Chapter Ninety-Two: Lovers' Concert

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Lovers’ Concert

A lovers’ concert—Zhang Le and Yang Xiner were practically preparing to flaunt their affection all the way onto the concert stage.

The moment news broke that Zhang Le and Yang Xiner would be holding a concert together, it caused an immediate uproar.

You, Zhang Le, are a director. You have not even released an album, not even a single, and you still have the nerve to hold a concert? Even if you have quite a few famous songs, shouldn’t you at least put out an album first, just to make it look proper?

Wasn’t it supposed to be Yang Xiner’s concert? If she was holding one, it would be enough for you, Zhang Le, to appear as a guest performer. Why insist on doing it together? Are we single people not miserable enough already?

A concert held by two people together—if that is not a lovers’ concert, what is it? And what was even more outrageous was that the theme of the concert was love.

Showing off affection was written all over it.

Flaunting love all the way to a concert—why not just get married onstage while you are at it?

Across the internet, countless single people vented furiously, but Zhang Le and Yang Xiner’s concert also drew the attention of a vast audience, spreading beyond the internet into newspapers, magazines, and television.

Once the news spread, many celebrities began joking about it as well. The first to fire a shot was Lin Yang, an acquaintance of Zhang Le’s and a fellow participant in One Road With You.

On Weibo, Lin Yang played the victim and directly accused Zhang Le. His meaning was very clear: if you are going to show off your love, at least show it in a way I can imitate! My girlfriend, Chen Fang, also wants a lovers’ concert now. The problem is, she is a singer, and I cannot sing at all!

Chen Fang, in turn, openly mocked her boyfriend Lin Yang on Weibo, reducing him to nothing, and the point of comparison was none other than Zhang Le.

Zhang Le did not care how much of a storm he and Yang Xiner had stirred by holding a concert together. Lately, he had been busy.

Busy with the post-production of The Flirtation of Tang Bohu and Autumn Fragrance, busy with the concert, busy writing songs, rehearsing songs, and more.

At a concert, it was impossible for everything to be old songs. And Zhang Le’s singing still needed improvement.

No matter how many single hearts were wounded by Zhang Le and Yang Xiner’s lovers’ concert, the event still drove countless people wild, especially couples, who practically treated the concert as the ideal place for a date.

Of course, there were also countless single people who, in pursuit of the one they fancied, bought tickets and invited them along, preparing to make a do-or-die confession at the concert.

The first stop of their concert tour was held in Yanjing, and the stadium, which could seat fifty thousand, sold out in a very short time.

By mid-October, after a month and a half, most of the post-production for The Flirtation of Tang Bohu and Autumn Fragrance had been completed, and Zhang Le and Yang Xiner’s concert arrived right on schedule.

That night, the fifty-thousand-seat stadium was packed to the rafters.

When Yang Xiner and Zhang Le came out, they said nothing. As the music began, the two opened directly with a duet.

You and I

A life woven together by heart and soul

Love is you and me

An unchanging promise in hardship

...

Love Is You and Me was a song Daler created for the tsunami, but here, in this moment and this setting, as Zhang Le and Yang Xiner sang it, it conveyed only one thing, one word: love.

I can feel its touch

Even if life

Gives me endless pain and torment

I still feel I have more happiness

The duet moved people deeply. Were the two of them happy? Of course they were. That was their answer.

After Zhang Le and Yang Xiner made their relationship public, the storm it caused was immense. Almost the entire public opinion was one-sided in its condemnation. The pressure they endured—in life, in work, in every possible aspect—how much pain and torment had it given them? Perhaps only they themselves knew.

But they were happy, because they loved each other. That alone was enough.

Love is you and me, not you and me and him. It is enough that we love each other; why care what others say? We love each other, and therefore we are happy.

It was a new song, and after hearing it, those who were no longer young felt even more deeply. Some listened and, looking at the person they loved beside them, suddenly realized that, in fact, they were happy. Even if they had borne great pressure and suffered many hardships, those burdens and trials, compared with Yang Xiner and Zhang Le onstage, were really nothing at all. The two onstage felt happy—why were we still complaining?

To cherish one another is happiness.

And some, listening while looking at the two onstage, felt a new twinge of guilt. Had they been too self-centered before, always seeing everything only from their own perspective and never considering how the other person felt? Why did the pressure and hardship borne by those two seem so familiar to themselves?

Simply because of their own preferences, they had splashed cold water on two people in love, mocked them, sneered at them, insulted them... The thought alone made them feel cruel.

Bless them. Anyone who loves each other so deeply deserves blessings.

“Hello, everyone! Thank you all for coming to our concert! We are very happy today to have so many friends here,” Zhang Le and Yang Xiner said toward the audience after Love Is You and Me ended.

“A fish says to water: you cannot see my tears, because I am in the water,” Yang Xiner said, looking at Zhang Le.

The audience below was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why she had suddenly said that.

But Zhang Le, hearing it, looked at Yang Xiner and said with a smile, “Water says to fish: I can feel your tears, because you are in my heart.”

“Love should place the other person in your heart. Have you all placed your beloved in your hearts?” Yang Xiner asked.

“We hope this concert can awaken the love in everyone’s hearts,” Zhang Le continued. “Here is a new song for you all, City Love, Small Love.”

The dark tip of her hair coiled into a ring

Entwining all my longing for you

...

My head is filled with you, my heart is filled with you

A little love in a great city is so sweet

All I think of is you, all of it is you

A little love in a great city, I give my heart only to you

City Love, Small Love was actually a gentle ballad. Zhang Le performed it with ease and grace; the music was quiet and simple, the melody clean and flowing, and the chorus had just the right quality to be hummed along to, giving the small vignette of romance a richer, coffee-dark depth.

After Zhang Le finished singing City Love, Small Love, Yang Xiner immediately followed with another new song, Love Is Simple.

I forgot how it began; perhaps it was just that I had a feeling for you

Then suddenly I realized I had already fallen deeply in love with you; it really is that simple

...

Perhaps love really is that simple, without so many reasons. Love is love. Love is a feeling. Feelings are wondrous things, without so many explanations.

“You are so outstanding. More and more people will like you. What am I supposed to do?” Yang Xiner asked after finishing her song, looking at Zhang Le.

“Be liked by me!” Zhang Le answered simply.

“How much do you like me?” Yang Xiner asked.

“Tonight’s moon is beautiful.” Zhang Le looked up at the night sky and then said, “A song called The Moon Represents My Heart will give you the answer.”

After that, Zhang Le and Yang Xiner did not sing any more new songs, but whenever they performed old songs, they always included some classic lines from love songs. In the end, the two sang one final new song to close the concert.

Zhang: Here, I’ll give you an old CD. Listen to the love we had back then. Sometimes I suddenly forget that I am still loving you.

Yang: I can no longer sing songs like that; even hearing them makes me blush and want to hide. Though I often forget that I still love you.

...

Because of Love was a simple love song, yet it carried both the spirit of youth and the ache of time. Zhang Le and Yang Xiner singing it as the opening number was, without doubt, a declaration to everyone: the reason for this concert was love.

“Because of love, we are together!”

“Because of love, we met here tonight!”