Chapter 394: Chapter 189: A Man Should Treat Himself Better
Xu Yun’s travel itinerary started in Jiangcheng. First, they would head south to visit a few famous cities before making a beeline for Hong Kong and Macau.
After that, they would return to Yunnan and begin a road trip along the national border, with the final destination being Shanghai.
The very first stop was Orange City.
Starting from Jiangcheng, the entire highway journey was over 300 kilometers, a drive of a little over four hours.
Time on the highway was boring.
Luckily, they had Xino. She always knew how to liven things up and make the journey less tedious.
Just playing music on the radio wasn’t enough for her. She turned on the walkie-talkie and started singing along, letting everyone in the other two vehicles hear her voice.
The thing was, she was a damn good singer.
Yan Can heard her sing often, so he was used to it, but it was the first time for Jian Shiwai and Lin Wanzhou.
They were a little surprised.
"Xu Yun, you should sing something too!" said an excited Xino, who was clearly pumped for the trip.
Xu Yun refused. "You know I’m tone-deaf."
"Yeah, Brother Xu, come on, sing one!"
Yan Can chimed in over the walkie-talkie, heckling, "Your singing is enough to jolt anyone awake."
"I haven’t heard you sing, either."
Jian Shiwai also chimed in with a smile, "Just sing one for us."
"Okay, but you can’t make fun of me when I’m done."
"We won’t, we won’t! What song are you going to sing?"
Xino connected her phone to the RV’s screen via Bluetooth and said, "I’ll put on the instrumental track for you."
"Alright, I’ll do ’Qilixiang’."
’This is the song I sing best,’ Xu Yun thought to himself.
"Whose song is that?"
Yan Can asked, puzzled, "How come I’ve never heard of it?"
Xu Yun answered, "Jay Chou."
"An obscure artist?"
Jian Shiwai didn’t know what to say.
Hearing that, Xino couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Speechless, she said, "Yan Can, if you don’t know anything about music, then just shut up. You’re embarrassing me."
"But I really have never heard of him."
It wasn’t really Yan Can’s fault. At only twenty-three, he had missed the golden era when titans clashed.
Besides, he didn’t pay much attention to male celebrities in the music industry, though he was quite familiar with a few of the female ones.
"He used to be the undisputed king of the Mandopop scene."
Lin Wanzhou, who had been quiet the whole time, couldn’t help but speak up. "He just doesn’t chase the media spotlight for clout anymore."
It turned out Lin Wanzhou was also a fan of Jay Chou’s music.
He was just a fan of the music, not the celebrity himself.
"Wow, he’s that big of a deal?"
Yan Can said, embarrassed, "I’ll have to check him out when I get the chance."
"Alright, stop interrupting. Just be quiet and listen to Xu Yun sing."
Xino cut in, "I’m starting the music now."
As the familiar melody began to play, the RV’s sound system delivered the best possible audio quality, no worse than what you’d find in a karaoke room.
Of course, for those in the other two vehicles listening over the walkie-talkies, the experience was far inferior.
Xu Yun kept driving, silently counting the beat in his head before he began to sing.
"The sparrows outside the window, chattering on the power line, you say this one phrase, feels so much like summer..."
Although he sang completely without technique, he made up for it with feeling.
To everyone’s ears, it actually sounded pretty good.
Jian Shiwai and Lin Wanzhou felt like they were transported back to their college days. Back then, the campus speakers would play this song all the time.
Besides this one, "Feng" was another regular feature.
After Xu Yun finished, Xino rallied the others, insisting everyone had to sing a song.
Yan Can eagerly volunteered to perform a rap song, which immediately stunned everyone into silence.
"Why’d you all go quiet?"
Yan Can asked with a confident smile, "What’s wrong? Blown away by my performance?"
"Yan Can, I regret this."
Xino said with a laugh, "I shouldn’t have let you participate. Next time, just stick to being in the audience."
"I’m inclined to agree," Lin Wanzhou added.
He considered himself a professional and wouldn’t normally comment on his employers’ skills.
Unless his own life was at stake.
’And just now,’ he thought, ’that guy’s singing nearly made me swerve out of my lane.’
"Xino, you guys are just jealous!"
Not ready to give up, Yan Can asked, "Brother Xu, you tell me. How was I?"
"It was great."
Xu Yun chuckled. "With you as a comparison, I suddenly feel like my singing is actually decent."
Yan Can was speechless.
After that, Jian Shiwai sang "Favoritism." Her performance was decent enough, but with Xino having set such a high bar, she didn’t seem quite as dazzling.
Xino gave her a calculating look.
’Hmph, what’s the use of having a big chest? She still can’t sing better than me.’
’I’ve won this round!’
As for Lin Wanzhou, the retired soldier, he finally bit the bullet under everyone’s insistent demands and sang a military song.
The main reason was that, like Xu Yun, he was completely tone-deaf and didn’t dare attempt any of the pop songs he liked.
He could only fall back on a military song he’d learned in the service to fulfill his obligation.
As he sang, he began to recall his intense and passionate years in the military.
Due to his branch of service, he wasn’t like a regular soldier; he faced life-and-death situations every day.
Everyone says there’s no war in peacetime, but in truth, small-scale battles and conflicts happen along the border every single day.
When his squad went out on missions, there were times when teammates were left behind, never to return.
He was one of the lucky ones who survived until his discharge.
But he also shouldered the responsibility for many of his fallen comrades—their parents and children all needed care.
That’s why, after his discharge, he happened to fall into this line of work as a guide.
It looked like a lucrative job, but aside from what he needed to cover his own living expenses, he donated most of the money he earned to the struggling families of his fallen comrades.
"They say you regret joining the army for a while, but you regret not joining for a lifetime."
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