197: Chapter 197 The Silent Bell? That is the ever-growing national self-confidence of the Chinese people!

After Academician Sun stepped onto the lunar sub-venue,

the others followed him onto the stage one after another.

Because Academician Sun always had his back to the camera,

the old photograph he held in his hands was not seen by the audience.

At this moment,

the live broadcast of the Spring Festival Gala

had switched from Commander Yang Weili's first-person perspective inside his armored helmet

to a fixed camera position at the sub-venue.

With the switch to a panoramic shot,

the stunning panoramic view of the lunar sub-venue

instantly captured the eyes of all viewers!

"Holy crap! Holy crap!"

"What is that blue arc? It couldn't be our Blue Planet, could it?"

"My god, it's so beautiful, truly beautiful!!"

"This sight is freaking rare!"

"No way, I need to take a screenshot, I'm making this my wallpaper!!!"

There,

above the lunar sub-venue,

a massive blue arc,

shimmering with a soft, filtered glow, hung over the sub-venue!

Like blue-and-white porcelain, it was both sci-fi and exquisitely beautiful.

This miraculous sight

instantly captivated the hearts of all Chinese People!

What do you call romance?

This is what you freaking call cosmic-level romance!

At the lunar sub-venue,

after everyone took their positions,

the two Spring Festival Gala hosts, Li Yong and Reporter Sa Ning, stepped forward.

Li Yong was the first to speak,

his words filled with excitement and pride.

"The bright moon rises over the Nine Provinces, and the world shares this moment!"

"Dear audience!"

"This is the lunar sub-venue of the 2013 Year of the Snake Spring Festival Gala!"

"On this New Year's Eve of national celebration,"

"together with all the sons and daughters of China, we have witnessed the great feat of China successfully achieving a manned moon landing!"

"This is a great moment for the Chinese People, and an even greater moment for the people of the Blue Planet!"

"At this very moment!"

"I feel incredibly proud to be a member of the 'Planting Flowers' family!"

"I believe that the hundreds of millions of Chinese People in front of their screens are also feeling incredibly proud!"

Reporter Sa Ning took over,

his voice equally impassioned.

"From 1999, when our China's 'Shenzhou-1' spacecraft took flight,"

"until now in 2013, when China has successfully achieved a manned moon landing!"

"Fourteen years! Just a short fourteen years!"

"Our China's aerospace industry has gone from nothing to something, and from something to strength!"

"Finally, we are far ahead of all other nations on the Blue Planet!"

"This is a miracle!"

"A miracle that belongs only to China!"

"..."

The two hosts were full of passion,

trading lines back and forth,

fully stirring up the patriotic emotions of all Chinese viewers.

Some people, overcome with excitement,

could no longer contain the thrill in their hearts.

They didn't even wait for midnight;

they rushed out the door to start setting off fireworks and firecrackers in celebration.

Across China,

the "crack-pop!" sounds were deafening,

to the point where many neighbors couldn't even hear the sound of the Spring Festival Gala.

Left with no choice,

entire families carried small stools

and crowded close to the TV to watch the gala.

...

At the lunar sub-venue,

Li Yong continued hosting.

"Next!"

"We will conduct an 'inter-planetary linkage' from the lunar sub-venue with the main venue on the Blue Planet!"

"To perform the fourth act of tonight's program!"

Hearing this,

some Chinese viewers with basic knowledge of physics felt curious.

Because the distance was so great,

the broadcast signal sent from the moon back to the Blue Planet

would have at least a 1.5-second delay.

If they wanted to interact, accounting for reaction time, the delay would be at least 4 seconds or more.

This could be seen earlier when Commander Yang Weili received the command from the control center

and only responded five seconds later.

With such high latency,

how could they perform an inter-planetary linkage?

Before everyone could figure it out,

the first program at the lunar sub-venue had already begun.

"Next, please welcome our first two female astronauts to land on the moon!"

"Captain and Lieutenant!"

"Together with the Phoenix Miracle duo at the Blue Planet main venue, they will perform 'Above the Moon'!"

"This is both to celebrate the successful moon landing of our Chinese People and to extend New Year's blessings to the people of China!"

At the Blue Planet main venue.

Phoenix Miracle took the stage for the second time.

Although they had prepared mentally long ago,

they were still somewhat nervous.

"Don't be nervous, sing normally, I'll be in control!"

Director Ha Wen's soothing voice came through their earpieces.

Soon,

the background music for 'Above the Moon' began to play.

Phoenix Miracle stopped overthinking

and began to sing seriously.

At the same time,

the two female astronauts at the lunar sub-venue also began to sing.

Listening to the singing on the Spring Festival Gala live broadcast,

the Chinese audience was instantly surprised.

"Holy crap?"

"Eh? This!..."

The voices from the two venues

did indeed have a sequential delay of 1.5 seconds.

But what no one expected was

that this delay not only didn't affect the linked chorus of the two venues,

it actually created a duet effect!

Honestly,

the effect was surprisingly good!

"Incredible!"

"Can a duet even be played like this?!"

"This year's Spring Festival Gala director really knows her stuff, this is so freaking innovative!"

"Not only is the effect great, but it also serves as a science lesson!"

"This director is truly amazing!"

"..."

The moon landing process took about 15 minutes,

and only five programs

were arranged for the fourth act.

These included both educational segments and song-and-dance performances.

For example,

there was a space lesson conducted on the lunar surface,

using skit-style Q&As to popularize space knowledge for the whole nation.

Or the song-and-dance linkage with the Blue Planet,

where Xie Fengting sang 'Chinese People',

while the armored soldier detachment performed military physical exercises on the lunar surface, and so on...

In short, the focus was on

doing whatever was newest and most elaborate.

The thematic essence of the fourth act, 'Innovative Exhibition,' was displayed to the fullest by Director Ha Wen's brilliant program design.

Because the linkage effect was extraordinary,

all the Chinese People watching the Spring Festival Gala had a feast for their eyes,

and the response was extremely enthusiastic.

Even the South China F3, who usually never watched the gala,

were now huddled in front of their TVs in every household,

watching this sci-fi Spring Festival Gala with great interest.

...

Happy times are always brief,

and as the last linked program ended,

the time quickly reached 23:56.

At the main venue,

Kang Guang and the other six hosts took the stage.

Kang Guang: "Dear audience!"

"Rising!"

"The past year has been a year of China's rise as a powerful nation!"

"Bathed in the spring light of prosperity, we are about to say goodbye to this extraordinary year!"

Li Si: "Thank you!"

"Thank you to the hundreds of millions of Chinese People for all your hard work and dedication in the past year!"

"Each of us is our own hero, a hero of our times!"

Nigeti: "Next, we are about to begin the prologue of continued progress in the new year!"

"On this great new journey!"

"It is full of glory, full of dreams!"

Lu Yu: "Dream chasing!"

"We Chinese People all have a Chinese Dream in our hearts, and we are all dream chasers!"

"This journey of chasing dreams!"

"Though the road is long, we will arrive if we keep going; though the task is difficult, we will succeed if we keep doing!"

Zhu Jun: "Blessings!"

"On this day of ringing out the old and ringing in the new!"

"Let us offer our deepest blessings!"

"Bless our relatives and friends with happiness and peace, year after year!"

"Bless our dear motherland with prosperity and enduring welfare!"

Dong Qing: "At the same time, we must also bless ourselves to achieve great things and have all our wishes come true!"

"..."

At the same time,

at the lunar sub-venue,

an ancient bianzhong chime bell, symbolizing Chinese tradition,

was placed in the very center.

Listening to the second-by-second countdown in his armored helmet,

Academician Sun's hand unconsciously tightened around the bell mallet.

"The midnight bell is about to ring!"

All the hosts shouted in unison,

counting down second by second.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

As the countdown ended,

Academician Sun struck the bianzhong with the mallet with all his might!

Because of the vacuum environment of the moon,

no sound rang out in the Spring Festival Gala live broadcast.

But it was precisely this silence

that seemed like a seed,

constantly taking root and sprouting deep within the hearts of all Chinese People!

That was

the ever-growing national confidence!

As the stroke of midnight arrived,

Lin Mo, who was spending New Year's Eve with his parents in Mountain City,

heard the familiar system notification in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Daily Prestige Settlement: You have greatly inspired the Chinese People, significantly increasing China's national fortune. You have gained 8.88 million prestige points!...]

...

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