Chapter 251

At this moment, her heart was profoundly stirred.

This was no simple music video—it was clearly a short film.

What she saw was more than just imagery.

It was the dimensional figure within the imagery—the dimensional figure of Brother Shiguang—a boy with messy hair, a slender frame, eyes lowered, filled with melancholy and loneliness.

This image of the lonely singer.

In Hearing Lan Ying's heart, this image began to merge with that of the streamer named Brother Shiguang.

Hearing Lan Ying gently closed her eyes.

Beside her ears, Brother Shiguang's song continued to play.

Her thoughts, however, drifted far away…

This Brother Shiguang will become famous nationwide.

He will explode in popularity by year's end and become a top-tier presence in the Chinese-language music scene.

Hearing Lan Ying thought.

175. The giant hole beside the island

(PS: The previous text has been revised; chapters 169–174 have been completely rewritten and restructured. Subsequent plot developments assume the revised prior content.)

(PS: Revision note: After a night of consideration, I found the heroine's resurrection was too rushed. Too many plot points lacked proper setup and explanation. Rushing her resurrection would harm the reader's experience. Though I tried to make it logically consistent, it undermined the whole narrative, so I've completely overhauled these chapters—their settings are now voided and will not be reused. Whether the heroine is resurrected later depends on how my plot develops.)

(PS: I'll do my best based on the plot's direction—if resurrection proves impossible, then so be it.)

Waitomo Firefly Cave.

Located on an island far out in the East Sea.

This island is named Dongfu Island, forty-three nautical miles from the East Sea coastline.

Administratively, it falls under Donghai City's jurisdiction and is a tourist island.

But last August, the super typhoon "Cassen" was originally set to make landfall in Donghai City, and the city had prepared fully for flood and wind defenses.

Yet the super typhoon veered off course and headed straight toward Nanfu Island.

After making landfall on Nanfu Island, the super typhoon "Cassen" unleashed its fury.

The island's mature tourism infrastructure—buildings, parking lots, homes, even the small pier—was utterly destroyed.

Fortunately, all island residents had evacuated in advance, so there were no casualties.

But years of development and operation on the island were completely wiped out.

Rebuilding it would be a massive, time-consuming undertaking.

Since the typhoon passed, over a year has gone by, and Donghai City's authorities have yet to move beyond paper plans for Nanfu Island's reconstruction.

The biggest problem is insufficient municipal budget.

They plan to attract investment, but without restored infrastructure, any investor would face certain losses.

And so it remains to this day.

The waterway from shore to island has not been restored.

Former residents can reach the island by fishing boat or speedboat, but seeing the island's devastation, they only shake their heads and leave.

The name "Waitomo" is not Western—it derives from the ancient Ou-Yue minority language. The original spelling is unknown, so it was later written phonetically as it is today.

Someone had long said that the most beautiful sight on Nanfu Island was the Waitomo Cave.

It must have long since been flooded by seawater.

But now, this is the new clock-in task issued by the system.

Ning Chen remembered that, back then, because Nanfu Island was the closest island to Donghai City, Si Shiya had always wanted to visit it.

She said the island had ancient folk houses and the Waitomo Firefly Cave.

On summer nights, the entire cave glowed with shimmering fireflies—it was incredibly beautiful.

Now, it was mid-December.

Deep winter.

When Zhang Xiao and the Husky woke up in the car,

they could just see the beach outside the window.

She saw that big brother pushing a small speedboat on the shallow shore.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiao leapt up instantly.

The Husky beside her startled awake.

"Look quick! It's a speedboat!!" Zhang Xiao said to the Husky.

The Husky looked out the window, face serious.

"The big brother actually got a speedboat! Is he going to sea?! I've never been to sea before!" Zhang Xiao was ecstatic.

Then, the girl and the Husky got out of the car together.

The Husky ran toward Ning Chen; Zhang Xiao chased after him.

They reached Ning Chen's side. He didn't look up or speak, continuing to bend low and push the speedboat.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiao stepped forward, summoning all her strength, and pushed alongside Ning Chen.

Her strength was negligible for moving this speedboat.

But the girl pushed with all her might.

Until, together with Ning Chen, they pushed the speedboat into the sea.

The speedboat finally floated up in the shallows.

Ning Chen stepped up and climbed aboard the speedboat.

Then he reached out his hand to Zhang Xiao.

Zhang Xiao Nian reached out, feeling his small hand caught by a large one, lifted, and pulled up.

The husky, Sha Bi, stood far away.

It feared water.

Seeing both Ning Chen and Zhang Xiao Nian had boarded the speedboat.

The husky wore a serious expression.

"Come on!" Zhang Xiao Nian waved at the husky from the speedboat.

But the husky remained motionless, the cold wind making its fur flap and flutter.

Ning Chen looked at that dog.

That dog looked back at them.

Ning Chen turned around.

Just as he was about to start the speedboat, he suddenly heard the sound of water behind him.

Turning back again, he saw that husky had jumped into the seawater at some unknown moment, tongue lolling out, swimming toward them.

Swimming to the side of the speedboat, Zhang Xiao Nian saw it approaching and was overjoyed.

She raised her hand to scoop up the husky, but could not lift it.

That dog was too big and too heavy.

Ning Chen, standing beside, raised his hand, grabbed the skin at the back of the husky's neck, and hoisted it up.

The husky lay on the speedboat, its hind legs still trembling.

It truly feared water.

And at this moment, it was also very cold.

Zhang Xiao Nian used a towel to wipe the cold water from Sha Bi's body.

The speedboat started.

Ning Chen drove the speedboat, while Zhang Xiao Nian and the husky sat behind.

By their ears, only the wild howling of the cold wind.

Behind them, the mainland was receding.

The speedboat entered a patch of gray-blue.

The sea along the eastern coast, the color of the seawater was all quite unpleasant.

In severe cases, it was directly earth-yellow, mainly ruined by tidal flats and river mouths, unlike the southern Haidao, where the seawater is always azure blue.

Thus, the entire journey passed in silence.

The words between them had always been few.