The Vicious Cannon Fodder Despised by Everyone Really Doesn't Want to Go Viral - Chapter 45

Mu Yunji’s eyelid twitched as he stared intently at Lin Zhiyu inside the glass soundproof booth. The veins on his forehead bulged, and the hand he had slammed onto the table trembled with an urge he could barely suppress; he desperately wanted to drag Lin Zhiyu out by the collar.

Inside the booth, Lin Zhiyu faced the microphone with a look of utmost sincerity. He was incredibly focused, provided one ignored his fluctuating pitch and his erratic sense of rhythm.

Especially when he reached the chorus, a completely off-the-rails high note made the recording engineer flinch, causing him to scramble to turn down the volume.

Mu Yunji pinched the bridge of his nose, his face screaming that he was going to lose it. Yet, he forced himself not to curse out loud. He took a deep breath, walked over to the intercom, pressed the button, and said through gritted teeth, “Lin Zhiyu, have you ever actually sung a song in your life? Did you not debut through an idol survival show? Were the judges deaf?”

He barked this out so quickly that he did not think it through. Only after the words left his mouth did he realize that he had been one of those judges at the time.

Lin Zhiyu took off his headphones with a rather innocent expression and muttered softly, “I told you, I cannot find the key.”

Snapping back to reality, Mu Yunji’s face turned pitch black. He pointed a finger at Lin Zhiyu, then at himself, struggling for words for a long while before finally squeezing out, “Shut up. Start over. Now.”

Lin Zhiyu grumbled, “Again?”

Mu Yunji snapped, “Hurry up. Do not waste time.”

Lin Zhiyu sighed. For the first time, he felt that Mu Yunji’s stubbornness was something ten bulls could not pull back; the man was ready to smash his head against the wall and still would not turn around. He adjusted his headphones and tried his best to find the key, but to no avail.

When he opened his mouth again, his voice sounded like strings twisted into a mess on an unknown instrument. The high notes were more of a roller coaster ride than a melody.

The recording engineer was struggling to keep it together, his hands frozen over the console as he sat rigid in his chair. The post-production staff member next to him pushed up his glasses and whispered, “Brother Mu, this, I feel like you would need to invite a god to save this.”

Mu Yunji’s face was ashen. He gave the staffer a cold sideways glance. “Save it? Save what? It would be faster to just give him a throat transplant.”

Inside the booth, Lin Zhiyu heard no response from the intercom for a long time. He rubbed his nose sheepishly. “Was that take okay?”

Mu Yunji stared at him for three seconds, his voice now sounding completely defeated. “Okay? My foot!”

“Do you even know what ‘tone-deaf’ means? You are practically inventing a new musical scale! From now on, you will be the rising star of the music industry, creating a whole new genre by your own efforts!”

Lin Zhiyu thought, do not think I cannot hear the sarcasm. However, since it was indeed his own fault, Lin Zhiyu just lay low and took the scolding.

The recording engineer and other staff members were suffering from internal injuries from holding back their laughter, but no one dared to speak while Mu Yunji was on the verge of exploding.

“Maybe we should just ask someone else to sing it?” Lin Zhiyu suggested softly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Sing my foot!” Mu Yunji glared at him. “Get out here! I am going to teach you if it is the last thing I do. I refuse to believe I cannot do it!”

For the next hour or so, the recording studio was filled with Mu Yunji’s roars and Lin Zhiyu’s intermittent, off-key humming.

“Not that note! It is a flat! A flat, do you understand?”

“Oh, like this? It still feels wrong.”

“How can you possibly sing a high note as a low note? And with that rhythm? Follow the accompaniment!”

“I am following it! I am!”

“You could sing perfectly fine during the survival show! Are you playing me?”

“Maybe I broke my brain when I fell a while back and now I am an idiot? Sorry, let me try one more time.”

By the time the final recording session ended, Mu Yunji collapsed into a chair, his face pale. He clutched his down jacket and glared at Lin Zhiyu, looking as though all his energy had been siphoned away.

He waved a hand weakly and said raspily, “Fine. Let post-production save whatever they can. If I keep teaching you, I will be knocking on death’s door.”

Lin Zhiyu looked back at him and gave the staff members an apologetic smile. “I am sorry for wasting everyone’s time. I have had my assistant order afternoon tea as an apology.”

Mu Yunji rolled his eyes, wanting nothing more than to never see him again. He waved him off. “Just do not let me hear your voice again.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhiyu turned around again to look at the man’s decadent state. He was a completely different person from the spirited, arrogant drummer who had arrived this morning. Wrapped in a heavy down jacket, his meticulously styled hair was now a bird’s nest from his frustrated scratching. His eyes drooped helplessly, filled with a melancholy emptiness. He looked more miserable than someone who had worked a week of overtime.

Lin Zhiyu felt unexpectedly guilty. After a moment’s thought, he walked over toward Mu Yunji.

Mu Yunji was sitting slumped in the chair with his long legs spread out. Sensing Lin Zhiyu’s approach, he pulled the oversized hood of his jacket over his head and closed his eyes to play dead. He clearly had no intention of acknowledging him.

Lin Zhiyu’s eye twitched; he found this a bit absurd. Still, he nudged the side of the man’s shoe with his foot. “Hey, let me treat you to a meal.”

After all, having tortured the man for so long, his conscience was pricking him.

Mu Yunji suspiciously opened one eye, staring at him with an eerie gaze. Then, he arched an eyebrow and said with a dark, playful smirk, “Do not tell me that all of that just now was a trick of yours, just so you could say that sentence to me?”

Lin Zhiyu was silent. He was nearly laughed to tears by this man’s ego.

“Do you think you are made of gold?” he said gently. “Does everyone scramble just to eat with you?”

Mu Yunji was not annoyed by the remark. He looked Lin Zhiyu up and down before saying meaningfully, “Not everyone, but as for you, you have quite the track record.”

Lin Zhiyu snapped, “Suit yourself. Eat or do not.” Then he whispered under his breath, “Who wants to eat looking at your face anyway? I would rather go home and look at your brother.”

Hearing that last murmur, Mu Yunji’s mouth twitched. He stood up lazily from the chair, hands in his pockets, and looked down at Lin Zhiyu with a smirk. “Oh? Since you insist on treating me, fine. I will pick the place.”

Lin Zhiyu squinted at him, wondering how this man always managed to use his blessed face to look so malicious. Still, he shrugged and acted indifferent. “Whatever you want.”

In his heart, however, he was praying that the man would not pick a high-priced restaurant he could not afford. As if reading his mind, Mu Yunji asked playfully, “Do you know Mu Sui’s favorite place?”

Lin Zhiyu’s heart jumped, and his wallet alarm started blaring, but he replied casually, “I do not know.”

“You will definitely like it,” Mu Yunji said, pulling out his phone to search for something. “Go on then. See you later.”

Though puzzled, Lin Zhiyu did not ask further and turned to walk straight out.

Mu Yunji had booked a barbecue joint. To avoid any scandal, they both brought their assistants along.

Lin Zhiyu flipped through the menu, looking at the colorful meat skewers and various organ meats, wondering if the descriptions of the man’s high-end tastes in the book were just a hallucination. Lin Zhiyu loved barbecue, but a member of the Mu family did not exactly seem like the type to visit such a down-to-earth place.

It reminded him of the joke he had made with Mu Sui: the strong, independent, little white flower female lead taking the overbearing CEO to a roadside stall. Now, it was the top star of the music industry taking him for barbecue.

“Just this?” Lin Zhiyu reached down to rub the head of the Golden Retriever, Dabing, who was squeezed between his legs, panting and rubbing against him. “You are not going to some high-end restaurant to put on your young master airs?”

Mu Yunji leaned back and gave the traitorous dog a heavy look, letting out a light snort. He waved the menu and said crossly, “Young master airs are for when I have the mood to pretend. Eating with you, I will just consider it feeding the dog.”

Lin Zhiyu’s mouth twitched. He thought to himself that who is feeding whom is still up for debate. Then, he squeezed the Golden Retriever’s face and leaned in, rubbing his nose against the dog’s. “Little guy, why is your master so stingy? He brought an extra mouth along just to make me pay more. He is really good with a calculator, is he not?”

Mu Yunji was nearly choked by the comment. He grabbed a glass of ice water and took a sip to suppress his irritation. “Is there alcohol? Barbecue without alcohol is a crime.”

Mu Yunji’s assistant looked up and reminded him in a low voice, “Brother Mu, you had a little bit last time and complained of a headache the next day.”

Mu Yunji’s face darkened. He pointed at the iced beer on the menu. “I want to drink today. A few glasses will not hurt.” Then he looked at Lin Zhiyu. “You can drink too, right?”

Lin Zhiyu did not give him any face. “Sorry, I do not drink. Your brother does not like the smell of alcohol; he will get angry.”

Mu Yunji fumed like a pufferfish.

Lin Zhiyu smiled innocently. “I am truly afraid he will come looking for trouble.”

Mu Yunji snapped, “Fine, forget it. You guys can just drink sparkling sweet water.”

The barbecue arrived quickly. Lin Zhiyu ate seriously, occasionally handing pet-friendly snacks provided by the shop under the table. Dabing feasted by his side, his tail wagging like a propeller. Every time he finished a piece of chicken breast or a beef ball, he would rub against Lin Zhiyu’s arm, making Mu Yunji even more annoyed.

“Traitor,” he muttered under his breath, grinding his teeth. “I should have just left you at home to eat kibble.” He then turned his gaze to Lin Zhiyu. “Lin Zhiyu, do you know that you are really quite annoying?”

At those words, not only Chen Chen, but even Mu Yunji’s assistant was stunned. The assistant had cursed Lin Zhiyu in private before; after all, the guy used to be a nuisance, sticking to Mu Yunji like a plaster and wearing overpowering perfume while being rude to the staff. But saying it to his face now felt a bit much.

“I know.”

Lin Zhiyu said this so nonchalantly, as if he were listening to someone else’s evaluation. He showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever as he skillfully popped a skewer of pork belly into his mouth and chewed with gusto.

It felt as if Mu Yunji had thrown a punch into a pile of cotton; his anger could not find an outlet. He paused, arched an eyebrow, and let out a cold laugh. “You know? And yet you are still eating my food and playing with my dog?”

Lin Zhiyu suddenly burst out laughing, lifting his eyelids to look at him with a half-smile.

“You are actually quite childish.”