103: Chapter 103 My Heart aches for My Brother!

...

For many adults, the Spring Festival has actually become less and less fun.

That's just growing up, I suppose; sometimes it's better to just go watch a movie during the Spring Festival Movie Season.

For a film like "burning life" with a screening rate as high as 30%, there are already showtimes at 8 AM.

It's the holidays, so it is a bit early, but morning tickets are cheap, so there's no need to worry about a lack of audience.

Take Brother Mosquito, for example; he bought a ticket for the 10 AM showing.

As one of the first wave of viewers for the Spring Festival Movie Season, Brother Mosquito carefully weighed his options among several films and ultimately chose "burning life."

The reason was simple: it's a female-led film, making it the least likely one to feature Lin Chuyan.

He had even checked the few male supporting actors, and even looked up the male screenwriters listed in the credits on Douban, but none of them were him.

Isn't that safe enough?

This is the one!

He found a few high school classmates, and they all agreed to meet at the movie theater on the morning of the Lunar New Year.

Waiting time.

"Mosquito, why pick this movie? Will it be any good?" a male classmate asked.

"It's either this or go watch Feng Liqian's 'assassination.' If it were you, which would you pick?"

"Then I guess it's this one... I firmly boycott traffic-driven movies!"

"Feng Liqian seems to be transitioning; maybe he can act well, don't be prejudiced," a short-haired female classmate nearby said with a laugh. "By the way, does anyone know which movie Lin Chuyan is acting in?"

As soon as those words were spoken, Brother Mosquito felt like someone had stepped on his tail: "You know?!"

He couldn't help it; he was just too sensitive to the name "Lin Chuyan."

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you... I'm his fan!"

Meeting a fan of Lin Chuyan in person, and having that fan turn out to be his own high school classmate—this was a scenario Brother Mosquito had never imagined.

But he still couldn't help but ask: "...What's so good about Lin Chuyan? You're actually a fan of such a traffic-based artist?"

"I think you have some misconceptions about 'traffic' artists; it's just some Haters badmouthing him every day. Besides, he's very tough! He usually fights back, hahaha, I love that about him. Furthermore, he's very talented now, his Singing is great! You haven't heard it, have you?"

Brother Mosquito felt like he was being called out aggressively.

It was him, him, and only him.

But that wasn't badmouthing! That was divine justice!

Also, he didn't just listen to the song; he spent 18 yuan to get a membership just to listen to it... After listening to "courage," he even planned to confess to his Junior after the new year...

"...The movie is starting, let's watch."

After careful consideration, and taking into account that she was his high school classmate, Brother Mosquito decided to hold his tongue.

The movie began.

The plot was, as Brother Mosquito had expected, unremarkable.

It was indeed a marketing-driven film, still talking about weight loss; it felt like they had made a plate of terrible dumplings just to serve the vinegar of weight loss.

Many scenes made him want to leave... He even went out to the bathroom in the middle, and coming back to continue watching didn't affect anything at all.

The movie ended.

He glanced at the short-haired female classmate sitting next to him; did she have tears in her eyes?

Brother Mosquito pursed his lips; how should he put it... where was the emotional part? Someone tell him?

Hilarious.

To sum it up in two words: unbearable.

Then.

The next second.

The ending theme song, "the flower that blooms only for itself," suddenly played.

"No matter how cold the surroundings, I don't feel the chill; covered in wounds, yet I feel no pain."

"Still grateful that I've grown accustomed to the pain."

Brother Mosquito, who had already been packing his things and getting ready to leave, froze for a moment.

"Huh?"

This voice?

Why does it sound a bit familiar?

"Back then, I gripped the kite with the broken string, sobbing but refusing to let go, my teary eyes lost in the sky."

"Back then, I was obsessed with pleasing the indifference, not understanding the contours of the heart, turns out there was so much more."

"Back then, my sorrow flowed upstream like a river, rain falling from the clouds, the cry that awakened myself... was saying..."

The short-haired female classmate next to him suddenly shouted: "Ah! My idol!"

Brother Mosquito was still dumbfounded.

The short-haired female classmate was already excitedly shaking his arm: "It's my idol! It's Lin Chuyan's voice! He sang the ending theme!"

"..."

"??????"

What the hell?!

The next second, the chorus was deafening.

"I love my cowardice! I love my clumsiness!"

"I love the bitterness of being mocked by others!"

"I love my trial and error! I love my bumps and bruises!"

"A heart full of courage! Without asking what if!"

Lin Chuyan's clear and resounding voice assaulted him from all directions in the cinema.

There was nowhere to retreat.

There was no way to avoid it.

A wild bombardment.

It was unreasonable.

Brother Mosquito only felt his head buzzing; he felt terrible.

Why? Why, after he had spent so long picking a movie, could he still not avoid Lin Chuyan?

This guy is toxic!

This guy is really toxic!

The screen was still playing the weight loss diary of Director Li Li filming the movie.

Brother Mosquito suddenly remembered a Weibo post Director Li Li had made.

It seemed she said that because she liked the ending theme so much, she specifically made an easter egg?

And used this easter egg to keep the audience in their seats, so they could listen to the whole song?

This was actually true...

Looking at the female classmate next to him—her tears had originally just been welling up, but now she was truly crying.

"Mosquito, Lin Chuyan is truly amazing. Listen, listen carefully, can you feel the power of this song?"

"..."

I feel your...

You Lin guy, you're like a persistent ghost, damn it.

Brother Mosquito also really wanted to cry.

But this isn't right, how could Lin Chuyan force out the original song right before the movie's release?

Didn't the internet say it was because investors intervened? Does Lin Chuyan really have capital backing him? Didn't he leave his company to go solo? Did he become a kept man and latch onto some big shot?

Brother Mosquito was confused.

There were many others just as confused as him.

Many Haters who went into the cinema in the first wave didn't have time to notice this.

Or perhaps they knew about it, but they had already bought the tickets, so were they just not going to watch it? It's all money; Spring Festival Movie Season tickets are so expensive.

At worst, they could just leave without listening to the ending theme!

Damn it, they calculated everything, but they didn't account for the fact that Lin Chuyan is a Singer in addition to being an actor!

He didn't even act in it; he just sang the ending theme for a hot Spring Festival Movie Season film!

However.

There were still some Haters who were cursing with their mouths, but their bodies were very honest.

"Come to think of it, this song... seems kind of good?"

It's okay, Lin Chuyan himself said, a one-day truce.

They argued with him yesterday, that doesn't count. Today they won't curse him, yeah, they'll just leave after listening to this song.

After leaving the cinema, they couldn't help but search for it...

Come on, man, why isn't this song online on the platform yet?

...

Although there were many Haters, in the grand scheme of the Spring Festival Movie Season, they were actually negligible.

Most were just passersby who were simply here to watch a movie.

Some were already moved to tears by the movie and completely broke down when they heard the ending theme.

Some had no feelings for the movie initially, but were moved by Lin Chuyan's voice and the lyrics of this song.

Of course, more people felt the plot was terrible, but the song was truly good; it really lived up to the saying: "Bad movies produce divine songs."

"What's this song called? 'the flower that blooms only for itself'? It's great, what a great name!"

"The movie was meh, but the song is really good! It's awesome, brothers, really awesome."

"Who sang it? Let's check the credits... Lin Chuyan? Who's that?"

"My brother has made it, he actually appeared in a Spring Festival Movie Season film again! Does the ending theme count? Yeah, why wouldn't it?"

"Wait! What he's Singing isn't Jin Ying's life... He's Singing about himself!"

Many fans suddenly discovered something.

These lyrics... aren't these lyrics writing about Lin Chuyan's own experiences?!

Peak at debut, mocked by thousands and reviled by ten thousand.

Fell to the bottom, ignored by everyone, as if he never existed.

Practiced for two and a half years, being both a Singer and an actor!

Look at how the lyrics are written again?

"No matter how cold the surroundings, I don't feel the chill; covered in wounds, yet I feel no pain."

"Back then, I gripped the kite with the broken string, sobbing but refusing to let go, my teary eyes lost in the sky."

Isn't this the experience of my brother being trampled by thousands after falling to the bottom?

Facing countless Haters, he was in so much pain that he was covered in wounds, yet he didn't feel it! He even got used to the pain!

And then? What did brother do?

Look at the lyrics again—

"I love my clumsiness! I love my bumps and bruises! I love my mottled past!"

"I love the bitterness of being mocked by others! A heart full of courage, without asking what if!"

"I love what I understood after being defeated! Even if it's a desert, I must plant a flower, the flower that blooms only for itself!"

Wuwuwu.

How did brother manage to do it?

Two and a half whole years! He just practiced silently by himself, growing from someone who couldn't sing, dance, or rap into who he is today?

He actually accepted and endured all the pain and suffering he experienced during this time. Who understands? Who can understand it???

The fans' hearts ache so much.

Seriously, they empathized deeply.

At this moment, they were truly crying.

Not for "burning life," nor for Jin Ying in the film.

Only for that man who sang "the flower that blooms only for itself"—Lin Chuyan.

Wuwuwuwuwu.

My heart aches for Giegie!

[Note: See Chapter 9 for details on "assassination," where it was mentioned that someone on Aiyue.com was looking for the ending theme of "assassination." See Chapter 19 for details on Feng Liqian; he is an artist formerly managed by Wu Yue, and they have a feud.]