"Whenever night turns my reason emotional,"
"I wrote this text message."
"Saying I don't care is just me putting up a hard front,"
"Always waiting to see how you'll react."
"I can't stay calm around you,"
"Secretly wondering about the distance between us."
"There's no wishful thinking left in my heart,"
"I know my love feels like house arrest to you."
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Ming kicked things off at zero frame.
A cheap microphone, but a priceless song.
Instead of standing completely still, Su Ming swayed slightly back and forth, finding his own rhythm.
No high-tech in-ear monitors, let alone a teleprompter.
Pure skill, all stored in his head.
He intentionally lowered his vocal range, letting his emotions slowly flow into the song.
As Liu Rumeng had said, at the very least, Su Ming had a great voice.
Only no one expected that, after blending in new rap elements, Su Ming would drop a bomb right out of the gate.
The students in the audience chattered away, full of surprise and praise for Su Ming.
"Oh! Not bad! He hooks you from the very first line!"
"Such a great sense of rhythm! And his articulation is so clear, you can really feel something different."
"I thought rap was always just mumbo-jumbo, but it looks like this guy's Mandarin pronunciation is pretty solid."
"Writing his own lyrics, throwing on a casual beat, doesn't the vibe just instantly come alive?"
"Pretty interesting. Truly worthy of being the last act—wonder if he can pull off a perfect finale?"
"................"
Amidst the surrounding discussions among the students, Su Ming's rap continued.
"We both keep our mouths shut,"
"About this distance we cannot cross."
"We endlessly go over and over,"
"The cliché plots of that romance."
"What kind of weather are you having over there?"
"Is the night sky still so transparent?"
"My words are starting to ramble again,"
"But I really can't go on without you."
His emotions gradually building, Su Ming involuntarily closed his eyes.
He was completely immersed in it!
That's right!
Memories of his past life flooded into his mind once again.
It truly was a distance that could not be crossed, truly something kept unmentioned.
Only that was Su Ming's unilateral debt to Shen Ruoyan.
The uncrossable distance existed because Su Ming had heartlessly blocked all of Shen Ruoyan's contact methods.
And keeping it unmentioned, conversely, was Liu Rumeng's response to Su Ming.
To put it bluntly, unrequited love is the most pathetic thing in the world.
So fate had given Su Ming another chance, and a devout heart had finally moved the heavens.
Therefore, this song from the future existed solely for Shen Ruoyan.
"Tsk tsk, he actually sings really well."
Liu Rumeng unconsciously started keeping time to the beat, while sensing that people around her kept glancing in her direction.
"Seriously, these days, if you want to play the devoted lover, you actually need some talent."
"The campus belle is too amazing, actually turning away such a handsome guy."
"Not necessarily, maybe she'll change her mind. Of course, this song is clearly sung for his goddess."
"The lyrics are really not bad, catchy and yet concise."
"Handsome! Liu Rumeng, if you won't chase him, can I? I'm the kind of person who's won over the moment someone chases me!"
Finding herself at the center of public attention, Liu Rumeng enjoyed this feeling of being the star surrounded by the moon.
Should she throw Su Ming a bone later on?
Meanwhile, Zhao Yuanhua was gritting his teeth, wishing he could rush up and knock Su Ming over.
Of course, let alone the fact that Su Ming had just recovered his normal walk, even if he gave him a one-leg handicap, Zhao Yuanhua was still no match.
Spoiled rotten since childhood, how could he possibly be a match for someone like Su Ming who had done farm work?
"Hóuzi! Find a chance and cut his sound system!"
Jealousy makes people unrecognizable, and Zhao Yuanhua's stomach was churning with malicious schemes.
"Boss, this is the New Year's Gala, everyone is watching."
Pulling little stunts was fine, but committing wrongdoing in plain sight was something Hóuzi didn't dare do.
"But boss, listen to me, his song is actually pretty good, he's got some real skills........"
Seeing Zhao Yuanhua shoot him a murderous glare, Hóuzi immediately changed his tune.
"He's got skills, but his brush has no bristles!"
"Hmph! So what if he can sing? I'll have my dad give a wave of his hand, and a whole crowd of top singers will have to kneel and sing 'Conquest' for me!"
Sometimes, what Zhao Yuanhua said made a lot of sense.
In any era, money seemed to be the universal currency.
"What are you standing around for? Go grab scissors and cut it! Cut it and I'll give you fifty!"
Hearing the bounty amount, Hóuzi began to stir with temptation.
Yet just as he actually approached the side of the stage, Zhang Wei quietly appeared.
"What are you sneaking around here for, kid?"
The sudden question startled Hóuzi so badly his whole body shuddered.
And in that exact instant, his common sense rushed back to his brain.
The price Zhao Yuanhua offered earlier was too hard to refuse, causing his reason to temporarily vanish.
But if he actually got caught, a major disciplinary mark was probably unavoidable.
"I, I'm not doing anything! Just taking a stroll!"
"Ha, you come over here holding a pair of scissors, and you really think I don't know what you're up to?"
Zhang Wei instantly guessed the guy's little scheme, and then yanked Hóuzi into an out-of-sight corner.
"Let me tell you, I haven't settled accounts with you yet for tripping my brother last time. And now you're pushing your luck, huh?"
Rolling up his sleeves, Zhang Wei clenched his fists.
At this moment, he was Su Ming's guardian angel!
He could skip listening to the song for now, but obstacles that needed clearing had to be handled personally.
With a wide sweep of both hands, he kicked the scissors out of Hóuzi's grip.
That wasn't even the end of it—he thrust his right leg forward and knocked the perpetrator flat on the ground.
"Like tripping people, do you?"
"Come here!"
Although Zhang Wei was somewhat slender, Hóuzi was even more pathetic trash.
No match at all, Zhang Wei subdued him in two or three moves.
"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! Ge, Grandpa Ge, I was wrong, I'll never dare do it again!"
"It's all Zhao Yuanhua's fault! He blinded my eyes with money!"
Accustomed to being a lackey, he betrayed others without a second thought.
Only Zhang Wei didn't believe a word of it, and his hands didn't stop moving for a second.
Finding a relatively thick tree, Zhang Wei used both hands and forcefully forced Hóuzi's legs apart.
Aiming right at the tree trunk, he slammed him hard against it........
"Oh!!!"
The sight was too beautiful to behold, leaving the rest to imagination.
Anyway, after a thorough tossing about, though Hóuzi was in no serious danger, he wouldn't be causing any mischief anytime soon.
"You idiot! If I ever catch you doing bad things again, I'll turn you upside down!"
Zhang Wei patted his hands, then swaggered back down under the stage.
He arrived just in time to catch the end of Su Ming's soulful singing—not too late at all.
"Please,"
"Treat me like I'm insatiable."
"Treat me like I'm pushing my luck."
"Whenever a sad expression appears on your face,"
"I feel just as sad, as if looking into a mirror."
"How I wish the time spent with you,"
"Those happy moments could suddenly freeze."
"How I wish time could speed up,"
"And take you and me to experience aging, sickness, and death together."
"I've thought about how next time will be better,"
"And started to understand your temper even more."
"Yet next time we still end up arguing,"
"Next time will probably still be without holding anything back."
"I love you with every ounce of my strength,"
"In love, constantly waiting for a miracle."
"I can't bear to see you suffer so,"
"Yet I'm unwilling to leave."
Continuing with verse after verse of soulful rap, Su Ming was by now completely lost in the moment.
His charming voice, handsome outfit, and enviable talent........
Even the young female host hiding in the corner was completely mesmerized.
She couldn't guarantee that if she really had an eighteen-year-old younger brother like this performing such an explosive show right in front of her, whether her heart would ultimately be won over.
To exaggerate even further, the young host found herself thinking of her own first love.
"Both the lyrics and the melody are top-tier, really wonderful!"
The young English teacher in the seats kept shaking her head, clearly still amazed.
"A sad expression appearing on the face, just like looking in the mirror."
"Tsk tsk, that line reminds me of the old days!"
"The crucial part is, can this kind of emotional depth really be sung by a high school student?"
"No overly fancy vocabulary, yet it plunges the audience right into the scene, setting their imaginations soaring. A professional singer couldn't possibly do much better."
The other teachers were still keeping time, knowing that getting lost in the moment was the best response right now.
Only the vice principal kept shaking his head back and forth, looking completely baffled.
"This kid is singing so fast, what on earth is he even saying?"