She actually came?
Su Qingqing couldn’t help but glance over again.
Wearing an ivory-white long dress, Yu Zhongmeng naturally drew in a flurry of gazes. The floodlights cast down on her cheeks, making her already pale skin seem as if it could be pinched for dew.
Unlike Su Qingqing, whose expression clearly said “keep away,” Yu Zhongmeng exuded the refined aloofness of a wealthy girl.
People were inherently self-destructive.
Yu Zhongmeng’s cold elegance only intensified the attention from the male students around her.
Unfortunately for them, this girl wasn’t alone. Beside her stood a young man in a sharp suit, hair slicked back to perfection. Apart from slight puffiness at the corners of his eyes, he seemed quite confident.
Su Qingqing’s face immediately fell.
“What’s wrong? Are we going or not?” Ming Xue hadn’t yet noticed the change in Su Qingqing’s demeanor. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she shook Su Qingqing’s arm playfully.
But Su Qingqing remained still. Confused, Ming Xue followed her gaze—naturally locking onto Yu Zhongmeng’s face.
She suddenly pouted with mild dissatisfaction. “So it turns out Susu likes girls who wear dresses?”
That snapped Su Qingqing back. She quickly shook her head. “No! I just… used to buy a dress kind of like that.”
“That’s an expensive one,” Ming Xue said, covering her lips in surprise.
“It’s not the same. Just looks similar, that’s all.”
“Ohh~”
That explanation seemed reasonable enough. Tilting her head again, Ming Xue looked longingly at the now-idle microphone. “What a shame. Since you won’t sing, we can only watch others. And today’s a rare day I’m actually free…”
“Who said I’m not singing?” Su Qingqing patted her shoulder and raised her slender right arm high into the air.
A cheer erupted from the crowd.
The lawn concert’s host exaggeratedly exclaimed into the mic, “Whoa! A new student is coming up to sing for us! Let’s give her another big round of applause!”
Su Qingqing smiled modestly and confidently walked up to accept the second mic from the host.
“Hello there! Can you introduce yourself?”
A beautiful girl was always the perfect headline at any event. The moment Su Qingqing stepped under the spotlight, everyone seated around the field turned off their games and videos—some even opened their cameras to snap her picture.
“Hi everyone, I’m Su Qingqing.” Her smile never faltered, as radiant as the moon in the sky.
But the introduction ended there, unexpectedly. Even the host looked momentarily stunned. She gave a quick laugh to warm the crowd and brought the mic back to Su Qingqing. “Can I ask what song you’ll be singing?”
Su Qingqing’s smile deepened. “My Sorrow Is Made of Water. The Japanese version. Sung by Hatsuki.”
This flew right over most of the audience’s heads. The majority hadn’t heard of it before. Only one or two, vaguely familiar with Luo Tianyi, suddenly remembered which song it was.
“Well then—please begin!” Even if the host hadn’t heard it, it didn’t dampen her enthusiasm.
As long as a beautiful girl sang decently, no one really cared how good she actually was. After all, tonight’s event was about letting freshmen get a taste of campus life.
Su Qingqing held the microphone lightly. She could sing. She’d spent nearly a month learning this song on her own. The only question was whether her voice now could still carry the song’s emotional rhythm.
“You can sing in Japanese too?” Pan’s curious voice floated in her ears like a ghost, circling her head with a full 3D surround feel.
Just as Su Qingqing was looking for the instrumental, Pan giggled. “Here, I’m sending you a clean version of the backing track—consider it a reward for being so bold earlier. I’ll even boost your singing charm by one level, okay? Am I awesome or what, little Susu?”
Su Qingqing had long learned how to tune out Pan’s noise. She took a deep breath, eyes curving like a crescent moon—glowing, just like the real one above.
This song, despite its melancholic title, had a light, upbeat melody. If someone only heard the name, they’d assume it was a sorrowful ballad. But the tempo was breezy and bright, like sipping sparkling water on a lazy Hawaiian afternoon, while a vintage gramophone crackled out tunes from another era.
It was cute. It was stylish. Retro and modern all at once.
Even though it was nighttime, many swore they saw a little sun rise up right there in front of them.
“So cute…” Ming Xue swayed her head gently to the rhythm, her eyes sparkling like she was staring at a porcelain doll.
🎶 “On rainy days, I always forget my umbrella…”
🎶 “I love resting most, but still dread Wednesdays…”
🎶 “Where is my sun?”
🎶 “Come dry it all up, please…”
The whole time, Su Qingqing wore a gentle smile. Her voice filled the air—sweet, a little lazy, but utterly lovable. The crowd’s cheers echoed as she stepped off the field.
For many of them, her voice still rang in their ears. When a beautiful girl sang, the voice might not even matter. But when the voice was also beautiful?
That was pure magic.
“So amazing…”
The same thought flickered in many hearts.
“One more song!”
“That was so good!”
“Is there another?”
Su Qingqing tried to vanish into the crowd, but it was hopeless. Their glowing eyes were like spotlights locked onto her pale, lovely face. The energy surged even higher.
But at the edge of her eye, there was a glint of hidden sorrow.
That’s the thing—her sorrow really was made of water. One good blow and it turned into shimmering bubbles.
“Susu, what do the lyrics mean?” Ming Xue’s voice snapped the crowd out of their trance. Another freshman girl, unwilling to let Su Qingqing hog all the attention, stepped up and sang an English song.
It was a soft, pleasant tune, but many phones were still silently replaying Su Qingqing’s earlier performance. As they read through the lyrics, a brief moment of wistfulness washed over them.
But some didn’t even need the lyrics to understand.
Multi-talented Yu Zhongmeng didn’t know Japanese—but someone had once sung this song for her. It was one of the few gestures she remembered clearly.
Her expression stayed cool, though her teeth now pressed firmly into her lip. She stared at Su Qingqing, who stood radiant like the moon at the center of the crowd, and something stirred in her chest.
She opened WeChat and sent a message to a contact she still hadn’t deleted:
“I found someone who’s so, so much like you.”
But a glaring red exclamation mark appeared beside the message.
She had already been blocked.
“Mengmeng, want me to request a song for you?” asked Lu Yuan, the suited young man at her side. His gaze swept greedily across the field. Su Qingqing wasn’t the only one. The entire lawn brimmed with youthful energy, and just standing there made him feel dizzy with bliss.
Though the corner of his mouth still carried a faint sneer.
Yu Zhongmeng gave him a cold glance, then turned to leave. “And what would you use to request it?”
“This.” Lu Yuan rubbed his fingers together. University students were already learning to chase after money. He believed it would work.
“Hmph.” Yu Zhongmeng suddenly felt so tired. In her heart, she sighed:
A fool who only knows money.
Yet, she didn’t realize…
Wasn’t she the same?
(End of Chapter)