Chapter 158

"'Song of the Mentally Ill'? Holy crap!"

In the car, seeing Su Meng take the stage, Hua Chenyu instinctively rolled down the window.

Hearing Su Meng say that, she immediately felt terrible all over.

Who didn't know—this freaking thing was cursing herself!

Thinking of all this, Hua Chenyu's heart instantly blazed with fury.

Damn it!

This can't go on, I have to fight back!

How should I fight back?

Hua Chenyu couldn't help but fall into deep thought…

……

On stage, Su Meng has already taken his stance.

Left hand holding the instrument, right hand holding the bow, he gave a slight smile toward the audience, then his fingers and arms began moving rapidly.

Instantly, a cheerful erhu melody rang out.

This was a song from a previous life.

The original singers were virtual idols Luo Tianyi and Yan He, who performed it as a duet.

It wasn't well-known in the mainstream circle, but in a certain circle it caused a huge sensation for a time.

This song possessed lyrics that were insanely unhinged, a melody that looped endlessly in your head, and a startlingly addictive quality.

Once released, it sparked a wave of covers and remixes, causing more and more "mentally ill" people on Bilibili to find their tribe and proceed with the next stage of treatment.

Even two powerhouse singers, Gong Linna and Zhou Shen, had once joined forces to cover it.

But what truly made this song explode was a Bilibili erhu uploader named Little Fox Fairy.

She used the erhu to perform this song, doubling its demonic catchiness in an instant.

Some even called the erhu version of "Song of the Mentally Ill" a divine track, one the original singers couldn't surpass.

And now, this demonic erhu version of "Song of the Mentally Ill," through Su Meng's hands, had regained its brilliance in this world.

Especially Su Meng's erhu playing technique—that was a god-level skill bestowed by the system!

The demonic, brainwashing effect had multiplied several times over, needless to say.

……

"Heh………… hahaha…………"

The bow danced, and a single erhu, as if it were a person, let out a tremendous peal of mocking laughter.

Everyone in the audience listening to this song was instantly dumbfounded.

Their lips unconsciously curled into smiles, thoroughly infected by this cheerful, carefree melody.

But while their mouths smiled, their minds had gone blank.

One by one, they had fallen into deep self-doubt.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

Am I really living in a materialist world?

Why did the erhu in front of me suddenly become sentient?

It's actually mocking me… no, it's not mocking me!

It's mocking…

Many people instinctively looked toward the little car by the roadside.

In the car, Hua Chenyu felt terrible all over, already fallen into deep self-doubt.

Why did I suddenly feel like this world was full of malice?

It seemed like everyone, everything, was mocking me?

……

"Hu Nao… truly Hu Nao!"

Hu Zhengyuan cursed with his mouth, but a smile played across his face.

In the ears of professionals, this song carried a different interpretation.

Though the style was somewhat nonsensical, it was cheerful and dynamic, the rhythm smooth, making people unconsciously happy.

Pfft! Only lunatics have so much joy!

Qin Qianyan in the front row suddenly stood up and exclaimed in surprise.

"Teacher, this song looks funny, but the performance difficulty isn't low at all—when did Su Meng's erhu get this amazing?"

Hu Zhengyuan nodded, swept a glance at the many students whose expressions had grown strange, and said calmly.

"Look at your Senior Qin Jie—she saw right through to the essence at a glance."

"Unlike you lot, who only know how to watch the excitement."

"Qianyan, explain it to your junior brothers and sisters."

Qin Qianyan nodded and pointed at the screen as she spoke.

"Everyone look—this song places very high demands on the coordination of both hands and the grasp of rhythm."

"Large numbers of glissandos appear in succession, combined with the right hand's staccato bow technique; to make the two hands complement each other requires an extremely high level of skill."

Hu Zhengyuan nodded and added.

"However, this song also has the problem of relatively limited technical variety."

"Glissandos and staccato bows account for the vast majority of the technical challenges in the whole piece."

"Of course, this was originally something Su Meng improvised on the spot as a bit of fun, so these aren't really major flaws."

"In short, this piece sounds excellent to the ear, and as a practice piece for glissando it's also a very good choice… wait!"

Hu Zhengyuan stiffened and hurriedly added.

"I'll set a rule: from now on, this piece is to be banned in the folk-music department!"

Huh?

Almost everyone was stunned.

Just now you were talking about it so enthusiastically, even saying it could be used as a glissando practice piece.

And now you're outright banning it?

But then, many suddenly understood and nodded hard.

Right, it absolutely has to be banned!

Just imagine—no matter where you go in the entire folk-music department, this brainwashing, catchy melody drifting everywhere.

Everyone got chills.

Damn, if it were like that, wouldn't the whole world be laughing at me?

This is a recipe for total shutdown!

As expected of the department head—sees things so clearly!

……

In the Xinghai Entertainment office, a cold wind blew bleak and desolate.

Duan Jiangping and Qin Jie had turned into two statues.

After a long while, Duan Jiangping swallowed and said uncertainly.

"Qin Jie, why do I feel… this erhu… oh wait, I mean Su Meng is mocking me?"

Qin Jie shook her head, her face full of resolve.

"No! Su Meng is mocking me."

"Mocking me for having eyes but no pearls, for actually styling him into a cold, aloof domineering CEO!"

……

In the instrument shop, the boss and his wife exchanged a glance, then turned their eyes toward the instrument section.

After a long while, the boss's voice was trembling.

"Wife, is there something wrong with the feng shui of our shop?"

"An erhu actually became a spirit?"

The boss's wife nodded, a face full of gravity.

"We've gotten ourselves into big trouble."

"It seems we've sold a whole bunch of erhu spirits…"