Chapter 117: Stirring the Entire Audience

In an instant, the venue fell utterly silent.

The audience even held its breath, waiting for Li Xuan’s official performance.

Two pools of warm stage light fell upon Li Xuan and the innocent little girl.

Standing beside the piano, Li Xuan gave the girl a gentle smile.

The girl nodded lightly, closed her eyes, and placed her slender fingers upon the black and white keys.

A melody as warm as a flowing river poured from her fingertips.

The entire audience was touched by the romantic atmosphere.

And just as everyone was becoming intoxicated by the girl’s fresh and moving piano performance, Li Xuan began to sing softly in the bright, distinctive tones of her middle register:

“...I’m afraid there won’t be enough time, so I want to hold you close, until I can feel the wrinkles upon your face, until the traces of the years have appeared, until I know for certain that you are real, until I have no strength left—for you, I am willing...”

“...Even if I can no longer move, I still want to look at you, until I can feel the snow-white traces in your hairline, until my vision grows blurred, until I can no longer breathe. Let us remain inseparable...”

Her voice seemed to weave a dream of love. Accompanied by the little girl’s piano and the small ensemble behind them, Li Xuan slowly unveiled, through her heavenly singing, a tableau of love in paradise.

Every viewer across the nation was hearing the song for the first time. Yet, strangely, it felt as though the song had always existed somewhere in each of their hearts. From the very first line Li Xuan sang, a warm resonance began to stir within them. It was as if they were gazing upon the most exquisite portrait of love, savoring the most touching love story, and listening to the most romantic poem ever written.

Countless fans of Li Xuan were completely captivated by the tenderness of her performance, becoming, in that moment, the happiest people in the world.

Many in the audience even closed their eyes, their faces filled with intoxication, as though Li Xuan were singing this song exclusively for them—as though they had already begun the most moving lifelong romance with her, growing old together beneath the same silvering sky.

“...If I could give up the whole world, at least I would still have you—someone worth cherishing. And you being here is nothing less than a miracle of life...”

“...Perhaps I could forget the whole world, but I cannot bear to lose word of you. The mole in the palm of your hand—I will always remember exactly where it is...”

The full orchestration entered.

Riding upon the magnificent, surging strings, Li Xuan poured every ounce of feeling from her heart into the chorus. More than a few men in the audience were moved to the point of wanting to kneel and propose to her.

To them, if they could spend this lifetime in an unbreakable romance with such a deeply devoted goddess, they would ask for nothing more—even if it required a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation in exchange.

Women listening to such a song imagined themselves as its heroine: meeting a man worthy of entrusting their entire lives to, a man with whom they could grow old without regret. To spend a lifetime beside someone like that—how impossibly romantic it would be.

Couples caught in the throes of love clasped each other’s hands more tightly and pressed their hearts closer together. It was as though Li Xuan had transformed each of their partners into the beloved they longed to share an entire lifetime with.

Music was mysterious in precisely this way. While you were losing yourself in it, it was also quietly changing you.

At that moment, everyone listening to the song was willing to believe that somewhere in this world, there was at least one person worth spending an entire lifetime beside.

It was not only the audience who had been moved.

The singers backstage had also become immersed in Li Xuan’s passionate and flawless performance.

Although this was their first time hearing the song, these professional singers could all tell that it was far from easy to perform.

For this kind of seemingly restrained yet secretly treacherous ballad, the singer had to maintain an unbroken flow without resorting to explosive force. It demanded an exquisite command of lyrical phrasing—the kind of strength that could move a thousand pounds with four ounces, like the principles of tai chi.

The entire song remained within the same vocal system. Chest mix, light mix, and head voice had to connect seamlessly.

The B5 notes in “give up,” “word,” and “cherish” lay very close to the passaggio. The powerful mixed voice could not become a shout, while the head voice needed a solid core. There could be no obvious shift between full and falsetto voice. The instant listeners sensed that transition, the emotion of the song would fade.

Li Xuan’s interpretation of a work like this was extraordinarily refined, revealing profound skill beneath its apparent simplicity. It was in no way inferior to Zhao Ziqi’s more explosive style of singing.

When it came to conveying emotion, Li Xuan’s performance was even more masterful and affecting.

Listening to such a work, every one of them felt a deep tide of love rising in their hearts.

Anyone who was not an enemy would have applauded and praised both the song and the performance.

Zhang Qiyang compared Li Xuan’s version with the original recording by Lin Yilian. Personally, he felt that Li Xuan’s rendition was gentler, yet more powerful.

After stretching her middle register, Li Xuan produced a bright tone of extraordinary penetration. It was as captivating as a rainbow, leaving listeners feeling utterly at ease.

It was a purely gifted vocal color—never ostentatious or contrived. With the lightest, most understated touch, it moved people to their core.

To hear a singer in this alternate life perform such a flawless rendition of a classic was an even greater pleasure for Zhang Qiyang than for anyone else.

Li Xuan’s natural vocal color did not rely on sheer volume or emotional staging. Not even the television signal could diminish her charm.

In front of television screens everywhere, countless viewers were captured by the warmth of Li Xuan’s singing. Hearing the song for the first time, they fell deeply in love with this sincere and heartfelt work.

Li Xuan herself grew more wholehearted and more impassioned with every line.

As the song approached its climactic transition, the grand orchestration drove the melodic line forward. Li Xuan released all the devotion she had kept buried in the depths of her heart:

“...It took so much for us to find each other, and yet we are powerless to resist. I’m afraid time will pass too quickly, leaving me not enough time to see you clearly...”

“...I’m afraid time will move too slowly, that day and night I will worry about losing you. I wish I could turn white-haired in a single night, so that we might never part...”

“...If I could give up the whole world, at least I would still have you—someone worth cherishing. And you being here is nothing less than a miracle of life...”

“...Perhaps I could forget the whole world, but I cannot bear to lose word of you. The mole in the palm of your hand—I will always remember exactly where it is... Where it is...”

The power of her voice stirred the entire venue.

Every face in the audience was filled with intoxication.

This time, no one could claim that the spectators were merely hired extras pretending to be moved.

Even the haters watching from home wore intoxicated expressions.

The only person who was not enthralled was Li Xuan’s opponent.

Everyone from Chu Entertainment fell silent after hearing such a masterpiece.

Who the hell was this “Cleaver”?

Now, everyone at Chu Entertainment wanted to know what kind of holy figure stood behind this mysterious mastermind.

Why did his songs feel so old-fashioned on the page, yet become so deeply moving when performed by Li Xuan?

Could the man have been a veteran musician who had somehow walked straight out of music’s golden age?

His songs contained none of the innovations favored by modern composers. Every melodic progression was steeped in old-fashioned romantic sentiment, and even his lyrics possessed an elegant, restrained style. This was absolutely not the work of a new-generation songwriter.

Had East Entertainment brought some old master out of retirement?

But even a veteran composer would have found it difficult, amid such a restless and superficial era, to write a work so delicate and penetrating.

The song felt like a long-sealed, unreleased composition that had only now been brought back into the light.

Could East Entertainment’s own team be behind it all?

What established songwriter would choose such a ridiculous pen name as “Cleaver”?

This had to be East Entertainment’s team using the name “Cleaver” to stage their own golden-song revival.