READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 57
Chapter 57 Unexpected Duet: The Boss, the Song, and the Surprise
“Mr. Lu, what kind of songs do you sing?”
“Children’s songs.”
“Huh?”
Lu Qin’s honest answer left Li Xue silent for three seconds. Meanwhile, in the audience, laughter erupted.
“Children’s songs? Haha! Is this handsome guy here to be funny?”
“Haha! This is hilarious!”
“Isn’t that Boss Lu?”
“Wow! It really is Boss Lu!”
“Wait, Boss Lu can’t sing?”
“Turns out, the universe is fair. Boss Lu might be great at cooking, but singing? Not so much!”
“Come on, Boss Lu! You got this!”
“Children’s songs it is, let’s hear it!”
…
Among the crowd, Fang Ya held up her phone, recording Lu Qin as he took the stage. Earlier, she had been at the end of the line and couldn’t get the food she wanted. So, she leveraged her status as Lu Xiyao’s godmother to ask Lu Qin for a special favor. But before she knew it, Lu Qin had vanished, leaving only his little food cart parked on the side of the road. It turned out he had gone to watch the music festival—and even ended up on stage.
Li Xue asked again seriously, “Mr. Lu, are you sure you don’t know any other songs?”
“Nope, really don’t.”
“Alright then, which children’s song can you sing?”
“How about ‘Little Jumping Frog’?”
“Band, can you do ‘Little Jumping Frog’?”
The pianist backstage gave an OK sign. And so, the impromptu finale of the Jiangcheng Rainbow Plaza music festival concluded with a children’s song.
� “The pond of happiness is planted, dreams turn into an ocean!”
� “Big eyes, wide mouth, singing just as loud!”
� “Give me a pair of little wings, and I can fly to the sun!”
� “I believe miracles are right here!”
� “La la la la la~”
� “La la la la la~”
� “La la la la~”
Li Xue and Lu Qin sang line by line together. At first, everyone thought it was just a funny act. But after a couple of lines, they realized the children’s song was surprisingly pleasant, refreshing in its simplicity. Li Xue’s voice was lively and charming, while Lu Qin’s singing was gentle and relaxed. The two harmonized quite well.
After the song ended, the audience erupted in applause, with some even shouting for an encore. Lu Qin shook hands with Li Xue, returned the microphone, and stepped off the stage. The music festival wrapped up for the day, and the host came on to deliver closing remarks as the audience began to disperse.
Backstage, Lu Qin was taken to a rest area by Amy. Li Xue had changed into a beige casual outfit, with her makeup still on.
“Mr. Lu, you actually sing pretty well.”
“Thank you,” Lu Qin responded with a hint of resignation. “Miss Li Xue, did you call me up on purpose?”
Lu Qin wasn’t naïve—he could tell from her expression that Li Xue knew who he was. She and her manager must have recognized him from his popular food stall.
Li Xue blinked her eyes and smiled sweetly.
“I heard your daughter is a fan of mine?”
“Yep.”
“Autographs and photos are no problem, but Boss Lu, you’ve got to satisfy our stomachs too.”
Li Xue touched her belly.
“Singing is hard work, you know, and now I’m starving.”
Given how delicious Lu Qin’s food was, even Amy didn’t dare mention dieting. After finishing work, all she wanted was to enjoy a good meal.
“Boss Lu, ride in our van with us to pick up your daughter. Tonight’s dinner is on you.”
“I’ll take my food cart. You guys can just follow behind me.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
…
“Boss, I’ve got three orders of fried rice noodles, iced mung bean soup, two boxes of crystal cakes, one serving of twice-cooked pork, and one chicken and tofu dish! All bought and ready!”
Song Xuanxuan boasted proudly about his heroic effort.
“Boss, you wouldn’t believe the crowd—it was a sea of people! The drums were pounding, and my sneakers almost got trampled! It took all my strength to buy these…”
Shen Muyan, with a calm expression, said, “Not bad. I’ll allow you to eat with us.”
Song Xuanxuan thought to himself, After all that hard work, if you didn’t let me eat, I’d be ready to commit seppuku right here!
He laid out the food on the coffee table, waiting for Shen Muyan to finish organizing her work before they could dig in. At that moment…
The office door was knocked on.
Song Xuanxuan went to open it and found her boss’s close friend standing outside.
“Fang Ya, sis!”
Song Xuanxuan greeted sweetly.
“Xuanxuan, you little cutie!” Fang Ya pinched her cheek playfully as she walked in. She took out her phone and headed straight to Shen Muyan’s desk.
“Hey, darling, let me show you something interesting…”
Out of the corner of her eye, Fang Ya noticed the spread of food on the coffee table.
“Huh? How did this happen?”
“When did you get all of this?” Fang Ya was practically drooling.
“Fang Ya, sis, I bought it,” Song Xuanxuan said and pointed to herself proudly.
“You went to Tianhong Plaza too?”
Song Xuanxuan was momentarily confused. “Too?”
Fang Ya pulled out her phone and showed photos of the long line she had taken earlier. It was quite a coincidence. Song Xuanxuan also opened the same photos on her phone. It turned out they had both lined up at Lu Qin’s food stall, but Song Xuanxuan had arrived 10 minutes earlier, so she managed to get her food while Fang Ya left empty-handed.
“Great! Let’s eat together!”
“Uh… we have to wait for the boss.”
“No need to wait for her. She’s a workaholic, skipping meals is her normal routine.”
Just as she finished speaking, Shen Muyan closed her folder and walked over to the sofa.
“Not waiting for me? Do you still want to mooch off my food?”
Shen Muyan glanced at Fang Ya.
“We must wait for CEO Shen!”
Fang Ya and Song Xuanxuan quickly scurried over to sit down.
Song Xuanxuan divided up the three orders of fried noodles and mung bean soup, then brought out three small bowls to share the chicken tofu dish. The twice-cooked pork was placed in the center for everyone to share.
“This twice-cooked pork smells amazing! I’ve never had it before!”
“So, this is chicken tofu? I’m curious about the taste!”
Fang Ya was the first to pick up her chopsticks and dig in. Song Xuanxuan waited for Shen Muyan to take a bite before she started eating as well. Though it was three women, their eating speed was anything but slow.
“Shen Muyan, your Lu Qin’s cooking skills are better than a five-star chef’s!”
Shen Muyan chewed on the twice-cooked pork with a stoic expression, ignoring Fang Ya. But at the mention of ‘your Lu Qin’, a faint blush spread across her fair cheeks.
Song Xuanxuan looked up, puzzled, as if she had stumbled upon some critical information. Fang Ya quickly backpedaled.
“Oops, my bad! I forgot you two are already divorced. Sorry!”
Song Xuanxuan was shocked.
Wait, Lu Boss is the boss’s ex-husband! Oh my God!
Only Fang Ya could get away with saying something like that in front of Shen Muyan. Shen Muyan shot Fang Ya a glare.
“Will some fried noodles shut you up?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
Fang Ya, not wanting to push her luck, focused on eating. The three of them polished off the entire spread, leaving not even the garlic shoots from the twice-cooked pork behind. The plates were completely cleared!
Fang Ya and Song Xuanxuan patted their satisfied bellies. Shen Muyan wiped her mouth with a napkin. She didn’t say anything, but her expression clearly showed that she thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Grinning slyly, Fang Ya leaned closer and pulled out her phone, opening up a video.
On the screen, Shen Muyan saw Lu Qin on stage, singing a duet with a young woman. But the strange part? The song they were singing was… a children’s song.