I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 35

The moment Yu Jingtang hugged her, Jiang Luoyue’s body stiffened. She rarely had such intimate physical contact with others, even when she was with Zhou Ruonian, the other person never held her. To Jiang Luoyue, hugging seemed even more intimate than kissing.

And when she heard those unabashed words, “I missed you,” she instinctively pursed her lips, wanting to say something but falling into a daze instead.

Maybe this was just Yu Jingtang’s way of expressing closeness to a friend? Just like how she held hands with Fu Yunqing and Xiang Fan’ai, would pointing it out abruptly make Jiang Luoyue seem strange?

Yu Jingtang blinked and glanced at the decorations in the entryway. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Her breath brushed against Jiang Luoyue’s neck, sending tingles of itchiness. Suppressing the urge to push her away, Jiang Luoyue remained silent.

Yu Jingtang looked confused, then quieted down, deciding to hold her breath until Jiang Luoyue acknowledged her.

But after ten seconds, with Jiang Luoyue still silent, Yu Jingtang finally said, “Murderer.”

There was a hint of grievance in her tone, causing Jiang Luoyue’s wandering thoughts to halt for a few seconds before slowly settling. “Huh.? Not speaking makes me a murderer? You’ve been holding me so tight I could barely breathe, and I didn’t even blame you.”

As her words trailed off, Yu Jingtang finally released her, examining her face with concern. “No, you weren’t.”

Jiang Luoyue let out a long sigh of relief and immediately turned away, pretending to ask casually, “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“You weren’t out of breath,” Yu Jingtang said. “Your face is flushed very healthy.”

Jiang Luoyue, whose ears were now turning crimson: “…”

She desperately tried to change the subject. “Have you had breakfast?”

Yu Jingtang shook her head. Faced with the choice between cooking herself or offering instant bread, Jiang Luoyue chose the latter. After all, Yu Jingtang still had a recording session, if she got a stomachache from Jiang Luoyue’s “love-filled breakfast,” Jiang Luoyue wasn’t ready to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.

As the refrigerator door closed, Jiang Luoyue’s expression finally calmed. By the balcony, Yu Jingtang was taking photos of the succulents, occasionally poking the leaves. She only stood up when Jiang Luoyue called her name.

Glancing at the breakfast and then at Jiang Luoyue’s slightly embarrassed expression, Yu Jingtang smiled. “Can I take a picture?”

Jiang Luoyue: “Sure. But don’t post it on social media.”

Last night, a single accusatory message from Xiang Fan’ai had taken Jiang Luoyue nearly ten minutes to explain. By the time she was exhausted and ready to confront Yu Jingtang, the latter had started showcasing her musical instruments. Seeing that Yu Jingtang had serious matters to attend to, Jiang Luoyue had to abandon her thoughts of revenge.

Now, Yu Jingtang herself was sitting right in front of her. If it were last night, Jiang Luoyue would have straightforwardly and smilingly asked about her intentions. But after that hug, thinking about it now brought up many untimely imaginings. For instance, at such a close distance just moments ago, it seemed like she could have just lifted her head and,

But if Yu Jingtang lowered her head, she could only kiss her forehead. Was the height difference that significant? Jiang Luoyue was stunned.

She had never imagined that the first time she’d care about height would be because of such thoughts.

Glancing at the unperturbed Yu Jingtang, Jiang Luoyue suddenly felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles, overwhelmed with guilt.

Yu Jingtang, who suddenly found hot milk added to her cup: “Huh?”

Jiang Luoyue could only divert attention with the most common small talk: “Eat up.”

Yu Jingtang nodded, her fingers lightly tapping on the screen a few times. Before long, Jiang Luoyue received a call from Yu Qing: “Is Yu Jingtang at your place?”

Jiang Luoyue: “…” She herself had only found out twenty minutes ago, how did Yu Qing know already?

“She posted on Weibo,” Yu Qing said, her lips twitching.

If she remembered correctly, hadn’t Yu Jingtang only learned the address yesterday? And today she was already visiting?

But Yu Jingtang was a woman of few words, at least safer than someone like Fu Yunqing, who was like a loudspeaker. Thinking this, Yu Qing felt satisfied again.

Jiang Luoyue, astonished, opened Weibo and indeed saw a post from Yu Jingtang a few minutes earlier: [“Her succulents.”]

Attached were a few photos of plants.

Immediately after, another post followed: [“Her and my breakfast.”]

The accompanying photo showed the simple dining table in front of them.

Yu Jingtang didn’t speak often, but when she did, she made a splash. In an instant, countless fans flooded the comments section.

[“After reading your Weibo, I’m starting to forget the word ‘her.’ Teacher, is this our Xiaotang? Our Xiaotang doesn’t date she’s the cool, detached type.”]

[“Luoyue Jingtang sisters, let’s eat!”]

[“LOL, you mean literally eating, right?”]

[“Where are the rival fans who were mocking us yesterday? Why so quiet now? @Fu Yunqing”]

[“Did you know? The Luoyue Jingtang supertopic has 70,000 fans, while Fu Yunqing only has 14 million. If Fu Yunqing’s fans were to raid the village, every Luoyue Jingtang sister would have to fight 200 of them. You don’t care about anything, you just want to lure the enemy into the village!”]

Jiang Luoyue took a deep breath and was about to confront Yu Jingtang when the sound of running water came from the kitchen.

She looked up and saw the woman standing in front of the sink. The same hands that skillfully played instruments in videos were now washing cups and plates. This unusually mundane scene made Jiang Luoyue space out for a few seconds. By the time she snapped back to reality, Yu Jingtang had already dried her hands and reminded her that it was almost time.

Her phone buzzed and vibrated again, sending countless messages, but Jiang Luoyue had no interest in checking them. Staring at Yu Jingtang’s face for several seconds, she finally nodded hesitantly.

Yu Jingtang had clearly undergone professional training in dodging reporters. She first repeatedly checked the parking lot to confirm no one was lying in wait before letting Jiang Luoyue go downstairs.

The interior of Yu Jingtang’s car was as simple and unadorned as the woman herself, there was nothing in it.

No air freshener, no music, only the continuous rush of wind flowing in through the window.

In the rearview mirror, Jiang Luoyue noticed a guitar case lying across the back seat: “Are you going to play later?”

“There’s a guitar solo piece,” Yu Jingtang replied.

Jiang Luoyue had assumed Yu Jingtang would take her to a private recording studio, but the car stopped at the destination of Yu Jingtang’s agency, Tianyu Entertainment. It seemed like an important meeting was happening today, with many artists frequently coming and going from the company.

The receptionist smiled when she saw Yu Jingtang, but the smile stiffened for a moment when she noticed Jiang Luoyue behind her.

While waiting for the elevator, Jiang Luoyue could still hear the receptionist’s surprised voice: “When was Jiang Luoyue poached to our company?”

“What?” another person asked, confused. “Yu Jingtang poached Jiang Luoyue? So that’s why the company arranged for her to be on the variety show.”

Jiang Luoyue hesitated for a few seconds but decided to keep calm and not explain. After all, even if she did, they might not listen, and it could add fuel to the fire, turning into rumors that Jiang Luoyue joined the variety show just to jump to Tianyu Entertainment.

Yu Jingtang noticed her expression and asked, puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

She carried a guitar case on her back, her figure tall and slender. Aside from wearing a black hat, she made no other attempt to disguise herself. At this moment, with her gaze lowered, Jiang Luoyue noticed that her hair was once again obscuring her brows.

Snapping back to reality, Jiang Luoyue tentatively reached out her hand. “It’s nothing, Can you see clearly like this?”

Yu Jingtang didn’t answer but leaned in closer, allowing Jiang Luoyue to use her fingertips to adjust her bangs until they were neatly styled into a more refined side part. Only then did she nod in satisfaction and answer honestly, “I can’t see clearly, but I don’t want to cut it.”

Jiang Luoyue asked, “Why?”

Yu Jingtang replied, “My fans keep telling me to cut it, worried I won’t be able to see the sheet music clearly.”

But every song she wrote was her own, and even if she couldn’t see clearly, she had them memorized by heart. This was a blatant lack of trust in her abilities!

Jiang Luoyue couldn’t help but chuckle. At this moment, Yu Jingtang resembled a rebellious teenager, the more others urged her to do something, the more she went against it. But upon closer thought, while most rebellious phases involved mischief, Yu Jingtang’s rebellion merely manifested as not wanting to cut her hair.

Softening her tone, Jiang Luoyue casually asked, “What if I asked you to cut it?”

Yu Jingtang replied, “I could.”

“You couldn’t, Huh?”

Jiang Luoyue had assumed she would refuse as well and was taken aback by the response. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Yu Jingtang took her hand, leading her toward the recording studio. “We’ll talk about where to cut later. We’re going to be late.”

Jiang Luoyue stared at their intertwined hands for several seconds before belatedly replying, “Okay.”

Yu Jingtang timed it perfectly, stepping into the recording room exactly at ten o’clock.

However, the sound engineer was currently wearing headphones and seemed busy. Upon seeing the two, she only gave Jiang Luoyue a surprised glance before signaling for them to remain quiet.

The next moment, a screeching female voice pierced through the soundproof walls, echoing relentlessly in their ears: “Let love! And laughter! Soar fore, ver high!”

Instantly frozen in place, Jiang Luoyue and Yu Jingtang: “…”

But when they looked at the sound engineer, the woman wore an expression of tearful joy. “That was an excellent performance. We can wrap it up.”

Not long after, the door to the recording room opened, and Yu Qiu, holding the lyrics, declared with great pride, “So? I told you I sing well, Jiang Luoyue?”

Before she could finish boasting to the sound engineer, she spotted the two standing in the corner. After exchanging a few words with Yu Qiu, Jiang Luoyue learned that she was also an artist under Tianyu Entertainment. Yu Qiu was set to be a regular guest on a new variety show produced by the company and was currently recording the show’s theme song.

With every sentence Yu Qiu spoke, Jiang Luoyue was reminded of that majestic high note. She struggled to hold back her laughter multiple times.

Suddenly, her sleeve was lightly tugged, drawing her attention. Jiang Luoyue turned her head to see Yu Jingtang looking at her. Between Yu Qiu and Yu Jingtang, Jiang Luoyue chose the latter. “Xiao Tang needs to record now.”

She hinted that they could catch up later, but Yu Qiu took it as a dismissal and nodded understandingly. Before leaving, she proactively added Jiang Luoyue as a friend. “Just in case.”

Jiang Luoyue glanced at Yu Jingtang. “This is the normal procedure, right?”

Who blames the person themselves for not adding them as a friend? She knew it wasn’t her fault!

Yu Jingtang merely smiled faintly and walked into the recording booth.

With the help of the sound engineer, Jiang Luoyue put on the headphones. Soon, a light and airy accompaniment filled her ears, instantly transporting her to the warmth of a March sun.

Before long, a husky yet gentle female voice began to sing, like a refreshing breeze from a valley brushing past her ears serene and comforting.

Jiang Luoyue had listened to Yu Jingtang’s songs many times, but this was her first time hearing her perform live. Every few lines, she would glance at Yu Jingtang, as if only by doing so could she connect the usually taciturn or occasionally taciturn, Yu Jingtang with that melodious female voice.

At one moment, she even had an illusion.

When Yu Jingtang sang, she seemed to glow.

Jiang Luoyue suddenly understood why so many fans were obsessed with Yu Jingtang. Unconsciously, she propped her chin on her hand, her heart trembling along with the music. When the outro ended, she thought it was over and instinctively took off her headphones.

But the sound engineer said, “There were quite a few off-key parts. Let’s do it again.”

Yu Jingtang nodded, and the song started over from the beginning. Hesitantly, Jiang Luoyue sat back down and quickly searched online to learn that this was Yu Jingtang’s habit when making music no matter how many mistakes were made in the first take, she would record it in full and release it along with the album.

However, since mistakes were rare, many fans treated these “bloopers” as the main course, often confused as to why the version they listened to wasn’t the same as the highly praised one.

The singing was still pleasant, but it was no longer recorded continuously. Instead, it was polished meticulously, section by section.

Jiang Luoyue’s music dream, born just five minutes ago, gradually shattered under the sound engineer’s strict guidance.

Singing was a technical skill too! She looked at Yu Jingtang with pity, when her phone suddenly lit up.

To avoid disturbing Yu Jingtang, Jiang Luoyue had long set it to silent, blocking out any external factors.

Jiang Luoyue lowered her gaze and saw that the message was from Yu Qiu: 【Just remembered there’s something I didn’t ask you】

【?】

【Are you Fu Yunqing’s girlfriend?】

Jiang Luoyue:

She stared at the words. She recognized every character, but when put together, they were utterly baffling.

【Or Yu Jingtang’s? Xiang Fan’s? Ning Fuguang’s?】

Like the twelve scrolls of military documents, each one was different.

Jiang Luoyue finally snapped back to reality and replied with a string of ellipses: 【No. We’re friends.】

Yu Qiu: 【I get it.】

Jiang Luoyue couldn’t quite describe her feelings. She turned off the screen and was about to take a sip of water to calm down when another message from Yu Qiu followed immediately.

【More than friends, less than lovers!】

Catching the message out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Luoyue choked abruptly and started coughing violently. Yu Jingtang, who was just about to start recording again, took off her headphones, and the sound engineer, not understanding what was happening, handed her a throat lozenge.

Opening her eyes, Jiang Luoyue suddenly found herself the center of attention in the three-person recording studio: “…”