After Tong Jiang and the fans finished speaking, the stage darkened again.

Xie Yang stepped into the darkness.

The next stage belonged to Tong Jian and he could rest for a while.

On stage, the prelude to one of IUD’s famous songs, Dreaming rang out. Xie Yang walked backstage and Hu Biao immediately greeted him. He placed his phone into Xie Yang’s hand and was relieved. “Look! Look! The marketing accounts on Weibo are all mute! Before your song even finished, they secretly deleted all the materials scolding you! Bah! I’ll go back and settle accounts with them one by one!”

Xie Yang looked at the phone screen and saw the Weibo homepage of a famous music reviewer. This music reviewer had just posted something.

Old Man with Sharp Ears: I just watched the performance of a young rookie who was scolded by tens of thousands of people recently. I just want to say, if you are blackening at this level then how demanding are you? Reserving this as a divine song, reserving the take off of IUD, reserving an award, not to mention, I want to praise Xie Yang. This child’s voice is so amazing!

“The live broadcast room has also completely changed its tone. Previously, the barrage was so heavy that it is almost impossible to be seen!” Hu Biao clicked on the phone again and changed to the live broadcast room.

Xie Yang watched it.

The barrage was brushing by extremely quickly and the popularity of the live broadcast room was also skyrocketing.

-My mind is full of Xie Yang’s low singing, tone killer, absolute tone killer.

-There is nothing to say. Really awesome.

-I heard there was a reverse face slap here? I didn’t catch up with the opening. The atmosphere on Weibo is weird. How is it?

-I got goosebumps when Xie Yang sang in the middle.

-This song is too elaborate. Was it really composed by Xie Yang?

-I’m late. Has the rich second generation overturned things? Has the rich second generation overturned things?

-Turn NM. Get lost!

-I feel that Xie Yang only sang a few words and his position has always been far away from the camera. Didn’t people say that he paid for this performance to raise himself? This is it?

-Why are there only three people singing Dreaming? Where is Xie Yang?

-He is afraid to go on stage.

-Weakly speaking, I’ve always felt that Xie Yang was very handsome. I just didn’t dare to say it because I was afraid of being scolded.

-Hahahaha, I’m Mo Bin’s black fan and I’m too happy! Xie Yang is awesome! Mo Bin, the song of a newcomer is at this level, a newcomer has this tone, do you regret it?

-The director isn’t good. It is time for the camera to move to Mo Bin!

-Did Mo Bin go in the end? Wasn’t he saying that, ‘Although my brothers betrayed me, I’ve decided not to be too ugly for the sake of IUD’s commemorative performance. I will endure the sadness and watch the stage.’ Will he still be sad? Hahahaha, seeing that IUD is about to take off again, is he happy for his brothers? Hahaha!

Hu Biao muttered, “My anger is relieved.”

Xie Yang chuckled with a nod and returned the phone to Hu Biao. He walked to the side and sat down, reminiscing about the feeling of just singing on stage. Then he took out his phone and sent a WeChat to Qiu Xing: Was it good?

Qiu Xing replied in seconds: What about you.

Xie Yang: I’ll perform again later.

Qiu Xing: How long?

Xie Yang: Around an hour later.

It was silent for a moment.

Qiu Xing: Awful! A waste of time!

In the VIP seats.

Qiu Xing put his phone in his pocket with a dark face. He asked Liu Sha to hand him the earplugs and soundproof headphones, leaned against his chair and started to close his eyes to relax. The live broadcast station was his own and Liu Sha had communicated with them in advance. He wasn’t worried about being shot by the camera.

***

On stage, the performances continued.

There was a brief stir when the audience saw there were only three people on stage but then the prelude to Dreaming began. Everyone threw away their doubts and actively invested in this reminder of the old days of IUD. Fans were even thankful. For them, IUD’s old songs should only be sung by the old members of IUD, even if one was missing.

Over the five years, there were four albums and 42 songs, of which 20 were composed by Xu Chenhao.

Dreaming was followed by Imagination and then Unity… one by one, the three didn’t stop singing. They didn’t speak to their fans and only occasionally waved to the fans. They used all their conscientiousness and focus to present IUD’s last stage.

After singing all 20 songs composed by Xu Chenhao, they finally stopped. The music was gone and the gasps of the three people were heard from the microphone. The stadium quieted down and fans watched the sweaty IUD members on the stage.

Tong Jian raised his hand and shouted happily, “IUD is five years old!”

The fans shouted back.

Ke Lan and Xu Chenhao smiled. Tong Jian raised his hand again. “Happy birthday to us!”

The entire audience cheered happy birthday.

Tong Jian raised his hand and lowered it. Everyone’s cheers gradually fell.

“I am pleased to bring this show to you.” Tong Jian took a deep breath, turned sideways and exclaimed excitedly. “Now I am pleased to formally introduce the new member of IUD, Xie Yang! Everyone, welcome him!

The audience was silent and then there was sparse applause that rang out with hesitation and uncertainty. After two months of being brainwashed by black materials, most fans were unable to accept Xie Yang joining the group just because of one new song. In addition, it was said that Xie Yang had bought the new song from someone else…

Qiu Xing opened his eyes and took off his headphones and earplugs. He heard this perfunctory applause and his face darkened.

Tong Jian hadn’t expected it to be like this. He paused for a moment before saying again, “Everyone, welcome Xie Yang!”

The applause rang out again and quickly stopped. Ke Lan and Xu Chenhao frowned.

In this unwelcome atmosphere, Xie Yang walked onto the stage with a guitar. He had changed into a simple white shirt and jeans. It was a very youthful and simple outfit that seemed out of place when standing next to Tong Jian and the others who were wearing gorgeous costumes.

Qiu Xing heard a fan whispering that Yang Yang was deliberately acting like this, putting on a fake air of freshness. This caused him to pinch the armrest of his chair angrily.

Xie Yang didn’t care about the attitude of the fans. He took the microphone handed over by Tong Jian and glanced in the direction of the VIP seats, accurately finding Qiu Xing’s location. He smiled and said, “This song Reincarnation is dedicated to the audience member who came for me.”

Qiu Xing paused and slowly let go of his hand.

After the explanation, Xie Yang returned the microphone to Tong Jian. Regardless of the attitude of the fans, he walked over to the microphone and chair that Ke Lan and Xu Chenhao had set up for him. He sat down, held the guitar in his arms and adjusted the microphone height.

The lights on the stage slowly dimmed. Tong Jian and the others exited while only a beam of headlights shone from diagonally above, covering Xie Yang.

There was another commotion in the audience. It was unknown where it started but the rainbow-coloured support lights suddenly went out one by one. The fans who brought their lights turned it off one by one. In the blink of an eye, the stadium was mostly dark, leaving only a few sparse lights.

A black light.

Tong Jian wanted to rush back onto the stage but he was pulled back by Ke Lan and Xu Chenhao.

“XX.” Hu Biao cursed and helped hold Tong Jian. “The new song has been sung. How can it still be like this? Don’t go! Xie Yang is right. Let’s wait until they cry and apologize to him!”

In the VIP seats.

Qiu Xing might not watch concerts very much but even he knew that this situation where the audience lights were mostly black was very wrong. He frowned and turned to Liu Sha. “What’s going on?”

Liu Sha lowered her voice and explained the meaning of the black light. Qiu Xing’s face was as heavy as water as he glared at the dark stadium behind him. Then he ordered He Jun, “Go and bring me some bright things, the brightest and most expensive ones!”

He Jun, “…Boss, the light cards have to be made by ourselves. The support sticks were issued by the staff at the time of admission and you threw ours into the trash.”

“……” Qiu Xing ordered impatiently, “Go and get it back!”

He Jun turned and told Zhou Miao next to him, “The boss asked you to pick up the support sticks.”

…You fart! He clearly said for you to pick it up!

Zhou Miao glanced at Qiu Xing’s poor expression and didn’t dare to speak up. He walked toward the place where he had thrown his support sticks. Liu Sha thought of something and whispered in Qiu Xing’s ear. Qiu Xing listened to her and took out his phone.

On the stage.After adjusting the position of his microphone, Xie Yang glanced up at the darkened auditorium. He was about to retract his gaze to sing when he suddenly noticed that the VIP seats were slightly brighter. Unlike the coloured light of the support sticks, this was like a star and only one point was bright.

He looked over. Since the stage was very dark, he was lucky enough to see Qiu Xing holding his mobile phone with a dark expression. Xie Yang smiled silently, lowered his hand and gently touched the guitar.

Melodious and soothing music flowed out, like wind blowing across the lake. The stage atmosphere that had been heated up by Tong Jian and the others instantly softened. Xie Yang leaned closer to the microphone and opened his lips to sing the first lyrics.

The sound that scratched their ears rang out while the guitar was like a stone falling into the lake. It irritated the itchiest part of their ears and caught the quietest place in their mind.

There was a stir in the audience. Long Shuyou’s eyes were amazingly bright and he subconsciously leaned forward.

Mo Bin was the opposite of him. Mo Bin leaned back in his chair, palms covered with cold sweat. He wanted to leave but Huang Mo was on his left and Long Shuyou on his right. He couldn’t leave. He would attract even more attention if he left.

And… he stared at Xie Yang on the stage with jealousy.

Xie Yang shouldn’t be like this.

***

From the moment Xie Yang sang the first lyrics, his attention was no longer on the stage. His thoughts sank into the music and what appeared in front of him were bits and pieces of the apocalypse.

As he was preparing for the solo track, the first thing he thought of was this Reincarnation.

Reincarnation, the four seasons of reincarnation, endless life. This was what this song was all about.

He might’ve had a hard time during the first year of the apocalypse but he still had hope. At that time, a melody often appeared in his mind. It was quiet and slightly sad, but with a warm background.

That melody was the prototype of Reincarnation.

Shortly after writing Reincarnation, he truly recognized the cruelty of the apocalypse and no longer had hope. The only thing left was painful survival and he purposely forgot the existence of Reincarnation.

Now the hope he thought was impossible had come to him. He dug out this piece of music from the depths of consciousness and wanted to use it to formally bid farewell to his desperate, last life.

Xie Yang lowered his eyes and sang into the microphone. There were no difficult skills, no complicated arrangements, no gorgeous lyrics. It was a simple song but he sang into everyone’s hearts.

He said: Pain and despair have come to an end. The good future, why haven’t you come?

The water source was contaminated, animals were mutated, social order was unbalanced and everything was decaying… leaves fell into the contaminated water source. Before they were blackened and rotted, they were washed up into clean soil by the water. The seeds carried on the leaves fell to the ground, took root and sprouted.

He said: A good future will come.

The song gradually stopped. The audience was dead silent.

Qiu Xing’s mind returned first and he was the first to clap. Liu Sha and the others followed suit. Everyone in the VIP seats gradually raised their hands. Then it was the audience area behind the VIP seats, the audience area to the left and right sides and the audience area on the second floor. The applause soon spread through the audience.

Xie Yang recovered from his thoughts. He stared directly at the starlight in the VIP section as he got up, put down his guitar and picked up a microphone.

The fans seemed to break away from the confusion of the fairy song. They suddenly sobered up and awkwardly stopped applauding. The audience fell into a deathly silence again.

Xie Yang stared at the audience and opened his mouth. “This is my first performance on stage and I’m very happy.”

It was still quiet.

“I once told people who scolded me that you would cry and apologize to me.’

There was a low ‘ah’ in the audience and everyone started to stir.

“Now I take that back.’

The commotion in the audience grew even greater.

“If you can continue to support everyone in the new IUD in the future, I am willing to apologize to you.” Xie Yang bowed. “I’m sorry.”

The audience became quiet again.

The barrage in the live broadcast room also stopped.

After a few seconds, Xie Yang straightened. “Now I will hand the stage to Tong Jian.” After that, he retreated into the darkness and simply disappeared.

Drums rang out and gradually became dense. The prelude to a new song sounded and the dark stage brightened again. Tong Jian stood on the high platform to the lift in a new outfit with red eyes. Once the camera moved to his face, he couldn’t help saying, “Yang Yang’s words are too good. You could believe in the words of sunspots, the words of the marketing accounts and even the words of the person who left, but why couldn’t you believe in our words?”

The entry point of the first line of the song had passed. Backstage, Hu Biao, Ke Lan and Xu Chenhao didn’t blame Tong Jian for this mistake.

The stadium was silent.

Tong Jian wiped his face and spoke. “The accompaniment will start again. Everyone must listen carefully. The next Wutong is a solo song specifically made for me by Yang Yang. It is the beginning of my new chapter. You must listen carefully!” (TL: Wutong is a famous tree species in Chinese poetry and is widely planted for its beauty and usefulness. It is said to be the tree that phoenixes perch on)

The accompaniment stopped and restarted. Tong Jian adjusted his breath, took out his best condition and raised the microphone to his lips.

After a few seconds, the audience roared.

Solo song? The beginning of a new chapter? What did this mean? Didn’t he just introduce a new team member? And they didn’t want to resist the new team member anymore…