Eighty-three, ruthless and terse

In a society ruled by attention, a dog biting a person is nothing special; a person biting a dog is news. If no one is afraid of being cursed or smeared, then no one pays any attention at all. What is most terrifying is not even having a single promotion point worth spending money on.

Any kind of public relations or publicity depends on a core position. Many entertainers and public figures wrack their brains over this. Too upright and virtuous, and people find it dull; too seductive and shameless, and it slides into vulgarity. Then even advertisers will not come. So someone like Qiao Yingna, who already comes with her own topic value, has nearly become the central focus of this season's talent contest, and even if she herself wants to withdraw, it is not so easy anymore.

So when she proposed singing the same song from beginning to end, the organizers did not object at all. Instead, they devoted great effort to helping her turn it into a gimmick. Even if it was, in a way, Qiao Yingna's own answer to herself, it was indeed excellent publicity.

Having won the regional championship while suffering so much harassment and humiliation, and having stood on the stage of song because of a man who, without a word, had fled after committing a crime for her sake in order to help her realize her dream, this song, Pledge, had clearly been given far too many meanings.

But singing the same song over and over was still a little monotonous, wasn't it? Would the audience grow weary of it?

Or perhaps, being able to keep singing the same signature piece like this, was it a little unfair to the other singers?

Questions and points of interest like these naturally drew all attention toward Qiao Yingna.

But today, the moment she opened her mouth, everyone suddenly understood.

The content could be changed.

Before, Qiao Yingna had sung in Cantonese. Because of the tonal richness of the language, Cantonese songs already sounded more flavorful to connoisseurs than Mandarin ones. But this time, the organizers had someone rearrange the melody to suit Mandarin pronunciation. The words were the same, yet the flavor and atmosphere were entirely different. It was clearly a brand-new song, and it allowed many listeners who understood Cantonese only by sound, but not by meaning, to fully grasp this time the purpose of her insistence on singing it.

She was singing to that man in the distance.

It should be said that this was indeed one of Qiao Yingna's more polished pieces from her bar days, and when she first chose it on the stage in Rongdu, there had certainly been intention behind it. But she could never have imagined it would fit this moment so perfectly.

The original melody carried a touch of melancholy, but this version had been made brighter, and the tempo slightly quickened. For nonprofessionals, that was about all they could notice. The real focus was still Qiao Yingna's performance.

The same tune can evoke entirely different worlds in the hands of different singers. Qiao Yingna unexpectedly did exactly that. Just when many thought they were about to hear a familiar song, she used a wholly new style and a delightfully surprising approach to catch the audience off guard with a love song full of smiles. It was nothing like the tragic tale spread by the media before, nothing like a resentful, furious victim. That sunlight shone all the more brilliantly for it.

Qiao Yingna's voice had always been a rather distant female mezzo, clean and penetrating, and that was the hallmark of her singing.

It was a piece made for her alone. The simple, independent piano accompaniment fully brought out the quality of her timbre, utterly unlike the garish fare of other talent show contestants.

And above all, there was a story behind it.

This was Qiao Yingna's first official stage appearance after winning the Rongdu regional championship. If before she had been trapped in the whirlpool of events, with the topic centered on that singer suspended somewhere between light and shadow, now she revealed a vigorous new life, a struggle that would never bow to fate.

Anyway, when the song ended, this was how the judge, eyes brimming with emotion, described it. Even Elsa's eyes had reddened a little. Chen Sufen frowned tightly, and only Bai Haonan cackled with unconcern. "See that? That's a talent show. They deliberately get the judges to set the pace, and the audience, silly as they are, just thinks, ah, it does seem like that, and then they figure the singing was truly wonderful. A formula. It's all one damn formula!"

Chen Sufen turned around irritably. "Bai Haonan! A person has to pursue beautiful things in life, doesn't he? What about you? Qiao is just like you, always escaping whenever something happens, always smashing bottles to solve problems the crude way. Before, when I heard Qiao was out singing, I thought she was neglecting her proper work. She had such a bright future, and yet she insisted on singing. Now I finally understand: she is putting her heart into this. Even if singing has so much darkness and so many hidden dealings, a person cannot live inside the dark! Light! Look at her, she is singing for you. She wants you to be brighter!"

Bai Haonan was surprised. "Damn it, now you're lecturing me again? Go on, go on. Am I not bright enough already? So sunny and handsome, and I still don't pursue beautiful things? Look at the girl I just set my sights on, isn't she pretty?"

Chen Sufen was so angry she grabbed a cushion from the sofa and hurled it at him. "I can't talk sense into you! But you're wrong!" Having said that, she stomped upstairs in a huff, and a loud slam followed.

Elsa had been watching the whole time, her wide eyes shifting as she tried to make sense of it all. Once the room fell quiet, she pointed upstairs. "Should I go and persuade her?"

Bai Haonan was completely unruffled as he poured himself a glass of wine and raised it toward the beauty. "See? Women always want to make themselves into mothers. The one on TV is like that, and the one upstairs is like that too. Do you have that kind of thought too?"

The girl with long straight black hair thought for a moment, then shook her head like a rattle drum, her side locks swaying obediently. "I won't. Being a mother is tiring. The women of my people have to take care of men their whole lives. I don't want to live that way anymore."

Bai Haonan was utterly impressed and snapped his fingers. "Good! Come on, come on, have a drink with your uncle!"

Elsa was absolutely not the innocent little sweetheart she tried to act like. "It's A Zhu. I am your A Xia. Remember that my name is A Gu La." Her words were simple, and her way of drinking even simpler. She tilted her head back and downed the liquor in the tiny cup in one gulp.

Bai Haonan wanted himself to seem a little foolish. "Don't be like that. Isn't living freely and happily better? Like your custom of trial marriages."

Elsa actually showed him a trick. Their little cups were on the coffee table, and she held the liquor bottle about a yard away. With one flick and a sway, she sent a mouthful of liquor arcing neatly into the cup. Though a little splashed out and the cup was not perfectly filled, seeing it with his own eyes was still astonishing. While applauding, Bai Haonan even said, "If you went to be a hostess, you'd rake in tips until your hands went numb!"

The mountain girl was stunned by his shamelessness and utter lack of moral restraint. "I am your A Xia. Don't you think there's anything wrong with me going to be a hostess?"

Bai Haonan lifted his cup in salute. "I even worked as a gigolo before. It's all business. It's all selling your labor. In my view, going to work, playing football, singing, and being a hostess aren't really any different."

Elsa confirmed again, "You want me to be a hostess?"

Bai Haonan shook his head. "I'm just making an analogy. Your life is your own. Choose however you like, but don't come choosing for me. Thanks."

At last Elsa looked at him seriously. "My mother told me that a wife has only two choices: either become a tigress, or become a doormat. Only those two. Which do you think I should choose?"

Watching the girl kneeling on the sofa as she leaned closer to him, Bai Haonan finally felt a bit uneasy. "What are you going to do?"

Slowly, Elsa drew a beautifully crafted short knife from behind her waist. "From the moment I told you my name was A Gu La, everything I said was true. Don't forget that. Since you have already become someone who walks with me along the road of fate, then you should take responsibility for your choice and mine."

Bai Haonan suddenly felt a chill toward this little wild cat.