HLM -Chapter 819 Recording an Album

After entering the Glowworm Cave, Eva just stood there, repeatedly murmuring, “Unbelievable.”  Wang Bo couldn’t see her face clearly, but he could imagine her eyes must be wide open in awe.

Every time he came here, he felt the same way.

When he took Eva’s hand, sure enough, Eva’s fingers were trembling slightly and rapidly — a physical response to her excitement.

Even though he had seen it before, Wang Bo still found himself awestruck by the blue-and-white glow illuminating the cave.

This time, something was different — by coincidence, the silken threads spun by the glowworm larvae had formed a pattern that looked like two overlapping hearts, shimmering and glowing faintly.

Wang Bo hugged Eva and pointed. “Look, what does that pattern look like?”

“It’s so beautiful, darling! How did that happen?” Eva exclaimed in amazement.

Wang Bo smiled. “That’s the masterpiece of nature’s craftsmanship.”

The two of them stayed in each other’s arms, speaking softly from time to time — their voices like whispers from a dream.

No one knew how long they remained inside. Eventually, Wang Bo guided Eva forward, slowly shuffling toward the edge of the water pool. They hadn’t brought a raft, so they couldn’t go further in.

When they reached the water’s edge, the most breathtaking scene unfolded — reflections of countless blue-white lights sparkled both above and below, on the cave ceiling and the mirrored surface of the pool, blending together in dazzling harmony.

“I can’t tell which is the ceiling and which is the water,” Eva whispered. “Am I dreaming? My God, how can it be this beautiful?”

Wang Bo kissed her gently and smiled. “But it’s still not as beautiful as you.”

Eva let out a small laugh and whispered, “I know you’re lying, but right now, I really love hearing it.”

They stood there for quite a while before heading back. Eva asked him to pull her along, constantly turning back to look at the cave.

Once they stepped outside into the sunlight, Eva still looked reluctant to leave. “If you had proposed to me just now, I think I would’ve said yes.”

Wang Bo said softly, “I wish I could propose to you… but your family…”

Eva shrugged with a helpless smile. “I don’t need their permission. I don’t even know where they are. Do you know why I joined the Foreign Intelligence Bureau after college? Because I was raised by the government. Joining the Bureau meant all my student loans would be forgiven.”

Wang Bo froze. Eva had never spoken about her family before. He had assumed there was some estrangement or that her job required her to stay disconnected from them — but he hadn’t expected this.

He pulled her into his arms and said with heartache, “Then from now on, you have me — and Dale. We’ll never abandon you.”

Eva smiled, clearly having long made peace with her past. “And we’ve got Zhuang Ding, the Queen, the Commander, the Commissar, Da Pang, and Er Pang. We’ll all stay together forever, right?”

Wang Bo nodded solemnly. “Yes. Always together.”

Eva laughed at his serious expression. “You pity me, don’t you? It’s really not a big deal. Later, after joining the Bureau, I actually found out what happened to my parents.”

“Oh?”

“Nothing dramatic,” she said lightly. “After I was born, when I was about six months old, they noticed my irises had turned pale violet — and the color kept deepening over time. They thought it was a bad omen. So, they sent me to an orphanage.”

Wang Bo burst out angrily, “What kind of nonsense is that? How superstitious can they be?”

Eva smiled faintly. “Who knows? It was still the Soviet Union back then. The economy was terrible. Maybe they just couldn’t afford to raise a child.”

She shrugged again, speaking with easy calm. “Honestly, I don’t mind anymore. In a way, I think it was God’s message — to remind me to be kind to children, to never, ever let my own become orphans.”

Wang Bo finally understood why Eva doted on Dale so much — perhaps in that child, she saw the reflection of her own lonely childhood.

He also understood why Eva had chosen to bring Dale to New Zealand. It was practically the farthest developed country from Ukraine — a place where they could both leave behind the pain of their past.

The two of them stayed hand in hand all the way back. Even during lunch, Wang Bo never let go of her hand, only releasing it when he dropped her off for class.

After watching her figure disappear, he turned to leave — when suddenly, a hand clapped onto his shoulder.

“Hey, boss! That was one sweet little love story back there. Holding hands like that must’ve felt amazing, huh?” came a familiar voice — Reddy’s.

Wang Bo turned and saw the face he always found the most troublesome among the music quartet. Reddy was forever wearing that roguish grin — he looked a bit like a young Brad Pitt, with a devil-may-care charm.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, come on, boss! We’ve been following you guys the whole time — me and my brother too!” Reddy pointed behind him. A modified pickup truck was parked nearby, and Ryan waved at him with a grin.

“I really didn’t notice,” Wang Bo said. “So what brings you here?”

Reddy rubbed his hands together excitedly. “We’ve had a burst of inspiration lately — we wrote a few songs! Yes, you heard right — original songs. Not covers, not imitations — our own compositions! Do you realize what that means?”

Under Reddy’s glowing, eager gaze, Wang Bo ventured, “Uh… it means you’re about to become world-famous rock stars?”

“Exactly! Well, close enough! At least it’s our first step down that road — the first step! We can record an album now!” Reddy announced enthusiastically.

Wang Bo finally remembered — he had promised the group that if they ever wrote their own songs, he’d help them record an album.

Since the afternoon was free, he said, “Alright then, let’s head to the bar. I’ll listen to what you’ve got.”

Reddy nodded vigorously. “That’s the spirit! Come on, your ears must be itching to enjoy this!”

Wang Bo eyed the twitching young man suspiciously. “Hey, man… you’re not on drugs, are you? Don’t let me find out anyone’s using that stuff — or you’ll regret it.”

Reddy immediately protested, “No, no, no! Of course not! Okay fine — I admit, I smoke a little weed sometimes. Just weed, that’s it. Come on, boss — we’re future world stars! You think we’d risk our lives like that?”

“Good,” Wang Bo said curtly.

They all headed to the Volcano Bar. As soon as they stepped inside, Wang Bo looked around and felt an instant surge of heat, like something inside him was igniting — his body wanted to move to the rhythm.

Ryan laughed. “Not bad, right? I can see it in your eyes — you’re ready to party.”