121: Chapter 121 You are a free bird

All the lights went out in the same second.

The entire Studio plunged into total darkness.

Someone in the audience let out a short gasp, which was quickly swallowed by the silence.

Red and blue lights flickered on, flashing like a galaxy scattered across the floor.

Silence.

It was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

The comments in the Livestream Room paused for two seconds.

"Why did it go black?"

"Equipment failure?"

"No, listen—"

A spotlight dropped vertically from the ceiling of the venue, hitting a spot just to the left of the center stage.

Three little girls stood in the beam of light.

They wore braided pigtails and white cotton dresses, looking about seven or eight years old.

The three children held hands, their faces tilted upward—

"Yi-ya, yi-ya, yi-you—"

"Yi-ya, yi-ya, yi-you—"

"Yi-ya, yi-ya, yi-hei—"

The voices were young and pure, drifting cleanly into every corner of the venue.

A second spotlight turned on.

Shen Nian stood in the center of the stage.

She wore a black dress, her long hair pinned back, and the Tibetan-style necklace at her throat shimmered silver in the beam of light.

Her eyes were slightly lowered as she picked up the microphone.

"A Diao, living in a place in Tibet—"

"Like a vulture, perching on the mountain peak—"

The first note emerged.

Crisp and decisive.

A middle-aged man subconsciously rubbed his forearm; a layer of goosebumps had already risen.

"A Diao, before the Jokhang Temple, paved with sunlight—"

"Order a pot of sweet tea, we chat about the past—"

Shen Nian closed her eyes for a moment.

"Na— ah————"

A long, echoing harmony came from behind.

A Tibetan female voice, distant and vast, like the wind pouring down from a mountain pass at five thousand meters, wrapped in cold air, sweeping across the entire venue.

A woman in her forties in Zone A, with her Audience Jury pass hanging on her chest, gripped the armrests with both hands—

With that one note, the hair on her arms stood up.

The comments in the Livestream Room turned into a white wall.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap."

"I have three layers of goosebumps!!!"

"What kind of godly Arrangement is this! What's with that harmony!!!"

"The opening with the three little girls is amazing, amazing, amazing."

"Is Jiang Fan even human? Can a human even think of this Arrangement?"

Shen Nian rode on the back of that harmony, pushing her voice forward—

"A Diao, you always dress yourself like a boy—"

"Yet you are more tenacious than Galsang—"

She had completely merged into the Song.

"A Diao, hypocritical people have a thousand kinds of smiles—"

"When you come down the mountain, remember to bring your Zhuoma knife—"

In the minds of the one thousand people in the audience, the same image appeared—

A young girl, small and stubborn, unyielding.

Pressed to the ground by life, yet climbing up again and again on her own.

Slowly, this girl overlapped with Shen Nian on the stage.

They thought of what she had endured this past year—

Framed, blacklisted, suffering from depression, disappearing from the industry.

Now, she had come back to life.

Appearing before everyone with an unstoppable posture.

Interlude.

Shen Nian stood in the light, her chest heaving twice as she adjusted her breathing.

"Under the gray brim, sunken cheeks—"

"You rarely speak, simple answers—"

"Where is tomorrow, who cares about you—"

"Even if you fall on the road—"

At the mentor's table, Heavenly King Zhou sat up straight.

His hand rested on the armrest, his index finger tapping unconsciously.

He could hear it—Shen Nian's emotion and power were building up, ready to explode at any moment.

"Fate is full of twists and turns, obsessed, indifferent—"

"Bidding farewell to youth, countless stations—"

"Content with being ordinary—"

"Yet unwilling to fail in mediocrity—"

"You are A Diao—"

The voice gradually faded.

The one thousand members of the Audience Jury held their breath.

The entire venue felt like a string pulled to its limit.

"You are a free bird—"

Shen Nian's clear, resonant voice pierced through all the instruments, rising from the ground.

All the emotions accumulated before were released in this one line.

"Hey-ye— hey-ye—"

Many of the Audience Jury members were crying.

Not just one or two.

In several rows, people were wiping their eyes with their sleeves, others covered their mouths with both hands, their shoulders shaking.

Tang Yingxue sat at the mentor's table, her water glass suspended in mid-air.

She turned her head; Heavenly King Zhou had already stood up.

Producer Chen Kexin took off his glasses and wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand.

"A Diao, love is a seed of sorrow—"

Shen Nian's voice slowly descended from its peak.

"You are a tree—"

"You will never wither—"

The last word fell. A tear slid down from her eye.

The camera zoomed in, that drop of tear sliding from the corner of her eye down her cheek and falling.

Livestream Room online viewers: 23.4 million.

The comments were about to break the screen.

"I cried, I really cried."

"Shen Nian, you are the bravest person I have ever seen."

"I can listen to this Song on repeat for a lifetime."

"Jiang Fan, what exactly are you? How can you write a Song like this?"

"It's over, my brother is going to lose."

The music ended.

The venue was silent for three seconds.

Applause poured in from all directions.

Shen Nian stood in the light, wiped her face with the back of her hand, and bowed to the audience.

The applause grew louder.

Many people had already started shouting her name.

"Shen Nian!"

"Shen Nian!"

Teacher He walked out from the side stage to take over, his voice slightly hoarse.

"I..." He cleared his throat. "I have hosted programs for over a decade, and today's stage is one of the best live performances in my memory."

He didn't say anything more.

"Next, please let the three mentors give their comments."

Heavenly King Zhou picked up the microphone and stood to speak.

He looked at Shen Nian.

"Four rounds of competition, you improve every time. But today isn't just improvement; it's a transformation."

He paused.

"Among young singers, I can't think of a second one who can sing to this level."

Producer Chen Kexin put his glasses back on, flipping through the lyric sheet in his hand.

"I want to talk about the Arrangement of this Song separately—the opening with the three little girls' children's voices, the design of the Tibetan female harmony in the middle, including the Arrangement of instrument layers in the final chorus..."

"This isn't just doing an Arrangement; this is creating a world."

He looked up toward the side stage.

"Teacher Jiang Fan, you might want to consider coming to work at our company."

The audience erupted in laughter.

It was Tang Yingxue's turn.

She held the microphone and remained silent for two seconds.

Jiang Fan watched her from the wings, waiting to see what tricks the second-ranked of The Four Heavenly Queens would play today.

"I'll be honest."

Tang Yingxue switched the microphone to her right hand, leaned forward, and looked at Shen Nian on stage.

"In the first two episodes, I gave you some not-so-pleasant evaluations."

The whole venue went quiet.

The speed of the comments in the Livestream Room slowed down instantly—everyone was listening.

"Today, I take them back."

Tang Yingxue's tone was very flat.

"From the first note of this Song, I knew that no one could beat you today. There is something in your voice—it's not something that can be practiced with technique, nor can it be accumulated with experience."

She paused and tapped her fingers on the microphone twice.

"When you sang the line 'You are a free bird,' the back of my neck was tingling. This kind of reaction doesn't lie."

Sporadic applause started from the audience.

"I'll say a few more words about the Arrangement." Tang Yingxue's gaze shifted, looking toward the side stage.

"This Arrangement would be a finale-level track on any album. This isn't just backing the singer; it's telling a story for her. I can't find three people in the entire Chinese music scene with this ability."

Jiang Fan leaned against a pillar, seeing Tang Yingxue's expression clearly.

He knew exactly who those compliments about the Arrangement were meant for.

Interesting.

Shen Nian was stunned for a moment, then bent into a ninety-degree bow.

"Thank you, Teacher Tang."

Teacher He took the microphone at the right time, pulling the atmosphere back.

"Alright! Thanks to the three mentors for their wonderful comments. The fourth round ranking competition, all eight singers have finished performing—"

"Now, please have the Audience Jury vote!"

The big screen switched to the voting interface, and the voting channel for the one thousand members of the Audience Jury opened.