Chapter 50 We're not going to have a male sister-in-law, are we...?

As soon as the fan spoke, the entire underground parking garage fell silent.

Fang Xingu's ears twitched slightly, but he didn't dare to reply. Fortunately, the elevator arrived at that moment, and Zhou Xiaoyou slapped Fang Xingu into the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Zhou Xiaoyou looked pained: "Why did you even try to talk to them? When faced with questions you can't answer, even if you don't say anything, it's like you're trying to hide something."

Fang Xingu rubbed his burning ears: "Anyway, since I haven't given a direct response, no one can definitively say that this matter is true."

Zhou Xiaoyou was both amused and exasperated: "Your laughter just now says a lot... No, how could you laugh in that situation!"

Fang Xin retorted, "But it really is hilarious."

“…You should get some professional training,” Zhou Xiaoyou muttered. “I’m going to ask Brother Qi to enroll you in an acting improvement class.”

Fang Xingu immediately felt overwhelmed: "I'm a singer, I don't act, why should I improve my acting skills?"

"It's an extra option, just in case you change your mind later. It can also be used when shooting music videos in the future, so you won't be at a loss when you encounter this situation again and have to pretend to get by!"

Fang Xin closed his eyes faintly, feeling as if he were dying.

Meanwhile, Fang Xingu's fans, who remained in the underground parking garage, looked at each other in bewilderment. Some of them, agitated, questioned the girl who had just spoken: "Can't you CP fans have some self-awareness? How dare you be so shameless as to stick your faces together offline!"

The girl who was criticized also felt wronged: "Who said I'm a CP fan? I just suddenly thought of it and said it."

Several close fans privately discussed: "But Xin Gu didn't deny it just now, could it be true?"

"...Holy crap, are we going to have a male sister-in-law?"

One of the colleagues countered, "But Xin Gu didn't answer at all. Could it be that he was too lazy to answer such a pointless question?"

While the individual fans argued, several administrators from Fang Xin Gu's official fan club fell silent.

The president pulled a few other companions outside, saying, "I have a feeling something's not right."

"Did you guys just see that Xin Gu's ears seem to turn red...?"

The president had a bad feeling. She sighed and said, "I could tell from Chengfeng's attitude after the big fight between us and Jing Yitong's family. He didn't want things to get too ugly between us and the Jing family. I guess the two of them really have a personal relationship."

Although no one knows the exact relationship between Fang Xingu and Jing Yitong, the astute members of the fan club have already sensed that something is amiss.

Another manager shook his head helplessly: "Once a child grows up, he's no longer under his mother's control... What can we do? Let's go back and set the tone in the fandom, and give the other young fans a heads-up."

.

Aside from a minor mishap at the beginning of the rehearsal when interacting with fans, everything else went very smoothly that day. Fang Xingu tried on his makeup and clothes, and went through the program again. His performance was after 11:30 p.m., and he could start preparing for the New Year's Eve countdown almost after he finished singing.

This smooth process continued until the official live broadcast on the 31st.

This year's New Year's Eve gala of Beijing TV will be held in Beijing. In this cold season, the venue was naturally chosen to be indoors.

With limited space in the indoor venue, the number of audience members was nowhere near the size of Nebula's previous concerts. Therefore, Fang Xin felt no nervousness at all when he stepped onto such a stage.

The person who performed before him was Lu Changning. While waiting backstage, he listened intently to Lu Changning's song, his expression as serious as a teacher grading a student's homework, as if he wanted to see if Lu Changning had properly digested his opinions and corrected the problems one by one.

Fortunately, Lu Changning is quick-witted and learns things fast. He has also been taught by Fang Xingu over the past few years and has indeed revised Fang Xingu's previous suggestions to a great extent.

After Lu Changning finished singing two songs, the stage lighting and set design changed, but the host did not ask Lu Changning to leave immediately. Instead, the host walked over to Lu Changning and chatted with him, saying, "Let's thank Changning again for the wonderful performance!"

This segment was already in the script and was mainly intended to introduce Fang Xin's story later.

Lu Changning took a few breaths before saying, "I should thank Beijing TV for arranging my performance time so cleverly. Luckily, I wasn't asked to sing after the next guest, otherwise I'm afraid I would have become the comparison group."

The host made an exaggerated and surprised expression: "Which guest deserves such praise from you? I think you sang very well."

Lu Changning smiled and shook his head: "During the rehearsal, this guest gave me some pointers, which benefited me a lot and enabled me to perform like this today."

The host pretended to ponder, "Who could it be? It's so hard to guess!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he and Lu Changning exchanged a glance and then both laughed. Lu Changning stretched out his hand to the side: "Next, please welcome my former teammate, Fang Xingu."

Suddenly, excited screams erupted from below the stage as fans called out Fang Xingu's name. The director then switched the camera to Fang Xingu on the other side of the stage.

Fang Xingu waved his hand and interacted with Lu Changning and the host: "Are you trying to flatter me to death?"

Lu Changning: "There's no doubt that you are such a great figure in our hearts."

Fang Xin Gu: ...

Lu Changning had never said this during rehearsals, but fortunately it wasn't too outrageous. Fang Xingu was only slightly taken aback before quickly realizing what was happening. He wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and said, "The pressure is getting bigger."

The host chuckled a few times, then said, "Alright, Xin Gu, the stage is now yours. Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Fang Xin Gu to bring us 'Echo' and 'Silence Has a Voice'!"

Fang Xin raised the microphone and stood on the stage under the spotlight, delivering another perfect performance. The only thing that he felt was a little shortcoming was that, two days later, he still couldn't recapture the feeling he had when singing "Silence Has a Voice" on the Affogato.

Although he tried very hard to recreate the emotions he felt at that time, he still couldn't completely replicate that bitter and aggrieved feeling.

Fang Xingu couldn't help but sigh, "Indeed, sometimes people just can't empathize with their past selves."

Although Fang Xin Gu himself felt that his performance was not perfect, it was not the case for the audience in the audience and in front of the TV. For them, this was definitely the biggest surprise among the New Year's Eve galas of major TV stations this year - how could it be so good and so moving!

As soon as Fang Xingu finished singing and left the stage, screen recordings of "Silence Has a Voice" filled the major social media and short video platforms.

"Holy crap, nobody told me Fang Xingu sang so well... Master Fang is a miracle worker, his singing is so good I want to live."

"Who knows? My brother was playing games on the side, but as soon as Fang Xingu's singing started, he became like a maniac, looking up and listening to both songs intently. Then he died miserably in the game and got reported for AFK [laughing and crying emoji]"

"To be honest, Fang Xin single-handedly proved that Beijing TV's sound equipment isn't bad, so those other people who were in those car crash scenes should probably look for their own faults [angry]"

"But the sound equipment on Beijing TV is really terrible. I was at the gala, and as soon as Fang Xingu finished singing, I couldn't help but go online to search for the screen recording to listen to it again, but it was quite different from what I heard live..."

"I recorded the whole thing live. If you want to listen, you can go to my homepage!"

"'Beyond the silence you hear is my monologue repeated a thousand times'—it evokes such a strong feeling of unrequited love... It reminds me of when I had a crush on someone and wanted to confess but didn't dare. I could only repeat 'I love you' to myself over and over again [crying]"

"The song 'Silence Has a Voice' was sung, written, composed, and arranged entirely by Fang Xingu himself! What a great singer-songwriter!"

"With a new song, can a new album be far behind? Waaaaah!"

Meanwhile, at the gala, the last program before midnight, the children's choir, was coming to an end. Fang Xingu had no time to pay attention to the online comments. He quickly touched up his makeup and returned to the stage to prepare to countdown to the new year with the entire audience.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, time keeps moving forward.

As the host began his closing remarks, Fang Xin Gu, who was standing very close to the center position, couldn't help but look back on the past year.

This must have been the most dramatic year of his life. In the first half of the year, he graduated from school with some difficulty, and soon learned that Jing Yitong was going to get married. Then Nebula disbanded. Under the dual pressure of physical and mental stress, he fell seriously ill and decided to go on a variety show to put an end to his unrequited love. As a result, Jing Yitong secretly followed him and also went on the variety show.

Most importantly, during his most painful time, he finally learned that the person Jing Yitong was going to marry was himself.

Thinking of this, Fang Xingu couldn't help but smile.

Meanwhile, the host was already conducting the final New Year's countdown.

"Nine, eight, seven..."

What is Jing Yitong doing now?

"Six, five, four..."

He's not working today, he should be at home.

"Three, two, one! Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

Other artists gave Fang Xingu a polite light hug, but Fang Xingu was distracted while interacting with him. He was thinking about whether Jing Yitong was asleep, and if he wasn't, whether he would be watching the live broadcast of the New Year's Eve gala at home.

As Fang Xingu was thinking, the camera happened to pan to him, and he waved to the camera: "Happy New Year and all the best to everyone."

This statement was not only addressed to all the viewers, but also to Jing Yitong.

Fang Xingu thought that when he got home, he would definitely tell Jing Yitong again in person that they hadn't spent New Year's Eve together for too long. In previous years, he could only send Jing Yitong a perfunctory New Year's greeting on WeChat. This year, he could finally say it openly in front of Jing Yitong.

After finally getting through the party, Fang Xingu was eager to go home. Without even removing his makeup or changing his clothes, he called Zhou Xiaoyou and hurriedly headed to the garage.

Zhou Xiaoyou didn't expect him to be in such a hurry, so he quickly contacted Qi Qiu to prepare a car. Fortunately, Qi Qiu replied "OK" immediately.

It was still in that familiar pick-up and drop-off area. This time, both sides of the road were already crowded with fans who had come after hearing about it. Looking around, the entire parking garage seemed to be packed with people. As soon as Fang Xingu was seen, the crowd stirred again: "Happy New Year, Xingu!"

Fang Xingu glanced at the nanny van that was already parked in front of him and unconsciously quickened his pace. He nodded and responded to his fans in a low voice. Because he was in a good mood, he even spoke faster than usual: "Happy New Year, go home early and be careful."

"Okay!"

The door of the van opened in front of Fang Xingu. Fang Xingu lowered his head and stepped into the van, only to see the driver in the front seat suddenly turn around and look at him.

The driver was wearing a mask, revealing a pair of deep-set eyes. He was clearly not Qi Qiu. Fang Xin instinctively thought he had gotten into the wrong car, but looking at the interior, it was indeed the van he often rode in. So who was this driver...?

Fang Xingu stared blankly at the other person, then suddenly realized who the driver was—it was Jing Yitong!

Fang Xingu's eyes widened in surprise. He was about to ask in alarm, "What are you doing here?" But then he remembered that there were still fans crowding around behind him, so he quickly climbed onto the car. Only after the car door closed, shutting out all the fans, did he exclaim in delight, "What are you doing here!"

A little over an hour ago, Jing Yitong was watching the Beijing TV New Year's Eve Gala live at home, feeling bored. Fang Xin had told him in advance that he wouldn't need to pick him up from get off work anymore, so Jing Yitong had no choice but to stay at home obediently.

However, the New Year's Eve party before Fang Xingu's performance was really boring. Jing Yitong started to feel sleepy after watching for a while. He picked up his phone and scrolled through it, and was very disappointed to see that someone had posted a photo of Fang Xingu and Lu Changning backstage, which was prominently displayed on the trending topics.

Jing Yitong was instantly wide awake. Feeling a bit annoyed by the ever-present Lu Changning, he pondered for a while and decided not to keep his promise to Fang Xingu anymore. He grabbed his car keys and drove to the party venue.

The roads in Beijing were much clearer at night, and Jing Yitong arrived at the venue in just over half an hour. Since he had added Qi Qiu on WeChat before, he contacted Qi Qiu directly and got into Fang Xingu's nanny car in a secluded corner, temporarily acting as the driver, determined to give Fang Xingu a surprise.

Jing Yitong: "I've come to pick you up and take you home for the New Year."

Fang Xingu was still a little dazed: "You just got through like that? You're too bold."

Jing Yitong laughed and said, "Don't worry, I've been sitting in the driver's seat for half an hour and no one has recognized me."

Indeed, who would have thought that such a big name as Jing Yitong would appear here not to attend the party, but to be a driver for other artists?

Therefore, Fang Xin was only slightly surprised and did not blame Jing Yitong for appearing there without saying a word. He quickly showed a happy expression and said the blessing hidden in his heart: "Brother, Happy New Year, I wish you all your wishes come true in the new year."

Jing Yitong smiled and agreed, then added a blessing, but in her heart she was thinking, "Whether my wish will come true or not depends on you."

The two of them started chatting as if no one else was around, making Qi Qiu and Zhou Xiaoyou, who were also in the car, extremely embarrassed: Could these two people not treat them like human beings?

Fortunately, Jing Yitong still had some conscience. He glanced at Zhou Xiaoyou in the rearview mirror and said, "I'll drive the van next to my car later. Xin Gu and I will switch cars to go home. Qi Ge, you and Xiaoyou can just drive the van."

Qi Qiu chuckled coldly, "Fine."

So Fang Xingu and Jing Yitong drove their Maybach back home. Fang Xingu thought he should go to bed after washing up, since he had already said what he wanted to say to Jing Yitong and had a very fulfilling New Year's Eve. But as soon as he entered the house, he smelled the aroma of food.

He stood in the entryway and looked towards the dining table. He immediately saw that the table was full of dishes, and this time it was obviously not takeout, but rather dishes made by Jing Yitong himself.

Before Fang Xingu could speak, Jing Yitong said from behind him, "You must be tired and hungry after working all night. I had nothing to do at home, so I cooked a table full of dishes for you to enjoy when you get back. The placemat is on and heated, so it shouldn't be cold yet. After you finish eating, take a shower and then get some rest."

Fang Xingu looked at Jing Yitong with bright eyes. In that instant, he had an impulse to go forward and hug Jing Yitong, but he restrained himself in the end.

Hugging was a bit too much. Jing Yitong only wanted to marry him, and hadn't said she liked him. Fang Xingu felt he shouldn't have done something so inappropriate.

Perhaps people are just like that, insatiable. Before, Fang Xin only hated that he wasn't the one who was to be married to Jing Yitong. Now that he knows that Jing Yitong is indeed going to marry him, he also hopes that Jing Yitong will like him and that he can enjoy Jing Yitong's unique care and attention.

However, in such a wonderful atmosphere today, Fang Xin Gu didn't want to let such unreasonable thoughts take over his mind. He simply picked up his phone and started snapping pictures of the food on the table.

Jing Yitong, standing to the side, chuckled and said, "Are you going to use a secondary account again this time?"

Fang Xingu shook his finger: "This time I'll post the big one."

A few minutes later, Fang Xin's fans noticed that his Weibo account had been updated.

Fang Xin Gu: Flash home and starting to eat late-night snack. Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous new year! [Photo]

One reply was silently clicked: "...Baby, do you have a home in Beijing? Come home [tears] Tell me, which home are you going back to?"

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Author's Note: Back to the nest of love [doge head with rose in hand]