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Chapter 41.1
Thanks to Zheng Dong’s timely response and good PR, Xu Luoyang’s ‘10,000-word counter attack’ not only helped him generate a wave of goodwill among passers-by, but also provided the material for a variety of emoji packs and joking materials. By the end of the branding campaign in the afternoon, public opinion online was already harmonious.
Because of the tight schedule, lunch was ordered from the hotel and taken care of directly in the artist’s van. As the three of them gathered around the small table, Zheng Dong unpacked the tableware and took the time to give Xu Luoyang a precautionary remark: “Student Xu, what does this tell us?”
Xu Luoyang was very quick in answering, “Trust Zheng Ge, don’t get hacked!”
After glaring at him, Zheng Dong laughed, “Anyway, in future, if you have any problems, remember to give me a call in advance, so that I can have a plan in mind. We will never fight unprepared battles.”
“En, I will be conscious of that.” Xu Luoyang responded then reached into a nearby locker and pulled out a rectangular wooden box which opened to reveal a pair of chopsticks.
Cupping the chopsticks in his hands, Xu Luoyang introduced them to Zheng Dong and Lu Di with a flourish, “These are the wooden chopsticks Chang’an made for me. They have my name engraved on them!”
Zheng Dong asked Lu Di with a light expression, “Di Zi, have you recorded it? How many times has this been said explicitly and implicitly?”
Lu Di took his cell phone out, clicked on the notepad app and answered seriously, “This is the seventeenth time this month.”
Xu Luoyang : “……”
After lunch, Xu Luoyang wrapped himself up in a fleece blanket and grabbed a twenty minute nap. After the car drove to its destination, the three men got out and followed the staff into the venue.
Inside, the first rehearsal with the equipment was underway, the lights were shimmering and the floor was covered in a mess of wires that hadn’t been tidied up yet. Xu Luoyang smoothly rearranged the score stand that had fallen to the floor and asked Lu Di to deliver the small gifts he had brought to the staff first then took a microphone to speak, thanking them.
The tuner, a bearded uncle who had worked with him many times, was wearing a tattered denim jacket full of holes with headphones hanging around his neck and standing behind the equipment shouted at Xu Luoyang, “Handsome guy standing in the middle, try singing a high note and I’ll see how it goes!”
“OK!” Xu Luoyang nodded and took the microphone, but just as he sang a note, he suddenly stopped, gestured towards the tuner with a ‘pause’ sign then jogged over to Lu Di. He hurriedly shoved his phone over, “Quick, when I sing later, record the best part, make sure you get a good shot!”
Lu Di nodded, “Xu Ge, are you going to post it?”
Putting his hand against his lips and pretending to cough twice, Xu Luoyang lowered his voice slightly, “I’m not going to post it, I’m just sending it to Mr. Qi. “
Lu Di instantly felt a great responsibility!
Stepping back into the center of the machines and equipment, Xu Luoyang gestured and a few seconds later, the backing track played, but in a version that skipped straight through the beginning and into the climax. Xu Luoyang counted the beats in his mind, stuck his left hand in his pocket, adjusted his breathing and followed the accompaniment, his voice easily rising straight up.
His soprano voice was based on a naturally wide range and a special tone with a strong tolerance, and because of his professional training in the past few years, his voice wasn’t very tired even when he sang continuously in the high notes.
The hands of Lu Di, who was holding up the phone shook and he felt that this rehearsal by Xu Luoyang was directly up to the standard of a formal performance, then he realized abruptly that he seemed to have been given another bowl of dog food.
After singing one bar, the tuner gestured and Xu Luoyang switched off the microphone, then trotted over hurriedly and asked, “How was it, how did it go? Did I sing well?”
Seeing Lu Di nod, he took the phone, looked it over himself and after being satisfied, tapped on the chat box with Qi Chang’an and sent the video. After thinking about it, Xu Luoyang typed another line, “Trying out the sound at the venue and singing a few random lines. “
When Qi Chang’an received the video, he was at a dinner party dressed in a tuxedo. When he saw the words from Xu Luoyang, a smile spread in his eyes and he said to Willis, the man from [Absolute Pursuit], “Sorry, I’ve got a little personal business to attend to. “
It was rare to see such a smile from Qi Chang’an so Willis, curious but not keen on prying into other people’s privacy, nodded, “OK, when the director comes to look for you later, I’ll tell him you’ve gone to talk to your sweetheart on the phone.”
Seeing Qi Chang’an’s short stunned expression, Willis said mysteriously, “Your micro-expressions betray you.” Then pointed to his own face with a mischievous smile on it.
Coming out of the ballroom and finding a secluded corner in the courtyard, Qi Chang’an loosened his tie before clicking on the video.
The sound coming from the video was noisy and the picture was a bit blurry due to the erratic lighting, but when he saw Xu Luoyang standing in the center, Qi Chang’an’s eyes were instantly drawn to him.
Xu Luoyang was wearing a white hoodie and skinny jeans that made his legs look slender and long. As the accompaniment played, Xu Luoyang reached up and took off his hood, after which he stuck his hands in the pockets of his trouser casually and stood in a loose posture, yet he exuded a charming quality. And the moment the crystal clear high notes reached his ears, Qi Chang’an only felt his heart flutter with them.
Standing under a large lush tree, he watched the video over and over a dozen times before replying seriously, “Nao Nao sings very well and is very handsome. “
The venue was noisy, but Xu Luoyang was quick to notice the faint beep of his phone and, looking down at the reply sent by Qi Chang’an, struggled for a moment before replying with an emoji of a person standing with his hands on his hips, followed by the words, “Of course!” After a few seconds, he added, somewhat shyly, “I’ll sing it to you alone next time. “
Xu Luoyang’s ears burned after he inadvertently conjured an ambiguous image, breaking forty degrees in seconds, then he hurriedly shook his head, attempting to shake the mosaic out of his head.
Next to him, Zheng Dong was discussing the arrangements for the venue with the coordinator and when Xu Luoyang heard it, he quickly winked at him.
When Xu Luoyang’s eyes were almost cramped, Zheng Dong paused, then spoke up, cooperating by saying, “The row in the audience area closest to the stage, the middlemost seat is reserved and not for sale.”
Xu Luoyang nodded his head immediately, then wanted to announce loudly that that seat would be his Qi Qi’s exclusive seat from now on! But after a moment’s hesitation, he regrettably crossed out the word ‘his’ in his mind.
It was so sad that he wasn’t his yet.
On the morning of March 22nd, the penultimate rehearsal was underway. Sitting on the stage with a microphone in his hand, Xu Luoyang dozed off against a stainless steel stand. He’d had a very full schedule for a while now and was suffering from a lack of sleep on a daily basis, so he took advantage of any opportunity to sleep for a while.
When he heard the coordinator calling his name, he stood up in a flash, his eyes clear, without a trace of sleepiness at all, “Yang Ge, is there something wrong?”
“Not on my part. It’s Zheng Ge who is calling you. “
Nodding, Xu Luoyang walked over quickly to find both Zheng Dong and Lu Di looking at a shiny black metal case. He looked at it as well, but not finding anything special, asked in wonder, “Is the packaging for the hotel delivery already this tight?”
“….” Zheng Dong looked at Xu Luoyang speechlessly, then said succinctly, “Your Mr. Qi sent it over. “
Then in the next second, he saw Xu Luoyang turn his face and laugh, saying in a small voice, “He’s not mine yet, but don’t worry Zheng Ge, I’ll work on it!” Coughing softly, the expression on Xu Luoyang’s face turned serious again, “I’ll open it and see what’s inside.”
Saying this Xu Luoyang handed the microphone in his hand to Lu Di to hold it and reached out to open the shiny black metal case himself.
“F*ck!”
“A rich tyrant!”
“……”
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