61: Chapter 61 The Song of the Wild Geese and the Soaring Popularity

Truly top-tier music is not just an ultimate feast for the senses, but a journey that strikes straight at the soul.

At this moment, everyone gathered around the bonfire felt as if a vast and breathtakingly beautiful painting had spontaneously emerged in their minds.

The setting sun bled across the horizon, and on the boundless grassland, withered yellow grass rolled with the wind.

A lonely man, holding strong liquor in his hand, looked up at the heavens alone and sang at the top of his lungs.

This man was certainly not handsome; his skin was rough, his beard was unkempt, and his face was etched with the wear and tear of life.

Yet, his eyes held an indescribable gentleness.

He gulped down the liquor, spilling it onto the collar of his shirt.

After draining one cup, he filled it again and drank more.

In today's entertainment industry, such a rugged man would absolutely have no fans.

Currently, what's popular are the effeminate "little fresh meat" idols wearing heavy smoky makeup and lipstick with skin as fair as a woman's, or otherwise, exceptional hunks like Lin Chen, whose face is as perfect as a demon's.

But in this very instant, whether it was the most experienced Song Dandan or the newly adult Song Zuer, everyone was captivated by that rugged, weathered man in the song, feeling an irresistible and intense longing in their hearts.

"the wild goose, returning north."

"Carry my longing with you."

"The song drifts far, the instrument trembles."

"Spring warmth on the grassland."

"the wild goose, towards the heavens."

"How distant is the sky."

"Drink the wine dry, then fill it up again."

"Tonight, we do not return until we are drunk!"

The melodious and winding sound of the horse-head fiddle accompanied the weathered, heavy singing, echoing for a long time under the silent, boundless night sky.

Even the dozens of Production Team staff members hiding in the shadows to film were completely captivated.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, standing there dumbstruck.

Their eyes were fixed tightly on Lin Chen, who was playing the fiddle and singing by the bonfire, completely immersed in his husky voice.

Beyond that vast image of drinking alone, an inexplicable and intense bitterness surged into everyone's hearts like a tidal wave.

On the surface, this song sings of the wild goose and the grassland, but at its core, it sings of home.

Home is forever the softest spot in the hearts of all those wandering away from it.

As long as there is even a hint of homesickness hidden in one's heart, hearing this song will inevitably cause an uncontrollable flood of emotions.

Song Dandan's eyes reddened, and tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.

Lei Jiayin buried his head deep in his knees.

Yue Yunpeng, like a deflated ball, leaned limply against Lei Jiayin's shoulder, his already small eyes filled with a dazed look.

The only one present who was immune to this kind of homesickness was the youngest, Song Zuer.

She cupped her fair, tender cheeks with her hands, her large, watery eyes staring unblinkingly at Lin Chen.

The seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl hadn't yet experienced life-and-death separations, didn't understand what it meant for things to change and people to be gone, and certainly didn't understand that some people and things could only live forever in memories.

The trees climbed in childhood, the walls scaled, the rivers waded across.

Only when these things completely disappear can one truly understand what homesickness is.

Among the listeners, the one whose emotions collapsed the most thoroughly turned out to be Uncle Bayar.

When Lin Chen switched to pure Mongolian to sing again, this rugged Mongolian man, over 1.8 meters tall and with a face weathered by the elements, sat directly on the grass and wailed like a little boy who had lost his toy.

He was the one who felt this song the most deeply.

This vast grassland was his lifeline.

He was born here, raised here, and in the future, he would be buried in this soil.

He only feared that one day, the pure hometown in his memories would change its appearance.

The song ended, and the sound of the fiddle slowly dissipated into the weeping of the Mongolian man.

There was no applause, nor any cheering.

Everyone sat quietly around on the grass.

Some looked up at the sky, while others stared blankly at the burning charcoal.

The surroundings were silent, yet there was no sense of awkward coldness.

The live stream chat, however, had completely exploded.

"This is incredible! The singing is like it has hands, grabbing my heart and giving it a hard tug."

"I went and searched all the major music websites, and there is absolutely no song called 'the wild goose'! This has to be an original live performance by Teacher Lin!"

"He must have written it! Just based on the god-tier quality of the lyrics and melody, if it had been released before, it would have already gone viral across the internet."

"At first, I just thought the melody was catchy, but then seeing Uncle Bayar crying his heart out, I, a 1.9-meter-tall tough guy, actually started shedding tears too. No other reason, I just wanted to cry."

"God-tier lyrics and music paired with a beautiful, god-tier voice. Let me announce that from now on, I am Teacher Lin's number one die-hard fan, and nobody better fight me for it!"

"Teacher Lin has been hiding too much. Thought he was a gigolo living off a woman? He turns around and performs a god-tier magic trick for you. Thought he was a magician? He turns around and roasts an exquisite whole lamb for you. Thought he was a chef? He turns around and sings a tear-jerking masterpiece!"

"Teacher Lin is so manly! I want to have his babies! I strongly demand that Yang Mi and the others file for divorce immediately after a year. Such an exceptional hunk must be shared; he belongs to all women in the world!"

"Honestly, I didn't have much of an impression of Mongolian men before. After seeing the simplicity and hospitality of their family today, I realized that the trolls engaging in regional discrimination are all just brainless idiots."

The refresh rate of the live chat wasn't so fast that you couldn't read the text, but every single comment was a long, heartfelt message.

This showed that over a million netizens were discussing it sincerely, without a single bit of paid bot activity.

The staff member monitoring the backend data was sweating, and quickly dialed the Chief Director's number.

"Chief... Chief Director! Something huge happened! The number of online viewers in Lin Chen's live stream has broken through the five-million mark!"

Chief Director Zhang Zhiquan did not accompany the group to the vast grassland; he was stationed alone at the Beijing headquarters to oversee the overall situation.

He had just laid down to get some sleep.

Hearing his phone ring, he ran to the study in his pajamas to answer the call.

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, his foot slipped, he nearly fell flat on his face, and his phone almost flew out of his hand.

"How... how many people?"

"A full five million!"

"How did it suddenly skyrocket? Did the server have a bug?" Zhang Zhiquan's voice trembled.

"The data is absolutely real! Just now, Lin Chen sang an original tear-jerking new song on the spot. The program effect was absolutely explosive, and it went viral across the whole internet, driving traffic in!"

"Alright, I understand!"

After listening to his subordinate's incredibly excited description, Zhang Zhiquan hung up the phone and took several deep breaths of cold air.

He abruptly opened the laptop on his desk and clicked into Lin Chen's exclusive live stream.

Although the number of viewers had fallen slightly after the peak, the number of online viewers was still steadily holding at over 4.3 million!

This data was terrifying to the extreme!

There was indeed some inflation in the live stream data due to people opening multiple screens.

But even if you squeezed out all the water, a conservative estimate would still put four million real people online.

What does four million real people represent?

It is equivalent to one-fifth of Mango Video Network's traffic tonight being dumped into a single live stream!

There is an iron rule for live streaming traffic: the higher you go, the harder it is to climb.

Breaking through one million is a small hit, two million is a big hit, and three million is as hard as ascending to heaven.

And now, among the eight independent live streams of "Divas Hit the Road", the only one who could break through the three-million mark was Lin Chen!

Even the three women, Tong Liya, who came with massive fanbases, were all firmly crushed beneath him.

A cannon-fodder amateur who was supposed to be used as a scapegoat for female celebrities and whose appearance fee was only 200,000, had actually relied on his heaven-defying talent to become the biggest nuclear weapon of traffic for the entire program.

Life is like a play; this reversal was truly too exciting!