SWNOVELS Chapter 112.1: Little Gummy Stirring Hearts
Chapter 112.1: Little Gummy Stirring Hearts
Early in the morning, Caroline was woken up by a commotion coming from the hall. She got out of bed, pulled aside the door curtain, and saw that the lady of the household next door had come to their house and was anxiously speaking with Winnie.
Caroline asked at once, "What's going on, Mom?"
The second aunt of the Meghan family had already bragged to everyone that Caroline could speak with Mr. Rex. The worried neighbor, seeing Caroline come out, seemed to see hope and asked, "My family went to seek work on the main street this morning and found it blocked off and the hiring ceased. Caroline, do you know what's going on?"
"She rested at home all of yesterday and didn't go out. How would she know?" Mrs. Winne said.
"I don't know anything," Caroline stepped out of the room and asked with concern, "Can you explain in more detail?"
The neighbor quickly recounted what happened when her family members went to queue for work but were obstructed from going in.
After listening to the neighbor's explanation, Caroline roughly understood what was going on.
The townspeople either worried that the new lord might be in trouble and couldn't pay up for the odd jobs or that they were no longer hiring everyone that signed up, using a half-day off as an excuse to eliminate some.
While this notion might sound somewhat laughable, it wasn't funny at all as it involved personal interests. It was only normal for people to worry about gains and losses.
Caroline had seen the heaps of fabric in the town hall's store that were stacked high to the ceiling. She was very certain that Mr. Rex couldn't be short of money.
Mr. Rex was even willing to give a chance to four Weisshem youngsters with no background, allowing them to buy fabric on credit and make a substantial profit. Caroline didn't believe that Mr. Rex would be stingy with the temporary job opportunities for the townspeople, who were paid on a daily basis.
Thus, she smiled and said, "Don't worry too much. If the clerks say it's just a half-day break, then it would be fine to return in the afternoon."
"R-really? Can we go in the afternoon?" Caroline's neighbor didn't seem to believe it.
"Of course." Caroline took her neighbor's hand, patted lightly to convey confidence, and said, "My grandfather went to work at the sanitation bureau early this morning. He's cooperating with his colleagues to clean up those abandoned old houses on the west side, saying it's to eliminate some fire hazards. Even my grandfather is continuing to work, so how could Mr. Rex possibly be fussy?"
Caroline's neighbor contemplated for a bit, and her tense facial muscles finally relaxed.
"I feel so much more relieved hearing you say that," said her neighbor, with a hand on her chest. "When I returned, I saw undead escorting those locked-up militia digging the sewers in the neighboring block. I heard those locked-up militiamen get paid for working too."
"Locked-up militia" was a general term used by the townsfolk for those in custody. The reason they used such neutral terminology was that some townspeople's family members were also locked up Some were militia, others were bouncers, and there were even some revelers on the main street.
After seeing off the neighbor, Caroline turned to Winnie. "Mom, I'll go check the main street. Where did I put my beige linen dress?"
"You've only rested for a day. Are you going out now?" Winnie said, slightly unhappy.
"I've rested for a whole day. It's already more than enough, Mom. I wanted to visit that deli yesterday, but you didn't let me go~" Caroline coquettishly clung to Winnie's arm.
Mrs. Winnie was helpless to her daughter's charms. "It's because I'm afraid you will spend your money recklessly! Alright, alright. You're already an adult and still speak like this! Your dress is hanging in the yard. I'll bring it in later."
Caroline put on the linen dress her mother had washed and headed out to Martin Street, where she took a detour to Weisshem's main street. Due to the ongoing construction and debris from the buildings on that street, many alleys were closed off. If residents from the northern living area wanted to go to the main street, they had to either use Town Hall Street or take a detour through Martin Street.
After going through half the town and reaching the three-way intersection leading to the town gate, Caroline witnessed a scene that thoroughly shocked her
The intersection near the entrance to Weisshem's main street was spacious, almost like a small square, and at the moment, it was densely packed with several hundred townspeople, all sitting on the ground.
These seated townspeople were very quiet, their heads inclined slightly upward, focusing on the cordoned-off zone directly in front of them.
In front of the cordoned-off zone, a square table was set up. When Caroline arrived, she saw a lady in an exquisite ball gown, with a physique more robust than a man's, standing atop the table and singing.
Caroline couldn't understand the lyrics at all; it sounded like a language from another world. However, the language barrier didn't prevent her from grasping the power in the singer's voicepowerful, deep, and resonant, seemingly more forceful than her throat could handle.
Although it was just the rhythmic sense created by a simple human voice and incomprehensible lyrics, Caroline felt like it was a massive tsunami crashing on her via her hearing.
Rewinding back to 15 minutes ago, when Caroline had rushed out of her house, holding the hem of her skirt.
The song was chaotic and Boss Orange Cat couldn't even recall the lyrics properly. He hadn't been singing for three minutes when his "energy bar" was depleted, and the robust female warrior transformed back into a skeleton.
The bizarre tune that confounded the townspeople turned into a "KABAKABA" they were familiar with Those who had just been laughing at the skeletons' odd dance moves were stunned.
"It's an undead indeed!" a spectator muttered under his breath.
Others, in hindsight, commented, "It can only be an undead Otherwise, how can she be mixing with the undead?"
"What are they all doing? Are they performing for us?" Someone made a bold guess.
Hearing this speculation, some townsfolk expressed their surprise. "Eh? This is a performance?"
"No way, how can these weird sounds be a performance?"
"The funky dance can still be counted. Their dancing is quite amusing. But that undead that turned into a human What exactly is that!"
"Yeah, it sounds terrible!"
There was a language barrier between the players putting on the performance and the townspeople watching the show. However, it didn't mean that the two sides were entirely unable to communicate.
The townsfolk pointed at the dancing players, laughing heartily. But when they looked at the singing Orange Cat, confusion, perplexity, and helplessness could be seen in their eyes. Even a fool could see whom the townspeople favored more.
Orange Cat jumped off the table dejectedly and ran back behind the cordoned-off zone. "What's going on? Doesn't art have no boundaries? I don't speak English, but I'm still happy listening to English songs. Why aren't these NPCs appreciating it?"
Teacher Yu Chi, who originally planned to offer a few comforting words, was dumbfounded. "Wait a minute. You can't even sing 'Little Apple' properly, yet you have the audacity to call that art? Are all you wealthy folks this shameless?"
"And you are still a teacher?? How is there so much venom in your mouth?!" Orange Cat was also astonished.
A nearby player chuckled. "If it weren't for the language barrier, the two of you could make a popular comedy duo."
Orange Cat staunchly defended his artistic integrity. "I don't think it's an issue with me. It's probably because there are no microphones or speakers here. My voice wasn't loud enough and the NPCs couldn't hear clearly. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been such an awkward stage."
"I can vouch for it!" One of the dancer players raised a hand. "Boss Orange Cat sang quite well, I nearly burst out laughing several times. Even my four-year-old nephew can't produce such amusing entertainment!"
The Orange Cat nodded enthusiastically at the first part of the statement but immediately stiffened up in the latter half. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his freshly enchanted weapon, bared his teeth, and charged at the player who had dared ridicule him.
Orange Cat was quite popular, and everyone knew about his lackluster gaming skills. Not a single person intervened to stop him from chasing after the player, and they stood around, laughing heartily.
"A lack of a sound system does make it less interesting." Teacher Yu Chi took Orange Cat's opinion seriously and was troubled. "Even buskers on the streets carry a small speaker with them, but here, we rely on vocal power alone. If the NPCs can't hear clearly, then it's wasted even if someone sings well."
When Tang Jia, laughing along with Yang Ying, heard this, she immediately straightened up. "Need a loud voice? How fortuitous, let me handle it!"
Borrowing Orange Cat's Orb of Deception and looping it around her neck, Tang Jia confidently took to the stage.
Before starting her performance, Tang Jia even turned around and shouted, "No one is allowed to come out and dance. If dancers steal the limelight, no one will appreciate my singing."
Orange Cat was already dejected, and hearing this made it worse as he exclaimed in frustration, "Why didn't you say that when I was up there? Gummy, you aren't a good person at all!"
Revealing a female warrior figure similar to Orange Cat's, Tang Jia wasted no time showcasing her extraordinary talentan in-built, booming voice that resembled a sound system. With full confidence, she began to roar, "Vigorous, when facing the beatings of ten thousand heavy waves!" [TL note: the song is (A Man Should Strengthen Himself), a popular kung fu anthem in movies.]
Teacher Yuchi: "(A`)"
Players: "( ( ( )"
Tang Jia's powerful voice was a menace to anyone who crossed paths with her; a mere casual greeting by Tang Jia could be like a sudden and thunderous shout that could leave one dizzy and disoriented.contemporary romance
This often disruptive vocal prowess, when employed for singing songs that exuded heroic and ambitious sentiments, surprisingly yielded remarkable results. Pronunciation and enunciation became rhythmic, akin to having a built-in drumbeat. It was especially heart-stirringnot necessarily better than a professional singer, but undoubtedly hardcore.
Before Tang Jia even completed two lines, the hushed whispers of the town's NPCs quieted down. Midway through the performance, the mesmerized town NPCs even silently took their seats, utterly focused on appreciating the spectacle.
"Art truly has no boundaries; you can appreciate it even if you can't understand it." Teacher Yu Chi nodded approvingly.
Orange Cat: "" Are you mocking me?!
Tang Jia's "energy bar" seemed to have no end in sight as she maintained the illusionary performance for over half an hour. After the rousing manly anthem, she launched into another stirring song.
This girl had never learned to sing, but her naturally powerful voice, combined with a lack of concern for straining her throatthanks to the "game"allowed her to unleash high notes without any restrictions.
The effect was astounding, and even the indigenous locals, who were far from connoisseurs of soulful entertainment, as well as players accustomed to various genres of popular songs, were left dumbfounded.
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