Anran never expected this to unfold this way. 

In contrast to Anran, the audience in the live broadcast room were overwhelmed and awed.

[This man is really meticulous.]

[Hahaha, dare to fool Fu Jinxiao? Young man, I’m afraid you’re still too tender.]

[Damn it, when you thought you were on the third floor, he was already on the fifth floor.]

[Sister, no, he’s actually already in the atmosphere!] 

Anran stiffly explained, “I didn’t bring the hint card with me, because I was afraid of being snatched by the assassin. I… uh, put it in another place. But Fu-ge, no need to worry, I really didn’t lie to you. How about I’ll send the card to your room for you to see when I go back at night?” 

“No need.” Fu Jinxiao lazily refused, stood up and looked downstairs. When he saw Shen Xingsui at the bottom floor with the corner of his eyes, he smiled. Then, he explained his reason to Anran, “It’s not good if people see us and misunderstand it.” 

Anran: “…?”

It’s Anran who took the initiative to go into Fu Jinxiao’s room. While Anran wasn’t afraid, it’s Fu Jinxiao who didn’t want others to “misunderstand”.

This implication wasn’t harmful, but it was extremely insulting. 

This, however, was very funny for the audience. 

[Fu-ge is a clean man indeed. Hahahaha!] 

[Gossip? Impossible. Nip them in the bud!]

[You don’t have to worry about a man who will strangle any scandal at the cradle.]

By noon, most of the guests had already finished their work for half a day. The tasks issued for this morning was really a lot of trouble for everyone, but it was especially troublesome for Shen Xingchen. Thankfully, there’s another lottery draw by noon, and he was freed from his kitchen duty. Li Xu’an, who went from being the security guard to a canteen worker, got his job. He somehow managed to whip up a proper lunch. 

The students all eat at the canteen for lunch. So the number of orders was overwhelming. 

Shen Xingsui also came to help. He was in charge of serving the food, but when a little boy was waiting in line, the boy refused when he was offered. With a hoarse voice, the little boy said, “Teacher, please just give me the rice.” 

Shen Xingsui was taken aback. “Why?”

“I brought my own food.” He said, “I just need the rice.” 

Although Shen Xingsui was puzzled, he still complied with the child’s request. But the curiosity was killing him, so after the boy left, he asked a child behind him: “Is he in your class?” 

The child nodded in affirmation.

Shen Xingsui asked, “Then he really brought his own vegetables?”

The child replied,  “He has always eaten the pickles he brought from home. It has been like this for several weeks.” 

“Why?” Shen Xingsui frowned inwardly. He didn’t want the child to think he was frowning at the child. “Is the food here expensive? It shouldn’t be… right? It’s a few yuan for a set meal, which consists of several dishes.” 

The child shook his head and said, “No, he didn’t want to pay for the food, because he said he wanted to save money to buy a harmonica.”

Shen Xingsui was puzzled, “Why does he want that?” 

“He likes music!” The child behind said with a smile, “He wants to be a musician, but his singing skill is terrible. So he said he wants to learn to play a musical instrument!” 

“…”

Shen Xingsui fell silent.

Perhaps because he felt his heart hurt a little for the boy, Shen Xingsui left the cafeteria and went outside, where the majority of the children liked to eat. It’s easy for him to spot the boy eating – he sat near the flower bed not far away. 

“Ah, so you’re here.” Shen Xingsui walked over with light steps. He saw the lunch box next to the child, and there were indeed some dried radishes and peppers inside. However, those weren’t sufficient to support a young boy’s growth, so he frowned and asked, “Why do you just eat this?”

The boy turned his head to see who’s talking to him. Seeing it was Shen Xingsui, he immediately became nervous. 

“I brought you some meat bread1not really meat bread, it’s actually 烤饼/kaobing, but this is the closest thing I can translate it into..” Shen Xingsui took them out from behind and gave them to the boy, “This is baked by Instructor Tuya. It’s delicious, please try it.” 

The boy’s eyes gleamed when he saw the sweet pastry, but his body language indicated that he was hesitating for some reason. 

Shen Xingsui smiled lightly, trying to reassure the boy, “No need for money.”

After he finished speaking, the boy let go of his hesitation completely. This bread was stuffed full of aromatic meat. It was very delicious, and the boy gobbled it up within seconds. 

Shen Xingsui quickly patted him on the back: “Don’t eat too fast, you’ll choke. Don’t worry, I can get another for you after your lunch.”

The little boy shook his head, and said in a low voice, “No need for another, Teacher. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Shen Xingsui took advantage of the situation to ask, “I heard that you want to buy a harmonica. Do you like music?”

The little boy hesitated and nodded.

Shen Xingsui smiled and said, “What song do you like?”

The little boy swallowed the bread in his mouth and replied softly, “Shimmer.”

“?” Shen Xingsui was taken aback, “Which ‘Shimmer’…?”

“This one…” Then, the boy sang a few very recognizable lines. 

Shen Xingsui had no words. This was the first time he heard someone cover his own song in reality, and the most amazing thing was that this person sang it out of tune in front of him.

Shen Xingsui pursed his lips and smiled, hesitantly said: “Do you know who sang this song?”

“I think the singer was a group of big brothers?” The little boy lowered his head, “Actually, I can’t remember, but Grandma really likes to listen to this song. But she is old and sick, and often cannot sleep because of the pain. If I sing this song to Grandma, she will laugh every time.” 

Shen Xingsui felt really touched by this. He sank down a little, then asked in a soft tone, “Is your grandma seriously ill?”

The little boy replied, “She said it was an old illness.”

Shen Xingsui asked, “Where are your parents, will they take care of Grandma?”

“Both of them work somewhere out of the town. So it’s just me and Grandma at home.”  The little boy was tanned unevenly across his body, so it’s clear he actually had a fair share of working outside too. “My parents will send a little money back every month, and sometimes they forget, so I go to the farm with my grandma and sell some vegetables.” Maybe it’s because no one usually chatted with him – once someone had taken the initiative to talk and listen to him, the floodgate opened, and this boy really could talk his mouth off. 

He said that his grandma likes to listen to people singing on TV.

He said that because the Internet at home is not good, he actually sang more songs to grandma in compensation. 

He likes to sing very much, and he thinks it would be great if he can become a singer in the future.

He said that he also wrote songs, but his classmates said he wouldn’t make it as a musician because his composition isn’t good. 

Shen Xingsui asked, “Can I see the song you composed?”

The little boy hesitated for a moment, but relented and took out a neatly folded, but a little wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket. There were some notes written on it with a clumsy hand, and the lines were uneven. It’s clear he still hasn’t understood writing songs yet. As for the lyrics, the little boy clearly tried to make it as poetic and rhyme, but it was clearly the work of a child. 

However, despite all of this, Shen Xingsui was impressed. He could see some potential with this clumsy work. 

Music was something extracted from the heart, after all. And this work clearly was that. 

Shen Xingsui said, “Did you write this yourself?”

The little boy nodded.

Looking at Shen Xingsui’s expression, he became a little more unconfident. He kinda wanted to take it back so this big brother won’t see it anymore. “Grandma always said that if I like to sing, I should sing. If I become a singer in the future, she will definitely listen to me singing every day. B-but… she’s not healthy. I’m afraid that she won’t be able to hear it in the future, so I tried to write a song now. But it didn’t seem to be very successful…” 

“How could it be?” Shen Xingsui said with a smile, “It’s obviously well written.”

The little boy hesitated, “But my classmates all said that my lyrics are poor, and even if I arrange them, they will be ugly.”

“That’s nonsense.” Shen Xingsui patted the little boy’s head, “Music has no limits, your lyrics are very good. The arrangement is not bad either. I know this is a nice song.” 

The little boy’s dark face subconsciously showed a simple smile, and his dark eyes seemed to have a bright light inside, “Really?”

Shen Xingsui showed him a genuine smile, “Trust me.”

The audience in the live broadcast room also laughed in fondness. 

[Little friend, the strongest arranger of “Starlight” is in front of you.]

[Hahaha, you can always trust Shen Xingsui with composition.]

[If Suisui says that it is good, then it’s 100% must be good!]

[Pure passerby here, is his composing ability really that good?]

[It’s no exaggeration! Besides, if he’s a hack, then why did almost all of the “Starlight” contestants come to him for his opinion on their musical arrangement? That, and he also arranged all of the songs he sang there.] 

The lunch time finally ended. Most of the guests were finally given the precious time to rest. 

One of them found out that Shen Xingsui was missing and came out to find him. After searching him for a minute or two, they happened to see Shen Xingsui at the playground not far away. He was reading something, and a little boy was sitting beside. 

The afternoon sun was particularly gentle today. It meanders through the foliage, then it illuminates the two people there. It made a particularly serene scene. 

Tuya, one of the people who saw this, started gnawing on the pastry she baked herself. With an emotional tone, she said, “Ah… Suisui’s temperament is actually very handsome like this, don’t you think? He looks so gentle… I bet that when he starts his career in the future, he will be crazily popular with many kinds of people.” 

Shen Xingchen nodded in fierce agreement. “Of course he will!” 

Fu Jinxiao, who was next to him, leaned against the door. He looked away from the playground, and it drew an unknown gentle smile on his smile. 

Then, he turned to Tuya. The air suddenly dropped a few degrees as he said, “I heard you want to… matchmake him up with someone in this circle?” 

Tuya was peacefully eating her pastries when shivers went down her spine. She felt an inexplicable sense of threat, like the creepy feeling of being preyed upon by a venomous snake. It almost choked her. Running on pure survival instinct, she replied, “Ahem, ahem… where did you hear that nonsense?” 

“Nowhere. It’s nothing, really. I just think that since you are so warm-hearted…. then…” Fu Jinxiao trailed. He seemed to have made some kind of choice. The tall man changed his posture, facing the terrified Tuya, while his face was still serene. If anything, his gentle smile only turned gentler, somehow. He dragged his vowels, deepened his tones, then bent to whisper near Tuya’s ears. With a very quiet voice, he asked Tuya:

“Well, would you like to help me too?”

Tuya: “ …?”

 

1not really meat bread, it’s actually 烤饼/kaobing, but this is the closest thing I can translate it into.

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