Chapter 326: Does It Sound Good?
Sure enough, there was no longer any animosity between them.
Su Zhaozhao breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing the smile on the other woman’s face, Su Zhaozhao felt happy too. She and Xie Huaizheng sat down in a corner, not wanting to become the center of attention.
However, she didn’t realize that Xie Huaizheng was always the focus of his friends’ attention. No matter where he appeared, all eyes would turn to him.
This was especially true this year, now that he was married and had shown up with Su Zhaozhao.
Everyone wanted to toast Xie Huaizheng and Su Zhaozhao.
“Huai Zheng, I always thought I’d get married before you. I never expected you, you rascal, to go and get married so quietly in West State!”
“Exactly! With the way he was, I thought Brother Zheng would be a bachelor for at least another ten years. I can’t believe he got married so quickly.”
“I know, right? And his wife is so beautiful, too.”
…
A whole crowd of people joined in the chorus of compliments, leaving Su Zhaozhao feeling a little embarrassed.
Faced with so many people coming to offer toasts, Xie Huaizheng drank Su Zhaozhao’s share for her. “Don’t offer us too many toasts,” he told them. “Zhaozhao can’t drink. I’ll drink for her. We came here today to sing, not to get drunk. I suggest you all take it easy.”
“Alright, alright, we’ll drink less then.”
The others didn’t continue to pressure them. For them, drinking was more about the festive atmosphere than anything else; they weren’t truly set on just drinking.
It was mainly about having a couple of drinks when happy. If someone couldn’t drink, they wouldn’t force them. That would just be wrong.
Su Zhaozhao actually wanted to have a few sips, but Xie Huaizheng kept a close eye on her, refusing to let her drink and only allowing her a glass of fruit juice.
“Just drink this!”
‘So many people are watching. I can’t let other men see what she’s like when she’s drunk, especially since there’s someone here who likes her.’
Xie Huaizheng’s relationship with Cheng Mo remained unchanged.
He knew that even if Cheng Mo liked Su Zhaozhao, nothing would ever happen between them. And since Cheng Mo had never brought it up, he pretended not to know.
But whenever Su Zhaozhao and Cheng Mo saw each other, Xie Huaizheng would still be more on edge than he was with other people.
Meanwhile, watching how protective Xie Huaizheng was of Su Zhaozhao, Cheng Mo couldn’t help but sigh.
‘It seems Xie Huaizheng really does treat Su Zhaozhao well.’
‘Yes, I’ve known that for a long time.’
He had, in fact, already let go of his feelings, but every time he saw how good their relationship was, he would still feel a pang of sadness.
“Come on, let’s sing!” someone kicked things off, grabbing a microphone and starting a song.
The way they were singing now was actually no different from people singing in a KTV in modern times.
‘Sure enough,’ Su Zhaozhao thought, ‘young people are pretty much the same in every era.’
It was just that the songs of this era were the classic oldies of her time.
Su Zhaozhao sat beside Xie Huaizheng, listening to them sing.
Xie Huaizheng couldn’t help but lean in and ask her quietly, “Back in your time, was karaoke like this too?”
Su Zhaozhao shook her head. “Back then, the screens were bigger and thinner, and they were all mounted on the wall.”
“Then how did you choose songs?”
“You could search for them, and there were all sorts of special effects you could use.”
Su Zhaozhao’s memories of KTV were also quite distant, as she had rarely gone in her later years.
It was mostly during college when she and her friends would go to KTV to sing together.
Still, it was quite nice to have some fun like this once in a while.
“Manzhi, you’re from the Song and Dance Troupe. Why don’t you sing a song?”
Someone called out, passing the microphone to Jiang Manzhi.
Members of the Song and Dance Troupe were all-around performers; they had to know how to dance and sing, some were even required to play instruments, and they had to have some acting ability as well.
After all, cultural performances weren’t limited to a single format but came in all shapes and sizes.
Jiang Manzhi looked at the microphone being offered to her, then turned to Su Zhaozhao. “Zhaozhao, why don’t you sing one?”
She said it with a hint of playful mockery. Even though they had made up, it didn’t stop her from wanting to tease Su Zhaozhao from time to time.
Faced with Jiang Manzhi’s expectant gaze, as if she was waiting for a show, Su Zhaozhao didn’t refuse. “I can sing, but I don’t know many songs.”
‘I don’t know if the author of this world was just being lazy,’ she mused, ‘but many of these songs are the same as the classic oldies from my era.’
She had actually loved to sing back in college, and later, when karaoke apps on the internet became popular, she would often sing into her phone.
So now that Jiang Manzhi was challenging her to sing, Su Zhaozhao wasn’t afraid in the slightest.
She took the microphone, selected a song, and began to sing.
Xie Huaizheng was also holding a microphone, ready to sing along with Su Zhaozhao if she struggled.
He wasn’t a great singer himself, but he wasn’t afraid of making a fool of himself.
He could just drown out her voice with his own.
But he never expected this to happen when Su Zhaozhao started to sing.
The young woman’s usual speaking voice was soft and gentle, but when she sang, it was clear, resonant, and beautiful.
Whether it was the high notes, the low notes, the runs, or even the vocal transitions, she handled them all perfectly.
It was like listening to a professional singer.
Everyone was stunned.
Jiang Manzhi was stunned too. She had only meant to put Su Zhaozhao in a slightly awkward position, but she never imagined she’d end up giving her a chance to shine.
The entire room fell silent, listening quietly to Su Zhaozhao sing.
After Su Zhaozhao finished the song, Xie Huaizheng led the room in a round of applause.
Xie Huaizheng wrapped his arm around Su Zhaozhao’s waist, pulling her into his embrace.
He whispered to her, “Zhaozhao, your singing is beautiful. What else don’t I know about you?”
Nearby, another person stared at the microphone in his hand.
“Why is it that her voice sounds so good through the mic, but when I sing, my voice sounds all scattered?”
He couldn’t quite figure it out.
Hearing his words, the others couldn’t help but chime in.
“I think she’s totally at the level of a professional singer.”
“Yeah, she should just debut as a singer! I bet she’d become famous all over the country.”
“No kidding. As beautiful as she is, she wouldn’t just be a hit singer; she’d probably be a star in acting, too.”
…
This torrent of over-the-top praise made Su Zhaozhao blush a little.
Xie Huaizheng was also happy hearing everyone praise Su Zhaozhao.
But let Su Zhaozhao debut?
Xie Huaizheng immediately said, “Forget it. Being a celebrity is no good. You’re watched by so many people, with no privacy at all. I see in the news how the media is always exposing celebrities’ private lives. Zhaozhao, let’s just be ordinary people.”
In truth, he had his own selfish reasons. He wanted his wife’s beauty to be for his eyes only.
Su Zhaozhao passed the microphone in her hand to Jiang Manzhi. “Your turn. You’re from the Song and Dance Troupe, so your singing must be much better than mine, right?”