Chapter Ninety-One: The Film Wraps Up

Chapter Ninety-One: Wrapping Up the Film

At the beginning of September, Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance finished filming. Zhang Le held a wrap party and invited a number of media outlets to attend. Compared with Crazy Stone, this film was clearly handled with far more fanfare.

With filming completed, the movie entered post-production, and Zhang Le remained busy. Yang Xin'er did not take on another role; instead, she was preparing for her first concert tour, with the opening stop in Yanjing.

Like Crazy Stone, Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance had no intention of commissioning a theme song. As for the score, the original was unquestionably a classic. Zhang Le had no ambition to create a soundtrack that could surpass it, and of course he did not believe he had the ability to do so.

Zhang Le’s new film still would not have a theme song, which left many of his fans disappointed. The impression left by the two film theme songs he had already written was simply too deep. For those who loved his music, it was hard not to feel dissatisfied that he would not write a theme song for his own movies.

To say that Zhang Le had run out of inspiration probably would not have convinced anyone. Invisible Wings and You Are My Eyes were still blazing hot after all this time, and that alone said enough.

Zhang Le did not write theme songs for his own films because he was afraid of stealing the spotlight from the movie itself and causing people to overlook his directorial talent. But to many, that explanation sounded rather flimsy.

Although Zhang Le had not written a theme song for Crazy Stone, the film still featured quite a few songs as background music.

Still, Zhang Le’s willfulness was already well known. Whether he wanted to do something or not, no one could make him change his mind.

That said, the film No Way Back, in which Zhang Le appeared, did give music fans something to look forward to. Unfortunately, things did not turn out that way. No Way Back had long since wrapped and entered post-production, and news about it surfaced from time to time, including reports about its theme song.

This time, Zhang Le did not write the theme song for No Way Back. He only wrote an insert song. As for how the song turned out, that would have to wait until the film was released.

And the theme song was not even sung by Zhang Le himself, but by Zhou Run.

After filming No Way Back this year, Zhou Run shifted the focus of his career to music. He not only released an album, but also held several concerts. The Yanjing stop was the final one. Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er had both received invitations.

"Heh, I thought you two would be too busy to make it," Zhou Run said with a smile when he saw Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er.

"Since you invited us, even if we are busy, we have to make time," Zhang Le said with a smile. "Besides, Xin'er is preparing for her tour, so she might as well come along and learn from the experience."

"Xin'er is holding a concert? Why not the two of you together?" Zhou Run asked, a little surprised. Then he shook his head and said, "People outside have been saying the two of you are going to do a couple's concert."

"A couple's concert?" Yang Xin'er looked surprised, though her eyes lit up.

"If the two of us held a couple's concert, I’m afraid all the single people out there would want to kill us," Zhang Le said with a laugh. He could tell Yang Xin'er was tempted.

"The singles have already been traumatized by the two of you for ages. Would they really mind one more concert?" Zhou Run said with a smile. "If the two of you really held a couple's concert, it would mean a lot—not just for you, but for your fans too. If you don’t do one now, in a few years it might have to become a wedding concert."

Zhang Le turned to Yang Xin'er, and he too felt his heart stir.

For them, a couple's concert would undoubtedly become a beautiful memory. Perhaps years later, when they were old, they could sit together side by side and watch the recording of their concert. The sweetness of that moment would surely be beyond words.

As for what others thought or said, that was no longer their concern.

They had already been accused countless times of showing off their affection all the way to the Spring Festival Gala and through every major awards ceremony. Did they still need to fear criticism for doing the same at a concert?

"A couple's concert sounds beautiful just thinking about it," Zhou Run said with a smile. "It doesn’t seem like one has ever been done before, either here or abroad."

"Brother Le!"

After Zhou Run left, Yang Xin'er looked at Zhang Le, hesitant to speak.

"You’re not really thinking of turning your first concert into the two of ours, are you?" Zhang Le asked with a smile.

"Mm." Yang Xin'er nodded, then said, "I know you don’t really like singing, especially not onstage. But I really want to hold a concert with you, something a little different."

"As long as you want it, I’m willing," Zhang Le said, taking her hand with a smile. "Then let’s put on an unprecedented concert."

When Yang Xin'er heard that, she smiled.

At Zhou Run’s concert, Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er appeared as guests, but they did not sing any new songs. It was not that Zhang Le could not write them, but rather that releasing new songs too frequently would weaken their impact; even the most classic songs would be affected.

The influence of Invisible Wings and You Are My Eyes had not yet faded. If two more classic new songs were released, who would still pay attention to the first two?

So Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er each sang one song, then performed Little Dimple together, and that was the end of it.

Of course, there was another reason they did not sing new songs: this was Zhou Run’s concert. If they performed new material, wouldn’t that be stealing his thunder?

A guest had to know how to act like a guest. Stealing the spotlight was a major taboo.

Even so, Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er's appearance on Zhou Run’s stage still drew away a great deal of attention. After all, the two of them were immensely popular now. Moreover, the two leading tracks on Zhou Run’s album had been written by Zhang Le.

Men Can Cry, Cry If They Must, It Is Not a Crime, the song that left men most conflicted, won the love of countless male fans in Zhou Run’s interpretation, and even many female fans took a great liking to it.

But among the two songs Zhang Le had written for Zhou Run, the one most beloved by the public was not that one, but the other: Water of Forgetting Love.

Water of Forgetting Love had a beautiful melody and sincere emotion, and could be called a true classic. This tender yet faintly sorrowful song captured, to the very last detail, the feeling of wanting to forget the unhappiness after being hurt in love.

Both songs had originally been signature works of the Heavenly King Liu in a previous life, winners of top honors and beyond question as classics.

As soon as these two songs came out, they immediately knocked Invisible Wings and You Are My Eyes from the top two spots on the major charts, where they had reigned for a long time, and seized those positions with absolute dominance.

After Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er finished their own songs, they did not leave immediately. Instead, they stayed to watch the entire concert. They had not only come as guests for this performance, but also to learn from it.

Yang Xin'er had never held a concert before, and Zhang Le had never held one either. Now that the two of them were planning something so unconventional, they needed to study even more, and draw even more lessons from others.

So after returning, Zhang Le and Yang Xin'er watched many concerts by top male and female stars. In the end, their conclusion was that watching them did not seem to help much.

What they were planning was a couple’s concert, and it would surely be different from the concerts that came before. The theme of the concert would be emotion, and love. Whether it was the stage design, the song selection, or even the costumes, all of it would have to be considered from that perspective.