Chapter 6: Why Would Brother Jing Choose a Naughty Monkey like Huang Rong?
Today, Xia Qi couldn't train as planned.
He was called to the team doctor's office.
"Hello, Xia Qi. I'm Charlotte Pudding, a senior psychological consultant."
"A psychologist? NO! I don't need one."
Charlotte Pudding did a tactical lean-back and whispered in Pat Rice's ear, "This is a severe case. You'll have to pay extra."
"NO! NO! NO! Xia Qi, you've misunderstood. All players have to undergo a psychological evaluation before their training plans are made. Look, this is Wilshere's, and this one is Chamberlain's..."
"Ding! The host's resistance has been detected as a bizarre form of playing hard-to-get. Triggering hidden mission."
Playing hard-to-get... System Bro, was your Chinese taught by some Japanese actress?! Don't you dare deny it!
"Hidden Mission: Within one month, successfully release the Phoenix Legend version of the song 'Bottom of the Sea'. The copyright has already been registered for the host.
Mission Completion Reward: Van Persie's one-touch shot skill.
Mission Failure Penalty: Loudly shout 'I love you' to ten strange men on the street. If the penalty is completed, no points will be deducted. If the penalty is not completed, 5 ability points will be deducted."
???!!!
(A flock of crows flies overhead.jpg)
System Bro,
I'll thank your whole family for this!
...
Afterward, a complete English version of "Bottom of the Sea" was stuffed into Xia Qi's brain.
Xia Qi's first reaction wasn't about the song itself, but that this must be a fake Phoenix Legend. How could Zeng-ge have so many lyrics? Hadn't Sis Ling-jie stopped bankrolling him?
Phoenix Legend was the idol of Xia Qi's grandparents, and also Xia Qi's idol. And Zeng-ge was a true man who raked in a hundred million with just one word—Yo!
However, this song... had too many lyrics. His idol had crumbled!
...
...
It was an outstanding song, and Xia Qi instantly fell in love with it.
The most difficult part of the song was actually Zeng-ge's rap. Xia Qi tried it out and felt that with a music teacher's guidance, he could probably pull it off.
His indignant feelings about the failure penalty subsided considerably.
This damn system... the rewards were truly tempting, and the punishments were damn harsh!
To put it simply: he was enjoying the pain!
Since the system required the Phoenix Legend version, he needed to find a "Ling Hua."
Xia Qi first thought of Alice, who was his age. It seemed he had no other choice in London besides Alice.
After returning home in the evening:
"Hey! Alice, do you like to sing?"
"How did you know I'm with the Philharmonic? Are... are you... looking into me? I do want to be your friend, but I don't want to date, can you understand that?"
Eh! A woman's thought process...
Xia Qi didn't get it. He just asked one question, how did it lead to dating?
"No, I don't want to date either. How about this, you help me find a girl who can sing. I have a song that needs a male and female duet."
With "suspicion" written all over her face, Alice replied, "I'm the lead singer of the Philharmonic and the top winner of the campus singer competition. Is there anyone more suitable than me?"
"Also, have you given up on football?"
"Of course not. I just wrote a song and need a lead singer. Vocal skills don't matter, even singing off-key is fine."
What does she mean, 'even singing off-key is fine'?
Isn't that just showing her fox's tail!
"You write songs too?"
Alice thought to herself: Oh no! This guy isn't writing a love song for me, is he? This would be the 19th person to write a song for me, but the first professional footballer. I really want to hear it, but I don't want to be responsible for it. What a scumbag I am, what should I do? If I had known, I wouldn't have listened to that old geezer and catered to his interests by putting on this ghoulish makeup.
Sigh!
Arsenal! You owe me a ticket.
Xia Qi: What's with that look? With your makeup like the '83 version of Mei Chaofeng, you think I'm blind?!
To prove his innocence, Xia Qi took out the sheet music.
Alice took it, cleared her throat, and prepared to tear Xia Qi's "courtship song" to shreds. It wasn't that she was heartless, but when it came to music... she was serious.
"Do!"
"..."
"Do!" (voice crack!)
"How much did you pay for this song? You struck gold. The person who sold you this song is an absolute idiot. He has no idea what he missed."
Damn it! Who are you looking down on?
"Miss Alice, is it possible that the idiot... is me?"
Alice circled Xia Qi, sniffed him, and then said with certainty, "You don't have the smell of music on you..."
Pah! You're the one who's full of it! A woman's intuition is terrifying!
Xia Qi pulled out his phone. "Are you going to sing or not? If not, I'll find someone else."
Seeing that Xia Qi was serious, Alice got anxious. She quickly snatched the Nokia from Xia Qi's hand and stuffed it into the valley between her breasts.
She even provocatively puffed out her chest at him.
Sigh. I really don't get it.
Why would Brother Jing choose a naughty monkey like Huang Rong?
Could it be... that Huazheng had no cleavage?
"Alright, you win. When we record, can you wear some light makeup?"
"Has your illness been cured?"
You're the one who's sick. Your whole family is sick.
The girl is only 18, how can she be as infuriating as an old aunty!
After bickering, the two started a test run. As expected, Xia Qi was torn to shreds by her critique.
When it came to music, she was indeed serious.
Even though Zeng-ge's part was supportive, it was the crucial finishing touch on the dragon!
"Call your agent, get a rap teacher. You're so stupid I'm about to explode right here..."
Joanna arrived, alone. She wanted to understand the situation first.
"This is a complete song. Did you also arrange it yourself?"
Xia Qi remembered that the system had registered the full copyright for him, so he nodded without blushing or his heart skipping a beat.
"I didn't expect you to have musical talent on top of football. This song could be a hit."
Joanna believed him because it was a healing song.
From the lyrics and melody, she saw Xia Qi's "pain and struggle." Combining that with Xia Qi's "medical history," his self-discipline, and his effort, Joanna's eyes reddened. She was moved by her own headcanon.
"You can do it, Xia Qi! You will definitely succeed."
Xia Qi was dumbfounded. Am I forcing her into something difficult?
"If it's too much trouble, then forget it."
Xia Qi thought to himself that the system had a bug anyway; singing off-key would still count as completion.
"No, I'll handle it. I'll make sure everyone who needs to hear it can hear it, I promise!"
Alice cleared her throat from the side. "It doesn't have to be this painful, Joanna. Actually, there's another way. Just sell me the song!"
Xia Qi rolled his eyes in annoyance. You've got some nerve!
Joanna pulled Alice aside. "This is Xia Qi's personal journey. These lyrics... they are a reflection of him. This melody... is his struggle... We will both help him, and help people like him, right?"
When the two girls came back, it was obvious they had both been moved...
"I'm sorry, Xia Qi. I was wrong."
Xia Qi... ^o^ ,^o^!
Just destroy it all! My heart is tired!
And so it was settled. Xia Qi would train during the day and receive training from a rap teacher at night.
Time flew by, and soon it was the opening of the Euro Cup.
Joanna suggested waiting until after the Euros and the Olympics to release the song.
But Xia Qi couldn't wait. He went against everyone's advice.
He released the single on the day of the Euro Cup opening ceremony.
Sure enough, as expected, although Joanna had bought traffic, the single's sales were not very good.
The two girls were very disappointed. They had thought the song would be a huge hit.
Xia Qi, however, was laughing so hard he snorted like a pig.
Van Persie's one-touch shot—a skill that would make him wake up laughing from a dream!
(END CHAPTER)
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