After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 53

That evening, Tang Ling and Tan Shiyi met back at the dorm.

The weather had been stiflingly hot these past few days, so Tang Ling had specially used the health pot to make a pear tonic for Tan Shiyi. She’d thrown in everything she could borrow from the cafeteria—dried tangerine peel, lemon slices, roselle, hawthorn chips—and chilled it in the fridge in advance. When Tan Shiyi arrived, Tang Ling pretended to take it out casually and set it on the table.

Thankfully, Tan Shiyi didn’t mention being allergic to pears this time. She merely gave Tang Ling an extra glance.

Tang Ling didn’t want to seem too deliberate, so she asked in a carefully casual tone, “How are you planning to rearrange ‘Peach Blossoms Crease’?”

Peach Blossoms Crease was the theme song of a wildly popular xianxia drama. The melody was elegant and classical. During their first public performance, the two of them had modernized the second verse and paired it with an impressive stage fight sequence, earning enthusiastic praise.

Which meant, of course, that trick couldn’t be used again.

Tan Shiyi thought for a moment. “We’ve already done a fast version. Let’s record a slower one this time—no need for fancy arrangement. Something simple and fresh will do.”

Tang Ling agreed. That kind of gentle style matched perfectly with fans’ idea of a “white moonlight.”

The sheet music for Peach Blossoms Crease was all over the internet, so they didn’t need to transcribe anything or fiddle with complicated effects. The work went smoothly, and by that night, they had their arrangement done.

Since the dorm’s recording setup was rather basic, they decided to show some sincerity by booking a proper studio for the next day.

Other members of their group volunteered to act as producers and help with editing.

By noon, Tan Shiyi uploaded the finished Peach Blossoms Crease track to Weibo with the tag #HomeworkPerk.

The fans quickly went wild in the comments:

“Weren’t you supposed to kiss? Do I not deserve to see that kiss?”

“Hmph, I knew Tang Ling wouldn’t let us see her wife. Total love scam!”

“SRDS this version of Peach Blossoms Crease is HEAVENLY, sisters!! Go listen now!! Tang Shi KSWL!!”

“Tang Shi knows exactly what she’s doing—so beautiful it hurts.”

“Just listened. I bet you’ll all repost after hearing it. I’m going to find a corner and cry now, sob, sob, sob.”

Both Tang Ling and Tan Shiyi had been nervous the fans might not like it. They’d been refreshing Weibo anxiously until, finally reading all those comments, they could breathe again.

Tang Ling sighed. “Guess we managed to bluff our way through this one?”

Tan Shiyi replied calmly, “Let’s just be careful with what we say from now on.”

Training continued during the day, and nightly livestreams went on as usual. The two kept up their every-other-night streaming schedule, and evening meetups had become a routine part of life.

Every day, Tang Ling would scavenge ingredients from the cafeteria and, following online tutorials, experiment with new drinks for Tan Shiyi. Even the livestream viewers had caught on.

“Okay sisters, let’s guess what new Wife’s Special Drink the music duo kitchen will serve tonight!”

“I’ve already learned music production—Boss Tang, when will you teach us to cook?”

“I’ve already learned cooking—Boss Tan, when will you teach us how to win a wife?”

Tang Ling muttered inwardly, I’d love to teach you, if only I knew how myself.

Before long, the night before the fifth public performance arrived.

That day, the swimsuit commercial featuring Tan Shiyi and Pu Xiaoyu was released online.

With Tang Shi’s popularity surging, Tang Shi fans treated the ad like an invasion and flooded Tang Ling’s mentions:

“BOSS TANG!!! Your wife is about to be stolen!!!”

“SRDS I’m still sticking with Tang Shi—Tang Shi is real, sob, sob, sob!”

“If we repost this enough times, I don’t believe Boss Tang won’t get jealous.”

Tang Ling, of course, couldn’t pretend not to care. She clicked on the video with a complicated mix of curiosity and dread, and immediately felt her mood sink.

The ad had been filmed at an aquarium. It started with a solo shot of Tan Shiyi, then flipped to Pu Xiaoyu in mirror symmetry. The two splashed each other with water guns in the pool; Tan Shiyi laughed as she tossed a beach ball to a dolphin, while Pu Xiaoyu watched her with a soft smile. Then they sat together by the pool, petting a baby seal’s smooth fur.

Up to that point, Tang Ling could still bear it. But the final shot was the last straw—Tan Shiyi seemed to hear someone calling her name, turned around in surprise, smiled radiantly, and ran straight into Pu Xiaoyu’s waiting arms.

Whether they actually embraced was unclear—the shot cut just then to the brand’s logo, ending the commercial.

Tang Ling had never realized her memory could be this sharp. One viewing was more than enough; when she closed her eyes, all she could see was Tan Shiyi’s dazzling smile directed at Pu Xiaoyu.

What was the brand even thinking? What kind of morally bankrupt commercial was that? Did they really think this would win fans over?

She felt like a possessive straight woman jealous of her girlfriend’s love scene—or worse, a scorned lover watching her partner cheat.

Oh right—Tan Shiyi wasn’t even her girlfriend.

And to make things worse, they had a livestream that night. There was no escaping the teasing and pointed questions from fans.

Bracing herself mentally, Tang Ling waited for Tan Shiyi to arrive.

As expected, Tan Shiyi showed up on time. She was dressed simply as ever in a soft chiffon dress, her makeup delicate and flawless, her expression calm—showing not the slightest change in mood.

In contrast, Tang Ling appeared a little uneasy. “You’re here.”

Tan Shiyi nodded. “We’ve got another performance tomorrow, so let’s start early and finish early.”

That businesslike tone again.

A dull ache welled up in Tang Ling’s chest. Her mind was still filled with Tan Shiyi’s radiant smile from the commercial, and all she could manage was a dry, “Okay.”

She opened the livestream plugin.

Sure enough, the screen was instantly flooded with comments:

“Aaaaah my wife is here! She’s so beautiful today!”

“Girls, did you see Shiyi’s commercial? It was so sweet! I’m in love!”

“Hey heretics upstairs, shoo! This is Tang Shi’s livestream!”

“Miss Tang Ling, may I ask how you feel after seeing Shiyi’s new commercial?”

Normally, Tang Ling would banter with her fans before starting, but tonight she just didn’t feel like talking. She sat quietly beside Tan Shiyi, mute as a stone.

It was Tan Shiyi who finally spoke up. “You’ve all seen that ad?”

The comments flooded in:

“We did! Shishi’s so gorgeous! The swimsuit too! I bought one already!”

“We did! Ughhh, even though Pu Shi is a cute CP, my heart belongs to Tang Shi forever!”

“Boss Tang, be honest—are you jealous or not?”

“Where was the ad filmed? I saw Miss Pu’s post feeding penguins there, it looked so fun!”

“Call me a peasant, but I need to know—did Shishi and Miss Pu hug at the end or not?”

“The swimsuit brand is actually quite comfortable, and the designs are pretty,” Tan Shiyi said calmly as she read a few more comments aloud. “If anyone’s planning a beach trip, I really recommend giving it a try.” Then she added, “The ad was filmed at an oceanarium—it’s my first time there, and they’ve got lots of fun activities. You should visit if you get the chance.”

She ignored the rest of the comments and opened her music software. “Today, we’ll study the general structure and arrangement of common songs. Tang Ling—Tang Ling?”

Tang Ling snapped back to reality. “Huh?”

“What were you thinking about?” Tan Shiyi frowned.

Whether you actually hugged Pu Xiaoyu or not. Flustered, Tang Ling blurted out, “Oh, I was just thinking.”

Tan Shiyi: “?”

Comments exploded again:

“Hahahahahaha what do you mean ‘just thinking’? Tang Ling, do you even hear yourself?”

“She’s jealous beyond reason—Shiyi, you’d better take responsibility!”

“Poor Ling-jie, she’s suffering.”

“Forget it,” Tan Shiyi sighed. “Focus. The livestream’s started.”

Using Peach Blossoms Crease as an example, she explained the basic structure of a song—verse, chorus, transitions, bridge—her breakdown clear and precise.

Tang Ling, however, was visibly distracted. Though she tried to follow along, her gaze kept drifting toward Tan Shiyi.

It was all that commercial’s fault. Tan Shiyi’s smile in it was so dazzling that even someone as face-blind as Tang Ling couldn’t help but feel her heart stir.

She wished—just once—that Tan Shiyi would smile at her that way.

When the livestream ended, Tan Shiyi closed her laptop with mild irritation. “You barely interacted with the fans. What were you staring at me for the whole time?”

Tang Ling apologized quickly. “Sorry, I was a bit out of it today. Oh, right—I made some iced plum lemon tea. Want to try it?”

Seeing Tan Shiyi didn’t refuse, she hurried to the mini-fridge, pulled out the drink, and offered it with a bright, eager smile.

She hesitated for a moment, lips parting as if to speak.

Tan Shiyi took a sip, then looked up at her. “If that ad bothered you, you can just say so. There’s no need to dance around it.”

Tang Ling froze, embarrassed that her feelings were so transparent. “It’s not that I’m bothered, exactly. Fine, honestly, I was pretty jealous.”

Tan Shiyi met her gaze. “It was just a commercial.”

“I know,” Tang Ling said, scratching her head. “I know it was just work, but you looked so beautiful smiling at Miss Pu like that, and the way you two moved together—it just made me so, so jealous.”

That one shot of Tan Shiyi running into Pu Xiaoyu’s arms kept replaying in her head. She couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Even knowing it was acting, the thought of someone else holding Tan Shiyi made her chest ache.

And on top of that, Pu Xiaoyu had confessed to Tan Shiyi, which only deepened the bitter taste in her heart.

She couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Shiyi, um, in that last scene—did Miss Pu hug you?”

As soon as she said it, she wanted to crawl into a hole. What right did she even have to ask something like that?

Sure enough, Tan Shiyi’s brows furrowed in displeasure. “Tomorrow’s the fifth public performance. Is this really all you have on your mind?”