Chapter 587: A Smile That Reached the End

PS: Tomorrow is National Day. I'd like to wish all the readers of this book a happy seven-day holiday.

Also, I'm taking a two-day break at the start of the month. Thank you all for your continued support.

Main Text:

By tradition, after releasing two new songs in a row, Miss Luo Quan would rest for a day or two to give herself a break.

Fans would certainly be thrilled with a new song every day, but in terms of the album's popularity, it definitely wouldn't be as long-lasting as releasing one every few days.

Of course, Miss Luo Quan wouldn't go so far as to take a break for several days after releasing just one song. Besides, the fans were used to her speed; if she were ever to struggle for half a month to produce a single song like someone suffering from constipation, that would be the real problem.

"The new album is a big hit again, Sis."

In the living room the next morning, Yu Miss Luo Quan came out of the kitchen holding a cup of hot milk and a sunny-side-up egg with a runny yolk that Miss Luo Quan had fried herself.

Having checked the trending topics right after waking up, Yu Miss Luo Quan saw that the hashtag "Miss Luo Quan's New Song" was still at the top of the list. Clicking into it, he saw that the netizens' comments were exploding; it was likely only a matter of time before it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts next week.

"Isn't that a normal situation?" Miss Luo Quan said, drinking her milk while eating some deep-fried dough sticks.

"Hey, what is that?" Yu Miss Luo Quan asked, very curious about the golden, bread-like breakfast in his sister's mouth.

He took a sniff; it smelled delicious.

Miss Luo Quan bit off half of it and said while chewing, "This is a deep-fried dough stick, a traditional Chinese breakfast. It's deep-fried food—crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It's just very high in calories, so it's not very healthy to eat long-term."

"I've eaten plenty of fried chicken, burgers, and donuts in the US, and you're talking to me about 'not healthy'?" Yu Miss Luo Quan chuckled, indicating that he wasn't afraid of so-called junk food at all.

"So you're pretty brave, huh?" Miss Luo Quan pushed the plate in front of her toward Yu Miss Luo Quan; there were two more dough sticks left.

Yu Miss Luo Quan picked one up, took a bite, and chewed for a moment: "Hmm, it's quite chewy, but it doesn't taste as good as meat."

Miss Luo Quan smiled softly: "If you want meat, I'll make you steamed buns tomorrow morning. Whether you want small soup dumplings or regular steamed buns, it's all fine."

"As long as there's meat, it's fine. Make it however you like." Yu Miss Luo Quan wasn't picky about food; as long as there was meat and it was flavorful, he could eat it with great relish.

"By the way, do you know what a Pride Parade is?" Miss Luo Quan suddenly asked.

Yu Miss Luo Quan nodded slightly: "I do. Why are you asking?"

"I was just looking at Twitter news, and it seems there's some kind of Rainbow Pride Parade across the US today. The scale is quite large, and they say New York is one of the main locations."

Miss Luo Quan showed the news on her phone to Yu Miss Luo Quan. The reason she asked was mainly to understand who was organizing these things.

The last time there were protests in the US, it left a very deep impression on her. She was in Los Angeles at the time when the situation was almost out of control, and she even filmed protesters taking advantage of the chaos to loot.

Once Yu Miss Luo Quan understood, he explained: "This is considered a tradition. Usually, it doesn't lead to any malicious incidents. I don't know who the organizers are, but the participants are all from the LGBTQ community, and the goal is to oppose discrimination.

What's interesting is that during the parade, to protect these groups that might not be understood by the public eye, the police even take the initiative to clear the path in front, dancing along with the music alongside the parade groups behind them. It's quite happy."

"I see." Hearing Yu Miss Luo Quan say this, Miss Luo Quan understood.

Speaking of this, in reality, whether at home or abroad, it isn't very accepted by the general public.

It's a bit better abroad; at least people dare to admit their orientation and dare to express it in public.

But domestically, although everyone says they don't discriminate and don't support it, no one knows what they really think in their hearts. Moreover, not many dare to boldly admit it online, and the overall atmosphere is still rather conservative.

Discrimination against these people exists basically all over the world; it's just a matter of degree.

However, what's interesting is that celebrities actually quite like to express their opinions on these issues. Some express support and blessings, while others say they cannot understand.

And on a day like today, when LGBTQ groups are parading across the US, celebrities online have also been expressing their views.

Most feel this is a very good behavior and a manifestation of freedom and democracy, while some celebrities are unimpressed, feeling that this kind of parade makes it seem as if the US is persecuting these groups.

In fact, in the US, where political correctness is rampant, these groups—just like radical feminists—are like the tiger's backside; the consequences for anyone who dares to provoke those with these labels are usually not very pretty.

If we're really talking about persecution, it's not their turn anyway.

However, in the entertainment industry, this group is indeed quite discriminated against. Many celebrities at the peak of their popularity see their careers plummet after announcing their orientation, facing rejection from the mainstream entertainment industry, with only a few able to remain active.

So, these groups protesting isn't entirely without reason.

Miss Luo Quan herself doesn't have any particular feelings about these groups because she has no interaction with them, so she doesn't care much.

Early on, when she said she didn't plan to date for a short time, the media mistakenly thought it was a precursor to her announcing her own orientation, which stirred up some trouble.

Fortunately, Miss Luo Quan explained it in time and managed to remove that label.

It wasn't because she was afraid; she simply didn't want to be associated with it.

She had planned to rest today and go out for a stroll, but since it happened to coincide with the parade, that was out of the question. Miss Luo Quan opened the memo on her computer desktop and looked at the content inside.

These were all the things she planned to do next, along with specific details on how to do them; it could be said to be her library of creative inspiration.

The newest folder among them was "Photo Shoot." Of course, there weren't any photos in it yet, only the various themes Miss Luo Quan had designed for herself to shoot.

The theme she designed for herself this time was "Ever-Changing Goddess." First of all, the term "goddess" was quite narcissistic, but she believed her fans wouldn't think she was shameless; in fact, they would gladly accept this title.

And to be "ever-changing," the style of the photos definitely had to be diverse. Don't look at how she changed into so many swimsuits when she shot her swimsuit photo book; the general style could actually be summarized in one word: sexy.

This time, Miss Luo Quan wanted to strive for more elements and try to include a bit of both domestic and foreign characteristics. If she shot a few more sets, the fans definitely wouldn't refuse.

The styles decided upon so far were already quite varied. On the Chinese side, they were mainly ancient costumes, one of which was "Knight's Attire"—the kind wearing a bamboo hat and holding a long sword.

Ancient chivalry was one of Miss Luo Quan's favorite themes. She grew up watching these TV dramas, from *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* to *The Return of the Condor Heroes* and *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*; she knew almost every one of them by heart.

She believed that for most people born in the 90s, their childhood memories were actually quite similar. After all, at that time, the TV stations were dominated by these ancient martial arts dramas. The works of Jin Yong and Gu Long were filmed again and again, and the audiences watched them again and again without ever feeling bored.

It was just that after 2010, ancient martial arts dramas gradually declined, and young people preferred palace dramas. The martial arts dramas themselves were indeed getting worse and worse, with basically very few worth watching.

However, for young people and even young adults, ancient martial arts remained an indelible memory.

Unbridled passion, riding horses through the world, washing swords in the flower-filled stream—that was a romance only Chinese people could understand.

So, this element was one of the highlights of Miss Luo Quan's photo book.

Of course, she had prepared many highlights this time. After all, there was still plenty of time, and she could slowly collect elements and record inspiration.

Currently, two highlights had been decided: the Chinese one was ancient martial arts, and the American one was the Western cowboy.

If the romance of the Chinese people was martial arts, then the romance of the Americans was probably the Western cowboy.

Knights used swords, cowboys used guns; in the eyes of different groups, both were equally cool.

However, by comparison, the cowboy seemed slightly thinner.

After all, martial arts had so many kung fu moves and famous scenes, while in a cowboy gunfight, besides a revolver, what other tricks could you play?

Miss Luo Quan didn't know much about this aspect, so she planned to continue researching it. However, she knew that twenty-some years ago, there was a gun god in the US named Tommy.

This middle-aged man, who looked a bit chubby, had marksmanship that had reached a divine level. He could fire two shots in 0.1 seconds, accurately hitting targets ten meters away. His draw was incredibly fast, and his marksmanship was pinpoint!

Miss Luo Quan saw the video on Bilibili; it was truly outrageous.

After obtaining "Kyokushin Karate," Miss Luo Quan once thought she could dodge bullets at close range.

In fact, if her mental focus was highly concentrated, she could indeed evade based on the gunman's finger movements, but the risk was still quite high.

But after seeing Tommy's firing speed, Miss Luo Quan finally understood what it meant: "Outside seven steps, the gun is fast; within seven steps, the gun is both fast and accurate."

Anyway, Miss Luo Quan felt that if she were to have a direct conflict with this great master, she would probably have been shot in the center of her forehead before she could even react.

This was also the only opponent Miss Luo Quan had felt had absolutely no chance of winning against for a long time.

The good news was that he died of diabetes in 2007, which was quite sigh-inducing.

Without considering supernatural powers, this Western gun god was basically invincible within thirty meters, belonging to one of the peaks of human combat power.

Yet, he ended his life this way, which seemed a bit ordinary.

What was certain was that there was definitely no such gun god in the US now, even though everyone here could own a gun, jokingly referred to by the Chinese as the "dream of three hundred million mice."

But those who truly honed their marksmanship for this were few and far between, let alone gunners of Tommy's level.

Therefore, Miss Luo Quan's combat power status wouldn't be shaken too much.

To shoot cowboys, marksmanship was definitely one of the biggest highlights. Miss Luo Quan thought she could shoot a video directly and show everyone a few tricks, like holding a revolver and shooting apples.

That posture of crouching down and pulling the trigger of a revolver actually had quite a bit of aesthetic appeal; American fans would definitely be very interested.

Of course, considering her fans were relatively young, perhaps it would be more effective if she wore a Spider-Man or Superman bodysuit?

Miss Luo Quan thought so. Superheroes were an element that contemporary Americans couldn't bypass. Marvel and DC had created so many superhero images that swept the world; if she didn't pay special attention to them during her photo shoot, it really wouldn't be justifiable.

However, with her figure, shooting those superheroes who only wore bodysuits always felt like it would be even more erotic than when she shot her swimsuit photo book.

This was indeed a point she was struggling with, but fortunately, she still had plenty of time to think about whether she wanted to do it.

Having finally stolen half a day of leisure, Miss Luo Quan put all her mental energy into this problem that couldn't be decided in a short time.

The S8 knockout stage had already begun. It was morning in the US, which meant it was night in East Asia.

In the first match, iG played against the number one seed from South Korea, KT.

Before the match, iG was recognized as the underdog; if they could help the GNR team achieve something, it would be a success, and if GNR won the championship in the future, iG would deserve one-third of the credit.

Yet, this team that was never favored showed astonishing strength after the match started, directly taking two games from KT, and victory seemed to be in sight in the third game as well.

"Destroy the base! Destroy the base!"

Miss Luo Quan, who was commentating on the match, showed such a loss of composure for the first time while live-streaming.

On the computer, iG's top laner was destroying the crystal in the opponent's base all by himself; as long as he destroyed it, they would win.

And the opponent had also gathered everyone at iG's base to trade bases, with iG's team members fighting to the death to stop them.

However, just as iG was about to win, the game screen forcibly switched to where the KT team was; iG's base had exploded.

"Ah!!!!" Miss Luo Quan held her head in extreme frustration. "It was just one hit away, damn it!"

The live-stream chat room was broken because of this one hit, but everyone ignored the fact that Miss Luo Quan had cursed because they were also cursing loudly themselves.

Although Miss Luo Quan had long known the outcome, how could she think about that when she was immersed in the scene? Who knew if the situation would suddenly change? After all, it wasn't like there hadn't been such precedents; winning 3:0 directly was better than anything.

Unfortunately, the script wasn't as simple as Miss Luo Quan thought.

The good news was that the overall script didn't change much; iG lost two games in a row after winning two.

In the critical team fight of the final game, iG's AD, JackeyLove, flashed forward in a shocking move, instantly killing the opponent's AD and jungler, and finally taking a quadra kill, directly igniting the whole arena.

Tonight, he was the chosen one, and the only one!

iG, having gained the advantage, operated steadily and finally defeated their arch-rival KT, advancing to the semi-finals.

This was the first LPL team to enter the semi-finals this year; everything seemed to be getting better.

Following closely behind was the highly anticipated GNR playing against the 2G team, which was recognized as the European "noob" team.

Before the match, Miss Luo Quan posted several updates on multiple platforms, asking the GNR team to pay more attention to their top-mid-jungle advantage and early-game offense. In addition, she also warned the "Brain" to pay attention to his own playstyle and not be too aggressive.

She had said everything she needed to say; whether GNR could truly laugh until S9 depended on their own fate. ===== CHAPTER 588 =====