Chapter 97: Showing Off Affection Invites Misfortune

“Honey! The second episode of Singer actually pulled a rating as high as 1.74 percent!”

Though Yu Zhile had been certain the show would do well, he was still a little startled when he saw that number.

The premiere had drawn 1.21 percent, and the second episode had surged all the way to 1.74 percent.

That was an alarming leap.

With the program expected to run for three months and a total of fifteen episodes, it had only reached its second installment and already achieved such a high rating. Breaking past 2 percent in the episodes ahead was hardly impossible.

Qin Haiyu was equally surprised. “So this is Eastern Satellite TV’s time to shine! Right now, the variety show with the highest ratings has to be Singer, doesn’t it?”

“Probably. Let me check the other shows.”

Yu Zhile looked it up, then said, “This week’s highest-rated variety show really is Singer. The show that aired opposite it last night, Brilliant Stars, only got 1.07 percent. It’s fallen with every episode, and by the next one it probably won’t even hold at 1 percent.”

Qin Haiyu said, “That makes sense. Brilliant Stars is just following last year’s Singer; besides the support of celebrity fans drawn to traffic stars, it feels like ordinary viewers have already grown tired of this kind of music show.

Singer, on the other hand, has no traffic stars, but everything else is outstanding. That’s why it could stand out.”

Yu Zhile nodded. “So for a music program, the music itself is what matters most. Any show that drifts away from musical quality is, bluntly put, just inviting a few traffic-clown acts to grab attention. Watch too much of that, and people naturally get sick of it.”

Thinking of how, after the second episode of Singer ended last night, the identity of the challenger singer shot to the top of the trending searches, Qin Haiyu said, “Honey, who do you think that mysterious challenger singer was last night, the one whose face was covered with that dog-head image at the end of the show?”

Yu Zhile spread his hands. “I’m curious too. The production team actually rode on the wave of my dog-head survival meme. Now the viewers and netizens are all saying that mysterious dog-head singer is me! If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think I really took part in the show.”

Qin Haiyu felt the same. “If you weren’t by my side every day, I’d suspect you were secretly going on the program behind my back.”

Yu Zhile said, “Honey, am I the kind of man who’d abandon his wife and child just to go on a show?”

At that, Qin Haiyu was displeased. She huffed, “So that means when I went on Singer last year, I was abandoning my husband and child, then!”

“Honey, that’s not what I meant!” Yu Zhile hurried to explain.

Qin Haiyu turned her face away. “I don’t want to hear it. That’s exactly what you meant. Anyway, I’m angry!”

Angry?

This was clearly acting spoiled.

Yu Zhile was amused by his wife’s pretend sulking; at moments like this, she was even more childishly adorable than the baby.

He leaned over and kissed the cheek she had turned away, then lifted Qin Haiyu straight up in his arms, playing along. “Honey, I was wrong! For being so enthusiastic about kissing, hugging, and lifting you up, please forgive me just this once!”

Qin Haiyu giggled, looking down at her husband as he held her aloft. She looped her hands around his neck and said happily, “Higher!”

“Yes, ma’am! Hold on tight, my dear wife!”

Yu Zhile wrapped his arms around her legs and raised her high.

He could not help but sigh inwardly: these days, without a bit of strength, you could not even coax your wife.

Fortunately, his wife was petite and slim, so lifting her was effortless. If she had been as plump as Xu Ling, then failing at the kiss-hug-lift routine would have been more terrifying than a domestic violence scene.

At that moment, the baby, who had been sitting on the floor playing with a little toy, suddenly looked up at Mommy being lifted into the air. As if wanting to be lifted too, the little one stood up and toddled over in unsteady little steps, tugging at Yu Zhile’s pants while babbling, “Daddy! Daddy!”

The couple had been lost in their affectionate mood, and only when they heard the baby calling for Daddy did they remember that there was a little lightbulb in the room.

They had completely forgotten about her.

Qin Haiyu burst out laughing. “Honey, it looks like the baby wants kisses, hugs, and to be lifted up too!”

Yu Zhile put his wife down. Having soothed her into happiness, he immediately switched on his full dad mode, picked up the baby, and held her high over his head, making the little one laugh delightedly in midair.

And so, Yu Zhile was doomed.

He finally understood why people said flaunting affection led to a quick death.

Now look at that: after all the lovey-dovey display, the backlash had arrived.

Yu Zhile’s arms ached from holding her up. “Good girl, Daddy’s tired. Can we stop lifting now? Let’s go take a ride instead, okay?”

But the little one had fallen in love with the sensation of being held high; the moment she was put down, she cried and fussed, making it truly tormenting.

Qin Haiyu sympathized with her husband for three seconds online, and in the end it was only by lifting her shirt to feed the baby that she could finally let her husband escape.

Unfortunately, Qin Haiyu then began to suffer instead.

The baby already had several little teeth, so while nursing, she would nip her mother now and then, bringing a real, sharp sting to the heart.

But until a child is one or two years old, it is very important for a mother to persist in breastfeeding, so she would have to bear it for a few more months.

Another week passed.

The third episode of Singer began airing. When the identity of the mysterious dog-head challenger singer from the previous episode was finally revealed, many viewers were disappointed.

“Bad review! It wasn’t the dog-head author after all!”

“So disappointed. I thought Zi Feiyu was going to make a comeback as a singer after retiring from writing! I’d been looking forward to seeing what kind of person wrote such a beautiful pure-love novel.”

“Fine, the whole internet guessed the challenger singer’s identity wrong! But even if it wasn’t the dog-head author, it was still pretty exciting. Considering how capable every singer on the show is, I won’t slag off the production team for riding the dog-head author’s popularity.”

Yu Zhile had never expected that so many viewers were watching Singer just because of him.

It seemed he really was very popular now.

But that was perfectly normal.

The title of godfather of pure love was no empty boast.

In the novel world, his readership was the highest of all.

Later, even after he announced his retirement from writing, his popularity did not decline. Thanks to the songs from Little Lucky, it not only held steady, it rose higher than before.

Then, appearing on Eastern Satellite TV’s New Year’s Eve gala as “Mr. Panda,” he still did not reveal his face, but through the five songs from Night Piano Pieces, his fame surged again.

After that came the children’s songs that spread across the land, and the popularity brought by the publication of the first children’s literature book of his life.

Then came the viral birthday song.

Although he had never formally debuted, just these works alone made his popularity feel comparable to that of top-tier traffic stars.

Most importantly, come September, these children’s literary works would be included in primary school textbooks. By then, his fame would only climb yet another level.

And having one’s works enter textbooks was a level of prestige no other celebrity could match.

Precisely because he was now so famous and so widely adored, more and more people became curious about what he looked like, and kept hoping he would debut, urging him to do so.