Defeated By Love

Translated by Fairy_Dust

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“You passed the audition.” Li Qing laughed and said. “Also, you don’t have to sing the theme song anymore. The producer will find someone else to do it so you don’t need to worry about this.”

Shu Nian thought that she was dreaming because of the sudden news at that moment. She recovered and quickly nodded: “Okay, thank you, director.”

Shu Nian was still a little dazed after hanging up the phone.

There was no need to sing.

The feeling was like that of a person who had accidentally lost a corner of a 10 cent note1 and thought that they couldn’t use it anymore. But a day later, they actually managed to find it in the washing machine.

The lost corner was found.

Shu Nian was in a good mood. She got up and washed herself. Perhaps it was due to the lack of sleep, she didn’t have much of an appetite. After drinking a large glass of water, she returned to her room.

Then, she received another phone call.

It was an unknown number from Ruchua City.

Shu Nian hesitated but still picked it up: “Hello, who is this?”

The voice of a strange man came through: “Hello, is this Miss Shu?”

“Yes.”

“Miss Shu, I am Teacher Ah He’s assistant, Fang Wencheng.” Fang Wencheng’s voice was gentle. “It’s like this, we have to give the finished song to Huajing before the end of this month. In order to ensure that there is enough time, we have to begin recording the day after tomorrow. Will you be able to come?”

Shu Nian was caught off guard and said: “Just, just now Director Li told me that I didn’t need to sing.”

“It was supposed to be like this. We were going to find a singer but we couldn’t find the right one.” Fang Wencheng said. “So in the end, we still chose you.”

Shu Nian reminded him: “You probably remembered the wrong person. I can’t sing.”

Fang Wencheng was very patient: “No, you’re the right person.”

“You shouldn’t pick me.” Shu Nian said seriously. “I will affect the pace at which you’re working in and the end product may not necessarily be useable. If you want the song to be completed at the end of the month, there are still three weeks left.”

“It’s okay.” Fang Wencheng said. “It will only take an hour or two to record a full song.”

“…” Shu Nian suspected that he couldn’t catch the meaning in her words at all.

“There is plenty of time. If the song is still not satisfactory after practice, we can consider replacing you but right now we would prefer you to sing so that it’ll fit in better with the film.”

Shu Nian was a little perplexed but she didn’t know how to refuse him.

“…okay.”

“Teacher Ah He usually record songs in his own recording studio so I may need to trouble you to take a trip there. I’ll send you the address in a minute.”

Shu Nian asked: “Where is the recording studio?”

Fang Wencheng was frank about the matter: “In Teacher Ah He’s house.”

Shu Nian’s expression froze over.

As if he had sensed her hesitation, Fang Wencheng’s voice became apologetic: “I’m really sorry but Teacher Ah He’s legs and feet are not convenient to move about. He will usually arrange to do his work at home.”

At that, Shu Nian argued no more: “Okay, I’ll be there on time.”

Following the address and time set by Fang Wencheng, she arrived at Laiyin River Garden on time. It was a wealthy community located in the centre of the city. Fang Wencheng was already waiting for her at the entrance of the community2.

As soon as she got closer, Shu Nian recognised Fang Wencheng.

It was the person who helped pushed Xie Ruhe’s wheelchair that day and also the one who imitated her singing in the control room.

Shu Nian’s eyebrows moved as she walked over.

Fang Wencheng looked at her. He smiled and introduced himself: “Miss Shu, I’m Teacher Ah He’s assistant. My name is Fang Wencheng.”

Shu Nian nodded: “Hello, I’m Shu Nian.”

“Let’s go up.”

“Okay.”

Xie Ruhe lived on the 16th floor.

Fang Wencheng took her up. One led the way and the other followed from behind. They stood at the front door to change their shoes.

Shu Nian rarely went to other people’s homes. At that time, she began to feel cramped and panicked. She always had this fear that something bad would happen. She clenched her sleeves and tightened her lips without saying anything though.

Fang Wencheng took Shu Nian into the living room.

There was nothing superfluous in the living room. Most of which were just basic furniture. As soon as they walked in, Xie Ruhe’s figure could be seen. He was sitting by the sofa, in loose clothing. He held a guitar in his hands and played it with his eyes cast down. He was silent.

Fang Wencheng hadn’t mentioned any of this to Xie Ruhe yet. He didn’t expect him to be in the living room and was very nervous at that moment: “Teacher Ah He, I brought over the singer you wanted.”

He could hear two sets of footsteps.

Xie Ruhe didn’t lift his head. His voice was cold: “You can tell her to leave.”

Fang Wencheng bravely stated: “It’s Shu——”

Xie Ruhe’s mood was extremely bad that day and he interrupted him: “When did I want a singer?”

“…”

“You didn’t tell me in advance.” Xie Ruhe plucked the strings. He curled his lips and chuckled. “Is this a garbage dump? Where people can come and go?”

It was silent for a few seconds.

Fang Wencheng felt that the current situation was really awkward. He turned his head and looked at Shu Nian. He apologised to her: “I’m sorry, Teacher Ah He is not in a good mood today. Let me send you back first.”

Shu Nian was a little embarrassed and reluctantly replied: “It’s okay.”

In the next moment, the guitar stopped.

Xie Ruhe quickly raised his eyes.

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Footnotes

Here is what a 10 cent note looks like: In China, there are round about 30 floors in each apartment building and on each floor there will live around 10 households so instead of calling it a building, they’re referred to as a community.