Chapter 105: Conquering Yu Hua

Tang Zhichu stood on the stage. The applause had not yet faded when he bowed, then stepped down, leaving the spotlight to Liu Xingyun who followed. The outcome of "Passing Through the World" meant little to Tang Zhichu. He hadn't sung it for the audience, nor for the singing project team, and certainly not for Wang Xiaoyan. Yuhua must have listened—likely from upstairs. When he was recording, Yuhua had sent word to Zhou Yun and Wang Xiaoyan, which was why they brought him soup.

Tang Zhichu knew Yuhua had always had his eye on him; that was why he chose to make such a spectacle of himself. Since you wish to probe, then let me show off my strength. The audience, the project team, and even those musicians backstage could grasp only one layer of this song, if at all. But you, Yuhua, must understand at least three.

Bringing Wang Xiaoyan here was only part of the performance, meant to draw Yuhua in more deeply. Upstairs, Yuhua watched as Tang Zhichu left the stage for the backstage area, but he remained still, a sheet of paper in his hand—the lyrics to "Passing Through the World." Only when Liu Xingyun took the stage did a smile finally appear on Yuhua's face.

“What a remarkable Tang Zhichu,” Yuhua unconsciously exclaimed. How long had it been since he'd met a young man like this? He couldn’t recall. "A song written in a single day under a set theme, yet with four underlying logics—even I was caught off guard," Yuhua shook his head in admiration.

How had Tang Zhichu judged that he could follow his train of thought? Belief in himself? Or in Yuhua? The first logic was to create a fitting film ending song. The second: to help Wang Xiaoyan let go. The third: to make himself relinquish his arrogance toward Wang Xiaoyan.

Yuhua only realized all this after studying the lyrics carefully. From his perspective, the song was extraordinary. The first half was for Wang Xiaoyan, telling her that change is the only constant, that every shoulder-to-shoulder journey is a fleeting encounter. But the genius lies not just in the truth but in the comfort: "You are fine, he’s not bad either, dry your tears quickly, see how beautiful the night-blooming cereus is."

What talent! And yet, that was only one of the song’s logics. The latter half was written for Yuhua himself, as he discerned when he delved into the lyrics. From the line, "Passing through the world, through this cycle again, if lucky, perhaps in the end, we owe nothing to anyone," it was clear Tang Zhichu was singing to himself.

Yuhua picked up the lyric sheet again. Especially the final stanza: "Passing through the world, only a few decades, meetings and partings, greed, anger, love, infatuation, resentment—don’t bother with these while passing through the world." Was that not directed at himself? "Desolate and uninhabited, no one to love. Coming to this world, how wasteful is it?" Not only was it sung for him, but it was also a rebuke.

The key was, Yuhua couldn’t even be angry—he truly had no way to confront Tang Zhichu head-on in this regard. The most astonishing thing was that, when viewed as a whole, both halves of the song were also written for the film "Good and Evil." That was what truly won Yuhua over.

Looking down at the audience and the project team, Yuhua shook his head, feeling a pang of regret for Tang Zhichu. Why? Because none of them understood his song; Tang Zhichu’s talent far exceeded their expectations. At that moment, even as he listened to Liu Xingyun’s singing on stage, Yuhua frowned—What is all this racket? You call this singing?

And that was only three logics. The fourth, the one Yuhua most admired, was that Tang Zhichu was conversing with him—engaging him in dialogue with such sophistication. Why did Yuhua think so? Because when he first met Tang Zhichu, he had analyzed his previous song "If I Lost You," and had used a similar cunning to change the outcome of Li Hongzhou’s reality show.

Li Hongzhou was still in the dark and might never know why Tianhe Entertainment and DY had suddenly changed their minds and prevented Tang Zhichu and Chen Siyang from being together. "He must have relied on this very fact to believe I could understand his song," Yuhua murmured.

Tang Zhichu had shown so much—enough to give Yuhua full confidence in the program, and even to reconsider some things he had previously decided to abandon. Yuhua folded the lyric sheet, slipped it into his pocket, took out his phone, hesitated for a long time, but ultimately did not make the call.

"Let it be simple—the contract stays at DY, that’s fine with me." Only then did Yuhua glance toward Zhou Yun and Wang Xiaoyan, who were sitting in a corner, before unlocking his phone.

Below, Liu Xingyun had begun his song. The old musician was indeed different—he’d brought a full string orchestra, lending an air of grandeur. Yet, Zhou Yun and Wang Xiaoyan, sitting in the corner, were both distracted.

Because of her preconceptions, Zhou Yun felt that Liu Xingyun’s song couldn’t compare to "Passing Through the World." Why? From Zhou Yun’s perspective, Tang Zhichu not only had to meet the theme, but also cater to Wang Xiaoyan. To stay on topic while still breaking Wang Xiaoyan’s defenses and prompting her to reflect—that was incredibly difficult.

Yet the audience and the project team would never notice the second layer of logic in Tang Zhichu’s song. It was unfair, but there was nothing to be done. Zhou Yun felt she shouldn’t have let Wang Xiaoyan meet Tang Zhichu; she was only holding him back, and she felt a bit guilty.

Wang Xiaoyan was lost in thought, still immersed in the earlier song, and it was more than just the music. In her heart, Tang Zhichu could not compare to Yuhua. Yuhua pushing her away was a powerful, forbidden signal. In the quiet of night, Wang Xiaoyan had fantasized about Tang Zhichu. His appearance was flawless, of course, but that was too superficial.

Even if Yuhua wanted to push her away, shouldn’t he choose someone better than himself? After learning Yuhua’s true identity, Wang Xiaoyan felt that a singer was just a singer—what could be special about that? So she asked Zhou Yun, was it worth it?

In Wang Xiaoyan’s eyes, Tang Zhichu was just a singer. On the reality show, not only was he entangled with Chen Siyang, but he seemed to have some ambiguous relations with Jiang Lan as well. And yet, Zhou Yun still wanted to get involved? Wasn’t that madness?

But after hearing him live, Wang Xiaoyan understood. A singer is just a singer, but Tang Zhichu is Tang Zhichu—the two cannot be compared.

"Yun, the truth is, I have a problem. I’ve been too arrogant in the face of life," Wang Xiaoyan suddenly said.

"Ding-dong." At that moment, Wang Xiaoyan’s phone chimed. She picked it up, glanced at the screen, then handed it to Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun assumed it was a message from Tang Zhichu. But when she took the phone, she saw it was from Yuhua.

That Wang Xiaoyan would immediately show her a message from Yuhua—now that was surprising.

The message was simple. After the program finished recording, Yuhua wanted to have a word with Wang Xiaoyan.

When she read this, Zhou Yun suddenly understood. Looking up and scanning the room, she couldn’t see him, but Yuhua was definitely present.

"It’s fine. If he’s willing to talk, that’s good for you. Old Tang really pulled it off for you. Remember, take a step back to move forward. At this point, if he wants to talk, he won’t let you suffer," Zhou Yun whispered.

Posting this chapter first, and by the way, here’s a note on the update schedule: as usual, updates will be posted around eight o’clock every night. (End of chapter)