Why Was It So Hard to Keep a Low Profile?

"Heh." Lin Mu sneered. "So what did Feng Bingbing say?"

Hao Jian scoffed. "She's such a big deal. Why would she even bother talking to him?"

Lin Mu said nothing more. He watched Wu Tian from afar for a long while, then turned away and sat quietly.

Hao Jian suddenly felt a chill coming off him and decided it was better not to talk. Awkwardly, he moved off to sit somewhere else.

More than ten minutes later, a staff member came in to announce that the competition was starting.

After drawing new number cards, the contestants began taking the stage one after another.

Lin Mu had drawn number 56 this time, which put him fairly late in the lineup. He sat quietly, not speaking to anyone.

After a while, it was Wu Tian's turn. He stood up and gave his trench coat a shake, as if the BGM had started playing again.

Everyone's eyes turned toward the hot favorite to win.

Chi Yuting stood up with him, as if she understood her place. Like a bashful girlfriend, she walked Wu Tian all the way to the door, as though they had just made their relationship official.

More than ten minutes later, Wu Tian returned to the waiting room, and everyone gathered around to ask him how it went.

Wu Tian smiled faintly. "All four lights came on."

"Wow, that's amazing!"

"As expected of Emperor Wu Tian, conquering all beneath the heavens!"

The people around him showered him with praise.

Hao Jian sidled over with a grin. "Brother Wu, did Mentor Feng talk to you today?"

Wu Tian's expression froze for a moment, but he managed a strained smile. "Of course. Mentor Bingbing thinks highly of me."

"With Teacher Feng Bingbing supporting you, your future is limitless!"

"Whoa, you're calling her Bingbing now? You're incredible, Brother Wu!"

Chi Yuting, standing nearby, looked unhappy, but could only force a smile and join in with the flattery.

Hao Jian returned to his seat beside Lin Mu and whispered with a grin,

"That moron's bragging. Just look at him. Feng Bingbing definitely didn't even talk to him."

Lin Mu glanced at him. For some reason, Hao Jian immediately felt his nerves tighten. He hurried to sit elsewhere, not daring to say another word.

Before long, Chi Yuting took the stage too. But judging by her reddened eyes when she returned and the way she practically clung to Wu Tian, her performance probably hadn't gone well.

It was nearly noon when it was finally Lin Mu's turn.

Zisu swayed into the waiting room and called out sweetly,

"Number 56, Dawei Tianlong."

Lin Mu silently stood up. Most of the others had already performed, and the results for this episode were all but settled. The atmosphere was much more relaxed, and the contestants were chatting among themselves.

No one noticed Lin Mu getting up in the corner.

"Good luck, bro!"

Suddenly, Hao Jian beside him let out a loud roar, drawing everyone's attention.

Chi Haiyuan, who had been fishing, turned around too—and immediately spotted Lin Mu standing there.

Her eyes went blank in an instant. Her bright red lips fell open, and she stared at Lin Mu, dumbfounded.

Lin Mu glanced at Hao Jian. The guy was still waving at him. "Good luck!"

Lin Mu couldn't be bothered with him. Under the gaze of dozens of people, he headed for the waiting room door.

As he passed Chi Yuting, her mouth was still hanging open, as if someone had shoved a thick cucumber into it.

Zisu grinned and held out her palm to Lin Mu. "Good luck, handsome!"

Lin Mu ignored her too and walked straight out of the waiting room.

"Wow, he's so handsome and cool! I love it!" Zisu watched him go, practically swooning.

Lin Mu was a little annoyed. He just wanted to keep a low profile. Why was that so hard?!

Expressionless, he crossed the backstage area and walked onto the stage.

"Our next contestant is Dawei Tianlong. Once again, he's bringing us an original song: 'Song to Myself.'"

Li Lan, who had just finished her introduction in front of the curtain, stepped elegantly off the stage, leaving the audience's attention to Lin Mu.

At the judges' table, Zhang Zheng and Wang Xinzhe instinctively sat up straight.

"Hey, Brother Long's here."

"What kind of song is he doing today?"

The two older men had grown quite fond of Dawei Tianlong after his song "Hill" last episode.

Feng Bingbing, however, said nothing. She pressed her lips together, her eyes fixed intently on the curtain before the stage, like a little tigress that had spotted its prey.

Seeing Junior Feng looking so cute, Lin Mu's mood improved considerably.

When he was in a bad mood, teasing Junior was a sure way to cheer himself up.

Lin Mu couldn't help smiling as he picked up his guitar and sat down.

At the judges' table, Feng Bingbing's eyes widened and she perked up her ears.

Could this guy really be Senior Lin?

No way. I'm a professional singer. There's no way I wouldn't recognize the voice of someone I know so well.

The next moment, the guitar began to play.

The audience let out a flurry of surprised murmurs.

"Another guitar performance?"

Zhang Zheng and Wang Xinzhe frowned slightly. Last episode it was a guitar, and this episode it was a guitar again.

Could Dawei Tianlong only play guitar and piano?

"You want what you can't have. What can you do when life's against you? You can't let go of what you should, so you keep aimlessly rehashing the past,

"By the time you realize time is a thief, it's already stolen every choice you had."

The song rose from behind the curtain. It was still that weathered middle-aged man's voice, even raspier this time, with an even more mature quality.

It was captivating from the very first line; the opening lyric immediately grabbed everyone's attention.

The faint murmuring from the audience fell silent. People quieted down, drawn into Lin Mu's singing, and listened intently.

"An old lover's vows are just like a slap in the face. Every time you remember a line, you get another one,

"Then for years you can't stand the smell, can't stand the scent of a woman!"

Many people thought of their former lovers: those wild, carefree days, running beneath the sunset, and how it had all ended in the despair and sorrow of a breakup.

Wang Xinzhe's fist clenched.

He had been single for many years, not because he didn't want to get married.

He'd just gone through several failed relationships. Now, at his age, when he looked back on the past,

he realized that, just as the lyrics said, there had been a time after his own breakup when he despised romance and love, when he "couldn't stand the scent of a woman."

"Song to Myself"?

Wasn't this a song for me?!

The song "Hill" last episode had almost made him wipe away tears in front of everyone. Now, halfway through "Song to Myself," he was already about to lose it.

"Is this guy here specifically to break down my defenses?"

Wang Xinzhe felt a little vexed.

"He's around our age. A young kid couldn't write a song like this."

Zhang Zheng murmured to Wang Xinzhe. The corners of his eyes were moist too.

Only a middle-aged man could understand the pain of another middle-aged man!

When the first chorus ended, applause filled the venue. As the guitar played through the transition, Zhang Zheng turned to Feng Bingbing.

"Do you believe how old Dawei Tianlong is now?"

Last episode, he had noticed that Feng Bingbing seemed to have doubts about Dawei Tianlong's age. Zhang Zheng hadn't thought much of it, assuming she was just playing along for the show.

Now Feng Bingbing had her brows tightly furrowed and her eyes wide as she stared at the curtain. Anyone who didn't know better would think she had a grudge against Dawei Tianlong.

After a moment of silence, she suddenly smiled. "Teacher Zhang, I think we should have him sing another song."

Zhang Zheng froze. "Junior Feng, what do you mean? Don't do anything rash!"