Qin Ze really did not like this Li Zemin. He did not know if he was capable as a young person, but he truly was young and aggressive.
The villain held the device and clamored non-stop.
This sentence was for this type of person.
Listening to his words ‘I really like Qin Baobao, don’t think about it’ and ‘in another three years, you won’t even dare to speak in this scenario’…
What kind of person was he? Just because he had a golden collar, it did not mean that he was almighty. Did he really think that he was the emperor?
Qin Ze threw a mocking smile towards Li Zemin and turned to Wang Zijin to drink instead. Wang Zijin’s gastric was not well so she did not drink and poured a cup of black tea instead. Both of them talked merrily.
This way, Qin Ze had offended both Li Zemin and CEO Xu.
However, Qin Baobao’s singing had attracted everyone’s attention. Her voice was soft and magnetic. She had a lot of talent in singing as she had only accepted half a month’s worth of training, but her standard was already presentable. Even Qin Ze felt that he had just met his sister and had a completely new impression of her.
Li Zemin was just upset that it was not a love song duet; if not, he would want to harmonize with Qin Baobao.
Qin Baobao sang a traditional old song, and there was a part of the lyrics that went like this: ‘love made me go crazy, and you caused me to drown deeper and deeper.’ Li Zemin felt that this sentence was describing the current him.
After she finished the song, the room was filled with applause.
Qin Baobao’s cheeks were flushed, and she smiled with her phoenix eyes sparkling. Her eyes were bright, and she was very happy.
Mm, take it as a pre-show performance. I would sing to my heart’s content tonight.
Chu Feng brought the wine over and passed it to Qin Baobao. He smiled and said, “Baobao’s singing is excellent. Our CEO Li can sing, too. Why not the two of you sing a song together? Qinghong, quick choose a song.”
Qin Baobao took the beer but rejected the duet. “My throat is tired. I need to rest.”
Chen Qinghong sat on the sidelines towards this issue; she did not help nor go against it. She could long tell that Qin Baobao had no interest in Li Zemin, but it was just that Li Zemin was the couple’s direct superior so they could not reject him. Besides, her boyfriend—Chu Feng—was very enthusiastic about pleasing his boss. It was the first strategy in the career world: sucking up to the boss.
What else could she say?
Even if they did not date, they could be friends.
Li Zemin said in disappointment, “Then, I’ll sing by myself and have a feel of it first. Hm, what should I sing?”
When he was talking, his gaze was still glued to Qin Baobao’s pretty face. Instantly, Qin Ze was scornful. As a newbie to romance, he knew that the most important thing to see if a girl was good or not was her figure… then her face.
“Sing ‘Unparalleled in the World’.” Chu Feng boasted, “CEO Li’s ‘Unparalleled in the World’ is the best. The original singer’s voice is good, but his vibe is not there. CEO Li’s singing is truly the imposing one and is incredible.”
When CEO Xu heard it, he immediately smiled and added, “This isn’t a bluff. One time, I went to sing with CEO Li, and once he opened his mouth, oh my. It was so good and had the imposing manner of being more outstanding than the singer.”
Li Zemin was in a very good mood. He held the microphone and said humbly, “No, no. Don’t cause me to fail because of your excessive praises.”
Chu Feng held the microphone. “CEO Li, we’re not praising you excessively. After hearing you sing that song, I didn’t feel anything when I heard the original tape. Your singing standards are no less than the professional ones. If you don’t believe it, you can sing it and let everyone hear.”
Zhang Ya giggled, “Are you two doing a talk show?”
Her boyfriend glared at her harshly.
‘Unparalleled in the World’ was the theme song for a particular historical drama and was talking about a story during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period when Emperor Qin Shi was ruling the six countries. This song was very famous a few years ago, and now, it had become a classic and was known as the ‘Emperor Song’. It was very well-loved by a lot of middle-aged uncles.
“Then, should we sing it?” Li Zemin turned his head to look at Qin Baobao. Her face was red, her eyes sparkling with delight; and when she smiled, she looked like a goddess. His heart started beating rapidly, and he was extremely proud.
The forceful music started playing; the horses neighed, and the birds screamed.
The screen showed the music video where millions of people were preparing for battle, and the generals were waving their weapons in the air.
More than ten seconds after the opening tune, the scene changed and showed a man wearing a crown and a black gown embroidered with golden dragons.
He stood proudly on a mountain and overlooked the river.
Li Zemin closed his eyes and was feeling the part.
The music started.
“The country dominates the west.
“The world is under my control.
“The flying swords fly through the sky, and all should come from the west.
“The common people sent me tears.
“The flames of fire and smoke fought for victory.”
“Great!” Chu Feng shouted and waved his ‘small palm’ and kept clapping his hands. Chen Qinghong also applauded, and her beautiful face blossomed into a smile… because she was rooting for her superior and his singing was truly good. In the opening scene, his aura was totally imposing. His voice was thick and filled with emotions.
“Your singing is not bad.” Zhang Ya gave an impartial comment.
“It’s pretty good.” Her boyfriend smiled and said.
Qin Baobao nodded her head slightly as she had to admit that Li Zemin’s singing was good. This song was actually pretty hard to sing, and it had high demands on the lung capacity. When he sang, he had to ensure that his voice did not crack. Normally, when people sang this song, they would just shout blindly. Their imposing aura was shown but their details were not in place at all. Li Zemin’s voice was very stable when his aura was thick and imposing.
Nearing the higher keys, the music started becoming more intense; and Li Zemin’s voice went higher. It was imposing, brave, and clear.
“Destiny; be proud and accept it.
“It’s destined that I’ll live the life of flying daggers and swords.
“I, with heaven’s mandate, will live forever.
“Look at me as I wave my swords and rule the world.”
…
Chen Qinghong, Zhang Ya, and the rest were influenced by the music and were emotional. They felt an intense pride in their chest as they screamed and shouted together with the rise of the music.
He really was not bluffing; his singing was intense and nice and could be compared to the original singer.
With his singing skills and capability, he could totally be the King of Microphones.
Qin Baobao was shocked beyond words. She was having a judgmental mindset while listening to the song, especially at the high-key parts as they were the easiest to make mistakes in. If he was careless, his voice would crack; but it did not happen to Li Zemin at all.
Nearing the end, Li Zemin used a sighing tone with a bit of pride.
“Why must I be willing to stay as a ghost in the underworld?
“I could shake off the dust and shock the world.
“I promise to be the only emperor forever!”
Applause, whistles, and shouts…
Everyone was high.
CEO Xu laughed. “That’s what I said. He’s not worse than the original singer.”
Immediately, Chu Feng said, “He’s obviously better than the original singer.”
CEO Xu said, “I’m wrong. I’m wrong. He’s definitely not worse than him.”
Li Zemin was high in spirits and purposely acted humble. “I’ve shown off my ugly side.”
Suddenly, his tone changed, and he looked at Qin Baobao with emotions. “Baobao, let’s sing a song together.”
Chu Feng immediately played the pawn. “Let me pick the song. What do you want to sing?”
Then, Wang Zijin said, “Qin Ze, you should sing, too.”
Everyone looked over when the beauty talked.
“Me?” Qin Ze was taken aback.
“You should sing a song, too. It’s so boring if you just sit around.” Wang Zijin’s eyes turned, and she smiled lightly. “Qin Ze is awesome. He can compose lyrics and melodies. I bet his singing is nice too.”
Who said that the person who composed lyrics and melodies would be good at singing?
Qin Ze waved his hands. “I’m not going to sing. I’m not interested.”
I just want to quietly watch all of you act good.
Zhang Ya chuckled. “Qin Ze, you know how to compose? Don’t lie.”
Qin Ze glared at her.
Qin Baobao pounced on the couch, crawled over, and hugged Qin Ze’s arm with her might. “Ah Ze, you should sing, too. Just one song. Sister will kiss you as a reward.”
Qin Baobao had too much to drink, and she was losing her mind. She did not consider much when she did things, and she thoughtlessly pecked the side of Qin Ze’s face.
Li Zemin’s face darkened. Qin Baobao was his goddess. How could he allow his goddess to kiss other men casually?
“This fellow knows how to compose? How rare. Do you want to sing a song?”
Qin Ze did not answer.
“Forget it, we all came out to sing for fun. Who cares about composing? Let’s just treat it as a joke. What song do you want to sing?”
Like a hen protecting her chicks, Qin Baobao said, “He really knows how to write songs.”
It was okay if she did not speak, but once she did, she caused Qin Ze to be hated even more.
“Baobao, I really believe him. Is this friend of yours a composer?” Li Zemin gasped. “I don’t want to see him compose live. I’ll be convinced if he can sing the previous ‘Unparalleled in the World’ once.”
Immediately, Chu Feng said, “CEO Li is right. You’re the gem right here. Who would dare to show off their inferior skills?”
CEO Xu, “That’s right. The small fellow should just sing his own song. At least it’s something new.”
Qin Ze still did not say anything.
Wang Zijin showed a very disappointed gaze. “I’m just kidding. What composing? I was just randomly saying stuff.”
Suddenly, Qin Ze’s composed face broke into a fake smile. “I just wrote a song a few days ago. I’ll sing it for you all.”
Previously, the system’s reminder rang in his head. Ding! “Mission reminder, show off yourself in front of the rest (5/15). It’s time to show off your real skills. Be brave, Master.”
What shit reminder and be brave? What should he even do? He did not even get details of the mission.
However, Qin Ze knew what the system wanted him to do. He had done a small experiment and allowed the system to put up any conditions. Was this not related to his inner desires? When he did not talk just now, he was actually restraining himself and causing his inner desire to slap people’s faces to increase. Then, the system really gave out a mission as expected.
This experiment proved that Qin Ze could control the missions to a certain extent.
I could restrain myself and indirectly set missions.
Qin Ze held the microphone and walked to the screen. Wang Zijin and Qin Baobao high-fived and revealed a cunning smile.
“Baobao, my taunting method works, right?”
“Not bad, not bad. I’ll reward you once verbally.”
“But what if Qin Ze can’t sing it well? It’ll be humiliating.”
“Who cares about him? A brother should be his sister’s shield.”
“You should just say if you don’t like Li Zemin.”
“I can’t say this directly. After all, Qinghong is my sister. I can’t not-give her face. My dear Ms. Wang, you clearly don’t know about the works of life.”
The duo had a tacit understanding and set Qin Ze up.
Li Zemin re-picked ‘Unparalleled in the World’ to let Qin Ze sing. The intense music started playing.
Everyone sat on the couch and heard Qin Ze open his mouth.
Li Zemin was very composed. He had worked hard in singing ‘Unparalleled in the World’. All these years—as long as they sang Karaoke, he must pick this song and would not be denied. As long as he sang it, he would be in the limelight and was very popular.
In his eyes, Qin Ze did not know his worth by competing with him over this song. Using Internet slang, he slapped his own face.
The opening music ended.
The song was starting.
Qin Ze closed his eyes, followed the music, and started singing.
“Along the undulant tender curve of rivers and mountains…
“I gallop around the loving country land.
“Upon meeting icy wind and sharp rain as my companion…
“I do treasure these golden years given from the heavens.”
Li Zemin was stunned.
Zhang Ya was stunned.
Chu Feng was stunned.
Chen Qinghong was stunned.
Qin Baobao was also stunned.
Wang Zijin blinked and stared at Qin Ze who was singing at the top of his voice in confusion.
Once Qin Ze opened his mouth, everyone was shocked and in a daze.
What song was this?
This was not ‘Unparalleled in the World’.