Late encore.

This is the agreement between Lan Li and Heather, and it is also the secret between Lan Li and Don Quixote, which only exists in that "one-man concert", no one knows, but no one forgets, but it is buried deep in the heart, and every time that melody sounds, it is hidden in the notes and flows again.

Now, two years later, the belated encore is finally about to be cashed in.

"Hey, does anyone know?If you owe someone an encore, how should you pay it back?" The smile on the corner of Lan Li's mouth rose slightly, like a butterfly with wings flying towards the sun, despite the pain of breaking out of the cocoon, it used all its strength to flap its wings and welcome its own hope and new life.

Lan Li's slender fingertips began to sketch the strings, just as they had been on the evening when the song was created at Mount Sinai Hospital.

It was an ordinary afternoon, and he went to Mount Sinai Hospital again to spend time with the children, singing and playing, but he was exhausted from thirty minutes of play, even harder than an hour of work in the pioneer village, and the raging winds and the brilliant sunset had become blurred in his memory, but he still remembered the kite that flew higher and higher.

At that time, Heather's condition had not deteriorated, and in the company of her father and mother, she left the ward and went to the courtyard, where she flew the kite that Lan Li had given her. It was autumn, the sky was high and crisp, and the kite opened its arms in the wind, embracing the blue sky, so arrogant and so free.

The sun was blazing brightly, and suddenly, the night swallowed up all the light and color, and the rich ink was pouring down in large patches, all so fast that it was impossible to react. Then, the first street lamps are lit, and then the lights of thousands of homes support the night of the entire city, isolating society from nature.

The whistling wind in my ears seemed to be getting noisier and louder, but it seemed to enter a quiet world.

"So we got up and pursued our destiny in the darkness, and I saw you scarred late last night, and I saw you dancing in the arms of demons." The night is boundless, I am helpless, my eyes are full of flames, which have not been extinguished by silence, and have made beauty and crowns. ”

For a long, long time, Lan Li always believed that the inspiration for these words came from Chris Hemsworth, because of the "Thor" script and because of Vanity Fair, they were all chasing their own destiny in the dark, stumbling, bruising, and even dancing with demons in order to find a glimmer of light.

But later, Lan Li finally realized that the notes and lyrics belonged to Heather Cross. Because of that long and tongue-twisting illness, her youth, her life, and her dreams were all shrouded in boundless darkness, staggering and struggling to find a glimmer of life, but after all, it was just blank and futile.

Every word and every melody thumped heavily on his chest.

"So here we are, a lonely place to which I can't go back, and you are the face that made me go to the soup, and this is the name that the children will inherit, and cast the beauty, the crown, the perfection, and the high fly. ”

Raising his eyes, Lan Li seemed to see Heather again, wearing a white lace dress, the smile on the corner of her mouth bloomed like a golden morning light, cheerful and excited, and then just like that, she matched the strings of the guitar, bitter and sweet singing, and the pain was quietly healing

Because she never missed her dream after all, because she finally forged the perfect flight away, because she finally arrived at the lonely place that she could not go back to, because she finally found the Don Quixote who walked side by side, because she finally found peace of mind again in the darkness.

There is no superfluous fancy, no cumbersome accompaniment, everything is just a guitar and a voice, Lan Li reinterprets this song in a way that returns to the basics, step by step back to the original intention of creating "The Beast", simple and pure:

They are a bunch of beasts trapped in a lonely place, rushing left and right in the fog and darkness, unable to find their way forward but losing their way back, so they stay where they are, their colors and edges slowly and slowly wear away.

Some people take risks for money, some people trample their dreams on the ground, some people stubbornly go to self-destruction, some people firmly grasp the opportunity to escape, and some people are left in place and gradually lose their minds and become wild beasts, and they start to hurt each other......

Who will be able to break the boat, who will be able to achieve the pinnacle, who will be able to achieve the dream, everything is unknown. Only a very small group of people, firmly united, unswervingly guarding each other's vows, and going to the soup and fire, just to be able to catch a ray of hope again when they dream back at midnight.

Just like Don Quixote.

Heather didn't make it to the end, she fell weakly and embarrassed, and finally stayed here forever, but her dream was not over.

"So when you're weak, when you're on your knees, I'll do my best for the rest of the day, guarding your vows, alive and true. ”

Heather's footsteps stopped, but Lan Li's footsteps were still advancing, and he continued to move forward with Heather's dream.

In a trance, Lan Li seemed to see Heather's figure, stepped onto the stage step by step, and under his gaze, came to the microphone, singing loudly and wantonly, as if standing on the stage of "American Idol", working hard for his dream.

This late encore belongs to Heather, and will eventually be sung by Heather herself, just like a foxtrot, forward, right, backward, left, back to the origin, completing a perfect closed loop in the four-beat dance steps, achieving a reincarnation.

Faintly, Lan Li's ears came from humming in unison.

"So grass / your dreams, how dare you forget our scars. ”

Raising his gaze, Lan Li saw that the tears were shining in the dark night of the audience, and the shallow waves were shining under the refraction of the stage lights, and the blurred faces were singing loudly and selflessly, one by one joining the late encore, for themselves and for Heather.

They will eventually join the ranks of Lan Li, carry Heather's dream, and continue to work hard in this lonely land that they can't go back to. Because they are all Don Quixote, the Don Quixote who daydreams and no one can understand, even if they become beasts, they will not forget the innocent heart in their hearts.

"I will become a beast for you, and if you pay enough money, all will be countless, and few dreams will be remembered. ”

Rooney hesitated slightly, because singing was indeed not her forte, but at the moment she couldn't care about it, there was just an impulse tumbling in her mind, and then she gave up suppressing her emotions and sang loudly with the audience, joining Lan Li and Heather.

When the song broke through the throat restraints, smiles and tears bloomed at the same time, looking at Lan Li in the spotlight through tears, Rooney no longer had any restraint and obstacles, just carried away and sang loudly, this encore, which had been two years late, finally sounded in Madison Square Garden.

They arrived at a lonely place to which they could not return. But they are not alone.

Even Justin, who was standing on the side stage, was a little embarrassed, and there was a tune in his ears that Ed and Marcus and others hummed softly, but he was the only one who couldn't open his mouth, because of his pride, and because of his strangeness, he could feel the emotions surging in the melody, so he was hit hard, disarmed and surrendered, and shattered, but he didn't know the song, and he couldn't sing it.

Such an out-of-place loneliness made Justin extremely embarrassed.

For the first time, he realized that he had never really understood Lan Li, and that Lan Li's melody and heart were definitely worth listening to. Those sorrows and sorrows, those perseverance and bitterness, those loneliness and loneliness, are not Justin's true feelings in the past ten years?

Justin hummed softly and awkwardly, without lyrics, just melody, catching the notes as clear as a spring, humming along, and then the mood eased little by little, through the hazy and hot eyes, quietly staring at the figure in the center of the stage.

Then, he heard the guitar strings stop, but the singing of the audience did not stop, and he became the master of Madison Square Garden with wanton and insolence.

They sang:

"So here we are, a lonely place where I can't go back, and you are the face that made me go to the soup, and this is the name that the children will inherit, and the charm and crown. ”

There is no accompaniment and no melody, just relying on the power of a cappella to make Justin completely disarm and surrender. He didn't understand the story behind the song, he didn't understand the meaning behind the encore, he just captured his own memories and stories from the melody and singing, and then completely broke the embankment.

At this moment, Justin also saw himself curled up in solitude with scars. He's also a beast.

Standing in the audience, William raised his chin high and stared proudly at the stage in front of him, albeit two years late, the encore finally became a reality, and despite the reluctance, the graduation ceremony finally came to a perfect end. They are still beasts in the lonely field, they still carry each other's dreams and continue to move forward, they are still the stubborn Don Quixote.

That's good.