"Tang Yang... you're here." Jia Jia took a few steps forward, trying to put herself between him and Nan Zhou.
She was worried Tang Yang might lose his temper, grab the electronic synthesizer in his hands, and beat Nan Zhou senseless right there.
She couldn't say whether anyone else would dare beat up an artist during a livestream, but Tang Yang, a naturally cocky A with an intense hatred of idols, would absolutely do it.
"Heh." Tang Yang sneered and took the instrument off his back, setting it upright on the floor. "The Trisolarans don't like my songs, so do they like that... lov... right, 'Please Say You Love Me' of yours?"
"Sorry, I don't have a habit of getting horny anytime, anywhere." Nan Zhou turned around, his gaze sweeping over the instrument case Tang Yang had propped on the floor. "But if you need it, I can send you a QR code so you can express your love for money."
The basement fell silent for a few seconds, then Tang Yang roared, "...Are you crazy?!"
His cheeks turned an oddly vivid red. "I was talking about the song, your crappy song! I wasn't asking you to say you love me!"
Nan Zhou furrowed his brow, looking as if he were deeply puzzled.
Seeing that Tang Yang was about to blow up again, Jia Jia hurriedly opened her mouth and sang a bit of the melody.
"Love, love, love~ say you love me~ yeah~"
Nan Zhou's expression visibly darkened in an instant.
"If that song were even a little louder, the entire Milky Way Galaxy would have to die with it." Tang Yang fired back without holding back.
Nan Zhou: "..."
This was terrifying. How could a song be this awful?!
Who wrote it? I'm calling the police to have him arrested!
"This part was sung by Teacher Nan Zhou," the drummer chimed in.
The night before, when they heard that their band would be performing with Nan Zhou on the livestream that day, everyone except Jia Jia-the drummer, bassist, and the others-had stayed up looking up some of Nan Zhou's songs online. In other words, they had listened to W-ixe's songs.
Tang Yang had listened with a pinched nose, and after hearing them, he couldn't help but scoff.
But then Jia Jia had found the song "Breaking Dawn," which Nan Zhou had performed onstage at the Livehouse the night before.
After their band listened to it, they-especially Tang Yang-were convinced that everything from the night before had been a script arranged in advance by the production team. So they hadn't had much expectation for Nan Zhou's visit that day.
Except for Jia Jia-a Huo Xingye fan and a newly converted Xingzhou CP fan.
[I'm fucking dying, hahaha. This is the first time I've seen Nan Zhou make that face on a livestream.]
[No, but why does he look like he can't stand this song?!]
[This is their hit group song, and Lu Zhou wrote the music. How can he make that face? Has he played his persona for so long that he's forgotten where he came from?]
[The drummer just said one ordinary thing, and it hurt Nan Zhou that much? Was that half-step back for real?]
[Honestly, this song really is awful.]
[With a song like this, what right does Nan Zhou have to say the Song of Desire is bad? His is even worse.]
"Since we're supposed to perform a song about love, could we consider switching to another one?" Nan Zhou didn't want to sing the love song SIXGO had just sung, and he wanted even less to sing "Love, Love, Love, Say You Love Me."
"Song of Desire?" Jia Jia asked without thinking.
Nan Zhou's gaze fell once more on the instrument Tang Yang had brought, and only then did he look at him. "Can I borrow your synthesizer?"
Tang Yang sneered and was just about to mock him when another person walked in through the open roller shutter.
The drummer, bassist, and guitarist, all facing the roller shutter, opened their eyes wide at the same time.
"You're here?" Nan Zhou raised a hand in greeting when he saw the newcomer.
Jia Jia followed his gaze and turned around. At the sight of him, she couldn't help exclaiming, "Y-Yue Yang?!"
That exclamation made Tang Yang turn around too.
The tall man by the door, wearing a jacket and jeans and carrying a bass, was none other than Yue Yang, one of the most talented bassists in the industry!
But why was he here?!
In the blink of an eye, a possibility came to mind for everyone...
"Nan Zhou told me he'd be performing here today, and I happened to have nothing to do, so I came to take a look. I hope I'm not getting in your way." Though he was speaking to the production team, Yue Yang was looking at Tang Yang.
Tang Yang looked down on Nan Zhou, but he respected Yue Yang a great deal.
"Brother Yue, are you close with him?" he asked.
Yue Yang smiled. "We only met yesterday. But we'll probably be pretty close in the future."
"Teacher Nan Zhou, did you decide to join 'Breaking Dawn' after all?" As a CP fan, Jia Jia had watched plenty of the livestream the day before, so she hadn't missed the part where Nan Zhou had taken a shot at Xiao Sheng.
Nan Zhou didn't answer, but Yue Yang laughed. "I'd like that, but unfortunately, this big shot doesn't think much of our band."
He gestured toward Nan Zhou. "I asked him to give our band's new song a once-over."
His voice wasn't loud, but his words landed like a stone in everyone's ears.
For Yue Yang of "Breaking Dawn" to invite Nan Zhou to review their new song-just how capable was Nan Zhou?!
Faced with everyone's astonished expressions, Yue Yang added, "He's getting paid. It isn't cheap."
[...Seriously? Is Nan Zhou really that good? Did Yue Yang actually get bribed? He's sucking up so hard.]
[Could it be that Nan Zhou really is amazing in the eyes of people in the industry?]
[This is getting more and more outrageous. I came here to ship a CP, so why have we suddenly started a career storyline?]
[Enough talk. I want to hear what song Nan Zhou is going to perform for Brother Ye! Give him the instrument already!]
"By the way, what song are you going to perform in a bit? Did you write it?" Yue Yang asked Nan Zhou.
"You'll find out when you hear it," Nan Zhou said.
*
Standing off to the side with his arms crossed, Tang Yang watched Nan Zhou adjust the electronic synthesizer he loved. All he could think was, Let's see whether you're about to do something amazing or mess it up completely.
But when Nan Zhou started playing the notes, Tang Yang's expression gradually changed. Even his dismissive stance fell away, and he let his arms drop to his sides.
It was a melody that sounded simple, yet broke free from the usual patterns of thought.
With only the electronic synthesizer, Nan Zhou conjured the feeling of a summer night sky filled with fireworks. A fresh sea breeze and a grand display of fireworks, the loneliness after they bloomed-all of it was woven into the melody. Simple and unadorned, yet it made you hear both joy and sorrow.
[Holy crap, this is so good! It reminds me of the Fireworks Festival my boyfriend and I went to last year!]
[This melody feels so beautiful, but also so sad.]
[Nan Zhou, I'm telling you! From today on, I'm your career fan! With skills like this, why didn't you write songs for your group back then? If you'd written them, your group would've been famous ages ago!]
[Huo Xingye, hurry and listen to the song your wife wrote for you!!! Aaaaah!]
[Hahaha, he's watching, he's watching. Brother Ye's still at the filming location, but he hasn't forgotten to use his phone to watch the livestream and sneak a look at his adorable wife. Hehe.]
Since the CPs were going their separate ways, the four livestreams had split into eight.
Over in Huo Xingye's livestream, his fans were drooling over his look on the set that day.
As for Huo Xingye himself, he sat in a chair on set, watching his phone.
On the phone screen in the camera's view was Nan Zhou's livestream.
Before you continue