Chapter 152: The South

The sudden jamming of the elevator placed Zhou Miao in an exceptionally awkward position, just as his head had poked out from the lift shaft.

Zhou Miao could already hear the audience laughing at him. In his anxiety, he stomped furiously on the platform several times, but the contraption remained as unresponsive as a crashed computer! If he had known this would happen, he would have just walked up instead of trying to pull off these fancy tricks.

Some quick-eyed audience members snapped photos of the scene immediately and posted them on Weibo with the caption: "Viewing the sky from the bottom of a well.jpg"

The video's bullet comments had already been completely overrun by strings of "hahahaha." When it came to comedic effect, Zhou Miao never disappointed anyone.

The production crew reacted swiftly. A few burly men rushed up and hauled Zhou Miao out of the elevator shaft.

Zhou Miao patted his pants to mask his embarrassment. Fortunately, his skin was thick enough; such minor trifles were not worth mentioning!

He secured the microphone on its stand and took a deep breath to clear his mind of distracting thoughts.

Without any unnecessary chatter, Zhou Miao announced, "South, dedicated to everyone drifting away from home just like me."

Soft guitar strings began to strum, and Zhou Miao's singing followed closely:

"I live in the north, which has seen rare rains these days,
Hearing the rain outside my window at night makes me think of the south,
Reminding me of the time I spent in the south, so many scents from there,
So many colors from there, without realizing it, my heart has already taken flight gently..."

The very first line of South struck the hearts of countless wanderers far from home in the north. Having grown accustomed to the rainy south, whenever it rained after arriving in the dry north, they couldn't help but yearn for their hometowns.

Those who had never left their hometowns could never comprehend the loneliness of wandering abroad; it was the tears shed in the dead of night, and the twisting, turning yearning of a burdened heart.

South was a simple and unadorned song, devoid of deliberately arranged rhymes or intentionally sentimental lyrics. What remained was merely the deepest, most heartfelt cry of a wanderer longing for home.

Sweeping his fingertips lightly across the guitar, Zhou Miao closed his eyes, completely immersed in the mood of the song as his clear voice echoed throughout the stadium.

"It is always so damp there, it is always so soft there,
There are always so many trivial matters there, it is always red and blue there,
Just drifting along romantically day after day, sighing day after day...

Nothing is most important as the days change with the shifting weather,
Time flies by so fast, and before you know it, all this has become a memory,
Every day brings new problems, who knows when I will reminisce once more..."

The camera panned across many tear-stained faces in the audience. They were not all southerners, because South did not sing solely about the south.

Anyone drifting away from home would feel a deep resonance upon hearing this song, as if their lonely years were finally understood—a profound empathy shared by fellow exiles.

Toward the end of the song, Zhou Miao repeatedly chanted "South~," and the fifteen thousand teary-eyed audience members in the stadium joined in humming along. Glow sticks of various colors converged into rolling waves of light on this touching night.

Zhou Miao gazed deeply at the audience, his heart filled with profound emotion. Was this very scene not the most romantic moment a singer could possibly experience?

In his past life, there were far too many songs about the south; Dada's South even seemed somewhat obscure among them, and many post-90s youth of his former life had never heard this old track from 2003.

Yet in Zhou Miao's view, South was undoubtedly one of the finest works in Chinese pop music depicting the south and coming of age, though its slightly subdued melody had hindered its further spread.

Therefore, while preserving the soul of the song, Zhou Miao modified the melody to make it more catchy and better suited to the aesthetic standards of modern listeners.

When a classic work from his past life bloomed with a different kind of brilliance under his hands, Zhou Miao's heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment. All those years of studying music had not been in vain after all.

The singing gradually faded, and Southern Accents and Northern Tunes—hailed by music fans as this year's biggest surprise variety show—came to a complete end as the other five guests all walked onto the stage.

Gu Xi chuckled and patted Zhou Miao on the butt. "Sang well."

Hosted by Qian Jin, the scores of all six guests for tonight were displayed simultaneously on the large screen behind them.

Southern Camp: Zhou Miao 94 points, Tan Yue 93.5 points, Zhao Tianxiang 93 points.
Northern Camp: Zhang Tuo 94 points, Gu Xi 94 points, Lu Jinping 93 points.

The final round of competition was calculated based on the total scores of both sides. With the results now out, the Northern Camp won tonight's victory by a razor-thin margin of 0.5 points, bringing the final score to a 2-2 tie.

Seeing this outcome, the six guests on stage laughed and embraced one another. Although no absolute winner had been decided, everyone had sung to their heart's content and enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

Before the show concluded, young host Qian Jin conducted one final interview with the six guests.

"Spanning 35 days, our Southern Accents and Northern Tunes is finally coming to an end. How do you all feel inside?"

Gu Xi spoke his mind without a filter, laughing heartily, "Thoughts? My biggest thought is that it's finally over! If it didn't end now, I'd be going bald from stress."

Gu Xi's antics instantly diluted the melancholic atmosphere of parting, leaving the audience torn between laughter and tears.

"That's enough, don't let him speak anymore, move on to the next one," the director's voice rang in Qian Jin's earpiece, clearly left utterly speechless by Gu Xi.

Zhang Tuo took over the microphone. "Indeed. One song a week, with all sorts of messy prompts—it really does make your hair fall out."

Thanks to the strong opening by Gu Xi, the sentimental segment originally envisioned by the director was turned into a roast session by the five veteran artists. The director didn't dare interrupt them either; these were big shots he couldn't afford to cross.

At this moment, only Zhou Miao stood quietly to the side without speaking.

Qian Jin's eyes lit up as she handed the microphone to Zhou Miao. "Zhou Miao, is there anything you'd like to say?"

Zhou Miao had intended to coast along until the end of the show, but since the mic was handed over, he couldn't just ignore it. He perfunctorily replied, "Uh... they're right, I have nothing to add."

Good grief, such a wildly popular variety show was coming to an end, yet the guests were happier than the last.

Upon closer reflection, these few individuals didn't really care much about trending topics. Leaving aside Gu Xi, Zhang Tuo, and the others whose careers were in their twilight years and lacked neither fame nor fortune, they had purely come on the show for fun.

As for Zhou Miao, he was also an oddity. Major hit variety shows begged him to appear, but he wouldn't even spare them a glance, participating in shows entirely based on personal preference.

Yet miraculously, any variety show he participated in achieved explosive viewership and public praise.

His first variety show, The Transformer, claimed the ratings championship for that season. On Wilderness Crossing, the episode he and Zhao Jingya appeared in surpassed tens of millions of genuine views.

Decisive Battle at the Peak of the Forbidden City claimed the annual ratings championship, and its topic heat remains unsurpassed to this day. Setting Out for Love, a public service program, ranked among the top three in annual viewership with critical acclaim.

Tonight's concluded Southern Accents and Northern Tunes, despite being a web-based variety show, boasted a Douban rating as high as 9.1, with total online streams exceeding 500 million—an undeniable phenomenal hit variety show.

Zhou Miao was clearly a singer, yet his achievements in the realm of variety shows surpassed ninety-nine percent of professional variety show regulars!