Both Luo Bei and Grandma Luo share a common trait: no matter how curious they are about others, they would never ask unless the other party mentions it first.
Just like now, Luo Bei was really curious about who Jiang Sihan really was, what job he did, and why he was living such a miserable life. Even if he worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant, he wouldn’t be so emaciated.
He had hands and feet, and was also handsome. It was actually very easy for him to find a job. At least, there should be no problem in supporting himself.
However, no matter how curious she was, Luo Bei didn’t want to ask him…
After all, there is no kinship or acquaintance between them, they are just landlady and tenant.
After giving Jiang Sihan the crabs and fruits, Luo Bei had no reason to stay at the door.
Just as Luo Bei was about to leave, Jiang Sihan stopped her and hesitantly asked, “Is Miss Zhao’s child alright now?”
He left the hospital after confirming the birth of the child that day, and he hadn’t seen Zhao Pianpian for the past month.
“He’s fine.” Luo Bei thought for a moment and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Pianpian is very grateful to you. Her baby will be one month old the day after tomorrow. If you’re free, come over and have a meal to celebrate the baby’s one-month birthday with us.”
“The day after tomorrow?”
“Yes. We only plan to invite a few people, so we’ll have a small gathering at my place.”
Jiang Sihan nodded. “Okay, I’ll come.”
For a baby’s one-month birthday, people usually give red envelopes or prepare gifts, but Luo Bei felt that both options might put Jiang Sihan in a difficult position. So she said, “Pianpian only wants to have a meal together to celebrate, so don’t prepare a red envelope. We won’t prepare any either. And don’t buy a gift. The baby has everything already, and it would just be a waste… How about you bring your guitar and sing a song for the baby? Even just a birthday song is okay, to liven up the atmosphere.”
She found that when dealing with people, she couldn’t beat around the bush with straight men. It was better to be direct.
Jiang Sihan immediately agreed, “Okay.”
Seeing how quickly he agreed, he probably wouldn’t have to struggle with preparing a gift or red envelope.
Luo Bei didn’t expect to see Lei Yuhao again.
Here’s what happened: Luo Bei followed her female boss out to socialize, and they came to the city’s best seafood restaurant. From the exterior, it looked as grand as a big hotel. Her boss needed someone to do the job, so she asked Luo Bei to go to the parking lot and get a bottle of good red wine from the trunk of the car.
As soon as Luo Bei arrived at the parking lot, before she could find her boss’ car, she heard people arguing.
She stopped what she was doing and eavesdropped.
“I can’t understand why you suddenly canceled our engagement and stopped talking to me?” The woman’s voice was sharp. “We’ve discussed everything, so what’s going on now? Everyone knows that you don’t want me. Where do you place me?”
The man’s voice was cold and polite, “Miss Lu, I’ve made myself very clear. I used to be willing to be your nominal husband, but now I don’t want to be. If you keep bothering me, no one will look good in the end.”
“Lei Yuhao, do you think I don’t know? Is it because of that secretary who used to be by your side? I know you two had something going on.” The woman started to sneer. “What, are you going to marry her? What help can she give you? As far as I know, both her parents have died. She’s just an ordinary person, not even good enough to be your mistress. You still want her to be Mrs. Lei?”
Luo Bei was startled. She stood up and looked over there. Although there was some distance between them, and she was a bit near-sighted, judging from the man’s height, he did look a lot like Lei Yuhao.
In addition, Lei Yuhao called the woman Miss Lu, so Luo Bei speculated that she had probably stumbled upon a scene where the male lead was arguing with the supporting female lead.
From the current plot, Lei Yuhao and Miss Lu have already called off their engagement. He realized the importance of Zhao Pianpian, but he couldn’t find her and didn’t know that she had given birth to his son.
Lei Yuhao was provoked by Miss Lu’s words, but he still managed to control himself. The angrier he got, the calmer his tone became. “Then you don’t have to worry about it.”
After saying this, he left, followed by the sound of high heels clicking. After a while, the parking lot was quiet, so the two of them should have left.
Luo Bei thought to herself that this novel had finally reached the plot that readers highly anticipated. The plot tortured the female lead first, then tortured the male lead. Now it’s time for Lei Yuhao to be tortured, which is great.
She still remembered what she had seen in her dream. After Zhao Pianpian left, Lei Yuhao had a very painful two years. He was like a walking corpse, and he tried his best to find her every time he thought there was hope, but it always ended in disappointment. To be honest, looking at his self-abuse was quite addictive.
Actually, a few times she wanted to tell Zhao Pianpian that Lei Yuhao was looking for her and that she would eventually marry him, but the words always got stuck in her throat. They say that spoilers are satisfying in the moment, but regrettable afterwards. She didn’t know what consequences would arise from changing the development of the plot, so she didn’t dare to take the risk.
After more than two years of separation, Lei Yuhao might cherish Zhao Pianpian more. If they reunited so quickly, would Lei Yuhao not cherish her as much?
The plot exists and is reasonable, she cannot change it, nor dare to change it.
It is often said that after a woman has a child, her husband will be pushed to the backburner. This is quite true in Zhao Pianpian’s case.
Before, Luo Bei would sometimes see Zhao Pianpian feeling sad and lost, but now she doesn’t seem to have those feelings anymore. However, this can be understood. With a child, who has the free time to be sad and upset? She is so busy that she might just work herself to death. Moreover, baby Chen is now her motivation and everything. With this baby, she is content. Zhao Pianpian’s biggest wish now is to be with her child, watching him grow up healthy and strong. As for the baby’s father… Zhao Pianpian has decided to completely forget and let go.
Today is baby Chen’s one-month birthday.
He has gotten fatter and whiter, just like an ordinary baby. Every day, he eats and sleeps, cries and fusses when necessary. He is not particularly well-behaved, nor is he particularly difficult.
Due to limited resources, his one-month birthday celebration is not very grand. It is even more shabby compared to the celebrations of wealthy second-generation kids.
Baby Chen is wearing new clothes today. Because he is full after drinking milk, he is also willing to be seen by others. He likes Grandma Luo and doesn’t resist when she holds him.
Zhao Pianpian’s figure has not fully recovered yet. After all, she is still breastfeeding and has to drink lots of soup every day. However, compared to when she just gave birth, she has lost quite a bit of weight. In Luo Bei’s eyes, she looks even better than before with a little more meat on her bones.
Not many people came, but they were able to gather enough to surround the table.
The dishes were also very rich, with both meat and vegetables, as well as seafood and cake. Jiang Sihan kept his head down and ate quietly. It had been a long time since he had had such a sumptuous meal, but luckily no one noticed him except for Luo Bei. He had even refilled his bowl three times, probably because he was usually very hungry.
Judging by Jiang Sihan’s age, he was probably around the same age as her. Boys usually have big appetites, so he was probably thin from being hungry all the time.
After they were all full and satisfied, everyone’s faces were filled with joy.
It was still Luo Bei who reminded Jiang Sihan to hold his guitar. He didn’t sit too close to baby Chen, afraid that the sound would be too loud and affect his hearing.
Although he was just sitting on a chair in a poorly decorated room, wearing a shirt, jeans, and flip-flops, his thin frame made him look like he could be blown away by a gust of wind. But the moment he started playing the guitar, the previously silent man seemed to gather all the light in the room and became dazzling.
His voice was beautiful, as if he was born for music.
Even baby Chen became quiet, and everyone in the room was focused on him, listening to him sing.
It was a melody that Luo Bei has never heard before, and it sounds beautiful.
On a sunny autumn noon, the warm sunlight shone on him from the window, and he was completely immersed in the music.
In these days where music with quicker tempo is popular, his song seemed out of place. The artistic conception and the beautiful melody of the song require people to quiet down to feel and appreciate it.
When he finished singing this song, the first one to applaud was Grandma Luo.
Jiang Sihan looked up at the people present, feeling indescribable emotions. He sang with all his heart, but so far, it seemed that only they were listening carefully.
Luo Bei, who doesn’t often dream, started dreaming again on the night of baby Chen’s one month birthday.
She dreamed of a novel she had never read before. It was said to be a novel, but it was just a collection of fragments.
The story goes like this: The male protagonist has been passionate about music since he was young, and he has been studying music. However, as we all know, playing music and pursuing art requires a lot of money, which his family cannot afford. In a dispute, the male protagonist came to a strange city where he had no friends or family. He hoped to start a new life here, but he was met with frequent setbacks, and he didn’t have much money on him.
He couldn’t go to the streets to sing and beg for money from passersby. He had worked in bars as a resident singer before, but his songs were not popular and not everyone liked them, so he was always dismissed. Due to his looks, someone approached him to act in a web drama as the second male lead. Although that wasn’t his ambition, he had no choice but to work because he was struggling financially. He wanted to try to separate his dream from his work.
Nobody expected him to survive and thrive by acting in a mediocre web drama. He became more popular than the male lead. He started taking TV dramas and, luckily, he was very talented at acting and had a lot of charm. Soon, he was cast in movies and, remarkably, before he turned 30, he became a movie emperor.
Once he had money and fame, he started to pick up his old dreams again. Everyone realized that he was not only good at acting but also singing. Although the recording industry was not booming, he had an extraordinary personal charisma, and his sales were very high. Naturally, he started having concerts, and some even called him a miracle.
After all, it is rare to find someone who is both a heavenly king1 and a movie emperor.
He even became a symbol of an era. When he became popular, people was finally willing to sit down to listen to his singing.
- this should be a title for the top musician, in reference to the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong (Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai and Aaron Kwok) who dominated canto-pop world in 1990s. ↩︎
For a while, I questioned the “logic” behind multiple books–each with its own protagonist–gathered in one world (universe) like this one. After all, it’s not real world in which anyone can be the protagonist of their own life. It’s especially so as I’ve read enough quick-transmigration (and similar genres) book, in which each world have only one (or one pair) “child of heaven” (protagonist). Some books (like [My Disciple Died Yet Again]) have its own world building and explanation for it. But, we haven’t had any explanation in this book.
But! Then, I remember that there’s some author who writes stories with one shared-universe for several books (like Gu Man, author of [Come and Eat, Shan Shan]). So, the novel books LB’s seeing and experiencing might be books with shared-universe.