Chapter 152 Announcement of Rankings

After finishing "The Prose Poem Written by Father", Fang Xing gathered up the surging emotions bit by bit.

In this lifetime, his parents were still strong and healthy; what truly needed gathering were the emotions of his past life.

The old father from his past life had farmed the land, planted rice seedlings, bustled about for a living, and worn himself out for a lifetime, finally living to see his son achieve success and renown.

He was not a literary man, nor had he ever kept a diary, but all his affection was written in his gaze.

It was only many years later that Fang Xing truly understood what lay within his father's eyes.

Thinking about it now, a deep sense of sorrow and nostalgia welled up in his heart.

Fang Xing poured a double measure of emotion into singing this song—singing it to himself, and singing it to the old father residing deep within his heart.

The recording of the show had to go on.

However, Fang Xing no longer had the mood to listen to the performances of the subsequent singers.

Regardless of whether they sang well or poorly, it no longer mattered.

He had already expressed everything he wished to express, soothing that unhoused emotion from his past life and locking it away forever in the deepest recesses of his heart.

In another waiting room.

When the song had just begun with the verse, Liu Hongsheng was still confident that he could win.

However, as he listened to the entirety of "The Prose Poem Written by Father" and reached the chorus, his heart skipped a beat, and a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.

Being professional singers, he could fully perceive the emotion conveyed within the song.

This kind of profound truth revealed through apparent plainness was what was truly terrifying.

Liu Hongsheng could not even help but shake his head: "At his age, how is it possible for him to sing with this kind of emotion?"

Indeed, he even began to doubt Fang Xing's age.

Because the emotion conveyed in "The Prose Poem Written by Father" required a certain accumulation of years to truly understand.

Only when one reached a certain age and became a parent themselves could one truly comprehend what the song was about.

Only then could one understand what was contained within a father's gaze as he looked at his child.

Watching the child grow taller day by day, watching oneself grow older day by day.

This boundless devotion was given without a single complaint or regret.

After listening to it, Liu Hongsheng even felt that the song had touched his own soul.

This made his mood all the more complicated.

As a professional singer, he was far harder to move than ordinary audience members.

Moreover, this was a song sung by his rival.

Yet he had actually been moved by his opponent's song.

At that very moment, he felt that tonight's competition was going to be difficult.

He didn't have to wait long.

He Hao finished his linking speech and introduced the next singer.

The sixth contestant to take the stage was Liu Hongsheng.

He walked onto the stage in a daze, forced himself to compose, and finished the entire song, but his emotions were still trapped within "The Prose Poem Written by Father."

As a result, his emotional delivery during this performance fell short.

He relied entirely on his solid vocal foundation to finish the song, making it thoroughly middle-of-the-road.

After he finished singing, the audience gave relatively warm applause, but it was incomparable to the lingering, endless ovation Fang Xing had received.

The moment he stepped off the stage after his performance, Liu Hongsheng already knew the result in his heart.

There was no longer any suspense for this round.

Who took first place, he did not know, but he knew for certain it wasn't him.

And this time, he had no grievances in his heart.

His opponent's song had already sung its way into his heart; with such capability, winning was entirely justified.

After all the singers finished their performances.

The audience on site began to vote, and the production team immediately tallied the ballots.

Zheng Tao walked over with the results to announce the rankings.

This time, Zheng Tao unusually refrained from dragging out the suspense for too long.

In the end, Fang Xing claimed first place once again, Li Caiwei took second, and Liu Hongsheng finally dropped from his perennial second-place position, pushed down to third.

Liu Hongsheng never imagined that he would shed his moniker of the eternal runner-up in such a manner.

Before the rankings were announced.

Fang Xing himself was not entirely certain whether he would be first.

Li Caiwei had also sung very well and had a fair chance of taking the top spot.

However, both performances won through emotion.

Fang Xing sang right after Li Caiwei and successfully penetrated the audience's hearts.

Moreover, the host had repeatedly mentioned that "Dawn" was also a song produced by Fang Xing.

Consequently, many people who felt Li Caiwei sang well would cast their second vote for Fang Xing as well.

In the end, Fang Xing secured first place once again.

After Zheng Tao announced the ranking results, he continued, "Next should be the matter you are all most concerned about, which is the competition theme for the next episode."

"Announce it already. I checked Weibo and can roughly guess what the theme is," Xie Yuwen chimed in.

"Then take a guess, what will the theme of the next episode be?" Zheng Tao tossed the question to him.

Xie Yuwen held up two fingers and asked, "Is the theme two characters long?"

Zheng Tao nodded in acknowledgment, "Yes, the competition theme for the next episode is 'Hometown'."

Upon hearing this theme, the singers present began to whisper and discuss among themselves.

There were many songs about hometowns, but songs depicting a hometown focused heavily on lyrical expression.

Therefore, this was once again a theme centered heavily on emotion.

If it were a theme with low demands for emotional expression, singers could simply rely on vocal techniques, belting out high notes and showing off their skills to the utmost.

However, for a theme like "Hometown," merely showing off technique was not enough; one had to genuinely touch the audience.

For professional singers, displaying technique was actually the easiest part, while grasping emotion was the hardest.

"The difficulty of this season of 'Song' is getting higher and higher," Xie Yuwen could not help complaining.

This time.

Liu Hongsheng did not have any old songs about a "hometown," so he would not have much of an advantage in the next round.

Furthermore, his mood right now was extremely complicated; ever since Zheng Tao announced tonight's rankings, he had remained silent.

To lose to Fang Xing again and again, and even lose to Li Caiwei who sang Fang Xing's song.

This left a whirl of mixed feelings in his chest.

For the past month and a half, it wasn't as if he hadn't tried; every competition he went all out, every time he made thorough preparations, and every time he spent a fortune recreating his songs.

Yet, he lost every single time.

And the losses grew more outrageous; now he couldn't even secure second place.

What made him feel worst wasn't even that; what stung the most was that while he used to be unconvinced by his previous losses, tonight he lost admitting complete defeat.

This situation, where he conceded defeat to himself, left him utterly helpless.

Ever since his debut and his rise to become a king of the music scene, he had never felt so stifled along the way.

The more he competed, the more terrifying he found Fang Xing to be.

It was one thing for his lyrics and composition to be good, but his singing was also top-tier, not a bit weaker than the powerhouse vocalists of the middle generation.

This all-around warrior had no weak spots whatsoever, leaving him completely at a loss as to how to counter him.

What made it even more awkward was that he had previously had an unpleasant falling out with Fang Xing over the endorsement deal with Boboli.

Although it was framed as normal business competition, his manager Hu Changqing had actively lowered the price to snatch the Boboli endorsement, and the underlying motivation had been to suppress Fang Xing's studio.

Multiple factors combined made him sit in the sofa feeling utterly awkward all over.

...

After Zheng Tao announced the competition theme, he clapped his hands and said, "Starting from the next episode, we will enter the sprint phase of the finals. Whether you can break into the final 'King of Singers Battle' depends entirely on everyone's performance. Tonight's recording has concluded successfully, thank you all."

The recording officially ended.

The singers departed one by one, each carrying thoughts and reflections on the theme of "Hometown."

On the way back to the hotel, Fang Xing was also pondering how to select a song for this theme.

Although there were many songs about "Hometown," when it actually came time to choose one, it was not an easy task.

When he returned to the hotel, it was already very late.

After resting for the night, he caught a flight back to Donghai the next day.

Before boarding, he received a WeChat message from Lu Xiang'er, chatted for a bit, and told her his flight time.

It was close to noon by the time he finally returned to Tianlan Garden.

Stepping out of the airport, he had kept his duck-billed cap and mask on all the way, and didn't take them off even upon returning to Tianlan Garden.

As he walked along the paved stone pathway surrounded by greenery in Tianlan Garden.

Someone suddenly jumped out from the side: "Hi! Caught you."

It was none other than Lu Xiang'er.

"What are you doing here?" Fang Xing asked, somewhat surprised.

"Out for a walk. Today is Sunday, and the weather is so nice." Lu Xiang'er looked up at the sky.

"All by yourself?" Fang Xing glanced around, harboring a lingering sense that Ning Xiaoyun might pounce out at any second.

"I'm not with Ning Xiaoyun today."

Lu Xiang'er offered a brief explanation, then turned to ask, "Did you have fun recording the show?"

"It was alright, except the competition theme required too much emotion, I need a couple of days to recover," Fang Xing replied.

"Then it must be really hard, right? How did you place?" Lu Xiang'er continued to ask.

Fang Xing frowned as he looked at her and asked, "You wouldn't happen to be waiting here specifically for me, would you?"

Lu Xiang'er shook her head hurriedly: "No way, how could I possibly know when you'd get home?"

With an expression that clearly said "I see right through you," Fang Xing said, "When we were chatting on WeChat earlier, you asked for my flight details."

Lu Xiang'er cast her eyes up at the sky, evading the subject: "Really? I didn't even notice, I was just asking casually."

Fang Xing pointed toward the apartment building ahead and asked, "Are you going up? I just got off a plane, I need to go back and freshen up."

Lu Xiang'er puckered her lips in hesitation: "Umm..."

For a girl, not refusing meant consent.

Fang Xing reached out and took her hand, leading her toward the apartment building.

Lu Xiang'er quickly yanked her hand back, looking anxiously left and right, terrified of being spotted by an acquaintance.

Her family had lived in Tianlan Garden for many years; if a neighbor happened to see them, it would turn into a huge deal.

Back inside the apartment.

Fang Xing tossed his shoulder bag onto the sofa, pointed at the refrigerator in the kitchen, and said, "If you want something to drink, grab it yourself."

With that, he walked straight into the master bathroom and began to shower.

Lu Xiang'er stood in the living room, unsure of what she should do, and began to regret tagging along.

She stood there for a moment, and seeing that the magazines and books on the coffee table were a bit messy, she helped tidy them up. Then she turned on the television and played the fourth episode of "Song" to mask the sound of water coming from the bathroom.

A dozen minutes later, Fang Xing emerged from his shower, already dressed in clean clothes. He took two drinks from the fridge and handed one to Lu Xiang'er.

Lu Xiang'er took the beverage, pointed at the television playing "Wedding Invitation Street," and said, "This song is a lot like the movie we watched before."

Fang Xing nodded and said, "They both depict the passage of time and changing years."

Lu Xiang'er smiled with her lips pressed together and asked, "Did you sing this song only after watching that movie?"

Fang Xing sat down beside her, nodded, and replied, "There's a bit of a connection."

Nervously drawing circles on her knees with her finger, Lu Xiang'er hesitated for a long while before finally asking, "Can I ask you a question?"

Fang Xing took a sip of his drink and nodded, "Go ahead."

"Umm..."

Lu Xiang'er structured her thoughts for a good while before asking, "Do you ever get this feeling... where after you get close to someone, you suddenly want to run away and hide?"

With a puzzled expression, Fang Xing looked at her and asked, "Are you trying to talk about avoidant attachment?"

Lu Xiang'er quickly explained, "Ning Xiaoyun told me about it. She said you might be like that."

A smile surfaced at the corners of Fang Xing's lips as he leaned in closer and asked, "Do you feel like we've gotten too close, or do you feel distant because we haven't contacted each other in a while?"

Growing even more nervous, Lu Xiang'er furrowed her brow and said, "No, I just... sometimes my mind wanders and I overthink things."

A few days ago.

When she took the initiative to contact him, Fang Xing's WeChat replies had indeed been a bit cold.

With a simple "I'm a bit busy," he had wrapped up the conversation.

Having already guessed what was running through Lu Xiang'er's mind, Fang Xing said, "I was practicing songs the past few days, so I really didn't want any distractions. When you're practicing the violin, don't you turn down my invitations too?"

"Uh..."

Thinking about it that way, Lu Xiang'er figured he had a point.

When she practiced the violin, she hated being disturbed and sometimes even turned her phone off entirely.

The last time, during the National Day holiday, Fang Xing had wanted to take her to the premiere of "Painted Skin: The Façade," but she had to prepare for a violin competition and spent the whole holiday at home practicing.

Fang Xing continued, "I'm free for the next few days. How about we make up for a proper date?"

Lu Xiang'er pouted and retorted, "Who wants to go on a date with you?"

"You sure you don't want to?"

"I still have classes tomorrow."

"Song" was usually recorded on weekends, while Lu Xiang'er had free time on weekends and classes from Monday to Friday, so their schedules didn't quite match up.

"Then let's make it today." Fang Xing leaned in a bit closer.

"What are you doing?" Lu Xiang'er shrank back.

"Last time I kissed your mask, how about we make up for the real thing?" Fang Xing asked with a mischievous grin.

"No way!" Lu Xiang'er pushed Fang Xing's face away with her hand and tried to make a run for it.

Fang Xing held her in place and planted a few quick kisses on her cheek and lips.

The touch was warm, soft, and tender.

The moment their lips met, Lu Xiang'er's body froze instantly, as if struck by a paralyzing spell.

A second later, she let out a loud gasp, shoved Fang Xing away with all her might, her eyes brimming with moisture as she glared at him with a wronged pout, before turning on her heel and fleeing.

Lu Xiang'er ran all the way back to the residential complex's lawn. Her phone chimed with a notification sound, and pulling it out, she saw a WeChat message from Fang Xing.

Fang Xing: You're the one with avoidant attachment, aren't you?

Lu Xiang'er: I am not!

In truth, Lu Xiang'er didn't even know what she was feeling inside.

The moment she was "assaulted" by Fang Xing just now, her heart had hammered wildly against her ribs, as if it wanted to leap right out of her chest.

She was a bit angry, but when she thought about it carefully, she didn't even know why she was angry.

That sensation from just moments ago was deeply branded into her mind, refusing to fade away.

Her heart felt very strange—a little sweet, yet a little infuriated.

She really had been strolling on the lawn today knowing Fang Xing's flight schedule, calculating the time he would arrive home, and deliberately wandering around the neighborhood.

Her mood lately had been terribly complex; she constantly found herself thinking of Fang Xing. When they weren't in touch, she felt anxious and lost, letting her imagination run wild with all sorts of scenarios.

Yet, once they met face-to-face, she wouldn't know what to do.

Fang Xing's actions just now had genuinely startled her.

She hadn't expected Fang Xing to do that, hence her instinctive urge to run away.

After recovering from her initial nervousness, Lu Xiang'er furrowed her brow in thought and muttered to herself, "Could it be that I really do have avoidant attachment? No way, absolutely not."