[ABO] The Despised One Becomes an Internet Sensation After Marriage - Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The organ music was melodious. The player’s technique was slightly rusty, causing the tempo of the entire song to slow down significantly, but the singer managed the timing perfectly, their voice lingering and graceful.

Inside the temple, Fu Zhen felt cleansed by the master’s presence. Feeling a sense of inner peace, he listened to the lingering folk song and couldn’t help but post a Weibo:

Drinking lonely wine, lighting tall incense, listening to elegant music. A true blessing in life.

In high spirits, he decided to head over and see the street performers.

From a distance, he saw an exceptionally tall Alpha surrounded by a group of young Omegas. A phone tripod was set up nearby, seemingly for a live stream.

The Alpha was holding a piece of newspaper in one hand and a large megaphone in the other.

With his excellent eyesight, Fu Zhen read the text on the paper: Folk Song Performance, 10 Yuan per song.

Even in the mountain Miao village, the afternoon temperature wasn’t low.

Fu Zhen sighed emotionally in his heart: We are all living life with all our might~

He glanced at the Alpha out of the corner of his eye and felt even more moved. Heh, this guy really looks like my Second Uncle.

But his Second Uncle was supposed to be recording a show these past few days, likely stuck with that fellow Xu Zhimian. Thinking of this, Fu Zhen curled his lip. He really couldn’t understand what his Second Uncle saw in Xu Zhimian.

He walked a few steps closer, his gaze falling on the person playing the organ beside the Alpha. He coolly looked away. Indeed, I shouldn’t think of Xu Zhimian, otherwise, everyone starts looking like him.

“Thank you all for your support.”

The organ music stopped abruptly. The surrounding girls broke into applause and cheers, but Fu Zhen stood frozen on the spot. Crap, crap, crap… Xu Zhimian?!

In an instant, his gaze landed on the man beside him. He watched as his Second Uncle calmly and skillfully flipped a switch, and the megaphone emitted a middle-aged male voice with a thick local accent: “Mén yáo, mín yáo, shí kuài yī cì…”

“…” Fu Zhen nearly fainted.

A moment later, the Weibo post Fu Zhen had just sent showed as “Edited.” The caption had transformed into:

We are all living life with all our might. 😭/😭/😭

The attached image was a “Life is hard, family is busking” meme. The comment section was a solid row of question marks.

…

In the crowd, a round-faced young girl was quite generous, giving 100 Yuan at once. She ran to the front of the line, her voice trembling with excitement: “Mian… uh, hello little brother, could you please perform Rain After a Long Drought?”

The girl’s voice was intentionally lowered due to excitement, but it was shaking.

Clearly a fan. Xu Zhimian hesitated for a moment, then brightly agreed.

Having not touched the sheet music for this song in three years, his hands trembled slightly. He thought he might have forgotten it, but as soon as his fingers touched the keys, the notes flowed out fluently.

“Drizzling rain beneath the eaves / Grandma gently swings the cattail fan…”

Xu Zhimian sang softly to the accompaniment. The original track used a flute, but the organ under his hands sounded deeper and more muffled. At this moment, however, it perfectly complemented the sorrowful emotion in his voice. The two blended seamlessly.

Fu Shiyan turned off the megaphone. He turned his head, his deep gaze focused intensely on Xu Zhimian. Xu Zhimian’s fingers were shaking; a muscle in Fu Shiyan’s brow twitched, and he gripped the megaphone tighter.

【Finally hearing the original artist sing this song!】 【I heard Mianmian wrote this for his grandmother. I feel like his mood is really low while singing this.】 【Look at President Fu’s eyes! He’s heartbroken, he’s heartbroken.】

Suddenly, many more people around them began recording. Whispers broke out in the crowd.

“Which singing blogger is this? Which platform? I really want to check them out.” “Isn’t this the song from the Weibo trending search? A blogger already figured out the score this fast?! Which platform is this singer from? My god, this voice is a gift from the heavens!”

Fortunately, Fu Shiyan had made him wear a mask. Once the song ended, a crowd swarmed them, requesting songs and asking for their social media handles.

The little round-faced fan who gave 100 Yuan was about to be squeezed out. Xu Zhimian quickly grabbed her and frowned at the crowd: “Excuse me, please make way.”

The little fan was overwhelmed. Her voice choked up: “Hi, hello… I-I’m so happy you sang this song.”

Xu Zhimian took the change and tissues handed to him by Fu Shiyan and gave them to the fan: “It’s nothing. Don’t cry; you won’t look pretty if you keep crying.”

The fan let out a wet laugh. “Mian… you really don’t know how to comfort people!”

She sniffed, tears flowing uncontrollably: “I-I’m just too excited!”

“Alright, I won’t say more!” To avoid exposing Xu Zhimian’s identity, she threw the change he gave her back toward Fu Shiyan and yelled: “President Fu, I’ll never say you and Mianmian aren’t a good match again!”

With that, she retreated into the crowd and vanished in a flash.

“…” Seeing the crowd growing and fearing Xu Zhimian would be recognized, Fu Shiyan expressionlessly took the money, packed up the equipment, and grabbed Xu Zhimian to leave. However, the cameraman hiding in the crowd was spotted by some sharp-eyed passersby. Someone screamed: “They’re the celebrities filming 21 Days!”

Most people are curious about big stars. After this outburst, someone recognized Xu Zhimian.

“That looks like Xu Zhimian!”

It was over. A commotion started in the crowd along with a few screams. Xu Zhimian’s eyelid twitched. He said to Fu Shiyan: “We’re going to be recognized, let’s go fast.”

To his surprise, Fu Shiyan looked perfectly composed. He rubbed Xu Zhimian’s head: “It’s fine now.”

“How can it be fine…” Xu Zhimian turned his head, only to see the crowd that was just about to swarm them suddenly surging toward a different spot nearby.

He looked closely and saw an Alpha in the distance taking off his mask, revealing a pair of smiling “peach blossom” eyes and two round dimples—a very youthful look.

Xu Zhimian let out a disgusted “tsk.” “…So it’s Fu Zhen.”

Fu Shiyan pinched both of Xu Zhimian’s cheeks and asked with interest: “What grudge do you have with him? Why do you hate him so much?”

The cameraman hadn’t caught up yet, so this probably wouldn’t make the edit. Xu Zhimian grumbled: “Your nephew has a delusion—he treats me like an imaginary love rival!”

“Love rival?” Fu Shiyan questioned calmly. The girls who had been waiting for them approached at that moment, forcing them to drop the subject.

They waited for the cameraman and followed the girls forward.

On the way, Xu Zhimian couldn’t stay still. He hooked his pinky finger around Fu Shiyan’s, over and over, like a kitten scratching. Fu Shiyan wrapped his hand around his and asked: “What do you want to ask?”

“How are you so familiar with the Miao people?” Xu Zhimian asked the question everyone watching the screen wanted to know.

Fu Shiyan adjusted his glasses: “My grandfather was Miao. I lived in a Miao village for a few years when I was a child.”

Grandfather again. This was the second time Xu Zhimian heard Fu Shiyan mention him. He thought that the grandfather must hold a very significant place in Fu Shiyan’s heart.

…

The girls led them to a stilted house by a stream.

They called out from outside the fence: “A-Da! A-Da!”

A spirited female voice replied from the second floor in Miao: “I’m here!”

She turned to Lin Xi—who was currently wiping tears while talking non-stop about the moving encounter with her idol—and ordered: “The girls are here, go open the door.”

“Waaaah!” Lin Xi wailed loudly. “Master, you don’t care about me at all!”

Master: “…”

Xu Zhimian and the others waited for a bit before the front door of the wooden house opened. A series of light footsteps approached.

He looked up and met the eyes of the round-faced fan who had so bossily thrown the change.

“AAAHH!” Lin Xi cupped her face and let out an excited scream.

Xu Zhimian: “…” The others: “…”

【Waaaah! I’m so jealous this sister got to hear Rain After a Long Drought live!】 【If I saw them, I’d scream louder than her!】

“H-how did you find this place…” Lin Xi noticed the cameras following them. She hurriedly opened the fence and waved her hands shyly: “That money was a tip for you guys, no need to return it!”

“…” The atmosphere turned awkward.

Xu Zhimian hadn’t expected to run into her here. Fortunately, the other girls surrounded Lin Xi and started chatting rapidly in a language he didn’t understand.

Lin Xi realized she had misunderstood, but she didn’t have time to worry about it. She repeated: “You guys actually found it?”

The girls borrowed the newspaper from Fu Shiyan and spread it out before her, saying excitedly: “Sister Xi, look!”

Xu Zhimian found it strange that they were fussing over a newspaper. He pinched Fu Shiyan’s palm: “Sir, translate for me.”

Fu Shiyan said calmly: “They are discussing the style of my calligraphy.”

The next moment, Lin Xi—who had been full of “fan-girl stars” in her eyes—straightened her expression. She looked at the two of them with burning eyes and a respectful tone: “…Please, come inside!”

【I understand a bit of Miao. Did they mention Mr. Fu Zhengyu?】 【I heard it too! It seems they also mentioned a veteran Chinese painting artist, Fu Shuhan…】

As they stepped into the main room on the second floor, Lin Xi looked back at the live streaming equipment and hesitated: “Could I trouble you to turn off the live stream?”

【Waaaah, no! I’m so interested in this! What do they want with Mianmian and the others? I want to see everything!!】

Ignoring the wails of the fans in the chat, Xu Zhimian reached back and shut off the stream. “Let’s go.”

At the entrance of the second-floor room hung two white curtains. Each was printed with a hazy landscape of mountains and water, the ink tones perfectly balanced. Xu Zhimian couldn’t help but look closer. These curtains were beautifully printed; he’d have to ask for a link later.

Beside him, Fu Shiyan’s gaze swept over the landscape curtains, and his entire body suddenly stiffened. He froze on the spot. After a moment, he leaned forward and picked up the curtain, his fingertips touching the hazy mountain scene.

Xu Zhimian assumed he was also shocked by the realism of the print. He said: “Let’s ask the owner for a link later. This print is so good, it looks like it was actually painted.”

Fu Shiyan grabbed his hand. When Xu Zhimian’s fingertips touched the white cloth, he realized the landscape painting wasn’t the same material as the curtain; it felt dry and slightly rough to the touch.

Fu Shiyan’s breath brushed against his cheek, making him feel a tingle. Fu Shiyan’s deep voice rang in his ear: “Silly, this is painted on.”