Chapter 141: Everyone Knows

The first bomb was four pictures taken by Paparazzi.

The first picture contained a black nanny van. The netizens could see the car plate.

In the second picture, a person got down from the car. All the fans of Tang Tu could recognize this person was Tang Tu’s assistant, Ma.

In the third picture, Ma was talking to a young girl with luggage.

In the fourth picture, the girl was getting on the nanny van.

Now, all the netizens could recognize that this girl was the Hanfu Goddess.

The second bomb caused even more explosions. It only contained two photos, which were about Tang Tu and Liu Man’s chat history.

In the first picture, Tang Tu said: “I’m planning on coming back to school to watch your performance.”

Liu Man replied: “No, thanks. Whatever you do, do not come.”

In the second picture, Tang Tu said: “I like you.”

“I’ve already broken up with Shen Mozhen at the start of February, and I’m single. Can you give me a chance?”

These two WeChat photos, which had been put together and edited by Qiao Xin, completely infuriated the netizens.

“Now, this is solid proof. Hanfu Goddess even went onto Tang Tu’s nanny van, and Tang Tu’s must’ve been sitting right inside. We don’t even know what they did in the car. Who can still side with Tang Tu and Hanfu Goddess?”

“Hanfu Goddess’s reply looks like a trick of pretending to be aloof. She’s probably switching between indifference and enthusiasm all the time. She pretended to reject, but she probably really wanted Tang Tu to come to watch her performance.”

“I feel disgusted now just by seeing the words, ‘Hanfu Goddess.’”

“This is no ‘Goddess’; her personality doesn’t even fit her pretty face. She’s destroying my entire perspective of a Deity.”

“Neither of them are moral. It’s such a pity Shen Mozhen was the only one kept in the dark, and she later got given up and became cannon fodder.”

“Shen Mozhen’s the real victim. She was cheated on, but she couldn’t say anything about it. If it weren’t for Zhang Daqiang to break the news, we wouldn’t even have known about this. I feel sorry for Shen Mozhen.”

…

This war online, like a plague, hit Liu Man and Tang Tu like a storm. They did not know about any of this before.

At this time, Tang Tu had just got off the airplane arriving at the capital. He had taken a day off from the cast just to come back to watch Liu Man’s performance.

As soon as his phone connected to 4G, Qiu Jing rang him. Qiu Jing had already called him many times before this.

When he picked up, Qiu Jing’s angry voice flew out.

“Where are you? Why was your phone turned off?”

Tang Tu did not know what had happened, “I was on the airplane just now, and I’ve just arrived at the capital.”

Qiu Jing immediately knew there was going to be trouble, hearing that Tang Tu was at the capital right now, “Whatever you do, don’t go out of the airport. Quick, buy the first plane ticket flying back to Shanghai.”

Tang Tu was still confused, “I’ve already told the cast I’m going to be absent today, and I will be back by tonight. Even if there really is an emergency, I don’t have to attend it right now.”

Qiu Jing laughed coldly, “I will only ask you one question: Did you break up with Shen Mozhen?”

Tang Tu froze, “How did you find out?”

“Looks like the chat history is real.”

Qiu Jing was very disappointed. She was disappointed in Tang Tu but even more disappointed in Liu Man.

She was so wrong back then to think Liu Man would be an honest, kind girl who worked hard. That thought was so ridiculous. Reality proved not only was Liu Man a gold digger, but she also wanted to seduce Tang Tu all along. No wonder Tang Tu kept on showing interest in Liu Man on that meal in Shanghai; Liu Man was interested in him, too.

First, it was her with that vet. Now, it was her with Tang Tu.

There was also a reason why Liu Man played the piano badly. The so-called good at playing Guqin was probably an excuse to deceive the teacher. She didn’t put her mind on learning at all, for she was only thinking about how to hook up men to get rid of her poverty state and get rich.

“Go on Wei Bo yourself to see how big of a joke you’ve become!” Qiu Jing angrily hung up.

Tang Tu immediately logged onto his Wei Bo and was immediately welcomed by hundreds of thousands of pings and comments. He didn’t even bother to check them because he saw the #1 trending tag at his first glance: #Tang-Tu-Dumped-His-Girlfriend-For-Hanfu-Goddess.

He didn’t even have the time to finish reading all three posts from “Newsbreaker Zhang Daqiang” before tourists discovered her.

Tang Tu was wearing a hat, a pair of sunglasses, and a mask just like all celebrities did, but his temperament and stature were too unique. As a result, someone still recognized him.

“He’s Tang Tu!” A young tourist pointed at him and exclaimed.

“Isn’t Tang Tu still in Shanghai for the movie filming?”

“Didn’t people on the internet say? Hanfu Goddess will be performing at Capital Music University today.”

“Then, he and Hanfu Goddess really did…”

…

The tourists immediately took out their phones and got ready to take pictures of Tang Tu. Tang Tu strode into the restroom, covering his face with his hand, and locked the door.

Qiu Jing was right. He really shouldn’t appear at the concert, not to mention he couldn’t even leave the airport.

What Tang Tu was most worried about was Liu Man’s performance.

He dragged her down. He brought harm to her.

When Zhang Daqiang broke the news, the morning concert had already started for more than an hour. Almost in an instant, all the students, teachers, and audiences knew about the news. Everyone ignored the music on stage and started murmuring in private. Even the professors and teachers, who were judges, took out their phones to browse the gossip.

Zhu Xiyang was extremely unhappy. The concert he planned seemed inferior compared to some unrelated rumors.

At this time, Liu Man and Li Xiaoru were resting in the practice room, waiting for their performance this afternoon.

Liu Man kept on getting notified by her Wei Bo. Li Xiaoru commented, “Your phone is so loud…”

Li Xiaoru didn’t even get to finish her sentence before she saw how pale Liu Man’s face had become. It seemed as pale as it was before she fainted last semester after receiving the phone call.

Li Xiaoru thought Liu Man was fainting again and hurriedly helped her stay on her feet. Li Xiaoru asked worriedly, “What happened?”

Liu Man tried hard to calm herself, but her face that showed no color of blood still revealed her helplessness. Li Xiaoru looked at where Liu Man was looking at, which was the phone screen.

It was Princess Man’s Wei Bo page, and on it was the exclusive, prominent passage “Newsbreaker Zhang Daqiang” sent.

“My God…” Li Xiaoru was shocked.

She quickly took out her own phone and opened Wei Bo. She didn’t even need to search for it to see the shocking news, for all the information and photos have been incessantly liked and reposted by netizens that they were automatically stuck on top by default.

“You did have a crush on Tang Tu, but that was from such a long time ago. You were selected by Professor Qiu to film in that movie; how does that relate to Tang Tu? These are all rumors!”

Li Xiaoru was sure Liu Man was innocent, but she was also confused at the same time,

“Did Tang Tu really break up with Shen Mozhen? Are those two pictures of chat history real? He really… He really confessed to you?”

Liu Man went silent. Her eyes seemed blank, and Li Xiaoru didn’t dare to say anything to further stimulate her.

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Translated by: Sydney

Chapter 140: Unexpected

“According to information from a classmate in the same major as Hanfu Goddess, Hanfu Goddess flunked many exams and has bad grades. In her Freshman year, she was always the worst student in her grade. It can be imagined how bad she is at the piano.

Even worse, she likes money more than anything. To be direct, she loves cash. Because she wants cash, she had been selling second-hand AJ’s on the internet as a live-streamer. Hanfu Goddess had always been crushing on Tang Tu and intentionally pretended to faint in front of Tang Tu to gain his pity. She then got closer to Tang Tu, and he got to know her. Therefore, they must’ve already known each other on the campus, and they aren’t just upperclassmen and lower classmen to each other. 

This student also told me, the Hanfu Goddess got the role in “The Sound of the Wind” from a professor with the last name Qiu.

According to the results of my humble investigation, the deputy general manager of Galaxy Films, Qiu Jing, coincidentally has the last name “Qiu” and is coincidentally a female. She has coincidentally graduated from the violin major of Capital Music University and is coincidentally the investor of “The Sound of the Wind.” All of this is too coincidental! It’s hard for us not to suspect Tang Tu found Qiu Jing only to please his girl and asked Qiu Jing to give a spot to Hanfu Goddess. 

What is even more interesting is that Tang Tu and Shen Mozhen broke up in early February, and at that time, “The Sound of the Wind” was also being filmed. My humble self believes that Tang Tu probably took that time and hooked up with the Hanfu Goddess. So when Shen Mozhen found out, he dumped her. Poor Shen Mozhen, she was only publicly dating Tang Tu for two months.”

As soon as “Newsbreaker Zhang Daqiang”’s Wei Bo got posted onto the internet, all the netizens were head over foot. After a few minutes, the popularity of this post surpassed the ensemble concert and got to the top of the popularity leaderboard. 

#Tang-Tu-Dumped-His-Girlfriend-For-Hanfu-Goddess was on #1 trending.

Over ten thousand netizens instantly commented: 

“This news is way too shocking for me! I need a moment to calm down.” 

“My favorite couple was Tang Tu and Shen Mozhen, and I’ve always shipped them together. My heart broke now that they’ve broken up. Is there really no fairy tales in the entertainment circle?”

“Hehe, the entertainment circle is a mess. No one there can be trusted.”

“Tang Tu is mental! He doesn’t even care for the super talented and noble Shen Mozhen! Why would he ever cheat on her with a cyber star who only had a good face.”

“Didn’t Tang Tu publically say before that he likes girls with talents? This Hanfu Goddess is so bad at the piano, so she doesn’t have any talents.” 

“Men are all like this. They get a girlfriend and immediately think of another girl. Shen Mozhen’s too dignified that she doesn’t know how to seduce men like this Hanfu Goddess.” 

“I’ve just scrolled through the post that Tang Tu sent last year in December after they confirmed their couple relationship. He confessed to Shen Mozhen on Wei Bo. Now that I look back at it, it’s so ironic.” 

“Although Tang Tu and Shen Mozhen only were in a relationship for two months, they’ve known each other for four years. These four years of friendship meant nothing to him compared with a lowerclassman he had just met for a few days. It is too sad.” 

“Tang Tu’s public appearance as a talented musician and national male god has completely collapsed. What difference is there between him and those playboys who cheat? Even if he’s so talented and handsome, it will not change the fact of how dross he is.” 

“I was originally a Hanfu Goddess fan, now I hate her, and I will hate her for life.”

“Yeah, I hate her as well. I hate women who are mistresses. Is it that interesting to go for an already preoccupied man out of so many men in the world?”  

…

Most fans of Hanfu Goddess suddenly turned into her haters and started scolding her with everyone else. These were the fans who only followed her because she was good-looking, and her connection with these fans was only supported by her appearance. This connection was extremely unstable. 

But Tang Tu’s fans still believed in him and supported him: 

“Tutu’s morality cannot be doubted. For the last four years that he has been friends with Shen Mozhen, no other woman appeared near him. It could be seen that if he wanted to cheat or find another woman, he would’ve done so much earlier. Hanfu Goddess must’ve been the one who took the initiative to seduce him.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Hanfu Goddess looks like a sly vixen. Who knows what she did to intrigue Tutu.” 

“I suspect that she got hold of Tutu’s secret, and Tutu had no way but to give up on Shen Mozhen to be with her.” 

“She did everything she could to get near to Tutu, and it must be because of his money and fame!” 

“My Tutu is the best. We will always support you! You must’ve been defamed, mistreated and lied to.” 

…

It was clear what Tang Tu’s fans meant. Whatever there was, it was all Hanfu Goddess’ fault. Tang Tu was a white lotus and a victim. 

The few loyal fans of Hanfu Goddess couldn’t hold themselves back anymore: 

“Why is it always the girl’s fault when a playboy cheats? If Tang Tu didn’t agree to it, could Hanfu Goddess have made him broke up with his ex?” 

“Just look at Tang Tu’s seductive face, and you can tell he causes trouble!” 

“No wonder they all say a stupid fan could beat ten haters. You are the ones defaming your idol. Just shut up!” 

“Who said Hanfu Goddess only has good looks? She’s just like Shen Mozhen; they are both talented.” 

Shen Mozhen’s supporters opposed strongly: 

“I don’t know if Hanfu Goddess has talents, but please don’t compare her with Shen Mozhen. Thank you. She doesn’t even deserve to look at Shen Mozhen.” 

“Shen Mozhen has both a good background and a good appearance. She’s the real goddess. As for your Hanfu Goddess… Haha. She has horrible grades and is just a beginner at playing the piano. She could only use an electrical piano to play simple songs to trick you amateurs. She’s just a loser, a gold digger who wears fake Hanfu, and she thinks she’s a real goddess? Why won’t she look at herself in the mirror first?” 

“Yeah. Since she has already tried to seduce Tang Tu regardless of her face, she’s not worth calling herself a goddess!”

…

There were negative comments all over the internet, but they weren’t all just blaming Tang Tu and Hanfu Goddess. A passerby sharply pointed out: “Zhang Daqiang’s news are all assumed by himself. If you guys look closer, he doesn’t have any real evidence, and these must be just fake news. Everyone, don’t just side with people like idiots. Maybe you all are being fooled right now. Be careful of getting face-slapped in the end!” 

When this comment got posted under the Wei Bo of “Newsbreaker Wang Daqiang,” “Newsbreaker Wang Daqiang” instantly replied to him, “Who told you I don’t have real evidence!” 

In just five minutes, “Newsbreaker Wang Daqiang” uploaded two posts all at once. As if throwing out two bombs, he blew out everyone and confused them at the same time. 

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Translated by: Sydney & Yutong/Puppxteer

Chapter 139: Breaking News

Qiao Xin didn’t send the entire chat history to Zhang Daqiang but deleted some of the messages to select the ones that make people imagine scenarios. He successfully intrigued Zhang Daqiang.

After Zhang Daqiang received these photos, he was equally surprised as Qiao Xin was.

Tang Tu had a good reputation in the circle; he was a rare ‘clean’ male celebrity. He was handsome, had talents, had a good personality, and he even had a girlfriend that came from a noble musician family.

Zhang Daqiang could never find any dirty secrets of Tang Tu. He thought Tang Tu was someone unique; someone who was clean among all the dirty celebrities.

As a result… Hehe~~

Even heroes would fall for beauties. This time, Tang Tu was going to fall flat on the ground because of a tiny cyber star!

Qiao Xin had no idea his photos came just in time. Zhang Daqiang had other evidence before he received the photos from him.

Everything was ready. Zhang Daqiang only needed a fuse.

Tang Tu’s confession caused Liu Man to break her phone screen. She went to the phone shop to fix the screen and ignored Tang Tu’s message, and Tang Tu did not send any message to her either.

On Wednesday, they started setting up the music hall.

In the beginning, the school thought that a small concert hall was enough to contain all the audience, but the concert went way too viral on the internet. The teachers were worried that the small concert hall wasn’t going to fit everyone, so they moved to the bigger one.

So, the official location was set to the third music hall of Capital Musical University.

The third music hall was both on the campus and off, so it had two entrances. People could get in from both inside and outside the school, and this was convenient for netizens who were coming to watch.

Zhu Xiyang made the advertisement company make huge banners that could reach the floor from the ceiling of the music hall. It read, “Capital Music University First Chamber Music Ensemble Concert” in an artistic font.

Yes, if this concert was successful, there would be another ensemble concert for next year’s Sophomores.

The two banners could be seen from far away.

For outsiders to quickly find their way to the concert hall, Zhu Xiyang made the students stick arrows on tree trunks pointing at the direction outsiders needed to go.

Zhu Xiyang also contacted the student government beforehand so they could get volunteers to help the audience and guide them at that time in case unexpected incidents happen.

In the schoolyard, everyone was talking about the concert.

It was a simple chamber music ensemble assessment, but Zhu Xiyang made it seem like a competitive music festival.

No wonder Wang Nina liked and admired him so much.

Zhu Xiyang was some character.

On the night of the performance, Liu Man, Li Xiaoru, and Wen Fangfei had their last practice. The trio was so perfectly in sync that even professors had to be listening extra closely to find flaws.

Not only did they practice their pieces, but they also confirmed the blocking on stage as well as the location for instruments. Since they were going to be performing on grand pianos, the Guzheng was going to be in the middle of the two pianos, so they formed a triangle.

They’ve already prepared the uniforms they were going to wear during the performance. Liu Man and Li Xiaoru rented their clothes from a shop. Liu Man’s uniform was a light gray dress that reached her knees, and Li Xiaoru chose a black dress with long hems.

Wen Fangfei had many performance clothing of her own. There were both cheongsam and Hanfu, and this time, she said she would be wearing cheongsam.

It could be imagined how unique it would look to the audience when two girls wearing western dresses appear with a girl wearing a cheongsam at the same time on stage.

Liu Man had already contacted Zhang Jiaojiao. Tomorrow, right after lunch, Zhang Jiaojiao would come early and meet them at the backdoor of the music hall to apply make-up and the three of them.

Wen Fangfei pressed her chest, “I’m feeling a bit nervous.”

“I’m a bit nervous as well now that you’ve mentioned it,” Li Xiaoru said, “The only concert I’ve participated in was in freshman year when I had a small piano solo concert. It was just for fun, and only my classmates came to watch it. Man Man’s probably even more nervous; she has never gotten on stage officially. Tomorrow will be our first show.”

“Although this isn’t my first show, and I’m more experienced than you guys, my heart is still beating very fastly. I feel worried, like something horrible is going to happen soon.”

“We’re almost performing, so what can happen? Is someone going to be brave enough to break your Guzheng? Or are people going to tear our clothes as people do on TV shows? Nobody would dare to smash the pianos in the concert hall, right?” Li Xiaoru thought of all incidental scenarios that could happen, and at last, she finally came up with the conclusion as she told Wen Fangfei, “You must be too nervous.”

Wen Fangfei was still feeling anxious, “Hopefully, I’m just thinking too much.”

On Thursday, Capital Music University’s first chamber ensemble concert officially commenced.

8 AM, the performers of the morning show have already gathered in the concert hall, waiting. The audience from all over the city came to the school early to get a good seat.

Today, there were twice as many guards as usual in the school.

Not only were there many people on campus, but the internet was also very lively.

Some students and audience were streaming the live concert scene, some were posting about how long the line was to get in, and some were just recording all kinds of videos outside. These videos were all uploaded to Tik Tok.

Even when small live streamers with single-digit subs post content related to the concert, they could get many likes. It was unavoidable, for topics like this were too viral to the point that you could gain subs just by talking about it. Those who could view the concert in person could only watch online.

Just as netizens were excitedly watching live-streams, browsing through Wei Bo, and scrolling through Tik Tok, a popular, verified Wei Bo account, “Newsbreaker Zhang Daqiang” suddenly sent a long post.

“Breaking news! Musical genius Tang Tu had a secret break up before Chinese New Year! Suspecting to be chasing after the viral Hanfu Goddess, he does not remorse over old feelings and does not hesitate to throw away his ex!

Those fans who do not know who Hanfu Goddess is, please listen to my explanation: Hanfu Goddess, whose real name is Liu Man, is a Sophomore piano major at Capital Music University. Because she was seen wearing a white Hanfu as she performed with current Tik Tok cyber star, Coco, she got popular over the internet with her fresh and elegant appearance.

According to my humble intels, the Hanfu Goddess participated in the makings of the upcoming movie by famous director Ye Zian, “The Sound of the Wind”. Isn’t it curious that a mere cyber star’s first movie role is from a big production like this? How did she manage to get such good resources?

Now, I have enough evidence to show this relates to our National Male God, Tang Tu.”

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Translated by: Sydney & Yutong/Puppxteer

Chapter 138: Sudden Confession

Apologies for the VERY LATE release. I was playing the violin and Puppxteer was doing something else, but hey, at least we translated this chapter without dying. ;D

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“Hanfu Goddess Liu Man”’s Tik Tok account now had 180k fans, which was about the same number of fans Princess Man’s Wei Bo account had.

Liu Man had only posted four videos on Tik Tok. Excluding the first one, the rest were all behind-the-scenes videos of “Shi-Senpai.” All of her fans went to her first video and commented, wishing her good luck on her performance. The atmosphere online, until now, was very hype.

When Monday came, every student was ready. They all confidently waited for the concert on Thursday and Friday. 

They drew sticks on Tuesday. 

Li Xiaoru got a spot on Thursday afternoon. 

Then, students whom all got Thursday afternoon would draw sticks again. Li Xiaoru got performance number 2, which means they would be the second performance on Thursday afternoon. 

Liu Man immediately sent the performance time to Wen Fangfei, and Wen Fangfei replied: “Roger that.” 

She then forwarded this message to Yu Zhan, Peach is a fairy, Jiang Chengfeng, Sun Weiwei, He Qisi, and everyone else who said they were going to come to watch her performance. 

At this time, Liu Man and Li Xiaoru heard Wang Nina saying happily to the other students that they were super lucky and got a spot on Friday afternoon, which meant their performance would be the grand finale. 

At this time, “The Sound of the Wind”’s filming stage was coming to an end. In fact, according to their original schedule, Ye Zian was planning on finishing filming all scenes by the end of April and start editing the clips by May. However, because Feng Qingyu’s piano scenes were delaying the process by a lot, they still weren’t finished in May. Feng Qingyu and Qiao Xin had just finished their parts outside of the country, and they just came back from America. 

During this period, Tang Tu and Yang Huayue stayed in Shanghai and filmed their respective parts. Now that the male and female leads were all here, they could start filming the end.

Although Tang Tu was still in far-away Shanghai, he continuously paid attention to his school. To be more accurate, he was paying attention to Liu Man. He knew all Sophomores in western instrument majors had to participate in an ensemble concert. 

On this day, after they drew sticks, Tang Tu messaged Liu Man on WeChat, “Is the time settled down? When are you performing?” 

Liu Man was surprised when she received the WeChat message from Tang Tu. Because he was filming, he never showed up at school this semester.

“Thursday.” Liu Man’s reply was very perfunctory. 

Tang Tu: “What’s the specific time?” 

Liu Man: “Why do you need to know?” 

Tang Tu: “I’m planning on coming back to school to watch your performance.” 

Seeing this message, Liu Man frowned and directly replied, “No, thanks. Whatever you do, do not come.” 

These icy words were full of her thought of not even wanting to see him. 

Tang Tu’s heart froze. 

After Liu Man left the cast, he thought about her every day. He couldn’t help but think of Liu Man’s smile, especially at the end of the day when he finished shooting the scenes and felt exhausted. He felt like if she was still in the cast with him, he would never feel this tired. 

He even started hating his job as an actor. He detested himself for deciding to become the second male lead of this movie. Being in this cast long-termed meant he had to obey the director and the crew, so he could not go anywhere except to stay in Shanghai. 

Oh, how much he hoped he was just a student. He wanted to meander on the campus with her, not having to worry about anything. 

After pondering for a long time, he conjured up all his courage and wrote: “Aren’t you going to give me just one chance?” 

It could not be more obvious what he meant. 

Liu Man felt her heart skip a beat, but she did not reply. 

After two minutes, he sent another message: 

“I like you.” 

Liu Man suddenly felt that the phone in her hands was like a hot yam. She wanted to throw away the phone and pretend she didn’t see Tang Tu’s message. 

But she knew lying to herself would not mean anything, and she forced herself to face reality. 

“You already have a girlfriend, so how can you like someone else? You should pay all your attention to your girlfriend and not focus on someone else all day.” 

Liu Man didn’t want to make her words too awful and left Tang Tu his face. 

Tang Tu, however, naively thought Liu Man didn’t accept him because he already had a girlfriend. He couldn’t wait and told Liu Man, “I’ve already broken up with Shen Mozhen at the start of February, and I’m single. Can you give me a chance?” 

He broke up with Shen Mozhen!

He confessed that he wanted to pursue her love!

Liu Man was shocked. 

Her “hot” phone finally, as she wished, fell onto the ground, and the screen went black. 

Tang Tu waited for a long while but still didn’t receive a reply from Liu Man. At this time, the manager urged him for the next scene. 

Before he left, he conveniently left his phone on the table to charge in the break room. 

Qiao Xin, who had just finished his scene, walked into the break room right after Tang Tu left. He took out his phone and was going to play with it when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the charging phone. 

He remembered the style and brand of this phone. It was Tang Tu’s phone.

The devil in his heart drove him to disregard his morals and pick up the phone on the table. Tang Tu walked too anxiously, his mind full of his first confession in his life. He was also nervous about when Liu Man would reply to his confession, and he was too disturbed to lock his screen. The screen showed Tang Tu’s phone desktop, a fresh, still picture of a violin.

Although Tang Tu got out of WeChat, Qiao Xin could still click back in. 

He saw the newest chat at his first glance. 

Contact: Liu Man.

Last sentence: I’ve already broken up with Shen Mozhen at the start of February…

Ayo, this information is crucial! 

Qiao Xin firmly clicked in and was engrossed as he read through the entire chat history between Tang Tu and Liu Man, and that was not enough for him. He even took a photo of all these messages with his phone. 

Originally, he clicked onto Tang Tu’s WeChat only because he wanted to pry on Tang Tu’s privacy. Qiao Xin did not expect to see such incredible information.

Tang Tu, you’re screwed this time!

Qiao Xin malevolently cursed him in his mind. 

Qiao Xin found a person in his WeChat contacts, nicknamed Zhang Daqiang. He sent a message to Zhang Daqiang.

“I have crucial information here. Do you want them?” 

“Whose information?” 

“Tang Tu and Hanfu Goddess’.” 

Qiao Xin was smart. He knew Zhang Daqiang would not be interested in such an unknown name as “Liu Man”. He had to mention her cyber star nickname. 

As expected, Zhang Daqiang immediately asked him, “Are your information photos? Words?” 

“Photos of their WeChat history records.” 

“Deal.” 

Zhang Daqiang was not just any gossip journalist. He was nicknamed “Mainland’s number one news breaker.” 

His verified Wei Bo account had exposed many celebrities. Different from those paparazzi who liked to post rumors, Zhang Daqing had always been famous for having real proof. Everything he sent was true, and he could expose all the deep, dirty secrets of those celebrities. 

Though he rarely posts, there was always huge drama when he does post. He always managed to get on headlines, and in return, celebrity fandoms hated him.

Because every celebrity he posted about either got canceled, stored away, or even quit the entertainment circle. Either way, none of them had a happy ending.

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Translated by: Sydney & Puppxteer/Yutong

Chapter 137: Without Yijia

I have an interview tomorrow and I’m sleeping at 1 AM… Wish me luck-

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Owner Li couldn’t resist but stop his work and admire the music. Liu Man was the most skillful Guqin player he had ever seen, and he had seen lots of students in his shop coming to buy Guqins. Of course, this wasn’t just about skills. She seemed to have completely understood how to make the best sounds on a Guqin — by creating an artistic mood. She could easily peel her audience away from reality and insert them into a world she created.

She was definitely skilled! 

A few passersby who were near this shop also heard this “Butterfly Lovers” that sounded completely different. They subconsciously stopped walking and quietly listened.  

However, the sound of the Guqin stopped abruptly when the piece reached its climax. 

Liu Man lowered her head to look at her fingers. There were red marks on them, caused by plucking the strings so hard, and her fingers hurt as if there were needles poking them. 

“You don’t have long nails, so you should’ve worn Yijia to protect your fingers. Why did you not listen to me?” Wen Fangfei was worried, “They look so red. It’s lucky you’re not bleeding.” 

Li Xiaoru also felt worried, “You still persevered through half of the piece. You should’ve stopped as soon as you felt uncomfortable.” 

Liu Man smiled, “So I’ve stopped playing now in case I hurt my fingers and hinder our performance.” 

Owner Li said, “It is pretty awkward to learn piano and the Guqin at the same time. You can’t have long fingernails when playing piano yet the Guzheng requires long nails. Next time, you should really wear Yijia, or fake nails that are popular amongst teenage girls. Though the sound wouldn’t be as good, it’d still protect your fingers.”

Li Xiaoru laughed lightly, “Fake nails? That’s preposterous!” 

Liu Man and Wen Fangfei both laughed as well. Liu Man felt the pain lift from fingertips when she felt them.

“Man Man, you’ve never told me before that you know how to play the Guqin,” Li Xiaoru asked her curiously. 

“You’ve never asked me before.” 

Liu Man knew very well, she needed to let the people around her slowly adapt to her changes. If she suddenly showed off all her talents, she’d be busted in a matter of seconds.

“Fine,” Li Xiaoru accepted the explanation. It’s not her problem that she doesn’t like to ask much like Wang Nina, “but, you’re way too good!”

“Then, tell us. Who is the better player, me or Man Man?” Wen Fangfei threw out the question she set before. 

Li Xiaoru felt ambivalent. 

She wanted to say they were equally good. 

But, Wen Fangfei read her mind, “You can’t say we’re both good, there has to be a winner!”

“Fine, fine,” Li Xiaoru had no choice, she said to Wen Fangfei, “You’re better.”

“Where’s your reason?” 

Li Xiaoru didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. She told Wen Fangfei, “I never knew you are such a competitive person.” 

She thought and continued, “I have two reasons, the first being, Man Man didn’t finish “Butterfly Lover”, so it basically can’t compete with yours. Second of all, due to the stiffness in the beginning of the piece when Man Man played, I think that it’d been a while since she last practiced. Besides from that, I still think there’s something missing, but I can’t pinpoint what.”

You can’t forget Li Xiaoru was also a top student in piano, she had a keen sense of hearing.

The reason why she felt something was missing was because Liu Man didn’t give her very best. First of all, this was only for practice and fun, there was no need for her to be competitive; Second of all, she didn’t have long nails and it was indeed quite painful.

“Then I won without much fight,” Wen Fangfei smiled at Liu Man, “After you grow your nails out, you have to compete with me again.”

She liked Liu Man more and more, after all, there weren’t many girls who were interested in the same things as her in the modern world.

The three girls stayed at Owner Li’s shop until noon before they returned to the practice room and continued. 

After the practice, Wen Fangfei brought the Guzheng back to her dorm just in case.

The next week, Liu Man felt the sudden intense atmosphere, everyone’s discussing about:

“How has your practicing been for the performance?”

“There are so many classes today. Are we still rehearsing tonight?” 

“Do you think you can get into the top ten? 

…

It was just a performance that didn’t affect their grade much, but because it was also rumored to determine who was going to play on the Year-end anniversary Concert, everyone was nervous.

Plus, this concert was being talked about all over the internet, obviously a lot of people would come and watch. If they mess up and a video is uploaded, it’d be so embarrassing. How will they ever live up to their expectations as the top students in music?

Liu Man and Li Xiaoru were calm, they still attended all their classes and never missed because of practice. For example, 80 percent of the students didn’t attend English class for practice. Even though Li Xiaoru didn’t want to go, Liu Man still insisted and even sat in the front row, taking notes seriously. The English teacher appreciated her focus.

She even thought that if Liu Man still couldn’t pass the English final exam, she’d still give her 60 points.

Knowing Wen Fangfei’s strings were very likely to be cut by Wang Nina, Liu Man and Li Xiaoru had to lay low until there was solid proof. So, they chose to avoid Wang Nina in general.

They planned to confront Wang Nina after the concert.

And Wang Nina didn’t do anything more.

A week passed without anymore drama.

This weekend, Liu Man didn’t have to go to Professor Su for her class, so “Shi Senpai” had to be on hiatus for the week.

“Happy Guo Guo” also made a special announcement video addressing this. He Qisi transformed into Shi Senpai and said to the camera, “Since my goddess has a very important performance next Thursday or Friday, I won’t be harassing her this week!” He made a very ‘caring’ face, he still looked wretchedly funny, “Well, after the performance… We’ll be continuing… Hehehe….”

“Stop snickering you muffin head.”

“I will pay 5 RMB to whoever beats him up!” 

“But hey, Hanfu Goddess will also be taking part in Capital Music University’s ensemble concert! I want to watch her perform so much.” 

“Me, too! She’s so beautiful and knows how to play the piano. I can’t even imagine how pretty she will look with an actual formal dress on the stage.” 

“Liu Man from the third class in the piano major. We can just look at the program list then to know when she will be performing according to this information.” 

“Mhm, I agree. I’m only going to the concert for Hanfu Goddess. In order to ensure that I do not miss her performance, I will go on both Thursday and Friday until I see her perform.” 

“666666. You’re stubborn enough.” 

“Bro, when you watch Hanfu Goddess’s performance, make sure to film it and post it on Tik Tok!” 

“Of course.” 

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Translated by: Puppxteer/Yutong & Sydney

Chapter 136: Playing the Guqin

Sorry for the late release. Thank you all for your support on this novel!

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“Mhm,” Owner Li added on, “If you read the ancient records describing how a Guqin gets played, they all call it caressing the Guqin. Usually, you play the Guqin with your right hand plucking the string and your left hand pressing on the string. Your hands move around back and forth on the strings, and it requires lots of focus, while the way you play a Guzheng is completely different from the way you play a Guqin.” 

Wen Fangfei reached out her hands and showed Li Xiaoru all ten of her fingers, “We Guzheng players pluck the strings with our right hand’s thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Our left hand would use the elasticity of the strings to control the changes in the notes to make the melody.” 

Li Xiaoru only realized until now that, similar to herself, there were calluses all over Wen Fangfei’s fingers. The only difference was that they had calluses on different positions. 

“A Guzheng has more strings than a Guqin, so it seems that playing a Guqin is much easier than playing a Guzheng. However, in reality, the ancient Chinese thought playing the Guqin was much harder than playing a Guzheng because you need to bring your audience into an artistic mood. Guqin is an instrument that’s very hard to completely control. 

If you look at how Yu Boya played ‘Mountain stream’ for Zhong Ziqi and how Sima Xiangru played “Feng Qiu Huang” for Zhuo Wenjun. You need lots of understanding of the music and talent to reach this kind of artistic level. You won’t be able to reach this artistic level just by studying. It is why there are fewer and fewer Guqin players now. The amount of people in the Guzheng major is four times the amount of people in the Guqin major. The school doesn’t treat this unpopular major as important either,” Wen Fangfei informed Li Xiaoru. 

Li Xiaoru, who learned a lot, nodded her head, “I thought Guzheng and Guqin were the same before, but I never knew how much there is to learn about both of these instruments.” 

“Unfortunately, most parents are like you. They don’t understand the folksong instruments. People who don’t study music always subconsciously think the western instruments are high-tiered. When they want their children to develop an interest in music, they always choose western instruments like the piano and violin. Now, the folksong instruments are getting less and less popular,” Owner Li sounded very disappointed. 

“My shop has been here for twenty years. Over the past few years, the business has been getting worse and worse. Sometimes I get five to six customers a day, and sometimes I get none. If you look at the guitar shop opposite the street, you would see they have lots of customers every day.”  

Li Xiaoru said, “Guitars are different. Those boys all go and learn guitar like a swarm of bees just because they can sing and play at the same time, and it’s easier for them to flirt with girls.” 

Li Xiaoru could always make everyone else laugh and make them be in a good mood. 

Wen Fangfei smiled as she added, “You have a point. Whenever there’s a boy playing the guitar, there would immediately be a crowd of girls surrounding him.” 

“You would have to be handsome before you can cause this kind of effect,” Li Xiaoru laughed as she looked at Wen Fangfei, “If you play the Guzheng publically, you would probably attract a huge group of boys too.” 

The three girls chatted and laughed, finally chasing away the aftereffects of that certain incident involving broken strings. 

Wen Fangfei tentatively asked Liu Man, “You seem to be interested in this Guqin. Do you want to try playing it?” 

Li Xiaoru felt Wen Fangfei’s words were strange, “Did you forget we are piano majors? How in the world can Man Man possibly know how to play the Guqin?” 

“That’s not necessarily true.” 

Liu Man looked at Wen Fangfei’s eyes, which seemed to have understood everything. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep this secret away from Wen Fangfei. She asked Owner Li, “Can I try playing this Guqin?”  

“Of course. I’ve already tuned it. Help yourself,” Owner Li said without any hesitance. 

Liu Man placed a stool in front of the instrument and sat down.

“I have some Yijia in my purse. Wear them before you play,” Wen Fangfei said as she opened her purse. 

Liu Man, however, shook and smiled, “I’ve never used Yijia before. I’ve always played with just my nails.” 

Wen Fangfei’s sight couldn’t help but land on Liu Man’s fingers. She felt that it was very weird. A pianist could never have long fingernails since the tips of their fingers gets into contact with the keys. If their fingernails were long, it was easy for them to slip on the keyboard, which was why Liu Man had her nails cut very neatly. 

How could her fingers pluck the strings this way?

Wouldn’t she feel pain? 

Ever since Madam Xu passed away, Liu Man had never touched a Guqin. Now, as she was sitting in front of the instrument, Liu Man suddenly didn’t know what she should play, so she played a short piece. 

The melody was simple but sounded very good. 

Li Xiaoru suddenly froze. 

Man Man… Man Man knew how to play the Guqin! Her fingers were so nimble, and she looked very skillful. She looked like Fangfei playing the Guzheng. 

Wen Fangfei and Owner Li, two specialists at instruments, were also surprised. Firstly, Liu Man’s notes were perfect, and her fingerings were skillful. It was apparent she had practiced a lot. Secondly, the short piece she played was unfamiliar to them. 

The piece was short, and Liu Man got through it quickly. 

Wen Fangfei asked, “What piece is this? Why have I never heard of it before.” 

Owner Li said, “I’ve never heard of it either, and I thought I’ve listened to all the famous Chinese songs.”

“This piece is called ‘Teasing the Spring’, and it was composed by a palace musician named Shi Wu back in the Western Han dynasty,” Liu Man explained. She saw how Wen Fangfei and Owner Li still looked confused, and she guessed that this piece hadn’t been passed down to the modern era. Maybe even the name, “Shi Wu”, got lost in the long river of history. 

Liu Man decided she should not play ancient pieces that didn’t exist in the modern world in the future, or else she would seem suspicious. 

Luckily, “Teasing the Spring” was short and simple so Wen Fangfei and Owner Li did not dig deeper. 

Liu Man intentionally changed to another topic, “Now my mind feels so empty. I don’t even know what I should play next.” 

“You should try playing “Butterfly Lovers” next. I have the music sheets with me,” Wen Fangfei took out the music from in her purse and placed it on the shelf in front of the Guqin. She turned her head to say to Li Xiaoru, “Xiaoru, you’ll be the judge, and you get to deem if I am the better player or if Man Man’s better.” 

Li Xiaoru instantly got excited, “Sure, sure. I will be very strict!”

Liu Man was way too familiar with the music sheets of “Butterfly Lovers” after so many rehearsals. She could’ve played the piece even without the sheets. 

Liu Man sat upright in front of the Guqin. She did not look at Wen Fangfei’s music sheets but went over “Butterfly Lovers”’ story and combined it with the Guqin. She had only played ancient pieces and had never played modern music on the Guqin. 

She was doing what Wen Fangfei was talking about: creating an artistic mood. 

Then, as if she finally got through her thinking, she pressed down on the strings with her left hand and started plucking with her right hand. Soon, “Butterfly Lovers” beautiful melody flowed into the air within this shop. 

They were playing the same piece, but the Guqin’s style was completely different from the Guzheng style. Guzhengs played lively and bright music while the Guqins gave off a serene and deep vibe. Liu Man’s carefree and peaceful expression made her seem like an ancient Chinese, and it was as if her music brought them all back to the ancient world.

Li Xiaoru couldn’t take her astonished eyes off of Liu Man, who was playing the instrument. Liu Man, who was playing the Guqin, was completely different from herself when she played the piano! She could be ethereal at playing the Guqin, and she could be elegant at playing the latter instrument. Besides, her Guqin skills were much better than her piano skills. 

At first, Wen Fangfei only thought Liu Man played the Guqin as a hobby. Most students who studied instruments knew how to play a second instrument, just like how Tang Tu played the violin and also knew how to play the piano. Wen Fangfei herself knew a little about how to play the Guqin. 

However, Wen Fangfei didn’t expect Liu Man’s skills to be this good. She was confused as to why Liu Man chose to go to the piano major instead of the Guqin major when she applied to this school. 

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Translated by: Sydney

Chapter 135: Seeing a Guqin Again

“Owner Li, I’m here,” Wen Fangfei called out.

Hearing her voice, a middle-aged man around his 50s came from an inside room. Although he looked very meager and short, his pair of eyes glowed the way only a musician’s eyes would.

Liu Man noticed how he had a pair of slender hands and knew this Owner Li must play instruments, too.

“Long time no see,” Owner Li laughed, then saw the two girls beside Wen Fangfei, “Are you here to introduce two new customers to me?” Liu Man could tell, from his tone, that he was very familiar with Wen Fangfei.

“No, they are piano majors and are accompanying me to fix my instrument,” Wen Fangfei then placed her Guzheng onto the ground and opened the protection case.

“Oh, no! What happened to the strings!” Owner Li, as if feeling the pain the Guzheng felt, looked at the broken strings. He immediately learned that they got cut, “The person who did this is immoral!”

Owner Li took out a magnifying glass and started examining the actual instrument. He was very discreet and careful; his hands felt it bit by bit, and his eyes dared not to miss a single inch, “Fortunately, they only broke the strings.”

Wen Fangfei felt reassured, “Sorry for the inconvenience, but I need you to help me put new strings on it.”

“It will take a bit of time to change all 21 strings,” Owner Li said, “Are you going to go back and wait for me to notify you once I’m finished, or are you going to wait here?”

Wen Fangfei looked at Liu Man and Li Xiaoru, and Li Xiaoru said, “We’ll wait here. We still need to rehearse after the Guzheng gets fixed.”

Wen Fangfei nodded and told Owner Li, “We are urgent.”

Owner Li showed some empathy, “I will try to finish this process as soon as possible.”

He placed Wen Fangfei’s Guzheng on an empty instrument table and took out a large toolbox from a room inside. When he opened it, they could see many Guzheng strings, all with different thinness. There were also pliers and screwdrivers used specially for instruments.

“Take a seat. You will probably have to wait for two hours,” Owner Li placed three stools in front of the girls and put all his attention on fixing the Guzheng.

Liu Man did not sit. She first watched how Owner Li fixed the Guzheng and realized his methods were the same as how Madam Xu taught her. After all, these instruments came from ancient times and were traditional. They were the same after these two thousand years; nothing was different.

Owner Li felt her investigative look and wondered why a piano major would know about fixing a Guzheng?

Wen Fangfei was also noticing Liu Man’s actions.

Liu Man, after seeing how he was repairing the instrument, walked towards the Guqing she saw earlier on.

The biggest difference between a Guqin and a Guzheng was the number of strings. A Guqin had 7 strings. In the Han Dynasty where Liu Man lived in her past life, Guzheng had only 5 strings. The difference between the two was not as big as it was today. If she had studied and practiced hard, then Liu Man would’ve also been able to quickly learn Guzheng.

However, after two thousand years of revolution, there were more and more strings on a Guzheng. The number of strings varied from 13 to 26, while the Guqin still only had 7.

Compared to Wen Fangfei’s Guzheng with 21 strings, the Guqin looked much smaller. It was like a mini version of a Guzheng.

This Guqin looked very similar to Madam Xu’s. The surface of the instrument’s body was painted with gray ink, and the belly of the instrument also had broken stripes that looked like water. Liu Man did not expect to see such a Guqin in the future, which made her dazed off because it reminded her of Mrs. Xu.

Owner Li, who was fixing the Guzheng, raised his head and saw Liu Man staring at the instrument. He couldn’t help but smile, “Classmate, do you like this Guqin? You know the instruments very well. This one imitated the ‘Lu Qi’ closely. Although it is a copycat, it’s made with high-quality materials and exquisite workmanship. It is very worthy of collection.”

Owner Li saw that Liu Man was still in a daze, so he thought that she didn’t understand his words, “Oh, you are a student of the piano major, and you probably don’t understand ‘Lu Qi’. Let me inform you about it…”

“‘Lu Qi’ is the Sima Xiangru’s Guqin back in the Western Han Dynasty. The instrument was black and faintly green, like green vines entwined on ancient trees, which is why it was named “Lu Qi”. Your Guqin, although black, is not at all green. It’s a bad copy.”

Liu Man’s words stunned all three of them in the shop.

Li Xiaoru was impressed by Liu Man. She had never even heard of “Lu Qi” before.

Wen Fangfei, however, came up with a theory — Did Liu Man know how to play the Guqin?

When he heard someone say that the instrument was not good, Owner Li didn’t have any angry expression on his face. Instead, he asked Liu Man enthusiastically, “It seems that you know a lot more about “Lu Qi” than I do, so you can give me more information about how ‘Lu Qi’ looks like. You have to know that it has long disappeared in the long river of history, and none of us have any luck to see it unless we travel to two thousand years ago.”

How could Owner Li have known he was lucky to meet Liu Man, who did transmigrate from two thousand years ago? Liu Man continued to say, “I do admit that the instrument was made of good materials since it contained the best Paulownia. However, in reality, the ‘Lu Qi’ was made of the marrow of the combined mixture of Paulownia and Catalpa. The words, ‘The essence of Paulownia and Catalpa,” were carved on the bottom of the instrument.”

Owner Li burst into a laugh, “You say it as if you’ve seen it. You even know what was carved on the bottom of the instrument.”

Liu Man smiled but didn’t explain.

She did see “Lu Qi” before. Sima Xiangru was a friend of Madam Xu’s grandfather. He even taught Madam Xu how to play the Guqin when she was young.

When Madam Xu was entering the royal palace, Sima Xiangru, almost dying from his disease, sent “Lu Qi” to Madam Xu. It was a celebratory present because she became a concubine.

Madam Xu let Liu Man play this “Lu Qi” when she began to learn how to play Guqins. She taught Liu Man patiently, and Liu Man grew up playing “Lu Qi.” When Madam Xu passed away, Liu Man requested the servants to bury Madam Xu with “Lu Qi.”

The servants agreed on the outside and left with the instrument and Madam Xu. Liu Man, even until today, wasn’t sure whether those servants kept their promise. She was uncertain whether Madam Xu went to the underworld with “Lu Qi” by her side. These would probably forever be mysteries.

“Man Man, what are you thinking about? Why do you suddenly seem so sentimental,” Li Xiaoru walked up to Liu Man and disrupted her reminisce.

Liu Man came back to reality and smiled, “I was just recalling something that happened in the past.”

The past?

Li Xiaoru was confused. She felt that Liu Man was very carefree and lively in the first two years of college. However, after she fainted last semester, she started acting unlike herself.

She even knew something about Guqins. Li Xiaoru thought and plucked one of the strings on the Guqin out of curiosity, “Hey, this sounds completely different from a Guzheng.”

The other three all laughed. How could Li Xiaoru have known she was the only folksong amateur here? Wen Fangfei explained, “The notes of a Guqin sound heavy and thick, whereas a Guzheng sounds bright and flaunty. They are like the cello and the violin in your western instruments.”

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Credits: Sydney

Chapter 134: Broken Strings

Sunday morning was the rehearsal time Liu Man, Li Xiaoru, and Wen Fangfei agreed to. Liu Man rushed there from her house and arrived a few minutes after the other two. 

As she walked into the practice room, she noticed how melancholy the atmosphere seemed. 

Wen Fangfei, her back towards the door, stood in front of her Guzheng and didn’t move at all. Li Xiaoru was standing at her side, her face angry, and her eyes red. She was almost crying from being so upset. 

Liu Man knew something was wrong and walked up to see all the strings on the Guzheng broken. They spread messily like weeds. 

Wen Fangfei’s expression looked helpless and confused; she had never encountered anything like this. 

“The practice room teacher is too irresponsible. She promised to help us lock the door but didn’t in the end. When we came, the door was open, and anyone could’ve walked in. We’ve just practiced on Friday, and the Guzheng became like this after just two days,” Li Xiaoru said, infuriated, “This is great. I need to reason with her.” 

Li Xiaoru immediately started walking out, but Wen Fangfei got out of her trance and pulled her back, “The practice rooms are open to the public, and we are the ones insisting on leaving the Guzheng here. The teacher isn’t obliged to help us, and she will scold us for leaving it here. If you offend the practice room teacher, how are you going to play the piano at school in the future? We are graduating after two whole years!” 

Li Xiaoru calmed down. 

She knew, as a weak student, that there would be consequences if they offended any teachers at school, “Why did she promise us when she didn’t want to help us? She’s not fulfilling her promise. Why is there someone like her in this world? I’m so angry.” 

“The teacher is keeping her promise. Did you forget? She did lock the door for us on Thursday evening. She probably forgot to on Friday because we left at such a late time. You should blame the person who cut the strings instead of the teacher,” Liu Man was much calmer than Li Xiaoru, “Besides, it’s no use to go after the teacher right now. We need to focus on fixing this situation.” 

Wen Fangfei knelt to closely examine her Guzheng, and she sighed in relief when she realized there wasn’t a big issue, “Luckily, this person only broke the strings and did not harm the Guzheng itself. It’ll be fine after I get it to a shop and have someone change all the strings.” 

Liu Man said, “Your Guzheng’s front and back were made of Paulownia wood, and the decorations were made of Rosewood. It must be expensive since the wood texture is very smooth. There are even patinas on the edges. I’m guessing you’ve been using it for quite a long time, and you love it.”

Wen Fangfei nodded. Liu Man did know her Guzheng facts.

“It’s the second Guzheng my parents bought me; it cost us 50 thousand. I’ve been using it for ten years, but I’ve been too sentimental to change it.” 

Liu Man stretched out her hand and touched Fangfei’s Guzheng. Such a good Guzheng was so close to getting ruined! Liu Man said to Wen Fangfei, “I guess this person is afraid that if they do too much damage, they will get into trouble. If we call the police, they will not only have to compensate for your Guzheng. They probably only want to warn you to stop helping us.”

Both Wen Fangfei and Li Xiaoru were stunned. 

“Simply cutting the strings of the Guzheng is meaningless. If we have the materials or if we find experienced masters, we can change the strings in an hour or two and adjust the tone. But if they do this right before the performance, we won’t be able to do anything. But now, doesn’t this person’s actions give us a hint instead to let us be more prepared? I thought about it, and their purpose can only be to keep you away from us, otherwise next time, they will smash your Guzheng.”

Of course, Liu Man did not understand much about how the modern world worked, but she knew a lot about the tricks to harm and defame people. These were all old and prevalent methods used by women in the cold palace.

After hearing Liu Man’s diagnosis, Wen Fangfei laughed out of her anger. This villain felt it wasn’t enough to spread rumors about Liu Man in the Guzheng major, and they even started taking action on her, Wan Feifang’s Guzheng. 

The good thing was, she wasn’t afraid. She would not give in to their arrogant actions, and she was more than ever determined to help Liu Man and Li Xiaoru now. No one could stop her!

“We don’t have to be afraid of a person who only dares to make moves in the shadows,” Wen Fangfei bravely said, “I’ll go fix my Gzuzheng right now, and after that, we can come back and practice. It’ll be fine since it’s Sunday; I’ll be free all day.”

“I’ll accompany you,” Liu Man and Li Xiaoru said in unison.

As they passed by the practice room teacher’s office, Li Xiaoru glared at the female teacher sitting inside. The female teacher looked surprised as she saw the Guzheng with broken strings in Wen Fangfei’s hands. 

“What happened to your Guzheng?”

“We don’t know who cut the strings while the door was unlocked.”

The female teacher was embarrassed. She just now remembered that she had forgotten to lock the practice room door after the three girls left.

Liu Man asked, “Who was here on Saturday?”

“There were too many people. Since you are having a concert, dozens of students came practicing on the weekends,” The female teacher pulled out a long list of names.

The teacher was perplexed. If there were a student who accidentally went in the room, no one would stoop that low to cut the Guzheng strings.

Most people would realize that the room was preoccupied and would change to a different practice room immediately.

The female teacher had been working here for at least ten years, but it was her first time hearing something like this happened under her watch. 

“There are security cameras here, right?” Li Xiaoru asked the teacher, “Let us see the footage to determine who is the culprit.”

“There are cameras, but I don’t have permission to look at the footage. I’ll need to ask the school’s security department,” The female teacher said, “You’ll need to wait a bit before I get permission.”

“We’ll wait as long as it takes,” Li Xiaoru wanted revenge. She had to catch the culprit.

In reality, Liu Man and her already guessed as to who had been the mastermind.

There was a street outside the music university with many instrument shops. This street got nicknamed “the music road,” and it was very famous within the entire capital. Anyone who wanted to get an instrument would come here to select one. 

Wen Fangfei had been visiting one particular shop that sold folksong instruments whenever she wanted to fix her Guzheng. She led Liu Man and Li Xiaoru through the road she was so familiar with. This shop seemed very old, and the floor was peeling. It did not even take 20 square meters in area. There were all kinds of Chinese traditional instruments on the walls, the floors, and even on the ceiling, including Guzhengs, lutes, erhus, flutes, and Xiaos… Every folksong instrument you could imagine was there. Although there were many and all in different kinds, it didn’t seem messy at all. The owner of this shop organized them based on whether they were wind instruments or string instruments and presented them with a pattern. Customers could easily find what they wanted. 

Liu Man saw the Guqin right next to all the Guzhengs at her first glance. 

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Translated by: Sydney & Yutong/Puppxteer

Proofread by: DoraiO

Chapter 9 – The CEO’s Son

Yesh, first MTMLS update in such a long time. Hope you enjoy this chapter! ❤

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Fang Jiu’s glance landed on him, and she couldn’t resist but threw the pen in her hand heavily onto the table, “Deputy Managing Director Liu, you need evidence to support your claim. If you say I called you yesterday, then prove it with your call records.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Deputy Managing Director Liu, you shouldn’t blemish someone with no proof,” The others all sided with Fang Jiu. After Assistant Lin got redirected, how could anyone dare to challenge the CEO’s woman?

“Of course, I have call records!” Deputy Managing Director Liu immediately took out his phone and showed the call records to Jing Lie.

The latter glanced over it and threw the phone at Fang Jiu, his expression completely cold. 

Everyone else held in their breaths, seeing this scene. They exchanged glances and were unsure of what was going on. 

Taking over the phone, Fang Jiu saw the record of her number, calling this phone at nine o’clock yesterday evening. However, she clearly remembered that she was still charging her phone at that time. Besides, why would she ever call Deputy Managing Director Liu?

Abruptly standing up, she put the phone onto the desk and scanned everyone with a bold expression, “I would like the technology department to verify the authenticity of this call!”

Everyone added to her words and seemed to agree, but right now, nobody dared to side with her easily after what had just happened.

“Secretary Fang, it was you who called me yesterday, and nothing will change even if the technology department verifies it. Are you saying there are two the same phone numbers in this world?” Deputy Managing Director Liu frowned, his face looking angry.

Fang Jiu knocked on the desk, “There aren’t two the same phone numbers, but there are hackers who can penetrate everything!”

She then looked at the silent Jing Lie with a sincere expression, “CEO, I would like to go verify with this phone right now. We’ll be able to know then whether I made this call or not.”

“Yeah, there are many hackers nowadays. My phone was hacked by my wife last month!” 

“No wonder there was a bruise at the corner of your eye last month. Your wife must’ve realized you’re with another woman and hit you!”

“Nonsense. That bruise came from when I tripped!” 

“I think Secretary Fang has no reason to do something like this. Could this… Could this be the chairman’s intention?”

“Wait for a second. Why did the Chairman find Secretary Fang specifically? Is it because…”

“Enough!” Jing Lie’s subconsciously dragged his face down and the room that was full of chattering before suddenly quieted down.

Everyone felt the cold aura around the CEO, and they all sat upright as if nothing had happened. Nobody dared to say their thoughts out loud anymore. 

After a long while, Jing Lie finally directed his sight at Fang Jiu, “Go to the technology department with Deputy Managing Director Liu to verify the record, then come to my office.” 

He then abruptly stood up, “Meeting’s over.” 

Everyone inside the meeting room only started chattering when he exited. Everyone wanted to accompany them to the technology department together, and Fang Jiu didn’t reject them. She wanted there to be more people as witnesses since she was sure she did not do it!

She glared at Deputy Managing Director Liu and walked in front of the group. When they got to the technology department, everyone inside was stunned because the heads of the departments were all there. The technology staff could not pull themselves back to reality for a long time. 

The head of the technology department was only thirty-years-old, but he had won a global prize. He had proudly bragged about how there was not a single computer in this world he could not hack. However, he was much less flaunty now.

After seeing that call record, he frowned before reaching out three fingers, “I promise I’ll finish the verification within half an hour!” 

The head of the Strategies Department immediately waved his hand, “Yes, yes, yes. Wang’s skills are awesome. He set a firewall for my phone last time, and until today, my wife still hasn’t been able to solve it!” 

“Department Head Zhou, you’re defaming me. You don’t know how strong that firewall I set for you is. I bet there are no more than ten people in the world who can hack it!” Department Head Wang started bragging again, stealing a glance at Fang Jiu. 

The latter knocked on his desk and lightly coughed, “Department Head Wang, I still have to go find the CEO. I’ll leave this to you, then.” 

“No problem, leave it to me!” That Department Head Wang even wanted to hand them a letter of guarantee. 

Since there were lots of witnesses, Fang Jiu knew Deputy Managing Director Liu would not dare to pull any tricks. She pushed open the office door and went straight towards the elevator, ignoring the surreptitious looks from the technology department staff outside. 

Fang Jiu came here to verify because she knew Department Head Wang would try his best. After all, he had been crushing on Fang Jiu for a long time but had always been pushed away. Today, he would want to impress her.

However, just when she got in the elevator, she received a phone call. Although it was from an unfamiliar number, she still picked up. 

“Hello. Who is this?”

The female on the other side went quiet for a moment before saying arrogantly, “How do you feel, Secretary Fang? Are you willing to cooperate with me now?” 

As the elevator incessantly went up the floors, Fang Jiu glanced at the two interns beside her and said coldly, holding her anger back: “Miss Zhuang, if you think you can force me to cooperate with you using such despicable strategies, then you’re wrong. You trying to defame my reputation will not change what I consider unscrupulous!” 

An ear-piercing laugh came from the other side of the call, “Hehehe, as expected, Secretary Fang is very confident. Then, let’s see whether your CEO will trust you? Or, more accurately, whether your CEO trusts you and Jing Cheng?” 

The call was suddenly hung up, and the elevator reached the fifth floor. The two interns walked out, and Fang Jiu was alone as she rode the elevator to the ninth floor. 

Only until now did Fang Jiu realize that woman’s vicious thoughts. Her blemishing of Fang Jiu’s reputation was just what she wanted others to think she was doing, but she wanted rumors to be about Fang Jiu and the male lead, Jing Cheng. When the rumors got to Jing Lie, he would think Fang Jiu and the male lead were having an affair. How would he feel then? 

This woman did everything she could to ruin the Jing family, Fang Jiu sighed. When the elevator reached the ninth floor, she paused in front of the CEO’s office, but in the end, she still pushed the door open and walked in. 

Surprisingly, Jing Lie wasn’t processing through files as usual. He had a glass of wine in his hand as he stood in front of the French-style windows, quietly looking down at the city.

Fang Jiu stood beside him, unsure whether to say it or not, “Do you… Do you believe in me?”

Raising the glass of wine to take a small sip, Jing Lie then turned around to place it on a glass desk nearby. He sat down on the couch and reached a hand out to her. 

Fang Jiu froze, but she still went over to hold onto his hand. She then got pulled into his arms. 

“Do you think I’m as irrational as that old man?” He lowered his head down to her neck and inhaled deeply.

Yes, the male lead in the story misunderstood the female lead many times because of rumors. At this time, Fang Jiu felt very fortunate the male lead did not pass down his skeptical genes to his son.

“But…” Jing Lie lifted her chin, his eyes flaring, “Why does it feel like you look at the old man differently than others?”

Fang Jiu: “…”

He didn’t inherit his father’s skeptical nature, but instead inherited his sensitivity!

“Because… The chairman is your father. If I’m not respectful enough, how will he…” 

Saying this, Fang Jiu looked down, and her ears reddened.

Jing Lie smiled lightly and pushed her onto the sofa. He said with a deep voice, “You’re afraid he won’t let you in the house?”

Fang Jiu tilted her head and didn’t speak, but her face flushed.

Laughing softly, he leaned to her ears and said: “Don’t mind the old man, you should focus on me, for instance… give me a son.”

As he spoke, she felt her uniform jacket being taken off, and the shadow in front of her widened, “Hmph…”

It was only until the phone on the table started vibrating and ringing did Jing Lie, with an upset expression, reach over to pick it up. 

 As soon as he picked up, Jing Cheng’s deep voice came from the other side of the call, “I heard something’s going on in the company?”

“I’ll take care of it.” Jing Lie was annoyed. It was the second time. He thought that this old man was creating trouble on purpose!

Noticing how strange his tone sounded and the weak breaths on the other side of the call, Jing Cheng immediately understood what was happening, “A hundred million is nothing. But now, everyone thinks we are stupid because we bought that piece of land with two hundred million. We need to save our reputation!” 

He then added, “Secretary Fang is a nice girl. If you like her, then hurry up and get the job done. Just don’t get her pregnant.” 

Fang Jiu’s face was already so red from blushing when they hung up. How could this father and son have such a shameful conversation!

He threw aside the phone, reached out a hand, and continued to rub her soft waist, “Secretary Fang, tell me. Why do you think he always interrupts us at such a coincidental timing?” 

Fang Jiu, blushing, pulled away from the hand on her waist, “The results are coming out soon. I need to go check.” 

She didn’t believe Zhuang Min would be able to fake something she had never done!

Jing Lie did not get down from her and reached his hand into her shirt, “They all assume we have something going on, but we don’t have anything going on. Don’t you think we should make their assumptions facts?” 

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Translated by: Sydney & Yutong/Puppxteer

Chapter 133: Coming to Support Her

On Saturday afternoon, Liu Man met up with Sun Weiwei and the rest of the group again to film the tenth episode of “Shi-Senpai.” 

As expected, the senior netizens Sun Weiwei and He Qisi knew about Capital Music University’s concert. Nobody remembered they were there to shoot a short video, and they all crowded around Liu Man, asking questions. 

He Qisi said, “We will be there to support you.” 

The popularity of “Shi-Senpai” made Sun Weiwei decide to keep on writing the scripts for this series until they made money. It meant Liu Man had to keep on cooperating with them.

She was doing voluntary work and never asked them for a single penny. At every meeting, Liu Man was always punctual and didn’t act like a cyber star at all. 

Of course, they felt very thankful. If Liu Man hadn’t been there, “Shi-Senpai” would never be so popular on Tik Tok. 

Sun Weiwei adjusted the position of her glasses and said sincerely, “Although the law major has lots of classes on both Thursday and Friday, I will still take a break and come to support you.” 

After being in contact with her for this period, Sun Weiwei was clear that now Liu Man had a completely different personality than the past Liu Man. It was as if she was now a different person. Sun Weiwei even wondered whether two spirits were living in Liu Man’s body. 

Although it sounded a bit scary, Sun Weiwei wasn’t afraid at all. Intimidation never worked on her. She was satisfied with Liu Man’s current personality, and if Liu Man could keep her personality like this forever, Sun Weiwei believed they could still become friends one day. 

Zhang Jiaojiao said, “Us Chinese majors have lots of time, and it’s easy for us to skip classes. If you need to put on some make-up that day, do tell me, and I’ll come early to help you.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Let Jiaojiao apply your make-up. She is a much better make-up artist than you. The make-up you applied back in high school made you look like a tasteless jerk.”

Liu Man: “…”

She felt helpless. Although Sun Weiwei had good intentions, her words were not very nice. 

Wang Sheng said, “I will be there to film and take pictures of you since it’s all I’m good at doing.” 

Chen Han thought about it for a second, “There doesn’t seem to be anything else I can do. Maybe Fang Hao and I will each raise a sign that reads: “Hanfu Goddess, I LOVE U?” 

Fang Hao facepalmed. It sounded so stupid, and he refused to comply! 

Sun Weiwei and Zhang Jiaojiao bursted into laughters. 

Liu Man was also trying hard not to laugh, but she felt very touched inside. 

Being in school society was much easier than being in the cast. Nobody was entangled much on benefits and harms. Helping a friend was normal, and nobody thought about getting anything in return. 

“Thank you guys,” Liu Man told the six people around her. 

“Don’t thank us. It should be us thanking you,” He Qisi said, “We are still hoping to continue to cooperate with you on ‘Shi-Senpai.’ Since we are going to be co-workers for a long time, helping you would be equivalent to helping ourselves.” 

After making promises that they will come to support her, everyone hurriedly started filming the tenth episode of “Shi-Senpai.” The scenes in the video were as funny as the last few episodes. It was expected that there would be, once again, lots of positive comments on Tik Tok. 

On Saturday night, Liu Man returned home and quickly started live-streaming.

“Sis, you aren’t streaming regularly this week. You didn’t come online for a few days, and you start your streams on random times now.” 

Liu Man apologized, “I have been preparing for an important performance for the past two weeks. Sometimes, I would have to practice my pieces during the evenings, and I didn’t live-stream. There was no way for me to stream because I didn’t have time.” 

“Princess, are you talking about that ensemble concert from the Capital Musical University, which is so popular over the internet right now?” 

Liu Man said, “You’re right, I am talking about that concert. Everyone in my major is required to participate.” 

“Wow, it sounds so cool.” 

“I want to see Princess play the piano with my own eyes. (Heart-eyes)”

“It’s unfortunate that I’m not in the capital right now, or else I would be there to support you, sis.” 

“Princess, what piece are you performing?” 

Liu Man replied: “That “Butterfly Lovers” I played for you last time.” 

“Ahhhhhh, it sounded so good. Why did I forget to record it last time?” 

“Hehehe, I recorded it. I’m so smart.” 

“Isn’t it an ensemble concert? You’re probably not the only one playing, right?”

Liu Man had an answer to all of these questions.

“I’m performing with a roommate and another friend from the Guzheng major.”  

“Is the roommate you’re talking about that sis with long legs?” — Otaku Boy

Liu Man laughed, “Yes, I’m talking about her.” 

“That’s awesome! I want to watch your performance, too! I will skip all classes and delay all experiments. Even if it starts raining knives, I would still be there. Nobody can stop me.” — Otaku Boy

“She will be happy to hear that you’re coming too.” 

None of the other fans knew what the live-streamer and this admin of hers were talking about. 

Jiang Chengfeng, on the other side of the screen, was very excited. He couldn’t wait to see Li Xiaoru and Liu Man’s performance.

Roommate B said, “Hey, hey. Calm down. Do you realize there is still a week before the performance?” 

Roommate C asked Roommate A, “Should we go too?” 

Roommate A said, “Yes, of course, we are going too. There will be pretty girls there.” 

Last time, Jiang Chengfeng, as a single dog, shared a picture of him with Li Xiaoru and Liu Man in his WeChat moments. He was having coffee with the two pretty ladies. He received an interrogation from his three roommates that night.

TL’s Note: The phrase “single dog” was in one of the previous chapters, and I’ll explain it again. It’s a common, trendy phrase referring to someone single, of course. It corresponds to the phrase, “dog food.” When a couple shows their affection for each other in public, they are feeding dog food to the “single dogs.” 

Under the stare of three pairs of horrific eyes, he confessed everything. He pointed at the prettiest girl in the photo,

“She’s the Hanfu Goddess.” 

“Duh, we all know.” 

“She’s also Princess Man.” 

There was only dead silence… 

The three roommates exchanged glances. After a long while, Roommate B finally found his words, “This pretty girl’s amazing… Jiang Chengfeng, you’re also amazing.” 

When Princess Man had just started live-streaming, they knew nothing about her. Jiang Chengfeng could tell that she was one of the prettiest ones in the world only from seeing her chin and her silhouette. He was quite astute.

Jiang Chengfeng pointed at the other girl in the photo, “She’s Princess Man’s roommate.” 

As he said this, his face was a bit red. 

Roommate A, B, and C were smart and instantly understood this boy had a crush on Princess Man’s roommate. 

From that day on, they never missed any one of Princess Man’s streams. Every day, they would wait in front of the phone with Jiang Chengfeng obsessively, hoping for Princess Man to come online. 

The live-stream continued,

“Which means our live-streamer’s piece is a trio. It is also in a Chinese and western style.”

“A piece combining both the Chinese and western style is good. I’ve listened to a lute and a violin playing together, and it was astonishing.”

“‘Butterfly Lovers’ is such a classic piece. I have heard of a piano version, violin version, a Guzheng version, and even an erhu version. However, I have never heard of the piano and Guzheng combined version. I look forward to it.” 

“I’ve decided. I want to go watch the performance, too.” — Peach is a fairy

Within the next second, Peach sent a message to Liu Man on WeChat, “Man, make sure to send me the time and the address of your performance. I will be there to support you.” 

Liu Man replied, “Okay.” 

“I wish I am in the capital city right now. I can only wish to sis a successful performance from far away.” — I’m Tingting

“Me, too. I wish you a successful performance.” — Dragon’s Roar

I’m Tingting gifted you 2 Fairytale Carriages.

Dragon’s Roar gifted you 2 Fairytale Carriages.

The two other admins in Princess Man’s stream could not be there, so they gifted her presents beforehand.

A dozen of her old fans also gifted her presents. 

To thank everyone for their support, Liu Man sat down in front of her piano and started playing “Butterfly Lovers” again. Daylight lay down on the top of the piano, and Moonlight went up to the front of the cage. Both cats have learned to enjoy her playing with the fans because she played so much. 

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Translated by: Sydney