Chapter 57: Chen Yuan Is Truly Annoying

Chen Yuan’s singing was genuinely difficult to comment on.

His vocals were undeniably good, with spot-on pitch and flawless high notes.

Yet, a guy capable of singing like that actually chose to sing a children's nursery rhyme, which was simply agonizing.

"Stop, stop, stop."

Li Dongyang interrupted Chen Yuan, and the accompaniment cut off abruptly.

"What on earth was that? This is the Campus Top Ten Singers competition, not a children's singing contest."

"Hold on a second!"

Qi Chen immediately unmuted her mic, interrupting him bluntly and showing no courtesy whatsoever.

We are all sophomores here. The freshmen might treat you like a department head, but I couldn't care less who you are.

"What's wrong with singing this song? The original singer is Sun Nan, a real star. Strictly speaking, this is an OST. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense," Qi Chen said.

"Besides, you play the violin. What do you know about singing?"

"I—"

Li Dongyang wanted to retort, but facing Qi Chen, his tongue didn't seem up to the task.

"This is the Campus Top Ten Singers competition. We're supposed to sing serious songs, not nursery rhymes."

"Even if it's not an OST, so what if it's a nursery rhyme? Chen Yuan wasn't singing with his pants off. How is that inappropriate?" Jiang Shuyi said.

"I—"

Rebuked yet again, Li Dongyang's pride was smashed to pieces. He looked at Fang Youning and said, "Fang Youning, you're the professional here. Give us your evaluation."

"Chen Yuan sang very well. Why did you interrupt him?"

Li Dongyang: ......

Standing on stage, Chen Yuan had guessed that this piece of shit Li Dongyang would definitely try to sabotage him behind the scenes. No matter how well he performed, there was no way he would let him advance.

He hadn't even said anything yet, so why were three great beauties already out here debating on his behalf?

"Don't tell me you're holding a grudge just because Chen Yuan beat you in a one-on-one basketball game," Jiang Shuyi said. "Anyway, do as you see fit. If Chen Yuan doesn't advance, that three-thousand-yuan sponsorship is gone."

"Juniors, let's go."

At Qi Chen's call, the people from the School of Information stood up one after another and left the multimedia classroom.

Realizing the atmosphere was off, the people from the School of Science left too, leaving only Li Dongyang and three of his department members.

"Fang Youning, why didn't you back me up just now?!" Li Dongyang demanded.

"I don't understand why you interrupted Chen Yuan. He sang really well."

Li Dongyang felt the deep malice of this world.

"But we're on the same team!"

"The same team?"

Fang Youning clearly didn't get it. How on earth was she on the same team as him?

"We're in the same department, don't you get it?"

"So that means I have to help you rig things behind the scenes, is that it?"

"I—"

Li Dongyang didn't know what to say; he really wasn't very good with words.

"Senior, what do we do now? If Chen Yuan doesn't advance, the sponsorship for this event is going to fall through," Fan Siyu said.

"Let it fall through. With a school this big, do we really lack three thousand yuan to host an event? In any case, because he sang a nursery rhyme, he is not advancing!"

***

Stepping out of the multimedia classroom, Qi Chen and the other four left, while Chen Yuan and Jiang Shuyi walked together.

"Weren't you guys having an External Relations Department meeting? Heading back just like that?" Chen Yuan asked.

"Meetings are all the same. Working in external relations isn't easy; there are only a handful of companies willing to cough up money, and for the ones that aren't, no matter how much groundwork you lay, it's useless."

"Then change the model. Can't we get them to proactively bring money to us for publicity?"

"Our publicity model relies on hanging banners and putting up posters. People aren't going to come to us proactively unless we have an online fanbase."

"Then just build one ourselves. Shoot some videos. Once we have enough followers, people will start coming to us. You know Qi Chen, right? She's already racked up over forty thousand followers."

"That's actually a pretty good idea. We could look into it," Jiang Shuyi said. "The question is what to shoot. In today's short-video industry, content is king."

Chen Yuan thought for a moment.

"What do you think of 'Domestic College Student Videos'?"

"Why does that name sound a bit sketchy?" The corners of Jiang Shuyi's mouth lifted into a mischievous smirk.

"When shooting, do we also have to curl our index fingers back and forth?"

"Senior, so you actually know quite a lot."

From the moment she had once addressed him as her father, Chen Yuan had known Jiang Shuyi was no ordinary person.

If you gave her the middle finger, she'd probably find a way to sit right on it.

"Isn't that standard stuff? But what you said really is a good method. Once you have a bit of a fanbase, you can turn from passive to active and stop having to look at other people's faces."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"If the two of us shoot them, I'd be down. I understand the tropes, and I'm also a very gentle person."

"Huh? What do you understand?"

"You might be a bit tired lately, but next time will be better..."

"Damn it, is this seriously all they teach you in Automation?"

Automation = Doing it yourself (*T/N: The Chinese word for automation, zi-dong-hua, literally sounds like "doing it by oneself"*).

Though, come to think of it, how is that not a form of automation?

"Just kidding. But seriously, those who have the heart don't need to be taught; they learn on their own," Jiang Shuyi said. "Qi Chen plays around on TikTok a lot. I'll go talk to her tonight when I get back."

Since they were all in the same college, even if they weren't in the same major, they would still greet each other when they crossed paths, so chatting wouldn't be a problem at all.

"Then you should go talk to her. Who knows, maybe you can actually make something happen."

"Mm."

Jiang Shuyi pulled out her phone.

"What's your TikTok handle? I'll follow you."

Pulling up his TikTok QR code, Jiang Shuyi scanned it.

"‘Can you still wipe an ointment if it goes damp?’ With a name like that, you're practically tailor-made for our External Relations Department."

Chen Yuan glanced at her following list.

"She talks with a childlike innocence."

Chen Yuan frowned. This was more like an External Aid Department.

"Do you want to follow Jin Yechao's TikTok too?"

"Sure."

Jiang Shuyi searched through the list. "This is him: ‘What if I could be a kept man for three days.’"

Confirmed: there wasn't a single normal person in the External Relations Department.

After finishing the follows, the two of them arrived downstairs at Apartment 11, and Jiang Shuyi headed up.

***

Just as Chen Yuan was getting ready to head back to Apartment 3, he happened to run into Fang Youning and Fan Siyu.

"I'll head out first. You two take your time chatting."

Fan Siyu was sharp-witted and slipped away first.

"You just got back?"

Fang Youning nodded gently. "After you guys left, there were still performances from the Foreign Languages and Economics departments. Don't worry, you'll definitely advance; he was just biased against you."

"Actually, it doesn't matter if I advance or not. Participation is what counts. I'll head off first."

"Oh... If you want to know anything about this stuff, you can contact me."

"Mm, bye-bye."

As Chen Yuan walked away, Fang Youning stared at his retreating back and muttered to herself:

You don't even have my contact info, how am I supposed to contact you?!

She hadn't provoked him, and today she had even treated him to coffee—why didn't he want her contact information?

He also seemed reluctant to even speak to her.

Looking a bit dejected, Fang Youning walked toward her dorm.

Entering through the apartment lobby, she saw Fan Siyu waiting for her there.

"Back already? Didn't you two chat a bit longer?"

"There wasn't much to talk about. We just talked about advancing in the competition and then I came back."

"True. Even though Chen Yuan is kind of cute, you're just as popular—you have the capital to be picky."

"Xiao Yu, I want to ask you a question."

"Ask away, what is it?"

"Tell me, can you still wipe an ointment if it goes damp?"

"Huh? What kind of weird question is that?" Fan Siyu muttered, then said, "If it gets damp, it should be fine, right? The medicinal properties are still there, and it's not like it's for treating trauma. I'd say you can still wipe it... Wait a minute, hold on!"

Fan Siyu suddenly looked at Fang Youning with an intensely excited expression.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Where on earth did you hear such a bizarre question?"

"Just asking casually, what's wrong?"

"But that's not a normal question. Did someone hit on you?"

"What does this have to do with someone hitting on me? I was just asking."

"Read that sentence again carefully."

"Can you still wipe an ointment if it goes damp..."

Muttering it to herself once, Fang Youning still didn't notice anything wrong.

It wasn't until the second time that she sensed something amiss, and an intoxicating blush instantly crawled from the roots of her ears up to her cheeks.

She wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. How on earth had she asked such a shaming question!

This Chen Yuan guy was so annoying. Why would he pick a nickname like that?!

So irritating! ! !

"I knew it! Someone definitely used that line to hit on you. Come on, tell me, who's got the nerve to say something like that to flirt with you?"

"No, really, I just saw it somewhere and wanted to ask you. I'm here, I'm heading in."

Fang Youning scurried back to her dorm in defeat, muttering under her breath as she walked: "Chen Yuan is so annoying."