"Here's the mic," Gao Xiaoyang handed him the microphone, "Your song choice is quite unique, huh?"

"I'm nostalgic," Chu Yi took the microphone and looked at it.

The only microphone he had touched before was the one that came with the TV at home. His grandmother had used that microphone to sing karaoke at home once, and when she let out her voice, it exploded like a mace swinging through the air, very frightening. Even someone as brave as his grandmother only sang that one line.

This high-end microphone was different. It felt heavy and substantial in his hand, instantly making him feel like a singing god.

The screen started playing "Counting Ducks," with a little girl jumping around.

Chu Yi stared at the countdown dots, then started singing right on cue: "Under the big bridge in front of the door swam a flock of ducks... Come quickly, come quickly, let's count... two, four, six, seven, eight..."

Everyone in the room except Yan Hang turned their heads simultaneously, staring at him.

Chu Yi could feel the shock in their gazes, and suddenly felt like laughing.

"Quack quack quack, so many ducks..." he continued singing seriously, trying to hold back his laughter, "Can't count how many ducks there are— Can't count how many ducks there are—"

"Holy shit!" Zhou Chunyang finally couldn't hold it anymore and burst into wild laughter.

"Holy shit!" Hu Biao slapped his thigh.

"Holy shit!" Zhang Qiang leaned back on the sofa, laughing and shouting.

"Holy... shit!" Li Ziqiang choked on his drink.

"Dog bro's pitch is too perfect," Gao Xiaoyang, as usual, broke the pattern.

"We'll have to pay hush money now," Wu Xu said.

Chu Yi ignored them and persisted in singing the entire song. Before, he only remembered the first half, but now, looking at the lyrics, he sang the whole song perfectly.

"Thank you," he said after finishing.

The room erupted in laughter again.

The others started singing again, and Chu Yi turned to look at Yan Hang: "Still chanting, sutras?"

"What else?" Yan Hang laughed while looking at his phone, "Next time, don't bother with the accompaniment, I'll tap a wooden fish for you on the side."

Chu Yi leaned back on the sofa and laughed for a while.

"I just recorded a video," Yan Hang moved closer to him and held out his phone, "I want to post it for your fangirls to see, is that okay?"

"Sure." Chu Yi watched himself seriously chanting the lyrics in the video, with the others laughing so hard they were falling over... Dog bro's profile actually looked quite good.

"Little... dog... singing..." Yan Hang typed out, posted the video on Weibo, then asked softly with a laugh, "Want to see the comments?"

"No need, they're all praising me anyway," Chu Yi said.

Yan Hang didn't say anything, just looked at his phone, and after a while, he started laughing.

Chu Yi held out for a moment, then leaned in: "Let me see."

-Hahahahahahaha

-Hhhhhhhh

-Hahahahaha sorry little dog sister still loves you

-Hahahahahaha

-Oh my god, little dog's singing voice hahahahaha

-Can't you guys have some manners! What's with all the 'ha's, praise him first then hahahahahahaha ah

-How did he manage to sing like that with such a serious face hahaha

-Sorry I'm dying of laughter

-Hahaha I'm about to laugh my bed apart

......

Yan Hang scrolled down a few times, the comments were very consistent. At a glance, Chu Yi almost couldn't recognize the character for "ha" anymore.

Every time he saw a line of "hahaha," he couldn't help but want to laugh along.

"My image is, is gone," he sighed, rubbing his face which had become sore from grinning so much.

"This has always been your image," Yan Hang said, "It's completely in character."

Everyone sang to their heart's content that night, but Chu Yi only sang "Counting Ducks." It wasn't that he was embarrassed, the key was that he didn't know any other songs to sing. He couldn't exactly sing the national anthem in a KTV, especially not like that...

Yan Hang didn't sing either, only at the end when they were about to leave, he sang an English song.

Instantly outshining all the efforts of the dormitory gang for the entire night.

"I really couldn't tell," Hu Biao said, "Every time, Brother Hang= makes me feel like he has multiple personalities."

"Would I not have multiple personalities if I sang like Chu Yi?" Yan Hang said.

Everyone burst into laughter again.

As they walked out of the KTV, Chu Yi felt his ears were a bit stuffy.

"Am I, am I deaf now," Chu Yi looked at Yan Hang.

"Puppy," Yan Hang said, "Puppy puppy puppy, has anyone seen my puppy..."

"Here," Chu Yi started laughing.

"After a night of loud singing," Yan Hang ruffled his hair, "It'll get better soon."

"Are we getting barbecue?" Hu Biao asked.

"Yes, I'll go get the car," Yan Hang nodded, "You guys grab a taxi and follow me."

The barbecue place wasn't far from the KTV, just a 10 minute drive.

The excitement still hadn't worn off, everyone chatted while eating, their stomachs seeming bottomless.

Finally when they couldn't eat any more, they stopped.

Zhou Chunyang took out his phone to check the time: "Chu Yi just turned 17 years and 1 hour old."

"Happy 17th birthday," everyone clinked their glasses.

After sending everyone back to the dorms, Chu Yi went with Yan Hang to drive back home. Tomorrow was Saturday, the most anticipated day of the week, he didn't even anticipate Sundays because he had to go back to school.

"Wait for Uncle Cui to come down for a midnight snack," Yan Hang said.

"Okay," Chu Yi nodded.

The mention of Cui Yi made him think of his dad again, and he couldn't help but sigh.

Yan Hang didn't say anything, just patted him on the shoulder.

Cui Yi soon came downstairs, wearing pajamas without even changing into slippers. Seeing the barbecue in Yan Hang's hands, he rushed over and grabbed it: "I was about to go crazy if there's no more food left."

"Chu Yi's dad's matter," Yan Hang said, "help check on it."

"Of course," Cui Yi glanced at Chu Yi, "I thought you didn't know."

"My grandma told me," Chu Yi said.

"Don't worry, at this time, only lawyers can see your dad," Cui Yi took a skewer of grilled lamb and bit into it, "I've contacted a lawyer, my former classmate, she's awesome. I'll take you to sign the letter of authorization first thing tomorrow morning, we'll have to forge your mom's signature for this, authorize it under your mom's name, then the lawyer sis will be able to go and see the specifics of the situation after talking to your dad."

"Oh," Chu Yi was stunned, "Thanks Uncle Cui."

"Is this approach okay?" Yan Hang asked.