Yun Xiaoran had finished cooking by then.
Braised pork ribs, loofah soup with razor clams, pan-fried fish with seasoning...
He had made three substantial dishes in one go.
"Dinner's ready."
Shen Jin was still reading the comments with her head down. Without even looking up, she had been planning to have a high-end hotel deliver her meal.
"Oh, I'll just eat..."
Shen Jin had assumed Yun Xiaoran would, at most, make something grotesquely inedible to disgust her. But the aroma of the dishes he brought to the table wafted into her nose and stopped her words cold.
Yun Xiaoran looked at his cooking, noticed Shen Jin staring at the three dishes in front of her, and teased:
"It's my first time using the cookware here, so I'm not used to it. The food didn't turn out that well. If you don't want any, just order takeout."
Judging by the aroma, Shen Jin thought the dishes looked quite good. She was very pleased with Yun Xiaoran's cooking, and her tone softened, though she still feigned impatience.
"Let's just eat this. Takeout would take forever. I'd starve by then."
"Sure."
Yun Xiaoran nodded. As long as she liked it, that was all that mattered.
He served two bowls of rice, and they began eating.
Shen Jin tentatively picked up a rib, then ate it with her rice in small bites.
It tasted pretty good.
She glanced at Yun Xiaoran out of the corner of her eye. Shen Jin had expected him to sneak looks at her over dinner, but he was staring at his phone instead, even smiling.
Notifications from VA Site kept chiming, all of them private messages.
"Why does your phone keep going off? Did something big happen?"
Shen Jin had been feeling rather smug, but Yun Xiaoran was clearly more interested in his phone than in looking at her. His behavior shattered her little fantasy, leaving her embarrassed and annoyed.
"Oh, it's because..."
Yun Xiaoran saw the notifications from VA Site, but he did not want to reveal that he was making music yet. Besides, the last time he had merely let slip that he wrote music, people had mocked him.
"Your follower count has reached 1,000. Keep up the good work." "Your follower count has reached 5,000. Please keep up the good work." "Your follower count..."
He scrolled down. What other VA creators needed two months to achieve, he had accomplished in five hours.
As Yun Xiaoran looked at his phone, his lips curved into an attractive smile. Watching him clutch his phone with such an absorbed expression, Shen Jin was utterly speechless.
"Just eat. Why are you playing with your phone?"
Shen Jin frowned, sounding irritated.
Yun Xiaoran nodded thoughtfully, then opened his video and went back to shoveling down his food.
Sound slowly drifted from his phone, the melancholy, emo melody gradually seeping into their ears.
The melody caught Shen Jin off guard, and she gave Yun Xiaoran a suspicious look.
She had assumed the guitar Yun Xiaoran carried was only meant to attract her attention, and that he had no intention of practicing seriously.
But this video was exclusive to VA Site.
Someone who had no interest in music or listening to it would not download this app.
"You like this song too?"
Though Shen Jin remained cool and aloof, she was growing more curious about Yun Xiaoran.
"Oh, of course. I just feel it's still lacking something."
Yun Xiaoran was picking at the dishes listlessly, but when Shen Jin addressed him, his reply came out a little hurried.
"Lacking something?"
Shen Jin paused with her chopsticks and asked curiously.
She also thought the song was missing something, but how did Yun Xiaoran know?
"A guitar alone can't bring out all the emotion in this song. If the circumstances allowed it, a piano would be better.
"It would capture more of the sadness in the original piece."
Yun Xiaoran voiced his regret about his performance of the song. If he had used a piano, it might have gotten even more views.
Shen Jin looked at Yun Xiaoran in surprise.
She had not expected him to know that the song needed a piano to fully bring out its emotions.
"Have you studied music?"
Shen Jin asked in puzzlement, her alluring eyes fixed on Yun Xiaoran as she tried to figure him out.
"I've just dabbled in it. You could call it half a hobby."
Yun Xiaoran kept eating without looking up as he spoke.
After washing the dishes, Yun Xiaoran returned to his room.
"Yeah, Mom, my girlfriend and I have already registered our marriage. You don't need to worry anymore."
Yun Xiaoran answered his mother's call, paused, then continued speaking. Although they had already registered their marriage, this was the first time he had said the word "girlfriend."
He was only appeasing his family's constant urging. Whenever Shen Jin wanted a divorce, Yun Xiaoran would not stand in her way.
Still, it felt rather awkward. He would need time to get used to it.
Outside his room, Shen Jin sat on the sofa, at a loss after hearing his words. Inwardly, she thought through gritted teeth:
That bastard.
The girlfriend Yun Xiaoran had mentioned was none other than Shen Muge-Shen Jin-the mainland's top diva and a goddess adored by the entire nation!
Although Yun Xiaoran seemed unaware of that, Shen Jin still sat on the sofa glaring at his tightly closed door.
Because, in a sense, he had already taken advantage of her!
That creep with ulterior motives.
That stalker fan!
"What? You registered your marriage without telling me about something so important? You've already done it?"
"Yes. Young people register their marriages pretty quickly these days."
Yun Xiaoran casually made up a lie to brush the question aside.
"Oh, since you've registered, when will you bring your girlfriend home for us to meet? Or we could come over to your place..."
Yun Xiaoran fell silent for a moment, then forced himself to answer:
"All right, I'll ask her. If she doesn't want to, there's nothing I can do."
"Fine, I'll hang up now. Remember to bring your girlfriend over for me to meet, or we can come to you."
After hanging up, Yun Xiaoran sat in silence for a moment, then took a deep breath.
He mentally prepared himself and worked out what to say before opening the door.
He saw Shen Jin sitting on the sofa, having changed into a long, lightweight set of pajamas. Her expression was cold, her pink feet bare as she watched television listlessly.
"Um..."
"No need to ask. Even if this is a fake marriage, we still need to meet the parents and keep up appearances. Later, we can find an excuse to get divorced."
Shen Jin kept watching television without turning around. Although reluctant, she bit her lip and said it anyway. After all, she would still need him as a shield later.
"O-okay."
Yun Xiaoran nodded quietly and returned to his room.
Apartments in this complex cost an average of three hundred thousand per square meter.
The gap between him and Shen Jin was enormous. Yun Xiaoran was not about to fantasize about some rich woman falling in love with him.
The thought did leave him feeling rather miserable, so he opened VA Site.
He discovered that the notifications tab in the upper-right corner was overflowing with likes, follows, and private messages.
"Is this song really that powerful?"
Surprised, Yun Xiaoran opened his profile.
The netizens these days really were a talented bunch.
"Lone Cloud, you legend, you haven't uploaded a video in five whole minutes. Even a farm donkey wouldn't dare take a break that long."
"Lone Cloud, you legend, this song is amazing. What's your address? I'd like to send you some local specialties."
"Hey, person above, are razor blades your local specialty?"
Seeing how popular his video had become and reading their comments, Yun Xiaoran laughed.
His song had already racked up over seven hundred thousand views, and that number was still skyrocketing. Follows, comments, and likes kept pouring in. Starting with zero followers, he had reached a hundred thousand in just seven hours.
The title Yun Xiaoran had chosen was rather misleading. Those it drew in had expected a healing song, only to discover it was a depressing one instead.
Seeing his follower count put him in a wonderful mood. The ten thousand he had earned through VA Site's video incentives and viewer coins was already available to withdraw.
Some had even gone straight to Lone Cloud's profile and tipped him a total of thirty thousand.
When he opened his private messages, Yun Xiaoran was rather surprised, because they were sorted by the sender's follower count.
Yun Xiaoran scrolled through them and found that many were from amateur singers on the site with tens of thousands of followers, all asking what had inspired the song.
It seemed the song really did pack a devastating punch.
After a busy day, Yun Xiaoran hummed the song and decided to take a shower first.
Before you continue