World Three
"...We have arrived at the station... Passengers please order..."
The broadcast overhead was intermittent. He Xing dragged a suitcase out from under his bed and followed the crowd out of the car.
"Host, where are we going now?" the system flew up and asked him, "Would you like me to help you plan a route to the nearest tourist attraction? I'm different from your navigation system here, and I definitely won't lead you into the sea!"
Thinking about how tactful the system had been in not mentioning his predecessor, He Xing put on his headphones and answered its question: "No, I'm not going."
He is going to take the bus now.
Although the system did not understand He Xing's plan, it still followed the host to the bus stop closest to the train station.
"Heads up, three in front. Tail down, three in back." He Xing stared at the buses on the bus stop, took out a coin from his pocket, threw it up, and caught it with his hand.
The hand covering the coin slowly opened, revealing the front side facing up—it was a very old one-cent coin.
The system looked at the coin in the host's hand curiously, and couldn't help but ask him curiously: [Do you want to flip it again?]
There are three left, so do I have to toss three more times?
"No." He Xing put the coin into his pocket. "Next, I need to call the troops and generals."
Whenever he arrived at an unfamiliar place, he would not go to see the local attractions first. He was more accustomed to deciding which bus to take by flipping a coin or pointing fingers, and then getting off at a stop that interested him.
In He Xing's view, tourist attractions are places where locals use legitimate reasons to make money. They package a bunch of things that cost only a few dollars to buy as twenty or thirty yuan and then sell them to tourists who come to take advantage of them.
Instead of wasting time bargaining with the other party and thinking that you have made a fortune, it is better to go somewhere else first and see the most authentic "customs and culture" of this place.
So he felt it was completely understandable that he was now at the door of a bar. He Xing raised his head and looked at the black Shadow that was still flashing above.
He had been walking for almost several hours, but there was no sign of fatigue on his face. On the way, he bought a drink from a vending machine and then continued walking.
The system also changed from exclaiming from time to time in the beginning to lying directly on He Xing's hair - the system said it was just tired.
Although it doesn't use physical strength like humans, it just feels tired!
[Carrying the suitcase to the bar,] the system's slow voice came from above He Xing's head, [Host, are you sure?]
He Xing's answer was very simple and unpretentious: "Sure. Remember to keep an eye on my luggage later. If it gets lost, I'll come after you."
His answer was simple and unpretentious, but the system was confused. It took a moment to realize that something was wrong with this sentence: [Wait, so why did the host come to me for the loss of his suitcase?!]
This is not fair!
It was almost afternoon, and quite a few people had gathered in this bar, which seemed a bit remote.
The band on the stage is now trying hard to liven up the atmosphere.
Someone noticed He Xing coming in.
Most people who come to the bar only bring one person with them. I have never seen such a strange person bring a piece of luggage into the bar.
The beam of light that followed the raised hand of the person on the stage shone on He Xing who came in dragging a suitcase the next second.
The beam of light was not actually dazzling, but when people around looked at him, He Xing still frowned subconsciously.
"New friend!" The man holding the microphone shouted with a smile. The light left his face the second He Xing felt impatient. "You're really good-looking!"
The second half of this man's sentence was not a question at all, but the people in the audience gave him face and immediately shouted loudly, "Yes!"
The atmosphere instantly heated up.
...The atmosphere in this place seems quite good.
He Xing put his suitcase aside and went to the bar next to him to order a glass of wine.
The system was very unhappy about being treated as a 'bag watcher' by the host. Its entire ball swelled up in dissatisfaction, and then it sat on the host's suitcase, glaring at everyone who almost bumped into the suitcase.
[This is the second time you've bumped into a suitcase. Can you be more careful?] The system angrily said, [Believe it or not, I'll have the host beat you up later!]
The bartender glanced at He Xing when he handed the bottle of wine to him, and after a while he looked up at him again.
He Xing was quite receptive to this kind of gaze that was simply appreciative and not judgmental. He took the wine offered to him and casually asked, "What's the matter?"
"This is my first time seeing someone bringing a suitcase to a bar. It feels a bit strange." The bartender smiled and wiped the tool he used to shake the ice. "Are you here for tourism?"
"Well, I came out to relax." He Xing took a sip. He originally thought that the wine recommended to him was just a wine with a slightly unusual name, but the taste was unexpectedly good.
"Going to the bar to relax?" the bartender continued. "That's very creative."
His tone was calm, without the need for an answer, so it didn't sound so off-putting to others.
"No?" He Xing raised the wine glass in his hand and turned his head to look at the performance stage not far from the bar. "It tastes pretty good."
The bartender dropped his eyes.
When He Xing was speaking, he didn't pay much attention to the conversation between the two of them, but more to the song played by the band on the stage.
Because he was very familiar with this song, it was Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless.
He played this song when he was on a road trip in college and drove all the way to the beach, so it is not an exaggeration to say that this song calmed him down when he was restless.
The bartender raised his eyes and stared at He Xing's hands that were tapping the wall of the glass unconsciously.
The hands had distinct joints, but he liked more than just the hands, he also liked the other person's face.
After all, there are only a few people with such outstanding looks in a year.
He could tell that the other person's sexual orientation was the same as his own.
But it was obvious that this person was not interested in himself.
...It's a bit of a pity, but it doesn't seem too bad.
Rather than begging for help and making both of them unhappy, he would rather be friends with the other person...even if this friendship may only last for one day.
"Would you like to try it?" The bartender put the white business card he had just taken out back into his pocket. "You seem to have some interest in music."
"I do play drums a little bit," He Xing said, his gaze finally returning to the bartender's face. "What did you mean by 'go up and try it'?"
Is this just a simple question, or is there really a way to get him up there?
"What I mean is..." The bartender had met many people and could see that He Xing was eager to try. He clapped his hands and shouted, "Xiaoxiao!"
The sound wasn't loud in the bar, but a thin figure quickly came over. It was a girl with bright red hair. She wasn't tall, but her eyes were very bright.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Can I learn how to make drinks from you now?"
"This handsome guy can play drums," the bartender ignored her and pointed at He Xing, "Let him play a song up there."
"Okay...so when can I learn how to make cocktails from you?" The girl was still a little reluctant and subconsciously looked up at He Xing who was being pointed at by the bartender. But the next second, her eyes lit up, "Oh my god!"
She stared at He Xing, her ears turning a little red.
"Come on, handsome guy!" The red-haired girl couldn't hide her excitement. "Let's go up and try it!"
When it came to the drum set, He Xing didn't resist, nor did he ask why the bartender allowed him to go up.
He just followed the girl and left.
The person who was originally playing the drums naturally gave up his position, and the band members also accepted this arrangement.
"Wear those headphones." The keyboardist whispered to He Xing, "Before each song, we play the melody in advance so that the drummer can prepare."
He Xing put on the headphones after hearing that. He weighed the drumsticks handed to him by the previous drummer and looked at the drummer who had not yet left the stage. "Can you help me get a drumstick?"
"Okay," the drummer was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized, "Where do you put your drumsticks?"
"In the suitcase down there, the code is three ones." He Xing thought for a moment and replied, "As for the drumsticks, you can see them when you open the suitcase."
While he was talking to the drummer, he was also beating the drums to the rhythm, and neither of them was idle.
The drummer who was replaced smiled, went to get his drumsticks, and then moved He Xing's suitcase to the bar counter.
"What's wrong? You asked me to help watch your luggage." The bartender looked at him. "You're so kind today?"
"He seems interesting." The drummer smiled and picked up the drumstick to weigh it. "Is he the new guy you brought in? He even brought his suitcase. He should be staying with us, right?"
"What are you thinking?" The bartender rolled his eyes. "He's not new, he's just visiting this place. I guess this is the only time he'll ask for money."
"What a shame," said the drummer, "Such a pretty face, he would surely make a lot of money."
Having said that, there was no regret on his face. He turned around and went to the stage to hand the drumsticks to He Xing.
He Xing is different when he is in the drumming state than when he is not in the state.
He likes playing the drums. Although he sweats every time after playing, he has to admit that it feels great.
Doing something requires positive feedback, and when you get enough positive feedback from it, and it happens to be something you like... you will invest more energy in it.
Eventually a virtuous cycle is formed.
The picture presented is that He Xing now looks extremely handsome and has ample space.
When he wasn't drumming, he always had a stern look on his face, which was nice to look at, but a bit inhuman. Now, completely immersed in the performance, he looked wild and untamed, much more attractive than when he was stern.
The system couldn't help but take several photos of the host. Unlike the girl with red hair next to it, it didn't need to find an angle or hold a mobile phone all the time.
With just a glance, the eyes can capture the host from all angles.
Although it has always wanted to have its own body, with arms and legs, the system now has to admit that this spherical shape still has its advantages.
The advantage is that it can take as many photos of the host as it wants!
The seventh song ends.
He Xing moved his wrist, and his expression showed that he was still a little unsatisfied.
At first he didn't object to the bartender's suggestion just to vent his emotions, but after singing a few songs, he felt a lot more relaxed.
"That's great, everyone." said the red-haired girl who handed out lotion to each of them. "I took a lot of videos today, too!"
"Not bad, not bad!" The drummer who was replaced by He Xing showed no dissatisfaction but seemed very happy. "I'll edit it and post it on our bar's video account later!"
The girl didn't answer, but subconsciously looked at He Xing.
If the performers today were their original resident singers, she might have accepted the gig, but the boss said that this person was just traveling.
She knew very well that the reason why the atmosphere was so heated today was inseparable from the other party's participation. So whether to upload this video still depended on the other party's opinion.
Receiving her questioning look, He Xing clenched the bottle of iced soda in his hand. He was still reluctant to appear in the video, but... these people didn't have his contact information anyway, so it didn't matter even if he showed up, right?
"I have no objection." So He Xing said.
"Yeah!" the red-haired girl cheered.
After having dinner with the band members, He Xing packed up his lunch box, pulled the handle of his suitcase, and prepared to leave.
When he was about to walk out of the bar, the bartender who had asked him to go up and try it suddenly called him.
"Here," the bartender handed something to He Xing, "this is for you."
It was an envelope, surprisingly thick.
"Aren't you here for tourism?" the part-time bartender's boss said to He Xing with a smile. "Xiao Fang and I have written about local favorite foods, as well as reasonably priced hotels and attractions."
"Thank you." He Xing did not point out at this critical moment that the thickness of the envelope was wrong.
He walked a few steps out, then suddenly stopped again when he remembered something.
"Xiao Fang...is that the drummer's name?" he turned around and asked.
The boss was stunned, but nodded.
"His drumming skills are very good," commented He Xing.
It reminded him of the sea at that time.
After saying this, he left without any regrets.
There was no looking back this time.
The boss shook his head and couldn't help but slap himself on the head, then turned and walked into the bar: I was so clueless that I thought the other party would ask for my contact information.
We were only friends for one day.
"Xiao Fang, go clear the table!"
"Ah--wait a minute, when did this job become mine?!"
"Where are we going next, host?" the system, sitting on the suitcase, looked up and asked, "It's getting dark."
"Let's find a hotel nearby to stay." He Xing opened the envelope. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still surprised by the amount of money inside.
He Xing took out a folded piece of paper from inside, which listed various attractions and hotels, as well as some food.
"--He Xing."
"Are you calling me?" He Xing thought it was the system talking to him, and he smoothed the paper in his hand. "Let's talk later. I need to see which hotel is closest to me now."
The system looked at the host, then at the man standing opposite the host, opened its mouth, but said nothing.
When it decided to slow down the progress bar of this task, in order to prevent itself from being soft-hearted, it turned off the screen on Yu Chengxu's side.
So it could never imagine why Yu Chengxu suddenly appeared here.
What the hell is this? The system is confused. Because I feel the system is 'passive', I choose to complete this task myself?
"——He Xing."
He Xing was slow to realize that the voice seemed familiar, and the system was sitting on his suitcase, so the voice could not possibly come from right in front of him.
He looked up, and his view was blocked by a bunch of light blue roses.
...Wait, blue roses?
He Xing pushed aside the bouquet of roses and looked at Yu Chengwei, who shouldn't be here.
"Why are you here?"
And holding such a big bunch of light blue roses... When He Xing thought of this, his eyes unconsciously fell on the bouquet of flowers held by Yu Chengwei.
After realizing what he was looking at, he silently looked away.
- How tacky.
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