Chapter 23: My Wife Is Truly Amazing

In the room, Yu Zhile had just soothed the baby who, after waking, had cried for quite a while. Now the baby was no longer crying, crawling energetically on the bed, but unexpectedly, his wife returned home and started crying herself!

Of course, this crying was obviously fake.

His wife, the drama queen.

Yu Zhile picked up the baby and walked out to see Qin Haiyu at the door changing her shoes, still dressed in the outfit she wore on stage for her performance. Pretending he hadn’t gone to watch her sing in person, he asked, “Did it not go well? Were you too nervous and didn’t sing as you hoped?”

Qin Haiyu, now in her slippers, replied in a pitiful voice, “I wasn’t nervous at all! I sang really well this time!”

Yu Zhile laughed. “It’s fine. You didn’t really want to succeed in the challenge, did you?”

Qin Haiyu pouted in annoyance. “Of course I wanted to succeed! Now that I failed, I feel terrible, and you won’t even comfort me! You’ve changed! Ever since the baby came, you don’t love me anymore!”

“Enough! It’s one thing to be dramatic, but to be jealous of your own daughter? How absurd! Lucky for you, Mom’s not here today. If she saw her daughter-in-law acting like this, she’d be rolling her eyes!”

Yu Zhile chuckled with feigned irritation. Tomorrow was the start of the National Day holiday, and his mother would come to help take care of her granddaughter—a fact they were both well aware of.

Seeing her husband unmoved by her theatrics, Qin Haiyu dropped the act. She stepped forward, took the baby from his arms, and suddenly returned to her usual self, giggling. “Let me tell you, my vote count for this performance was really high!”

Yu Zhile asked curiously, “How high is ‘really high’? There are only 800 votes in total, you couldn’t have gotten more than 750, right?”

“Oh, you’re so annoying!” Qin Haiyu freed a hand and playfully slapped Yu Zhile’s shoulder, feigning annoyance. “Such a jinx! You guessed it again!”

Yu Zhile laughed. “That’s to be expected! Thirty judges, three hundred votes—no matter who’s on stage, it’s impossible for all thirty judges to vote for them. So, at most, twenty-six or twenty-seven judges voted for you. And with five hundred audience members, if 450 voted for you, that’s already excellent. So if your singing was flawless, I’d say your vote count was at most 720.”

“Hehe, you guessed wrong!” Qin Haiyu finally had reason to be proud. “My vote count this time was more than 720!”

“That impressive?” Yu Zhile was surprised. “So, over 730?”

“More!” Qin Haiyu raised her brows playfully. “If you can guess the number, you’ll get a mysterious reward tonight!”

“What mysterious reward?” Yu Zhile was both tempted and curious.

Qin Haiyu sat on the sofa, playing with the baby as she spoke. “Why so slow, husband? I said it’s a mystery—if I tell you, it’s not a mystery anymore! You get ten chances, so start guessing!”

Yu Zhile grew serious. The vote count was over 730, which meant at least 740—a result that exceeded his expectations. Since the show “I Am a Singer” began airing, the highest vote count had only reached 723; his wife had just set a new record!

He asked, “Did you get more than 750?”

Qin Haiyu playfully shook her head. “That’s a secret!”

“Judging from your reaction, it’s not more than 750. So, it must be between 740 and 750,” Yu Zhile smiled. “Ten guesses, that’s just enough.”

Qin Haiyu protested, “You’re cheating!”

Yu Zhile pinched her cheek affectionately. “How am I cheating? It’s your own expression that gave it away!”

He proceeded to guess from 740 up to 747, and when he reached 747, Qin Haiyu felt her intelligence insulted and admitted helplessly, “Alright, it’s 747 votes…”

Yu Zhile praised her, “Amazing, my wife! You actually got 747 votes! If you hadn’t deliberately messed up the last round, you’d definitely have succeeded in the challenge as the top scorer!”

Qin Haiyu said, “That’s not certain. The voting process organized by the production team always has its issues. Even if the audience is genuine, the vote count might still be manipulated. These competition shows mostly measure popularity. My challenge was broadcast when my popularity was at its lowest, so for ratings and buzz, the producers probably wouldn’t let me succeed.”

Yu Zhile nodded. “It doesn’t matter. After this episode airs, ‘A Little Happiness’ will surely become a hit, and your popularity will soar again! If the producers really kept you from advancing because of popularity, the loss will only be theirs.”

Qin Haiyu didn’t care much about all that. Suddenly, she spoke with pride, “Husband, when the vote rankings were announced, Teacher Wu praised me! He even offered to step aside and let me advance, saying the stage could do without anyone except for an outstanding singer like me.”

Yu Zhile had learned about Teacher Wu in recent days—a veteran he considered on par with Teacher Liu Huan. For Qin Haiyu to receive his recognition proved her excellence in vocal skills, and her unique, distinctive voice was precisely what helped her stand out among her peers.

“My wife is incredible!”

Yu Zhile gave her genuine praise, then asked curiously, “But now I just want to know what the mysterious reward is. Can’t I get it now, instead of waiting for tonight?”

Qin Haiyu gave him a look of disdain. “I’m not done yet! If you interrupt again, you get no reward!”

Yu Zhile smiled and hugged her shoulder. “Alright, alright, wife, please continue.”

Qin Haiyu carried on, “Then I refused Teacher Wu’s offer to let me advance and gave a reciprocal compliment. I said the stage could do without me, but not without Teacher Wu, who represents the classics and an era of music!”

She looked at Yu Zhile with pride. “Husband, don’t you think my response was really high in emotional intelligence?”

“Yes, yes, my wife is amazing! Such high EQ!”

Yu Zhile took the chance to kiss her cheek, and Qin Haiyu continued with a smile. “Finally, Teacher Wu suggested the producers add a ‘vote to revive’ segment. I don’t know if they’ll do it, but even if they do, I doubt I’ll be included. Several eliminated singers have much higher popularity than I do now.”

Yu Zhile encouraged her, “Wife, you need to be confident! You were runner-up in the sixth season of ‘I Am a Singer’! And you won the seventh season of ‘China’s Good Voice.’ Sure, you faded a bit after getting married and having a baby, but I believe after this episode airs, you’ll be just as famous as before!”

Qin Haiyu suddenly touched the baby’s tiny nose and asked, “Baby, do you think Daddy is right?”

The little one’s nose tickled, and she sneezed, spraying a little drool from her puckered mouth.

Qin Haiyu wiped her mouth with the baby’s bib and said, “See! The baby says you’re wrong!”

Yu Zhile rolled his eyes. “How do you figure the baby said you’re wrong?”

Qin Haiyu reasoned, “Right is one syllable, wrong is two! The baby sneezed with two sounds, so it means wrong!”

“Wife, you’re so clever!”

Yu Zhile lovingly pinched Qin Haiyu’s cheek again.

At that moment, his phone chimed with a new message notification. He picked it up and saw it was from Yang Bing.