Chapter 33: What Song Are You Singing Today?

She wasn’t too concerned about the spatial storage ability.

After all, in this era, people weren’t struggling to afford food anymore.

Most importantly, the original host had already secured her meal ticket in advance.

As long as she didn’t get a divorce, she had a reliable backer for the long term.

So, she didn’t obsess over the idea of a space that could store supplies.

But the system…

She really wanted a system—one that could connect her to modern society.

Even if her body was stuck in this era, she wished she could occasionally visit the future, play with a phone, or watch TV.

It seemed… what she needed was a time machine.

Sigh, she was being greedy.

A time-traveling machine? That was something only Doraemon had.

After tossing and turning for a while, Xia Ruanruan finally fell asleep.

Huo Beiqing returned home late at night.

He entered quietly without turning on the light, placing the flashlight in his hand onto the table, adding a bit of brightness to the room.

After washing up, he walked to Xia Ruanruan’s door and lightly touched it.

It was locked from the inside.

Holding the flashlight, he turned and returned to his own room.

At least she was careful about locking doors and windows when she was home alone—she had always done that well.

For several days, Huo Beiqing barely saw Xia Ruanruan, and Xia Ruanruan continued selling cassette tapes under the overpass.

Before long, word spread throughout the area that there was a beautiful girl who could sing under the overpass. If you bought a cassette from her, she would even sing a song of your choice.

Whether she sang your request or not didn’t really matter.

Just the words “a beautiful girl who can sing” were enough to attract a crowd.

Many young workers from nearby factories would stop by after work just to listen to her sing.

The next day at work, those who hadn’t gone would ask, “Does she really sing that well?”

Those who had been there would nod. “Not just good—she’s amazing!”

“I heard she’s really pretty too?”

“Of course! That long trench coat on her looks just like those models on calendars.”

“Come on, you’re exaggerating.” The skeptics didn’t believe it.

The ones who had seen her scoffed, “Believe it or not, no one’s begging you to go.”

“But let me tell you, if you go late, you won’t even get a front-row spot. Forget seeing what she looks like—you’ll barely hear her sing.”

Even though some still doubted, by the time work ended, they were the first ones to rush over—afraid they’d only catch muffled echoes if they were late.

By now, whenever Xia Ruanruan arrived at the overpass carrying her guitar and cassette boxes, people would automatically clear a path for her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even be able to reach her usual spot.

Because of the crowds she attracted, the nearby vendors started selling more too. Not only were they earning more, but they also got to listen to live music.

Naturally, they were happy to have her around.

As soon as she arrived, one of the vendors immediately pointed to her usual spot. “Xiao Xia, come quick! We saved your place!”

Her designated area had already tripled in size.

The vendor selling soaps and hair clips next to her even brought over a chair.

“Xiao Xia, sit on this today. That little stool of yours—watching you stretch your legs every day is painful to see.”

“Sitting on this will make your singing even better!”

Everyone treated her so warmly that Xia Ruanruan was touched. “Thank you, Brother Sun.”

“Come on, don’t be so polite!”

Brother Sun set the chair down and whispered, “Thanks to you, I’ve been selling way more these past few days.”

“We all see you as our lucky star. If it weren’t for you singing here every day, how else would this many people show up?”

He gestured toward the densely packed crowd. “Look at all these people! If someone didn’t know better, they’d think some high-ranking official was giving a speech here!”

Even though Xia Ruanruan wasn’t the shy type, being praised like this still made her a little embarrassed. “Brother Sun, you’re exaggerating!”

But he pointed at the crowd again. “Am I?”

Just then, someone in the audience shouted, “Xiao Xia, what song are you singing today?”

After several days of performing, everyone had learned her name.

She never mentioned her full name, though, just in case any creeps tried to follow or track her down.

“Today, I’ll start with a song by Brother Fei. After that, you guys can pick, and I’ll sing!”

After tuning her guitar, she started playing.

The moment her guitar sounded, the previously noisy crowd instantly quieted down.

As Xia Ruanruan’s reputation grew, so did the demand for her cassette tapes.

But she wasn’t deliberately creating artificial scarcity—this wasn’t exclusive merchandise.

People simply bought her tapes on a whim while enjoying her live performance. The crowd made it seem like she was selling a lot, but she wasn’t making a fortune from it.

So, she just ordered as many tapes as she could.

Still, once most people who wanted a tape had bought one, future sales weren’t guaranteed.

Plus, the weather was getting colder.

Would people still be willing to stand in the chilly wind to listen to her sing?

That was uncertain.

So, for now, she had to sell as much as she could.

The result?

She went from carrying one box of tapes to two.

She even considered getting a third but couldn’t physically carry it.

She wanted to buy a bicycle, but she hadn’t found the right one yet.

Every day, she left home carrying a large guitar and lugging two big boxes, making it impossible not to attract attention.

Noticing Her—Director Jiang

Huo Beiqing had been working overtime at the hospital lately, while Xia Ruanruan left home every day with her big guitar.

Naturally, Director Jiang took notice of her.

Once she started paying attention, she realized that Xia Ruanruan not only left at odd hours but also returned quite late at night.

Before long, rumors about Xia Ruanruan began circulating in the residential compound.

However, Xia Ruanruan was too busy to notice.

She had no idea, but everyone else did—including Director Wang’s wife.

Director Wang’s wife and Director Jiang had always been at odds.

Their feud, of course, stemmed from Jiang Ruoman.

Jiang Ruoman was currently interning as a doctor under Director Wang. Even though she hadn’t done anything openly, the hospital staff’s wives never missed a single bit of gossip.

Naturally, they also knew about Jiang Ruoman’s misbehavior while interning under Huo Beiqing—and how Xia Ruanruan, the legitimate wife, had stormed into the hospital and given her a beating.

To Director Jiang, her niece was innocent in all of this.

But to someone like Director Wang’s wife—who was also a wife herself—it was clear: Flies don’t buzz around eggs without cracks.

If someone’s wife was willing to cause a scene and fight you in public, you must have done something shameless to deserve it.

So, now that Jiang Ruoman had been transferred under Director Wang, his wife had every reason to be hostile toward Director Jiang.

In her eyes, Jiang Ruoman’s transfer had to be Director Jiang’s doing.

Otherwise, why wasn’t she placed under any of the other junior doctors?

First, it was Huo Beiqing. Now, it was her own husband.

What was so special about this little intern—was she some kind of rare delicacy?