Chapter 606: The God of Music?
"Zhang Yaqian, still want to hear me sing 'Blue and White Porcelain'?"
Zhao Tao looked at his fiancée, Zhang Yaqian, with hopeful eyes, wanting to regain her favor. He knew his hesitation with the safety talisman earlier must have cost him dearly, and he needed to win her back quickly.
Zhang Yaqian slightly furrowed her delicate brows. A subtle unease coiled in her gut. Intellectually, she knew she couldn't entirely blame Zhao Tao for freezing in a moment of panic—after all, the talisman was a gift of immense value from Master Shen. But logic was cold comfort. A rift, fine as a hairline crack in porcelain, had formed in her heart, and she hesitated to respond. The initial excitement for a night out had evaporated, replaced by a leaden sense of dread.
Her interest was gone, her mind consumed by worry. Yesterday, it was a prophesied bloody disaster that manifested as a terrifying car accident. Today, a suffocating sense of misfortune hung over her like dark, oppressive clouds. She couldn't shake the feeling that another calamity was waiting just around the corner, ready to strike. 'Why? Why am I so unlucky?' she wondered, a shiver of fear tracing its way down her spine. An idea began to take root in her troubled mind. 'Should I… should I ask Master Shen to perform a ritual for me? To resolve this curse?'
As if reading her thoughts, a glint of a predatory smile flashed in Shen Anyu's dark eyes. He took the initiative, his voice smooth and persuasive. "Zhao Tao wants to sing? Then I'm interested, Miss Zhang Yaqian. Let's listen together."
The moment Shen Anyu spoke, the resistance in Zhang Yaqian's heart melted away. His words were the only permission she needed. She immediately turned to Zhao Tao, her tone soft but firm. "Since Master Shen wants to listen, then Zhao Tao, you should perform well."
Turning back to Shen Anyu, Zhang Yaqian's entire demeanor shifted. A sweet, almost girlish smile blossomed on her face, erasing the shadows of her earlier anxiety. "Master Shen," she said, her voice dropping to a more intimate register, "we're already so familiar with each other. There's no need to keep calling me Miss Zhang Yaqian. You can just call me Zhang Yaqian, or… Qianqian."
"Alright, Zhang Yaqian," Shen Anyu replied, the curve of his lips widening into a triumphant smile. Her invitation was a clear signal, a surrender he was more than happy to accept.
Without another word, Shen Anyu led the way, and the two of them took seats in a plush, private booth situated directly in front of the stage at Jiangnan Bar. The spot offered a perfect, unobstructed view, setting them apart from the rest of the clientele.
Zhao Tao, however, trailed after them like a lost puppy, his expression a mixture of hope and anxiety. He hovered near their table, unable to bring himself to leave for the stage.
"Zhao Tao, weren't you going to sing?" Shen Anyu looked up at him, his gaze deceptively casual, though he knew precisely what was going through the young man's mind. "Why did you follow us over?"
"I…" Zhao Tao stammered, his eyes darting between Shen Anyu and Zhang Yaqian. The words caught in his throat. How could he possibly explain? How could he admit that the thought of leaving his breathtakingly beautiful fiancée alone with another man, especially one as charismatic and mysterious as Shen Anyu, filled him with a gnawing dread?
Zhang Yaqian, however, had no patience for his hesitation. Her mind was a whirlwind of dark premonitions, and the only thing she wanted was to finish this charade and have a private word with Master Shen. "Zhao Tao, hurry up and get on with it. I have to go back early," she urged, her tone sharp with impatience. If Zhao Tao hadn't pleaded so desperately, she would have already left this noisy, suffocating bar. The song was just a delay, an obstacle.
The system's cold, mechanical voice echoed only in Shen Anyu's mind, a satisfying confirmation of his efforts.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhao Tao is heartbroken, plundering +6666 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhao Tao is depressed, plundering +8888 Destiny Points!]
Her words were the final push. "Alright then," Zhao Tao conceded, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I'll go up on stage and sing." He cast one long, pleading look back at Zhang Yaqian, then another, and a third, each step toward the stage feeling like a mile. Finally, he ascended the short stairs and stepped into the spotlight of the Jiangnan Bar.
Under the swift and efficient arrangements of the manager, the bar's pulsating music had already faded to a respectful silence. The stage was well-equipped, even boasting traditional instruments like a guzheng, ready for a proper performance.
The patrons, their revelry interrupted, looked on with a mix of curiosity and annoyance, their whispers filling the sudden quiet.
"That kid's going to sing? What's going on? They stopped the music right when I was about to hit the dance floor with my girl!"
"I heard the manager say that guy is the hidden boss of Jiangnan Bar. He's covering everyone's tab for the whole night."
"Whoa, seriously? That's generous as hell! Wow… well, in that case, let's give him a listen. Hehe, these rich second-generations really have money to burn."
"He's handsome and rich… I wonder if I can get his number later?"
"A rich kid wants to sing? Let's just hope he doesn't torture our ears!"
For that moment, every single person in the Jiangnan Bar—staff and customers alike—had their eyes fixed on Zhao Tao. He stood at the center of the stage, the focal point of hundreds of gazes, the undisputed center of attention.
A powerful surge of pride swelled in Zhao Tao's chest, momentarily washing away his jealousy. This was it. This was his moment. He was the most dazzling man in the room, the star of the show.
'This is nothing,' he thought, his confidence soaring. 'Just a small taste. In the future, I, Zhao Tao, will become the world's biggest superstar! I'll hold concerts for millions, with countless adoring fans screaming my name!'
He glanced toward the booth, his eyes locking onto Zhang Yaqian. 'With my voice, with this song, I will shatter all of her doubts. I'll make her see me in a completely new light!'
'And when my true identity as Hua Shen is revealed, she'll be utterly captivated. She won't just favor me—she'll fall madly in love with me!'
'I am the God of Chinese music, Hua Shen!'
Reinvigorated, filled with vigor and ambition, Zhao Tao took the microphone. He struck a passionate pose, looking directly at Zhang Yaqian, his voice ringing with emotion. "This song is dedicated to my most beautiful fiancée, Miss Zhang Yaqian. I—"
His declaration was cut short by a brutal system notification that felt like a physical blow.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhao Tao's vision went black, plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
While Zhao Tao was preparing for his grand performance, Zhang Yaqian had already turned her back on the stage, leaning closer to Shen Anyu. Her lovely almond eyes, clouded with profound worry, gazed at him earnestly. She parted her pink lips, her voice a soft, anxious whisper. "Master Shen, please, take a look for me. Did I do something wrong? Did I offend someone? Why… why have I been so unlucky recently?"
"It's possible," Shen Anyu said, his lips curving into a knowing smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Let me read your palm." He casually reached out and took Zhang Yaqian's soft, delicate hand in his. Her skin was smooth as silk, her fingers slender and cool to the touch. He turned her hand over, his thumb tracing the lines of her palm with a deliberate, almost playful slowness.
Zhang Yaqian pursed her tender, rosy lips, a captivating blush spreading across her pure, beautiful face. She felt a wave of shyness wash over her. She remembered having her palm read by him before, at the lakeside pavilion in Jinxiu Mountain Villa, but it hadn't been like this. That time, it was a brief, professional touch. This time, he wasn't just reading her palm; he was holding her hand, enveloping it completely in his own warm, strong grip.
But her bashfulness was quickly overshadowed by a rising tide of fear. She saw Shen Anyu's brows knit together in a tight, solemn frown, his expression turning grave. Her heart plummeted. A terrible premonition seized her. "Master Shen," she asked, her voice trembling slightly, "is… is the problem very serious?"
At that moment, Zhang Yaqian completely forgot about Zhao Tao and his song. Her world had narrowed to this single point of contact, this single source of hope and terror. Her mind was filled with nothing but fear and a desperate worry for her future. Yesterday, Master Shen had warned of a bloody disaster, and she had almost died in a car crash. If not for the safety talisman he had given her, she couldn't even bear to imagine the outcome. Today, the dark clouds of misfortune were gathering again. Oh, fate, what cruel destiny awaited her?
"Let's listen to the song first," Shen Anyu said calmly, his expression unreadable, though a faint smile touched his lips. "We'll talk after the song is over."
Hearing his words, Zhang Yaqian could only force a weak, tight smile and nod gently. Her starry eyes turned obediently toward the stage, but her heart was a frantic drum, praying for the performance to end. 'Zhao Tao, please, just hurry up and sing.'
…Zhao Tao.
This was not how he had imagined it. Not at all.
In his fantasy, he would be on stage, bathed in the adoring glow of the spotlight, singing with a passion that moved heaven and earth. He would reveal his secret identity as Hua Shen, and his fiancée, Zhang Yaqian, would be utterly stunned. Her pretty pink lips would part in disbelief, her eyes would brim with tears of profound emotion, and she would rush onto the stage to throw her arms around him and give him a fragrant, loving kiss.
But the reality was a nightmare. Zhang Yaqian was sitting intimately with another man, her small, delicate hand held captive in his grasp. Ahem, Master Shen hadn't let go, and Zhang Yaqian, lost in her own flustered anxiety, hadn't seemed to notice or care.
'It's just palm reading,' Zhao Tao desperately told himself, a frantic mantra running through his mind. 'That's all it is. It's nothing. Master Shen read my palm before too. Just holding hands… it doesn't mean anything. It's normal. It's like a doctor taking a patient's pulse. It's completely normal!'
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to rally. He plastered a deeply affectionate expression onto his rather handsome face and snapped his fingers with a flourish. The accompaniment began. The ethereal, moving sounds of the guzheng and the haunting melody of a bamboo flute filled the bar, instantly captivating everyone present.
Under the spell of the beautiful melody, Zhang Yaqian momentarily suppressed the suffocating fear in her heart, nodding her head gently to the rhythm.
Seeing this small sign of approval, Zhao Tao's spirits immediately lifted. He raised the microphone to his lips and began to sing:
"The unglazed embryo outlines the blue and white…"
"The bottle's body… is like your first makeup."
The stage at the Jiangnan Bar, which Zhao Tao had spared no expense in building, was a marvel of modern technology. Dry ice mist swirled around his feet, creating a dreamlike, fairy-tale atmosphere. On the massive LED screen behind him, the elegant shape of a blue and white porcelain vase materialized, rotating gently in time with the song's melody.
As Zhao Tao's voice washed over the room, a look of profound shock slowly dawned in Zhang Yaqian's starry eyes. The Zhao Tao she knew—the one who was hopelessly tone-deaf—could actually sing? And not just sing, but sing this beautifully?
He sounded almost exactly like Hua Shen.
If she weren't witnessing it live, Zhang Yaqian would have sworn it was a pre-recorded track, that he was lip-syncing.
"How is this so much like Hua Shen?" Zhang Yaqian murmured softly, her expression a mixture of curiosity and deep puzzlement.
"And your enchanting smile…" Zhao Tao sang, his eyes fixed on Zhang Yaqian's shocked face. A wave of satisfaction and smugness washed over him. He held the microphone with the confident flair of a pop music king, his performance growing bolder.
Almost everyone in the Jiangnan Bar was staring at him in stunned surprise, utterly mesmerized by the quality of his voice.
Shen Anyu watched the Child of Destiny Zhao Tao showing off with great interest, tapping his fingers on Zhang Yaqian's small hand to the beat, a playful thought in his mind: 'The God of music? The moment of his downfall is coming soon.'
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]