Chapter 11: The Beautiful Sister

When Lin Shen saw Su Sanxian freeze, his eyes flickered with a deep, unreadable emotion.

In short, this event had started with great fanfare, but ended in a subdued manner.

For the rest of the concert, both Su Sanxian and Lin Shen were preoccupied with their own thoughts and did not listen to many more pieces.

Even when they returned home, the atmosphere between the two of them remained cold and stiff.

It was only when the three little ones came back that the stagnant air was broken, and everyone became lively again.

“Mom! It was such a pity that we couldn’t go watch Mom compete today.” Erzai pounced into Su Sanxian’s arms the moment he entered, gazing up at her with wide eyes.

It truly melted her heart.

Sanzai followed closely but threw himself into Lin Shen’s arms instead. “Dad, you recorded Mom, right? Sanzai wants to see!”

At the mention of a recording, both Dazai and Erzai grew restless as well. “Yeah, yeah, Dad, we want to see!”

Naturally, their request could not be refused. Lin Shen took out his phone, found the video of Su Sanxian playing the violin, and handed it to the three little ones.

The three children huddled together, their chubby faces pressed close, watching the video of their mother playing the violin with utmost seriousness.

The grand, majestic, and powerful sound flowed from the phone. Even hearing it again made Lin Shen feel deeply entranced.

“Wow!” The little ones gasped in unison at the sight of their beautiful, radiant mother on screen.

Though they didn’t understand the piece, that didn’t stop their Mom from being beautiful, nor did it stop them from praising her.

“Mom is so pretty, like a fairy.”

“Mom’s playing sounds so beautiful, like heavenly music.”

“Mom is truly perfect. Dad really found a treasure.”

“Pfft!” Hearing their murmuring, Su Sanxian couldn’t help but burst out laughing. They really were three little treasures themselves.

Only Lin Shen silently nodded to himself. Indeed, he had found a treasure.

Listening to the children’s occasional gasps of amazement followed by their constant whispers, Su Sanxian grew curious about how she looked in the video as well.

She couldn’t resist leaning over, joining the father and his three children in watching herself on screen.

Whoa! One glance was enough to startle her. Under the glow of the lights, with the atmosphere so carefully set, she truly did look stunning.

She had never worn this kind of retro-inspired evening gown before. After trying it this time, she realized how well it suited her.

Because her bare-faced features leaned toward sweetness, she had always developed her style in that direction or similar ones. She had never imagined that with heavier makeup, she could be a bona fide striking beauty with an aura of elegance.

Though it felt a little embarrassing to praise herself, Su Sanxian thought, well, if she really was beautiful, shouldn’t she be allowed to say so?

The video of her performance that night left quite an impression on the three little ones. Even before bed, they were still talking about it.

At the same time, Su Sanxian had just received notice that the “Top Ten to Top Five” semifinal would be held next Sunday. She promised to take the three little ones to watch her compete then.

The children were so excited and thrilled that before going to bed, they even wished tomorrow could jump straight to next Sunday.

On this side, the family basked in warmth and joy. But online, a small storm had already begun to brew.

The cause was that the violin competition, in order to ensure fairness as well as increase its popularity, had been broadcast live online.

At the beginning of the competition, there had only been a few hundred genuine violin enthusiasts watching. But then, somehow, the number of viewers suddenly spiked, climbing until it stopped at thirty thousand.

The organizers urgently checked the backstage data to find the reason and discovered that a netizen named Tao Taole had posted a clip of Su Sanxian playing the violin on Weibo, which attracted a lot of attention.

After that, many people, following the information Tao Taole provided, flocked to the live broadcast room of the violin competition in G City.

Later, a blogger who often photographed handsome men and beautiful women, and who had hundreds of thousands of followers, posted the best still frames of Su Sanxian’s performance video on Weibo.

When the blogger’s followers saw them, they were stunned by the beautiful, atmospheric “pretty sister” and flooded the comment section asking for Su Sanxian’s Weibo account.

The blogger shared the competition link, but by then, Su Sanxian had already finished performing, and the competition was nearly over.

Unable to keep watching the beautiful woman, they had no choice but to drool over the few pictures they had. The images spread rapidly, word of mouth multiplying, and while Su Sanxian slept peacefully, she was already going viral online.

Ye Zi was a seasoned beauty enthusiast who loved discovering handsome men and beautiful women in her free time, posting their photos on Weibo. Over time, she had amassed over five hundred thousand followers.

That day, out of boredom, she was once again hunting for beauties on Weibo when a seemingly inconspicuous post caught her attention.

It was a short video of a woman playing the violin, only a little over ten seconds long, but Ye Zi could not tear her eyes away.

At the end of the Weibo post was a link to the live broadcast. Ye Zi quickly tapped it, and as soon as she entered, she was stunned by the overwhelming beauty of the “pretty sister.”

On stage stood a woman in a slightly retro black gown, a fishtail skirt that hugged her hips, with a slender diamond chain cinching her waist. The hem of the skirt sparkled under the lights, and because of the form-fitting design, her waist-to-hip ratio was breathtakingly perfect.

Her gaze traveled upward to the beauty’s face. Her fair, delicate skin, under the spotlight, looked as if it could break at a touch. Peach blossom-shaped eyes, pupils clear as autumn water, lashes fluttering like butterfly wings, a delicate nose, and slightly plump red lips—all of her features, while not individually extraordinary, combined into a stunning harmony of beauty.

Ye Zi felt like she was falling in love at first sight. Though she had lost count of how many times she’d experienced love at first sight, this time felt the most sincere.

Even as she fell in love, Ye Zi didn’t forget to take screenshots of the beautiful woman’s perfect moments. When the woman stepped down from the stage, Ye Zi was still reluctant for it to end.

Ye Zi quickly edited the screenshots with some minor adjustments, not even needing to use beauty filters, and eagerly picked the nine most flawless shots to post on Weibo, sharing them with her followers.

As she posted, Ye Zi could already imagine her followers’ astonishment.

What she hadn’t expected was just how explosive this “pretty sister” would be. As soon as the photos went up, they immediately attracted a large number of new fans.

In less than half an hour, the post had been shared over ten thousand times. The comment section was filled with people asking for the woman’s Weibo handle. But she didn’t even have a Weibo account, so Ye Zi had no choice but to leave a comment linking the violin competition’s live stream.

However, by then, not only had the beautiful woman finished performing, but the competition was nearly over. The newly arrived viewers could only save the photos, drool over them, and wail in the comments section.

Reading everyone’s exaggerated lamentations, Ye Zi couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride and joy—after all, she had watched the beautiful sister’s performance live, all the way until the end!

But Su Sanxian knew nothing of the commotion online. She was sound asleep in bed, completely unaware of the uproar she had caused.

Lin Shen, having finished his work for the day, quietly entered Su Sanxian’s room. Seeing that she had kicked most of the blanket off the bed in her sleep, he silently thanked himself for coming.

He pulled the quilt, half of which was hanging off the bed, back over her to ensure she was fully covered before stopping.

Lin Shen sighed softly, watched her for a while longer, and then turned to leave.