Chapter 34: What do you mean I scream pretty well? You’re so shameless!
When September arrived, the commemoration concert’s rehearsal schedule was officially released. Another task was added to Ding Meng’s everyday work routine in addition to attending her usual training center classes.
After Qiao Yichen rearranged You Wanted to Break Up Today, it had become much warmer and more consistent with the current style of pop music.
On stage, Ding Meng and a guitarist sat across from one another. Since Qiao Yichen had altered this song to include a guitar accompaniment, he had asked a well-known guitar player within the industry to perform with her.
Compared to when they first started, the coordination between Ding Meng and the guitarist had become much smoother. Her understanding of the lyrics and grasp of the song had also steadily improved.
All the other artists had songs that could ignite the enthusiasm of everyone present with their song intros alone. On the other hand, her song was well-known, but it certainly couldn’t be considered a classic.
At this point, all she could really do was try her best to perform this song to the best of her abilities.
After she thanked the guitarist, Ding Meng returned backstage by herself. In the hallway, she bumped into Gu Xin, who had also come to rehearse. Over the past two days of rehearsals, she had already met quite a few singers that she could only previously see on TV. Therefore, when she saw Gu Xin at this moment, she was no longer as panic-stricken and helpless as she was in the beginning.
However, the excitement she felt seeing an idol was still impossible to hide. She excitedly greeted him, “Hello, Expert Gu!”
Gu Xin laughed and then stopped walking to talk to her, “Don’t call me Expert Gu. You can just call me Gu Xin.”
“Ah?” Even though she could casually address him as Gu Xin when talking to others in private, she found it difficult when he was standing in front of her.
Social anxiety was so frustrating.
She quickly licked her dry lips and tried to say his name, “Gu Xin.”
Gu Xin stared blankly for a moment before faintly grunting in acknowledgement, “Are you nervous about participating in such a large scale concert for the first time?”
Ding Meng nodded, “Of course I’m nervous. You don’t even know! The first time I saw that the concert hall could hold tens of thousands of people, I almost kneeled down on stage.”
Gu Xin chuckled, “That’s okay. I was also very nervous for my first concert. However, during the actual performance, the lighting will be so dim that you won’t even be able to see the people below. Just think of them all as potatoes.”
Ding Meng burst into laughter and thought, “What the heck, potatoes?!” She smiled as she looked up at Gu Xin, “I actually wanted to tell you earlier that you’re a really nice guy!”
Gu Xin looked absentminded momentarily. Then, he raised his hand and tousled her hair in a very natural manner, “Don’t label me a nice guy as you please.”
T/N: To label someone as a nice guy is literally ‘to give someone a nice guy card’. It’s slang for friendzoning someone. Anyone watch wongfuproductions??
Ding Meng couldn’t help but laugh again. Her attention was drawn to Gu Xin’s lean figure.
Today he was wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of low-waisted jeans. When he lifted his arm, he slightly exposed his waist.
Ding Meng swore that she really wasn’t deliberately trying to look at his waist. Her eyes had just happened to land there. Gu Xin’s physique was definitely the type that could cause his fans to spurt out nosebleeds. Moments later, Ding Meng still couldn’t avert her gaze. Instead, she took a few more curious glances. “You have a tattoo on your waist?”
Gu Xin withdrew his hand and reflexively glanced down at his waist, “Mhm, I got it done when I was young.”
Ding Meng’s eyes twitched slightly. You’re still very young okay…
She figured that when he mentioned his younger days, he was probably referring to the time when he was still a student. She asked probingly, “What did you get a tattoo of?”
Gu Xin responded, “A mythical creature.”
Ding Meng blinked twice, “A Grass Mud Horse?”
T/N: LOL okay so in Chinese internet slang, there are several fake mythical creatures whose names are total puns (useful for bypassing censorship). Grass Mud Horse is a pun for ‘Fuck your mother’ since both sound like ‘Cao Ni Ma’. Check out the rest on wiki LOL they get pretty raunchy. You have been warned.
Gu Xin, “…”
“A qilin.” He grinned and held a corner of his t-shirt as if he was going to lift it up, “Do you want to take a look?”
“May I?” Ding Meng’s desire to take a look was clearly written across her face.
Without saying a word, Gu Xin lifted up his t-shirt. Ding Meng opened her eyes wide to take in the marvel in front of her.
“What are you two doing?” Qiao Yichen’s voice suddenly interrupted. Ding Meng and Gu Xin were both stunned and turned to look over in his direction simultaneously.
Qiao Yichen’s complexion was terrible. His cold expression carried a hint of murderous intent and anger. He looked as though he had accidentally walked in on his wife cheating on him.
Ding Meng couldn’t help but gape a little.
Gu Xin was still holding up his t-shirt when Qiao Yichen walked past him. Qiao Yichen turned his head to cast a look at Gu Xin and said, “Superstar Gu, you act this flirtatiously even when you’re off stage?”
Gu Xin smiled at him and released his finger, letting the t-shirt fall back down, “She wanted to see so I let her.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She sensed that Qiao Yichen’s murderous gaze had shifted onto her. Ding Meng spoke with alarm, “We’re talking about tattoos here!”
Qiao Yichen laughed coldly, “You’ve never seen a tattoo before?”
Ding Meng pursed her lips. She had never seen Gu Xin’s tattoo before…
Qiao Yichen didn’t pay any more attention to her. He turned back to address Gu Xin, “Superstar Gu, everyone is waiting for you to rehearse.”
“Ok, ok.” Gu Xin made a gesture of retreat and laughed as he looked at Ding Meng, “I’ll let you take another look next time”
Ding Meng, “…”
After Gu Xin left, she was forced to deal with Qiao Yichen on her own.
Ding Meng’s feelings were rather complicated. All she did was take a little look at a tattoo. Furthermore, Qiao Yichen and her weren’t even a real married couple. Why did she feel as if she couldn’t face Qiao Yichen? This situation was simply too strange!
“Did the tattoo look good?” Qiao Yichen spoke coldly.
Ding Meng smiled ingratiatingly, “Haha, I didn’t see a thing.”
“Don’t worry, he said that he would show you again next time.”
Ding Meng, “…”
“Don’t forget that we’re eating with my mom and the others tomorrow.” Qiao Yichen threw out this casual reminder after taking several more careful glances at her. Then he turned around and walked away.
Ding Meng hadn’t forgotten that since his birthday was tomorrow, the two families had agreed on eating a meal together. However…this still felt really weird. Why did it seem like she had ended up in a ‘Taking a lover behind her husband’s back’ type of situation? All she had done was take a look at a tattoo! And she hadn’t even managed to really see it!
Qiao Yichen’s displeased expression made Ding Meng very nervous for no reason other than the fact that… she had offended a Virgo music producer. Not to mention, Qiao Yichen was also her direct supervisor at work.
After leaving the dress rehearsal site, she took a company appointed car to return to Guangchen and continued practicing. She spent some time browsing through Weibo during the car ride. Jiang Man had helped her create an officially verified work account which currently had over ten thousand followers.
Well, she didn’t know if these followers were real followers or purchased followers. In any case, her follower count had been growing steadily every day. People would even comment when she occasionally updated her status. Jiang Man had explained that although she wouldn’t be very well-known during the early stages, things would improve gradually after she released songs of her own.
Speaking of songs, Tang Shiran’s Kiss Kiss was going to be released later this month. Xingyao’s publicity efforts were valiant. Every few days, the song would trend on Weibo. When Ding Meng secretly browsed through Tang Shiran’s Weibo, she saw that Tang Shiran had posted two professional cover shots. Her style was now very youthful and feminine, which was completely different from her image during the competition.
Xingyao’s ability to turn people into idols was very impressive. The Tang Shiran now and the Tang Shiran during the competition were like black and white. Now she gave off the air of being a sweet and pretty young lady. Even though she had undergone a total transformation, Xingyao’s formula was a total success based on how hyped Kiss Kiss had become.
Meanwhile, Ding Meng didn’t even know what her new song sounded like, and she had even managed to offend the songwriter.
She suddenly felt as if her path to stardom was really rough.
She frowned and was just about to close the web page when she noticed a new follower notification had appeared at the upper right-hand corner. She pressed on it.
The new follower was Sima Xiaoxiao from a verified account.
Ding Meng’s heart stopped for a second due to the shock. She was convinced that this was an imposter! How could Senior Sima Xiaoxiao have noticed her?!
She used her trembling finger and tapped on Sima Xiaoxiao’s picture. When she entered the linked Weibo page, she discovered that it really was Sima Xiaoxiao.
Ding Meng’s thoughts were in disarray. Previously, when Qiao Yichen was deciding on concert songs, he had told her that Sima Xiaoxiao had switched out one of the songs he had chosen for her.
Ding Meng thought about how only an empress could be headstrong like this and switch songs. Meanwhile, she didn’t even have the power to choose her song.
Qiao Yichen had told her that the new song Sima Xiaoxiao had chosen was First Flower of February. She was going to sing First Flower of February during the concert.
Ding Meng’s feelings at that time were just as messy as they were now. During the competition, the judges had openly told Sima Xiaoxiao that it was time for her to prove herself. Afterwards, Jiang Man had also said that she had “challenged” Sima Xiaoxiao during the finals. Now Qiao Yichen was saying, “The empress is provoking you.”
Even though his tone at that time was in jest, taking into consideration her newest follower, she felt that her path to stardom had become profoundly rough.
While Ding Meng was feeling distressed, Qiao Yichen was also gloomily browsing online forums on his iPad.
He was drawn to a thread on the website titled, “My wife is more interested in the bodies of other men than my own. What can I do?”
Adopting a studious attitude, he clicked on the link to take a look.
The original poster started the thread by summarizing his situation. Qiao Yichen skimmed over two lines of text and then swiped down to the comments below.
First reply: OP, why are you blaming other people when it’s your body that’s unattractive?
Second reply: Stop talking, post a pic.
Third reply: OP, stop being lazy. Go exercise! When you get a v-cut and six pack, I guarantee your wife will want to strip you naked anytime and anywhere!
Fourth reply: I bet the OP is unable to satisfy his wife in that department ╮(╯▽╰)╭
T/N: Web slang: OP literally means “landlord” and replies are referred to as the nth Floor.
Qiao Yichen, “…”
Hahahaha. Sure enough, the advice given by people online was worthless.
He angrily threw his iPad down on the couch in the lounge.
He circled around the room twice and finally stood in front of the dressing room mirror. He frowned slightly as he sized himself up in the mirror. Over the past few years, work had been rather busy, so he had been spending less and less time exercising. However, he had maintained his figure very well and there wasn’t even the slightest indication that he had put on weight.
As for a v-cut and abs; he also had them!
After gaining confidence from looking at his own body, he walked over to turn on the iPad and continued reading the thread.
Fifth reply: Honestly speaking, if men don’t continue to work out as they grow older, they really will become unable to perform. This is a kind-hearted reminder coming from someone who has personally experienced this before.
Sixth reply: The OP could use some cologne or sexily walk out of a shower. This is assuming you’re attractive enough
Qiao Yichen felt like this thread was headed in a strange direction. He turned off the tablet and seriously tried to recall whether his yearly membership card to the gym by his work had expired or not.
That night when he got home, he took out the gym membership card and saw that it had not yet expired.
He held the card as he contemplated. Even though he hadn’t gone to the gym in a long while, he had been regularly using the treadmill at home and would run whenever he had free time. Therefore, he was definitely exercising regularly. Not only that, was he really going to rush out to the gym just because Ding Meng glanced at Gu Xin’s waist? Doesn’t that make him seem kind of stupid?
In the midst of his hesitation, Ding Meng suddenly ran over and excitedly knocked on his door, “Goudan, Gu Xin is actually paying attention to me! He reposted my post on Weibo saying that he was looking forward to my new song!”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
Yup, it would be a pity to not use his gym membership card after it has already been paid. He would start going to the gym tomorrow.
After receiving no response from Qiao Yichen, Ding Meng returned to her own room holding her phone. When she woke up the next morning, she discovered that her Weibo had gained a hundred thousand new followers. Large numbers of Gu Xin’s groupies had sprang up and left messages on her page.
The content of the messages varied immensely, but the majority of them were questions regarding her relationship to Gu Xin. Ding Meng thought to herself that she was finished. Was this the start of a scandal? Jiang Man had said before that she disliked artists under her management that created scandalous news!
She immediately called Jiang Man to report this matter. Jiang Man told her to disregard them and to just wait for things to die down. Ding Meng obediently did as she was told.
Her Weibo post that Gu Xin had re-posted was the one where she said her new song was still in the middle of production and asked everyone to wait patiently. Originally, it only had several hundred comments; now it had over ten thousand. Afterwards, some people found out that even Sima Xiaoxiao was also following her which caused the discussion to become even more heated to the point that some brazen people even predicted that her entrance into the music industry would set off a blood bath.
Ding Meng simply watched the excitement without explaining anything. However, she thanked Gu Xin through a private message.
After her dress rehearsal for the concert ended, she rode in a car to the restaurant where she had made plans to celebrate Qiao Yichen’s birthday today.
Qiao Yixing was the one who booked the private room. Ding Meng sat and waited on the couch in the reception hall to wait until all of her family members were present before walking into the private room. Qiao Yichen’s entire family had also arrived. Only Qiao Yichen himself had not yet arrived. Ding Meng swiftly came up with an excuse on his behalf, “The dress rehearsals had already concluded when I left. He’s probably finishing up some work and will arrive shortly.”
Today her parents and grandma had all come. The two families sat together and couldn’t stop talking to each other in a very lively and friendly fashion.
Ding Meng sat off to the side to send Qiao Yichen a text message, asking him how much longer it would take him to arrive. Qiao Yichen responded very quickly, “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
Once he put away his cell phone, a colleague next to him exclaimed, “Today is Qiao Yichen’s birthday. Why don’t we got eat out and sing karaoke?”
Another colleague spoke, “You have the guts to sing with Great Producer Qiao around? I think you must be tired of living.”
Everyone laughed and that person quickly changed his mind, “That’s right, that’s right. Today is a day of celebration. Let’s not sing.”
Qiao Yichen laughed helplessly and spoke to them, “Today I promised to eat with my mother. I can’t go out with you guys.”
His colleagues weren’t dissuaded, “It’s not like you’re meeting up with your wife. Auntie will forgive you.”
“I really can’t. How about this? You guys can go eat and give me the receipt tomorrow. It’ll be fine as long as I foot the bill, right?”
“Ay, accompanying your mother is more important. You should hurry up and leave. We’ll finish eating your portion, too.”
Qiao Yichen laughed while shaking his head and went to get his car. The people behind him were excitedly discussing where to eat their feast.
Qiao Yixing made a reservation at a Chinese restaurant right next to the dress rehearsal location. Qiao Yichen punctually arrived within twenty minutes. The waiters began to serve dishes as soon as he arrived and the entire room was filled with a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.
Every time this sort of situation arose, Qiao Yichen and Ding Meng were obligated to make a show of their affections. Therefore the two were extremely attentive at placing food in each other’s dishes. Qiao Yixing who was sitting nearby almost lost his appetite watching them.
Ding Meng’s grandma was also very happy today. In her happy state, she couldn’t help but blurt out, “Yichen, Mengmeng, the two of you have been married for this long now. When do you two plan on having children?”
Ding Meng, “…”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
They had naively thought that this sort of question wouldn’t arise until dinner at lunar New Year’s Eve.
After Grandma Ding asked this, Mama Qiao also became concerned, “That’s right! I’ve wanted to hold a grandson for a long time now. I’ve already lost hope in your brother. At least you need to give me some hope right?”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He swallowed his mouthful of food with difficulty and coughed dryly, “Well…Mengmeng’s career has only just set off. We weren’t planning on having children this early.”
Grandma Ding, “Mengmeng is already 25 this year. Waiting a couple more years to have children will make her an old mother. That’s not good for the child’s health.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She would have to be at least 35 to be considered an older mother right? She still had ten years to go!
Qiao Yichen saw Ding Meng give him a look so he had no choice but to laugh awkwardly, “Grandma, you don’t have to worry. We won’t wait that long. I promise I’ll give you a great-grandson before I hit 30.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She didn’t give him a look so that he would say that! What’s more, he had only just turned 27 today. Was he trying to say that he wanted a kid within the next three years?
Hold on! That’s not right. Didn’t they only have three more months until they would get divorced? Where are these kids coming from?!
Ding Meng was exploding inside as she buried her head downwards to eat. Mama Qiao gave a look to Qiao Yixing who was sitting next to her, hinting that he should encourage his little brother. After receiving the signal, Qiao Yixing cleared his throat and said, “Right, try for a pair of opposite-sex twins. Settle everything in one go.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
The dinner conversation that followed was focused entirely around the topic of children. Grandma Ding began to think about what name to choose and even calculated when to make an appointment with a fortune-teller.
Ding Meng’s heart was heavy after dinner ended. Right as she stood up from her chair, the screeching device fell out of her pocket and onto the ground. The screeching alarm sound immediately filled the entire room.
Everyone was scared witless. Ding Meng quickly squatted down, picked up the safety alarm, and inserted the key back in, “Haha, my bad. I dropped my safety alarm.”
Mama Ding who was still recovering asked, “Why are you carrying a safety alarm? Your grandma’s heart disease nearly flared up because of you.”
“Ah…” It wasn’t as if she could say it was to protect herself from Qiao Yichen.
“I asked Mengmeng to carry this around. I can’t feel at ease because she’s too attractive. Haha.” Qiao Yichen seized the opportunity to put his arm around Ding Meng’s shoulder, putting on an expression that said, ‘My wife is so beautiful that she makes me feel worried’.
Ding Meng laughed as well and put on an expression that implied ‘I’m so beautiful that it’s worrisome’.
No one doubted him. They all walked out with their nerves all shaken up. Qiao Yixing was the last person to walk out. Full of sympathy, he looked at Qiao Yichen, “So pitiful.”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
What did he mean by that?! He would beat an explanation out of Qiao Yixing by all means!
Not giving him a chance use force, Qiao Yixing continued walking out of the private room. Qiao Yichen stubbornly sent him a text: 「What did you mean by that just now?」
A moment later, his phone vibrated. Qiao Yixing had sent a reply.
「Do you think that you can make a baby by just holding hands?」
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He had stopped believing that when he was five! By then, he knew that at least kissing was necessary!
The phone vibrated again. Qiao Yixing had sent another text: 「Actually, I suspect that you haven’t even held your wife’s hand before.」
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He quickened his pace to walk to the front and grabbed Ding Meng’s hand.
Ding Meng looked at him incredulously, “What are you doing?” Trying to act like a hoodlum in broad daylight? She had learned Taekwondo before!
Qiao Yichen responded, “Obviously this is to publicly show our affections. The act hasn’t ended yet.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Both of their family’s older generation members were walking in front and tirelessly discussing the topic of children. Who was paying attention to their public displays of affection?!
However, Qiao Yichen continued to firmly hold onto her hand as he walked past Qiao Yixing.
There weren’t any more activities planned afterwards so everyone rode their own cars back home. When Qiao Yichen arrived home, he discovered that Qiao Yixing had sent him another text.
「So you really did think that holding hands could make a baby?! [Shock]」
Qiao Yichen, “…”
Heh, this guy didn’t even have a wife. What qualifications did Qiao Yixing have to mock him?
He entered the bathroom and took a shower. He purposely used the shower gel that he had newly purchased and stood in front of the mirror to size up his own physique. Afterwards, he found a pair of low-cut jeans to wear, purposely threw the towel over his shoulder, and walked out of his room.
Ding Meng was in the kitchen pressing juice. Hearing a noise coming from behind her, she turned around to take a look. She was not prepared to take in the sight of the expanse of his wide and glistening skin. Several drops of juice were squeezed out of the lemon in Ding Meng’s hand. Then a familiar scream rang out, “AH——! Why aren’t you wearing clothes!”
Civilization had already progressed to this point, but somehow there were still people who didn’t wear clothes!
Qiao Yichen turned away and used his hands to cover his ears. His eyebrows wrinkled as he spoke, “I don’t think you even need a screeching device. You scream well enough yourself.”
Her vocal range was originally high. Now that her lung capacity had been increased through practice, it was only a matter of time before she could sing out a dolphin cry.
Ding Meng was already embarrassed to death. After hearing him say that, her ears became even more red, “What do you mean I scream pretty well. You’re so shameless!”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
You’re clearly the one overthinking things!
When he took a step forward, Ding Meng immediately lifted the lemon slice in her hand to threaten him, “Don’t come closer. I’ve learned Taekwondo before!”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He chuckled and grinned slightly as he took another step forward, “Mhm, two days worth, right? I even went to the class with you.”
Ding Meng, “…”
So that’s why people say to marry anyone, but never your childhood friends! They knew too much about your dark past!
Qiao Yichen looked at Ding Meng’s tomato-colored face and decided that not everyone spoke nonsense in online forums. At the very least, this sexily exiting the shower move turned out pretty well.
However, he didn’t continue pressing forward. Since they were in the kitchen, Ding Meng had knives right next to her. He stood at his original place and laughed at her before saying, “I got a little thirsty after showering so I came over to press myself a cup of juice. I didn’t know that you would also be here.”
This reasoning seemed to make sense to Ding Meng, so she lowered her guard towards him, “You could have put on some clothing before coming out.”
Qiao Yichen replied sincerely, “I’ve lived here by myself for so many years. For a moment, I forgot there was another person living in the house.”
Ding Meng blinked a couple times and then slightly lifted her chin up at him, “Fine, I’ll believe you this time. But if this happens again…”
“Then, you can also come out naked and scare me.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Right now, she really wanted to kick his nuts.
Perhaps because her thoughts were too transparent and a cruel expression had appeared on her face, Qiao Yichen carefully took a step back, “I’m joking, there won’t be a next time.”
“Hmph.” Ding Meng didn’t finish making her juice. With a lemon in her hand, she quickly fled back to her room and locked the door. She felt like maybe Jiang Nanqing was right. The beast in men really did come out slowly!
Left behind in the kitchen, Qiao Yichen was in extremely high spirits. He continued making the juice Ding Meng was halfway through pressing. After filling a glass to the brim, he also returned to his room.
When he walked by his desk, he realized a new box had randomly appeared on it. He frowned slightly. Did Ding Meng buy him a jack-in-the-box? Online, there were quite a few sellers who sold boxes to scare people like that.
He put down the juice and studied it for a bit before coming to the decision to open it.
After all, he was a grown-ass man.
He picked up the box and held at an arm’s distance. Then, he cautiously opened the lid.
Impressively, inside the box laid a watchband.
Chapter 34: What do you mean I scream pretty well? You’re so shameless!
When September arrived, the commemoration concert’s rehearsal schedule was officially released. Another task was added to Ding Meng’s everyday work routine in addition to attending her usual training center classes.
After Qiao Yichen rearranged You Wanted to Break Up Today, it had become much warmer and more consistent with the current style of pop music.
On stage, Ding Meng and a guitarist sat across from one another. Since Qiao Yichen had altered this song to include a guitar accompaniment, he had asked a well-known guitar player within the industry to perform with her.
Compared to when they first started, the coordination between Ding Meng and the guitarist had become much smoother. Her understanding of the lyrics and grasp of the song had also steadily improved.
All the other artists had songs that could ignite the enthusiasm of everyone present with their song intros alone. On the other hand, her song was well-known, but it certainly couldn’t be considered a classic.
At this point, all she could really do was try her best to perform this song to the best of her abilities.
After she thanked the guitarist, Ding Meng returned backstage by herself. In the hallway, she bumped into Gu Xin, who had also come to rehearse. Over the past two days of rehearsals, she had already met quite a few singers that she could only previously see on TV. Therefore, when she saw Gu Xin at this moment, she was no longer as panic-stricken and helpless as she was in the beginning.
However, the excitement she felt seeing an idol was still impossible to hide. She excitedly greeted him, “Hello, Expert Gu!”
Gu Xin laughed and then stopped walking to talk to her, “Don’t call me Expert Gu. You can just call me Gu Xin.”
“Ah?” Even though she could casually address him as Gu Xin when talking to others in private, she found it difficult when he was standing in front of her.
Social anxiety was so frustrating.
She quickly licked her dry lips and tried to say his name, “Gu Xin.”
Gu Xin stared blankly for a moment before faintly grunting in acknowledgement, “Are you nervous about participating in such a large scale concert for the first time?”
Ding Meng nodded, “Of course I’m nervous. You don’t even know! The first time I saw that the concert hall could hold tens of thousands of people, I almost kneeled down on stage.”
Gu Xin chuckled, “That’s okay. I was also very nervous for my first concert. However, during the actual performance, the lighting will be so dim that you won’t even be able to see the people below. Just think of them all as potatoes.”
Ding Meng burst into laughter and thought, “What the heck, potatoes?!” She smiled as she looked up at Gu Xin, “I actually wanted to tell you earlier that you’re a really nice guy!”
Gu Xin looked absentminded momentarily. Then, he raised his hand and tousled her hair in a very natural manner, “Don’t label me a nice guy as you please.”
T/N: To label someone as a nice guy is literally ‘to give someone a nice guy card’. It’s slang for friendzoning someone. Anyone watch wongfuproductions??
Ding Meng couldn’t help but laugh again. Her attention was drawn to Gu Xin’s lean figure.
Today he was wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of low-waisted jeans. When he lifted his arm, he slightly exposed his waist.
Ding Meng swore that she really wasn’t deliberately trying to look at his waist. Her eyes had just happened to land there. Gu Xin’s physique was definitely the type that could cause his fans to spurt out nosebleeds. Moments later, Ding Meng still couldn’t avert her gaze. Instead, she took a few more curious glances. “You have a tattoo on your waist?”
Gu Xin withdrew his hand and reflexively glanced down at his waist, “Mhm, I got it done when I was young.”
Ding Meng’s eyes twitched slightly. You’re still very young okay…
She figured that when he mentioned his younger days, he was probably referring to the time when he was still a student. She asked probingly, “What did you get a tattoo of?”
Gu Xin responded, “A mythical creature.”
Ding Meng blinked twice, “A Grass Mud Horse?”
T/N: LOL okay so in Chinese internet slang, there are several fake mythical creatures whose names are total puns (useful for bypassing censorship). Grass Mud Horse is a pun for ‘Fuck your mother’ since both sound like ‘Cao Ni Ma’. Check out the rest on wiki LOL they get pretty raunchy. You have been warned.
Gu Xin, “…”
“A qilin.” He grinned and held a corner of his t-shirt as if he was going to lift it up, “Do you want to take a look?”
“May I?” Ding Meng’s desire to take a look was clearly written across her face.
Without saying a word, Gu Xin lifted up his t-shirt. Ding Meng opened her eyes wide to take in the marvel in front of her.
“What are you two doing?” Qiao Yichen’s voice suddenly interrupted. Ding Meng and Gu Xin were both stunned and turned to look over in his direction simultaneously.
Qiao Yichen’s complexion was terrible. His cold expression carried a hint of murderous intent and anger. He looked as though he had accidentally walked in on his wife cheating on him.
Ding Meng couldn’t help but gape a little.
Gu Xin was still holding up his t-shirt when Qiao Yichen walked past him. Qiao Yichen turned his head to cast a look at Gu Xin and said, “Superstar Gu, you act this flirtatiously even when you’re off stage?”
Gu Xin smiled at him and released his finger, letting the t-shirt fall back down, “She wanted to see so I let her.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She sensed that Qiao Yichen’s murderous gaze had shifted onto her. Ding Meng spoke with alarm, “We’re talking about tattoos here!”
Qiao Yichen laughed coldly, “You’ve never seen a tattoo before?”
Ding Meng pursed her lips. She had never seen Gu Xin’s tattoo before…
Qiao Yichen didn’t pay any more attention to her. He turned back to address Gu Xin, “Superstar Gu, everyone is waiting for you to rehearse.”
“Ok, ok.” Gu Xin made a gesture of retreat and laughed as he looked at Ding Meng, “I’ll let you take another look next time”
Ding Meng, “…”
After Gu Xin left, she was forced to deal with Qiao Yichen on her own.
Ding Meng’s feelings were rather complicated. All she did was take a little look at a tattoo. Furthermore, Qiao Yichen and her weren’t even a real married couple. Why did she feel as if she couldn’t face Qiao Yichen? This situation was simply too strange!
“Did the tattoo look good?” Qiao Yichen spoke coldly.
Ding Meng smiled ingratiatingly, “Haha, I didn’t see a thing.”
“Don’t worry, he said that he would show you again next time.”
Ding Meng, “…”
“Don’t forget that we’re eating with my mom and the others tomorrow.” Qiao Yichen threw out this casual reminder after taking several more careful glances at her. Then he turned around and walked away.
Ding Meng hadn’t forgotten that since his birthday was tomorrow, the two families had agreed on eating a meal together. However…this still felt really weird. Why did it seem like she had ended up in a ‘Taking a lover behind her husband’s back’ type of situation? All she had done was take a look at a tattoo! And she hadn’t even managed to really see it!
Qiao Yichen’s displeased expression made Ding Meng very nervous for no reason other than the fact that… she had offended a Virgo music producer. Not to mention, Qiao Yichen was also her direct supervisor at work.
After leaving the dress rehearsal site, she took a company appointed car to return to Guangchen and continued practicing. She spent some time browsing through Weibo during the car ride. Jiang Man had helped her create an officially verified work account which currently had over ten thousand followers.
Well, she didn’t know if these followers were real followers or purchased followers. In any case, her follower count had been growing steadily every day. People would even comment when she occasionally updated her status. Jiang Man had explained that although she wouldn’t be very well-known during the early stages, things would improve gradually after she released songs of her own.
Speaking of songs, Tang Shiran’s Kiss Kiss was going to be released later this month. Xingyao’s publicity efforts were valiant. Every few days, the song would trend on Weibo. When Ding Meng secretly browsed through Tang Shiran’s Weibo, she saw that Tang Shiran had posted two professional cover shots. Her style was now very youthful and feminine, which was completely different from her image during the competition.
Xingyao’s ability to turn people into idols was very impressive. The Tang Shiran now and the Tang Shiran during the competition were like black and white. Now she gave off the air of being a sweet and pretty young lady. Even though she had undergone a total transformation, Xingyao’s formula was a total success based on how hyped Kiss Kiss had become.
Meanwhile, Ding Meng didn’t even know what her new song sounded like, and she had even managed to offend the songwriter.
She suddenly felt as if her path to stardom was really rough.
She frowned and was just about to close the web page when she noticed a new follower notification had appeared at the upper right-hand corner. She pressed on it.
The new follower was Sima Xiaoxiao from a verified account.
Ding Meng’s heart stopped for a second due to the shock. She was convinced that this was an imposter! How could Senior Sima Xiaoxiao have noticed her?!
She used her trembling finger and tapped on Sima Xiaoxiao’s picture. When she entered the linked Weibo page, she discovered that it really was Sima Xiaoxiao.
Ding Meng’s thoughts were in disarray. Previously, when Qiao Yichen was deciding on concert songs, he had told her that Sima Xiaoxiao had switched out one of the songs he had chosen for her.
Ding Meng thought about how only an empress could be headstrong like this and switch songs. Meanwhile, she didn’t even have the power to choose her song.
Qiao Yichen had told her that the new song Sima Xiaoxiao had chosen was First Flower of February. She was going to sing First Flower of February during the concert.
Ding Meng’s feelings at that time were just as messy as they were now. During the competition, the judges had openly told Sima Xiaoxiao that it was time for her to prove herself. Afterwards, Jiang Man had also said that she had “challenged” Sima Xiaoxiao during the finals. Now Qiao Yichen was saying, “The empress is provoking you.”
Even though his tone at that time was in jest, taking into consideration her newest follower, she felt that her path to stardom had become profoundly rough.
While Ding Meng was feeling distressed, Qiao Yichen was also gloomily browsing online forums on his iPad.
He was drawn to a thread on the website titled, “My wife is more interested in the bodies of other men than my own. What can I do?”
Adopting a studious attitude, he clicked on the link to take a look.
The original poster started the thread by summarizing his situation. Qiao Yichen skimmed over two lines of text and then swiped down to the comments below.
First reply: OP, why are you blaming other people when it’s your body that’s unattractive?
Second reply: Stop talking, post a pic.
Third reply: OP, stop being lazy. Go exercise! When you get a v-cut and six pack, I guarantee your wife will want to strip you naked anytime and anywhere!
Fourth reply: I bet the OP is unable to satisfy his wife in that department ╮(╯▽╰)╭
T/N: Web slang: OP literally means “landlord” and replies are referred to as the nth Floor.
Qiao Yichen, “…”
Hahahaha. Sure enough, the advice given by people online was worthless.
He angrily threw his iPad down on the couch in the lounge.
He circled around the room twice and finally stood in front of the dressing room mirror. He frowned slightly as he sized himself up in the mirror. Over the past few years, work had been rather busy, so he had been spending less and less time exercising. However, he had maintained his figure very well and there wasn’t even the slightest indication that he had put on weight.
As for a v-cut and abs; he also had them!
After gaining confidence from looking at his own body, he walked over to turn on the iPad and continued reading the thread.
Fifth reply: Honestly speaking, if men don’t continue to work out as they grow older, they really will become unable to perform. This is a kind-hearted reminder coming from someone who has personally experienced this before.
Sixth reply: The OP could use some cologne or sexily walk out of a shower. This is assuming you’re attractive enough
Qiao Yichen felt like this thread was headed in a strange direction. He turned off the tablet and seriously tried to recall whether his yearly membership card to the gym by his work had expired or not.
That night when he got home, he took out the gym membership card and saw that it had not yet expired.
He held the card as he contemplated. Even though he hadn’t gone to the gym in a long while, he had been regularly using the treadmill at home and would run whenever he had free time. Therefore, he was definitely exercising regularly. Not only that, was he really going to rush out to the gym just because Ding Meng glanced at Gu Xin’s waist? Doesn’t that make him seem kind of stupid?
In the midst of his hesitation, Ding Meng suddenly ran over and excitedly knocked on his door, “Goudan, Gu Xin is actually paying attention to me! He reposted my post on Weibo saying that he was looking forward to my new song!”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
Yup, it would be a pity to not use his gym membership card after it has already been paid. He would start going to the gym tomorrow.
After receiving no response from Qiao Yichen, Ding Meng returned to her own room holding her phone. When she woke up the next morning, she discovered that her Weibo had gained a hundred thousand new followers. Large numbers of Gu Xin’s groupies had sprang up and left messages on her page.
The content of the messages varied immensely, but the majority of them were questions regarding her relationship to Gu Xin. Ding Meng thought to herself that she was finished. Was this the start of a scandal? Jiang Man had said before that she disliked artists under her management that created scandalous news!
She immediately called Jiang Man to report this matter. Jiang Man told her to disregard them and to just wait for things to die down. Ding Meng obediently did as she was told.
Her Weibo post that Gu Xin had re-posted was the one where she said her new song was still in the middle of production and asked everyone to wait patiently. Originally, it only had several hundred comments; now it had over ten thousand. Afterwards, some people found out that even Sima Xiaoxiao was also following her which caused the discussion to become even more heated to the point that some brazen people even predicted that her entrance into the music industry would set off a blood bath.
Ding Meng simply watched the excitement without explaining anything. However, she thanked Gu Xin through a private message.
After her dress rehearsal for the concert ended, she rode in a car to the restaurant where she had made plans to celebrate Qiao Yichen’s birthday today.
Qiao Yixing was the one who booked the private room. Ding Meng sat and waited on the couch in the reception hall to wait until all of her family members were present before walking into the private room. Qiao Yichen’s entire family had also arrived. Only Qiao Yichen himself had not yet arrived. Ding Meng swiftly came up with an excuse on his behalf, “The dress rehearsals had already concluded when I left. He’s probably finishing up some work and will arrive shortly.”
Today her parents and grandma had all come. The two families sat together and couldn’t stop talking to each other in a very lively and friendly fashion.
Ding Meng sat off to the side to send Qiao Yichen a text message, asking him how much longer it would take him to arrive. Qiao Yichen responded very quickly, “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
Once he put away his cell phone, a colleague next to him exclaimed, “Today is Qiao Yichen’s birthday. Why don’t we got eat out and sing karaoke?”
Another colleague spoke, “You have the guts to sing with Great Producer Qiao around? I think you must be tired of living.”
Everyone laughed and that person quickly changed his mind, “That’s right, that’s right. Today is a day of celebration. Let’s not sing.”
Qiao Yichen laughed helplessly and spoke to them, “Today I promised to eat with my mother. I can’t go out with you guys.”
His colleagues weren’t dissuaded, “It’s not like you’re meeting up with your wife. Auntie will forgive you.”
“I really can’t. How about this? You guys can go eat and give me the receipt tomorrow. It’ll be fine as long as I foot the bill, right?”
“Ay, accompanying your mother is more important. You should hurry up and leave. We’ll finish eating your portion, too.”
Qiao Yichen laughed while shaking his head and went to get his car. The people behind him were excitedly discussing where to eat their feast.
Qiao Yixing made a reservation at a Chinese restaurant right next to the dress rehearsal location. Qiao Yichen punctually arrived within twenty minutes. The waiters began to serve dishes as soon as he arrived and the entire room was filled with a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.
Every time this sort of situation arose, Qiao Yichen and Ding Meng were obligated to make a show of their affections. Therefore the two were extremely attentive at placing food in each other’s dishes. Qiao Yixing who was sitting nearby almost lost his appetite watching them.
Ding Meng’s grandma was also very happy today. In her happy state, she couldn’t help but blurt out, “Yichen, Mengmeng, the two of you have been married for this long now. When do you two plan on having children?”
Ding Meng, “…”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
They had naively thought that this sort of question wouldn’t arise until dinner at lunar New Year’s Eve.
After Grandma Ding asked this, Mama Qiao also became concerned, “That’s right! I’ve wanted to hold a grandson for a long time now. I’ve already lost hope in your brother. At least you need to give me some hope right?”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He swallowed his mouthful of food with difficulty and coughed dryly, “Well…Mengmeng’s career has only just set off. We weren’t planning on having children this early.”
Grandma Ding, “Mengmeng is already 25 this year. Waiting a couple more years to have children will make her an old mother. That’s not good for the child’s health.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She would have to be at least 35 to be considered an older mother right? She still had ten years to go!
Qiao Yichen saw Ding Meng give him a look so he had no choice but to laugh awkwardly, “Grandma, you don’t have to worry. We won’t wait that long. I promise I’ll give you a great-grandson before I hit 30.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She didn’t give him a look so that he would say that! What’s more, he had only just turned 27 today. Was he trying to say that he wanted a kid within the next three years?
Hold on! That’s not right. Didn’t they only have three more months until they would get divorced? Where are these kids coming from?!
Ding Meng was exploding inside as she buried her head downwards to eat. Mama Qiao gave a look to Qiao Yixing who was sitting next to her, hinting that he should encourage his little brother. After receiving the signal, Qiao Yixing cleared his throat and said, “Right, try for a pair of opposite-sex twins. Settle everything in one go.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
The dinner conversation that followed was focused entirely around the topic of children. Grandma Ding began to think about what name to choose and even calculated when to make an appointment with a fortune-teller.
Ding Meng’s heart was heavy after dinner ended. Right as she stood up from her chair, the screeching device fell out of her pocket and onto the ground. The screeching alarm sound immediately filled the entire room.
Everyone was scared witless. Ding Meng quickly squatted down, picked up the safety alarm, and inserted the key back in, “Haha, my bad. I dropped my safety alarm.”
Mama Ding who was still recovering asked, “Why are you carrying a safety alarm? Your grandma’s heart disease nearly flared up because of you.”
“Ah…” It wasn’t as if she could say it was to protect herself from Qiao Yichen.
“I asked Mengmeng to carry this around. I can’t feel at ease because she’s too attractive. Haha.” Qiao Yichen seized the opportunity to put his arm around Ding Meng’s shoulder, putting on an expression that said, ‘My wife is so beautiful that she makes me feel worried’.
Ding Meng laughed as well and put on an expression that implied ‘I’m so beautiful that it’s worrisome’.
No one doubted him. They all walked out with their nerves all shaken up. Qiao Yixing was the last person to walk out. Full of sympathy, he looked at Qiao Yichen, “So pitiful.”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
What did he mean by that?! He would beat an explanation out of Qiao Yixing by all means!
Not giving him a chance use force, Qiao Yixing continued walking out of the private room. Qiao Yichen stubbornly sent him a text: 「What did you mean by that just now?」
A moment later, his phone vibrated. Qiao Yixing had sent a reply.
「Do you think that you can make a baby by just holding hands?」
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He had stopped believing that when he was five! By then, he knew that at least kissing was necessary!
The phone vibrated again. Qiao Yixing had sent another text: 「Actually, I suspect that you haven’t even held your wife’s hand before.」
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He quickened his pace to walk to the front and grabbed Ding Meng’s hand.
Ding Meng looked at him incredulously, “What are you doing?” Trying to act like a hoodlum in broad daylight? She had learned Taekwondo before!
Qiao Yichen responded, “Obviously this is to publicly show our affections. The act hasn’t ended yet.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Both of their family’s older generation members were walking in front and tirelessly discussing the topic of children. Who was paying attention to their public displays of affection?!
However, Qiao Yichen continued to firmly hold onto her hand as he walked past Qiao Yixing.
There weren’t any more activities planned afterwards so everyone rode their own cars back home. When Qiao Yichen arrived home, he discovered that Qiao Yixing had sent him another text.
「So you really did think that holding hands could make a baby?! [Shock]」
Qiao Yichen, “…”
Heh, this guy didn’t even have a wife. What qualifications did Qiao Yixing have to mock him?
He entered the bathroom and took a shower. He purposely used the shower gel that he had newly purchased and stood in front of the mirror to size up his own physique. Afterwards, he found a pair of low-cut jeans to wear, purposely threw the towel over his shoulder, and walked out of his room.
Ding Meng was in the kitchen pressing juice. Hearing a noise coming from behind her, she turned around to take a look. She was not prepared to take in the sight of the expanse of his wide and glistening skin. Several drops of juice were squeezed out of the lemon in Ding Meng’s hand. Then a familiar scream rang out, “AH——! Why aren’t you wearing clothes!”
Civilization had already progressed to this point, but somehow there were still people who didn’t wear clothes!
Qiao Yichen turned away and used his hands to cover his ears. His eyebrows wrinkled as he spoke, “I don’t think you even need a screeching device. You scream well enough yourself.”
Her vocal range was originally high. Now that her lung capacity had been increased through practice, it was only a matter of time before she could sing out a dolphin cry.
Ding Meng was already embarrassed to death. After hearing him say that, her ears became even more red, “What do you mean I scream pretty well. You’re so shameless!”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
You’re clearly the one overthinking things!
When he took a step forward, Ding Meng immediately lifted the lemon slice in her hand to threaten him, “Don’t come closer. I’ve learned Taekwondo before!”
Qiao Yichen, “…”
He chuckled and grinned slightly as he took another step forward, “Mhm, two days worth, right? I even went to the class with you.”
Ding Meng, “…”
So that’s why people say to marry anyone, but never your childhood friends! They knew too much about your dark past!
Qiao Yichen looked at Ding Meng’s tomato-colored face and decided that not everyone spoke nonsense in online forums. At the very least, this sexily exiting the shower move turned out pretty well.
However, he didn’t continue pressing forward. Since they were in the kitchen, Ding Meng had knives right next to her. He stood at his original place and laughed at her before saying, “I got a little thirsty after showering so I came over to press myself a cup of juice. I didn’t know that you would also be here.”
This reasoning seemed to make sense to Ding Meng, so she lowered her guard towards him, “You could have put on some clothing before coming out.”
Qiao Yichen replied sincerely, “I’ve lived here by myself for so many years. For a moment, I forgot there was another person living in the house.”
Ding Meng blinked a couple times and then slightly lifted her chin up at him, “Fine, I’ll believe you this time. But if this happens again…”
“Then, you can also come out naked and scare me.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Right now, she really wanted to kick his nuts.
Perhaps because her thoughts were too transparent and a cruel expression had appeared on her face, Qiao Yichen carefully took a step back, “I’m joking, there won’t be a next time.”
“Hmph.” Ding Meng didn’t finish making her juice. With a lemon in her hand, she quickly fled back to her room and locked the door. She felt like maybe Jiang Nanqing was right. The beast in men really did come out slowly!
Left behind in the kitchen, Qiao Yichen was in extremely high spirits. He continued making the juice Ding Meng was halfway through pressing. After filling a glass to the brim, he also returned to his room.
When he walked by his desk, he realized a new box had randomly appeared on it. He frowned slightly. Did Ding Meng buy him a jack-in-the-box? Online, there were quite a few sellers who sold boxes to scare people like that.
He put down the juice and studied it for a bit before coming to the decision to open it.
After all, he was a grown-ass man.
He picked up the box and held at an arm’s distance. Then, he cautiously opened the lid.
Impressively, inside the box laid a watchband.
