Chapter 58: I Remember You Started as a Trainee

While singing, Zhan Wang's gaze was fixed firmly on Xu Zhaozhao.

As for Xu Zhaozhao, she occasionally cast her eyes toward Shen Mu.

Yet, it was merely for a fraction of a second before she immediately looked away.

After praising Xu Zhaozhao, Zhan Wang turned his attention to Shen Mu.

His tone was brimming with surprise. "Shen Mu, I never expected you to play the drums so well. Judging by the seamless way you collaborated with us just now, have you been in a band before?"

"No," Shen Mu replied, setting down his drumsticks and standing up.

"No?" Zhan Wang looked entirely puzzled.

Without any prior practice in a band or time spent harmonizing with bandmates, it would be impossible for him to coordinate so flawlessly with his keyboard and Xu Zhaozhao's bass.

However, since the other man had answered with such absolute certainty, pressing further to dig for answers would appear quite impolite.

After all, this was a live-streamed dating reality show, and everyone had privacy they preferred to keep hidden from the public eye.

Consequently, as Shen Mu stepped down from the stage, Zhan Wang leaned over to ask Xu Zhaozhao quietly, "Zhaozhao, don't you think Shen Mu looks like someone who used to play in a band?"

Xu Zhaozhao feigned ignorance and shook her head. "I have no idea."

In truth, however, she knew it all too well.

She knew that Shen Mu not only played the drums but was also an exceptional singer. He had once belonged to a band and had even served as its visual center.

Yet, for reasons unknown, that passionate and vibrant lead singer had transformed into the cold and aloof figure standing before her today.

She had once believed that crossing paths with him again was a blessing bestowed by the heavens.

Now, that blessing—which she had pleaded for countless times—had turned into a form of torture.

Once Shen Mu left the stage, Xu Zhaozhao also took off her bass, preparing to step down as well.

Unexpectedly, Zhan Wang reached out and grabbed her arm, asking with a smile, "How about one more song?"

"This time, instead of my song, how about we play one of yours?"

Ever since hearing Xu Zhaozhao's composition that night, he had felt as though he had finally found a kindred spirit in her.

That feeling grew even stronger, especially after the two of them had just sung a duet together.

Therefore, standing firmly on the spot, he earnestly invited her to perform another song.

"I..."

Singing her own song on a dating reality show?

As Xu Zhaozhao hesitated, she suddenly noticed Shen Mu turning his head to look back at her.

That gaze carried a trace of flushed anger.

Xu Zhaozhao gave a start.

Could this guy really be holding a grudge this long just because she answered a question wrong?

Besides, hadn't he voluntarily gone up on stage to perform as well? What right did he have to look at her like that?

Even though Xu Zhaozhao felt she had done nothing wrong, having her mood spoiled by Shen Mu left her with no desire to continue singing.

Just as she opened her mouth to turn down Zhan Wang, Chen Si'si chimed in from offstage.

"I told you we shouldn't let our little musical prince take the stage."

She directed these words at Lin Xuehui, but Zhan Wang heard them loud and clear.

He looked at Chen Si'si in bewilderment. "Si'si, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, Zhan Wang, don't misunderstand. I didn't mean anything by it..."

Realizing that Zhan Wang had overheard her, Chen Si'si covered her mouth, pretending she had spoken out of turn.

"Si'si, if you have something to say, just say it outright!"

Zhan Wang had crossed paths with Chen Si'si at a few events previously, so they were not entirely strangers.

Backstage at one event, he had accidentally overheard her flying into an unreasonable rage at her assistant, realizing then that she was someone with the pure demeanor of a spoiled heiress. Because of this, he had chosen never to associate with her after joining the reality show.

At present, Chen Si'si's seemingly casual yet deliberately pointed remarks left an unpleasant taste in Zhan Wang's mouth.

He wanted Chen Si'si to state her thoughts straightforwardly.

If he had indeed done something wrong, he would humbly correct it; if he was in the right, then the person mocking him owed him an apology!

"I just meant that you shouldn't be allowed to go up and perform. You're a contestant who excels at both singing and dancing—once you start singing and dancing, there's simply no room left for the rest of us!"

What did she mean by no room left for them?

Zhan Wang paused, stunned.

Xu Zhaozhao shoved her bass directly into Chen Si'si's arms. "If you want to perform on stage, just say so. Why bother beating around the bush?"

"I'm handing this stage over to you. Once we finish performing for you lot, it's naturally your turn to go up anyway!"

With that, she sat down with a thud and resumed her battle with her half-eaten steak.

Chen Si'si glared at Xu Zhaozhao, then turned her gaze to Ke Hao. "Ke Hao, would you like to go on stage with me?"

Ever since they were paired up as a couple for this segment, Chen Si'si had stopped addressing him as "Movie Emperor Ke" and started calling him "Ke Hao" directly.

In her mind, only this could demonstrate that the two of them had truly gone through the test of compatibility together.

Ke Hao hastily shook his head. "I'll sit this excitement out."

As the most senior guest among them, he was naturally the oldest as well.

He felt that a man nearing thirty standing among people in their early twenties, singing and dancing along with them, simply looked entirely inappropriate.

Seeing that she could not persuade Ke Hao, Chen Si'si's expression darkened noticeably.

However, Ke Hao's refusal did not make her dislike him more; instead, it instantly transferred all her resentment onto Xu Zhaozhao.

Had Xu Zhaozhao not gone up to sing and steal the spotlight, overshadowing the other female guests, Chen Si'si would not have had to resort to such passive-aggressive behavior.

She turned her sights next to Song Qing and Lin Xuehui. "You two, do you want to go up and perform something?"

Her words struck a chord with everyone present.

None of them wanted to let Xu Zhaozhao hog all the attention.

Song Qing and Lin Xuehui took to the stage one after the other.

Song Qing came from a broadcasting background and possessed a decent singing voice.

Lin Xuehui's vocals were somewhat subpar, though masked by the accompaniment, they weren't entirely unbearable either.

Finally, it was Chen Si'si's turn.

And consequently, everyone was subjected to an auditory assault by Chen Si'si.

Chen Si'si was completely tone-deaf, yet she had not the slightest reservation about displaying this shortcoming in public.

In the past, whenever she sang like this, people praised her for being naive and cute.

However, displaying such a flaw once or twice for a lighthearted laugh was one thing; doing it repeatedly simply made a person look remarkably foolish.

Now, at the campfire party of the reality show, her return to singing completely off-key immediately provoked a barrage of mocking comments in the live stream's bullet screen:

[I am truly speechless. Knowing full well she can't sing, she still rushes up to perform every single time.]

[Once or twice is fine for a laugh, but shamelessly scrambling up to perform every time is pushing it a bit too far, right?]

[There's a world of difference between acting cute and actually being cute, and Chen Si'si falls somewhere entirely outside of both.]

Oblivious to these comments, Chen Si'si remained entirely pleased with herself.

After finishing a song whose notes had drifted to the ends of the earth, she lingered on stage with a hint of bashful modesty.

Out of sheer courtesy, the other guests forced themselves to applaud.

As for Xu Zhaozhao, she paid them no mind and continued to do battle with a fresh steak.

"Zhaozhao..."

Ignoring Chen Si'si, the latter came straight over to find her the moment she stepped off the stage.

"Did you... already know how to sing before this?" Chen Si'si asked. "How come you're so good at it?"

[Thank goodness Xu Zhaozhao isn't blind or deaf.]

Xu Zhaozhao shook her head. "What a coincidence, that happens to be the only song of Zhan Wang's that I know."

"Is that really true?" Chen Si'si asked, looking unconvinced.

"Really." Xu Zhaozhao had no obligation to tell Chen Si'si the truth.

Whether she could sing or not was her own business.

When she signed her contract back then, management had tightly regulated every aspect of her life, leaving out only her singing abilities.

Therefore, even if her "Fear of Death Pass" online persona was exposed, she had nothing to worry about.

Still, since this was a live dating show, avoiding unnecessary trouble was always best.

That night, the two women returned to their room.

In a corner hidden from the cameras' view, Chen Si'si lowered her voice to a whisper and asked Xu Zhaozhao, "Xu Zhaozhao, I'll ask you one more time—are you really incapable of singing?"

"How is it that... I seem to remember you started out as a trainee?"