"..."
Lin Baici looked at the message, unsure how to reply.
Normally, besides studying, he just read novels, played sports, and played games. He didn't chat with girls much, so he had no experience dealing with girls like Jin Yingzhen.
And that selfie from the Goryeo girl, she was wearing too little.
Is this something I can see without paying?
Countess of Monte Cristo: I feel like I've lost weight from hunger these past two days, what do you think?
"Is she asking me to comment on her figure?"
Lin Baici pondered, "At this time, I should probably compliment her, right?"
Countess of Monte Cristo: These past two days, I went to the embassy and visited some uncles and aunts, and finally got my passport and ID card processed. It exhausted me so much.
Countess of Monte Cristo: That Merit Buddha is so annoying. Next time I see it, I'll smash its head and steal its merit box.
Lin Returns Under the Moon: I'll help you!
Jin Yingzhen looked at the simple message and sighed.
Oppa, you don't know how to chat!
No wonder you have such a handsome face but are still single!
However, the Goryeo girl quickly became happy again. This meant Oppa didn't have much contact with women and was still a pure young male student.
"Let this big sister help you gain some experience points!"
Jin Yingzhen raised her phone, found the right angle, and click, took a selfie.
Hmm!
Not bad!
Two-thirds of the photo was her tight and round little tank top.
Would this be too stimulating?
Jin Yingzhen clicked send.
"..."
Lin Baici wanted to cry. Please don't test my moral bottom line, okay?
I will really save it!
Countess of Monte Cristo: Oppa, what's fun to do in Guangqing City? What's good to eat?
The girl asked this way, she must want the male student to accompany her.
Fortunately, Lin Baici's emotional intelligence wasn't completely abysmal, and since they had experienced life and death together in the Divine Ruins, he regarded Jin Yingzhen as a friend.
As a local, he should play the host and take the Goryeo girl to have a good time.
In reality, a third-tier small city held no attraction for a Chaebol Miss like Jin Yingzhen, who traveled all over the world.
Jin Yingzhen stayed purely to foster a good relationship with Lin Baici and lure him back to her country.
For the next five days, Lin Baici accompanied her throughout.
Jin Yingzhen was full of respect for Lin Baici, her Savior, and her emotional intelligence was high, so when she took the initiative to care for him during their time together, it was truly like a spring breeze.
At the amusement park, inside the spinning Ferris wheel.
"Oppa, what do you think? Have you fallen for me?"
Jin Yingzhen sat opposite Lin Baici, holding an ice cream cone in both hands, eating it bite by bite, her eyes fixed on him.
"It's no use even if you like me, you're going back to your country."
Lin Baici smiled slightly.
He had a very happy time these past few days.
"You can come back with me!"
Jin Yingzhen's invitation seemed casual, but her heart was already in her throat.
Lin Baici shook his head.
Goryeo?
Why would I go to that country?
Eat kimchi every day?
And the language isn't the same.
Wait!
I have Eidetic Memory, so language isn't a problem anymore. It should only take about half a year to become as fluent as a local.
Jin Yingzhen was a little disappointed. Lin Baici indeed looked down on her country.
She didn't mention inviting him back to the country to be a God Hunter again.
Although her brother promised to give him the rank of Lieutenant, Lin Baici felt that he might think she was lying to him?
After all, he didn't know how high-ranking and powerful her brother was.
The Ferris wheel completed a rotation and stopped.
Lin Baici got off and stretched.
"Oppa!"
Jin Yingzhen looked at the sunset. "If there was a job with a million annual salary, would you do it?"
"Yingzhen, where do you think I'm worth a million?"
From the way the Goryeo girl had been spending money recently, Lin Baici could tell she wasn't just ordinarily rich.
He didn't know Jin Yingzhen's brother wanted to recruit him. He thought the Goryeo girl was mentioning this annual salary to find a reasonable excuse to give him money as repayment.
"Looks, courage, physique, potential..."
Jin Yingzhen counted on her fingers, listing them off.
Lin Baici had never been praised so much by a girl in his life, which made him a little embarrassed. "Okay, stop thinking about repaying a debt. We're friends, don't be so formal!"
Lin Baici sent Jin Yingzhen back to the hotel and took the bus home.
The Goryeo girl wanted to treat him to dinner, but Lin Baici refused.
He couldn't accept a girl spending money, but he was too broke to pay himself.
During the days they spent together, he had also proactively bought tickets and snacks, and treated Jin Yingzhen to meals.
His usual savings of pocket money had gone down by seven hundred and sixty yuan.
"As expected, chasing girls costs a lot of money!"
Lin Baici felt that if he hadn't saved Jin Yingzhen, they would never have been able to hang out together.
Because their family backgrounds were too different.
The two face masks Jin Yingzhen used daily cost more than Lin Baici's monthly living expenses.
"I still need to make money quickly!"
After Lin Baici had dinner and washed the dishes, he returned to his bedroom.
Opened the computer, logged into Bilibili, and checked the data.
The first cover song video, "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky," had over 10,000 views, 500 bullet comments, and over 100 messages.
The second song, "Li Xiang San Xun," had slightly worse data, with only a dozen comments.
Lin Baici scrolled through them one by one.
"Folk songs can still be sung with this kind of flavor? Strange."
"Unique voice, keep up the good work!"
"My love is dead. Listening to the uploader sing this song, I didn't feel moved, nor did I want to chase that girl back. I just want to become a monk. Amitabha!"
Most of the comments said the uploader's voice was unique, but the song choices were average.
Flower Blooms in the Fields: Folk music is niche, has class, and easily attracts fans, but you need to sing with your own style. Keep it up!
Flower Blooms in the Fields: I feel like you have great lung capacity. How about challenging a dolphin sound?
Flower Blooms in the Fields: Why aren't you posting new covers? Persistence leads to reward. Although you didn't have a good start, I believe you will have a beautiful ending.
There weren't many messages in total, but Flower Blooms in the Fields had posted many. Lin Baici saw them at a glance.
This was the first fan to follow her.
Lin Baici clicked on her personal space to take a look. She was a girl with very little information.
Flower Blooms in the Fields: Have you given up?
Disappointment!
This message was posted this afternoon.
Lin Baici had been busy accompanying Jin Yingzhen these past few days, and the poor reception of his cover videos had also dampened his enthusiasm.
"Thank you!"
"I won't give up!"
Lin Baici lay on the bed, rethinking this path.
If he continued singing like this, it definitely wouldn't work. Could he switch to making funny videos?
He didn't have the talent for that!
Lin Baici repeatedly watched those bullet comments and messages.
There were users who commented on his poor singing skills, but not many. The comments mainly focused on his unique voice, the strange atmosphere, and the unsuitable song choices.
"Folk songs won't work, and I don't really like rock. So what should I sing?"
Lin Baici grabbed his hair with both hands, So annoying!
What if I just chant scriptures?
Huh?
Lin Baici sat up abruptly.
Sanskrit Chants and Buddhist Sounds were related to Buddhism, so perhaps chanting scriptures would complement it?
Let's give it a try!
It would only be a waste of time if it failed anyway!
Lin Baici opened his computer and searched for scripture chanting songs, only to find very few.
He then searched for some scriptures and finally chose the Heart Sutra.
The entire text expounds on the five skandhas, three realms, four noble truths, and twelve causal links, explaining the Buddhist doctrine of inherent emptiness of self-nature. It states that prajna, or great wisdom, can overcome all suffering, lead to ultimate nirvana, and attain bodhi.
Master Xuanzang translated this scripture during the Tang Dynasty, but Lin Baici planned to sing the Sanskrit version. Anyway, he had Eidetic Memory and could learn it after listening once.
It wouldn't be difficult!
Most importantly, Sanskrit sounded sophisticated!
Lin Baici found the Sanskrit version of the Heart Sutra, listened to it twice, and learned it. He then found a piece of ethereal, light, and natural pure music as accompaniment, activated the Buddhist Chants and Buddhist Sounds, and began recording.
Since it was past nine in the evening, Lin Baici didn't dare to sing too loudly. Moreover, he didn't think this scripture chanting video had much potential to go viral, so he wasn't too serious about it.
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, When practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, Perceived that the five skandhas are empty, And transcended all suffering.
Lin Baici finished recording and listened to it once. He felt it was quite good.
He imported the audio into his computer, added two Buddha images, edited it a bit, And uploaded it.
As he clicked "Publish," Lin Baici felt a mischievous impulse. What if he used a photo of Muscle Buddha as the background? It might be even more eye-catching.
Dong dong!
Mom Lin knocked on the door and pushed it open. "Baici, go to bed early. I have the day off tomorrow, and I'll take you to buy some clothes. See what else you need and make a list."
There were less than ten days left until university started.
"No need to buy clothes, I can still wear what I have!"
Lin Baici knew his family wasn't wealthy and didn't want to waste money.
"You're going to university, a new environment. You'll meet new classmates. You need to have a few nice outfits!"
Mom Lin didn't allow Lin Baici to argue. She didn't want her son to feel inferior at university.
The next few days were busy for Lin Baici.
Besides buying clothes and preparing his luggage, his good friends kept inviting him out to hang out one last time.
Playing games, hiking, reading comics...
And walking the streets with ice pops.
In these final days, Lin Baici even received WeChat messages from several female classmates asking him to watch movies.
This surprised Lin Baici. He wasn't exactly invisible in class, but he wasn't the center of attention either, and he didn't talk to girls much.
"Looks like I have pretty good popularity."
Lin Baici didn't know that if he had been a bit bolder and confessed, he could have started several relationships and lost his first kiss during his summer break after high school graduation.
After all, Lin Baici was tall and well-built, with fair skin. He was very good-looking.
Hua Yueyu and Jin Yingzhen also frequently messaged Lin Baici to stay in touch. Especially the Goryeo girl, who always started her messages with a selfie captioned, "Is this something I can see without paying?"
Lin Baici was busy. Besides occasionally watching videos of chanting the Heart Sutra, he didn't have time to pay much attention.
After all, the view count grew very slowly. Especially in the days leading up to university, he hadn't logged into his account at all.
So he didn't know that after a week of fermentation, the video's reputation had grown, and its replay rate and collection rate were astonishingly high.
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