Chapter 141: When Pretend Becomes Reality

So, Xiao Xie began to play the piece with deep emotion, knowing she wanted to hear it—the fairy tale that belonged to them.

In the quiet room, Baby shouted at Xiao Xie in a mischievous tone, “Come help me move!”

Seeing her boyfriend still looking dazed, she shouted again in a coquettish voice, “Come help me move!”

Xiao Xie stared blankly at her as she rolled up her sleeves.

On the bustling highway, Xiao Xie drove ahead while Baby lounged leisurely in the back seat.

In the quiet room, exhausted, Xiao Xie and Baby gasped for breath. Xiao Xie inadvertently glanced at what he shouldn’t, at Baby’s snowy peaks rising and falling with her steady breathing. Baby noticed and glanced at him, sweat streaming down her body from moving.

Wu Bin, caught in the act, turned back awkwardly, seeing Lin Wanyu no longer watching him. He sneaked another shy glance at her heaving chest.

“You cried and told me,
Fairy tales are all lies,
I could never be your prince.
Maybe you don’t understand,
Since you said you loved me,
My sky has been lit with stars.”

Quietly sitting in the room, Baby was lost in the sorrow of a Korean drama, moved to tears and going through pile after pile of tissues.

Still childish, she sobbed, “Lies! How could such things happen in this world?”

Xiao Xie lowered his head, silently watching her, but Baby cried out at him, “What are you looking at!”

Then, silence fell, their eyes met. Baby kissed Xiao Xie deeply, and he responded in kind. In that sweet moment, suddenly a blood-scented fluid stained Xiao Xie’s philtrum. He stared in shock at Baby, who was bleeding from her nose, unable to believe it.

But Baby smiled faintly, and gently wiped away the blood with a tissue.

“I’m willing to become,
The angel you love in a fairy tale,
Spread my arms,
Turn them into wings to protect you.
You must believe,
Believe our story will end
In happiness and joy, like a fairy tale.”

In the hospital, Baby sat quietly in a chair, letting the doctor examine her. Xiao Xie stood silently a short distance away, watching the woman he loved, turmoil raging in his heart. Yet he forced a smile, knowing she didn’t want him to worry too much.

Xiao Xie held Baby’s hand and led her to a silent hall, sitting at the piano to play that familiar song, “Fairy Tale,” for her.

Fairy tales are beautiful, and Baby believed in them, smiling happily. But the fairy tale was not beautiful enough; while awaiting sweetness, illness struck suddenly, her eyes slowly closed, and she collapsed powerlessly to the floor.

Xiao Xie turned and saw his beloved unconscious, hurriedly scooping her up and rushing to the hospital. Breathing, gasping desperately.

In that moment, his gaze was frantic, bewildered, helpless.

Unable to wait for a car, Xiao Xie ran madly, carrying Wanyu toward the hospital.

A drop of fresh blood fell heavily to the ground, fragile and powerless.

In that moment, it seemed the girl’s voice still echoed by his ear, “Will you remember me?”

“For a long time?” she asked bravely.

Her pale voice sounded again, “When you think of me, you must be happy…”

In the hospital, with a heavy heart, Xiao Xie pulled aside the curtain and saw Baby’s X-ray. In that instant, his world collapsed.

On the hospital bed, Baby weakly reached for Xiao Xie, signaling she had something to say. Xiao Xie leaned in, pressing his ear to her lips.

With the last remnants of her breath, Baby spoke her final words to Xiao Xie.

Then, Xiao Xie took a phone from his pocket and placed it in her palm. Turning away, he left.

Baby lay quietly on the bed, listening to her beloved play “Fairy Tale” for her on the phone.

Xiao Xie played with deep emotion; she seemed to feel the scent of her beloved, his warmth, gently nestling against his shoulder as he guarded their fairy tale with music. Their love, a beautiful fairy tale, witnessed by the twinkling stars above. Happiness and joy would be the ending.

When the last note faded, Baby, tears streaming, slowly closed her eyes… “Keep fighting!”

The piano was removed from the stage, Baby was wheeled into the emergency room. The lights went out. No fairy tale, no beauty, and no Baby.

Silence reigned, as if only the girl’s final playful words remained, “When the whole world ignores me, you must not ignore me!”

“Clap clap clap…”

The music video shoot ended, applause erupted around them, and everyone’s eyes were red.

“It’s wonderful! Really great, except the ending is so annoying,” Liu Yifei complained, choking up.

“Were you unable to control your emotions or was it on purpose?” Xiao Xie whispered in Baby’s ear.

Baby lowered her head, said nothing, stomped shyly, then pulled the confused Liu Yifei along as she ran off.

Xiao Xie touched his lips, savoring the sweet, soft feeling from before, laughing quietly. During the music video’s kiss scene, it was supposed to be a camera trick, but Xiao Xie hadn’t expected Baby to be so bold as to make it real.

Because of the camera trick, something blocked the view, so apart from Xiao Xie and Baby, no one else knew the kiss was genuine.

After the two music videos were finished, they were quickly uploaded online. After all, Xiao Xie’s goal wasn’t money, but to earn admiration points.

With the videos uploaded, Xiao Xie once again topped the trending charts. His fans were the first to learn about the new music video.

“God Xiao is so annoying, why make it so touching? I cried.”

“Anything produced by God Xiao is guaranteed to be excellent.”

“Both songs are great, but why is the ending of ‘Fairy Tale’ a tragedy? God Xiao, come out, I promise not to hit you!”

“Now, the top ten spots on every major music chart are all God Xiao’s songs. Living in the same era as him is tragic for other singers. God Xiao, all I want to say is: well done!”

…

On the sofa in Apartment 3601, Xiao Xie sent Baby a message: “What are you doing?”

After the real kiss during the “Fairy Tale” music video shoot, their relationship had made breakthrough progress. Though not officially together, it differed little from boyfriend and girlfriend.

“Filming! You think everyone can be as carefree as you?” A few minutes later, Baby replied, her message full of complaints. When Xiao Xie was filming, the crew prioritized his scenes, so once he finished, he didn’t need to stay on set. But Baby and the others still had scenes to shoot.

Xiao Xie smiled knowingly, picturing Baby pouting as she complained. He teased, “Should I have them cut your remaining scenes?”

“You dare!” Baby instantly replied, followed by an angry GIF.

“Alright, I won’t tease you. Next time you’ll be the female lead!” Xiao Xie replied with a smile. He hadn’t expected to end up as Baby’s boyfriend, so he had only cast her as the second female lead, Lin Yue Ru.

“That’s more like it. I have to go, filming now, bye.” On set, Baby smiled sweetly at Xiao Xie’s message, quickly replied, then ran off to film as the director called.

After reading her reply, Xiao Xie chuckled and put away his phone.

Then he saw Zhan Bo following Hu Yifei, saying, “Sis! Have you ever felt like there’s someone just like you, but always a little ahead?”

To emphasize, Zhan Bo pinched his fingers together to show “just a little ahead.”

Zeng Xiaoxian shamelessly chimed in, “I feel that way—Jackie Chan and Wu Yan Zhu!”

“Ha, Teacher Zeng, you’ve once again pushed the limits of shamelessness,” Xiao Xie said disdainfully.

“Thanks for the compliment!” Zeng Xiaoxian replied proudly. He had taken shamelessness as a badge of honor—the saying “the shameless are invincible” was truly his mantra.

Xiao Xie rolled his eyes at Zeng Xiaoxian, then turned to Zhan Bo, “Zhan Bo, someone just like you? I thought you were one of a kind. Where did he crawl out from? Maybe he’s your long-lost brother!”

“I have a colleague named Zhao Wuliang! He’s always competing with me! He’s driving me crazy!” Zhan Bo said, exasperated.

“Competing with you? Clearly this guy’s got problems! Who in their right mind would compete with you?” Xiao Xie teased.