Chapter 71: Don’t Mess With Me!

Silence meant a guilty conscience!

Qin Haiyu watched the silent retreating figure of Mr. Panda and was now certain—this was her husband, Yu Zhile!

No wonder she hadn’t seen her husband backstage earlier.

No wonder, even as she was about to sing her final song, he hadn’t found a way backstage to cheer her on and sneak in a secret show of affection in some quiet corner.

“Qin, you’re up!” called a staff girl in charge of backstage notifications, snapping the absent-minded Qin Haiyu from her thoughts.

“Oh—sorry,” Qin Haiyu replied, hurrying toward the stage. The lights had dimmed, casting the stage in shadow, but the dance troupe was already in position. She quickly took her place at center stage just as a flood of colorful lights reignited the beauty of the grand stage.

The live broadcast camera panned from the audience back to the main stage, where three enormous screens overhead displayed details of the next song.

“Courage”

Lyrics: Yu Zhile

Composer: Yu Zhile

Singer: Qin Haiyu

...

In the front row, Old Liu squinted, his aging eyes struggling to make out the large letters on the screen. “Old Yu, this person with your surname is really something! I think I saw his name on several other songs earlier too!”

Old Yu nodded in admiration.

You really haven’t figured it out? Are you senile already?

Old Yu purposefully handed his electronic cheering sign to Old Liu. “Let’s switch! My arm’s tired!”

He took Old Liu’s two glow sticks and waved them energetically. Old Liu, now holding the electronic sign, finally noticed the three words emblazoned on it: “Qin Haiyu.”

“I get it now!” Old Liu exclaimed in surprise. “Is this Yu Zhile your fellow townsman?”

Just then, the intro of the song began, and the venue erupted in excitement.

Old Yu inwardly lamented Old Liu’s cluelessness, then replied in a drawn-out tone, “You fool.”

The music was loud, so Old Liu didn’t catch the words, but judging by Old Yu’s lips, he thought he’d said, “You guessed right!”

Suddenly, everything made sense!

No wonder Old Yu had these tickets—they must be from a fellow townsman! Maybe he and this Yu Zhile were even cousins or something.

Old Liu silently congratulated himself on his cleverness.

He never guessed that Yu Zhile was actually Old Yu’s son, and Qin Haiyu his daughter-in-law!

After all, he’d known Old Yu for years and understood his character well. If his son and daughter-in-law were doing this well, surely Old Yu would have shown off about it ages ago!

Because he knew Old Yu so well, Old Liu never suspected any connection between Old Yu, Yu Zhile, or Qin Haiyu.

On stage, Qin Haiyu began to sing the debut performance of her new song:

“I finally made this decision,
No matter what others say, I don’t care,
As long as you feel the same...”

Originally, this song was meant to be released on New Year’s Day, but since she was attending the New Year’s Eve Gala, it debuted tonight.

Just moments ago, the audience had still been lost in the tranquility of “Nocturne,” but now, as they heard not just pure music but Qin Haiyu’s melodious voice, they were swept into a new musical world.

As the first live performance of a new song, many of Qin Haiyu’s fans were eagerly awaiting to see whether “Courage” would be as good as the previous four songs.

“I’m willing to follow you to the ends of the earth,
I know nothing is easy,
My heart keeps practicing, persuading itself,
But I’m most afraid you’ll suddenly say you’re giving up...”

By this point, the fans were already satisfied!

It felt like another song they could put on endless repeat before bed.

Backstage, Yu Zhile had taken off the panda suit in the restroom and handed it to Old Yang, who had been keeping watch for him. He quickly fixed his hair using his phone’s camera and hurried off to watch his wife’s final performance.

Meanwhile, in the backstage lounge and makeup area, the celebrities waiting for Mr. Panda’s return were growing puzzled. Why hadn’t he come back yet?

Everyone was curious about his identity—some had even started betting, claiming he was such-and-such a star, with promises of doing this or that if they turned out to be wrong.

Yet now, with Qin Haiyu already singing, Mr. Panda still had not returned. What was he up to?

Would the mystery be kept until the very last moment?

But at that moment, Qin Haiyu’s singing made them temporarily forget all about Mr. Panda’s identity.

“Love truly takes courage,
To face all the rumors and whispers,
Just one look of certainty from you,
And my love has meaning...”

This song, these lyrics, once again filled Ye Fei with envy and jealousy!

Qin Haiyu’s husband was just too talented!

Since the day he came to “I’m a Singer” as a challenger, this was already the fifth song he had written for her!

And every single one was so exceptionally composed!

She was so envious, feeling it was a waste for such good songs to be sung by Qin Haiyu. If only she could sing them—she was sure she could do even better! This style suited her perfectly.

Beside her, Teacher Wu couldn’t help but praise, “Another great song! The lyrics are so well-written!”

An elder singer nearby nodded. “It’s excellent, though I think ‘Later’ is even better—more moving, deeper resonance.”

Teacher Wu replied, “They’re different styles, you can’t really compare.”

“That’s true.” The other veteran smiled, falling silent, listening quietly as Qin Haiyu performed her final song of the night.

...

On stage, five pairs of young men and women moved gracefully through a duet dance.

Qin Haiyu bowed her head, singing as she slowly walked to the front of the stage.

“If my stubbornness and willfulness
Accidentally hurt you,
Would you gently remind me?
Though I’m impatient at heart,
I fear even more missing you...”

In the audience, Old Liu watched as the famous Qin Haiyu approached, panicking and hurriedly shoving the cheering sign back at Old Yu. He didn’t want to accidentally end up on TV—if his wife saw him “chasing stars,” especially such a young and beautiful one, he’d be doomed to kneel on a washboard at home!

Old Yu had no idea why Old Liu was suddenly so flustered, shoving his daughter-in-law’s sign back at him, but he took it, handing the glow sticks back to Old Liu.

On stage, Qin Haiyu knew her father-in-law was in the audience—the audience member holding the “Super Dad Fan” sign was him. So, she nodded and waved in his direction.

When Old Yu realized his daughter-in-law had spotted him, he became a little embarrassed and stuffed the sign back into Old Liu’s arms.

Now Old Liu was utterly bewildered!

Why are you giving this thing back to me?

You’re the fan, not me!

Don’t get me into trouble!

This is a live broadcast! If I end up on TV, and my wife sees it, no explanation will save me!

So, Old Liu cleverly flipped the sign around, hiding the words from view.

At the front of the stage, Qin Haiyu noticed with some confusion that the “Super Dad Fan” sign had disappeared.

Did her father-in-law go home?

Or maybe he got scammed and bought a sign with a dead battery?

Well, never mind...

It was the last performance of the night anyway.

The auditorium was dim, and she couldn’t make out anyone’s faces below.

She turned and walked back toward the center of the stage.

Soon, the song was drawing to a close.

Qin Haiyu’s final performance of the evening was coming to an end!

All she could think about now was finishing the song as soon as possible—so she could have a good talk with her husband about this Mr. Panda!