Can following the rules be called rebirth?

Chapter 146, Section 144: His Sweat and Hard Work

The noise in the background only lasted for a short while.

The nearby actors all gathered around and showered Zhou Mingyuan with praise.

Although both hosts had tears welling up in their eyes, the welcome party had to continue, and the process had to be carried out step by step.

"Seriously, A-Yuan."

Peipei, carrying her guitar, left the auditorium with Zhou Mingyuan through the backstage passage.

"Your performance just now was the best we've sung in all the time we've been rehearsing."

"What score would you give me, Sister Pei?"

Zhou Mingyuan had long since become good friends with the landlord's cat, and he wasn't embarrassed at all when asked about it.

"9 points."

Peipei smiled and waved to Zhou Mingyuan, then walked towards the neighboring Jiangcheng University of Finance and Economics: "I still stick to my previous idea for the remaining point."

"If Xinyi were here, it would make up for the lack of tension on stage."

"Okay, I'm going back now, bye~"

"Now I finally have time to record new works!"

The guitarist turned and disappeared into the night, walking further and further away.

On the way back to the auditorium, Zhou Mingyuan's phone suddenly vibrated.

This song absolutely cannot be sung in vain; it must leave a mark on at least a few people's hearts.

I unlocked my phone, and sure enough!
After being quiet for most of the day, a message popped up in the Fruit Princess WeChat group, tagging him.

Gu Caiwei: [What's going on! Where did you go for further studies? You sang so well today!]

Zhou Mingyuan did not reply immediately, but put his phone back in his pocket and walked back to the auditorium along the path.

Let your emotions settle down for a little while.

When the law school freshmen saw their incredibly cool class monitor again in the area, a large group of people immediately surrounded him.

Xie Jiaxin's eyes sparkled: "Class monitor! You're so handsome! My hands are all red from clapping backstage!"

Cai Zhipeng gave a thumbs up: "Old Zhou, you're fucking awesome! The girls from the Literature Department next door were staring at you the whole time, their eyes practically glued to you, and they were asking everyone for your contact information!"

Yu Feiyang leaned closer: "Brother Zhou, you must have practiced this song for a long time, right? It's so infectious!"

Xiong Yao made the final statement: "Let alone strangers, I just glanced at the WeChat group where the eight of us went out to play, and even Duan Yanyan sent a long voice message. She's definitely become Brother Zhou's fangirl."

As soon as Zhou Mingyuan returned, everyone's enthusiasm was reignited.

She patted this spot and rubbed that spot, as if the man in front of her were some kind of lucky charm.

On stage, the host continued to put in the effort, and the show continued.

Zhou Mingyuan blended into the crowd and chatted with everyone for a few minutes before sitting back down and taking out his phone.

[It's alright, I guess. I haven't really shown my true abilities in the store before, it's just a small part.]

In the three-person group chat, Zhou Mingyuan's response quickly appeared.

After thinking for a moment, he swiped open the details page, found Li Zhi's profile picture, and opened the private chat dialog box.

Clicked in.

【How to say? 】

How much do you think Xiao Zhou's version of "I Like You" is worth?

Like the performers at the welcome party who were on edge the whole time, Gu Caiwei and Li Zhi's dinner also dragged on until very late.

On a summer night, a gentle breeze wafted along Nanhu Avenue, and the warm yellow lanterns of the small restaurant swayed behind the glass sliding doors.

The small private room with four seats was now only occupied by two young women, making it seem a bit empty.

On the table were two bowls of tonkotsu ramen, several dishes of set meals, and two plates of snacks.

Li Zhi sat opposite her best friend, slurping her noodles in small bites, her gaze repeatedly lingering on her phone screen.

"But he's actually quite popular!"

"Baby, did you notice?"

"The fighting was absolutely insane!"

"The girls in the row behind us were whispering about how to add him on WeChat!"

After Zhou Mingyuan's performance ended, the two left the bustling auditorium.

Even now, Gu Caiwei is still not satisfied.

Throughout the journey, she chattered on and on, sometimes talking about the atmosphere of the welcome party, sometimes mentioning that the host looked familiar, and sometimes steer the conversation back to the main topic.

However, neither of them mentioned that opening line.

There was no discussion about who exactly was being referred to as the "partner with whom one spends every day and whose fate is intertwined."

Ultimately, it was just singing at the welcome party.

No one is so naive as to think that singing "I Like You" is equivalent to publicly revealing their feelings and making a passionate confession.

Furthermore, the other party deliberately added a long modifier, so everyone has their own interpretation.

No one to tell the west wind, but the mountain spirit will listen. "Ah, not bad."

Li Zhi was clearly somewhat distracted.

"By the way, baby, something's off with you today. Why didn't you complain about his Cantonese pronunciation?"

As she was talking, Gu Caiwei seemed to remember something and winked at her best friend.

Her adorable dimples reappeared at the corners of her mouth.

"He sang Cantonese songs in front of you, I don't know where he got the courage!"

The girl giggled, her voice rising slightly, melting into the small private room.

"It sounds nice, but why didn't the police officers come out?"

"Could it be that his pronunciation has improved this time?"

"."

Li Zhi bit her lip, picked up the fried chicken pieces in front of her and put them into her bowl, hesitating for a few seconds.

"The pronunciation is so-so."

At the same time, the short-haired girl put down her chopsticks, unlocked her phone again, and quickly typed out a short reply.

How long have you been practicing?

[His singing was actually pretty good; I think he's worth at least twenty yuan!]

After thinking for a moment, she deleted the text she had typed.

It was completely deleted.

It seems that no matter what I say, it's hard to express the turbulent emotions I feel right now.

So she simply sent a red envelope.

Laymen listen to the spectacle, experts listen to the details.

For people living in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, listening to outsiders speak broken Cantonese and sing off-key Cantonese songs is definitely a form of torture.

The Cantonese word for police has gradually spread throughout the country.

Having spent so much time with Zhou Mingyuan and even personally taught him on a whim, Li Zhi was well aware of his Cantonese proficiency.

Because of this, she soon discovered a shocking fact.

His pronunciation was surprisingly standard!

How long did he train?
How much effort did he put into singing this song to himself?
With her thoughts racing, Li Zhi couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions as she thought about this.

She was different from other girls.

As for the eight-character adjective—living together day and night, with intertwined fates—she didn't have any further speculation or interpretation.

Because short-haired girls can be absolutely certain.

This song was a surprise he specially prepared for himself.

After all, Zhou Mingyuan had said that a long time ago!

He said he wanted to sing for himself.

There's nothing more romantic than singing a song to yourself at a welcome party.

If so, it means the singing was exceptionally outstanding, exceptionally pleasant to listen to, and exceptionally popular.

How on earth did he do it?
As we all know, it is extremely difficult to learn the standard pronunciation of a Cantonese song in about a week.

Because Cantonese is inherently quite difficult, with 6 open tones and 3 entering tones, it is not only extremely unfriendly to non-native speakers, but incorrect tones can also completely change the meaning of words.

Singing is even more difficult.

In the pronunciation of lyrics, the tone may change when words are read together.

Zhou Mingyuan's ability to deliver such a high level of performance in "I Like You" within such a short preparation time must have required a great deal of hard work.

You need to dedicate a lot of high-intensity, highly focused practice every day.

Li Zhi rested her chin on one hand, twirling her chopsticks in the bowl, and pursed her lips as she began to imagine.

Imagine someone like Zhou Mingyuan, holding up lyrics on an A4 sheet of paper and meticulously marking them with Cantonese pinyin or International Phonetic Alphabet.

I imagined him breaking down lyrics into individual characters, words, and short phrases, just like I did when I was in elementary school, conquering their pronunciation one by one, and then combining them.

Considering that he has been virtually invisible this week, he must have been working tirelessly, seizing every spare moment to practice.

Listen while walking, practice while eating, think before bed—amazing determination and perseverance.

Although from the perspective of a Cantonese police officer, his individual entering tones were not short enough, and a certain connected tone was slightly off, it was far from reaching the level of "absolute accuracy".

That's really enough.

Even ordinary listeners would find it to be very standard at first glance.

Not only was her pronunciation perfect, but the emotion in her singing was almost overflowing.

It has a lot of flavor and is very touching.

(End of this chapter)