"I'm sorry, I don't drink alcohol," Xiang Kun politely declined.
He could sense that Tang Baona's friends were all easy-going people; perhaps it was a case of birds of a feather flocking together.
Tang Baona brought over a few bottles of mineral water and placed them on the table in front of Xiang Kun. She said to the man with the ponytail, "Chef Xiang not only doesn't drink alcohol, but he also doesn't drink beverages. He only drinks water."
The man with the pigtail smiled and praised, "Good habit."
A girl sitting next to him asked curiously, "You don't drink coffee? You don't drink juice either? Doesn't that mean you're missing half the fun in life?"
The man with the braid turned around and flicked her nose. "You think everyone gets confused without coffee like you?"
Xiang Kun knew that the two were a couple. Yang Zhen'er had just introduced them to each other. They had been dating since elementary school, and after more than ten years of ups and downs, they finally got married.
"By the way, how did you meet Nana and Yang the Third?" the girl asked curiously.
Yang Zhen'er shouted from behind, "If you call me Yang the Third again, believe me, I'll bite you!"
Knowing that Tang Baona probably hadn't told her friends they met through a blind date, Xiang Kun simply said, "My classmate knows Nana's older sister."
The next few girls took turns requesting songs and singing with Tang Baona. It was clear that Tang Baona had always been a karaoke queen, so they all knew exactly what songs she liked to sing.
However, it must be said that Tang Baona does sing well, and she can also sing some relatively complex Cantonese and Japanese songs, such as "Hard to Recite Sutras" and "Spaceship," which she can sing very smoothly and beautifully.
Although Yang Zhen'er and the other girls didn't sing as well as Tang Baona, their voices were all unique and of a basic standard, making one wonder if they had all studied music before.
As Xiang Kun listened to their singing, he also recalled the times he went to karaoke with Zi Cheng, Chang Bin, and a few other guys during his university years—it was a completely different story.
From "The Internationale" to "Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies, Vast Skies," from "Justice Bao" to "Crossing the River of Love," from "Queen's Road East" to "Your Sister Lives in the City," he just sang them all. He remembered that his favorite songs were Jay Chou's, but he could only get the first two lines right; after that, the music kept chasing him away, and nobody knew what he was singing. As for pitch and intonation, that was naturally out of the question, but he always had a lot of fun.
On the contrary, when Chang Bin occasionally brought his female and female classmates over, they all seemed a bit restrained and uncomfortable, unable to relax and enjoy themselves to the fullest.
"Chef Xiang, why don't you request a song? We've all sung one, so why don't you sing one too? There's an old saying, 'A chef who can't sing isn't a good programmer!'" The guy with the braids, who had just finished singing a song, suddenly called on Xiang Kun.
Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona's expressions changed slightly, clearly recalling the fear they felt when they were dominated by Xiang Kun's singing during their first card game.
However, Yang Zhen'er's expression immediately turned excited, and she began to strongly agree with the braided guy's suggestion, saying that Xiang Kun must get up and sing a song to celebrate Nana's birthday! Not singing is not manly! Not singing is not being a good friend!
Xiang Kun could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression. Was she planning to use him to wipe out Nana's friends...?
Then he saw Tang Baona start cheering him on, asking him to request a song.
This made it harder for him to find an excuse; the more unwilling he was to sing, the more curious others became, and the more they wanted him to sing.
Left with no other choice, Xiang Kun took the microphone, selected a song, and planned to find a chance to tell Tang Baona privately after he finished singing so he could leave first. Otherwise, he was afraid that something might happen if he felt hungry later.
Xiang Kun Mao Buyi's "Someone Like Me," because at least this song doesn't require hitting high notes, so he wouldn't easily crack his voice.
He originally just wanted to sing a song casually to get by, but after the intro started, Xiang Kun gradually got into the mood.
This is a song he already liked quite a bit, and he's listened to it often these past two years. Occasionally, on his way home after working overtime at night, he can't help but hum along softly while wearing headphones.
Some of the lyrics really resonated with him.
"... Someone as outstanding as me should have lived a brilliant life, so how come after more than thirty years, I'm still just drifting in the sea of people..."
Xiang Kun's voice hadn't changed, and his pitch and intonation weren't exactly perfect, but his gentle, storytelling tone and earnest, somewhat profound expression made him seem to perfectly match the lyrics and melody of the song.
Everyone in the private room, including Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona, couldn't help but focus their attention on Xiang Kun, who was singing. A girl who had been looking down at her WeChat also stopped abruptly, looked up at Xiang Kun blankly, her finger hovering over the phone screen, forgetting to type. The young man with braids, who had been whispering something to his wife, also stopped talking, adjusted his glasses, and looked at Xiang Kun with some surprise.
"... Someone as ordinary as me, who never likes to pretend to be profound, somehow finds himself momentarily lost in thought when he hears old songs..."
Xiang Kun couldn't help but recall the first time he heard this song. It was late at night after he finished working overtime, and he was sitting on the subway using a music app to play random tracks when this song suddenly came on. As he listened to it, he took it out and put it on repeat.
"... How many people in the world are like me, lonely as I am, foolish as I am, unwilling to be ordinary...?"
"... Would anyone feel sorry for someone as inexplicably strange as me...?"
After the final melody ended, Xiang Kun sighed inexplicably, then looked up and suddenly found the entire private room silent, with everyone staring at him quietly.
He paused for a moment, then immediately realized that he had unconsciously "Emotional Assimilation" again.
It's truly impossible to guard against!
Xiang Kun coughed awkwardly, breaking the silence in the private room. Since there was no next song, the automatically playing slogan against pornography, drugs, and gambling brought everyone back to their senses.
The guy with the braid couldn't help but applaud. "You sang so well, so movingly, so genuinely!"
The others also commented that Xiang Kun sang with great emotion and sounded wonderful, and asked him to sing a few more songs.
Xiang Kun apologized to the others, gestured to Tang Baona, and then walked out of the private room first. He had just started to feel hungry...
Inside the private room, including Yang Zhen'er, everyone was still immersed in the emotions evoked by Xiang Kun's singing.
The man with the braids' wife frowned and said, "Strictly speaking, it wasn't that he sang particularly well, but it was inexplicably moving. Just now, I felt like I was seeing an office worker carrying a backpack, walking alone on the street in the middle of the night, looking tired and lonely, which made me feel a little sorry for him."
Another person nodded and said, "Me too. I think I saw someone sitting on the last subway, listening to music, tilting their head and falling asleep. When they woke up, they found themselves with tears streaming down their face."
"Chef Xiang has quite a story, doesn't he? Yang the Third, this new friend you and Nana met is really multi-talented. With some professional training, I think he could participate in a talent show. Skills are easy to acquire, but charisma is hard to find!" a friend said to Yang Zhen'er.
Yang Zhen'er was still somewhat stunned. She found it hard to connect the Xiang Kun who sang when they first played Dou Dizhu (a card game). She was almost scared to death the first time he sang, but listening to Xiang Kun sing just now, she inexplicably felt like crying. Was this the same person's voice? Last time he sang a Mao Buyi song too! Why was there such a big difference!
Hamburger was aware that this book contained a lot of explanatory and everyday content, and its pace was relatively slow, so if the updates were slow, it would indeed be less engaging to read.
Therefore, if a chapter doesn't advance the plot much, Hamburger usually chooses to write several chapters together and release them, so that readers can see a more coherent flow and have a better reading experience.
I just received a notification from the editor that the Hamburger will be available for purchase on the 1st. I always write and publish as I go, without any backlog... so I'll probably need to build up some backlog over the next couple of days, otherwise it'll look bad if I only post one or two chapters after the initial release. I might only be able to update once a day for the next two days, please forgive me.