Chapter 46 Old Boy
The deep, serene blue sea rippled with gentle waves, and the golden sunlight shimmering upon its surface made every speck of gold look like a young person harboring a dream.
In this passionate era, every surge of the waves gathered strength for the coming swell, waiting only for the great tide to strike.
"Let's head back," Xu Xiu said, breaking everyone's reverie.
Looking back every few steps, they actually felt a trace of reluctance to leave this place.
Perhaps what they missed wasn't truly this specific location, but its tranquil and beautiful atmosphere, which reminded them of a certain place from their childhood and the friends they once had.
It brought back memories of playing in the mud with childhood playmates, stretching a thin rubber band, and drawing squares on the ground to play hopscotch...
"In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed～ How many partings and reunions～ Once upon a time, we were youths with grand ambitions～ envying the geese flying south～"
In the rocking little boat on the return trip, Xu Xiu's singing slowly drifted from the back row.
The singing seemed to carry an inexplicable magic, causing everyone's eyes to narrow slightly.
"Figures rushing toward their respective futures～ gradually drifting away in haste～"
"..."
"You who accompanied me back then～ Where are you now?"
"..."
"Life is like a ruthless carving knife～ altering who we are～ Must we wither before we ever bloom～ I once had dreams～"
"Youth is like a rushing river～ flowing away never to return, too late to say goodbye～ Leaving only a numb me～ devoid of the fiery passion of yesteryear～"
"..."
A few of the girls had their eyes reddened by Xu Xiu, their faces stained with tears and filled with sorrow.
Wang Chuanjun and Wu Dajing fared slightly better, but their eye sockets were still somewhat moist.
This scene paired with this song simply made it impossible not to cry.
"Is, is, is this also your original song? What's the title?" Meng Ziyi asked, her nose twitching as she cried.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone on the boat turned to look at Xu Xiu.
They truly had not heard this song before. Chances were that Xu Xiu had composed it right on the spot. After all, the song fit the mood far too well, as if it had been custom-made for them.
"It is my original, but I didn't compose it on the spot. I wrote it down a long time ago. The title is 'Old Boy'," Xu Xiu said earnestly.
Despite his words, none of the others believed him.
They had gradually come to realize a fundamental truth: whenever Xu Xiu said something, you had to interpret the exact opposite of what he meant!
Xu Xiu was barely in his early twenties. You write "Old Boy" in your early twenties?
Should they believe he was the First Emperor of Qin, or that he had written this beforehand?
This was practically a gimme question!
Regardless of whether they believed him or not, Xu Xiu had no other choice. Was he supposed to tell them he had spent 100,000 exposure points in the system to redeem it?
After all, he had completely wiped out the exposure points he accumulated during this period—every last drop... if one didn't count the remaining 250 emotional points!
The guests had all been brought to tears by Xu Xiu, and the viewers were naturally no exception, one after another having their emotional defenses completely shattered by him.
"Listening to this just made me start crying. My baby is almost seven months old and is out eating baby food right now / weeping."
"At 20, I thought I would accomplish something great by the time I was 30. Looking back now, at 29, my life is an absolute mess."
"Damn it! Xu Xiu, you beast! Why are you singing a song? And why is it so heartbreaking? I'm crying like an absolute idiot while my wife keeps asking what I'm crying about."
"Run for your lives, brothers! There's emotional shrapnel flying everywhere!"
"I'm twenty-eight this year. I bought the motorcycle I loved most when I was eighteen, but my state of mind now is worlds apart from when I was eighteen."
[Ding! ... Singing +0.0069 × 3 ... Acting +0.0069 × 3 ... Cooking +0.0069 × 3 ... Physique +0.0069 × 3 ...]
Hearing the system prompt, Xu Xiu rubbed his chin.
Praise be to the system!
I admit I spoke a bit too loudly earlier. Just pretend you didn't hear me!
When the group returned, they had just bid farewell to Wu Dajing, who had to leave temporarily, only to discover that Song Dan was also heading off to record another variety show.
Upon learning this news, grief welled up in everyone's hearts... while the smiles at the corners of their mouths were nearly impossible to suppress!
"Wuwuwu~ Mother Dan, we're going to miss you!"
"Mom! Remember to come back early!"
"We miss you, we miss you, we miss you so much!"
Everyone wore deeply sorrowful expressions. Song Dan actually fell for it, bidding them a reluctant and affectionate farewell.
"Go on back, all of you, hurry back inside!"
The very instant Song Dan's figure vanished from sight—
Every single person, without exception, immediately revealed an expression of utter relief!
"Oh yeah!"
"Nice!"
"Phew~"
They weren't even bothering to put on an act anymore.
"Well, now that our matriarch is gone, we can do whatever we want!" Wang Suong boldly proclaimed.
He exuded the attitude of a monkey proclaiming itself king while the tiger was away from home.
"Mother Dan may be gone, but don't forget I'm still here. I'm still the dock master," Xu Xiu glanced at him.
At these words, the atmosphere on the scene instantly grew tense once again.
Everyone looked at Xu Xiu with trepidation, terrified that he might propose some sort of grueling collective activity.
Li Xueqin waved her hand dismissively:
"Don't listen to him. Let me tell you just how awful he is. Didn't we go to the deserted island to find Brother Jun? We were in a great mood originally, but then he sang a single song and plunged us all into an emotional abyss!"
"That's right~ Look, my eyes are still swollen. I'm going to have to put on an eye mask later to bring down the swelling," Meng Ziyi said, pointing to her eye sockets.
"My eyes are swollen too. It was hard enough getting up early for once, only for things to end up like this," Song Yanfei chimed in.
Hearing the three girls say this, the looks everyone cast toward Xu Xiu became somewhat strange.
"What kind of song did you write, kid? How could it possibly make all of them cry?" Wang Suong glanced over with a puzzled expression.
Even a professional singer like Wang Suong was this curious, let alone the rest of them.
"Nothing much, just a song about ideals. You'll be able to hear it once it's officially released," Xu Xiu spread his hands.
"Come on, give us a couple of lines. You can't just hook our curiosity and then leave us hanging," Wang Suong said, grabbing Xu Xiu's arm.
"Exactly, sing a couple of lines for us to hear too. You've already sung it before anyway, so doing it again is no big deal."
"..."
"Are you guys serious? Can we not?" It wasn't that Xu Xiu didn't want to sing; he was afraid he would make them cry.
Why was everyone so curious? Didn't they know curiosity killed the cat?
Besides, what was there for a bunch of grown men to be so curious about?
Could it be that the desire for gossip is universal, regardless of gender, age, or health?
"Just sing a couple of lines, we love listening."
"Yeah, we're really curious!"
"What kind of song has that much power?"
Pushed and shoved by the group, Xu Xiu was eventually cornered onto the sofa.
A single person's strength was limited; unable to resist their collective pressure, Xu Xiu could only start singing with extreme reluctance:
"Life—is like a ruthless carving knife～ altering who we are～"
"Must we wither before we ever bloom～ I once had dreams～"
"..."
"..."
"..."
...
(PS: Some readers asked to see the stats panel. This word count does not count toward the main chapter length!
The stats panel is as follows:
Character: Xu Xiu
Singing: 70
Acting: 70
Appearance: 100, handsome like the readers!
Cooking: 85
Physique: 80
Normal human standard: 60, Maximum score: 100
Exposure points: 15,525)