The next turn was for the boys. Lu Ren turned his head and glanced at Yin Beilin as if asking for permission.
Their eyes met, and Yin Beilin gave a slight, indifferent nod.
Lu Ren immediately understood and was about to stand up when the “sprained ankle” incident suddenly flashed through his mind.
His half-raised backside sank back into the seat. Lu Ren awkwardly raised his hand. “Um… Director Qian, can I perform while sitting here?”
As soon as he said this, a barrage of insults flew across the bullet chat.
A few members of the production team watching from backstage showed expressions of slight sympathy.
Someone whispered to a female staff member nearby, “This is just too cruel. Lu Ren doesn’t seem to be faking it, does he? Sigh, why are they dragging him like this?”
The person beside him was none other than Xiao Lin, the assistant director who had greeted Lu Ren on his way upstairs that morning.
Xiao Lin bit her lip, staring at the screen where a dense stream of insults against Lu Ren flooded the live chat. Normally, she should have been one of the ones joining in the roast; after all, these comments echoed her own inner thoughts.
…But then, a flash of Lu Ren’s clean, earnest smile from earlier that day crossed her mind. For some reason, seeing all those hateful comments now made her feel a twinge of discomfort.
She sighed inwardly.
Whether Lu Ren is pretending to be a nice guy or not, a lack of talent is still a lack of talent. With so many other guests playing instruments and dancing, he’s just singing in a crowd of stars. If he’s getting roasted, it’s his own fault…
Just as she was thinking this, she heard Lu Ren’s shy voice from across the room: “Director, could you please hand me the guitar?”
Xiao Lin: “…?”
Lu Ren knows how to play the guitar??
Just like Xiao Lin, the live chat erupted the moment Lu Ren picked up the guitar.
? Lu Ren actually knows how to play the guitar?
[Pfft, I can strum chords too. It’s not like it’s that hard.]
[Watching the two beauties, Luo and Rao, play the piano is still more interesting. The close-up just now wasn’t enough; let them do it again!]
Lu Ren didn’t know the reaction of the livestream.
He sat on the sofa, cradling the guitar, and slowly played the intro.
[Lu Ren’s level… isn’t something you can reach just by strumming chords, right?]
[…This tune, it sounds so familiar.]
[Eh? I feel like I’ve heard this instrumental before?]
[Ha, I knew it as soon as he played it, old Corleone.]
After the intro finished, Lu Ren licked his lips, his ears turning a bit red.
He wasn’t nervous about acting in front of so many people, but when it came to singing… he suddenly felt a bit shy.
Lu Ren nervously sang the first line.
“Speak softly, love, and hold me warm against your heart.”
In the spacious living room, the boy playing the guitar had a clear voice.
“I feel your words; the tender trembling moments start.”
[You won’t even call me Godfather [doge face]]
Holy crap, he sings… okay?
Holy shit, Godfather!!!!
Omg, CL licking his lips just now was kinda cute.
Rao Mengmeng sat opposite Yin Beilin. Initially, she was drawn to Lu Ren’s singing, but when she turned her gaze to Yin Beilin, her heart skipped a beat.
Yin Beilin was watching Lu Ren.
His phoenix eyes were fixed on Lu Ren, who was playing the guitar. His gaze was intense, yet his brow was relaxed.
If Rao Mengmeng hadn’t been paying close attention to Yin Beilin’s every move, others would have found it hard to discern anything from his cold and aloof expression.
But as an actress, Rao Mengmeng saw it all.
During the first five minutes, when she and Luo Jiuge were playing a four-hand piano piece, Yin Beilin had been leaning back against the cat-foot sofa, his handsome face showing nothing but detached appreciation.
But this time, Yin Beilin’s elbows were resting on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him. He was leaning forward, his eyes glued to Lu Ren as he played and sang,
As someone who had taken acting classes, Rao Mengmeng knew this was the classic posture of “I’m interested.”
An indescribable feeling surged through Rao Mengmeng’s heart.
After finishing the first verse, Lu Ren had intended to stop. But as he looked up, the director opposite him was waving frantically, his hands sweeping forward in a desperate gesture for him to continue.
Lu Ren: “…”
He had no choice but to keep playing.
As the second verse began, Lu Ren stumbled. He had just forgotten the lyrics to this part.
“Wine-colored days warmed by the sun…”
Lu Ren uttered a soft “uh,” but a low, magnetic voice took over the line.
“Deep velvet nights when we are one.”
The guitar strumming abruptly stopped.
Holy shit… Did the, did the male lead just sing that line?
Before Lu Ren could process it further, a sudden weight settled on his right shoulder. Yin Beilin’s low, magnetic humming now vibrated right beside his ear.
Lu Ren froze for a second. The next moment, the back of his neck was gently squeezed.
A jolt shot through Lu Ren. Snapping back to his senses, his face flushed crimson as he hurriedly started playing again.
The bullet chat exploded. The backend team was frantically trying to maintain the stream, but the comments continued to grow exponentially, quickly filling the entire screen as the silent viewers finally spoke up.
Holy shit! Yin Beilin is singing!!!!
Omg! This is way too good???!???
I can’t believe I’m actually witnessing this in my lifetime, omg omg omg omg omg
I’m gonna cry. Beidouxing is literally shedding tears in front of the screen right now, wtf.
Lord Lin aaaaaaaaaah fck I’m about to turn into a screaming chicken!!!!
Help, help, help someone pinch my philtrum to wake me up, help.
Yin Beilin sang in a low voice. After a two-second hesitation, Lu Ren joined in with a harmony.
One voice was deep and magnetic, the other clear and crisp, yet their harmony was unexpectedly perfect.
“…Speak softly, love
so no one hears us but the sky
The vows of love we make will live until we die”
Holy shit, no, I swore I wouldn’t ship them, but I really want to ship them now. Lord Lin has his arm around Lu Ren’s shoulder; holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
Holy shit, I was just cursing them out and planned to lurk and ship them, but this harmony was so damn good it forced me out of hiding.
Ahhhhhhh I’m losing it! Did anyone screen record this?!!!!
“My life is yours and all because You came into my world with love so softly, love”
As the final note faded, Lu Ren remained in a daze.
Yin Beilin’s arm was still draped loosely across his shoulders, and his voice, deep, almost tender, still echoed in his ear. Lu Ren glanced sideways.
With that single glance, his eyes met Yin Beilin’s deep, serene phoenix eyes.
As their gazes locked, Yin Beilin’s arm remained loosely draped over his shoulder, and a faint smile touched his lips.
“Pleasure working with you.”
Lu Ren dumbly uttered an “Ah?”
A second later, it finally clicked.
…So the male lead was planning to do the same thing as Luo Jiuge and Rao Mengmeng, just perform with him and be done with it.
Holy shit, why didn’t this guy say so earlier?!
Lu Ren licked his lips, feeling a bit flustered.
Damn, that gave me a hell of a scare…
“So, Beilin will be performing with Xiao Lu, right?” Director Qian chuckled. “Alright, let’s start the audience vote now.”
“Since there are four groups performing this time, we’ll only give the ingredients to the top two.”
Hearing this, the strange feeling Lu Ren had just been experiencing vanished without a trace.
He glanced at the ingredients: rice, noodles, meat, and vegetables, a perfect combination. Looking at the meat, Lu Ren’s mood improved significantly.
Anyway! Yin Beilin is singing with me. With the male lead’s aura, we should at least secure second place, right?
Ten minutes later, just as Lu Ren had predicted, the results were announced.
His and Yin Beilin’s performance, and the one by the two goddesses, took first and second place, respectively.
Lu Ren didn’t care much about the rankings; as long as he got to eat, he was happy.
Xu Qingqing remained seated on the soft chair in the living room, her back straight and rigid, stubbornly waiting for the voting results.
Director Qian then announced the final vote counts.
Lu Ren and Yin Beilin: 1,013,000 votes.
Rao Mengmeng and Luo Jiuge: 578,000 votes.
Zhou Zichuan: 413,000 votes.
Xu Qingqing: 112,000 votes.
Xu Qingqing’s face contorted upon hearing the numbers. She asked in disbelief, “How could my count be so low? Did you guys fake the results?!”
Director Qian cleared his throat and said tactfully, “Miss Xu, after all, you have fewer fans. The others have a certain fan base…”
“However!” Director Qian added eagerly, “Miss Xu, you can cooperate with the teams that have ingredients to cook together. The purpose of this interaction isn’t competition, but rather to hope that each guest will strive to showcase our theme for the first episode…”
Before Director Qian could even finish, Xu Qingqing shot to her feet and spat out a few icy words. “I don’t need to.”
The other guests and the production team fell silent.
After all, she was the show’s main sponsor. Director Qian helplessly signaled for the cameras to stop filming, then tried to persuade her gently. “Miss Xu, this is the only meal we have today. Perhaps you should reconsider.”
“Reconsider what?” Xu Qingqing interrupted him, her voice freezing. “There isn’t even a decent chef here. I won’t touch a single bite of food prepared with such inferior techniques in such a crude environment.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Director Qian hinted. “You could collaborate with some of the other teachers, like Teacher Yin, for example.”
Rao Mengmeng and Luo Jiuge’s lips twitched.
Xu Qingqing’s ear flicked.
She lifted her chin with reserved arrogance and turned to look at Yin Beilin. “Since the Director suggests it, Yin Beilin, you…”
Yin Beilin smiled faintly.
“Miss Xu, if you come over now, you can work with Lu Ren,” he said, crossing his arms and gesturing lazily with his chin toward Lu Ren. “How about it?”
Xu Qingqing followed Yin Beilin’s gaze. The boy named Lu Ren was focused intently on preparing the fish on the kitchen counter.
With a heavy chop of the knife, the fish’s head was severed, and its rolled-back eye gave a sudden, grotesque twitch.
Xu Qingqing: “…”
Two seconds later, Xu Qingqing gagged, covered her mouth, and fled upstairs.
On the other side.
Lu Ren had his sleeves rolled up, energetically scraping all the scales off the fish.
Are you kidding? Making this fish soup would count as another ten thousand yuan. With this batch, he could consider it as having paid back Yin Beilin a total of 270,000 yuan.
Just as Lu Ren was huffing and puffing, working up a sweat, a lazy voice suddenly drifted into his ear. “Stop.”
Stop what? Lu Ren wondered if he’d misheard. “What did you say?”
Yin Beilin stood beside him, arms crossed. He glanced at the fish on the cutting board, his lips curling in a look of distaste.
“I don’t like fish. You’re not allowed to make it.”
Lu Ren: “…”
If you don’t like fish, why the hell did you just tell me to make fish head soup?