Chapter 145: Why Has Tang Xin Never Appeared?

Chapter 145: Why Has Tang Xin Never Appeared?

Qiu Yihan had been gone for a week. Tang Zhong had called her phone several times, but it remained switched off. Perhaps she needed a longer period of rest and recovery.

The fervor surrounding the orientation gala had gradually subsided, and the calls to resist Hua Ming had weakened as well. No one came to spit on the door of Dorm 307 or paste derogatory cartoons anymore, and no one pointed at Hua Ming and shouted, "All men are bastards; South University’s Hua Ming is the lowest of the low!" Time is the best ointment; once applied, it is as if nothing ever happened.

Tang Zhong kept to his routine: waking up early to run, showering, eating breakfast, attending classes, and going about his day. He would occasionally debate with Jiao Nanxin in class, and after school, he would sneak off to the school gate to catch a taxi to Ziyuan, where he practiced dancing with Lin Huiyin and Zhang Heben.

As the date of the concert drew closer, the psychological pressure he bore grew heavier. He not only had to sing and dance well but also had to perfectly play the role of his own sister.

As usual, he was holding Lin Huiyin by the waist, performing an intimate dance, when the sound of a car horn echoed through the courtyard. Zhang Heben ran to the window, pulled back the curtain, and glanced out, immediately shouting in delight, "A-Ken is back! A-Ken is back!" With that, she ran downstairs barefoot.

When Tang Zhong and Lin Huiyin reached the bottom floor, they heard A-Ken screaming in his high-pitched voice, "Who is so brainless? Huh? Who is so brainless? Are your eyes on top of your head? If you can’t watch the road, why go crashing into people’s gates? Why didn't you just die in the process?"

Seeing Zhang Heben run out, he clutched his chest and lamented, "Oh my, little Ben-Ben, what on earth happened here? I come home to find the gate looking like this—it's making my liver hurt. What happened? How did this happen?"

Zhang Heben didn't care what the effeminate man was complaining about. She reached out her hands and asked, "A-Ken, did you bring me a gift?"

"Yes, yes," A-Ken said with a charming smile. He turned and pulled a bag from the Audi CC he had driven, adding, "It's all in here. Choose for yourself. There’s something for you, for Susu, and for Huiyin. Oh, and for little Xin-Xin too. But don't you dare take his share."

"Hmph. I don't care about his things," Zhang Heben said indignantly.

Bai Su came out to greet him, looking at A-Ken and asking, "A-Ken, you’ve worked hard. Was the mission successful?"

"It was," A-Ken said with a happy smile. He pointed at the collapsed electronic gate and asked, "What happened here? Who crashed into it? Did you call the police? If I had been home, I would have made that brat... fix the door for me."

"It's being fixed. They're coming tomorrow," Bai Su said with a smile. "A drunken hoodlum drove into our gate. The property management company has already settled it with him; he will compensate us for the emotional distress and replace our electronic gate."

"That’s more like it," A-Ken said. He swayed his slim hips over to Tang Zhong and said with a grin, "Little Xin-Xin, guess what gift I brought for you?"

Tang Zhong really wanted to punch him. He hated it when people asked him to "guess," especially when it was a man acting all coy. "I have no idea," Tang Zhong replied.

"A surprise!" A-Ken opened his tightly clenched fists as if the surprise were held right between his palms. "A huge surprise."

"Where is the surprise?" Bai Su interjected. "Did you get it?"

"Come inside, come inside," A-Ken said excitedly. "Let me have a drink of water first. I’ve been driving for half the day and haven't had a chance to wet my whistle."

Once A-Ken finished half a glass of "water," he pulled a small white metal box from his suit jacket as if presenting a treasure. He waved it in front of everyone and said, "This is the treasure I went to get."

"Let Tang Zhong try it," Bai Su urged.

A-Ken nodded, punched a few digits into the lid, and with a soft click, the box sprang open. Inside lay a thin, small black metal chip.

"What is this?" Tang Zhong asked.

"Just wait a moment," A-Ken said happily. He took a microphone from his bag and inserted the small metal chip into a special slot. Once finished, he handed the microphone to Tang Zhong and said, "Little Xin-Xin, say something."

Tang Zhong took the microphone and said, "Bai Su." There was no response.

"What does this mean?" Tang Zhong looked at A-Ken, bewildered.

"Oh my, wait. Little Xin-Xin, wait a second. I forgot to turn on the speaker," A-Ken said. He took a miniature speaker from his bag, flicked the power switch, and said to Tang Zhong, "Try again."

Tang Zhong spoke into the microphone once more: "Bai Su."

"Bai Su."

The voice came through the speaker. No, it wasn't Tang Zhong's voice. Tang Zhong’s voice was magnetic, clear, and carried a slight regional accent from the Hen Shan area. But the sound coming from the speaker was crisp, feminine, and standard Mandarin.

Tang Zhong stared at the microphone in his hand in shock. "What is this?"

"An audio modulator," A-Ken said triumphantly. "American military technology, widely used in the spy and assassin market. I went to the US this time and spent eighty thousand dollars to buy it from a high-tech audio company. You know, human speech is just audio frequency—you could call it sound waves. We produce sound because waves are vibrating, and this modulator reconstructs your sound waves."

A-Ken took the microphone from Tang Zhong, pointed to the small black card inside, and explained, "Once this is inserted, your singing voice will be altered to a certain degree. And this isn't just a random change. Little Xin-Xin, do you know why I spent so many days in the US? It was to compare your voice with the other 'Little Xin-Xin's.' They compared your voices, fused them, compared them again, and made adjustments—that’s how they produced a sound that fits your vocal range."

"The other Little Xin-Xin’s voice is very clear and crisp, but I didn't want that tone because I wanted you to be more 'manly'—I wanted to add more rigid elements to the Butterfly ensemble. I discussed this with Little Susu, and she supports me. Little Susu, you’re the best. I love you to death!"

Bai Su nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, A-Ken and I talked it over. We feel Tang Zhong’s style could be bolder and more open. The previous few test runs were very successful. The audience and fans gave positive reviews to Tang Xin's change in style—they prefer to see Tang Xin this way. So, A-Ken and I decided to synthesize the vocal characteristics of both Tang Xin and Tang Zhong, modifying the fluctuations in your voice to create an entirely new sound. I think this will start a trend."

Tang Zhong pointed at the microphone, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry. "Isn't this cheating?"

"Oh my, how can you call it cheating?" A-Ken said anxiously. "Little Xin-Xin, you aren't in this industry, so you don't understand. Lip-syncing is perfectly normal. It would be abnormal if a gala didn't have lip-syncing. Many singers dare to release albums and singles, but why don't they dare to sing live? Even those who do sound very different from their albums. Why? Because their voices are all produced. They use professional equipment to modify them before presenting them to the fans."

"Your voice is great and your technique is solid; we are just using high-tech to make some minor adjustments. Besides, what star doesn't need a high-fidelity, high-quality microphone? This is just an extra microphone. What’s the big deal?"

Worried that Tang Zhong might refuse, Bai Su also chimed in to persuade him, "That's right, Tang Zhong. Compared to the lip-syncing of many stars, you are actually singing live—it's really not a bad thing. It's just adjusting your tone a bit. You heard it yourself; the sound it produced is actually very close to your voice, just with some neutral elements added. As long as you keep the microphone away from your mouth, you are still you, and Tang Zhong is still Tang Zhong. Whatever you say is what is said; whatever sound you make is what is heard."

"Who cares about that?" Tang Zhong said, annoyed. "What I care about is, if you guys knew about this, why didn't you tell me sooner? Why let me worry until now?"

Tang Zhong felt like a "replacement." Since the masterminds like Bai Su and A-Ken felt this was acceptable, he didn't see anything inherently wrong with it. He didn't care how far he could go; he only hoped that when that girl returned, she would still be able to find her place—if she even liked all of this.

"..."

Zhang Heben snatched the microphone from A-Ken and said, "Let me use it. Let me use it first."

...

"I secretly bought these videos from the property management office. It has a record of his coming and going for a week. Cousin, do you see? He comes to Ziyuan every afternoon at six o'clock. He stays for a few hours and leaves at eleven-thirty at night. According to my informant, his destination is the apartment of the Butterfly ensemble," Luo Yeyong said with a lecherous grin. "I’m sure he must be a wild man picked up by one of those women in the Butterfly ensemble—their taste is terrible, isn't it?"

Ji William ignored his idiot cousin’s reasoning. His eyes were fixed on the computer screen as he asked, "Did you notice a problem?"

"What problem?"

"Why... has Tang Xin never appeared?"

(PS: Chapter four is delivered. Old Liu has finally kept his promise.)