ECG -Chapter 21 How Much Love Can Be Started Over

Lin Hao had just sat down on the stage, and before he could even begin, a waiter brought over two flower baskets.

“Brother Hao,” the waiter leaned toward the stage and said, “They’re from a lady over there!”

All the waiters here were older than him, yet they all warmly called him Brother Hao. According to them, whenever they chatted with Brother Hao, the way he spoke made him seem like a big brother.

Lin Hao followed the waiter’s gesture and looked over. Not far away, at a table, sat a woman in her early thirties.

From a distance, he could only vaguely make out that she was a beautifully made-up, attractive woman. She had long, jet-black hair and was wearing a bright red dress. Sitting there, she looked like a ball of flame.

Seeing Lin Hao looking at her, she waved her hand with a drunken smile. A waiter was delivering a bottle of red wine and a fruit platter to her table.

“Thank you to the beautiful and elegant lady at table 28 for the flower baskets. Next, this song, How Much Love Can Be Started Over, is dedicated to this lady, as well as all our friends here tonight!”

Since someone had sent him flower baskets, he naturally had to say a few polite words.

The melody of the guitar drifted gently through the air.

“I often blame myself, I shouldn’t have back then…”

The entire venue instantly fell silent. The whole bar was filled with that weathered, rough voice.

“Why is it that when we clearly loved each other,
in the end we still have to part ways…”

Lin Hao had only sung a few lines when many girls below the stage began screaming and applauding.

Soon after, the waiter brought over six more flower baskets.

Lin Hao nodded toward the audience to express his thanks.

Like Zhou Dongbing usually did, Chu Yu quietly sat in a corner, listening to Lin Hao’s aged and gritty voice. It brought back many memories from the past.

That year, she had just graduated from university. Because of her mother’s health problems, she didn’t stay in the provincial capital but instead returned to Chunhe. Her family had used their connections to get her into the city television station.

It sounded nice to call her a reporter, but as a newcomer like her, she spent the day doing odd jobs. At night, she occasionally even had to accompany leaders to entertain advertisers.

She would never forget that night.

That pig-like owner of a photography studio had actually chased her into the restroom. The two of them struggled all the way into the corridor.

The director of the advertising department only stood nearby and offered a few half-hearted words of persuasion. The restaurant staff and the guests from the other private rooms all stayed far away.

The only two buttons on her newly bought black suit jacket had been ripped off. At that moment, a handsome man pushed through the crowd and walked over.

Even now, she could still remember the sound of that pig kneeling on the ground and repeatedly knocking his head with loud thuds. All because that man had said one sentence:

“She’s my little sister!”

That man was Zhou Dongbing.

It was because of that one sentence that the advertising department director never asked her to accompany clients again.

Because of that one sentence, half a month later, she gained the qualification to conduct independent interviews.

Because of that one sentence, six months later, she had her own program: Stories of the People.

And because of that one sentence, she pursued him for four years.

He said:

“I don’t deserve to be with you, because I’ve already broken another woman’s heart.”

But she still ignored everything and rushed toward him like a moth flying into a flame.

“When love has already turned into vast seas and changing fields,
do we still have the courage to love—”

Lin Hao’s song ended, and several girls in the bar whistled.

A red figure staggered and swayed toward the stage.

“Not good!” Chu Yu hurriedly picked up the phone and called Zhou Dongbing.

“Dongbing, Daxia is here!”

“Mm, what’s wrong?”

Chu Yu said, “I think she’s drunk. I’m worried she’ll cause trouble for Lin Hao!”

“Who’s at the bar?”

“Ermeng and Chujiu are here.”

“Tell Chujiu to call Baozi. Hurry and have him take her away!”

“Okay!”

Chu Yu hung up the phone and walked over to the spot near the door, where two people were sitting. One was tall and fair-skinned, while the other was thin and dark-skinned with a cleft lip.

As soon as Chu Yu walked over, the two men stood up and called out, “Sister-in-law.”

Chu Yu quietly said to the thin, dark-skinned man with the cleft lip, “Chujiu, Dongbing wants you to call Baozi and have him come take Daxia back.”

Chujiu nodded, took out his phone, and walked outside.

Chu Yu looked toward the stage. Daxia, who was like a blazing fire, had already climbed onto the stage. She was staggering around, trying to hug Lin Hao.

Chu Yu shook her head. This Daxia from Hexi had once been together with Ding Jianguo for a period of time, which was why she hadn’t taken matters into her own hands and had called first.

When Lin Hao first saw this beautiful woman coming over, he was quite polite. But soon he realized something was wrong. The woman was drunk, and her tears had washed away her eyeliner, leaving black streaks running down her face.

“Little brother, little brother, your song… it hurts my heart so much, so much…” Daxia climbed onto the stage, still muttering to herself.

“Come here, give sister a hug, just one hug. Sister’s heart hurts so much!”

Daxia had already reached him. She stretched out both arms and was about to hug him.

Lin Hao’s thoughts raced. He placed the guitar in his hand onto the stand.

“Sis, don’t be sad. Later I’ll sing you a cheerful song and I’ll definitely make you happy again!”

After saying that, he stood up and gently embraced the heartbroken woman.

“Waaah!”

Daxia was like a child who had lost her way home. The moment Lin Hao hugged her, she burst into tears. She clung tightly to him, crying as if her heart was being torn apart.

Lin Hao felt like he was about to suffocate. After a while, he gently patted her back and said softly, “Don’t cry, sis. Whatever happened, it’s already in the past. No matter what it is, we still have to live well, right? How about I sing you another song?”

“Okay, okay!”

Daxia released her arms and, taking advantage of the moment, bent her knees and sat down right on the stage.

Lin Hao looked toward the audience and saw Chu Yu standing not far away without giving any signal, so he could only let it go. He started thinking about what kind of song he could sing to make this woman feel a little happier.

Watching the stage, Chu Yu sighed inwardly at Zhou Dongbing’s judgment.

If this had been an ordinary person, they would have already been chased all over the stage by Daxia.

This woman had entered society before she was even twenty. In the early spring of the 1990s, she was the biggest “horse girl” in the city of Chunhe.

Even now, people in society still repeated the old saying:

A carriage pulled by three horses,
Three sisters sitting inside,
Fangfang, Daxia, and Maya,
The one driving the carriage is Boss Baozi.

(Fangfang, Daxia, and Maya were nicknames; “Baozi” is pronounced differently in the northeastern dialect.)

Fangfang had long since left that life behind and married.

Back then, Maya had been with Old Pu for a while, but later he tricked her into going to the south.

Only Daxia was still alone. Now in her thirties, she ran several hair-washing salons.

The reason she dared to act like this today was not only because she had drunk too much, but also because she clearly understood the relationship between Ding Jianguo and Zhou Dongbing.

She knew Zhou Dongbing’s personality too well. With the brief relationship she had once had with Ding Jianguo, as long as she didn’t go too far, Zhou Dongbing wouldn’t do anything to her.

On the stage, Lin Hao’s cheerful guitar music had already started playing. Chu Yu was very curious—what song could he possibly sing to make this woman happy?

“The little monk went down the mountain to collect alms,
The old monk gave him instructions…”

As soon as the song began, everyone froze in surprise.

Then several girls burst into giggles.