77: Rashomon

As the music began to play, many in the audience from the post-90s generation were already lost in memories.

The lyrics of "a dream in the mortal world" depict a young couple—the girl eighteen, the boy twenty. They spent five years together during the most beautiful time of their lives, only to realize they weren't right for each other and parted ways. Soon after, both started their own families, laughing and sighing that life is but a dream.

The livestream audience:

"Song Ke's voice is so intoxicating; I'm going to put this on repeat."

"Song Ke and Jiang Yu's coordination is fantastic. This is the best version of 'a dream in the mortal world' I've ever heard."

"The lyrics are quite carefree, but I just went through a breakup, and I really can't do what the lyrics say."

"It sounds great, but am I really the only one still missing my ex-girlfriend?"

Offstage, the director kept a close eye on the livestream's data and content.

The number of viewers on the livestream had just surpassed ten million, which showed that Song Ke's influence was still quite significant. However, the comments were truly unexpected.

They had originally assumed that the feedback for "a dream in the mortal world" would be the most positive, but the audience's comments seemed to suggest otherwise.

This song had been around for a long time, and because the movie was a classic, the song was also regarded as a masterpiece.

Audiences who knew it automatically classified the song as a masterpiece and didn't question the logic of the lyrics at all, but those who hadn't heard it before were much more critical.

Most of them felt that the content described in the lyrics was unrealistic.

But that didn't matter; as long as the data was good, that was all that counted.

After Song Ke's performance ended, his final vote count was 2.19 million.

Seeing the vote count, Song Ke felt a surge of joy.

The cheers from the audience rushed into his ears; it had actually broken two million votes. This was way too many.

Song Ke shot a proud glance at Lu Qingyu.

Last time, he had underestimated his opponent, and losing was his own fault, but this time, he couldn't possibly lose.

First place was finally going to be his.

Lu Qingyu: "Why are you looking at me? I'm not going to vote for you."

The third group—it was finally Lu Qingyu's group's turn. Chen Ting hadn't really listened to the previous two performances; his attention had been entirely focused on the song they were about to perform.

Compared to before, there weren't many lyrics, but the way they had to be sung had become more difficult.

The Host said on stage: "Please welcome Chen Ting and Lu Qingyu."

The two of them stood up and walked toward the stage.

They walked to their respective positions. The stage first went dark, and then, in an instant, it was split into two dimensions by blue and warm yellow light.

Lu Qingyu stood in the blue light on the left, while Chen Ting stood in the warm yellow light on the right, as if they were people from two different worlds.

Lu Qingyu hadn't expected the lighting effects to look this good; he even wanted to give the lighting technician a bonus.

The music began to play, and the words "rashomon" appeared, with a brief introduction to the song below.

When everyone saw that the song was listed as an original by Lu Qingyu, the crowd went wild.

"Ahhh, original! It's the younger brother's original work."

"Why does the younger brother always surprise us?"

"Lu Qingyu's fans are eating so well! Not to mention how he sings, just the rate at which he releases songs is truly high."

"Releasing an original at a time like this is too risky. I hope he doesn't flop."

Because it was in Cantonese, not everyone would necessarily understand it. Therefore, unlike the big screen backgrounds of the previous guests, for Lu Qingyu's performance, the screen displayed not only images fitting the mood of the lyrics but also the lyrics themselves.

At first, the audience didn't know it was Cantonese and were taken aback when they saw the lyrics, until Chen Ting's slightly deep voice began to sing.

"If you do not find it absurd," "The madman spoken of in rumors holds my hand."

Livestream comments: "Cantonese! It's actually Cantonese! As someone from Guangdong, I'm so excited."

"This opening sounds so good."

"These two lines of lyrics have so much information! Ahhh, I'm excited too."

Lyrics for duets are usually divided evenly, with the first person singing about 4 to 6 lines, then the second person doing the same, and finally, they sing a segment together.

If they wanted to increase the difficulty, they could add background harmonies for each other in certain parts. But what everyone didn't expect was that Chen Ting only sang two lines before it switched to Lu Qingyu.

"So grateful that you have liked me for ten years without stopping," "Recently, an old classmate said I have been lingering in your heart for six hundred weeks," "It's a pity we couldn't be together for a lifetime," "But if I told you the truth, you might feel even more guilty," "Have I ever loved Hello Kitty? It seems not," "Is Dickens a cartoon?" "Am I still a young girl who misunderstood?" "Obsession blinded me, which is why I embellished it, but do you really understand me?"

Lu Qingyu's Cantonese was so intoxicating. Watching the lyrics and listening to Lu Qingyu sing, the audience was swaying their heads as if they had drunk 82-year-old Moutai.

The story within the lyrics was very strong. Unlike the previous duet songs that were like reading comprehension tests requiring interpretation, the moment people heard these lyrics, images immediately formed in their minds.

"Sounds great, sounds great, I'm hooked."

"What kind of divine melody is this? I love it so much."

"The younger brother's level is still consistent."

Lu Qingyu sang over a dozen lines in a row; the ratio of lyrics was already lopsided.

Everyone thought it would switch to Chen Ting next, and their eyes had already shifted toward him. Chen Ting even deliberately paced a couple of steps on stage and leaned against a waist-high bench, but unexpectedly, it was still Lu Qingyu who started singing next.

Everyone's eyes returned to Lu Qingyu once more.

"Honestly speaking, thinking back on that relationship, it wasn't in vain," "If we meet again on the road, I will smile and ask how you are," "I don't need to look at the Facebook you update every night," "If you want peace of mind after parting," "Don't reopen old cases every night," "Look toward better places," "Absorb sunlight for your next love," "The most moving times are not necessarily until the end of time," "What is unforgettable is only unforgettable because you keep thinking about it," "It's easy to shed tears for ten years, but it's hard to wipe them dry."

The audience was immersed in the song, but Song Ke and the others, as professional singers, subconsciously analyzed every song they heard.

Aside from the one line Chen Ting sang at the beginning, Lu Qingyu had been singing the whole time. The way this song's lyrics were distributed was simply absurd.

What was going on? Even if he wanted to show off, he didn't have to do it like this.

Lou Qingran was also a bit confused. Although the song was truly excellent, as a duet, Chen Ting's parts were really too few.

Could it be that Chen Ting wanted to promote Lu Qingyu, so he gave all the lyrics to him?

Just when everyone thought Chen Ting was really just a prop, Chen Ting opened his mouth again. Lu Qingyu's last line was sung together with Chen Ting.

And then, it was finally Chen Ting's part again.