There was a polite smile on Xiao Luo’s face. He was there mostly because Zhang Dashan had tried so hard to convince him to attend, and besides, he had some time to spare. Had he known how little his former classmates valued the simple and genuine friendships they used to have in the past, he may not have come here. All he now saw were people willing to bootlick and ingratiate themselves to the more successful, or brag about their jobs and spouses. Not forgetting those who thought too highly of themselves and freely gave out unsolicited advice without even understanding the truth.

  To be honest, he had stayed out of respect for their past friendships. He could not just leave the place, as that would be disrespectful to everyone there.

  “Xiao Luo, what’re you talking about? You must sing, this is a competition, let’s be serious about it!” Hu Shuiping was the most agitated of all. He had a vested interest, of course.

  He was the butt of everyone’s joke as he was the only one who sang and got below the par of 60 points – had only gotten a tally of 11 points! It was so humiliating to him that he felt even his grandmother would not have approved of it. As he rarely witnessed Xiao Luo’s singing during college days, he hoped that Xiao Luo would be tone-deaf too. That way, his 11 points would not stand out as prominently. It would be fine even if Xiao Luo’s score was slightly higher than his, as then, he wouldn’t be the only one with such a low score.

  “That’s right Xiao Luo, speaking of which, we haven’t heard you singing before, now’s the chance, you better don’t chicken out.” Tang Wantian put down her phone and glancing over at Xiao Luo.

  “Quick, sing a song. Show some spirit and presence!”

  “When it’s your turn, you should put up a good show, Xiao Luo. You should change your character, don’t be so shy.”

  “We’re all classmates, even if you don’t sing it well, we’ll just take it, nobody is here to mock you. Look at Shui, we didn’t judge him even after he sang so terribly.”

  Everyone was trying their best to persuade him.

  Hu Shuiping frowned at the girl who said that he had sung terribly and put on his sympathetic look again. But this time, everyone only ignored him this time.

  “If he doesn’t want to sing, then forget about it. Why should we impose on him, huh!”

  Qin Guiyue, in an ironic tone, chirped, “It’d be such a shame if his singing is on the same level as Shui since he’s a good-looking kid.”

  Zhao Mengqi pulled Qin Guiyue’s arm and said softly, “Guiyue, can you stop targeting him?”

  She was already feeling very guilty, as the main reason she was at this gathering was to see Xiao Luo again and look at the man that had once belonged to her. She didn’t even know why she did it, as she had no illusions that there would be any chance of getting back together. And now, she was curious about the little girl named Bei Bei. She was quite convinced that she was not Xiao Luo’s daughter, there must be some misunderstanding.

  “I’m not targeting him, I’m just being brutally honest. He’s a handsome guy, but if his singing is terrible like a ghost howling, it’d naturally affect his image. And that’s by no means belittling.” Qin Guiyue crossed her arms in front of her chest and argued.

  \r \r \r

  “I want to f*ck you, may I?”

  Zhang Dashan replied with a double entendre, intentionally using an expletive.

  “What’re you talking about, Zhang Dashan?” Qin Guiyue’s expression changed immediately.

  “I said, I want to f*ck you, it’s not belittling you but an appraisal for you. I’m praising you for your beauty, if not why’d I want to f*ck you.” Zhang Dashan said tauntingly.

  “You……”

  Qin Guiyue was so enraged that her face turned red, and she started to hyperventilate.

  Xiao Luo stood up at this time and put his hand on Zhang Dashan’s shoulder, then said with a serious tone, “Dashan, don’t insult our female classmate; if you’re really that desperate, just spend a bit of money at the club and bring a pretty one back to have fun with.”

  What?!

  Everyone was shocked as they initially thought Xiao Luo stood up to reproach Zhang Dashan, but no one expected him to viciously suggest that Qin Guiyue was a prostitute. He even he badmouthed her without uttering a single expletive.

  Before Qin Guiyue could erupt, Xiao Luo told the male classmate who was sitting before the karaoke machine, “Pick the song ‘Ugly Hag’ for me, thank you!”

  Ugly Hag?

  Well, it was another hidden dig targeted at Qin Guiyue!

  Everyone could not believe what they had just witnessed, was this person really Xiao Luo? Was this still that Xiao Luo, the silent, low-key, and average kid in college?

  Only Zhao Mengqi knew that Xiao Luo was just being himself. He could endure insults for the sake of past friendships once or twice, but beyond that, he would not hold back. The others had all forgotten their old friendships, so why should he care?

  Flustered, Qin Guiyue clenched her jaw and glowered angrily at Xiao Luo and Zhang Dashan.

  “.……If you’re fake enough, you can even beat the demon……

  If you’ve plotted it well, who’s gonna be nobler……”

  The moment Xiao Luo got through the first verse of the lyrics, the crowd was immediately taken with his clear and melodious voice. He expressed the lyrics with a perfect articulation of its subtle inflections, which drew the listener in, as if in a conversation. And as he hummed the tune in the chorus, the crowd joined in and hummed along. They were beside themselves with admiration.

  Here was a voice that could converse with their souls.

  Tang Wantian stopped her texting and immediately looked at Xiao Luo as she listened to his captivating voice.

  “Did someone turn on the original mode?”

  A man raised this question softly, but he shut up as soon as he saw that the system screen on vocal mode.

  This was a very popular song, and anyone would immediately recognize whether it was the original track. It was a testament to Xiao Luo’s talent that anyone even thought that this was the original.

  “F*ck my life!”

  Well aware that he would be last in place, Hu Shuiping sat gloomily watching Xiao Luo’s performance. It was bad enough to be in the last place, but to be relegated to that spot with a score of only 11 points was both embarrassing and hurtful.

  “Daddy, Bei Bei wants to sing too!”

  The little loli wanted to join the fun and immediately jumped off the sofa and ran excitedly over to Xiao Luo, begging him by hugging onto his thigh.

  Seeing her so excited, Xiao Luo smiled and decided to let her have a go. He knelt down and passed the mic to her.

  “Can the ugly hag keep the lights off, the love I wanted only exist in a pitch-dark stage.

  In these times of ambiguity, my existence is not much of a surprise.”

  It was by sheer coincidence that this was also the highlight of the song, and even though she was only three or four years old, she could sing really well. Her innocent voice had produced a rather special effect on this song, she was like a nightingale that sang with a very pleasing voice. This made everyone laud her excellent singing with encouraging applause.

  Xiao Luo was a little surprised, as he did not expect that she could sing so well, and she made no mistake in enunciating the lyrics. She had mentioned to him earlier that she only sang nursery rhymes, but this song was nothing like that.

  He patted the little loli on her head to express his admiration and encouragement.

  The duet by “father and daughter” had elevated this song to a new height, and the listeners were enraptured with their fabulous performance.

  Everyone remained mesmerized for the song’s duration, enthralled by their beautiful voices and the exceptional rendition of the song. The fusion of both the voices of father and child had produced harmonics with dramatic ups and downs, which captured everyone’s soul.

  “Congratulations, your score is: 100 points!”

  The high-pitched female announcer from the karaoke sound system echoed in the room, and the giant screen showed: 100. The entire screen erupted with bursts of fireworks, and the disco ball in the room started to flashing at a vigorous tempo. At the same time, the whole room was filled with strobes of different colors, accompanied by thunderous applause and cheers from the sound system.