Chapter 8: Forbidden to Sing That Song Again

The chubby fellow’s eyes widened in shock when he saw Shi Wenjie—he recognized him instantly as Zhao Xiaofei’s boyfriend.

Why had he come over? Was he here to pick a fight?

The chubby guy looked on, wary and defensive.

As for Xu Ze, he chose to ignore the man who had suddenly appeared before him.

He had no interest in men.

One should never talk to strange men in a bar, especially if you’re a man yourself—it’s even more dangerous.

Shi Wenjie, noticing Xu Ze’s disregard, stiffened a little. He pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it over. “Hello, I’m with Imperial Crown Entertainment. Your singing just now was excellent.”

Shi Wenjie was confident; in the entertainment industry, there was no one who hadn’t heard of Imperial Crown Entertainment.

As one of the four top entertainment companies in the country, it boasted countless artists. The hottest young star at the moment, Wang Yihan, was under their management.

Realizing that he’d been recognized, Xu Ze finally turned to size Shi Wenjie up, immediately grasping his intent.

“You want to sign me?” Xu Ze asked directly.

Shi Wenjie nodded, wearing an expression that said he saw great potential. “Yes, I’d like to bring you into Imperial Crown Entertainment. Our company—”

“Not interested.” Xu Ze cut him off before he could finish.

Shi Wenjie, thinking Xu Ze hadn’t heard clearly, emphasized, “Our company is Imperial Crown Entertainment! The Imperial Crown, one of the country’s top four entertainment firms!”

“Sorry, I’m not interested in signing with any company. Whether you’re Imperial Crown or ‘Kidney Yellow’ Entertainment, it’s all the same to me.” With that, Xu Ze waved to Xu Yan and left the bar with the chubby guy in tow.

Shi Wenjie watched Xu Ze’s retreating back, seething with rage. Never before had anyone dared to disregard his company like this.

Countless artists begged daily to be signed by them, yet Xu Ze had the audacity to turn them down.

“Kid, I’ll remember you. If you ever try to enter the entertainment world, I’ll crush you in no time,” Shi Wenjie muttered to himself.

Just then, he noticed Miao Miao standing next to Xu Yan. He was instantly struck—she was beautiful beyond words.

He hurriedly straightened his collar, handed his business card to Miao Miao, and smiled warmly. “Hello, I’m with Imperial Crown Entertain—”

“Not interested,” Miao Miao replied, perfectly mimicking Xu Ze’s tone, then turned and walked away.

Shi Wenjie was left speechless.

On the street, the chubby guy seemed utterly lost, as if his soul had been snatched away. He swore he’d never seen a girl as stunning as Miao Miao in his life.

Compared to her, Zhao Xiaofei or Ren Qiu, pretty as they were, simply paled in comparison.

“Xu Ze, why didn’t you ask for Miao Miao’s WeChat?” the chubby guy wailed.

Xu Ze chuckled. “Why should I? Do you like her?”

Unable to hold back, the chubby guy asked, “Xu Ze, do you still have feelings for Zhao Xiaofei?”

“Zhao Xiaofei?”

Xu Ze was puzzled. “I haven’t even asked you what happened between you and Ren Qiu back there. Why were you arguing?”

The chubby guy sighed. “Don’t you know why we fought? Xu Ze, don’t give up the whole forest for a single tree!”

“What nonsense!” Xu Ze hated cryptic talk and snapped, “Just spit it out—what happened?”

Scratching his head, the chubby guy asked, “Didn’t you see Zhao Xiaofei’s Moments post? The guy who just came looking for you, he’s the boyfriend she announced online.”

That Imperial Crown Entertainment guy was Zhao Xiaofei’s boyfriend?

Xu Ze thought for a moment and suddenly understood.

“So you think I’m heartbroken?” Xu Ze patted the chubby guy on the shoulder, amused. “Was Zhao Xiaofei at the bar too?”

The chubby guy nodded and explained, “She thought we were following her, so Ren Qiu came to tell us to leave.”

Xu Ze couldn’t help but laugh—so that was the story.

“Xu Ze, stop right there!” A voice called out behind them.

They turned to see Zhao Xiaofei and Ren Qiu catching up.

Zhao Xiaofei, panting, demanded, “Xu Ze, what did you say to Shi Wenjie just now?”

Xu Ze raised an eyebrow, not really caring to answer, but the chubby guy blurted out, “Your boyfriend came to Xu Ze himself! He wanted to sign Xu Ze, but Xu Ze turned him down!”

“Are you sure you didn’t say anything else to him?” Zhao Xiaofei pressed, frowning.

The chubby guy wanted to continue, but Xu Ze stopped him, waving dismissively at Zhao Xiaofei. “Whatever I did in the past, we have nothing to do with each other now. Actually, we never really did. I wish you happiness—you two make a great match.”

Privately, Xu Ze added in his mind, “A playboy rich kid and a green tea—couldn’t be more fitting.”

“Then you’re not allowed to sing that song anymore!” Zhao Xiaofei insisted.

Xu Ze was amused, laughing, “Did you copyright the song?”

He turned away, pulling the chubby guy along, silently lamenting that his predecessor had fallen for someone so lacking in sense.

Ren Qiu clung to Zhao Xiaofei’s arm, asking with a hint of envy, “Xiaofei, did Xu Ze write that song for you?”

Zhao Xiaofei replied as if it were obvious, “Of course.”

Ren Qiu watched Xu Ze’s departing figure with envy. If someone wrote her such a beautiful song, she’d marry him on the spot.

…

Half an hour later.

A new post appeared on Qingbei University’s forum.

“A Mysterious Singer Appears at Little Solitude Bar by the East Gate.”

The post included a live video, and the singer was none other than Xu Ze.

At first, the post garnered little attention and was about to sink into obscurity, but suddenly comments began to pour in.

“What song is this?”

“This is quite good.”

“I’ve never heard it before—anyone know?”

“My analysis: this must be an original song.”

“He looks young, probably a student.”

“I’d bet twenty cents he’s not from our university.”

“+1”

“+1”

…

With the rising number of comments, the post quickly became the forum’s hottest topic, taking the number one spot.

Everyone who visited the Qingbei University forum couldn’t help but wonder if they’d stumbled into the wrong place.

After all, the posts below were all academic topics like “Research on Reforming the International Financial System,” “Strategic Management Theory and Practice in the Public Sector,” and “Application of Computer Simulation in Modeling.”

Curiosity drew more and more people in.

Xu Qing, a professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Qingbei University, had just returned home. Not bothering to remove her stockings, she collapsed on the bed, rubbing her feet together as she devoured a novel.

After a while, she rolled over, her feet swinging above the sheets. She muttered to herself, “Zhang Xiaofan and Tian Ling’er are definitely going to end up together!” She was sure of her prediction.

When she tried to read further, she realized she’d reached the latest chapter.

Sighing softly, she opened the comment section and left a message: “Author, please update soon! Your little fangirl is waiting!”

With nothing else to do, she idly opened the university forum. Besides being a professor, she also moonlighted as a forum administrator—a noble calling.

The moment she logged in, she frowned at the top post. What was going on here?

The number one post looked more like a sensationalist news article. It already had over a thousand comments—a record.

Was it an ad? Someone spamming?

Xu Qing hurriedly clicked in, only to find it was a perfectly normal sharing post—just not academic, but a singing video.

“When did our students become so passionate about music?” she wondered.

She hit play.

A few minutes later, many students noticed the post had been marked as “featured” by the admin—it had become a highlight of the forum.