Tang Zhen was destined to become a legend.
This has been a consensus in the industry for years. Being a legend means that his life cannot tolerate ordinariness, and if he must live, there is not a single moment that can tolerate mediocrity.
Ever since Tang Zhen appeared in the public eye, this person, this face, was like a flower to bees and butterflies, attracting thousands of spectators to stop and admire. Women loved his handsomeness, men loved his charm, and even the janitors in the theater loved him, saying, “How can parents raise their child so well?”
Tang Zhen had a beautiful face, appropriately proportioned limbs, and a naturally gifted voice. What was even more rare was his dedication and hard work. Even when he was wearing diapers, he would sit by his father’s bed every day, practicing his singing like a rooster, impossible to silence even with a pacifier. Tang Zhen’s father was a somewhat famous local actor in Xiangcheng City, and he nurtured Tang Zhen’s artistic cells endlessly since he was in the womb. While other children played with building blocks, Tang Zhen bit the foam on the set, and while other children accidentally broke their father’s computer, Tang Zhen climbed up and down, wreaking havoc and breaking many buttons on the lighting control console.
After a few years of being mistreated at the Xiangcheng City’s old art theater, it finally closed its doors for good fortune. When the new theater opened, six-year-old Tang Zhen wore a little suit, a small bowtie, and sat in the arms of several veteran artists, showing a still youthful and charming smile in the theater’s advertising brochure.
Two years later, at the age of eight, Tang Zhen stepped onto the stage for the first time to perform the grand opening play, “The Death of Gong Gong,”1 which the theater troupe had been preparing for years. Playwright and director Lin Hanchen specifically requested Tang Zhen for the role from the beginning of auditions. They toured over thirty cities nationwide, and at the final curtain call, Tang Zhen took off his headgear, holding hands with his father and Lin Hanchen, bowing to the audience. The applause continued without end, and the flashbulbs seemed never-ending.
Even audiences from other places remember this name, Tang Zhen. It can be imagined that if he continues on this theatrical path, even if he doesn’t leave a mark in history, he will at least achieve something. But legends are all about being extraordinary. When Tang Zhen was eleven years old, his father, a veteran actor who had been performing diligently in the theater for decades, didn’t say a word to anyone. Early in the morning, he rode his bicycle and went to Xiangcheng Bridge, where he plunged into the river. They searched for his body for three days but found nothing. Tang Zhen’s mother cried at home and took young Tang Zhen out every day. She went to this house and that house, searched for theater troupes and police stations. She pulled her son along the streets, but no one could explain how her husband disappeared, and no one took any responsibility. The neighbors gossiped and tormented this respectable and beautiful woman who had endured for many years. Finally, she decided to move away in a hurry with twelve-year-old Tang Zhen and her eleven-year-old daughter.
The elderly people from the theater called Tang Zhen several times, but his mother hung up on them. Over time, those who had been fascinated by Tang Zhen and cheered for him also forgot his name. That’s how the world is – if you don’t exist for a day, you’ll be forgotten, and there will always be new talents to replace the old ones, burying them in the pile of history’s relics. It went on like this for many years until one day, Director Lin Hanchen turned on the TV and watched the flashy stage lights in front of him, listening to the exaggerated tone of the host inside, introducing a popular idol group of the moment.
“Mattias!”
Director Lin was getting older. He put on his reading glasses and looked for a while before finally recognizing that person in the television wearing a pink suit, energetically singing and dancing with his teammates – it was indeed Tang Zhen, no mistake.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Our Tang Zhen used to be a child star, and he has acted in very famous plays. Do you all know which ones?”
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“Tfr!!”
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The reporter burst into laughter, and even Tang Zhen, who was sitting nearby, laughed. Tang Zhen blushed when he felt embarrassed. Director Lin held his hand and emphasized once again, “Tirelessly destroying themselves! Really! That day, I quickly looked for the contact number of my old colleague and asked someone to find out the contact information of the person in charge of that company. I was anxious, telling them that this child shouldn’t be an idol anymore and should return to the theater to act! But then the manager told me that there was a contract, a ten-year contract! If he has already signed such a contract, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Tang Zhen reappeared. This time, not only in the theatrical circle of Xiangcheng City, but within a short period, he became popular throughout China. He formed a two-person idol group called Mattias with a young man named Liang Qiuyun. They released several albums, which sold well, starred in several movies with impressive box office results. TV dramas of various genres, including historical dramas, modern dramas, family dramas, business dramas, idol dramas, and even sitcoms, were continuously broadcasted during those years, and Tang Zhen appeared in almost all of them. Director Lin Hanchen also watched one of his dramas and believed that this kid still had a future, which led to their collaboration in the later remake of “The Butterfly Lovers.”2
The theater is a small circle with a limited audience, while idol stars have a much broader market. The touring performances featuring Tang Zhen were sold out every show, with tickets in high demand. The DVD of their performances became the bestseller nationwide as soon as it was released, topping the sales chart for nineteen consecutive weeks. Even overseas, there was a group of fans who crossed the seas to see Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai with tears staining their wings, “butterflies flying together.” In reality, Tang Zhen was only seventeen or eighteen years old that year. At such a young age, he played leading roles, supporting roles, male characters, female characters, and there was almost no role or genre he hadn’t tried or touched upon. His albums included powerful hit songs as well as gentle tunes. He won a bunch of awards, both big and small, and if you looked at the award list, it seemed like he had won almost everything that someone his age could or couldn’t win.
Among a large group of idols who were tone-deaf or struggled to deliver lines smoothly, Tang Zhen stood out with his exceptional talent and artistic sensibility. There were many idol artists on television who could sing, dance, or act, but there was no one like him.
On the long road of an idol’s performing career, it seemed like Tang Zhen had reached the end before it even began. This time, thankfully, there were no more suicides in the Tang family, and Tang Zhen finally had the opportunity to proceed with peace of mind. He starred in more and more movies, became the spokesperson for numerous advertisements, released one album after another, and even held concerts on the other side of the Earth.
Wherever Tang Zhen went, he was the center of attention, and wherever he went, he was surrounded and chased by paparazzi, fans, and supporters. Every time he appeared, camera flashes were like a pack of hungry dogs finally catching the scent of meat, even fighting over the used napkins that Tang Zhen, the big star, had used during meals. The newspapers were filled with stories about Tang Zhen: rumors of girlfriends, rumors of boyfriends, incidents of violence, lateness, involvement with prostitutes and plastic surgery, drug use, and gambling. There was nothing the audience dared not imagine, and no story the journalists dared not write. In the latest newspaper, it was written that Tang Zhen had driven his father to suicide during his childhood and drove his mother insane as he grew up. Even Tang Zhen’s partner, Liang Qiuyun, was a seasoned victim. In front of the reporters’ cameras, Liang Qiuyun’s mother, with a rural accent, openly admitted that her son had once had a rib broken by Tang Zhen in a practice room but was afraid to speak out due to pressure from the company. Luo Tiantian, the captain of the junior group “Europa,” even stated directly that he had been “extorted both financially and physically” by seniors before his debut.
After nine years of such circumstances, Tang Zhen took his own life.
Paparazzi managed to capture a scene through the gap in his apartment window. The manager switched on the room’s ceiling light, and Tang Zhen, unclothed, curled up under a blanket. A head of black hair and a pair of bare feet could be seen outside the blanket, while medicine bottles and alcohol bottles filled the bedside table.
Tang Zhen was destined to become a legend.
At the age of 26, in his first suicide attempt, he came dangerously close to succeeding. Obituaries that were about to be printed were urgently withdrawn, and even the special interviews prepared by movie magazines with the theme of “mourning the genius actor” were changed to the following content:
“I first met Xiao Tang3 at the Xiangcheng City’s old art theater. His father was still alive at that time, and he worked for the theater. Every time he came to work, there was a little follower behind him,” playwright Lin Hanchen said. “Tang Zhen had talent, and I knew it when he was just a little kid. A few months ago, we talked on the phone, and he said he wasn’t doing well. He hasn’t been doing well for several years, and I didn’t further inquire.”
“At that time, in… Guo-jie’s3 office,” Liang Qiuyun, the rising best actor who had been partnered with Tang Zhen for nearly ten years, choked up several times during the call. “Guo-jie told me that I could prepare for my debut and asked me to be the team captain. I thought it would be a group of four or five people, but it turned out to be only him and me. Guo-jie asked me to take care of him. A-zhen4 is younger than me, and we have gone through ups and downs together for so many years. I have been filming on the set of ‘The Cold Flame’ for the past few months, and I never expected him to make such a decision suddenly.”
“In the final round of auditions,” Mao Chengrui, the chairman of Asia Star Entertainment who signed a ten-year contract with Tang Zhen nine years ago, said, “As soon as he appeared, I let him pass. Some people are born to be stars; they don’t need any acting skills or singing abilities.”
“Not every rookie agent can encounter an artist like A-zhen. I knew I was lucky the first time I saw him,” said Mattias’ agent, Guo Xiaoli. “I’ve been reflecting on it. The main responsibility for this incident lies with me. I couldn’t bring him back in time. If it wasn’t for me… these things should never have happened.”
“Director Lin invited me to watch his ‘The Butterfly Lovers’ play. It was fresh at that time because all the actors were men. I knew the other actors, and I had even worked with some of them, but Tang Zhen was the first time I saw him. He was young back then, around seventeen or eighteen, and he played the female lead role of Zhu Yingtai. After the performance, I went backstage to ask him for his phone number,” said famous director Tong Yi, who had collaborated with Tang Zhen in several films. “Last year, I had a script that I wanted him to perform in. At that time, I thought I could wait for two or three years. Who could have guessed what would happen later?”
…
Countless practitioners expressed sympathy for Tang Zhen’s ordeal in front of the media, lamenting his talent. Artists of all sizes within Asia Star Entertainment, from the veteran idol group Lalta to the currently popular rookie group KAIser, exhausted their words and shed tears. Each of them faced the camera and was asked the same question: “What do you think about Tang Zhen’s suicide?” Lalta member and renowned host Shao Ming said that after this incident, many people should reflect on themselves, including Tang Zhen himself: “He should apologize to the fans and supporters who have always been there for him.” Meanwhile, Zhou Zike, the captain of KAIser, who was in Singapore attending the Asian Music Awards, unprecedentedly stated that he had no opinion. He had no opinion on the suicide of his senior. After several rounds of questioning by reporters, he finally replied, “I feel sad, but does it make any difference?”
Translator’s Notes:
1 Gong Gong is the water deity in ancient Chinese mythology, who controls floods. According to legend, Gong Gong and Zhuan Xu were always at odds with each other and engaged in a tremendous battle. In the end, Gong Gong was defeated and, in anger, crashed into Mount Buzhou, bringing his story to a close. Zhuan Xu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor, is portrayed by Zhang Wanyi as Cang Xuan in the drama “Lost You Forever” (if you watch it).
2 “The Butterfly Lovers” is a famous love story that has been retold countless times in China. The main plot is as follows:
There was a woman named Zhu Yingtai who disguised herself as a man to pursue her studies. She became classmates with a scholar named Liang Shanbo for three years, and Liang Shanbo remained unaware of Zhu Yingtai’s true gender. Later, Zhu Yingtai had to interrupt her studies and return to her hometown. When Liang Shanbo visited Zhu Yingtai, he discovered that his close friend from the past three years was actually a woman. He wished to propose marriage to Zhu’s family, but at that time, Zhu Yingtai had already been promised to Ma Wencai.
Afterward, Liang Shanbo became melancholic and fell ill, and before long, he passed away. On the day of Zhu Yingtai’s wedding, as she passed by Liang Shanbo’s grave in her bridal sedan, she stopped to pay her respects. Suddenly, Liang Shanbo’s grave collapsed and cracked open. Zhu Yingtai threw herself into the grave, and from it emerged a pair of colorful butterflies that flew away together, leaving the mortal world behind.
3 “Xiao”(小) is a prefix used in Chinese names to address someone younger or of lower social status than oneself.
3 Adding “jie” (姐elder sister) or “ge” (哥elder brother) after someone’s surname or given name is a common way of addressing colleagues or friends in Chinese.
4 “A-“(阿) is a prefix used in Chinese names to indicate familiarity and intimacy between individuals.
You forgot to input the novel name, it seems?
Yeah I should wait for the novel to be approved before post the first chapter haha~
Damn, the boy had it bad. He probably also had an absolute control contract.