Chapter 120

There were also vast numbers of viewers, emitting all sorts of sighs and remarks.

Some said the melody was beautiful; others said the lyrics had a folk vibe.

But as they spoke,

for some unknown reason,

the number of bullet comments grew fewer and fewer!

Until, by the time the streamer finished this song,

the entire live room had not a single bullet comment left!

And right after, the streamer's guitar strings moved again.

Facing the boundless night of Namtso, he began to sing once more.

It was still the same song.

Starting from one o'clock in the morning,

he had been singing this song continuously.

Over and over again.

Until his throat was completely hoarse, he was still singing!

After one o'clock in the morning,

the number of online viewers in Brother Shiguang's live room grew larger and larger.

Eventually, it returned to the million-level mark.

Yet, not a single bullet comment appeared.

Everyone was listening to this streamer sing that song over and over.

Those lyrics kept repeating and lingering throughout the live room.

"..."

"If we cannot get married! How can you bear it?"

"I want to be with you until I no longer love you."

"I am willing to die for you! If I still love you!"

"..."

Such lyrics completely enveloped every viewer in the live room.

Among these viewers,

there were far too many fresh college graduates.

Or, there were far too many college students already in their senior year.

Among them, there were also far too many couples.

And there were also far too many lonely people who had already broken up with their partners.

This was graduation season.

A bullet comment finally appeared:

【Marriage, a word I've thought about countless times before, now feels so distant—just graduated in June, working in Magic City】

Right after, a second one, a third one...

【I am willing to die for him, but he got scared—located in Yiyang, single for five months now】

【Had to part ways, quietly saying goodbye; keeping gratitude in my heart, thanking you for the deep friendship you once gave me—located in Ram City】

【Four years of time exchanged for never speaking to each other again until death, how great—located in Ice City】

【Hope I can be my daughter's godfather many years from now, damn it! —located in Yiyang】

【Humans are made from monkeys, how can they not be cheap! I accept it! —located in Yu City】

【Sun Junhe, I'll f*** your mother! Falling in love with you was the worst luck in my life—located in Yong City】

【He said he would marry me; I will keep waiting for him—located in Lishui】

【He also said he was willing to die for me; I don't need him to buy a house or a car for me; I want to live with him in a rental apartment—located in Peng City, a single female dog for five months】

【Life is too bitter; I won't come back in the next life—located in Ning City】

【Together in university for four years; now looking back, every second is heartbreakingly unbearable—located in Wuchang City, a female DS】

【Being with you, I don't need any reason; Yangyang, you are my truth—located in Shaoxing City】

【"..."】

Amidst the already extremely hoarse singing of that streamer named Brother Shiguang,

this Brother Shiguang live room was completely obscured by bullet comments.

No viewer could see anymore.

In the live broadcast footage,

that girl named Wang Yue, leaning against the driver's side window,

listened to the singing outside the window.

Her entire body had long been crying uncontrollably.

(PS: The song is "Be With You" by Brother Li Zhi, currently basically banned across the entire internet and hard to find. Interested readers can try searching; maybe you can find a concert video version, though that is also hard to find...)

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In the conference room.

Fang Lan closed her eyes.

Leaning against the back of the chair.

In her ears was that already hoarse singing.

A long while passed.

The chair slowly turned around.

"What's wrong?" she opened her eyes.

On both sides of the long table in the conference room, several people sat.

At the head sat a trendy man in his forties with a ponytail.

The trendy man rubbed his chin, kept his eyes closed, and continued listening to the live broadcast of the singing on the screen at the front of the conference room.

"Compared to his previous four songs, this song's style is completely different."

The trendy man spoke with his eyes still closed.

"This song abandons the reserve of before."

"It is full of folk-song feeling."

"But unlike the subtle turns of ordinary folk songs, this song is very direct."

"Whether in terms of lyrics or musical style."

"Generally, lyrics that are too direct, if handled improperly, can feel tacky."

"But this song has no such feeling at all... how to put it."

The trendy man opened his eyes and looked at Fang Lan. "With my years of experience, I believe this is related to his singing style tonight."

"How so?"

The trendy man smiled. "Sorry, I was a bit moved just now."

"Let's put it this way: if a professional singer were to sing this song, no matter what techniques they used, the lyrics' excessive directness would make the emotion seem overdone, leading to the result of backfiring and falling into the quagmire of tackiness."

"But..." The trendy man looked at the screen. "Did you hear? Right now, for some reason or another, he has abandoned all singing techniques; in fact, he doesn't even care that his throat is completely hoarse. One could even say he is singing this song with his voice tearing."

"Without any formal singing techniques, combined with this overly direct song, the result is the effect we see now."

"I believe," the trendy man glanced at the others, "that everyone here, in his singing, has been moved to some degree—depending on each person's experiences, the emotional fluctuations may differ, but everyone can be touched; that is the most essential reason."

Listening to the trendy man's critique, Fang Lan also smiled. "Teacher Guo, your meaning is that having no technique defeats having technique? This song touched people's hearts not because of technique, but because he was simply singing with his heart?"

Hearing Minister Fang Lan's summary, this trendy man, Teacher Guo, also gave a thumbs-up. "The Minister's summary is incisive—apart from that, I can think of no other reason."

"I've been a music critic for over ten years; I really haven't heard a singer perform a song with this kind of feeling in many years," Teacher Guo said, thinking for a moment. "I think that without special experiences and stories, a person cannot sing with this kind of feeling."

The conference room fell quiet for a moment.

Fang Lan looked at everyone and raised her hand. "This is the fifth song."

"So, how should it be named?"

Everyone began to whisper among themselves.

Li Ran, sitting nearby, thought for a moment. "How about following his lyrics and calling it 'I Want to Marry You'?"

Some nodded; some gave no indication.