Superstars of Tomorrow

Curly Hair was still absorbed in his game and didn’t notice Fang Zhao. His tiny eyes were moving to the option to proceed to the next stage. Fang Zhao walked over and used his foot to kick Curly Hair’s butt lightly.

Curly Hair, who had been focused on challenging the next stage, jumped and his helmet fell to the side. Seeing that it was Fang Zhao, Curly Hair got up and wagged his tail, gazing at Fang Zhao with his innocent and pitiful dog eyes.

Fang Zhao studied Curly Hair silently.

Noticing Fang Zhao’s stare, Curly Hair slanted his head and came to a rest at Fang Zhao’s feet. He seemed to be in a good mood from defeating the previous stage boss.

Fang Zhao mused in silence for a bit before telling Curly Hair, "You are capable now, huh. When did you learn to hum songs?"

Curly Hair stared at Fang Zhao in bewilderment and his tail wagging became less enthusiastic.

"You really don’t understand?"

Fang Zhao played a segment of his recorded video of Curly Hair wagging his tail and humming a tune.

When he saw the video, Curly Hair was so startled his ears became erect. He pulled his head back and even the curls in his fur nearly became straight. He backed away a few steps as though he had seen an especially frightening monster.

"Scared yourself?" Fang Zhao made a come here gesture. "Come, hum it again. Do that same tune in the game that plays when you clear a stage."

Curly Hair looked at Fang Zhao some more before turning towards the screen. Then, he began to "hum". However, it was entirely different from his humming earlier and wasn’t that much different from an ordinary dog’s groans.

After hearing Curly Hair’s "humming" for a bit, Fang Zhao then said grudgingly, "Alright alright, let’s stop here today. Pay attention to it and don’t let anyone else discover this."

Fang Zhao could tell that Curly Hair had unconsciously hummed that tune because he had been too engrossed in the game and in good spirits. He simply hadn’t known what he had done himself and wasn’t able to do it when he tried to hum intentionally.

Fang Zhao discovered that Curly Hair learned things very quickly. His IQ was always increasing, and the Muzhou sheep-herding competition had been proof of his impressive adaptability. His sense of smell and hearing also far surpassed other dogs, including the world’s most elite dogs at Muzhou’s famed police dog academy. Fang Zhao didn’t think it had anything to do with how he treated Curly Hair; rather, it was probably because of Curly Hair’s peculiar genes. However, Fang Zhao hadn’t been able to discover anything when he did examinations of Curly Hair in the past.

Curly Hair’s scar from the bullet on Planet Wai that he’d defecated could no longer be seen either...

"Extraterrestrial? Or a native mutant?"

Fang Zhao had first seen Curly Hair in the black streets. Although he had found some records of Curly Hair in the black street, but what about even before that? Where had he come from? What sort of secrets did he carry on his body?

On the other hand, Fang Zhao had a good understanding of his own body. He too was always changing, but the changes were neither as evident nor as exaggerated as Curly Hair’s. Compared to other people, he was much stronger. Even his peak body condition during the Period of Destruction couldn’t achieve this standard. His sight, hearing, perceptivity and physical constitution actually surpassed the ordinary range. But other than his hearing, Fang Zhao very rarely displayed his other quirks. Other than his ears, people mainly knew him for his music.

Fang Zhao once again recalled the supernatural circumstances regarding his rebirth on that night in the black streets. Maybe Curly Hair’s peculiarity and his own body’s changes were linked? Despite all his research, he still had no answer. The universe was vast. There were surely many things that people couldn’t imagine but actually existed.

Originally, Fang Zhao had only thought that Curly Hair had an above average IQ and slightly thicker fur. But based on his developmental trend, Fang Zhao really couldn’t tell if Curly Hair would one day learn to talk.

He thought about it again. Why not practice it if you have the ability?

Where does all that energy and nutrition go from eating so much everyday?

A second growth spurt?

No, it should probably the the nth one. Who knew exactly how much Curly Hair had developed? From the time Fang Zhao had picked him up, Curly Hair’s physiology had never stopped changing.

His IQ had increased and he had developed a tremendous ability to learn. Now, he had also started to develop in this new aspect. Fang Zhao decided to let Curly Hair practice making sounds.

He guided Curly Hair to some educational videos on how to hum and produce sounds other than dog sounds. He wanted him to practice making sounds that humans made. After all, with Curly Hair’s current IQ, he probably could understand easily what was being said in those educational videos.

At the start, Curly Hair was rather unwilling to learn and and would start whimpering after a bit. Fang Zhao saw that the traditional educational videos weren’t effective, so he downloaded some games meant for young children to learn songs. These games featured simple vocal exercises where higher points would be given for more accurate pitch and tone.

Under the attraction of a new game, Curly Hair finally took more initiative towards learning to make human sounds. After all, a gamer dog was still a gamer dog. As he played, he quickly became addicted. He didn’t dare mess around during the day, but at night, he would practice making sounds while gaming. Fang Zhao didn’t need to watch him.

The sound proofing in the campus dormitories was very good as long as the doors and windows were shut. After all, this was an institute of art. Singing, dancing and music playing were common occurrences. If the soundproofing weren’t good, the whole place would be drowning in noise everyday.

Fang Zhao’s hearing ability was very good. Although there was soundproofing, he could still hear neighboring sounds. After getting accustomed to the environment, Fang Zhao could filter out the sounds from outside the apartment. Just that...

How did hearing his own dog make weird sounds in the night while he was sleeping feel?

At first, Fang Zhao thought that Curly Hair’s vocal practice wouldn’t affect his sleeping at night. However, he had really underestimated this gamer dog.

If it were any other ordinary dog blindly barking, Fang Zhao could filter it out. Life during the Period of Destruction had been chaotic, and he wouldn’t have been unable to sleep just because of a little noise. Maintaining vigilance was a given, but bodies also required rest. Anyone that didn’t have this ability wouldn’t live long.

However, when Curly Hair played those vocal practice games, his devilish sorts of sounds had some destructive power that would strike straight at Fang Zhao’s mind. Fang Zhao had just fallen asleep as a serenade played in his mind when Curly Hair’s freakish tunes came shooting in.

Fang Zhao: ...

I better let him play monster killing games instead.

For the sake of his own sleep, Fang Zhao set up time constraints for games on the console. Different games could only be played at certain times. It wasn’t possible in the short term for Curly Hair to speak. The vocal training exercises weren’t ideal, but there was no need to be impatient. It would still be fine if Curly Hair couldn’t learn to speak in the end. After all, he was still a dog, not a human.

After that, Fang Zhao busied himself with his thesis and graduation works.

Days passed by and the year drew to a close. Celebrities were busy traveling all over for various activities. Every large company competed to invite high-profile celebrities for their internal events. This year, Fang Zhao had been invited to perform at the Star Cup victory ceremony, so many people eyed him as a potential candidate. Celebrities invited to the Star Cup were cooler.

However, Fang Zhao was completely focused on his own work and rejected all invitations. Because Fang Zhao couldn’t be reached, people looked for others to help contact Fang Zhao. Thus, as Fang Zhao’s assistant, Nanfeng became very busy.

...

One day, Nanfeng had just stepped out of HuangArt campus when he received a call. He answered, and it was yet another invitation for Fang Zhao. Nanfeng frowned and rubbed his forehead.

"... I already said, it’s impossible. It can’t be helped. I’m just a little assistant and not his manager. I just listen to what my boss says... Hey, this isn’t about the money!! My boss isn’t accepting any performances or activities currently. Even if he was willing to, he wouldn’t be able to accept any right now... Why? You all should have already heard. Venerable Mo is making him write his thesis... You should probably know Venerable Mo right? Mo Lang, a treasured artist. That old man has already wedged chair under the door handle and guards it. If you dare, you can go look for him personally... I don’t have the guts! Nor the time! Really, I just came back from dog walk—assignment given by the boss..."

After ending the call, Nanfeng complained to Zuo Yu and Yan Biao. In the past, before he had become Fang Zhao’s assistant, Nanfeng had always dreamed of this sort of life. Being busy was good! It was proof of his boss’ reputation, and there were loads of money to be had! Now... he felt too annoyed to be happy.

So many people inviting Fang Zhao to participate in activities was a good thing and he should be happy! But just as Fang Zhao himself had said, he was currently undergoing advanced studies, and that was his main priority. Other activities were dropped.

As a proper assistant, Nanfeng absolutely followed his boss’ instructions to handle affairs. Those that were trying to pull strings to get Fang Zhao to promote something were all rejected. If Nanfeng dared to bother Fang Zhao with these sorts of things, perhaps he would be sent packing even before the day ended.

Nanfeng really wasn’t exaggerating. Old Master Mo was really guarding the house and letting Fang Zhao write his thesis in the study. To smoothly graduate from HuangArt’s Twelve Tones Advance Course, the thesis needed both quality and quantity.

Is a thesis or performing more important?

Firmly reject all unnecessary commercial activities! Television programs, movies, corporate annual meetings, advertisements and all other sorts of other activities can dream on!!

It wasn’t that Mo Lang wanted to meddle with all of Fang Zhao’s affairs. The old master had experienced many things. Naturally, he wouldn’t really force Fang Zhao to reject all other activities. There were quite a number of his students who had gone all over for year-end performances. Even Fang Zhao’s "official" mentor Prof. Carter was also busy with non-academic activities. Many other teachers and students of HuangArt were the same.

However, Mo Lang believed that it was best not to dabble in too many things before graduating during the advanced studies period. He hoped that Fang Zhao would place more efforts on the art of music. Such a promising seedling shouldn’t fall to the wayside.

Fang Zhao himself also approved of Mo Lang’s view. He had cooperated during the last two days and had stayed at Mo Lang’s place to write his thesis. Curly Hair was handled by Nanfeng and the other two. They brought him out for walks every day.

In the first floor hall of the Mo residence, Mo Lang held a cup of tea as he looked at the thesis draft that Fang Zhao had given him today. He let out a satisfied sigh.

He believed that there wouldn’t be anyone daring enough to steal Fang Zhao away now that he was personally standing guard!