Here For Xiao Zhan (xiaozhan.ca)

How it all started

Thinking back, it was three times the charm before I became a Xiao FeiXia. 🤔

The first time was on December 31, 2017, during the Jiangsu TV New Year’s Countdown. 🥳 It was early morning here in Canada, and I had woken up extra early to finish reading a book I bought at Costco called Chicken Soup for the Soul: Canadian Acts of Kindness because, well, I’m Canadian and I needed affirmation that we really are that kind… I’m joking! 😂 But I was on a mission to finish 12 books that year.

I was lounging on the living room couch, and our TV just happened to be tuned to Jiangsu TV. Anyways, he was singing the Cantonese song 《乱世巨星》 with his X-Nine brothers.😄They caught my attention because it was rare to see a group of guys singing a Cantonese song on a Mandarin channel. 😲

My initial reaction was, “WOW! When did Guangdong Province get a boy band???” Then I noticed one tall guy who stood out because he was the only one wearing a fringe leather jacket. 😎 My mind went, “He’s kinda cute!” But then it quickly shifted to, “But they’re a boy band… meh!” And I went right back to reading.😂

The second time was in the summer of 2020. Yes, the height of the pandemic. I was working from home, and my mother was binge-watching Our Song on YouTube. One day, out of the blue, she said, “Wow! This boy is very hardworking! He’s filming a drama AND making time to be on this show! Come and see!”

So I got up and wandered over. I saw a tall guy in a red plaid shirt with his head down, rehearsing with a veteran female singer. I shrugged, “Meh!” and went back to typing. I didn’t even see his face, nor did I think much of it.

Third time’s the charm, and it happened on the afternoon of October 25, 2020.

I was in the kitchen when I heard a guy singing. Oh. My. Heavens! Whoever it was sounded so good!!! 😲 The melody was beautiful. The voice was perfect. So soothing. 🥰 It lured me into the living room to investigate who was singing.

There he was, this Chinese guy with an army crew cut, and my very first thought was, “Why do all Chinese guys go for this type of haircut??? Why don’t they grow it out longer?” 😂 Of course, little did I know that Zhan Zhan was in the middle of filming Ace Troops.

After that, I went on YouTube to search for the song and this guy… whose name I still didn’t know. I typed in a phrase from the Chinese lyrics that I had caught, discovered the song was “The Brightest Star in the Night Sky,” saw the name Xiao Zhan, and began searching for more of his content.

That’s when I found out he was that hardworking young actor my mom had been talking about. I ended up watching the entire first season of Our Song, and I fell even more in love with his voice.

I soon started following him on Weibo, and from there discovered his Oasis. I also joined a Xiao Zhan fan group on Facebook to keep up with news about him. This was when I learned about the 227 💩storm that had happened earlier that year, an orchestrated campaign by his antis to target him and attempt to end his career in the industry. Learning about what he had endured made me admire his resilience even more and deepened my respect for the person behind the artist.

📢 Message to the antis (you know who you are): may the fleas from a thousand camels continue to infest your armpits and all your hairy areas for all eternity! And may your arms be too short to scratch it!😂

After a few months of searching for all things Xiao Zhan and watching all his interviews on YouTube, December 5 arrived. Like many XFX around the world, I watched his “Running to You With All I Have” performance after his two-month hiatus from public appearances and the stage.

Seeing everyone in the live chat so overjoyed and tearing up because he had been silent for so long, with no updates and no appearances, was incredibly moving.

Then, a few weeks later, came Tencent Video All Star Night 2020 on December 20. That was the defining moment when I officially joined the Xiao FeiXia fandom.

That moment when the Red Sea appeared. The tears swimming in his eyes. That smile. His slightly choked voice as his fans chanted his name while crying. You didn’t have to be there in person to feel it. I felt it all while sitting in front of my monitor.

Xiao Zhan, we will always be here

I truly appreciate Xiao Zhan. Everything about him is worth it. I love his mind. I love how he stays true to his principles and values. I love how much he loves his country, China. I admire his unwavering self-discipline and perseverance.

Every one of his steady footsteps is full of purpose, even when he has to fight hard against the wind to reach his destination. He is always thinking about growing, improving, and becoming a better version of himself than he was yesterday. He never settles for anything less than giving everything he has to reach the next rung on the ladder.

I love how he always encourages those who love him to do the same, to become better versions of ourselves.

He is such an interesting soul with so much talent and positive energy to give. He is a ray of reliable sunshine in this chaotic world of uncertainty.

Since knowing him, following him, and being inspired by him, I feel like there really is something to look forward to in this world after all.

I love translating because I aspire to be a bridge that brings people together. A bridge between languages. A bridge between cultures. A bridge that helps build understanding between people from different parts of the world.

One of the translations I created in 2021 is a project I am especially proud of. The video compilation, editing, and music pairing were created by Daryear on Weibo, who creates amazing Xiao Zhan fan videos.

我的小飞侠之旅是如何开始的

现在回想起来，我可是经历了“三顾肖战”之后，才终于成为一名小飞侠。🤔

第一次是在 2017 年 12 月 31 日的江苏卫视跨年演唱会。🥳 当时加拿大还是大清早，我特地早起，准备完成自己那一年的一个小目标——读完 12 本书。我正窝在客厅的沙发上，准备把在 Costco 买的那本 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Canadian Acts of Kindness 看完。毕竟嘛，我可是加拿大人，总得看看书里有没有证实「加拿大人真的都这么善良」……哈哈，我开玩笑的啦！😂

我就这样懒洋洋地窝在客厅的沙发上，而电视刚好停留在江苏卫视。总之呢，当时肖战正和 X玖少年团的成员们一起演唱粤语歌《乱世巨星》。😄他们一下子就吸引了我的注意，因为在普通话频道上看到一群男生唱粤语歌，还真是挺少见的。😲

我当时的第一反应是：「哇！广东什么时候有男团了？？？」接着，我注意到其中有一个男生个子很高，特别显眼，因为只有他穿着一件带流苏的皮夹克。😎 我脑袋里立刻冒出一句：「欸，他还挺帅的嘛！」可下一秒马上又变成：「不过是男团啊……算了。」于是，我又默默低头继续看书了。😂

第二次是在 2020 年的夏天。没错，就是疫情最严重的时候。那时候我在家办公，而我妈妈正在 YouTube 上疯狂追看《我们的歌》。有一天，她突然毫无预兆地说道：「哇！这个男孩子真的很努力！他一边拍戏，一边还抽时间参加这个节目！快过来看！」

于是，我起身走过去看了一眼。我看到一个穿着红色格子衬衫的高个子男生，低着头，正在和一位资深女歌手一起排练。我只是耸了耸肩：「嗯……还好吧！」然后又回去继续打字了。我甚至都没有看清他的脸，也没有多想什么。

第三次，终于成了。故事发生在 2020 年 10 月 25 日的下午。

那天我正在厨房里，突然听到一个男生在唱歌。天啊！😲 不管是谁，声音也太好听了吧！！！旋律太美了，嗓音也太完美了，听起来特别治愈。🥰 那歌声就像有魔力一样，把我吸引到了客厅，想看看究竟是谁在唱歌。

然后，我看到了他。一个留着军人寸头的中国男生。而我当时的第一个想法竟然是：「为什么中国男生都喜欢留这种发型？？？为什么不把头发留长一点呢？」😂 当然，那时候的我完全不知道，战战正在拍摄军旅剧《王牌部队》。

之后，我跑去 YouTube 搜索这首歌和这个男生……但当时我甚至还不知道他的名字。我把自己听到的一句中文歌词输入搜索栏，找到了这首歌原来是《夜空中最亮的星》，也看到了「肖战」这个名字。于是，我开始寻找更多关于他的内容。

这时候，我才发现，原来他就是妈妈之前提到过的那个努力拍戏、还抽时间参加节目的年轻演员。后来，我把《我们的歌》第一季完整地看完了，也越来越喜欢他的声音。

没过多久，我开始关注他的微博，也从那里发现了他的绿洲。我还加入了一个肖战粉丝 Facebook 群组，以便及时了解他的最新消息。也是在这个时候，我第一次了解到那一年早些时候发生的 227 💩风波。这是一场由他的黑粉策划、针对他的恶意行动，企图影响他在这个行业的发展，甚至断送他的演艺事业。了解到他曾经经历过的一切后，我反而更加敬佩他的坚韧，也更加尊重聚光灯背后的那个真实的他。

📢 给黑粉们的一句话（你们知道自己是谁）：愿一千只骆驼身上的跳蚤永远寄生在你们的腋下和所有毛茸茸的地方！愿你们的手臂永远短到够不着痒处！😂

在花了几个月寻找一切关于肖战的内容、观看他在 YouTube 上的各种采访后，12 月 5 日终于到来了。和世界各地的小飞侠一样，我观看了他在经历了两个月的沉寂后，重新回到公众视野和舞台上的《用尽我的一切奔向你》表演。

看到直播间里的大家因为等待了这么久，终于再次见到他，激动到开心落泪，而他这段时间没有任何更新，也没有公开露面，那一刻真的让我非常感动。

几周后，2020 年 12 月 20 日的腾讯视频星光大赏到来了。而那一晚，成为了我正式加入小飞侠大家庭的决定性时刻。

那个红海出现的瞬间。

他眼中的泪光。

那个笑容。

在粉丝们一边哭泣、一边呼喊他的名字时，他略带哽咽的声音。

你不需要亲自在现场，也能感受到那份力量。而我，就坐在显示器前，真真切切地感受到了这一切。

肖战，我们永远都在

我真的非常欣赏肖战。他身上的一切，都值得我去珍惜。

我喜欢他的思想，喜欢他始终坚守自己的原则和价值观。我喜欢他对祖国中国的热爱。我敬佩他始终如一的自律与坚持。

他的每一步脚印都走得坚定而有意义，即使前方有狂风阻挡，他依然会努力向着自己的目标前进。他始终在思考如何成长、如何进步，如何成为比昨天更好的自己。他从不会满足于停留在原地，而是竭尽全力攀向更高的阶梯。

我也喜欢他总是鼓励喜欢他的人，和他一样努力成为更好的自己。

他是一个如此有趣的灵魂，拥有无限的才华，也拥有许多积极的能量可以传递给他人。在这个充满不确定性的混乱世界里，他就像一束可靠的阳光。

自从认识他、关注他，并受到他的影响后，我觉得这个世界似乎又多了一些值得期待的事情。

我喜欢翻译，因为我希望自己能够成为一座连接彼此的桥梁。一座连接语言的桥梁。一座连接文化的桥梁。一座帮助来自世界不同地方的人们建立理解与沟通的桥梁。

我在 2021 年完成的一项翻译作品，是一个让我特别自豪的项目。视频的剪辑、制作以及音乐搭配均由微博上的 Daryear 完成，她创作了许多非常精彩的肖战粉丝视频。