Chapter Fourteen: An Unexpected Scholar

The show began, and the first contestant took the stage—a boy with somewhat effeminate features, performing a flashy song with a hint of rap.

Song Xiaoqing frowned immediately; it was all style and no substance, and she had no idea what he was singing about. She couldn’t understand why today’s pretty boys all preferred this kind of music—it simply wasn’t to her taste.

Sure enough, out of the four judges, only Wang Yihan gave him a B, while the other three all gave C’s.

According to the rules, a contestant needed at least three B-level ratings or one A-level rating to advance.

So, the first contestant was eliminated.

The second contestant was a good-looking girl who performed a song with down-to-earth lyrics, clearly inspired by her own life.

This time, three mentors gave her B’s, and she advanced successfully.

Soon, ten contestants had appeared, and only two had made it through so far.

The two most popular seed contestants had yet to take the stage.

Feeling a bit hungry, Song Xiaoqing pulled out a bag of chips from her drawer and stuffed a handful into her mouth.

“Please welcome contestant number eleven.”

“Hello, mentors. I’m contestant number eleven, Xu Ze.”

“Pfft!” Chips sprayed from Song Xiaoqing’s mouth.

She stared at the screen, eyes wide in disbelief.

Why was Xu Ze participating in this show?

For a second, she thought she was hallucinating.

But the reality was clear—the handsome contestant number eleven on the show was indeed her nephew, Xu Ze.

As Xu Ze stepped onto the stage, the comment barrage erupted.

“Wow, what a handsome guy.”

“So handsome, so handsome!”

“How come I’ve never seen this hottie before?”

“Let me just lick the screen!”

“Even his voice sounds amazing.”

Then, a discordant comment floated by: “Is he as handsome as my Huang Minghao?”

A slew of responses followed. “Right, Huang Minghao is the most handsome!”

“When will Huang Minghao come out?”

“And Zhu Zhengting? Where’s my Zhu Zhengting?”

…

At that moment, Song Xiaoqing, forced to accept this surreal turn of events, caught sight of the scrolling comments and immediately jumped into the fray in outrage:

“Xu Ze is the most handsome!”

“Huang Minghao and Zhu Zhengting are nothing!”

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves—the comment section exploded, and since the episode had just been released, the barrage was especially lively.

Countless fans of Huang Minghao and Zhu Zhengting began to attack Song Xiaoqing.

But she refused to back down, her fingers flying across the keyboard so fast they almost left afterimages.

She had no time to call Xu Ze to question him.

A comment war? She’d never lost one!

Meanwhile, at the Lonely Bar.

Normally, the big screen TV was only used to show the World Cup, but tonight it was broadcasting a music variety show, and the in-house singer wasn’t performing.

“Boss, why are you putting on this kind of show? We want to hear Miaomiao sing!” a regular shouted.

Most of the customers were there for Miaomiao’s singing, and they started to protest as well:

“Yeah, boss, we don’t want to watch TV!”

“Where’s the singer? Get her on stage!”

Xu Yan was dressed in a cheerleader outfit today, holding a megaphone.

Seeing the crowd’s complaints, she switched on the megaphone and shouted, “I’m in a good mood today—drinks are twenty percent off! But I want to watch this show. Do you agree?”

“Are you serious, boss?”

“Agreed!”

“Agreed!”

Hearing Xu Yan’s words, everyone became excited. Twenty percent off drinks? Watching a music show was nothing—heck, they’d even watch Teletubbies if it meant discounts.

Xu Yan, gleeful, pulled Miaomiao over and sat in the VIP seats to watch the show.

Miaomiao wore her usual white hat, covering her eyes.

Sitting on the couch, she smiled and asked softly, “Sister Yan, aren’t you afraid of losing money? That’s a hefty discount, just to let everyone watch Xu Ze’s show together.”

Xu Yan took a swig of beer and replied indifferently, “I’ve got money to burn, so I do as I please!”

The TV in the bar didn’t show comments, so Xu Yan and the others had no idea the comment section was already a battleground because of Xu Ze.

Meanwhile, on the show, Jiang Yiyan, the Girls’ Generation group mentor, looked at her notes and asked, “According to your profile, you’re a student at Qingbei University?”

“Yes.”

At that, the bar erupted in unison: “Wow!”

People who hadn’t cared much about the show became curious.

A Qingbei student joining a music show—it was a rare sight indeed.

Xu Yan and Miaomiao exchanged surprised glances. Xu Ze had never mentioned this to them.

“Who would’ve thought Xu Ze is a top scholar,” Xu Yan’s eyes sparkled.

Miaomiao couldn’t hide her astonishment. She’d always thought Xu Ze was just an entertainment company artist. She never expected, like herself, he was still a student—and at Qingbei, no less.

Back in the comment section, the heated debate died down instantly when they learned Xu Ze was a Qingbei student.

Then a flood of new comments appeared.

“Wow! The handsome guy’s actually from Qingbei!”

“Qingbei University, number one!”

“Top student! Top student! Top student!”

…

Meanwhile, in the faculty dormitory at Qingbei University.

Xu Qing had just finished her shower and was lying on the bed in silk pajamas, picking up her phone to catch up on the latest chapter of her favorite novel.

After reading, she frowned. Today’s update felt a bit short.

She checked the table of contents and counted. Sure enough, the author had only posted eight thousand words today, instead of the usual ten thousand!

She immediately left a comment: “Author, you’re slacking! Two thousand words short today! Hurry up and make it up!”

Then, she liked every comment urging the author to update faster.

Just as she was enjoying herself, the department head called.

Xu Qing’s chest tightened. Why did the director always call her at night? What had happened now?

She answered the phone, and the director’s voice came through: “Ms. Xu, is Xu Ze a student in your Class 2, Department of Chinese Language and Literature?”

“Xu Ze?” Xu Qing was taken aback, then nodded. “Yes, what’s going on?”

She remembered the exceptionally handsome boy in her class quite clearly.

Had something happened? As a teacher, the last thing she wanted was a late-night call about a student.

“Well, Xu Ze’s on TV—on that show ‘I’m a Singer-Songwriter.’ You know about this?”

Xu Qing was completely baffled and replied instinctively, “No, I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t? Well, never mind. Have a good night, then, I’m hanging up.” The director promptly ended the call.

Xu Ze? On a music show?

Well, so be it. Their university students were all multitalented, so it wasn’t too surprising.

But really, Director, with barely any hair left on your head, shouldn’t you be studying classical literature instead of following music shows all day?

With that thought, Xu Qing sat up, deciding to check out her student’s show herself. After all, she’d have to wait until tomorrow for the next novel update anyway.