1994: From a young man from a small town to a second-generation resident of Shanghai

The school's large conference room can accommodate more than 10,000 people at the same time.

Suddenly, the back door opened, and four people walked in.

One of them was an acquaintance of Chen Yong, his aunt Chen Fang, and the other was Bai Susu, whom he had met once.

The man standing next to her is her current husband, Jiang Xuetao.

The man standing to Chen Fang's left is his biological father, Chen Yun.

"Luckily, I made it in time. The singer up there is Chen Yong."

Today, because Chen Yong was going to perform on the school stage, Chen Yun and Bai Susu came together for the first time.

Bai Susu brought her husband, while Chen Yun came alone.

To this day, he has not told his wife about Chen Yong's affair.

Mentioning it will surely cause an uproar.

"That's Chen Yong." This was Jiang Xuetao's first time meeting Chen Yong; he had only heard about him before.

A student from a small town who excelled at exams, managed to get into Fudan University in Shanghai under those conditions, and started making money as a freshman.

This is something an ordinary kid from a small county town could never do.

"That's amazing, she can even sing."

"Chen Yong sings very well, almost as well as me. We're even going to collaborate on an album."

Bai Susu asked earnestly, "Is the record finished?"

"I'm going to my brother's music company to record a song tomorrow."

"Let's listen to how he sings first, so as not to waste resources."

"Just listen carefully," Chen Fang said confidently.

Even though they were dozens of meters apart, Chen Yun could still see clearly at a glance that Chen Yong on the stage was taller than him and looked seven or eight parts similar to him when he was young.

Chen Yun seemed to see his younger self in him, except that his youth was far less dazzling than Chen Yong's.

More often than not, they are shouting for ideals and beliefs.

Back then, he was just a simple-minded fool, all enthusiasm and no substance, but in reality, he couldn't accomplish anything.

Chen Yong is much better than him; he took the college entrance exam, started his own business, and participated in school activities—he didn't miss a thing.

Such a wonderful life, and someone is living it for him, and that person is his own son.

Although he wasn't there for Chen Yong during the crucial stages of his life, so what? He's rich!

For a billionaire boss, as long as he's willing to admit his mistakes, what would his own son care about?

As the music started and the dazzling lights came on, the atmosphere gradually built up.

After only the first few beats of the accompaniment, the entire audience fell silent.

The students in the finance class have never heard the class monitor sing.

Zhang Xiting and Ye Linghuan were among those hearing Chen Yong sing for the first time.

Ye Linghuan thought that Chen Yong had commissioned someone to compose the music.

Only Zhang Xiting knew that the class monitor could compose music herself and wouldn't ask anyone else for help.

All the music in "Bright Sword" was composed by the squad leader.

This talent is probably unmatched.

Seeing that Ye Linghuan had misunderstood, Zhang Xiting didn't take the initiative to explain.

Ye Linghuan probably likes the class monitor; many girls in the class probably have a crush on him.

Zhang Xiting asked herself if she liked the class monitor. It seemed like she didn't particularly like him, but that's always been her personality. She wouldn't show particular liking for someone, but if she felt someone was suitable, she would take the initiative to make friends with them.

I invited the class monitor to dinner tonight to make friends, definitely not because I wanted to date her.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

I look up at the clear sky you once guarded.

Embracing each other again after more than seventy years

The peaceful state of the country at this moment

You will understand

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

I look up at the clear sky you have endured.

The earth beneath our feet has changed time and space.

The red you dyed with your life

In my heart—in my heart

As "1994" reached its climax, the entire audience erupted in cheers.

Even the retired teachers and cadres who were invited stood up, wanting to applaud Chen Yong on the stage.

The students nearby were so frightened that they immediately helped them up to prevent them from falling.

He's practically on his deathbed, what's there to get excited about?

If anyone should be excited, it should be us students.

"I admit I spoke a bit too loudly just now. Chen Tianwang truly lives up to his name!"

"Chan Tin-Wong sings so well! I've never heard him sing before. It must be an original song, which makes it even more amazing."

The music students were somewhat bewildered when they heard Chen Tianwang sing.

No, how could such an outstanding musical talent appear in the School of Economics and Management? It makes us look very unprofessional, not even as good as an amateur.

The teachers and leaders of the music academy all looked rather grim.

Chen Tianwang sang so well that teachers from other colleges actually asked them, "Are you a new student this year? You sing so well."

These people have forgotten that the host previously introduced Chen Tianwang as being from the School of Economics and Management.

The music academy teachers are all thinking of asking the business school: Did you steal our students during the admissions process?

It's just wishful thinking; the number of music students is very small, and those who apply are mostly from families that work in related industries.

There's basically no such thing as an outsider suddenly wanting to apply to a music academy; that's not true.

However, Chen Yong's appearance still made the music academy teachers waver in their admission rules, wondering if they should take the initiative to change them.

Many talented students demonstrated excellent singing skills at this National Day gala.

These students, with professional training, can make a living in music.

Furthermore, the student body will definitely be primarily composed of pop music students in the future, and the student body should be diversified.

…………

"Sister-in-law, didn't my nephew sing well?"

Bai Susu nodded. "You do sing quite well. Did you teach you?"

Chen Fang readily admitted, "Of course, I taught him everything."

Chen Yun didn't believe it. "It's probably just that Chen Yong has good talent. I didn't expect him to actually have a knack for singing."

"Brother, you should make a statement now. Aren't you going to provide resources and support?"

Chen Fang seized the opportunity to ask for something in return; it was a rare chance.

"I've always supported you guys a lot. The lighting equipment for this gala was even donated by me."

"I didn't charge you for recording the song, and I even had to cover the publicity costs. I'm basically doing charity work; I didn't earn a single penny."

Chen Yun didn't feel too bad about spending the money. Although he had already spent over a million on Chen Fang and Chen Yong, this amount of money was nothing to him.

The allowance I gave Chen Fang a day before was 100,000 yuan.

Jiang Xuetao was also drawn to Chen Yong's song. To be able to sing such a youthful and passionate song, Chen Yong must be a good kid!

He needed to persuade Bai Susu to find an opportunity to reunite with Chen Yong and invite Chen Yong to his home. He really wanted to talk to Chen Yong face to face.

…………

The boys in Chen Yong's class were all shocked when they saw their class monitor on the stage.

Zhu Tianliang previously felt that the squad leader was already very capable, and that he should be even stronger in terms of personal charisma, especially since playing the role of Chu Yunfei gave him a lot of confidence.

After listening to this song, he lost confidence once again. How could he possibly compete? All the freshmen in the entire grade, especially the girls, were cheering for him.

Even during the song, some girls went up to present flowers!

It seems like it was arranged in advance.

Actually, these are all female student council members who have seen the rehearsal.

Many of them are senior students.

After Chen Yong finished singing one song, he collected more than a dozen bouquets of flowers, and Zhu Tianliang couldn't even see Chen Yong's exhaust fumes.

Xu Shijie was speechless. From now on, the class monitor would have full priority in choosing a spouse.

Since he's still single, those pretty girls in his class definitely won't consider anyone else.

Xu Shijie also likes Zhang Xiting or Ye Linghuan; he could date either of them. But these two often bicker because of the class monitor, so from today onwards, he probably has no chance at all.

"Since Zhou Yu was born, why was Zhuge Liang born as well?"

After the performance, Chen Yong returned to his seat in the classroom.

Ye Linghuan was the first to step forward, "Class monitor, shall we eat together later? None of us have eaten yet."

Chen Yong was in a bit of a predicament. Too many people had asked him out tonight, including Ye Linghuan.

"Um, the Youth League branch secretary originally invited me to dinner."

Upon hearing this news, the boys behind felt instantly lost. Their goddess had actually taken the initiative to ask the class monitor out to dinner; it seemed she had already taken a liking to him.

Ye Linghuan was very unhappy. How could Zhang Xiting be so mean!

He actually made a dinner appointment with the class monitor first, and the two of them had to go together.

"I'm going to ask her if we can all eat together!!!" Ye Linghuan said angrily, heading towards her.

Chen Yong quickly pulled her back, "Don't go and argue with the class monitor, I'll go talk to her."

Fortunately, Zhang Xiting agreed, though she was slightly disappointed. Eating with so many people is definitely not as good as eating with just the two of you.

Ye Linghuan was pleased, as long as Zhang Xiting and the class monitor weren't alone together.

She would also try to find an opportunity to go out with the class monitor alone in the future.