"I'll play a piece for everyone. You've all been so tired. Take a good rest," Meng Nianchu said as she saw the piano and suddenly got an idea. Come on, she had started learning the piano at the age of six. She had been beaten by the teacher so many times back then that she almost ran away from home.
Her Grade 8 piano certificate was no joke.
After saying that, she walked over and sat down beside the piano. Her long, fair fingers pressed a few keys on the keyboard to make sure the notes were in tune. Then she began to play gently. The beautiful melody flowed out slowly with the rhythm of the keys. It was a more gentle and soothing version of "Let Me Love You" than the original.
Bailing, being one of the top figures in the music industry, immediately perked up when she heard the music. She walked up to the piano and sat down beside Meng Nianchu. "What other musical instruments can you play?"
"I can play the violin, the guitar and the flute a bit, but not as well as the piano," Meng Nianchu replied with a nod and a smile. Her every move was just right, without being overly affected.
Zhu Zhu's mouth fell open in surprise, almost forming an "O". Wang Xiaolei was also very shocked. He could play the suona and had given impromptu performances to attract customers to the restaurant. That day, there had been an especially large number of customers, and his cheeks had ached from blowing. But he never thought that Meng Nianchu could play so many musical instruments.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, he spontaneously clapped his hands and cheered, "One more! One more! One more!"
Bailing got an idea as soon as she heard that. "Well, I can play the flute too. How about we have a competition? I'll play a piece, and if you can follow it exactly with any of the other three instruments you can play, you win. What do you say?"
This competition was actually quite tricky. No one knew what piece Bailing would play, and it was really difficult to find the notes instantly without looking at the sheet music. But it was just a variety show recording, and Meng Nianchu took it lightly. If she couldn't play it, she would just admit defeat gracefully. It was no big deal.
"Okay, I accept your challenge."
Wang Xiaolei didn't expect Meng Nianchu to take up the challenge. He immediately started howling like a gorilla. Even Ju Zisheng's attention was drawn over. Meng Rong just sat there smiling, thinking that Bailing would surely make things difficult for Meng Nianchu. She was just waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
- But the result really took her by surprise.
Actually, Bailing had just come up with the idea on a whim. She didn't really want to make things difficult for Meng Nianchu over this. Besides, they didn't have any conflicts of interest. Why be so serious?
So she just played a popular ancient Chinese song that had been frequently covered on a video website recently. In fact, she just wanted to test Meng Nianchu's musical foundation.
To her surprise, Meng Nianchu did really well.
No matter how Bailing changed the key, Meng Nianchu could keep up exactly. Everyone was speechless. In fact, they were in a daze. This didn't seem like a variety show. Were they watching a battle between immortals?
Meng Rong was shocked and angry at the same time. Meng Nianchu - she was stealing the show again! Dammit!
When the piece was over, the three of them, except Meng Rong, clapped their hands in unison. Although Meng Rong was not convinced in her heart, she had to clap a few times to go along. After all, she couldn't play any musical instruments.
Bailing also gave Meng Nianchu an appreciative look. Without saying a word, she just made an excuse that she was tired and went back to rest. But Meng Nianchu watched her back and smiled. She knew she had this in the bag.
That night in the dormitory, Zhu Zhu went out for something, leaving only Bailing and Meng Nianchu. Meng Nianchu couldn't fall asleep, but since the lights in the dormitory were already off, she could only lie in bed waiting for sleep to come.
Out of the blue, Bailing's voice suddenly broke the silence in the dormitory. She was asking Meng Nianchu, "Are you asleep?"
At this time, the cameras and camcorders were all turned off. After all, they still had to work the next day, and they couldn't keep filming the guests while they were resting, could they?
"Let's have a chat," Bailing said tentatively when she heard Meng Nianchu's voice. At this moment, she seemed very quiet, completely different from her bold and unrestrained self during the day.
"About what?"
"Just talk about anything... Actually, at first, I didn't know much about you. I thought you were just a pretty face like Meng Rong," Bailing's tone became lighter again. "But the impression you've given me these days has really been a big shock. I didn't expect you to be able to play so many musical instruments. You could even follow the tune in the competition I proposed on purpose... Little beauty, I really admire you."
At the end, Bailing even pinched her throat and let out a strange laugh, acting like a lecherous man.
As expected, Meng Nianchu was amused. She suddenly thought that this diva, who was usually almost worshipped on a pedestal, was actually quite cute. There was no way she was just putting on an act.
She suddenly thought of Bailing and Ju Zisheng. The man was a movie star, and it was hard to tell about him. But when Bailing looked at him, it was obvious that she had a crush on him. There must be something going on between them!
"Um... Can I ask what's going on between you and Actor Ju? You seem to like him a lot. - If I'm wrong, don't be mad. Just take it as my random thought."
Oh my god, she had even made a rhyme!
Meng Nianchu secretly gave herself a thumbs up in her heart, but then she didn't hear Bailing say anything. Her heart skipped a beat. Had she said something wrong? This was bad.
Actually, Bailing was pinching the corner of the quilt and biting her nails - she had a habit of biting her nails when she was nervous. Her manager had cut her nails to prevent this, but she still liked to bite.
Had she really been that obvious?!
Well, she had.
Just when Meng Nianchu almost thought she was going to be blacklisted, she finally heard Bailing's voice. "Okay, you're right. I like Ju Zisheng, and I'm going to pursue him. I even got my manager to find out that he had agreed to participate in "Star 100%" before I asked my team to negotiate with the program crew."
"Oh..." Meng Nianchu replied with a nod. She had known it. Bailing's infatuated look didn't seem like an act at all. If it were an act according to a script, she could have become a double - threat in singing and acting!
But it seemed that Ju Zisheng was not an easy person to approach. "But Actor Ju always seems to keep people at a distance. Although he's never been seen getting angry, are you really sure you can win his heart?"
"You've noticed too? Let me tell you, our Zisheng always looks smiling, but actually he has his own ideas. He's always very polite. But I don't care - as the saying goes, it's hard for a man to chase a woman, but easy for a woman to chase a man. I don't believe the veil between us could be made of an electric fence!"