Overview of journalist Liu Shipeng
An old song "Promise" made the boy Guo Youcai in Heze, Shandong angry. Heze, a small third tier city located in the west of Shandong Province, has also benefited from Guo Youcai and become a popular online city. The Heze South Station, where Guo Youcai sang, has also become the most popular clocking place at present. Some netizens teased that even a mosquito could not fly into Heze South Station at 10 am.
Standing at the flow outlet, Guo Youcai, 25, admitted that he was nervous and "under a lot of pressure" for fear of problems. He wanted to seize the opportunity, so if he could do it again, he still wanted to be angry.
At 8 a.m. on May 15, Heze South Station. (Shot by Liu Shipeng)
Heze South Station on fire
At 8:00 a.m. on May 15, two hours before the live broadcast by Guo Youcai, large and small tents have been set up on the square of Heze South Railway Station, and we media bloggers from all over the country have already started various forms of live broadcast.
Heze South Railway Station, built in the late 1970s, is the starting point for many Heze people to pursue their dreams. In 1980, the first train entered Heze, and 21 years later, Heze South Railway Station withdrew from the historical stage. After 23 years of silence, Guo Youcai's "Promise" made Heze South Station as well-known as Heze Peony by netizens all over the country and became a popular clocking place. According to the media, according to official statistics, Heze South Railway Station has received more than 400000 tourists today.
On one side of the square of Heze South Railway Station is the place where Guo Youcai broadcast the live broadcast. There is a circle of guardrails around here, and BMW cars often appear in the live broadcast videos are parked inside. At about 9 a.m., Guo Youcai appeared on the live broadcast 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, stools, and some people stood on cars or even garbage cans. In the forest of mobile phones, the reporter stood on tiptoe and saw Guo Youcai. It was the same brand dress: wearing a retro suit, combed with greasy hair, matched with a mustache and glasses, and that pair of leather gloves incompatible with hot weather. In the noisy voices, Guo Youcai's voice could not be clearly heard. 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 "had three layers inside and three layers outside". The live broadcast lasted about one and a half hours and ended. Guo Youcai began to interact with the audience, shake hands, take group photos... and sang several songs for the audience. Someone loudly called Guo Youcai's name and wanted to enter the guardrail. Several staff members on the site quickly put their bodies against the guardrail to block the "enthusiastic" crowd.
At 1 p.m., Guo Youcai started to leave the site under the protection of the staff. From the crowd, after the staff used their bodies to make a way out, Guo Youcai staggered forward and finally "squeezed" into the car. The car started and slowly left the square. After Guo Youcai disappeared, the crowd on the square still did not disperse. At this time, some people began to take pictures of the places where Guo Youcai sang before with their mobile phones, some people performed in imitation of Guo Youcai's dress, and some people sang "Promise" hysterically with live broadcast
On the morning of May 15, Guo Youcai was broadcasting live at Heze South Station. (Shot by Zhang Lihao)
He has everyone's shadow
Guo Youcai, whose real name is Guo Zhuang, was born in a village in Heze, Shandong Province in 1999. At the age of 10, Guo Youcai's mother left him and his father formed a new family. Unable to adapt to the new family, Guo Youcai moved to the third aunt's house. Three years later, Guo Youcai dropped out of school and entered the society. He served as an apprentice in a tram repair shop, served as a front desk in a bath center, and worked as a real estate salesman... Guo Youcai used his savings to open a restaurant and a barbecue shop, all of which ended in failure for various reasons. By chance, Guo Youcai spent 6 yuan to buy a singing course online, and painfully spent 300 yuan to buy a guitar. From then on, whenever he was free, he practiced alone.
In May 2024, Guo Youcai finally ushered in a turning point in his life. With the cover of "Promise", he quickly became popular on the Internet. By the time of press release, Guo Youcai's account had only 6 videos and 4 songs, but it had 7.32 million fans. At the beginning of this year, Guo Youcai's account had less than 10000 fans. Among them, he sang the short video of "Promise", and his praise exceeded 2.18 million.
Data shows that Guo Youcai's live broadcast has seen more than 3 million people in the past half month, including more than 10 million people since May 12. "There is no skill, it is all emotion. The Promise sung by Guo Youcai is too high!" Some netizens left such a message. Another netizen said that the song directly reached his heart.
At 8:00 p.m. on the 15th, Guo Youcai was interviewed by the media in front of the abandoned houses to be demolished in his hometown. Compared with the noisy Heze South Railway Station, it is as quiet as another world. Standing at the door of his house, Guo Youcai changed into a casual suit, still wearing glasses, combing his hair with oil, carrying a large water cup with Sydney and jasmine in it. During the live broadcast, he sang relaxed and intoxicated, but when facing the cameras of reporters, he was still somewhat nervous and uneasy. He answered every question carefully, wiping sweat on his pants before shaking hands with others.
As for why he chose to broadcast live at Heze South Railway Station, Guo Youcai said that because he grew up there, Heze South Railway Station is full of his childhood memories. Why is it called "Brother Heze Tree"? Why dress retro when singing? Guo Youcai said that when he saw the film Mr. Hello Tree for the first time, he was deeply attracted by Wang Baoqiang's acting style, and was infected by the carefree and free spirit. He didn't care about anything, but actively did everything. "Everyone is the tree brother, but everyone can't be like the tree brother, so I also want to approach his style and be myself."
The cover of "Promise" made Guo Youcai suddenly popular. "Promise" has also become Guo Youcai's signature song, and is also a must order song for every live audience. Guo Youcai believes that the story told in Promise is very similar to his life, and he also wants to use this song to tell his own story to everyone.
On May 15, Guo Youcai was interviewed by the overview news. (Shot by Zhang Lihao)
Singing is a dream, barbecue is life
In addition to singing and making videos, Guo Youcai also runs a barbecue stall with his wife. The barbecue stand is about 14km away from Heze South Station, and it takes 20 minutes to drive. Usually, he practices singing in the morning and sells barbecues in the evening. Even after the fire breaks out, Guo Youcai will go to the barbecue booth every night for a while. Some We 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. After Guo Youcai finished the live broadcast, they would hurry to Guo Youcai's barbecue shop to take a seat after lunch until Guo Youcai appeared at 9 o'clock in the evening.
In countless media reports, Guo Youcai's success is always mentioned by his girlfriend Su Chang. Guo Youcai once used his savings to open a restaurant, which was his first venture, but it was not long before the restaurant closed. At this time, Guo Youcai met Su Chang, which was a ray of light in his life. In order to make a living, Guo Youcai opened this barbecue stand under the encouragement of Su Chang. Whether it's hot and cold, windy or rainy, Su Chang has always been with Guo Youcai, giving him endless encouragement and support. This barbecue stand has been open for five years now. These days, Guo Youcai became popular with the story of Guo Youcai's counterattack, as well as the story that he and Su Chang have supported each other so far. Guo Youcai's sentence "a good wife helps me with Qingyunzhi, and I also give her ten thousand liang gold" also moved many netizens.
"Singing is a dream, barbecue is life." After earning the first bucket of gold in life, 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. "At present, we should go ahead step by step. Otherwise, our business will not be easy. We have opened this barbecue stand for many years, but we still want to continue to open it. Later, if I have a chance, I would also like to try some original songs."
According to media reports, Guo Youcai's barbecue business is full of guests every day recently, and everything in the freezer has been sold out. In an interview with his girlfriend, Guo Youcai said that because the business was so good, some people could not line up and went to other places to eat, which helped other businesses do a little business.
At 9 o'clock on 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. It said "Guo Zhong Roasted Kidney" in six big characters. The surging flow of people is like that of Heze South Station, and the reporter can't get close to the barbecue stall run by Guo Youcai all the time. In recent days, Guo Youcai has come here. His main "job" is to take a group photo with all the fans who are waiting here early. He stays for more than an hour every night and then leaves in a hurry.
When talking about his own explosion, Guo Youcai said that he felt a little sorry for Su Chang, because he had less time to accompany Su Chang after the fire, which also made Su Chang feel aggrieved. "In the past, when the traffic was not so large, I could occasionally take her for a breeze and ride a tram around, but now this kind of opportunity is less."
At 9:00 p.m. on May 15, Guo Youcai's barbecue stand was crowded. (Shot by Liu Shipeng)
If I do it again, I still want fire
Guo Youcai believes that it is because "Promise" resonates with everyone. "Maybe everyone has seen their own shadow in me, because everyone has difficulties and stories, 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 everyone gives me a spring." Now his feelings are more profound, He kept saying that he was very grateful to so many netizens all over the country for supporting him and coming to see him. He was very moved.
After becoming popular, Guo Youcai gained the traffic of "Splash the Sky", which is very stressful for him who is born in the grass roots. He said frankly that he felt that he had a great responsibility and was very nervous every day. He would constantly tell himself to be stable, not to "float", and not to have any bad behavior. He should seize this opportunity to better improve himself, improve himself, and be a real person. Under the pressure of the flow, Guo Youcai has surprises and pressures, expectations and fears. A reporter asked him if he still wanted to be angry if he chose again? Without hesitation, he replied "Yes".
After Guo Youcai's explosion, many imitators appeared everywhere. Guo Youcai said he didn't mind. He believes that these imitators may imitate because they like his style, and cannot criticize every person who pursues dreams. He felt that these imitators also sang very well. Sometimes he would go into their live studio to watch them sing, learn something new, and see from them the way he had followed his dream on the road of music. "I feel that they are also good, and have dreams without shame," he said.
The heat continued to rise, and different voices began to come out. Some directly said that Guo Youcai did not have any singing skills. Guo Youcai was very calm about such doubts. He admitted that he really did not have skills and did not know how to sing with his voice, which is also a difficulty he is facing now. In the future, he has two wishes to realize, one is to learn and improve his singing skills, the other is to help others realize their dreams. "My idea was that I could sing in the morning, barbecue in the evening, and have a job of my own." Now his dream has come true, and he also wants to use his traffic to let everyone hear the voices of many dreamers.
In the interview, Guo Youcai also kept mentioning his hometown Heze, hoping that more people would come to Heze to taste the food and feel the simplicity and generosity of Heze people through his own flow.
Recently, many commercials have found him, including many relatives who also want him to help promote. Guo Youcai, however, hopes to "do a good job of his own image and not be too utilitarian." Guo Youcai said that he would not go live to bring goods, but if the local government preferred, he would fully cooperate with Heze government departments to promote Heze's own products.
Would you consider singing in other cities? Guo Youcai told reporters that his roots were in Heze, and he would go to a bigger stage if he had the opportunity, but eventually he would return to Heze, develop in Heze, and keep his singing voice in Heze.
