Chapter 351: See Me Make a Fool of Myself
Huilin wasn't quite sure how to use the equipment in the KTV room, so she blushed and asked Tangtang for help to select a song.
"Huilin jie, which song do you want?" Tangtang asked.
Huilin shyly pursed her lips. "I'm not very good with new songs. Can I sing an old one?"
"Of course! Old songs are classics; they all sound great," Tangtang nodded.
"I'd like 'The Possibility of Love' by Sally Yeh," Huilin said.
Tangtang quickly selected the song, looking at Huilin with some curiosity, and Yuan Ye, who had never heard the song before, was also quite intrigued.
Huilin's voice had been highly praised by the top musicians at Yulei Entertainment. Since she was considered a singer with great potential, singing her favorite song was no challenge for her.
"When you appear by my side, like a miracle happened. I didn't expect it would be you who makes me so lost. The feeling in my heart, because you have your life, I have my journey. Ahead, there are still people waiting for you. You will cry, laugh, love, and be distressed."
The classic love song was performed by Huilin with extraordinary emotion, and her delicate and beautiful voice made it even more captivating.
After she finished, Tangtang's little hands were red from clapping.
Huilin smiled shyly and handed the microphone to Lin Ruoxi. "Sister, why don't you sing one?"
Lin Ruoxi didn't have the slightest smile on her face and seemed to be a bit bitter. But since everyone else had sung, she couldn't just refuse to sing herself.
"Honey, you're not afraid of singing a song, are you?" Yang Chen noticed that Lin Ruoxi seemed reluctant to sing. Could it be that she was shy?
Lin Ruoxi angrily glared at Yang Chen and picked up the microphone. "What am I afraid of? It's just singing, right?"
After saying that, Lin Ruoxi got up and walked over to the screen to select a song.
However, after nearly five minutes, Lin Ruoxi was still there choosing, unable to decide what to sing.
"How about you pick 'Two Tigers'?" Yang Chen joked.
Lin Ruoxi shot Yang Chen a fierce look, mostly because she actually felt an urge to select "Two Tigers"!
But of course, she wouldn't really do something so silly. So after thinking for a long time, Lin Ruoxi chose Karen Mok's "Overcast."
This song wasn't particularly hard to sing, but Karen Mok's unique singing style made it especially moving.
Yang Chen had never heard Lin Ruoxi sing before. After all, she was a woman who rarely spoke, let alone sang for you.
Facing away from the crowd, Lin Ruoxi's forehead was actually covered in tiny beads of sweat, her hands were cold and clammy, and her body appeared stiff. Her expression was full of anxiety.
As soon as the lyrics turned red, Lin Ruoxi bit her lip and began to sing.
"On a cloudy day in an empty room…"
The moment Lin Ruoxi finished the first line, the other four people in the room all showed expressions of "horror"! This was because not a single word of Lin Ruoxi's first line was sung on key.
It was akin to how getting a zero on a test could be harder than getting a perfect score. Similarly, messing up every note of a song is actually more difficult than singing it perfectly! Yet, Lin Ruoxi managed to do it, turning every note into a mangled mess!
Yang Chen and Huilin exchanged glances, while Yuan Ye and Tangtang widened their eyes in disbelief. They were utterly dumbfounded!
Lin Ruoxi, however, completely ignored their reactions and continued singing in her pleasant voice, albeit with a melody that was completely off-tune!
In fact, what made Lin Ruoxi's singing so remarkable wasn't just that she was off-key, but that her singing turned into a kind of "noise." To put it bluntly, it would have been more pleasant if she had simply read the lyrics!
It turns out there really are people whose spoken words are more pleasant than their singing.
Yang Chen couldn't help but feel both amused and helpless. It turns out his wife had such a fierce side to her. No wonder she was reluctant to sing earlier; she must have felt intimidated hearing the other four sing so well. Now, she was just pushing through with sheer determination.
Indeed, as Yang Chen had guessed, Lin Ruoxi originally thought that someone as rough as Yang Chen wouldn't be able to sing, which was why she agreed to come. She figured that no matter how badly she sang, she wouldn't be the only one embarrassing herself. But to her surprise, Yang Chen could sing very well!
Faced with this situation, Lin Ruoxi felt awkward. She couldn't just run away, could she? The concept of retreating in fear wasn't in her dictionary, so even if she embarrassed herself, she was determined to finish the song calmly.
After Lin Ruoxi finished her song and turned around, Yuan Ye and Tangtang were sitting there with dark expressions, completely silent.
Huilin, feeling embarrassed, turned her head away, unable to look directly at Lin Ruoxi. She felt that saying nothing at all was a form of great respect.
Yang Chen forced a stiff smile and said, "Not bad, it was quite... piercing."
Lin Ruoxi snorted coldly. "No need to pretend. I'll be honest with you all; I've always been at the bottom of the class in music exams since I was a child. My teacher said I was tone-deaf, and in middle school, my music teacher just gave me free time and didn't require me to attend class. The fact that you didn't run away shows that you have a lot of endurance."
Yuan Ye and Tangtang exchanged depressed glances. Actually, they wanted to run, but Lin Ruoxi's terrifying singing had made their legs go weak.
Yang Chen chuckled softly and said, "Wife, it's okay. There are definitely fewer people who can sing every word off-key than those who can sing well. You're a rare species."
"I'm not a singer. If I can't sing, I can't sing. No need to comfort me like that," Lin Ruoxi replied icily, walking over to the sofa and putting down the microphone.
Tangtang quietly took the microphone and handed it to Huilin. "Sister Huilin, you should sing another song." They desperately needed a soothing voice to heal their wounded spirits.
Huilin gave an awkward smile, avoiding eye contact with Lin Ruoxi, who was emanating a chilly aura. She chose Liang Jingru's "Warmth." The song title itself was a clear indication of its intended effect.
For the rest of the time, Lin Ruoxi didn't sing another word, simply sitting there quietly, listening to Huilin sing. Although she didn't say anything, there was a faint trace of envy in her eyes.
Yang Chen chuckled to himself. This woman was really quite the character. The moment she started singing, her cold and frosty beauty completely shattered!
After more than an hour of what felt like Huilin's solo concert, and feeling that they had heard enough, they left the KTV at Yang Chen's suggestion.
Yang Chen knew that if they kept listening, Lin Ruoxi would be utterly demoralized.
After saying goodbye to Yuan Ye and Tangtang, the three returned home. Huilin went to help Aunt Wang with the chores, while Lin Ruoxi, with an indifferent expression, headed upstairs to her office.
Yang Chen sidled up to her and said with a smile, "Ruoxi dear, how about we go to the KTV again tomorrow?" As he spoke, he pulled out the platinum card Yuan Ye had given him and waved it.
Lin Ruoxi blushed and glared at him angrily. "Do you just want to see me embarrass myself?"
"Not at all. Just the two of us. I'll teach you and train you to sing. You have such a lovely voice; there's no reason you shouldn't be able to sing well. You can't let this be your Achilles' heel forever," Yang Chen said.
"So what if it is? I can just stop singing in the future, can't I?" Lin Ruoxi said nonchalantly.
"But what if we get invited by friends again? Are you going to make up an excuse every time? Plus, there might be company events where employees will ask you to sing. You can't always refuse and freeze everyone with your icy stare, right?" Yang Chen reasoned.
Lin Ruoxi hesitated. Singing did seem like something she might encounter frequently. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Alright, but you have to agree to one condition, and then I'll go with you."
Yang Chen was puzzled. "What condition?"
"You need to start taking your work seriously and stop disappearing all the time, leaving everything for Wang Jie and Zhao Teng to handle," Lin Ruoxi said sternly.
Yang Chen sighed inwardly, realizing that Lin Ruoxi had been keeping an eye on him and didn't really trust him.
"Alright, I promise," Yang Chen agreed, understanding that for a couple to live well together, compromises were necessary.
Satisfied, Lin Ruoxi nodded and agreed to go with Yang Chen to learn how to sing. But just as she was about to go upstairs, her phone rang.
Lin Ruoxi took out her phone and frowned slightly, hesitating about whether to answer it or not.
"What's the matter?" Yang Chen asked, surprised to see Lin Ruoxi contemplating so long over a phone call.
Lin Ruoxi sighed softly, "It's Jingjing."
With that, she decided to answer the call.