Chapter Thirty-Eight: Crosstalk and a New Song
Jiang Yun and Yue Yun stepped onto the stage from behind the curtains, the spotlight illuminating them. Yue Yun took the lead performer’s spot, while Jiang Yun stood at the supporting performer’s place. The two bowed, standing behind a table as the show began.
“First of all, it’s a great pleasure to stand on this stage,” Jiang Yun began.
“That’s right!” Yue Yun chimed in.
“I’m truly happy! Here’s wishing everyone a blessed Mid-Autumn Festival!”
“Do you all know who’s standing next to me?” Yue Yun patted Jiang Yun on the shoulder.
“Don’t know!” came the reply.
“This is Jiang Yun!” he announced.
Some in the audience cried out they didn’t know, while others shouted Jiang Yun’s name.
“Everyone knows the song ‘Five Rings’, right?”
“Yes!” the audience replied in unison.
“Well, if you know ‘Five Rings’, then you should also know the man to my left. He’s not just anyone—he’s the composer and lyricist of ‘Five Rings’!” Yue Yun said, patting Jiang Yun’s shoulder.
The audience erupted in applause and excited chatter.
“He’s written many catchy tunes as well.”
“Not at all, not at all,” Jiang Yun replied humbly.
“I hear you’re quite the sensation these days!” Jiang Yun teased.
“Of course! My fame has soared to the heavens,” Yue Yun replied, brimming with pride.
“Hey? What do you mean, soared to the heavens?”
“It means if you light a fire here, it’ll burn all the way to the horizon.”
The crowd burst out laughing.
“By the way, have you heard a song about ‘philosophy’?” Yue Yun asked, looking at Jiang Yun.
“There’s a song about ‘philosophy’?” Jiang Yun feigned surprise.
“Absolutely! Let me sing it for you!”
“Alright then~”
“The winding roads of philosophy, eighteen twists and turns, the water paths of philosophy, nine interlinked curves...”
“Alright, that’s enough, stop singing!” Jiang Yun grabbed Yue Yun’s arm.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Is this the song about philosophy you mentioned?” Jiang Yun’s voice sharpened.
“Yes, what’s the matter?”
“Oh, come on!” Jiang Yun blurted out a dialect phrase, “It’s supposed to be ‘here’! Listen carefully, it’s ‘here’! ‘Here’!”
“Oh? It’s ‘here’? I thought it was ‘philosophy’!”
“I’ve got another song about ‘Grandmother’!”
“There’s a song about ‘Grandmother’?”
“Let me sing it for you!”
“When your grandmother’s hair turns white—”
“When your grandmother—!” Jiang Yun gave Yue Yun a swift kick. “I’ll be your grandfather then!”
“Listen, it’s ‘when you’re old’, not ‘when your grandmother’!” Jiang Yun corrected him.
...
The two of them composed themselves.
“To be honest,” Yue Yun said.
“Mm-hmm!” Jiang Yun nodded in agreement.
“The songs we just sang, they’re all by other people.”
“Mm-hmm!”
“I haven’t sung any of my own songs yet.”
“You have your own songs?” Jiang Yun questioned.
“Of course!”
“Now, let me present to you a performance of ‘Five Rings’!”
“Ah—Five rings...”
Yue Yun pointed the microphone toward the audience, who sang in unison, “You have one more ring than four rings—”
Yue Yun withdrew the microphone: “Ah—Five rings...”
He pointed it toward the audience once more, and they sang, “You have one less ring than six rings—”
“One day, you’ll finally build up to seven rings. And then what?”
“You’ll have two more rings than five!” Yue Yun flashed a peace sign.
“What’s with all these rings—five, eight—are you counting hoops?” Jiang Yun pulled back Yue Yun’s arm.
“In the end...” Yue Yun bounced around the stage, clowning about.
“Stop, stop, enough singing.”
“In the end—”
“Hey?” Jiang Yun gave Yue Yun another playful kick.
Yue Yun stopped singing.
“Did you see how hyped that gentleman was just now?” Yue Yun pulled Jiang Yun, pointing to an audience member. “Sir, come on, join the fun!”
The two finished their act and bowed.
The audience erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.
“Encore!”
“Encore!”
Jiang Yun and Yue Yun smiled in response, bowing for the curtain call.
The host walked onto the stage, a bit helpless: “Golden October, with crisp autumn air.”
“Thank you to our two performers for such a wonderful show.”
“And now, please enjoy the next performance...”
Backstage, the two entered the dressing room, and Jiang Yun let out a sigh of relief.
“Ding! Congratulations, host, task completed. Reward: Martial Arts Mastery.”
“Master Jiang, you did great out there!”
“Oh, not at all!” Jiang Yun replied modestly.
“You still have another performance later, don’t you?” Yue Yun asked.
“Yes, the grand finale,” Jiang Yun answered.
“I didn’t expect you’d get a chance to perform solo. Make sure you give it your all for the closing act!”
“Don’t worry!”
Out front—
Mingming and Xiao Yang, the two hosts, worked in tandem.
“Up next, we have a guest specially invited by our station director,” Mingming announced.
“You might not know, but the Mid-Autumn Gala’s program was finalized two months ago,” Xiao Yang added.
“This performer only received the invitation to perform today,” Mingming continued.
“That’s right, and he only had half an hour to rehearse.”
“Let’s welcome...”
Standing at the entrance, ready to go on stage, Jiang Yun called out in his mind: “System, open personal panel!”
“System, open personal panel!”
“Beep!”
Host: Jiang Yun
Vocal Ability: S-grade (enough to support a grand concert)
Acting: D+ grade (more talented than a child)
Directing Ability: D grade (can shoot low-budget indie films)
Skills Available: Special Forces Physique, Master Chef, Master Pianist, S-grade Speed, Clear Logic, Martial Arts Mastery
Songs Owned: “False Words True Heart”, “Across the Sea to See You”, “Rice Fragrance”, “Sad Pacific”, “Getting Rich”, “One Night in Summer Capital”, “Porcelain Blue”, “Free to Fly”, “Little Apple”, “The Brightest Star in the Night Sky”
Piano Piece: “Canon”
Novel: “Battle Horses in the Sky”
Items: Three S-grade Acting Experience Cards, one Single-Use Hacker Skill Card (expired)
Popularity Value: 3,653,086
Jiang Yun noticed his popularity had just increased by another million and nodded in satisfaction.
He had already selected two songs, both of which were extremely popular in his previous life.
“Prelude to the Water Melody” and “The Moon on the Fifteenth”—but which should he sing? Both fitting for Mid-Autumn, both easy to remember.
In the end, Jiang Yun decided on “The Moon on the Fifteenth.” While “Prelude to the Water Melody” matched the occasion, “The Moon on the Fifteenth” was catchier.
“System, redeem ‘The Moon on the Fifteenth’!”
“Ding! 50,000 popularity points deducted. Congratulations, host, redemption successful!”
A USB drive appeared in Jiang Yun’s hand out of thin air, which he handed to the staff.
“And now, let’s welcome Jiang Yun to the stage with ‘The Moon on the Fifteenth’!”
The spotlight illuminated the entrance, and Jiang Yun’s figure slowly emerged.
Dressed in a military uniform, Jiang Yun strode to the center of the stage.
The audience fell silent at the sight.
Jiang Yun’s deep voice resounded: “The moon on the fifteenth shines over my homeland, shines over the borderlands.
On this tranquil night, you are longing, and so am I.
I watch over the baby’s cradle at home,
While you patrol the frontiers of the nation.
I till the fields in our hometown,
While you stand guard at the border.”