Chapter 59: Fire

The next day, when Yan Duo and Ji Ran went downstairs, they were surprised to see Chu Tian already sitting at the dining table eating. The food in front of her wasn’t in their own bowls, looking like it had been brought back as takeout.

Yan Duo didn’t ask anything, greeted everyone, and sat down to eat.

Chu Tian looked at Yan Duo and said, “I really envy you for not being pregnant. Unlike me, I’m hungry before dawn.”

Yan Duo smiled but didn’t respond, taking the plain congee that An Yixin had ladled for her, and started eating it with the pickled vegetables.

“What’s so good about plain congee? I happen to have a bowl of preserved egg and lean pork congee here. I don’t like it, so you can have it!”

Chu Tian’s condescending tone made An Yixin and Ji Chang Hai frowned, but couldn’t say anything.

Yan Duo’s smile remained unchanged as she shook her head and refused, “No need, I think plain congee is quite good. It’s soft and glutinous, has a light sweet taste, and aids digestion. It’s great.”

Chu Tian immediately felt that Yan Duo didn’t know what was good for her. Just as she was about to say something, Ji Lang grabbed her hand first and said to An Yixin, “Mom, now that Tian Tian is pregnant, I can’t take care of her alone. I want to move back in with her.”

Hearing this, a hint of hesitation flashed across An Yixin’s face. The surprise of suddenly learning she was going to be a grandmother last night had greatly diminished after taking care of Chu Tian for an entire evening. At this point, Chu Tian was more difficult to get along with than before her pregnancy. Moreover, considering the child in her womb, she couldn’t verbally reprimand Chu Tian as she had before. If they were to move in, it would still be the two of them who would suffer.

Although her grandchild was important, An Yixin wasn’t obsessed with children. Besides, it wasn’t difficult to find a professional maternity nurse these days, and she knew of a maternity nurse company that was professional in all aspects.

Chu Tian noticed An Yixin’s hesitation and said with a pout, “Mom, this child is your first grandchild. Can you really trust leaving him and me in the care of strangers? No matter how good outsiders are, can they be better than you?”

An Yixin found this reasoning sound. After all, no matter how good a maternity nurse was, they wouldn’t care as sincerely as family. Finally, she compromised, “Alright then, you two will live at home from now on.”

At this point, she looked at Ji Lang and Chu Tian and added, “I’m saying this now—when it comes to the meals I cook, you can eat if you want, and if you don’t, that’s fine. But I’m not a food delivery service and I don’t take orders.”

Chu Tian’s face turned pale and then flushed after hearing this. She was so angry she wanted to lash out but didn’t dare. It was only natural for a mother-in-law to take care of her daughter-in-law, but was An Yixin so unwilling?

Ji Lang understood that An Yixin was still remembering how Chu Tian had said she wanted Buddha Jumps Over the Wall yesterday, only to reject it in the end. He secretly patted Chu Tian’s leg, signaling her not to get angry, while saying to An Yixin, “Mom, don’t worry. We’ll eat whatever you make from now on. If Tian gets cravings for something else, I’ll buy it for her separately.”

An Yixin nodded casually, “Fine then.”

With the terms settled, everyone began to eat.

Watching the drama unfold, Yan Duo really wanted to give An Yixin a thumbs-up. As the saying goes, old ginger is spicier, and it couldn’t be more true!

After dinner, Ji Ran took Yan Duo to the film set and said to her in the car, “Chu Tian has many pregnancy taboos, so we should go back less often from now on.”

Yan Duo couldn’t agree more and nodded in agreement.

A few days after Christmas, the movie Yan Duo was filming wrapped up. After resting at home for a day, on the day before New Year’s Day, Yan Duo and Ji Ran went to the TV station for rehearsal together.

Yan Duo’s performance was first, with the entire singing process lasting just over a minute. The rehearsal went quite smoothly. As for Ji Ran’s performance, because it involved the most popular and highly acclaimed variety show of the year, they were given more time. Not only would they interact with the host, but they would also perform a duet, which had of course been pre-recorded.

Listening to Ji Ran sing from the audience, Yan Duo felt as if she had returned to that summer when she first fell for him.

After it ended, Ji Ran drove Yan Duo back to the Yan family’s home to celebrate the holiday in advance.

The Yan family no longer held any prejudice against Ji Ran. As they sat together for meals and tea, the atmosphere was much warmer than at the Ji family’s.

Just a small插曲 happened in between — Yan Duo unexpectedly received a call from Zeng Meng.

“Duo Duo, I’m going to study abroad next year and want to cram some English after New Year’s Day. I heard your brother’s school offers training, right? Could you give me the contact information for a salesperson?”

Yan Duo looked at Yan Yi, who was sitting not far away watching TV, and said to Zeng Meng with a smile: “Sure, I’ll send you the ‘salesperson’s’ WeChat in a bit, you guys can chat then.”

After hanging up the phone, Yan Duo recommended Yan Yi’s WeChat to Zeng Meng and said to Yan Yi, “Bro, I have a friend who wants to train in English. I gave her your WeChat. Remember to take good care of her.”

Yan Yi’s phone wasn’t nearby, but his eyes remained fixed on the television as he casually replied, “Yeah, okay.”

Seeing that her brother didn’t react much, Yan Duo added, “She’s a pretty girl. You should take good care of her, brother.”

Yan Yi gave his sister a strange look, “There are plenty of pretty girls. How could I possibly keep track of them all? But don’t worry, since she’s your friend, I’ll have the training instructor give her some extra attention.”

Yan Duo rolled her eyes, leaned close to Xu Yarou’s ear, and whispered softly, “Brother is probably destined to be alone forever, isn’t he?”

Xu Yarou patted Yan Duo’s head, “Just let him be, as long as he’s happy.”

The two parents of the Yan family were quite open-minded. Yan Yi had been obedient since childhood, and as an adult, he had a career and ambitions—he just didn’t date, which wasn’t some great evil. The elders of the Yan family didn’t force him to marry and have children.

Before getting together with Ji Ran, Yan Duo also felt that as long as she was happy, whether she was in a relationship or married didn’t really matter. But now, she feels that if she’s fortunate enough to be with someone she loves and who loves her in return, she should be happier than being alone.

Thinking of this, Yan Duo couldn’t help but hold Ji Ran’s arm, once again feeling fortunate for her luck.

The next afternoon, Yan Duan followed Ji Ran to the television station again, preparing for the official
Recording the New Year’s Eve gala.

When Yan Duo changed her clothes and sat in the dressing room, she could feel her heart pounding, with a bad premonition.

Fang Fang comforted her on the side: “Sister Duo, don’t be afraid. You just need to lip-sync later, no real singing, and the dance moves aren’t difficult either. You’ll definitely be fine!”

Yan Duo understood all this logically, but having never participated in such a gala before, she couldn’t calm her nerves. This premonition came true after the gala began, five minutes before she was to go on stage.

“Yan Duo, the audio you recorded earlier is damaged and completely unplayable. We’ll only be able to play the accompaniment track later, so you’ll have to sing live!” the evening gala director hurriedly found Yan Duo and told her.

Yan Duo was startled in her heart, “Sing live?”

It wasn’t that Yan Duo didn’t know how to sing this song, but being asked to sing live suddenly, she had no confidence at all.

The director was also very anxious at this moment and could only encourage her, “It’s okay. I heard the sound engineer say before that you sing well. Believe in yourself!”

At this point, Yan Duo had no choice but to accept the reality of singing live, so she took advantage of the few minutes she had left to open her phone again and listen once more.

Ji Ran hurried over after hearing the news. He glanced at Yan Duo, who was diligently practicing her song, and didn’t disturb her. Instead, he dragged the director aside and asked, “What’s going on?”

The director sighed, “The master tapes have been tampered with. Three songs in the middle were affected, and we found backup audio for the other two, except for Yan Duo’s song.”

Ji Ran squinted at Director Zhang. Although he didn’t say anything, the expression on his face already conveyed his displeasure.

“Don’t look at me like that, the sound engineer is my nephew, it couldn’t be him.”

When the director found out about this, the first thing he did was ask his nephew. The nephew’s hands were shaking as he said he had gone to the restroom midway and didn’t know who had touched his equipment. When he returned, he discovered the audio was having problems.

After hearing his nephew’s words, the director had someone find replacement audio while also having someone check the surveillance footage. Sure enough, they saw a person in black clothes and a black baseball cap enter the workroom, but that person was clearly prepared, and the surveillance camera failed to capture their face.

I have to say, those who wanted to cause trouble really had some nerve to target the live New Year’s Eve gala.

“I’ll give you a satisfactory answer to this matter, but I think you should also consider who Yan Duo has offended recently.”

Deliberately tampering with the audio right before Yan Duo was about to go on stage, and even destroying her backup audio, giving them no time to find another solution—the other person must hate Yan Duo intensely.

Finally, the director patted Ji Ran’s shoulder and left.

On Yan Duo’s side, there would be multiple teleprompters at the evening event, so she wasn’t worried about forgetting her lines at all, only about hitting the wrong notes. After singing along with her phone twice, she finally regained some confidence.

Soon, after the host on stage announced her, Yan Dian, holding up her dress, led a group of dancers onto the stage.

As she walked to the front of the stage, Yan Duo felt her heart tighten at the sight of the dense crowd below. Yesterday’s rehearsal had no audience, which was completely different from the feeling of being watched by thousands of people today. Yan Duo secretly pinched her thigh, forcing herself to smile at the audience as she sang and danced along with the music.

“Love is like the blue sky, a blank space for me to imagine with you, the white horse suddenly no longer abstract…”

As soon as she began to sing, the audience below was momentarily stunned before breaking into cheers. “Opening crisp” was probably the perfect description for Yan Duo’s voice. Unlike the original singer, Yan Duo’s voice lacked excessive singing techniques, instead possessing a natural purity and clarity, with a touch of innocence and a hint of yearning, delivering a completely different feeling.

At this moment, Yan Dore wore a white gauze dress, with her long, flowing hair adorned with a feather headdress, giving her a touch of ethereal grace.

“I paint you as a flower, a flower yet to bloom, and then turn every drop of longing into falling rain…”

The audience below the stage couldn’t help but be captivated by Yan Duo’s voice and appearance. At this moment, Yan Duo seemed to have transformed into an angel who had descended to the mortal world, waiting for love and chasing after love, making people unable to resist her charm. However, the time the production team had given Yan Duo was limited. When the last note fell and Yan Duo bowed and left the stage, many audience members still couldn’t come back to their senses.

Is it over so soon? Haven’t you finished singing? Can you sing it again?

But before everyone could express their thoughts, the next song had already started playing.

When Yan Duo returned backstage, Fang Fang quickly draped a down jacket over her and happily gave her a thumbs up, “Sister Duo, you sang so beautifully just now!”

Fang Fang had specifically found a spot in the audience to watch Yan Duo’s performance. Whether it was her stage presence or vocal expression, Fang Fang felt it was flawless, especially her voice, which was incredibly beautiful. 700txt.com

Some people’s voices need modification to sound pleasant, while others’ voices are better expressed without any embellishment, with an even more ethereal quality. Yan Duo’s voice was just like that.

“Really?” Yan Duo could hardly believe it.

Fang Fang quickly nodded, “Of course! If you don’t believe me, ask Teacher Ji!”

Following Fang Fang’s gaze, Yan Duo looked toward the makeup room door and saw Ji Ran standing there watching her. Ignoring the people coming and going, Yan Duo walked straight toward him. When she got close, she asked uncertainly, “I was a bit off-key on a couple of notes just now. Is that a problem?”

The sound engineer had reminded her about those two notes during recording, but standing on stage, after getting nervous, she had forgotten all the warnings. At this moment, Yan Duo was worried she had messed up.

Ji Ran held Yan Duo’s somewhat cold hand and replied with a smile, “It’s fine. You performed very well just now, better than ever before.”

Yan Duo’s improvisation was excellent, and her live performance was even more commendable, much more perfect than she had imagined.

Receiving Ji Ran’s affirmation, Yan Duo finally felt at ease, and was eventually urged by Ji Ran to go to the dressing room to change clothes.

“I’ll come find you after I change!” Just before closing the dressing room door, Yan Duo poked her head out and couldn’t help but say to Ji Ran.

After finishing her song, Yan Duo’s task for the day was also completed, so she could stay by Ji Ran’s side until the New Year’s bell rang. Yan Duo suddenly felt that spending the New Year this way was actually quite nice.

Ji Ran smiled and nodded at her. When Yan Duo’s little head completely disappeared from view, the smile on Ji Ran’s face quickly vanished as he took out his phone and started making a call.

When Yan Duo returned backstage, Fang Fang quickly draped a down jacket over her and happily gave her a thumbs up, “Sister Duo, you sang so beautifully just now!”

Fang Fang had specifically found a spot in the audience to watch Yan Duo’s performance. Whether it was her stage presence or vocal expression, Fang Fang felt it was flawless, especially her voice, which was incredibly beautiful. 700txt.com

Some people’s voices need modification to sound pleasant, while others’ voices are better expressed without any embellishment, with an even more ethereal quality. Yan Duo’s voice was just like that.

“Really?” Yan Duo could hardly believe it.

Fang Fang quickly nodded, “Of course! If you don’t believe me, ask Teacher Ji!”

Following Fang Fang’s gaze, Yan Duo looked toward the makeup room door and saw Ji Ran standing there watching her. Ignoring the people coming and going, Yan Duo walked straight toward him. When she got close, she asked uncertainly, “I was a bit off-key on a couple of notes just now. Is that a problem?”

The sound engineer had reminded her about those two notes during recording, but standing on stage, after getting nervous, she had forgotten all the warnings. At this moment, Yan Duo was worried she had messed up.

Ji Ran held Yan Duo’s somewhat cold hand and replied with a smile, “It’s fine. You performed very well just now, better than ever before.”

Yan Duo’s improvisation was excellent, and her live performance was even more commendable, much more perfect than she had imagined.

Receiving Ji Ran’s affirmation, Yan Duo finally felt at ease, and was eventually urged by Ji Ran to go to the dressing room to change clothes.

“I’ll come find you after I change!” Just before closing the dressing room door, Yan Duo poked her head out and couldn’t help but say to Ji Ran.

After finishing her song, Yan Duo’s task for the day was also completed, so she could stay by Ji Ran’s side until the New Year’s bell rang. Yan Duo suddenly felt that spending the New Year this way was actually quite nice.

Ji Ran smiled and nodded at her. When Yan Duo’s little head completely disappeared from view, the smile on Ji Ran’s face quickly vanished as he took out his phone and started making a call.

Author has something to say: I was worried it’s been too sweet lately, so today we’re having something plain, haha~~

“The Painting” is such a beautiful song. I love the original version and also a version sung by a little girl. I borrowed that little girl’s voice here, muah~!