Reading Better Than Singing
Chapter 1/15 of the week. I'm going on a vacation until Wednesday. Chapters are scheduled on LiberSpark, but since Patreon doesn't have a scheduling system, I've posted all the 9 chapters that will be posted here by Wednesday on Patreon. That means by pledging only $1, you can immediately read to c365. Of course, feel free to tip us if you can pledge a higher tier: Patreon!
Don't be surprised if I messed up the scheduling, e.g. 361 is posted at 10am, while 360 is posted at 10pm. Just wait and the problem shall fix itself. :P Or just read on Patreon. :smirk:
Hui Lin didn’t know how to use the equipment in the karaoke room. As a result, she blushed as she timidly asked Tang Tang to pick a song for her.
“Sister Hui Lin, what song do you want to sing?”
Shyly, Hui Lin bit her lower lip and said, “I don’t know many modern songs. Can I sing an old one instead?”
“Yeah, sure. Classical songs are great as well,” Tang Tang said as he nodded.
“I want Ye Qianwen’s Possibilities of Love,” Hui Lin said.
Tang Tang quickly picked the song before looking at Hui Lin out of curiosity, while Yuan Ye brought round the same anticipation, since he hasn’t heard of the song before as well.
Hui Lin’s voice was highly praised by the major producers in Yu Lei Entertainment. Since she regarded as a singer with unlimited potential, she naturally picked a song she liked.
She began singing.
“You appeared before me.”
”Like a miracle that took place. I didn’t expect him to be you.”
”You make me feel like I lost my soul.”
…
“Because you have your path to go, I have my own journey.
”There are people waiting for you in front.”
“You’d cry, laugh, love and get hurt...”
Hui Lin was deeply immersed in her performance as she sang the classical love song. Especially due to her delicate voice, the others were fully immersed as well.
It only took her one song for Tang Tang to clap her hands so hard that her palms reddened.
Hui Lin let out a shy smile as she passed the mic to Lin Ruoxi. “Elder Sister, sing us a song as well.”
Lin Ruoxi’s face showed bitterness written all over it. There was not a hint of her smile to be seen. However, everyone already had a go. She didn’t have a reason not to sing anymore.
“Wife, you couldn’t possibly be afraid of merely singing a song, are you?” Yang Chen could tell that Lin Ruoxi didn’t want to sing. Is it possible that she is shy?
Lin Ruoxi angrily rolled her eyes at Yang Chen before picking up the mic. “Who says I’m afraid? It’s just singing”
After she finished speaking, she stood up and walked towards the monitor before starting to pick a song.
However, almost five minutes had gone by but Lin Ruoxi was still choosing a song. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to sing.
“Do you want to sing ‘Two Little Tigers’?” Yang Chen said as he ribbed at Lin Ruoxi.
[TL note: Two Little Tigers is a Chinese nursery rhyme.]
Lin Ruoxi gave him a death stare, with the main reason being she really had the urge to choose ‘Two Little Tigers’!
However, Lin Ruoxi being who she is, naturally wouldn’t do something so trivial. Thus, having thought for some time, she chose the song ‘Dark Skies’ by Mo Wenwei.
The song itself isn’t too difficult to sing in general. But Mo Wenwei’s unique voice managed to make this song particularly touching.
Yang Chen had never listened to Lin Ruoxi sing before. After all, she wasn’t privy to talking much after all. Why would she sing for him out of nowhere?
Lin Ruoxi’s back was facing the others, while her forehead exuded sweat. Her palms were sweating as her body stiffened like a log, not to mention her face was filled with sorrow.
When the lyrics turned red to indicate it was time for her to sing, Lin Ruoxi clenched her teeth and started singing…
“Dark skies… in… the room… of a… a person…”
When Lin Ruoxi finished singing the first sentence of the song, everyone else in the room revealed ‘astonishmentt’ on their faces!
It was because none of the words in the first sentence was sung at a correct pitch by Lin Ruoxi!
To put in simpler terms, it was more difficult to score zero in a test than to score full marks. If one wanted to sing every single word of a song out of time, it was much more challenging than accurately singing all the words!
However, somehow, Lin Ruoxi managed to do it! She made the tune of the song sound unrecognizable!
Yang Chen and Hui Lin subconsciously looked at each other, while Yuan Ye and Tang Tang did the same as well, completely astonished!
Lin Ruoxi ignored the people behind, and continued using her flawless voice to sing a totally unmatched melody!
In fact, the truly significant aspect of her voice wasn’t her ability to go out of tune, but her tone instead. It was straight up noise. In short, she’d sing the song better if she read the lyrics aloud!
In this world, there were people who are better at reading the lyrics than singing it who exist...
Yang Chen didn’t know if he was supposed to cry or laugh. His wife had a hidden side. No wonder she didn’t want to sing earlier. She got afraid when she heard that all the others could sing better. As a result, she had to force herself to perform in embarrassment.
It was exactly as Yang Chen guessed. Lin Ruoxi initially thought that a rough guy like Yang Chen wouldn’t know how to sing, so she promised to come with them as she wouldn’t be the only one in shame. To her surprise, Yang Chen was excellent at singing!
In such a situation, Lin Ruoxi got herself into an awkward situation. She couldn’t just escape this. In her dictionary, running away in fear wasn’t part of it. Hence, even if she had to embarrass herself, all she needed to do was to sing calmly.
When Lin Ruoxi turned around after she finished singing, Yuan Ye and Tang Tang sat there silently, as if having just experienced trauma.
Hui Lin turned her head away as she didn’t dare to look at Lin Ruoxi in the eye. It was out of respect for Lin Ruoxi that she decided not to voice out any of her opinions.
Yang Chen smiled awkwardly and said, “Not bad, I’m impressed.”
Lin Ruoxi snorted in dissatisfaction. “You don’t need to pretend. I’ll be honest with you guys. Since young, I have always been the worst in music. My teacher said that I was tone deaf. In high school, my music teacher allowed me to skip all her classes, in sheer pity. You guys must have some high tolerance if you haven’t run out of this room yet.”
Yuan Ye and Tang Tang glanced at each other. Actually, it’s not that they didn’t want to escape, but their legs were softened after they heard Lin Ruoxi’s horrifying voice.
Yang Chen smiled and said, “Wife, it’s fine. The number of people who can sing every word out of tune is certainly less than the ones who can sing it in tume. You’re one-of-a-kind.”
“I’m not a singer, it’s fine if I can’t sing. I don’t need your petty consolation.” Lin Ruoxi’s face was as cold as an iceberg. She walked to the sofa and put down the mic.
Tang Tang quietly took the mic away and passed it to Hui Lin. “Sister Hui Lin, sing one more song for us.”
They were in need of a pleasant voice that could calm their injured minds.
Hui Lin smiled awkwardly before choosing the song ‘Warmth’ by Liang Jingru, while avoiding to glance at Lin Ruoxi who was exuding a violent and cold aura.
Her intentions didn’t have to explained. The name of the song she picked was self-explanatory.
After her horrible performance, Lin Ruoxi didn’t sing a single sentence anymore. She had sat there silently as she listened to Hui Lin sing. Although she didn’t say anything, it was evident from her eyes that she felt rather envious.
Yang Chen secretly thought, This woman is indeed a treasure. The moment she opens her mouth to sing, her iceberg-beauty attitude instantly falls into pieces!
The following hour was simply Hui Lin’s solo performance. Having heard enough, under Yang Chen’s suggestion, they left the karaoke place.
Yang Chen knew that Lin Ruoxi was so heavily affected, that her body would be left with no skin from her seething, if she heard anymore of Hui Lin’s singing.
After bidding farewell to Yuan Ye and Tang Tang, the three returned home. Hui Lin helped Wang Ma with some housework, while Lin Ruoxi wanted to walk upstairs to work, looking down.
Yang Chen approached her with a smile and said, “Babe Ruoxi, let’s go sing again tomorrow.” Yang Chen took out the platinum member card given by Yuan Ye and waved it in front of her.
Flushing, Lin Ruoxi stared at him angrily. “Do you want to see me embarrass myself?”
“No, it’ll be just the two of us. I’ll teach you how to sing. You have an excellent voice, it isn’t logical that you can’t sing well. You can’t avoid it for the rest of your life, can you?”
“So what if that’s the case? It’ll be fine if I never sing again in the future,” Lin Ruoxi said in an indifferent manner.
“What if someone else invites us out again? Are you going to look for an excuse to avoid going every single time? Also, your employees may request for you to sing during company events. Are you going to grace them with your cold gaze that kills, everytime this happens?” Yang Chen asked.
Lin Ruoxi pondered for a while. It certainly seemed like she was goinig to be asked to sing again in the future. She said, “Then promise me something, and I’ll go with you.”
“What is it?”
“You have to work everyday seriously from now on. You can’t go missing out of the blue and pass everything to Wang Jie and Zhao Teng,” Lin Ruoxi said strictly.
Yang Chen sighed in his heart. So she’s been monitoring me all this time. She’s really worried about me, isn’t she?
“Alright, I promise.” Yang Chen felt that if he wanted to live a good life with his wife, he had to compromise in some ways.
Lin Ruoxi finally nodded in satisfaction and promised Yang Chen to learn how to sing. However, before she went upstairs, her phone rang.
Lin Ruoxi took her phone out to have a look before frowning slightly, hesitating if she wanted to pick up the call or not.
“What happened?” Yang Chen noticed Lin Ruoxi’s actions.
Lin Ruoxi sighed deeply. “It’s Jingjing.”
After she finished speaking, she picked up the call.