They Were Satisfied Once, But Won't Always Be

"If this string of music were to record a feeling,"

"The distant northern star would echo it..."

Chen Man'an sang a song called The Pianist, her voice low, hoarse, and sexy, earning unanimous praise from everyone.

Wang Ge snatched the microphone before Zhou Liu could, winking at Chen Yanxi, "Ahem, a song called Love Like Fire, for my dearest Xixi."

A chorus of "Ew~" erupted from Zhou Liu and the other three.

The accompaniment began, and Wang Ge gave his friends the middle finger before raising the microphone and singing loudly:

"My heart is beating, it's love like raging fire,"

"You're smiling, and I'm the one going crazy."

"Love like fire will warm my heart,"

"I see the flames of love flickering!"

"..."

His level 3 Singing Skill allowed him to perfectly handle the song, which wasn't too difficult. He sang with all his might, his voice incredibly loud, almost to the point of being noise pollution. Anyone who heard him would have the melody and his strained singing get stuck in their heads.

"I didn't feel any 'love like fire,' but the volume was definitely 'like fire'," Huang Wenyan grumbled, baring his teeth.

"Mm, but Wang Ge's singing has indeed improved a bit. He used to be so off-key, but he hasn't missed a note in this Love Like Fire," Yang Songyue commented.

"It's definitely better than before. He's barely reached half my skill level," Zhou Liu agreed with a nod.

Wang Ge ignored the boastful guy and went to sit beside Chen Yanxi, asking expectantly, "How was it? Did I sing well? Did you feel my fiery love for you?"

"...I feel like you want to drag me into a burning pit with you."

"Hmm... a double suicide?" Wang Ge pondered for a moment, his eyes lighting up. "Sounds quite romantic, doesn't it?"

"You call jumping into a burning pit romantic?"

"My dear, you're getting too caught up in the details. Think about it, jumping into the sea is jumping, and jumping into a burning pit is also jumping, just like in Titanic."

Wang Ge laughed heartily, mimicking Jack's tone from the movie, "Xixi, You jump, I jump!"

Chen Yanxi: "..."

She rubbed her temples with a hint of helplessness.

She didn't know when it started, but his way of speaking had become completely erratic, jumping from one topic to another. Now, she could barely keep up with his thought process.

The atmosphere in the private room was lively. After Zhou Liu and the other three took turns singing, they moved on to singing duets.

Unfortunately, Wang Ge couldn't participate because Chen Yanxi didn't know how to sing.

The two of them could only watch.

However, Wang Ge seemed to be enjoying himself. He put his arm around Chen Yanxi and sat in a corner, listening to Zhou Liu and the others' duets, offering a few comments, boasting about how he sang better than them, and so on.

He would occasionally whisper to Chen Yanxi, hold her hand, take some liberties, and let Chen Yanxi feed him fruit from the platter.

As he ate the orange Chen Yanxi fed him, Wang Ge felt that life was truly wonderful.

He wished this wonderful feeling could last forever.

"Don't you have hands, Wang Ge? You need Chen Yanxi to feed you an orange," Zhou Liu said, feeling annoyed as he saw Wang Ge relaxing. He had just finished a duet with Huang Wenyan and was reminded of the unpleasant experience of singing a love song with another man.

"Sorry, I'm useless," Wang Ge replied lazily.

Zhou Liu: "..."

Wang Ge was a slippery character, so Zhou Liu turned to Chen Yanxi and spoke earnestly, "Chen Yanxi, listen to me. Don't always indulge him. I've known this guy since we were kids. He's the type who'll take any advantage. If you feed him an orange now, maybe tomorrow he'll ask you to help him chase a mistress..."

He lectured her earnestly. After Chen Yanxi patiently listened to him finish, she shook her head and said, "It's okay, I don't mind."

It's just pretend, after all. What's there to mind?

Zhou Liu, unaware of this, looked at Wang Ge with extreme jealousy upon hearing Chen Yanxi's words. "How are you so lucky to find a girlfriend as angelic as Chen Yanxi..."

Before Wang Ge could respond, Chen Man'an stormed out, grabbing Zhou Liu's ear. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm not good enough? Chen Yanxi is an angel, so I'm a devil, right?"

"How could that be? In my heart, you are, uh, you are... you are the King of Angels! In my heart, you are the King of Angels, An'an!" Zhou Liu shouted, his survival instincts kicking in.

The other four sat on the sofa watching the spectacle, laughing heartily.

After a bit of playful scuffling, the day's activities drew to a close.

"Let's go home, bye-bye."

"Be safe."

They said their goodbyes at the KTV entrance. Wang Ge hailed a taxi and drove Chen Yanxi home first.

"Did you have fun today?"

In the taxi, Wang Ge asked with a smile.

"It was a very memorable experience," Chen Yanxi said, looking at the passing scenery. "This is my first time going out with people. First times are always easy to remember."

"Did you always play by yourself before?"

"No," Chen Yanxi shook her head. "I've never been out to play before. Whether it's a haunted house, a script murder mystery game, or KTV, this is my first time doing any of them."

"Your first time playing a script murder mystery game and you almost beat me, an old hand. Impressive," Wang Ge said with a smile.

Chen Yanxi also smiled slightly, saying nothing.

"But if you don't usually go out to play, don't you get bored staying home all the time?" Wang Ge asked again.

"I don't just stay home. I have a lot of cram schools to attend."

"Cram schools? Are they the kind of interest classes? Like learning piano or drawing?" Wang Ge asked curiously.

He had attended similar interest classes before; it was normal. Most parents wanted their children to have more skills.

"No," Chen Yanxi shook her head. "They're just very ordinary cram schools. I only take classes like Chinese, Math, and English..."

"Ah?" Wang Ge was shocked. "You're already this amazing, and you still have to attend those cram schools?"

"I'm confused too."

Chen Yanxi rested her chin on her hand and said softly, "I don't want to go to those cheap cram schools. The teachers' knowledge levels there are inconsistent; some are even worse than me.

But my parents are always unsatisfied with my grades, so there's nothing I can do."

"You're already first place, and they're still not satisfied?" Wang Ge was shocked again. "On a test with a total score of 750, you consistently get 730. With that kind of score, there are hardly a few people in the entire country better than you, right? And they're still not satisfied?"

"They were satisfied before, but they aren't satisfied anymore."

Chen Yanxi said softly, "Perhaps greed is human nature. A long time ago, they just hoped I could score better than the neighbors' and relatives' children. Later, they hoped I'd be first in class, and then first in school... 730 hasn't been enough to satisfy them for a year now."

PS: It seems like Chapter 11 really needs to be changed beyond recognition. It's difficult, as that section is a relatively important piece of the plot puzzle...

After thinking it over, how about we create a group chat? If any chapters are banned and need modification in the future, I'll post the original version in the group. That way, it won't affect your reading experience too much. What do you think?

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