Chapter 35: "Fragrance of Rice"

“Zhou Ran, Zhou Ran, fly bravely—your fans will always be by your side!”

As Zhou Ran stepped onto the stage, his fans in the audience immediately rose to their feet, raising the light boards they had prepared in advance and shouting their unique slogan, wanting to give him encouragement and let him know that, no matter what, they would always support him.

Meanwhile, in the livestream chat, Zhou Ran’s name was flooding the screen—his supporters were sending messages rapidly, repeating his slogans over and over. If you happened to open the chat at that moment, you wouldn’t be able to see any part of the screen at all.

As Zhou Ran took the stage, he heard the cheers and encouragement from his fans, and he was deeply moved, his heart filled with emotion. To feel his fans’ support as he walked onto the stage gave him a powerful boost. To be honest, Zhou Ran was a little nervous—it was only natural, with tens of thousands of people watching him in the finals of “Who Is the King of Singers.”

But after hearing his fans’ cheers, all that nervousness melted away.

That day, Zhou Ran was dressed in a white suit, looking every bit like a prince from a fairy tale. His elegant appearance alone left some of his fans in the audience smitten.

Truth be told, Zhou Ran wasn’t the type of person who looked better on camera than in real life. If he were a perfect ten in person, he’d only appear to be a six or seven on screen.

“Cicadas... cicadas... cicadas...” As the prelude of the song began, a rustic, pastoral atmosphere was instantly conjured, bringing a simple, beautiful world to life in the minds of the audience.

Zhou Ran’s outfit perfectly matched his song selection for the day, “Fragrant Rice Fields.”

Jay Chou’s lyrics are so catchy that a single listen is enough to etch them into memory—they are made to stick in your head.

If you have too many complaints about this world,
When you fall, you’re too scared to go on,
Why must people be so fragile, so easily lost?

As soon as Zhou Ran sang the first lines, the audience realized this was another original piece. His singing, like poetry, carried a gentle, lingering cadence.

Turn on your television and take a look,
So many people struggle bravely for their lives,
Shouldn’t we be content,
Cherish everything, even if we have nothing?

Remember, you said home is the only castle,
As the river of fragrant rice fields keeps flowing on.

A gentle smile—childhood dreams, I know them well.
Don’t cry—let the fireflies carry you away.

The song “Fragrant Rice Fields” was Jay Chou’s tribute to those affected by the earthquake, hoping it would bring them encouragement—to face life’s dangers and difficulties bravely and never give up.

This song is filled with positive energy, expressing hope in a light and gentle manner. The audience could almost see, through the music, golden grains of wheat maturing into fragrant rice, radiating a sunlit warmth. The scent of ripening rice seemed to drift through the air, a delicate fragrance lingering in memory.

A gentle breeze, the scent of rice carried by the wind—these are the memories of youth. Standing at the end of the fragrant fields, yet the familiar figures from the past are nowhere to be seen.

The folk songs of the countryside are an everlasting comfort.
Go home—return to the original happiness.

Don’t give up so easily,
As I said,
If you can’t reach one dream, find another.
Paint your life in vibrant colors,
Start by coloring it with the love you like.
Smile—success and fame are not the goal,
True meaning is found in happiness.

Wang Wen was an ordinary member of the audience.

She had lost all sense of purpose in life; everyone in her family had left her, for various reasons, and she was the only one left in the world.

Wang Wen had planned to find a chance to leave this world as well, but by chance, she won a ticket to the finals of “Who Is the King of Singers” in a random draw on Weibo.

She decided to attend the concert as her final farewell. After all, no one in this world cared about her; ever since she was young, she had been as invisible as a ghost. Except for her parents, no one else ever paid her any attention. Even the teacher who’d taught her for six years would occasionally call her by the wrong name. Every time that happened, it felt like a needle piercing her heart.

Wang Wen was already twenty-two, yet apart from her family, she didn’t even have a single friend, let alone a close one.

After graduation, she chose a job that required no communication with others—she only needed to send in her work and that was it, no need to talk to anyone.

Go home—return to the original happiness.

Remember, you said home is the only castle,
As the river of fragrant rice fields keeps flowing on.
A gentle smile—childhood dreams, I know them well.
Don’t cry—let the fireflies carry you away.
The folk songs of the countryside are an everlasting comfort.
Go home—return to the original happiness.

Zhou Ran’s gentle voice carried the song into its climax. Although the lyrics were plain and simple, free of any grandiloquent words, their purity struck a chord in the hearts of the audience.

As Wang Wen heard the line “Go home, return to the original happiness,” she was deeply moved. She remembered her childhood, playing with her parents—hand in hand, walking across the pebbles in the shallow stream, laughing without a care in the world. Those days were so beautiful.

She also recalled the promise she’d made to her parents: to live well, to be brave no matter what difficulties she might face.

Wang Wen began to reflect on the past. In truth, she had received kindness from those around her—the security guard at school who would let her off the hook for being late, the cafeteria lady who sometimes gave her extra meat.

Thinking back, she realized there was still much goodness in life, if only she took the time to notice.

Hope began to well up in her heart. Zhou Ran’s song had touched her, giving her the desire to carry on.

If she truly disappeared, the traces of her family’s existence in this world would vanish completely.

Wang Wen decided she would live well, carrying on her parents’ hope and living her life to the fullest.