Chapter 14

When Lu Yan said she was going to participate in the New Star Cup Talent Competition, her doting father, Lu Jian, of course, supported her wholeheartedly and even bought her an expensive guitar.

However, before Lu Yan could even use the guitar, her troublesome father took it for his own money-making venture—

Street performing.

Lu Zhen deliberately chose the street performance location at People’s Park, almost half the city away from the school, to avoid being seen by any classmates.

When Lu Zhen was still a brooding, teenage boy, in an attempt to impress girls, he had learned to play a few chords on the guitar and could strum simple songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

Liang Ting ruthlessly mocked him: “If you want to make money by street performing with this guitar, you’d be better off selling the guitar for cash. This guitar isn’t cheap, right?”

As he reached out to touch the guitar, Lu Zhen quickly swatted his hand away. “What are you talking about? This guitar belongs to Yanyan, I’m just temporarily borrowing it.”

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yan stormed over furiously. “Lu Zhen, you bastard, give me back my guitar!!!”

Lu Zhen hurriedly hid behind Liang Ting. “Hey, I’m just borrowing it! I won’t break it!”

“Yeah, right! You don’t even know how to play the guitar!”

“That’s nonsense, you don’t know anything.”

“I know exactly what you’re like.”

Who would know you better than your own daughter?

Lu Zhen was completely tone-deaf, a KTV killer, and Lu Yan deeply suspected that her natural good singing voice was all thanks to her mother’s genes.

Lu Zhen plucked at the guitar strings and started playing: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are…”

“Little bunny, be good, open the door…”

“ABCDEFG…”

He kept repeating these few nursery rhymes, and even sang the alphabet song…

When the elderly passersby in People’s Park walked by, they all frowned, covered their ears, and hurriedly walked away.

It was so bad, his singing of nursery rhymes felt like noise.

Lu Zhen was feeling particularly defeated.

Under the sunset, Lu Yan leaned against Lu Zhen’s side, looking at the empty guitar case, and pouted. “I told you, who knows you better than me? You’re tone-deaf.”

Lu Zhen gave her a playful knock on the head, and Lu Yan covered her head, looking pitiful. “Wah.”

Liang Ting laughed. “Don’t look down on tone-deaf people. Does being tone-deaf mean they can’t love music?”

Lu Zhen looked at the empty guitar case, furrowing his brows and feeling deeply how difficult it was to make money.

How on earth did that guy, Shen Kuo, manage to support himself with just his two hands?

Lu Yan suggested, “How about I give it a try?”

“No, no!”

“Forget it!”

“No! No! No!”

The three boys unanimously opposed her. Lu Yan’s “train wreck” of a singing performance would be far worse than Lu Zhen’s!

Back in middle school, she once went on stage to sing “Heartbreak Alliance” by the Grasshopper, twisting and singing, only for the host to interrupt and send her off the stage. That showed just how badly she was singing.

Lu Zhen had ruthlessly mocked her back then. Although the little girl wasn’t very bright, she had her pride. She was angry for many days, and to make her happy, Lu Zhen took her to the amusement park… That’s when the accident happened.

But fortunately at least she was found.

“Don’t look down on me, I’ll definitely surprise you all.”

After saying that, Lu Yan took the guitar from Lu Zhen’s hands, plucked the strings, and a pleasant melody came out.

Lu Zhen and Liang Ting both immediately covered their ears and buried their faces in their knees to avoid embarrassment later.

Lu Yan pouted in dissatisfaction, but seeing only Qin Hao smiling and supporting her, she said, “Uncle Qin Hao, help me with the rhythm.”

Qin Hao bought a toy tambourine for two yuan, tried playing along with Lu Yan’s melody, and surprisingly, they were perfectly in sync.

Lu Yan began to sing. Her clear, sweet voice had great penetrating power.

Lu Zhen and Liang Ting both lowered their hands from their ears and looked at her in surprise.

It wasn’t unpleasant to listen to at all. No, it was very good, incredibly good!

Lu Yan sat on a stone bench, slightly leaning, with a few strands of smooth bangs falling across her beautiful almond-shaped eyes.

She sang “Little Baby,” her clear and sweet voice flowing along with the catchy lyrics and melodious tune, attracting many passersby in the park after their meals.

While singing and playing, Lu Yan smiled, two sweet dimples on her cheeks, leaning against Lu Zhen with warmth and happiness radiating from her.

Emotions could be transmitted through music, and the audience around her could feel the little happiness she conveyed through her music.

When she finished the song, the surrounding crowd applauded loudly. Many people, without prompting, put small change into the guitar case.

Lu Zhen couldn’t believe it and started searching through Lu Yan’s pockets. “Did you cheat and use a playback device?”

“No way! I sang it myself. Don’t look down on me.”

“This…”

It was so good!

Lu Yan smiled proudly. “I told you, but you didn’t believe me.”

During that time, every evening at dusk, the People’s Park was unusually lively because word had spread about a girl who sang incredibly well.

Back then, there were no TikTok and no online novels. People’s entertainment was still quite simple. Listening to Lu Yan sing in the park became a kind of spiritual enjoyment for the crowd.

In her past life, Lu Yan had her own room on a live streaming platform, and whenever she sang during her live streams, the platform’s traffic would spike, reaching a peak.

It was clear how popular she was.

Public performances were so easy for her, even when she simply sat on a stone bench in the park, holding a plain guitar without any makeup or beauty effects, she still radiated with charm.

Liang Ting glanced at the sweetly smiling Lu Yan, then looked around at the captivated audience.

There was no doubt that people of all ages—men, women, and children—had all become her fans.

Many people in the entertainment industry can sing well, but few possess the kind of audience affinity that Lu Yan had with every smile and gesture.

It seemed like she was born for this.

During that time, Lu Yan became a little “internet celebrity” in People’s Park, and Shen Kuo, who had been picking up medicine for his father at the hospital, happened to pass by the park and heard her singing.

She was singing a heartfelt love song, her voice soft, with the guitar strings strummed gently—

“In the years to come, you are the wind and snow, you are the ordinary life, and you are even the poverty…”

Shen Kuo never liked to join crowds, especially not places filled with people, but her voice drew him in. He squeezed through the crowd and saw her.

She sat quietly with her guitar, the soft streetlight casting a gentle glow on her face. Her finely curled lashes resembled small brushes, casting a shadow on her eyelids.

She plucked the strings lightly, looking so obedient and gentle.

“I want to take you to see the clear sky, I want to tell you loudly how much I’m fascinated by you, the past is fleeting, but you will always be moved, in the years to come, I only want you.”

Suddenly, something in Shen Kuo’s heart was stirred, and a huge wave of emotion hid beneath his calm black eyes.

He had never thought about what his future should look like. Stuck in the mud, all he saw before him was the emptiness of a home with bare walls, a future as unclear as fog, with no hope, no light.

But after that day, a light began to form in Shen Kuo’s heart—

It was the way she smiled.

Lu Zhen turned his head and saw Shen Kuo standing in the crowd. He immediately couldn’t sit still.

He patted his pants and walked over to Shen Kuo, blocking his view of Lu Yan with his tall figure.

Shen Kuo ignored him and took a step to the left.

Lu Zhen seemed to intentionally pick a fight, moving to the left as well, deliberately preventing Shen Kuo from seeing Lu Yan.

Shen Kuo’s eyes flickered slightly, and he muttered one word: “Leave.”

“I won’t.”

Lu Zhen casually blocked his way, arrogantly saying, “If you want to see our girl, pay up.”

Shen Kuo’s gaze fell on the guitar case on the grass, inside of which were a few scattered bills, amounting to just over 10 yuan.

Lu Zhen knew that this guy had taken on multiple part-time jobs after school, working like his life depended on it. Moreover, he was extremely frugal when it came to spending on food, clothes, and other essentials, and would never waste money.

Lu Zhen intentionally wanted to embarrass him. He raised his voice and said, “If you’re too stingy to spend, then hurry up and leave. Someone like you, looking at our girl for even one more second is disgusting. A stinky frog thinking it can eat a swan’s meat—what a ^[1]pipe dream refers to a hope, goal, or plan that is unrealistic or unlikely to ever happen, often because it’s based on wishful thinking rather than practical possibilities. The term suggests … Continue readingpipe dream.”

A pipe dream.

Shen Kuo’s heart was pricked, not because Lu Zhen insulted him, but because what Lu Zhen said… was the truth.

He wasn’t worthy of this girl.

“Lu Zhen!” Lu Yan stopped playing and scolded him angrily, “What nonsense are you talking about!”

“Nonsense? I’m not talking nonsense, it’s the truth!”

“Shut up!”

Lu Yan turned to Shen Kuo and gave him an apologetic smile.

Shen Kuo didn’t hesitate. He reached into his bag and pulled out a crisp 100 yuan note.

Lu Zhen looked at the bill and sneered, “We don’t make change.”

“No need for change.”

Shen Kuo moved past him, even bumping into his shoulder without hesitation. The force made Lu Zhen stagger backward, almost tripping.

Instead of putting the money in the guitar case, Shen Kuo walked up to Lu Yan, skillfully folded the bill neatly, and placed it in the small pouch in front of her. He then leaned down and whispered a few words in her ear.

Afterward, he coldly shot a sideways glance at Lu Zhen and turned to leave.

Lu Yan touched her pouch, her smooth face slightly flushed, and nodded.

“Did he really give it?” Lu Zhen quickly ran over, trying to pull the 100 yuan bill from Lu Yan’s pouch. “That dog must have given you fake money! Let me see!”

Lu Yan hurriedly covered her pouch. “He gave it to me!”

“What do you mean, ‘gave it to you’?”

“Shen Kuo said himself that it’s money for me, for buying rice noodles.”

“Just thinking about food, huh? This money could buy ten trucks full of rice noodles. It won’t kill you!”

Considering the value of money twenty years ago, 100 yuan would have been worth about seven or eight times more, which is why Lu Zhen reacted this way.

Lu Yan watched Shen Kuo’s tall figure gradually fade into the sunset.

In her impression, he was gloomy, indifferent, with a smile hiding a knife…

But just now, he placed the money into her pouch and told her to take the money and buy rice noodles to eat. Those deep brown eyes…

They were incredibly gentle.

That evening, Shen Kuo came out of his house. His neighbor, the widow Chen Yueqin, was hanging clothes at the alley entrance.

“Xiao Kuo, are you home? Have you had dinner?” Chen Yueqin asked kindly, “We’ve made chicken soup at home. Should I bring a bowl for you and your father?”

“No need.” Shen Kuo coldly declined.

Chen Yueqin still wore a smile on her face. “Then if there are any dirty clothes in the house, just bring them to Aunt Chen. I’ll wash them for you.”

Shen Kuo knew exactly what Chen Yueqin was after. His father, Shen Jianxun, had contracted pneumoconiosis from working without protection in the cement factory for years. The factory had compensated them with a large sum of money for his father’s ongoing treatment and care.

Chen Yueqin, who had no job and no income, naturally had her eyes on that generous compensation.

Shen Kuo locked the door to his room. As he turned around, he gave Chen Yueqin a cold look. “Don’t come to my house again.”

“Oh, you’re always at school during the day and working part-time at night. Your father needs someone to take care of him.”

Chen Yueqin shook out a floral blouse and hung it on the wire. “I heard your father’s painful groans. It hurts my heart too. How could I just ignore it? If you don’t let me come, what will happen if something happens to your father at home?”

“I’ll hire a nurse.”

Chen Yueqin’s smile deepened. “Why waste that money? When I’m around, I can help out. Your father also needs someone to talk to.”

Shen Kuo wasn’t sure what kind of spell Chen Yueqin had cast on Shen Jianxun, making him believe that this woman genuinely wanted to live with him.

But Shen Kuo saw clearly that she had bad intentions. A woman like her, a lowly street dweller, the more you spoke kindly to her, the more she would take advantage. He had seen many people like her.

“Do you really want to marry my dad?”

“Oh, you…” Chen Yueqin blushed and said shyly, “We’re just keeping each other company. Don’t make a big deal about marriage. It’s embarrassing.”

Shen Kuo coldly smiled, a chill gleaming in his eyes. “I heard you have a daughter.”

Sensing the hostility in Shen Kuo’s words, Chen Yueqin suddenly became nervous. “W-what do you want?”

Shen Kuo slowly approached, lowering his voice to a level only she could hear, and said with a deep tone, “I really do want… another little sister.”

He deliberately emphasized the word “little sister” with his tongue, and the flirtatious expression on his face made Chen Yueqin stiffen. She was so frightened she couldn’t say a word.

This kid was sinister, definitely not someone to be trifled with!