Chapter 44: King of Funerals

Evening.

The setting sun sinks below the horizon.

People come and go on the overpass, a continuous stream.

Shen Hu lowered his head, silently staring at the empty guitar case.

He was reluctant to give up; lowering his head, he rummaged through the guitar case again and again, not even sparing the corners and scraps of the case.

Once he finally confirmed he truly had not a single cent, Shen Hu was utterly, damnably desperate.

Today was a bit miserable...

On ordinary days, when singing old songs without emotion, he could occasionally get tips of ten or twenty yuan.

But today, while singing in the rain, his emotions were exceptionally abundant, and inspiration poured forth like a bursting dam; he composed three songs in a row, and when he sang with heart-wrenching intensity, he damnably received not even a single yuan in tips...

Damn it, could it be that I truly have no talent?

Shen Hu looked confusedly at the busy traffic not far away, and at the wandering singers on the overpass who were also singing...

In an instant, he began to doubt himself.

However, shortly after, a sentence suddenly floated into his mind.

【Wandering is always lonely; masters are always unappreciated and ignored before they become famous; the darkness before dawn is always cold, but believe that as long as you persist, more and more people will gather around you, more and more people will recognize you, and the long-awaited sunlight will appear】.

These words added a bit of strength to Shen Hu's confused heart.

He touched his stomach.

He was somewhat hungry.

He had some money in his pocket; the film's revenue share would allow him to eat well for a long time.

But, he finally suppressed the urge to eat, rallied his spirits again, and began to sing with heart-wrenching intensity.

Hunger is energy!

He wanted to remember the feeling of hunger and, from hunger, find more creative inspiration!

But...

As he sang...

Shen Hu felt that, somehow, this overpass seemed to be shaking violently...

Wait!

Is there an earthquake?

Just as he was bewildered, suddenly his vision went black, the world spun around him, and instead of feeling energy from hunger, he fainted directly from starvation.

…………………………

Eight o'clock at night.

When Zhou Yang and his group hurriedly entered the hospital, they saw that Shen Hu had already woken up, staring blankly at the ceiling like a fool.

The wandering singer nearby, seeing Shen Hu suddenly faint while singing, was startled and immediately called 120.

Fortunately, Shen Hu was not seriously injured; he had simply fainted from low blood sugar after not eating all day in search of creative inspiration.

Shen Long looked at Shen Hu's emaciated face...

He was instantly speechless!

This younger brother, ever since reading a biography of a musician, had been crazily worshipping that musician.

That musician said hunger is a power.

So he deliberately starved himself.

That musician wrote in the book that pain is the source of creation.

So he stayed up late at night, running alone to the overpass to sing all sorts of chaotic songs...

Even...

Shen Long suspected that if that musician had said eating shit brings inspiration, this fool might have rushed to the bathroom and hysterically eaten a jin of shit...

……

"President Zhou, I have inspiration."

"I know..."

"President Zhou, I really have inspiration..."

Shen Hu, with an IV drip in his arm, first stared blankly at the ceiling, then, as if realizing something, stared excitedly at Zhou Yang.

"I know; you have always been a talented person..." Zhou Yang nodded, his expression very serious: "If you had no talent, I would not have used your interlude in the first film!"

"Then may I sing?"

"Sing!"

"Good, I composed three songs today; one is named 【Nine Girls】, one is named 【Opera Stage】, and the third is a melody that suddenly came to me in my sleep; although I haven't filled in the lyrics, the tune keeps echoing in my mind. Do you have paper and a pen? I, hurry, hurry, hurry, inspiration has come, it's here, it's here, hurry, I can't hold on, I'm about to break!"

"Don't rush, don't rush, I have paper and a pen here..."

"Good!"

Shen Hu, with messy hair like the King of Beggars, trembled all over with excitement and, under everyone's gaze, immediately pulled out the IV tube.

Ignoring the blood flowing from the vein in his arm, without a word, he lowered his head, took the paper and pen from Zhou Yang, and frantically began to scribble.

Seeing Shen Hu's mad scene, Shen Long's face changed drastically; he was just about to stop this fool of a brother, but Zhou Yang blocked him.

He looked at Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang's expression remained very serious, but his gaze was fixed on Shen Hu.

"President Zhou, my brother, his mind might be broken; we can't let him continue like this... I suspect he is going mad!" Shen Long grew anxious.

"He has talent!"

"But, he, he... how could he possibly have talent? He was tricked into becoming a fool by that book! Damn it, if I ever get the chance to see that musician, I want to slap him; isn't this person a harm?"

"Shh!"

Zhou Yang watched Shen Hu frantically scribbling various musical notes on the paper, and finally shook his head at the panicked Shen Long.

Shen Long opened his mouth, but seeing Zhou Yang's even more serious, almost warning gaze, he ultimately forced himself to hold back the words he wanted to say.

Time passed bit by bit.

The blood on Shen Hu's veins gradually stopped flowing.

By the bedside.

Shen Hu wrote faster and faster, more and more excitedly, laughing heartily from time to time, then looking utterly sorrowful at other times, like an addict on drugs experiencing hallucinations.

Shen Long looked at his brother's unhuman appearance, felt a wave of sorrow in his heart, and then, seeing the messy notes on his brother's paper, finally fell into despair.

What the hell is all this?

This brother really seems to have gone mad!

About half an hour later.

Shen Hu finished the manuscript and looked at Zhou Yang excitedly.

"President Zhou, I've finished writing. Take a look!"

"Oh, let me see... these notes..."

Zhou Yang nodded, took the paper and pen, and seriously examined the notes on them, finding them crooked and completely incomprehensible.

"Oh, President Zhou, I found those orthodox notes too complicated, so I created my own simpler tadpole notes... Let me sing it for you, it goes like this... Where's the guitar?"

"..."

Zhou Yang handed the guitar to Shen Hu.

Shen Hu took the guitar, took a deep breath, and his heart-wrenching voice made Shen Long shudder.

Damn it!

What the hell is this?

This is practically wailing at a funeral!

He hadn't even said anything yet...

The nurse next door rushed in with emergency equipment...

When she saw Shen Hu playing the guitar, the nurse was completely stunned!

Then her face changed!

"You..."

"Don't make such strange noises next time!"

"In the middle of the night, don't do this; it will disturb the rest of the patients in the next room!"

"..."

Shen Long came to his senses and hurriedly apologized to the nurse.

Shen Hu, after finishing his song, saw the nurse and the patients from the next room who had come over one after another to watch the spectacle, and immediately lowered his head.

After everyone had gradually dispersed.

The room was empty.

Shen Long stared at Shen Hu with a face as green as iron.

"That's enough!"

"Stop singing!"

"Never sing again in your life!"

"Shen Hu, I was afraid of discouraging you before, but now... if I don't tell the truth, it will be too late!"

"If you keep singing, you'll go mad!"

"And, you damn fool, you have absolutely no talent. You, stop singing. I'll say it again: stop singing!"

"..."

"I... I... am I..." Seeing Shen Long's near-breakdown expression, Shen Hu first felt confused, then his face gradually turned pale, and immediately after, he stared blankly at the ceiling, his soul seemingly lost.

"I..."

"I..."

He tried hard to say something, but stammered and couldn't get a single word out.

"You have talent!"

Shen Long was about to say something else...

But unexpectedly, a very serious voice suddenly drowned out his.

Shen Long stared at Zhou Yang.

Shen Hu also instinctively looked at Zhou Yang.

They saw Zhou Yang's eyes exceptionally serious as he silently gathered the manuscripts on the bed.

"Rest well tonight; tomorrow I'll help you record the song! Director Shen, let's go out first..."

"My brother... should I call the psychiatric hospital? I feel his mental state is becoming increasingly abnormal."

After leaving the hospital, Shen Long looked at Zhou Yang, took a deep breath, and wore an expression of deep concern.

Zhou Yang then glanced at the moon in the sky.

After a moment of silence, he revealed a solemnity never seen before.

"He is a genius!"

"???"

"President Zhou, are you serious?" Shen Long stared at Zhou Yang in shock. "The other people here, President Zhou, you actually…"

"He's going to stun everyone with his work any moment now!"

"???"

I've lost my mind.

Or President Zhou has lost his mind.

Or everyone's lost their minds?

Shen Hu?

A guy who can't even beg for money on the street while carrying a guitar…

Yes!

A genius?