Fang Xingu wrapped her arms around his neck: "What song?"
Jing Yitong propped himself up and looked down at him: "I haven't heard you sing this song, 'Please Listen to His Explanation,' yet."
Fang Xingu started to act high and mighty, deliberately pointing at Jing Yitong's chest: "Just wait for the show to air, and listen to it with the audience."
"Am I treated the same as all those strangers I meet online?!"
Fang Xin nodded confidently.
Jing Yitong smiled and leaned down to nuzzle his shoulder: "Please sing one, Teacher Fang, please."
"Alright, alright, I'll spoil you this once," Fang Xingu chuckled, and sang as he wished, "The midnight bells toll endlessly, I have no heart to look forward to the next dawn. I hear the wind howling in the rain, I want to reach out but can no longer touch it..."
.
The following day, in a studio in Shanghai, the recording of "The Voice of China" took place.
The audience seats were already full. Facing the expectant gazes of the crowd, the host on stage remained unfazed, standing ramrod straight: "Due to a work conflict, Ms. Lü is unable to attend this recording of 'New Voice,' we have invited a substitute singer to fill in. Now, let's welcome our mysterious substitute singer!"
The audience applauded, and amidst the cheers, Fang Xingu gracefully walked onto the stage: "Hello everyone, I am Fang Xingu, the guest singer for this episode."
"ah!!!"
"New or old!"
"welcome!"
The audience below the stage immediately erupted in enthusiastic cheers. Most of them already knew that Fang Xingu was the substitute singer today, and more than half of the audience came specifically for Fang Xingu. If the production team hadn't controlled the distribution of the recording tickets, the audience seats would probably have been completely taken over by Fang Xingu's fans.
Fang Xingu hadn't met with his fans in a formal setting for a long time. He smiled and waved to them, his eyes lit up by the stage lights, and the coldness and arrogance of a few years ago were gone from his face. He exuded a gentle aura: "Hello everyone, it's been a long time."
"Ahhh, it's been so long!"
In the past six months, Fang Xin Gu has only appeared in public for one variety show, "The World Is So Big" and one album, "Contradictory Body". Moreover, she was recently embroiled in a scandal, but her popularity has not been affected at all. At this moment, the scene below the stage was boiling, until Fang Xin Gu made a shushing gesture, and everyone quieted down.
The host laughed and said, "It seems that many friends in the audience have come for Xin Gu. Xin Gu just released his new album last month, and it's really good. Today, Brother Jin will also be singing one of the songs. Can you guess which one it is?"
Seeing that the audience was about to start chattering again, Fang Xingu quickly made a gesture: "Don't say it yet, let's keep everyone in suspense... Do you all know what I'm going to sing today?"
The audience's response was surprisingly unanimous: "Please listen to his defense!"
The host laughed: "It seems everyone is very well-informed. Yes, today Xin Gu will sing Teacher Tan's classic song 'Please Listen to His Explanation.' Xin Gu has put a lot of effort into the adaptation. I heard you were busy until very late yesterday adapting this song?"
Fang Xingu suddenly raised an eyebrow and smiled. The smile was somewhat strange, but he was indeed very handsome. He said, "It's not that late. The main thing is that I want to compose a song that best suits 'Please Listen to His Explanation'."
host:?
The host's expression froze for a second; Fang Xin Gu hadn't said that when they were going over the script earlier!
Fang Xingu's words were very strange, as if he was criticizing the original arrangement. No one would say something so tactless on stage, unless he did it on purpose.
The host assumed that Fang Xingu had just made a slip of the tongue, and since the audience didn't react much and were still looking at Fang Xingu expectantly, the host quickly regained his composure and continued hosting—oh well, this wasn't a live broadcast, they could just have the post-production team cut that sentence out later.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Fang Xingu, the host said, "Alright, next, let's welcome Xingu to bring us a 'new voice,' 'Please listen to his defense'!"
The studio lights went out, and this time the audience all quieted down on their own. Fang Xin held the microphone and stood quietly on the stage.
Three, two, one.
As the deep music began, the magnificent lights in the pitch-black studio suddenly blazed on, finally focusing on Fang Xingu in the center of the stage. To the audience below, Fang Xingu was so captivating at that moment, as if he were radiating a divine aura.
But the song he sang at that moment was not like that.
Tan Zhi's version of "Please Listen to His Defendant" features a more rugged vocal style and places great emphasis on the use of drums in the arrangement. However, Fang Xin Gu's version is more delicate and desolate, and just listening to the intro makes one feel as if they are experiencing the damp and cold winter.
In fact, this is not entirely the same as the singing style that Fang Xin Gu showed in "Contradiction Body". Since most of the songs in "Contradiction Body" are love songs, Fang Xin Gu always expresses extremely rich and full emotions when singing, no matter what kind of emotion he is expressing.
But in this performance of "Please Listen to His Defendant," Fang Xingu's emotions seemed to have been stripped of humanity, leaving only the purest divinity. This is not to say that his singing lacked emotion, but rather that he seemed to be standing from God's perspective, pitying and lamenting the character Qin Zhe's life of making one wrong step after another, ultimately leading him into purgatory.
The midnight bells kept ringing.
I have lost all interest in looking forward to the next day.
I heard the wind howling in the rain.
I wanted to reach out, but I could no longer touch it.
The biting northern wind pierced to the bone.
All that remained was the icy warmth between my fingers.
The fluttering hem of my clothes made me realize something.
This may be your last look back.
The bitterness I've endured for years, unable to swallow it all
Every sigh turned into lingering anger.
Since no one can offer me salvation,
I will light my way home.
Even knowing that the road ahead is a wrong one
They could no longer stop moving forward.
Ultimately, it comes down to risking one's life.
Only then can we dispel the fog leading to the truth.
The past is buried in this heavy rain.
No one listens to the injustices that are being defended.
Only by letting yourself wallow in the past
Only then can life continue, even if it's just barely hanging on.
Human beings cannot write a just ending.
They even said I was unreasonable.
Who set up these rules and regulations?
It plunges one's heart into a torturous purgatory.
Musical patterns that deviate from axioms
Instead, it wove into the final chapter I was pursuing.
I will break the existing rules.
To rewrite the inevitable tragedy.
When the song ended, this version of "Please Listen to His Defendant," which was completely different from Tan Zhi's version, greatly shocked the audience. Everyone was so shocked that they didn't even dare to breathe. It took a while before enthusiastic applause broke out from backstage.
It's very different, but it sounds amazing!
This was the first reaction of everyone present after hearing the song.
The song "Please Listen to His Explanation" has become a hit across the country in the past few years. It is undoubtedly difficult to adapt such a song because everyone will definitely be more used to the original arrangement and will feel extremely uncomfortable with any changes to the song.
However, Fang Xingu's version did not give people this strange feeling at all, because Fang Xingu's adaptation this time was too big. If other singers mostly make plastic surgery on the original arrangement when adapting songs, Fang Xingu simply sculpted a new face this time, completely ignoring the original arrangement and drastically re-arranging a new version.
Therefore, even though the lyrics and music are the same, the arrangement and singing style are different, so it sounds like a different song to the audience. It even makes many viewers who have long forgotten the content of the movie "Us Without Tomorrow" recall Qin Zhe's tragic fate of gradually falling into the abyss.
Fang Xin sang very calmly, even restraining himself from adding too many complicated emotions to the song, but listeners without exception felt the divine compassion in his voice.
The applause from the audience lasted for a long time, until the host came back on stage and invited Tan Zhi, the original singer, to come on stage, and the audience finally calmed down.
As soon as the host came on stage, he deliberately made a gesture of clutching his chest and exhaling: "I was so shocked to hear this, what do you all think?"
Whether they were fans or ordinary audience members, everyone in the audience erupted in cheers: "That was great!"
"This sounds so good!"
"Ahhh, production team, release the audio right away!"
Hearing the unanimous approval from the audience, Fang Xingu felt relieved. He first bowed to the band and harmony teacher on stage, and then bowed to the audience: "Thank you everyone."
The host gestured to Tan Zhi, "It's time to move on to our regular segment. Mr. Tan, do you have any comments?"
Tan Zhi gritted his teeth so hard they almost broke. While laymen watch the spectacle, he, as an expert, certainly had to understand the intricacies. Although his abilities had declined significantly in recent years, he still possessed theoretical knowledge. He couldn't comprehend how Fang Xin Gu could have completed such a massive amount of redesign in such a short time!
Moreover, he had to admit that the quality of the adaptation was really good, and he couldn't find any fault with it. In fact, he even felt that this brand-new version seemed to fit the song better than his original version.
But the more he felt this way, the more unwilling Tan Zhi became, and he insisted on finding fault with everything.
So Tan Zhi picked up the microphone, first showing a stiff smile, and then said to the other party, "There's a problem. Your singing makes me feel that you want to express this song from the perspective of an observer, but the lyrics of this song are narrated in the first person. The conflict between the two is difficult to reconcile, and I don't think this is good."
This is also the biggest difference between Fang Xingu and Tan Zhi's versions. Tan Zhi sang the song from a first-person perspective, but because of his own timbre, the effect was rough and bold, which did not really fit Qin Zhe's life experience. This is also the part of his version that was most criticized.
However, Tan Zhi doesn't think so. In his eyes, Qin Zhe has a devil inside him, and only by singing in this way can he express the madness in his heart.
Therefore, Tan Zhi's rejection of Fang Xingu's choice to interpret the song from a third-person perspective is tantamount to rejecting all of Fang Xingu's adaptations this time.
If it were someone else here today, they might not have argued with Tan Zhi. At most, they would have just said a few self-deprecating platitudes and moved on. But Fang Xin Gu is not here today to flatter Tan Zhi.
Fang Xingu curled his lips: "But Teacher Tan, the song title is 'Please Listen to His Explanation,' and 'he' is also a third-person perspective, isn't it? I wonder what Teacher Tan was thinking when he wrote the lyrics and the song title back then? Didn't you feel that the perspectives conflicted?"
Suddenly, Tan Zhi felt a cold sweat break out on his back. How was he supposed to answer that?
Damn, this isn't even a song he wrote! Who knows what the person who wrote this song was thinking back then!
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Author's note: Old Deng, if you don't know, let Teacher Fang explain it to you [angry]
Sorry I'm late, this is a rather long chapter~
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