Chapter 139: How About I Liven Things Up for You Two by Killing Myself?

The music drifting into their ears was quite familiar; it was a song from their homeland. Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei exchanged a smile and, as if by unspoken agreement, began walking toward the source of the sound.

It was a small outdoor performance area on campus, surrounded by a crowd of students. On the stage, a young man with foreign features was singing with some difficulty.

"With you, I’m happy, everything is satisfying. Even salted fish and cabbage taste wonderful. I want to be with you forever, every minute I need you. You are like sunshine and air..."

He was singing "Need You Every Minute." It was clearly not a language he was familiar with; he must have learned it on the fly, and it was evident he was trying his best. Yet, his accent was still quite awkward, giving the performance a thick layer of comedy, though at least he managed to keep the melody.

He was dressed in a suit, his hair slicked back with hair gel, meticulous and neat. He held a red rose in his hand, singing with deep, earnest affection toward the girl in the white dress standing before the stage.

The girl in the white dress had an Oriental face. Perhaps she, too, found the young man’s pronunciation hilarious, as she was currently covering her face with both hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter, though a glow of genuine being moved inevitably spilled from her eyes.

The atmosphere was joyous. Most of the audience didn't understand the language, but they felt the song sounded decent enough. One by one, they couldn't help but bob their heads to the rhythm. Everyone knew the man was likely making a grand confession, and they played along, enthusiastically helping to build the mood.

Hidden in the crowd, Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou also clapped along to the beat with smiles on their faces.

When the love song finished, the man in the suit stepped off the stage to the girl in the white dress, handed her the red rose with deep affection in his eyes, and said in English:

"My dear, I learned that song just for you. I know you’re homesick, and I hope this song brings you some warmth."

"My dear, I cannot live without you. In the time without you, even eating ice cream feels bitter. Can you come back to me? I miss you so much; I think of you day and night."

As a bystander, Ye Fangfei found these sweet nothings quite cheesy. She smiled, rubbed her arm, and shrugged, instinctively turning her head to look at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou happened to be looking at her at that exact moment. The two shared another silent, smiling glance before returning their attention to the gossip.

The rest of the crowd was quite excited, cheering and jeering along.

However, the girl in the white dress did not take the rose. Acting as if she were still sulking, she gave a huff and turned her head away. "You think you can make me stop being angry at you just like that? Keep dreaming."

"Baby, do you think this was easy? Do you know how hard it is to learn your language? It really wasn't simple. Do you know how much effort I put into learning this song? My tongue almost tied itself in knots practicing," the man in the suit pleaded, acting spoiled.

Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou watched the scene with great amusement, and upon hearing this, they couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The man in the suit turned his gaze toward them. The moment he saw the two, his eyes lit up.

*Wait a minute? Do these two look like they come from the same country as my girlfriend?*

*Is that possible?*

A sudden thought struck the man in the suit. He gave them a "Hey!" and asked if they were from China.

Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou had intended to remain invisible observers in the crowd, never expecting to be singled out.

Both of them curled their lips almost simultaneously, offering the man a slightly stiff smile.

At the same time, the girl in the white dress turned around at the sound. After fixing her gaze on Ye Fangfei’s face, her eyes suddenly widened in shock. She began waving her hands excitedly in the air and let out a sudden, high-pitched scream.

Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei: "???"

Before they could even react, the girl in the white dress had already pushed through the crowd and run toward them.

Out of reflex, Lu Zhou reached out to block in front of Ye Fangfei, steering her slightly behind him.

The girl sprinted up to Ye Fangfei and suddenly slammed on the brakes, becoming at a loss for what to do. She raised her hands to messily brush back her hair, seemingly wanting to look presentable.

"Feibao." The moment the girl spoke, her voice was choked with emotion, and her eyes were even glistening with tears. She paced back and forth, unable to settle, and said excitedly:

"I... I’m your fan... I su... super love you!"

As she spoke, she looked as if she were about to cry, raising a hand to cover her mouth.

The man in the suit, still holding the rose, looked stunned... What was happening? He had poured out his heart just moments ago without a single tear, and now she was crying with excitement over a woman? Had he... fallen for a lesbian?

Lu Zhou finally realized the situation. He relaxed his guard and lowered the arm he had held in front of Ye Fangfei.

Ye Fangfei hadn't expected to run into a loyal fan while strolling through a foreign campus. She was surprised, yet touched by the girl’s intense reaction to seeing her.

She gave the girl a warm smile, opened her arms, and took the initiative to hug her. "Thank you. Meeting you is my good fortune."

The girl in the white dress sobbed with emotion in her arms. "No... no, meeting you is my greatest fortune. I’m so happy today! Should I go buy a lottery ticket?"

Ye Fangfei laughed at this, gently patted her back, and then let her go.

"You are so cute," Ye Fangfei said.

The more the girl was praised, the more excited she became. Her eyes seemed glued to Ye Fangfei’s face, as if she were afraid that if she blinked, she would lose sight of her.

"Oh my god, Feibao, you’re so beautiful in person!" the girl said with a fan-girl expression.

Ye Fangfei: "Thank you."

The man in the suit couldn't understand a word they were saying, but seeing his girlfriend’s expression... he stood there as if struck by lightning, staring at Ye Fangfei with a wary, suspicious gaze.

Lu Zhou noticed the young man’s expression and couldn't help but find it amusing—the misunderstanding was quite grand. He volunteered to act as a translator, describing the situation to him, and the man in the suit finally had an epiphany.

The man in the suit quickly moved to his girlfriend’s side and said to Ye Fangfei with a cheerful smile:

"My girlfriend hasn't spoken to me for a week because she was mad at me. I’m suffering so much. You’re her idol, she’ll definitely listen to you. Could you help me persuade her to stop being angry?"

Ye Fangfei had gone from an innocent bystander to a mediator? What a strange turn of events... She instinctively looked at Lu Zhou.

She lacked experience in matters of the heart between men and women, and besides, she didn't know the specifics of their situation. She didn't really want to interfere, and felt a moment of awkwardness.

Lu Zhou was just about to tell her, "Let them decide for themselves."

But then, the girl in the white dress suddenly spoke, addressing her boyfriend: "David, if you can convince my idol to sing a sweet love song for us right now, I won't be angry at you anymore."

Ye Fangfei raised an eyebrow at this, her eyes widening slightly, and she silently met Lu Zhou’s gaze again.

Lu Zhou smiled at her, his expression seemingly saying: *Your fan is quite clever.*

Once the man in the suit heard his girlfriend’s request, he didn't even hesitate, immediately launching a campaign toward Ye Fangfei.

"Today is our anniversary; it really means a lot to us. Could you sing a sweet love song for us? It’s very important to us, please, please! From now on, I’ll be your fan too! I’ll help you climb the charts with my girlfriend!"

Ye Fangfei: "..."

Since it had come to this, and the woman was her own fan—it was clear the woman had already forgiven her boyfriend and was just looking for a festive atmosphere—there was no reason to refuse.

"A sweet love song... to be honest, that’s my weakness." Ye Fangfei smiled at the girl. "I’ll try my best. What would you like to hear?"

The girl in the white dress tilted her head to think, but couldn't come up with anything on the spot.

She took out her phone to look through her playlist of love songs. A song in her recently played list gave her a mischievous idea.

She stole a glance at Lu Zhou and said to Ye Fangfei with a smile, "How about you two sing this one together! Is that okay?"

"Hm?" Ye Fangfei instinctively looked at Lu Zhou, then leaned over to look at the phone screen. Seeing the words "Wish Convenience Store Sticky Note," she was stunned. What?

"Can you? You and Lu Zhou sing this song together for me and David, can you?" The girl looked at them expectantly, beaming.

Lu Zhou was dragged into this for no reason and felt a bit confused. He leaned over and asked, "What song?"

Ye Fangfei said with a sheepish look, "Wish Convenience Store Sticky Note."

"Huh?" Lu Zhou looked lost; he didn't seem to have any deep memory of those five words.

The girl suddenly hit play on her phone, and the melody began to ring out. She said, "It’s this one. You guys should know it, right?"

***

So it was this one... The familiar tune triggered Lu Zhou's memories. This song really was the epitome of a sweet idol drama style...

He remembered his childhood, when his mother was obsessively watching a hit idol drama. This song would echo through their living room every single day—the version from the TV, his mother humming it herself... his ears had almost gone numb from it.

Remembering this, the corners of Lu Zhou’s mouth couldn't help but curve into a smile. This was music that fit a young girl’s aesthetics; it seemed his mother had a little princess living inside her heart back then, too.

Ye Fangfei caught Lu Zhou’s expression and didn't understand what he was smiling about. She only felt that she had never been able to sing this type of song well.

"If I sing this song, I might not only fail to convey the sweetness you want, it might even sound terrible... How about we choose another one?" Every cell in Ye Fangfei’s body was resisting.

The girl in the white dress shook her head frantically, possessed by the spirit of a die-hard fan. She said excitedly, "No way! As long as you sing it, I’ll think it sounds great!"

Ye Fangfei: "..."

The girl began to beg and act spoiled: "Feibao, I’m begging you, could you please grant my little wish?"

Ye Fangfei’s long-time fans all knew that she basically never touched this type of love song. But the more she tried to avoid it, the more the fans itched to hear it.

They had seen many of Ye Fangfei’s musical styles—the self-assured, the sexy, the noble, the wild, the quirky and playful, and so on—but never a sweet, romantic style.

She had said that she couldn't find the right feeling for those songs, often feeling stiff and unnatural while singing them. Her voice would be full of technique but lacking the right emotion, missing a soul, so she rarely touched that field to avoid staining the audience's aesthetic.

But the fans didn't see it that way; they wanted her to try more things and break through herself.

The girl in the white dress was thinking exactly that.

Listening to the music coming from the phone—a song full of romantic sweetness that didn't require much technical processing—Ye Fangfei instinctively wanted to retreat. She had formed a fixed mindset, subconsciously believing she couldn't sing it well.

She looked up at Lu Zhou hesitantly, wanting to seek help from him.

To her surprise, Lu Zhou smiled at her and said, "Sing it. I’ll be with you."

Ye Fangfei froze. Huh?

"Are you sure?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Lu Zhou nodded, smiling: "Sure."

Ye Fangfei: "..." *Lu Zhou, you troublemaker.*

In the end, Ye Fangfei bit the bullet and agreed to satisfy the fan’s wish.

The girl in the white dress was flying with happiness.

"We aren't very familiar with this song. Can you give us some time to rehearse?" Lu Zhou asked the girl.

She nodded like a woodpecker. "No problem! No matter how long you want to rehearse, I’ll wait for you!"

Man in the suit: "???"

Lu Zhou borrowed a guitar, and he and Ye Fangfei sat in a corner some distance from the stage to practice briefly.

"Just to warn you, I have no soul when singing these kinds of songs," Ye Fangfei said, feeling apprehensive.

Lu Zhou strummed the guitar strings to find the feel and comforted her, "Let’s try it first. Who knows? Maybe there will be an improvement?"

Ye Fangfei looked at the stage in the distance, where the others were still having fun, and didn't hold much hope for the "improvement" Lu Zhou mentioned.

The two briefly divided the lyrics. Lu Zhou made a few minor changes based on the original, adding male-female harmony parts. After consulting with Ye Fangfei, who had no objections to the changes, they began a trial rehearsal.

The first two or three times, they just went through the rhythm without putting in any emotion. Once they confirmed that each part was sung correctly, they began trying to inject emotion into the singing.

Before that, Lu Zhou suggested a small exercise.

"How about we stare into each other's eyes for a minute to find the feeling?"

In reality, when collaborative singers sing love songs, sometimes they can't get into the state due to unfamiliarity or other reasons, so they use this method before rehearsal.

So, Ye Fangfei had no objections and said "Okay."

The two started a one-minute staring countdown, sitting side by side and turning to look into each other's eyes.

A minute is neither long nor short. In the silent gaze, many fragments related to her gradually flooded Lu Zhou's mind.

His eyes, which began with only a shallow smile, slowly turned into a moist, lingering affection.

While staring, Ye Fangfei was actually a bit distracted at first, but she gradually fell into his eyes.

*Why is he looking at me like that?*

She didn't understand, but at that moment, she felt her heartbeat gradually accelerating. Suddenly, she felt a bit embarrassed and her pupils instinctively shifted to the side, dodging his gaze.

Lu Zhou smiled. "The minute isn't up yet."

"Oh." Ye Fangfei pursed her lips and, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, looked back into his eyes.

Her hands, resting on her lap, gently gripped the hem of her skirt. *Ah, what a strange feeling.*

After the one-minute alarm went off, Ye Fangfei hurriedly turned her face away, not daring to look at Lu Zhou again, her cheeks warm.

"Come on, let’s sing it again with feeling." Lu Zhou held the guitar, strummed the strings, and looked at the person beside him with a smile.

"Day by day..."

To lead Ye Fangfei into the song's emotion, Lu Zhou started singing first.

Carrying the strange emotion in her heart, Ye Fangfei sang along with him.

The moment the lyrics came out of her throat, Ye Fangfei was stunned. *Eh? It really feels different from before.*

As she sang, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve into a smile along with the lyrics.

After finishing a full pass, Ye Fangfei couldn't help but say excitedly, "I think I can find that feeling."

"You’ve already found it," Lu Zhou replied firmly. "You sang the taste of honey."

Ye Fangfei thought he was being hyperbolic and didn't fully believe him, but she did feel the change. She stood up quickly and walked toward the stage, saying, "Hurry, let’s perform while we have the feeling."

Lu Zhou laughed: "Don't you want to rehearse one more time?"

Ye Fangfei waved her hand: "No, I’m afraid the feeling will run away if I wait."

Lu Zhou: "..."

The two waited for the students on stage to finish their performance, then stepped onto the stage under the guise of giving a song to the fan and her boyfriend.

There was no special accompaniment, just a guitar—it was basically an a cappella performance.

The girl in the white dress watched Ye Fangfei with anticipation. She was inexplicably nervous, not knowing how it would turn out, but she knew that even if Ye Fangfei sang without any emotion, she would still love her.

On stage—

Lu Zhou held the guitar and asked Ye Fangfei: "Are you ready?"

Ye Fangfei nodded at him. "Ready."

Under the expectant eyes of the audience, Lu Zhou’s fingers plucked the strings. As the intro began, he walked toward the microphone and sang his first line with a smile:

"Day by day, drawing closer to your heart; you are happy, I am concerned."

After singing, he looked at Ye Fangfei with a happy expression.

Ye Fangfei stepped toward him in her high heels. "Bit by bit, I can sense it all; you are my most beautiful belief."

Lu Zhou played the guitar, smiling as he watched her, and continued to the next line: "Can't wait for the Perseid meteor shower to fill the sky..."

...

"Reviewing your preferences twice every day, the prophecy of surprise. Oh my god, they all came true. Your and my Wish Convenience Store sticky notes, stuck in our hearts, collecting memories to cherish in the future..."

...

Every time they made eye contact, there was a sweet smile hidden in their eyes; every time they leaned in, there was an impulse to get even closer.

The girl’s crisp, pleasant high notes and the man’s gentle, resonant low notes—the two voices intertwined like pink bubbles blowing across the sky, wrapping around the space.

That shy yet sunny and generous display of love was sung through their voices, plucking at the heartstrings of every audience member. The young girls couldn't help but reveal shy smiles.

It was clearly the taste of happiness, yet the girl in the white dress standing under the stage couldn't help but shed tears as she smiled. She took the initiative to link her arm with her boyfriend’s and rested her head on his shoulder.

*Oh my god, her Feibao did it!* She sang the taste of a sweet love song—it was so touching! At this moment, looking at Ye Fangfei on stage, she felt just like a proud mother seeing her daughter, whom she had worked so hard to raise, finally grow up and fall in love happily.

At the end of the performance, a wave of applause erupted from below, and some boys whistled, saying that in such a great atmosphere, they should kiss.

When Ye Fangfei heard this, her cheeks turned hot. She raised a hand to brush back her hair and said awkwardly, "It’s just a performance, don’t take it seriously."

Live stream room—

[But we want to take it seriously!]

[My heart as an old lady has been melted by you two!]

[I don't believe you two don't have something going on!]

[Feibao, this is the man who can make you sing a love song with the right taste!]

...

Ye Fangfei looked at the fan below the stage and said: "It looks like you’ve made up? This song is for you and your boyfriend. I hope you can stay happy forever."

The girl in the white dress was crying and laughing at the same time. "Thank you, Feibao! We made up! Actually, we were already planning to make up."

Ye Fangfei gave a "humph." "So it seems we were played by you?"

The girl laughed, let go of her boyfriend, and rushed onto the stage to give Ye Fangfei another big hug. When she let go, she whispered in Ye Fangfei’s ear: "Feibao, are you in love?"

Ye Fangfei was stunned by the question. Her gaze drifted unconsciously toward Lu Zhou, and she replied with a smile, "No."

*Not in love yet, but why does my heart feel so sweet?*

*Is this what it feels like to have a heartbeat?*

...

After the impromptu performance, night had quietly fallen. Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei bid farewell to the fans and strolled toward the school gate.

On the way back to the hotel, they passed the Meli-De store again and saw that they had started selling ice cream cones at the entrance.

Ye Fangfei couldn't help but feel tempted again.

"Do you want an ice cream cone?" she asked Lu Zhou, looking at him expectantly.

Lu Zhou smiled, wondering what was up with her today—was she addicted to Meli-De?

He shook his head and said, "I won't have one. You can have one if you want."

Hearing this, Ye Fangfei became conflicted again.

"Should I stop eating this kind of food?" she asked.

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't," he said.

Ye Fangfei: "...Alright."

She took one last longing look at the ice cream stand and walked away slowly.

Her expression amused Lu Zhou, and he couldn't help but add: "If you really want one, just have one. You already ate a whole bucket today, one cone won't make a difference."

Ye Fangfei stopped in her tracks, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Right? That’s what I thought too."

Lu Zhou: "..."

With that, Ye Fangfei ran back to the Meli-De store with small steps.

Lu Zhou watched her from behind with a smile.

Not long after, Ye Fangfei returned with a cone.

"I picked a cherry blossom flavor. I wonder if it’s good."

Her mood seemed even better. She took a bite of the ice cream with anticipation and tasted it carefully.

Lu Zhou felt that her micro-expressions at this moment were particularly cute, and the corners of his mouth lifted again without him realizing it.

But after tasting it for a few seconds, Ye Fangfei’s brow furrowed slightly. She slowly looked up at Lu Zhou, her expression frozen.

Lu Zhou raised an eyebrow and asked: "What? It’s not good?"

Ye Fangfei showed an indescribable expression and said: "A very strange taste..."

Lu Zhou: "You chose it yourself."

Ye Fangfei: "I don't like this flavor..."

Lu Zhou: "Then go buy another flavor you like."

Ye Fangfei pursed her lips, hesitantly raised the cherry blossom cone in her hand, and asked: "Then what about this one? Should I throw it away?"

Lu Zhou looked at her for two seconds, then reached out and took the cone from her hand, saying: "It’s a waste to throw it away. I’ll eat it."

Ye Fangfei froze. "Is it okay that I’ve already eaten from it?"

Lu Zhou: "It’s fine."

As he spoke, he took a bite of the cone, tasted it, and said: "Isn't this quite good? Why are you so picky?"

The live stream room at this moment—

[Ahhh! Help!]

[My god! He is so smooth!]

[Kill me to celebrate for you two!]

[Why don't you two just kiss and stop making things so complicated?]

...