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Overview of news reporter Liu Shipeng
An old song "Promise" made Guo Youcai, a young man from Heze, Shandong, popular. Heze, a third-tier town located in Luxi, has also been stained with Guo Youcai's light and has become a hot Internet celebrity city. And the place where Guo Youcai sings - Heze South Station has also become the most popular check-in place at the moment. Some netizens ridiculed that at 10 o'clock in the morning, even mosquitoes could not fly in.
Standing at the outlet, 25-year-old Guo Youcai admitted that he was very nervous and "under great pressure", for fear that there would be problems. He really wanted to take this opportunity, so if he could do it again, he still wanted to be angry.
Heze South Station at 8 a.m. on May 15. (Photo by Liu Shipeng)
Heze South Station was set on fire
At 8 o'clock in the morning on May 15th, there were still 2 hours before Guo Youcai's live broadcast, and tents of all sizes had been set up on the square of Heze South Station, and self-media bloggers from all over the country had already started various forms of live broadcasts.
Heze South Railway Station was built at the end of the 70s of the last century, which is the starting point for many Heze people to chase their dreams. In 1980, the first train entered Heze, and 21 years later, Heze South Station withdrew from the historical stage. After 23 years of silence, Guo Youcai's song "Promise" made Heze South Station as well-known to netizens across the country as Heze Peony and became a popular check-in place. According to some media, according to official statistics, Heze South Railway Station received more than 400,000 tourists today.
On the side of the square of Heze South Railway Station is the place where Guo Youcai livestreamed, surrounded by a guardrail, and the BMW car that often appears in the live broadcast video is parked inside. At around 9 o'clock in the morning, Guo Youcai appeared at the live broadcast site and began to debug the equipment. At 10 a.m., the live broadcast officially began.
In order to see Guo Youcai, some people stepped on ladders and stools, and some people stood on cars and even garbage cans. In Lin Li's mobile phone, the reporter stood on tiptoe and saw Guo Youcai. It's still the same signature outfit: a vintage suit, oily hair, a mustache and glasses, and leather gloves that don't fit in with the heat. In the noisy voices, Guo Youcai's singing voice could not be heard very clearly, and after hearing the lyrics intermittently, the reporter recognized that he sang his signature song "Promise" first.
During the live broadcast, the reporter tried to "rush" forward, but the people around Guo Youcai were "three layers inside and three layers outside". The live broadcast lasted about an hour and a half and came to an end, and Guo Youcai began to interact with the audience, shaking hands and taking photos...... And sang a few songs for the audience. Someone shouted Guo Youcai's name loudly and wanted to enter the guardrail, but many staff members in the field hurriedly used their bodies against the guardrail to block the "enthusiastic and excited" crowd.
At 1 p.m., Guo Youcai began to leave the scene under the protection of the staff. From the crowd, after the staff used their bodies to carve out a road, Guo Youcai staggered forward, and finally "squeezed" into the car with difficulty. The car started and slowly drove away from the square. After Guo Youcai's figure disappeared, the crowd in the square still did not disperse. At this time, some people began to take pictures of the place where Guo Youcai sang before, some people imitated Guo Youcai's costume to perform, and some people sang "Promise" hysterically on a live broadcast......
He has everyone's shadow on him
Guo Youcai, whose real name is Guo Zhuang, was born in 1999 in a village in Heze, Shandong. When he was 10 years old, Guo Youcai's mother left him, and his father started a new family. Because he didn't adapt to the new family, Guo Youcai moved to his third aunt's house. Three years later, Guo Youcai dropped out of school and entered the society, worked as an apprentice in a tram repair shop, worked as a front desk for a bathing center, and worked as a real estate salesman...... Guo Youcai once used his savings to open restaurants and barbecue restaurants successively, but they all failed for various reasons. By chance, Guo Youcai spent 6 yuan to buy a singing tutorial on the Internet, and reluctantly spent 300 yuan to buy a guitar, and since then, as long as he is free, he has practiced alone.
In May 2024, Guo Youcai finally ushered in a turning point in his life, and with his cover of "Promise", he quickly became popular on the Internet. As of press time, Guo Youcai's account only has 6 videos and 4 songs, but it already has 7.32 million fans, while Guo Youcai's account has less than 10,000 fans at the beginning of this year. Among them, he sang a short video of "Promise", with more than 2.18 million likes.
The data shows that in the past half a month, the average number of viewers of Guo Youcai's live broadcast has exceeded 3 million, of which the number of viewers of the live broadcast since May 12 has exceeded 10 million. "There is no skill, it's all feelings, Guo Youcai's "Promise" is too top-notch!" Some netizens left such a message. Some netizens said that this song was sung directly to their hearts.
At 8 o'clock in the evening of the 15th, in front of the abandoned house to be demolished in his hometown village, Guo Youcai was interviewed by the media. Compared to the noisy Heze South Railway Station, it is as quiet as another world. Guo Youcai, who was standing at the door of the house, changed into a casual suit, still wearing glasses, combing his oily hair, and carrying a large water glass, soaked in pears and jasmine. During the live broadcast, he sang easily and intoxicated, but when facing the cameras of reporters, he still looked a little cramped and uneasy. He answered each question carefully, wiping sweat from his pants before shaking hands.
As for why he chose to broadcast live at Heze South Station, Guo Youcai said that because he grew up there, Heze South Station is full of his childhood memories. Why is it named "Brother Heze"? Why dress up retro when singing? Guo Youcai said that when he watched the movie "Hello Mr. Tree" for the first time, he was deeply attracted by Wang Baoqiang's acting style, and was infected by that kind of carefree and free energy, he didn't care about anything, but he actively did everything. "Everyone is Brother Shu, but everyone can't be like Brother Shu, so I also want to get close to his style and be myself."
The cover of "Promise" made Guo Youcai suddenly popular, and "Promise" has also become Guo Youcai's signature song, and it is also a must-order track for every live broadcast audience. Guo Youcai believes that the story told in "The Promise" is very similar to his life, and he also wants to use this song to tell everyone his story.
On May 15, Guo Youcai was interviewed by Zongguan News. (Photo by Zhang Lihao)
Singing is a dream, barbecue is life
In addition to singing and shooting videos, Guo Youcai also runs a barbecue stall with his lover. The barbecue stall is about 14 kilometers from Heze South Railway Station, which takes 20 minutes by car. Usually, he practices singing every morning and sells barbecue at a stall in the evening, even after the explosion, Guo Youcai will go to the barbecue stall every night to be busy for a while. Some self-media bloggers said that they would go to Heze South Station at two or three o'clock in the morning to wait for Guo Youcai's live broadcast at 10 o'clock in the morning, and when Guo Youcai finished the live broadcast, he would hurry to Guo Youcai's barbecue restaurant to occupy a place after lunch, and wait until Guo Youcai appeared at 9 o'clock in the evening.
Countless media reports mention Guo Youcai's success, and his girlfriend Su Chang will always be mentioned. Guo Youcai once used his savings to open a restaurant, which was his first venture, but it didn't take long for the restaurant to close down. At this time, Guo Youcai met Su Chang, which was a ray of light in his life. In order to live, Guo Youcai opened this barbecue stall with the encouragement of Su Chang, no matter the heat and cold, or wind and rain, Su Chang has always been by Guo Youcai's side, giving him endless encouragement and support, this barbecue stall has been open for 5 years now. In the past few days, the story of Guo Youcai's counterattack has become popular together, as well as the story of him and Su Chang supporting each other so far, Guo Youcai's sentence "A good wife helps me Qingyunzhi, and I also have a good wife with ten thousand taels of gold" also touched many netizens.
"Singing is a dream, barbecue is life." After earning his first pot of gold, he began to focus more on his music career. He sings live during the day and barbecues seriously at night. Guo Youcai told reporters that barbecue is something he has always insisted on doing, "No matter how big the traffic is, no matter how long-term my dream is, I will not give up barbecue." "He will still do business in the future, because the popularity of the Internet is only temporary." At present, let's do it step by step, otherwise our business will not be good, we have been open for many years, and we still want to continue to open. In the future, if I have the chance, I would like to try some original songs. ”
According to media reports, Guo Youcai's barbecue business has been full of customers every day recently, and the contents of the freezer have been sold out. Guo Youcai and his girlfriend said in an interview that because the business was so good, some people couldn't line up, so they went to eat somewhere else, which also drove a little business to other businesses.
At 9 o'clock in the evening of the 15th, the reporter also came to the barbecue stall run by Guo Youcai. More than ten meters away, the reporter saw a big sign that was much higher than the signboard of other barbecue stalls, with six big characters written on it: "Guo Zhongdao Roasted Kidneys". The surging flow of people is like that of Heze South Station, and reporters have never been able to get close to the barbecue stall run by Guo Youcai. In recent days, Guo Youcai has only arrived here, and his main "work" is to take photos with fans from all walks of life who are waiting here early, and then leave in a hurry after staying for more than an hour every night.
Talking about his popularity, Guo Youcai said that he felt a little sorry for Su Chang, because after the fire, he spent a lot less time with Su Chang, which also made Su Chang feel aggrieved. "In the past, when the traffic was not so big, I could occasionally take her to blow the wind and ride a tram around, but now there are fewer such opportunities."
If I do it again, I still want to be on fire
Guo Youcai believes that it is because "Promise" has resonated with everyone. "Maybe everyone sees their own shadow in me, because everyone has difficulties, everyone has a story, so Guo Youcai's story can resonate with everyone." Guo Youcai said many times in interviews with the media, "I want a spring breeze, and what everyone gives me is a spring." Now his feelings are even more profound, and he keeps saying that he is very grateful to so many netizens from all over the country for supporting him, and he is very touched to see him.
After becoming popular, Guo Youcai gained the traffic of "pouring the sky", which was very stressful for him who was born from the grassroots. He said frankly that he felt that he had a big responsibility, and he was very nervous every day, and he would keep telling himself to be stable, not to "float", not to have any bad behavior, to seize this opportunity, to better improve himself, to improve himself, and to do things and behave in a real way. Under the coercion of traffic, Guo Youcai was surprised and stressed, expectant and panicked. A reporter asked him, if he chose again, would he still want to be popular? He did not hesitate and replied "yes".
After Guo Youcai became popular, many imitators appeared in various places, and Guo Youcai said that he didn't mind. He believes that these imitators may like his style to imitate, and cannot criticize everyone who pursues their dreams. He feels that these imitators sing very well, and he sometimes goes into their live broadcast room to watch them sing, learn something new, and see in them how he was chasing his dream on the road of music. "I feel that they are also good, and there is no shame in having dreams." He said.
The popularity continued to rise, and different voices began to come out, some directly said that Guo Youcai did not have any singing skills. Guo Youcai is very calm about such doubts, he admits that he does not have skills and does not know how to sing with his voice, which is also a difficulty he is facing now. In the future, he has two wishes he wants to fulfill, one is to further study and improve his singing skills, and the other is to help others realize their dreams. "Originally, my idea was to be able to sing in the morning during the day, barbecue in the evening, and have my own job." Now that his dream has come true, he also wants to use his traffic so that everyone can hear the voices of many dreamers.
During the interview, Guo Youcai also kept mentioning his hometown of Heze, hoping that through his own traffic, more people would come to Heze, taste the food of Heze, and feel the simplicity and generosity of Heze people.
Recently, many commercial performance advertisements have found him, including many relatives who also want him to help promote them. Guo Youcai hoped, "Do a good job of your image, don't want to be too utilitarian." Guo Youcai said that he would not go to the live broadcast to bring goods, but if the local area is preferred, he will fully cooperate with the Heze government department to promote Heze's own products.
Would you consider going to other cities to sing? Guo Youcai told reporters that his roots are in Heze, and he will go to a bigger stage if he has the opportunity, but in the end he will return to Heze, develop in Heze, and leave his singing voice in Heze.