Chapter 164: The Curtain Falls

That very night, the video of Su Tong and Xiaoyu singing a duet of "Father," along with Xiaoyu's solo performance of "Dawn," began to spread like wildfire across the internet.

"The most touching song in Great Qin."
"The most moving song of the year."
"A tear-jerking video."
"A song for the soul; you're cold-hearted if you don't cry after watching and listening to this."
"A deeply emotional family-themed song."
"..."

Weibo, forums, Tieba, and video-sharing websites were flooded with these two videos overnight.

Driven by Xinghang TV Station, the view counts for both clips skyrocketed, topping the charts the very next day and becoming two of the hottest trending videos.

"Are these ripped straight from The Voice finals?"
Many netizens were surprised, as they hadn't watched the show.

"So touching, boo-hoo..."
After watching, many people burst into tears. The video titles truly lived up to their contents—they were profoundly moving.

Family bonds are priceless; romantic love is nothing. Those who had been through failed relationships and were currently nursing a broken heart found it especially poignant.

The ones hit hardest by this emotional wave were the single souls.

Especially single guys. Most of them lacked both good looks and property, feeling that women in Great Qin were becoming increasingly picky—without a house and a handsome face, don't even dream of getting married.

The left-over women had their complaints too. There were simply too many jerks out there. After going through one after another, they felt like there wasn't a single good man left, as all the decent ones were already married and settled down.

In the end, family ties were the most reliable, and parents were the greatest.

"In today's society, there's too much negative energy and constant complaining. These two songs are filled with positive energy. Thumbs up thirty-two times," posted a prominent Weibo user, forwarding the two videos from The Voice production team along with praise and commentary.

"These two songs awaken the sense of familial affection in a restless society among restless people. No matter how busy you are, never forget your parents. The grace of parents is something you can never repay in a lifetime."

"The Voice has such high quality? Turns out it's not just a bunch of lunatics screaming and yelling on stage."

"I adore these two songs. It's the first time I've changed my view on The Voice, for producing such outstanding songs and singers."

"I just found out that both the lyrics and music were written by someone named Nian Nujiao, and performed by Su Tong and Da Qiao. They are true talents."

"..."

Su Tong and Xiaoyu had blown up. Previously, Su Tong was only hugely popular within livestreaming platforms; out of two billion Great Qin citizens, only a few million knew he existed.

Now, overnight, the number of people who knew him approached a hundred million. He had become a nationwide sensation.

"Tongtong, when are you coming back to Haibin?" Li Wen called Su Tong to ask.

"Number Six, you bastard, you're living the high life. How long has it been since you came back to school? The threshold of our dorm room is almost being worn flat by all the students running over just to catch a glimpse of you. Haha, there are even female students sneaking in secretly trying to find you. Cracks me up..." His roommate, the big guy Li Hua, also called Su Tong.

"Su Tong, thanks to you, I became the head of the school's arts department. I haven't treated you to a meal yet, and you haven't been back to school in ages. Make sure to let me know when you're coming back." Ever since Tang Yan learned that Su Tong was Nian Nujiao, she didn't dare aggressively pursue him anymore, but this time she had to reach out on her own initiative. To love and hate boldly without regrets—that was what youth was all about.

A woman's youth is far too brief. If you don't go wild now, you'll grow old.

Because Su Tong was a student at Minzu University, its search index had skyrocketed during this period, and even the university's Tieba forum became lively as many of Su Tong's fans came to post and leave comments.

"Is Minzu University's admission score high?"
"What majors are good at Minzu University?"
"Which year is Gege in? What major is he in, and where are the classrooms and dorm buildings?"
"Which college does our big brother belong to?"
"..."

Many topics were related to Su Tong.

The school administration was thrilled. It was well worth granting Su Tong such massive leeway and approving every leave request he made.

For the next couple of days, Su Tong planned to do nothing else but take Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao to sightsee around Yandu.

Of course, Gao Litong would be joining them too.

This young woman had taken two days off, combining them with the weekend, specifically to bring Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao around Yandu.

"Don't do this. Having a major celebrity follow me around is so inconvenient. Don't put yourself through the trouble; taking the three of them is enough for me. Plus, it'll be exhausting for you too." Early Saturday morning, when Su Tong was about to take Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao to the Great Wall, Yang Feifei made a fuss about tagging along, and Su Tong firmly objected.

He might be famous from The Voice now, but his public recognition was still far from matching Yang Feifei's.

When he went out, aside from turning heads, not many people would probably recognize who he was.

"There won't be many people at the Great Wall this season, and I'm going." Yang Feifei refused to back down, casting a malicious glance at Gao Litong.

Su Tong was sharp and quickly warned, "If you go snitching again, we're cutting ties forever." Last time, Yang Feifei had ratted Gao Litong out to her mother, telling her that Gao Litong was staying overnight at Su Tong's place.

Gao Litong's mother, Xu Jing, had almost died of anger because Gao Litong had lied to her, claiming she was staying at Li Wen's house for the night.

This time, Gao Litong had even traveled all the way to Yandu, lying to her mother that she was still at school. If Yang Feifei spilled the beans, she would be in deep trouble when she got home.

"If you don't take me with you, I'll snitch—no, wait, I'll just tell the absolute truth," Yang Feifei threatened.

"Feifei, why are you still acting like such a child? Stay obediently at home. You're not allowed to go, and you're not allowed to run your mouth either," Sister Yaya interjected. Yang Feifei loved to play around too much; if she went, Su Tong wouldn't be able to manage her. Besides, Yaya was having her period today and it wasn't convenient for her to go out, so she forbade Yang Feifei from tagging along.

"Hmph." Yang Feifei tossed her little braid and stomped back inside.

With his backpack on, Xiaoxiao in his arms, and holding Xiaoyu's hand, Su Tong walked downstairs with Gao Litong and hailed a cab to the Yandu Tsinghua Garden Station.

It was a small station, unknown to many, where trains departed for the foot of the Badaling Great Wall.

"Train! Train!" Xiaoxiao was extremely excited; it was her first time riding a train.

When she arrived in Yandu the day before yesterday, it had also been her first time flying in an airplane.

Ever since Su Tong's father and mother had taken her in, she had never left Haibin City.

The train was an old-fashioned green iron train with very few passengers. The four of them practically had the entire carriage to themselves, with only one other unfamiliar passenger besides them.

Xiaoxiao was overjoyed, pressing her face against the window to look at the scenery outside one moment, and running back and forth inside the carriage the next.

Xiaoyu was also very happy. They were finally going to see the Great Wall, one of the wonders of the world.

After returning in the evening, Big Brother was also going to take the sisters to see Tiananmen Square.

Gao Litong sat opposite Su Tong, her heart brimming with happiness.

Su Tong had never explicitly confessed his feelings to her, only mentioning back then that he wanted to make a lot of money before coming to her family to propose marriage. Although it sounded like nonsense, she was still very happy; at least Li Wen didn't receive such treatment.

During the summer or National Day holidays, the Great Wall would be overwhelmingly crowded, but during this season, there were indeed very few people.

In summer, the trees were lush and the mountains were covered in green. Now, with winter approaching, endless withered leaves were rustling down.

"Come, come, let's take a group photo." Su Tong pulled out a selfie stick, and the four of them took pictures all the way up.

On a sudden whim, Su Tong uploaded a selfie of the three Nian Nujiao members on Weibo.

"Oh, snap! I'm browsing Weibo right up here on the Great Wall. Did Da and Xiao Qiao come to tour the Great Wall to celebrate right after Big Brother's show ended?" A fan screamed upon seeing Nian Nujiao's Weibo post, leaving the very first comment.