Chapter 454: National Day Gala

Chapter 454: National Day Gala

After Meng Fan finished recording *Open Class*, he was about to leave when a few people from the program team approached. The director responsible for coordinating with Meng Fan introduced the group, saying they were from the CCTV gala team, led by a director surnamed Yang.

"Director Yang, hello."

"Hello, Meng Fan!"

Yang Dongsheng warmly shook hands with Meng Fan and explained the purpose of his visit: "Sorry to intrude. I’m here on behalf of the National Day Gala directing team, hoping to invite you to participate in this year’s National Day Gala recording."

CCTV holds a National Day Gala every year, and in recent years, during the National Day period, there have been three consecutive galas: one on September 30 and two on October 1.

Yang Dongsheng invited Meng Fan to record the *Chinese Dream·Ode to the Motherland* National Day Gala, which airs on CCTV-1 and CCTV-3 on the evening of October 1. This has always been the highlight of CCTV’s National Day programming, with resources and guests arranged to the standard of the Spring Festival Gala.

Originally, Yang Dongsheng had sent the invitation to the Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo Center, but something went wrong in the process. They had no response, saying they wanted to wait. However, time was tight, and knowing Meng Fan was nearby, Yang came in person.

Meng Fan confirmed: "National Day Gala?"

Yang Dongsheng nodded and gave a rough outline. The form of Meng Fan’s participation would be singing—yes, the National Day Gala is pre-recorded—and offered great flexibility: Meng Fan could choose to sing solo or in a duet.

The gala directing team was clearly drawn to Meng Fan’s popularity. Every year, the National Day Gala features athletes, and in Olympic years, it’s a given that at least one Olympic champion is invited. In terms of both image and achievements, Meng Fan was the top choice. Plus, everyone knew he could sing and had impressive vocal skills, so it was a no-brainer.

Well—even if he weren’t a great singer, as long as his pitch wasn’t too off, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Of course, the reason for offering the duet option was that Meng Fan wasn’t a professional singer. If possible, they hoped someone could guide him, making it safer.

As for Meng Fan, after learning who the duet partner would be, he chose the duet without hesitation—and agreed to participate.

After agreeing, Meng Fan left CCTV and went to his eldest sister Meng Caiju’s home. He stayed there during his days in the capital. Additionally, Wu Tong, who was currently restoring paintings at the Palace Museum, was also staying there.

The happiest person about Meng Fan staying there was little Nanshan. Every morning these days, Meng Fan and Wu Tong took him to kindergarten, and then he’d drag them to wait at the gate until his classmate Xiaonuonuo arrived before going in together. He’d even signal Meng Fan to chat with Xiaonuonuo’s parents, making Meng Fan, Wu Tong, and Xiaonuonuo’s parents laugh!

The National Day Gala Meng Fan was participating in officially began recording on the 29th. Since Meng Fan was a "last-minute" addition, he could only make it to the final rehearsal on the 29th. Fortunately, on the 28th, he had half a day to rehearse with the singer he’d be dueting with.

"Hello, Iron God."

"Sister Jing, hello! You can call me Xiao Meng."

Meng Fan politely shook hands with Qin Jing, keeping the respectful "Sister" title that the entire industry used for her—even Jackie Chan called her "Sister," so you know how formidable she was.

If Meng Fan had chosen to sing solo, Qin Jing would have done the same. The reason the program team offered such a heavyweight as Qin Jing for the duet was that the cross-genre collaboration would be intriguing and interesting. Otherwise, how many people would be qualified to sing with her?

Qin Jing was one of Meng Fan’s favorite singers. He had known of her for a long time and had certainly heard her songs. His true admiration began with the 2008 song *Sky*, followed by *Dragon Script*, and then he listened to almost all her songs. Unlike many who became fans through the show *Masked Singer*, Meng Fan’s appreciation predated that.

Of course, Meng Fan also loved every song she performed on that show. During the broadcast, he suspected "Sister Avatar" might be Qin Jing but wasn’t sure. Only when the mask was removed did he, like everyone else, freeze in shock, then leap out of that stupor, bouncing around like a monkey in sheer excitement.

Who would have thought that a "national team" mainstream, gala singer would participate in a variety show, and sing pop songs without any gala flavor? Most importantly, it sounded incredible!

Additionally, as a loyal user of Bilibili, Meng Fan had watched all of "Sister Avatar’s" videos, some of which he had uploaded himself.

On Bilibili, the most frequent barrage comment on Qin Jing’s videos was definitely "kneel," followed by "handsome," "beautiful," "big demon king," "king," "god descended to earth," "old hubby," "marry me." Then came "addicted," "forgot lyrics," "lyric-changing master," "hahaha..."

"Little Iron, haha—let me just call you Meng Fan." Qin Jing laughed to herself for a moment, then quickly switched to rehearsal matters. "For the song, I’ve prepared *Long Live the Motherland* and *In the Name of Youth*. It mainly depends on your choice."

Yes, with the final rehearsal imminent, the directing team was still willing to give time for song selection, showing how much they valued these two.

Meng Fan immediately felt torn and wanted to cry: "Sister Jing, I love both of these songs! What do I do?"

This wasn’t just polite talk. On Bilibili, Meng Fan had looped these two songs the most, almost daily for a while. Their vibe and power were simply unmatched!

Qin Jing smiled: "We still have time, so let’s try both and then decide."

Clearly, Qin Jing had already heard Meng Fan’s singing and acknowledged his skills. Otherwise, with only half a day for rehearsal, there wouldn’t be enough time.

"Alright."

Meng Fan followed the arrangement and began rehearsing with Qin Jing. Meanwhile, he used points to exchange for three points of "singing skill."

His previous singing skill was +7. Since he hadn’t found it particularly useful, he hadn’t exchanged for it before. This time, he exchanged three times to reach +10, costing 5,000 points.

His points were still sufficient. After spending 5,000, he had over 21,000 left.

Seeing he had plenty of points, he exchanged for two points of vocal appeal, bringing it to +13.

Additionally, he had 62 championship honor points, which gave an extra 36% buff.

Meng Fan went through both songs with Qin Jing, rehearsing each once, singing together once, and harmonizing once. It took only half an hour. Then Qin Jing faced the same dilemma as Meng Fan earlier—both songs were sung so well by Meng Fan that it was hard to choose.

A medley?

Not quite suitable.

Switch to pop songs?

Meng Fan wouldn’t agree!

In the end, they played rock-paper-scissors. If Meng Fan won, they’d choose *In the Name of Youth*; if Qin Jing won, *Long Live the Motherland*. Naturally, Meng Fan lost—his hand speed was so bad that even if he meant to throw rock, it would turn into scissors without any delay.

After deciding, they went through the song once more. Then the studio team temporarily rearranged the composition to better suit Meng Fan and Qin Jing’s duet. By the time rehearsal ended, only two hours had passed—an astonishingly efficient pace.

(End of chapter)