If He Could Stay on Key, His Singing Was Pretty Good

The next day, the sun rose as usual.

When Lin Mu arrived at work, his coworkers were eagerly discussing something in the office.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. If I'd known, I would've gone to Feng Bingbing's concert last night. I can't believe I missed such a juicy scandal!"

"Hey, who do you think Feng Bingbing confessed to?"

"Someone online broke the news. They said Feng Bingbing likes a man seven or eight years older than her. Apparently, he's been living off her money!"

"No way. Feng Bingbing hasn't even graduated from college yet. I bet he's one of her classmates!"

As soon as Lin Mu walked in, the group surrounded him and bombarded him with questions:

"Little Lin, didn't you go to the concert last night too? Do you know anything about what happened?"

"Lin Mu, you went to school with Feng Bingbing. Do you know who that bastard is? I'm gonna kill him!"

"Little Lin, why did you suddenly stand up back then? I thought it was you!"

"Haha, if Little Lin really were Feng Bingbing's boyfriend, would he still be working here?"

The group had gathered around Lin Mu when their department head walked in. Seeing the noisy, disorderly scene, he gave an unhappy cough.

"What's going on here?! You've been gossiping about such a juicy scandal behind my back! Little Lin, do you know who Feng Bingbing confessed to?"

His coworkers fell silent for a moment, then grew even more animated. The whole office was filled with cheerful chatter.

Lin Mu worked at an old state-owned company in Jiangrong. It had been quite prosperous once.

But after years of mismanagement, it kept shrinking until it was reduced to a small factory with only two or three workshops.

Everyone who worked there had given up on striving. They made three thousand a month, but at least the job was stable. One cup of tea, one pack of cigarettes, and the whole day would pass.

A perfectly ordinary job like this made the ideal cover for a "paparazzo."

And it was thanks to the original owner's caution that "Sky Curtain," the name that struck fear into the entertainment industry, had remained mysterious to this day.

Faced with his coworkers' and boss's nosy questions, Lin Mu spread his hands helplessly.

"Feng Bingbing was two years below me, so we weren't close. I just knew the class monitor, and that's how I managed to get a ticket."

At that, the crowd scattered at once. Some went to make tea, others picked up newspapers, and someone muttered disappointedly:

"I knew it couldn't be Lin Mu."

"Making three thousand a month, you can't even hold a woman's hand, let alone date a diva. Little Lin, I'm not just talking about you—we're all in the same boat."

Lin Mu smiled at that mutt, then said to his boss, "Uncle Chen, I'd like to take tomorrow off."

Tomorrow was the Jiangsu Province preliminary round of Pure Voice, and the competition was being held in Jiangrong.

Lin Mu worked in the Administrative Operations Department. It didn't handle production or sales, making it the most laid-back department.

The department head's name suited him, too: Chen Xian. "Xian" meant idle, and he was idle enough to be bored out of his mind.

At Lin Mu's request, Chen Xian rubbed his bald head—a feature unique to middle-aged men—and waved a hand. "Sure. Just submit a leave request for your annual leave."

"Okay." Lin Mu nodded and was about to make himself some jujube and goji berry tea when Chen Xian suddenly called out to him:

"Oh, right, I forgot. Mr. Liu said there's a department meeting tomorrow afternoon. Take the day off another time."

Lin Mu thought it over. A morning should be enough, so he said, "How about I just take the morning off and come back to work in the afternoon?"

Chen Xian pulled him aside. "Something going on at home? If you're in trouble, just say so!"

Lin Mu shook his head. Chen Xian looked so concerned that Lin Mu didn't want to hide the truth, so he told him honestly:

"I'm planning to enter a singing competition. I want to get a little famous and make a little money. Don't tell anyone about this, Uncle Chen. I want to keep a low profile."

Chen Xian paused and looked him up and down. "You can sing?"

"Sure. Music has been my dream since I was a kid." Lin Mu nodded.

He wasn't lying. Back on Earth, he'd been a top student in the Composition Department at the Central Conservatory of Music.

He'd been proficient in everything from sight-singing and ear training to writing lyrics and composing music, and from playing instruments to singing.

While he was still in school, plenty of major companies had wanted to sign him as a singer-songwriter.

If he hadn't been killed by his junior's "confession," he would certainly have made a name for himself in the music industry.

Chen Xian stared at him for a long while, then suddenly burst out laughing and patted him on the shoulder.

"Little Lin, young people should keep their feet on the ground. Don't reach for the stars. Our company may not pay much, but at least we offer social insurance and a housing fund."

Chen Xian didn't believe a word Lin Mu said. He thought Lin Mu was asking for time off to interview at another company.

"Uncle Chen, I really am going to enter a singing competition. It's Pure Voice, the one Jiangrong Satellite TV puts on. It's a very famous show."

Lin Mu spoke helplessly.

Laughter came from behind him. Lin Mu turned around, and two female coworkers waved awkwardly.

"We were just passing by. We weren't eavesdropping on purpose! Lin Mu, you're hilarious. You're going to enter Pure Voice? You might as well say you're the guy Feng Bingbing confessed to!"

The original owner and his coworkers would get together for meals and karaoke now and then, but his performances at karaoke had always been disastrous.

Eventually, whenever he was around, they'd switch from karaoke to cards or murder-mystery games.

Hearing that he was actually going to enter a televised singing competition, the two women thought Lin Mu had gone crazy.

"Mr. Zhou once said, 'If a person has no dreams, what's the difference between them and a salted fish?' Singing is my dream. I want to give it a try."

Lin Mu smiled, then added, "Besides, you can't see the contestants' faces on Pure Voice, right? Even if I mess up, no one will know it's me."

With that, he turned and strode out.

Chen Xian called after him, "Where are you going?"

Without looking back, Lin Mu waved. "To the bathroom."

The two women watched his tall, graceful figure disappear, dazzled.

"So handsome! By the way, who's Mr. Zhou?"

"Actually, if he could stay on key, Lin Mu's singing was pretty good."

Lin Mu wasn't going to the bathroom. He'd gone out to take a call.

"Brother Mu, we've already signed you up."

Fat Tiger and A Hen had gone to the Pure Voice preliminary round venue that morning to register Lin Mu. They'd also checked out the venue and learned the rules.

It had to be said: as Jiangrong Satellite TV's flagship show for the past two years, Pure Voice had paid attention to every detail.

For example, at this Jiangsu Province preliminary round, held at the Jiangrong Drama Center, they'd prepared instruments like guitars, basses, and pianos for the contestants, making it easier for singer-songwriters to compete.

Lin Mu was planning to perform a piano-and-vocal song. He'd been worried about how to get a piano there, but now that problem was solved.

This season's auditions had added a thrilling new rule: the S Card.

Each province's preliminary round had one S Card, which the judges could award to the contestant they considered the strongest in their region.

Whoever received the S Card wouldn't need to compete in the second round or the elimination rounds. They'd go straight to the national finals.

Only after contestants made it to the national finals would filming officially begin. That was when they'd get to meet the four celebrity mentors.

"An S Card?"

Lin Mu frowned. "None of the judges for the Jiangsu preliminary round are named Guo, are they?"

"No. Brother Mu, why do you ask?"

"Nothing. People named Guo tend to hand out S Cards carelessly."

"But there's an old friend of ours there: Liu Qiang. Heh!" Fat Tiger suddenly gave a lecherous chuckle.

Liu Qiang had had a rough time of it.

He'd once been a top-tier singer and had served as a mentor during last year's national finals of Pure Voice. But while he was away, his wife had cheated on him.

The ones who'd caught Liu Qiang's wife cheating were the three members of "Sky Curtain."

After the news broke, Liu Qiang divorced his wife right away, only to be attacked by some online commenters:

"You're treating your wife so harshly over one little mistake? Liu Qiang, are you even a man?"

"Men can cheat and be forgiven, but women get divorced for cheating? Is that fair?!"

Liu Qiang eventually kicked his ex-wife out, but his career took a huge hit. He fell from being a popular A-lister to a minor B-lister.

Last year, he'd been a mentor for the national finals of Pure Voice. This year, all he could do was serve as an ordinary judge at a regional preliminary round.

Still, Liu Qiang had found happiness in his love life. At the beginning of the year, he'd married again. His second wife was an outsider, and she was said to be very considerate. The two of them were very much in love.

But that wasn't why Fat Tiger was chuckling so lecherously.

Two months ago, they'd caught Liu Qiang cheating after his second marriage.

"With just one S Card and no one named Guo, there shouldn't be any funny business. A morning should be enough."

Lin Mu ignored Fat Tiger and muttered to himself.

"A morning should be enough? What do you mean, Brother Mu?" Fat Tiger asked, puzzled.

"What number am I?" Lin Mu asked.

"Number 16," Fat Tiger replied.

"Then I should be up around ten. I'll get the S Card and head back to work. That should be about right."

Lin Mu did the math and immediately felt more confident.

"Huh?"

Fat Tiger was a little baffled.

"You'll find out when the time comes. By the way, where's A Hen?"

Lin Mu asked.

"A Hen went to investigate who Feng Bingbing confessed to," Fat Tiger said quietly.

Brother Mu had told him last night there was no need to investigate, but A Hen was so stubborn that he'd gone anyway. Fat Tiger was worried Brother Mu would get mad.

"Let him. He won't find out anything anyway."

Lin Mu chuckled and hung up.

When he returned to the office, his bored coworkers surrounded him again and asked if he was really going to enter Pure Voice.

After Lin Mu confirmed that he was, everyone was shocked.

"Lin Mu, I admire your courage!"

"Seriously, Little Lin, I've never heard you say singing was your dream before."

"You mean your dream is to sing without going off-key, right?"

His coworkers could be mouthy, but they were decent people. They were teasing Lin Mu now partly to persuade him not to embarrass himself, since they all knew exactly how good he was at singing.

"Thanks, everyone. I'm just going to join in for fun. If it doesn't work out, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Don't worry."

Lin Mu smiled.

Seeing that he was determined to go to his doom, his coworkers couldn't stop him. They patted him on the shoulder one after another, as if bidding farewell to a hero facing certain death.

After dealing with his well-meaning coworkers, Lin Mu returned to his seat. His phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw that Feng Bingbing had sent him a message.

I was so cold to her yesterday. Why is she still messaging me?

Lin Mu was a little confused. He tapped the notification, his eyes suddenly widening. His hand jerked, and he nearly dropped his phone.