The Book of All Things: Born for Joy

As soon as Li Zichun spoke, everyone exchanged excited glances. They would give face to a promise of being a gold medal lyricist and composer, especially since there was also the opportunity to release a song for free. Although not every song could be a classic, at least it wouldn't be too bad, otherwise it would affect the gold medal evaluation. No one would be foolish enough to joke about their future, which meant that even if the released song wasn't a masterpiece, it would still be a good one!

The program's revamp was thus successfully approved. Zhang Xiaochuan's games were placed first, while Li Zichun's song was saved for last. The winner of the games would become the first singer of the new song. The song's theme and content were provided by netizens and ultimately decided by online voting. The official performance was scheduled for the following week.

Because the internet in the Great Zhou Kingdom is regulated by real names, Li Zichun is not afraid of encountering any difficult topics to write about. With his excellent memory, he should not make any major mistakes.

The show resumed recording quickly the next day. Since Li Zichun became the final creator and Zhao Qianfan was not selected, he called Li Jiawei. Unexpectedly, she asked her company to cancel her subsequent activities and came to become a regular cast member without saying a word.

The program's revamp and theme song were quickly announced online, and netizens pooled their wisdom and decided on the theme, "The Moon," before the midnight deadline that night.

This was within Li Zichun's expectations. After all, Li Jiawei is now a popular goddess with representative works, and the public is still immersed in the shock of Su Shi's poem "Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Bright?", so they naturally look forward to more wonderful performances.

Without Li Zichun's brainstorming and excellent strategic cooperation, Zhao Qianfan and Li Jiawei's group naturally had to work harder to rank first, and the two of them finally managed to get third place.

To Li Zichun's surprise, the team that won the first game was Yuan Zian's group. His teammate was a girl named Zhong Lingling, who came from a dance class. After listening to her sing, he felt like he was going to die.

Yuan Zian, on the contrary, was so calm that he looked utterly hopeless. He had worked so hard and thought he would finally have a masterpiece, but his teammate was a pig who was just yelling nonsense. This teammate was going to ruin him!

After patiently listening to her sing one song, Li Zichun immediately decided to have her dance. Since no one insisted on a duet, they could just do what they were good at. Thus, Li Zichun became their dance director, and their performance will air in the next episode.

Li Zichun thought this collaboration with Yuan Zian would be difficult, but to his surprise, the other party completely abandoned his previous hostility and was extremely cooperative throughout the process, which made him curious enough to ask, "Don't you hate me for interrupting your path to becoming a king?"

Yuan Zian was also frank, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "At the time, I was indeed a little uncomfortable, and I still see you looking a bit uncomfortable now, but after reflecting on myself a few times, I've let it go. Whether or not you're crowned a king is just a title. If you're not capable enough, you can't blame anyone else. Even if you hadn't stepped in at the time, someone else would have surpassed you later. This circle is only divided into those with strength and those without. There's nothing to be taken for granted."

Looking at him, Li Zichun nodded secretly: "Not bad, you have a high level of awareness. Keep up the good work. This song I gave you may not be very representative, but it might become one of your signature works."

Yuan Zi'an asked in surprise, "Is it already written? When can we start rehearsals?"

Li Zichun was still hesitant about whether to help him; that was the question. She decided to wait and see. There were so many songs about the moon; she'd choose a reasonably good one for him first.

He replied with a smile, "Oh, I can start practicing tomorrow after I finish composing the music. I'll give you the lyrics tomorrow too."

Now he was faced with Zhong Lingling's dance, and after she performed a short dance, he had a general understanding of it.

He then told the two to go back and wait for news, while he took the opportunity to observe various dances and books online, trying to recall the main branches and specific details of the dances from his previous life.

After finalizing the dance and song, the two began intensive training the next day. A choreographer followed the entire process, filming every detail. Even director Zhang Xiaochuan was curious about how he would revive the situation.

You should know that Zhong Lingling is a well-known nightingale in the industry, her singing voice is so beautiful it's breathtaking.

After addressing her vocal shortcomings, the requirements for the dance became extremely high, because a poorly choreographed performance could negatively impact the overall viewing experience.

Fortunately, Zhong Lingling was indeed quite skilled; although her singing wasn't great, her dancing was excellent. Li Zichun found his music professor, Lü Fang, to take charge of vocal instruction, and her best friend, dance professor Lou Yideng, to help with adjustments. Since the production team was paying him, he only needed to demonstrate and point out the key movements, leaving the rest to these professionals to make them flow smoothly and completely. If he were to perfect it step by step, he would probably be exhausted. The main problem was that he only remembered these key dance movements and couldn't teach the entire song; if he continued teaching, he would be exposed.

He took advantage of the break to think about the next steps, and he had to consider all possibilities to avoid any accidents.

Li Zichun originally chose Liu Yifei's sword dance from "Meng Hua Lu" for her, which would have been more appropriate, but due to time constraints, he didn't think Zhong Lingling was up to the task. Therefore, he chose the "Xi Zhou Qu" dance performed by Lü Xiu, a beautiful and talented young lady from an official family in "Zhen Guan Chang Ge." The dancer in the TV series was Liu Sha, a graduate of the Beijing Dance Academy and a winner of the Taoli Cup; it was a legendary performance, so it all depended on whether she could handle it.

So the three of them spent the whole week practicing singing and dancing. When they got tired, they would go to the recording studio to watch a group of celebrities fight for their rankings. And let me tell you, sitting was more comfortable than standing.

Comparison is the thief of joy. Over there, people are fighting tooth and nail for rankings, while over here, they're enjoying sunflower seeds, drinks, mineral water, and barbecue three times a day. That's the happiness of a winner.

So in the behind-the-scenes footage, you can often see a group of celebrities playing games hard on one side, while three others leisurely drink tea, chat, and play on their phones on the other. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were participating in two different shows.

The second episode's recording was nearing its end when Yuan Zian and Zhong Lingling finally gave a song and dance performance.

The two had recently endured grueling training under Li Zichun's scorching boots. The daily beatings, yelling, and shouting had almost numbed them; they hadn't suffered this much since graduation. This week had made them truly understand the difference between people. Years later, when they looked back on this period, they couldn't help but marvel at how some people truly possessed the ability to turn the impossible into reality. All their years of hard work paled in comparison to a genius's brief, week-long instruction.

Li Zichun said with a smile, "You can't say that. If you hadn't worked hard before, how would you have ended up in my hands now, singing my songs and dancing my dances? You two aren't bad at all, so don't underestimate yourselves. I'm very selective. If you work harder, you'll definitely have a place in the entertainment industry."

After listening, the two nodded thoughtfully, and then practiced even harder.

At the end of the second episode, it was finally Yuan Zi'an and Zhong Lingling's turn to perform a song and dance routine. Everyone was eagerly anticipating what kind of live performance would unfold.

The outfit Li Zichun chose for Yuan Zian resembled that of Hua Wuque from "The Legendary Twins." He lightly waved a feather fan and began to sing: "A wandering knight's name is renowned far and wide, now the talk of the martial world / Many enemies, a few friends, but few worthy opponents / The rain has ceased, the wind surges like a tide, his move stirs up a raging storm / Before he finishes his move, three laughs have intoxicated everyone / A distant wind blows fiercely, suddenly turning back, the bright moon shines over a thousand mountains / Heaven and earth are vast, my spirit is high, I sing and dance my way to Chang'an / The lanterns are bright, the wine is warm, everyone is indulging in revelry / As the crowd swells, they disperse, the dark clouds disperse."

Only the young heroes of this world are drawn to roaming freely across the land.

Settle scores while you're young, with a light sword and a swift horse.

I have no lingering attachments to worldly affairs, only a love for life and death.

Discussing philosophy in drunkenness, plucking flowers when sober...

As he sang, Zhong Lingling gracefully rose into the air, her water sleeves fluttering, her dance movements fluid and graceful. This dance was similar to the historically renowned Green Waist Dance. Wearing long-sleeved dance costumes and long skirts, her movements were swift and varied, as graceful as a startled swan and as agile as a swimming dragon. It complemented Yuan Zi'an's singing perfectly. The two sang and danced in harmony, evoking a story of an ancient knight-errant encountering a courtesan on his journey, falling in love at first sight, and finding it difficult to break off their relationship.

A handsome young man, with a beautiful woman by his side, roams the martial world with a sword, seeking revenge and living a carefree and fulfilling life.

"It is said that young people in the martial arts world are naive and ignorant of the ways of the world."

Whether they are enemies or friends, let's fight!

When will someone, and in what year, be willing to discuss tea with me, even if it means wiping away blood?

"The moon still shines over the horizon in my dreams"

PS: Information is from the internet.

"Bright Moon Over the Horizon" is a song included in JW's 2015 album "Listening to the Sound," composed by Tide, arranged by Hongyu, and with lyrics by Wubi. In 2016, the song's copyright was acquired by Tencent's martial arts online game "Moonlight Blade," and it was used as one of the game's promotional songs.