Chapter 157 Oh, Give Me a Break

The selection process for the Golden Bell Awards is divided into three stages.

The first stage is online voting, hosted on a website established by the Music Association called Yinque Net, which is widely recognized as a relatively authoritative platform.

The voting is split into two categories: the first for Mandarin works, and the second for Cantonese works. The voting period on Yinque Net lasts for a total of two months from start to finish.

In other words, as long as an entry manages to stay in the top ten of the charts for two months, it secures a chance to advance to the manual evaluation stage.

The second stage takes place at the Hong Kong National Gymnasium, featuring live masked performances before an audience of ten thousand people who will cast their votes!

Now, someone might ask: during the preliminary audition stage, what happens if people use paid trolls to buy votes?

It is permitted!

Back in the era of talent shows relying on mobile phone voting, fan clubs were even allowed to purchase phone numbers to stuff the ballot boxes.

The winner of the previous Golden Bell Awards, Zhou Wan, garnered 96 million must-listen votes, with her fan support group contributing significantly.

One must keep in mind that a single account was only permitted to cast one vote for the same song. In other words, every song could receive a vote, but only one vote per account.

Ultimately, the vote counts for all of a singer's songs were aggregated to calculate their total must-listen score.

Consequently, every singer went all out for the Golden Bell Awards, with some artists even preparing a dozen songs.

If the quality wasn't enough, they relied on quantity. If each song could secure a million votes, ten songs would yield ten million must-listen votes.

Theoretically, this strategy was feasible.

In reality, however, many singers prepared at most five songs. If the quantity of songs was too large, they would fail to pass the manual evaluation hurdle.

The third stage is the awards ceremony itself: one Gold Award, two Silver Awards, three Bronze Awards, and four Excellence Awards.

The opening of every Golden Bell Awards ceremony is a grand celebration for the Chinese music scene, drawing over thirty million participants each time.

Not winning a Golden Bell Award means one is unworthy of being crowned a "King" or "Queen"—this is an unwritten rule.

Whether a Heavenly King or Heavenly Queen, achieving a Grand Slam is the baseline operation.

For instance, Zhou Wan had once achieved a Grand Slam, sweeping the Annual Top Hits Chart, Best Female Singer Award, Golden Bell Awards, Golden Needle Awards, Music Billboard Awards, Chinese Original Golden Hits Awards, and the Chinese Music Media Awards!

As for Liu Ryuyun, she had won the Golden Needle Awards, Music Billboard Awards, and the Chinese Original Golden Hits Awards, leaving her four awards short of a Grand Slam.

Therefore, she was determined to secure the Golden Bell Award this time!

This time, Shen Xian had prepared two songs, intending to make a bid for the Golden Bell Awards as well.

The recording was completed quickly, but he did not rush to release them, choosing instead to wait for the official opening of the Golden Bell Award voting period.

Just as he finished recording the tracks, Peach Baby called him: "Where... where are you?"

She was truly a social phobic, always feeling nervous whenever she spoke with Shen Xian.

Yet her voice was crisp and sweet.

"At home," Shen Xian said.

"Can you come to the troupe for a bit?" Peach Baby asked.

Shen Xian replied, "Sure. Is something the matter?"

Peach Baby said, "The troupe leader is back and wants to see you..."

Shen Xian was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing that he had been studying at the drama troupe for over a month and had not even laid eyes on the leader until now.

The Nanzhou Youth Drama Troupe was one of the top ten Huangmei opera troupes in Nanzhou.

The troupe's revenue sources actually relied primarily on government subsidies and some social donations; relying on ticket sales alone would leave them starving.

Things had gotten slightly better in recent years, showing signs of national reach.

A few years prior, however, they had been cooped up in a corner of southern Anhui, struggling bitterly to make a living.

In this regard, they fell short of Peking opera troupes.

The Youth Drama Troupe was located in a town called Shizi Town, under Langxi County, more than an hour's drive away from Shen Xian's current residence.

A fine drizzle was falling, and a chilly wind howled, carrying the breath of winter.

Wearing a black overcoat, Shen Xian stepped out of a taxi.

Peach Baby had been waiting at the entrance of the drama troupe for a while. Catching sight of Shen Xian getting out of the car, she trotted over holding a small umbrella, struggling to lift it high enough to shelter his head: "It's cold, try not to get wet."

Shen Xian looked at Peach Baby, crystal raindrops clinging to her dark hair.

She tried her best to hold the umbrella steady, her smooth, fair forehead less than five inches away from Shen Xian's lips, and a subtle fragrance drifted into his senses and breath.

"It's just a light rain, it doesn't matter," Shen Xian said, taking the umbrella from her hand.

Walking very close together, Peach Baby caught a scent from Shen Xian—it smelled wonderful.

It wasn't perfume, but rather a faint aroma of tobacco mixed with the clean freshness of laundry detergent.

Peach Baby twitched her delicate, button-like nose.

Mm, it smelled nice.

"If you get wet... you'll catch a cold," Peach Baby whispered, walking alongside Shen Xian toward the drama troupe.

Shen Xian said, "My constitution is good; I don't catch colds easily."

As soon as he said it, he froze. It had only been a little over a month since his last cold.

That day, he had walked through the rain to see Zhou Wan, only to be turned away at the door.

Thinking back carefully, it had also been over a month since he last saw her.

That bright and beautiful figure flashed abruptly across his mind.

A trace of sorrow surfaced in Shen Xian's eyes.

What he mourned was not Zhou Wan's departure, but the fact that recalling her now stirred absolutely no ripples in his heart!

It's over.

My injury is growing more severe; it seems I will never be moved by a woman again.

He had originally thought Zhou Wan's appearance would heal him, sheltering his battered and bruised heart from the wind and rain.

Yet he never expected that the most violent and torrential storm would be the one she brought.

Noticing Shen Xian frowning, Peach Baby asked nervously, "Teacher Postman... are you unhappy?"

Between his brows lay countless hidden stories.

Every story written across a person's brow spoke either of deep affection or betrayal.

"No," Shen Xian smoothed his brow, tightening his grip on the umbrella, and smiled. "It's so good to have an umbrella. One's own umbrella is better than anyone else's eaves."

Peach Baby didn't understand.

Because her emotional experience was a complete blank.

Entering the drama troupe, Shen Xian saw a short-haired woman in her fifties standing in the lobby, tallying up performance costumes.

Seeing Shen Xian and Peach Baby walk in side by side, she frowned slightly.

"Troupe Leader, he is the Shen Xian I told you about." Facing the leader, Peach Baby clutched the lapels of her clothes with tender hands, betraying her nervousness.

The leader's gaze shifted to Shen Xian, sharp and appraising: "You claim you can write theatrical repertoires for the troupe?"

Shen Xian nodded. "I can."

The leader said, "You must understand that our repertoires have been passed down for three or four hundred years, surviving through the crucible of time. Others were written by masters who have spent decades immersed in the opera industry. What makes you think the scripts you write can surpass theirs?"

"Hello, Leader. I have read all the repertoires currently in the troupe. They are excellent, of high quality, and carry deep educational significance. However, are excellent things truly what the general public loves to see and hear?" Shen Xian said.

He didn't even want to rant.

Stuff from three or four hundred years ago—just this?

And the repertoires written by so-called masters were, in his view, complete trash.

It was just like recent years' comedy sketches, constantly preaching grand moral lessons.

The feeling was akin to having your skull forcefully pried open and those lofty morals shoved like excrement into your brain.

Watching them was toe-curlingly awkward.

Sketches from the past were often called vulgar by some, but they genuinely made people happy from the bottom of their hearts.

That was simply how the truth of the matter stood.

"That's absolute nonsense!" Before the leader could ponder his words, a deep male voice rang out.

Following the voice, a young man in an overcoat walked over. He was very handsome and refined, perhaps accustomed to acting, as he walked with measured, theatrical strides.

The moment he appeared, his gaze carried intense aggressiveness.

Then, glancing sideways at Peach Baby, his expression turned displeased.

Clearly, he fancied Peach Baby.

"Our repertoires have been performed for countless years, and we've even toured in the capital. Even old Mr. Rock of the Zhou family praised them after watching," the young man said, raising a finger to point at Shen Xian.

Oh, give me a break.

Stop gilding your own lily.

Old man Rock had actually said he was sick to death of listening to your family's opera.

Shen Xian fought desperately to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.