My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 122

Lai Jingming grumbled under his breath and pulled out his phone to begin his usual morning scroll.

Ever since Gu Zhinan’s identity had been exposed, Lai had made a habit of staying up-to-date with trending news.

One swipe through Weibo. Boom! When he saw the top trending headline of the day, his eyes widened in shock! 

“Zhinan!!” He burst into the bathroom. Gu Zhinan was brushing his teeth, head hung low. Turning to see the chubby guy barging in, he responded with a backward kick. “Get lost!”

“I’m serious, you’re trending! Front page!”

“So?” Gu Zhinan spit out his mouthwash and asked nonchalantly.

Hot searches? Big deal.

“Wha?” Lai was baffled by how calm he was. His own excitement fizzled like a popped balloon. But then it hit him, this wasn’t Gu Zhinan’s first time trending this month… “Mysterious singer stuns live bar with heartbreaking love song! Don’t you want to at least check it out?”

Lai wasn’t ready to give up. He couldn’t believe Gu Zhinan wouldn’t care!

“I’ve got my own phone,” Gu Zhinan replied coolly, walking out.

Back at the bed, he picked up his phone. A message from his landlord? Sent at 9:30 AM, he’d still been dead asleep by then. He opened it.

“How much did you drink?”

Shit! A chill ran down Gu Zhinan’s spine. Could she smell the alcohol through the screen?

“Just a little. I never lie.”

He paused, then decided to tell the truth. More or less.

After replying, he opened Weibo. As expected, the top trending post was a video of him performing at the music bar.

That song, “Kiss Too Real,” had been posted from multiple angles. He hadn’t expected so many recordings. And they looked good too. Shame his voice had been hoarse.

His singing voice was quite different from how he spoke, and with himself wrapped up tight, no one had recognized him. Even from the back, he looked cool.

Satisfied, Gu Zhinan nodded approvingly.

Ding.

A message from the landlord. He opened it immediately, but the content left him frozen. “Nice singing. Your voice sounded hoarse.”

What the?! Gu Zhinan panicked. How does she know?!

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Landlord. Totally lost here.”

Xia An’ge, on her way back to Haipu, frowned as she read that message. Gu Brute is trying to play dumb. She went to Weibo, found the music bar’s surveillance video, and forwarded it to Gu Zhinan via WeChat with no comment.

She waited. Let’s see how he wriggles out of this one.

“….” Gu Zhinan fell into a ten-minute trance. Lai Jingming considered asking what was wrong but was scared off by a single look.

“Hw d’d u no???”

“???” Xia An’ge had no idea what Gu Zhinan was trying to say. She frowned again.

“How did you know it was me?” Gu Zhinan sent another message. He had been so careful! And it’s not like voices couldn’t be altered a bit. He did go hoarse for this performance!

Xia An’ge read that and mentally confirmed the final 20%, it was him. Still trying to hide it? She’d heard him sing live twice before. She had that voice memorized.

Hmph! Her lips curled into a smile. Even Ruan Ying could sense that Xia An’ge was in an especially good mood today. Indeed, two days back in her cozy apartment had lifted her spirits long-term.

“Just a guess.” She replied casually. “Don’t forget to update Sword and Fairy.” Then, after a pause, she added, “Li Xiaoyao is taking the day off today.”

Gu Zhinan, after sending the message, turned and kicked Lai Jingming.

No updates today, mission failed!

“I don’t even know what happened!” Lai muttered, full of grievance. “I was just standing there and BAM! You kick me!”

Gu Zhinan logged into the Chinese Lit.Net. Web app and checked his novel’s comment section. The readers had already caught on, it was past noon, and still no update.

But no one had seen the iconic phrase yet, “Taking a day off. Mwah mwah.” They still had hope.

“Don’t panic! He hasn’t posted the day-off notice yet. Maybe he’s working on something big!”

“Can I trust you on that?”

“Stay calm! Fellow cultivators, steady your Dao hearts!”

Gu Zhinan winced with guilt and trembling fingers tapped into the chapter preview box. He slowly typed three characters, “么么哒 (Mwah mwah).” Send.

Then he bolted from the app like it was on fire! As a man who never stockpiled chapters, he had perfected this exact routine. His comment section exploded.

“???”

“Seriously?? Just ‘mwah mwah’ now? Not even pretending to take a day off?”

“Whoever said he was prepping a big release, come here and face my blade!”

“Straight-up trash! One day I will slay you with my own hands!”

“Where’s the oxygen?! My roommate just fainted from shock that there’s no new chapter!”

The comments blew up with excitement. They hadn’t seen “Taking a day off. Mwah mwah” in a while. Just when it seemed like the phrase was fading into history, bam! It was back.

This time, it was only three lonely characters. 么么哒 (Mwah mwah.)

Readers debated passionately. Then, someone randomly typed.

“No matter how I think about it…”

Followed instantly by replies.

“…I still find it fake?”

“Even after all this time together?”

“You call it suffering?”

“HAHAHA so fitting!”

“Wait, what’s going on? I feel left behind!”

“Check Weibo, thank you. Today’s top story, Mysterious singer in Hangzhou singing a heartbreaking love song!”

“On it! Save me a verse!”

Gu Zhinan had no idea his comment section had become a live karaoke thread for “Kiss Too Real.” Readers seemed to have found joy in this new form of engagement, just as intense as when they were actually discussing plot.

Because no matter how upset they were with his “goose-ing” (skipping updates), he’d already skipped. All they could do was smile through the pain.

After closing the author’s backend, Gu Zhinan didn’t dare look back at the comment section. Lai Jingming said he was heading out to drive back to the old studio. It was his only place to stay now, with Lan Fang and Lu Gao Chi having jumped ship to Nation’s Star Entertainment and gone off to Hengdian.

The only thing left was that rundown building on the outskirts.

“What’s next for you?” Gu Zhinan asked softly, watching the city pass through the window.

Lai Jingming looked lost too. He gripped the wheel tightly, then suddenly relaxed. Just a few days ago, he had been dreaming of becoming the next rising star of the director world.

Now, he felt like a stray dog.

“I’ll find a crew to join, earn some money, and build up my experience. I’m still gonna make movies, I’m not giving up.” He glanced at Gu Zhinan with a grin. “One day, I’ll buy you a 1,000-square-meter house!”

“HAHAHAHA!” Gu Zhinan laughed loudly. “Pretty confident in your directing talent, huh?”

Lai was stunned by the question but chuckled slowly. Despite his round face, there was burning confidence in his eyes. “For our class at Beijing Film’s directing department, if I say someone’s trash, they are trash!”

That was Lai Jingming’s confidence.

It was also why Lan Fang and Lu Gao Chi had used such underhanded tactics to try to win him over. He was chubby. He was broke. But ever since stepping into Beijing Film Academy, he had always been the shiniest star in the directing department.