[Pfft hahahaha, I am laughing myself to death, seriously laughing myself to death, hahahaha!]
[Sister Mian: Woman, please do not try to challenge my bottom line! If you wanted to deliberately anger me, then congratulations, you succeeded.]
[What is this greasy domineering CEO x tsundere little wife combo, hahahaha, Mianli CP, I am shipping it, I am shipping it!] (Mianli = Jiang Mian x Zhu Li)
[Why are my eyes always filled with tears? Because I love Sister Mian, this damned little enchantress, so deeply.]
…
With just one sentence from Jiang Mian, the entire bullet comment section plunged into a sea of joy.
Zhu Li’s face, however, turned red, red with anger.
“What kind of messy nonsense are you talking about? Just say whether you dare or not!”
“So what if I dare? So what if I do not?” Jiang Mian did not care at all.
“If you do not dare… if you do not dare, then you are a little pig. From now on, whenever I see you, I will call you little pig!”
Zhu Li looked smug.
Lin Qian: “…” ‘What kind of elementary school kid betting method is this? Zhu Li, are you even weaned yet?’
“Geez, that really is a vicious nickname! Since you have already pushed things this far, then bring it on, Little Zhu. Where are we competing, Little Zhu? Are we competing right now, Little Zhu!”[1]Zhu Li’s surname “Zhu” (朱, zhū) is pronounced the same as “pig” (猪, zhū) in Chinese, making “Little Zhu” sound like “Little Pig.” jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1810130_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1810130_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Jiang Mian directly hit her with a one-click triple combo.
Zhu Li: “…”
“We have not even competed yet. What right do you have to call me Little Pig? You are simply… way too much!”
Zhu Li looked utterly incredulous.
“Your name is Zhu Li. Do you not have the surname Zhu?”
Zhu Li: “…”
“It is pig, the pig from Zhu Bajie[2]Zhu Bajie (猪八戒) is a famous character from the Chinese classic Journey to the West. He is a pig demon, often depicted with a pig’s head and human body, and is known for being lazy, … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1810130_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1810130_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, not the Zhu from my surname! You did this on purpose, did you not?”
Zhu Li’s expression started to turn irritable.
“Do not call me Little Zhu again!”
“Alright, Little Zhu, no problem, Little Zhu.”
Zhu Li: “…”
Lin Qian: “…” ‘Very good. Pig Li (Zhu Li) truly lives up to the name Pig Li. She has absolutely no power to fight back against Jiang Mian.’
After a round of arguing over pig and Zhu, it finally ended with the tongue-tied Zhu Li retreating in defeat.
The group marched in great numbers straight into the practice room on the underground B1 level of the apartment building.
Rather than calling it a practice room, it was more accurate to call it a prop room. In fact, instruments from ancient and modern times, from China and abroad, and even performance props, were all fully prepared. If you could not do it, that was on you. There was nothing here that did not exist.
Standing in front of the wide wall mirror, Zhu Li stared resentfully and fiercely at Jiang Mian as she slowly walked toward her. No one knew what she suddenly thought of, but the corners of her mouth abruptly lifted.
“Look, there are so many things here. Do not say I am bullying you. Best of three wins. No matter what you perform, as long as what I perform is not more impressive than yours, I will immediately admit defeat. From then on… from then on I will be Little Pig. You can call me whatever you want, and I will not have a single objection. But if you lose…”
“You can call me Little Jiang. I have no objection either,” Jiang Mian said very agreeably.
“How is that the same?”
“How is it not the same? I call you Little Zhu, you call me Little Jiang. How fair is that!”
“I already said it is pig, not Zhu!!!”
That shout nearly tore Zhu Li’s throat apart. The veins on her neck bulged, and after yelling, her brain went short of oxygen, making her stagger slightly.
“I do not care, I do not care. If you lose, I still want to call you Little Pig. Little pig, little pig, little pig, little pig…”
When she spoke again, her voice already carried a sobbing tone.
“Fine, fine, I really cannot do anything about you…” Jiang Mian spread her hands.
Hearing that, Zhu Li instantly went from tears to laughter.
“Then you pick first…”
Because she had almost cried just now, the young girl spoke with a heavy nasal tone as she told Jiang Mian to choose first.
“No need. I do not know much anyway. You pick first.”
“Really? Do not regret it later.”
Zhu Li looked serious.
Jiang Mian shrugged indifferently.
Seeing this, Zhu Li quickly sat down in front of the Steinway placed right in the center of the practice room. Everyone in the entertainment industry knew that Zhu Li had long passed piano level ten. Competing with her in instruments? Jiang Mian could just wait to cry her eyes out.
Thinking this, Zhu Li pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped away the moisture around her nose, put the handkerchief away, placed both hands on the keys, then looked up at Jiang Mian.
“This round is very simple. We will see, during the performance, who can drag whose music off tempo. Now that you have heard the rules, do you still want to let me play first?”
Hearing this, Jiang Mian made a polite gesture inviting her to begin.
Zhu Li’s eyes lit up. After closing her eyes to gather herself for a moment, she fully immersed herself.
Soon, a burst of lively piano music flowed from her fingertips.
It could only be said that Zhu Li truly lived up to her reputation as the entertainment industry’s famous little piano princess. Listening to her music was pure enjoyment. Not to mention the contestants present, even the viewers in the livestream room felt somewhat intoxicated by it.
And given Zhu Li’s familiarity with the piano, it should be very difficult for anyone to use another instrument to overshadow her. ‘Contestant Jiang Mian was definitely going to lose… for sure… right?’
The contestants and viewers who took a moment to glance at Jiang Mian stared at her in disbelief as she picked an instrument from the pile… ‘a suona???’
‘No, this is outrageous. Report this. Mentor, someone is cheating!’
Jiang Mian really did not know how to play many instruments. To be precise, aside from the erhu and the suona, she had never even touched more modern instruments like the piano or violin.
Who could blame her? The old Taoist priest had no money.
Even the erhu and the suona were learned when she followed the old Taoist priest around the village, shamelessly picking them up from others while helping with funeral processions. There was no other reason. Who would not want to earn a bit more money?
Life left her no choice. Life left her no choice!
As she thought this, just as Zhu Li was completely immersed in her own piano music, a deafening burst of sound suddenly rang out. The pitch was piercingly high, the rhythm overwhelmingly forceful, almost directly dragging her music off course.
But even if her music was not dragged off tempo, Zhu Li was already struggling badly.
As Jiang Mian’s suona grew more and more intense, the more she played, the more it hit hard, Zhu Li’s fingers, which had been dancing lightly across the piano keys just moments ago, began to lose control and grow chaotic.
By the later part, she could no longer find her own rhythm at all. Listening to the rising and falling suona sounds, even Zhu Li herself had no idea what she was playing anymore.
And that was not even the worst of it. Heaven knew how that woman surnamed Jiang managed to make the suona sound so heartbreakingly sorrowful.
Zhu Li already had an extremely strong sense of emotional resonance.
By the time Jiang Mian finished playing, Zhu Li was sitting at the piano, openly bursting into tears.
“Wuwuwu, what on earth are you playing? Wuwuwu… it sounds so sad…”
“Widow visiting a grave. A designated funeral tune in rural areas everywhere. Have you not heard it before?”
Jiang Mian was surprised. She had thought everyone should be quite familiar with this piece.
“Wuwuwu, no… hic…”
Zhu Li was crying so hard that she started hiccupping.
“Alright then, whether you have heard it or not, this round of the instrument competition…”
“You win, you win, alright?”
Zhu Li shouted loudly while holding up a handkerchief and vigorously wiping the tears from her face.
“Much obliged.”
Still holding the suona in her hands, Jiang Mian clasped her fists toward Zhu Li in salute.
[Pfft hahahaha, worthy of the woman I picked. Even the instruments she knows how to play are this unconventional!]
[Damn it, listening to this music instantly sends me back to scenes from my childhood village whenever someone passed away!]
[Who was it earlier that said our Mianmian cannot do anything and only knows how to embarrass herself? Come out here and walk two steps!]
[Feels like Jiang Mian does not even need to debut through 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 anymore. With this level, after tidying up a bit, she could go play at funerals, hahahaha!]
…
“But that was only losing the first round. There are still two more rounds!”
Zhu Li, standing to the side, was still unwilling to admit defeat.
“Next round, I am competing with you in dancing!”
Zhu Li declared firmly.
“I cannot.”
“You not knowing how is exactly the problem. What kind of dance did you study that you… do not know how to dance?”
Zhu Li stumbled over her words.
They were already here to take part in an idol selection show, yet there was actually someone who could not dance at all.
“Then… then what can you do? I was even planning to have a dance battle with you…”
Zhu Li looked full of regret.
After all that picking and choosing, she picked something the other person could not do. Would people think she was deliberately bullying her? She really was not!
“Since you cannot dance, how about we change it to…”
“No need!”
Jiang Mian rejected it cleanly and decisively. Although she could not dance, she had just spotted something particularly special and familiar. Perhaps…
“If you really want to compete in dancing, that is fine. It is just that the dance I do might be a bit different from yours. There is no need for a dance battle. I am afraid of hurting people. You can dance first. After you are done, I will dance. At worst, we let the contestants present here vote on who danced better. How about that?”
Jiang Mian suggested with a smile.
“Sure! Sure!”
Before Zhu Li could even nod, contestants watching the excitement unfold, with no fear of things getting out of hand, had already responded loudly.
“I have no objections either.”
Zhu Li nodded in agreement.
She then slowly stood up, stepped away from the piano, and walked over to stand in front of the wall mirror.
In this kind of competitive setting, gentle styles like ethnic dance or ballet were not very suitable. She needed to choose something more intense, something that could grab everyone’s attention right away. Got it.
Standing in front of the wall mirror with her back to the crowd, a sharp glint flashed through Zhu Li’s eyes before she slowly lowered her head.
After waiting for about thirty seconds, she suddenly raised both hands and lightly struck a palm near her right ear.
That single strike was like flipping a switch. The girl’s shoes immediately began tapping and stomping against the floor. At first the movements were a little sluggish, but soon they grew faster and faster, accelerating by the second.
Almost everyone present had their gaze drawn to her.
Even as competitors, they had to admit that Zhu Li’s talent was indeed very high.
Even in the entertainment industry, a place packed with outstanding people, she still stood out strikingly.
Leaving aside her looks, which were lively and quirky, she had already acted in several dramas, and there were very few people online who criticized her acting skills.
And she was this versatile too.
Comparing people really could drive one to despair.
As everyone continued praising Zhu Li in their hearts, some of them could not help but gradually shift their gaze toward Jiang Mian standing to the side.
The woman leaning casually against the wall clearly had an extremely pure and innocent face, yet the way she stood there made her demeanor more carefree and unrestrained than anyone else’s, looking exactly like a… wandering swordsman roaming the martial world with a sword in hand.
Her whole presence was like a free, untethered breeze, drifting wherever it pleased.
‘Wait. Why were they thinking something like that?’
At this moment, Zhu Li’s tap dance was also nearing its end.
She lifted her head high, her toes striking the floor for the final tap. Zhu Li stood before everyone like a proud little swan, her cheeks slightly flushed, her breathing a bit rapid.
The dance had been so outstanding that even after she finished, the contestants still had not quite come back to their senses.
It was not until Jiang Mian was the first to start clapping that everyone finally snapped out of it, following her lead and breaking into enthusiastic applause.
Amid the applause, Zhu Li slowly walked up to Jiang Mian, lifting her chin high.
“I am done dancing. If you really cannot dance, admitting defeat is not unacceptable…”
Hearing this, Jiang Mian straightened up, the corners of her lips curling slightly.
“Who said I am going to admit defeat?”
After speaking, she brushed past Zhu Li’s shoulder and walked straight toward the props area.
“Are you getting ready to do a ribbon dance?”
Standing where Jiang Mian had just been, Zhu Li asked with a grin.
At that, Jiang Mian’s steps paused slightly. She turned her head, looking at Zhu Li behind her, who was smiling brightly. With a hook of her toe, she snagged a wooden sword that had been lying horizontally on the floor, lifted it up, and caught it firmly in her hand.
She then gave absolutely no one any time to think. Gripping the hilt, she drew the wooden sword in one smooth motion, arched backward at the waist, and let the blade trace a full circle in front of her.
Up to this point, the contestants and viewers could still barely keep up. What came next, however, was utterly dazzling.
Heaven knew where Jiang Mian got such lightning-fast hand speed. An ordinary wooden sword, under her manipulation, was almost reduced to a blur of afterimages. And that was not even the most shocking part. She… she seemed to take flight with the sword.
Calling it flying might be a bit exaggerated. Jiang Mian was simply spinning in midair while dancing with the sword.
Sword dancing was not something Jiang Mian had never done before. Back when she roamed that world performing for a living, she had played around with it plenty. It was just that people seemed to prefer things like smashing rocks on the chest, so she rarely performed sword routines.
Sigh, life left her no choice. Life left her no choice!
Casually tossing the wooden sword upward and letting it spin several times in the air, Jiang Mian leaped up and caught it firmly in her hand. She then dropped into a half-crouch, her gaze sharp and lethal, and slashed forward fiercely. That momentum looked as if she were about to cleave through thousands of troops.
The contestants standing directly in front of her even felt a fierce gust of wind rush straight at their faces.
‘Could that have been sword energy?’
Clatter!
A potted kumquat tree not far away suddenly shook, and a small kumquat dropped from it. Immediately after, like a chain reaction, the entire tree of little golden fruits came raining down with a clatter.
All the contestants: “!!!”
Bullet comments: [!!!]
Jiang Mian sheathed the sword and tilted her head to look toward Zhu Li at the side.
The cold, sharp aura rushing straight at them made the completely unprepared Zhu Li and the group of contestants behind her choke all at once, their breathing freezing up, as if even their hearts had stopped beating.
The bullet comments, which had witnessed this same side of Jiang Mian, also fell into complete silence. Not a single person said a word.
Until—
“Woman, are you satisfied with what you just saw?”
Jiang Mian curled her lips into a wickedly charming smile.
Zhu Li: “…”
All the contestants: “…”
Bullet comments: […]
‘Do you have to open your damn mouth or will you die if you do not?’
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