Chapter 123: Love Is No Joke

There's wisdom in being wealthy!

Song Mo might have scoffed at this in the past, but now he wholeheartedly agrees.

【Phasing】 requires a full hundred million Prestige Value, but once acquired, it means he has two lives!

Even more than that.

Immune to all physical and mental damage—even if a Trisolaran dropped a dimorphic foil down, Song Mo could hold out for half an hour!

Phasing detaches Song Mo from the world, like a planetary or stellar explosion occurring on a TV screen while having zero effect on the viewer outside.

Especially with its passive trigger effect.

In Song Mo's view, this passive trigger alone is worth at least fifty million Prestige Value!

Even if ambushed, betrayed, or assassinated… the moment his life is in danger, Phasing activates automatically—far superior to merely having two lives!

With this ability,

Song Mo finally felt true peace of mind—Mom no longer needs to worry about me getting killed!

The psychological shadow of being betrayed in his past life, dying in a car accident, and being tortured to death—should it finally vanish?

Song Mo stared intently at the Phasing ability.

He currently has 81.05 million Prestige Value—just twenty million short of the hundred million needed to redeem 【Phasing】.

This shortfall isn't much, but it's not negligible either.

Even if Song Mo did nothing, the accumulated Prestige Value would reach one hundred million in no time.

But given his urgent mood and desperate need, how could he possibly wait patiently?

Every moment of waiting is torture!

Therefore, Song Mo must expand his influence within a short time.

As for the method, he had already thought it through clearly: during his time in the United States managing the Martial Arts Tournament, even after his Piano skill broke through to Transcendental, he had never fully explored its value.

Now that he's temporarily free, why not seize this opportunity to expand his influence—and simultaneously reach the hundred million Prestige Value?

Two birds, one stone.

The Song Family also owns two record labels; though small, they're fully functional—their essence lies solely in whether the music is beautiful.

Song Mo is a man of action.

Thinking this, he wasted no time and immediately began training the Song Group's exclusive secretary.

After giving the order,

Today Song Mo will prepare, and tomorrow he'll immediately begin recording an album, releasing it, and producing the MV—all in one go!

He paused briefly to think.

The album and MV won't be ready quickly; before the final product is out, he can fully use this time for preheating.

So Song Mo immediately contacted Xia Yu and Xia Rou.

"Hello?"

Xia Rou's cheerful voice rang out.

Song Mo rarely reached out to her actively these days, and Xia Rou, aware he was busy with his career, rarely disturbed him.

Fortunately, after he returned to Modu,

their communication gradually increased again.

Song Mo didn't rush into the matter.

He and Xia Yu and Xia Rou had a superior-subordinate relationship, a boss-employee relationship—but also a friendship.

If every conversation was only about business,

showing zero interest in their personal lives, that would be arrogance and disrespect.

"Xia Rou, how's class going at Modu University?"

Xia Rou sniffled.

"Not at all going well!"

"Boss, since you left, I've been a wandering ghost around Modu University!"

"So boring! And there are these annoying guys who keep confessing to me—even though I've clearly said I don't want a relationship."

"What kind of thing is this?"

Song Mo chuckled lightly:

"Youth admires beauty; they haven't done anything wrong. Is liking someone really a crime?"

"When you're young, you must dare to like, dare to express yourself—never be a silent pot, letting your youth drown in gloom."

"Later, you'll only regret it, filled with self-pity and repression! How many youthful years does life offer?"

"So many people liking you? That just proves your charm is great."

Xia Rou let out a soft sigh, her tone laced with quiet resentment.

"Yes, you're the boss—you're always right."

"You say people should dare to express themselves, but what if not confessing kept us friends, but confessing turns us into strangers? What then?"

"Hmph! Easy to say."

Song Mo didn't dwell on the resentment in Xia Rou's tone; he smiled broadly.

"Love is an inborn human right!"

"If love is one-sided and will inevitably end badly, better to let it burn out in a blaze!"

"At least then, the heat of love won't have been in vain!"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.

Xia Rou muttered, "It's easy to say that—because you've never truly loved anyone."

"If you were like me… um… like a close girlfriend I know who was trapped by love, and truly liked someone, how could you possibly be so carefree about it?"

"When love runs deep, the fear of loss and the fear of gain is the norm."

Song Mo had no idea what was going on, yet somehow he ended up discussing such a philosophical topic as "love" with Xia Rou.

He felt a bit of a headache coming on.

Because love, like life itself, is a question humanity must forever explore and deliberate over, and also the greatest question and quest of life.

How could language possibly settle it?

Song Mo had no choice but to say bluntly:

"We're all people walking on the road; sometimes we have no way of knowing what the scenery ahead actually looks like."

"But the best we can do is live in the present, let life follow our true heart, and take a free-spirited journey."

Xia Rou burst into giggles.

"Boss, you're so childish!"

"You actually went ahead and discussed love with a little girl like me? A fine young man like you shouldn't be in the middle of grand ambitions right now? It's hard on you for going along with me and talking all this way."

"A good deed to the end, a Buddha sent to the west! How about you just do me a favor and let me have a taste of love's sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy?"

Xia Rou's nature had always been gentle; although she was also lively, deep down she was still a very traditional and conservative girl.

For her to crack such a blunt joke now left Song Mo a bit unable to handle it.

He felt that if he kept going along with the joke, one careless step and he'd easily set himself on fire, falling in before he was ready.

Song Mo had no way out, so he could only use business to change the subject:

"Oh, joking, joking—I almost forgot about the real business!"

"Right, Xia Rou, tomorrow get Xia Yu together and come out to help me film some behind-the-scenes for the MV. I'm planning to release a music album and a music MV."

"Before we go public, let's do a warm-up on KuaiDou first."

On the other end of the phone.

A girl with a slim waist, long legs, and a good figure gently tightened her fair-skinned hand.

What she said was no joke—this was also real business!

But Xia Rou did not say any more.

She smiled gently.

She answered Song Mo:

"Okay!"

"The boss gives an order; how would Xia Rou dare not obey?"

"Hahaha…"

(End of this chapter)