Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss

Chapter 1020: Chapter 993: Devotion and Perseverance

”Is it really okay?” The prison guard was thrilled.

Yu Mingxi wasn’t someone an ordinary place could easily invite.

”It’s fine, I’ve gone to other prisons to perform in variety shows before.”

Inviting cultural troupes to perform in prisons was a form of educational aid; it happened from time to time, just that Yu Mingxi rarely took part.

”Then I’ll go apply and give it a try!”

The application of course went through smoothly; a big star willing to volunteer for such educational aid was naturally a good thing.

Yu Mingxi chose a bright, uplifting song, very suitable to sing in a place like this.

”Start Over.”

Her vocal range was very wide; singing this posed no problem.

This backing track was a standard one, used in almost every variety show; this time was no exception.

But just as Yu Mingxi was about to go on stage, an accident suddenly happened.

She discovered that she couldn’t even speak!

And at this moment, the host had already gone on stage to announce her. As soon as the name ”Shu Xi” was spoken, it instantly caused a commotion; everyone knew this was a famous big star.

Fortunately the host’s filler talk was quite long, giving Yu Mingxi time to prepare. She hurriedly waved her hand at Hai Zhao, who was already scared stiff, signaling him to quickly call Qian.

She understood very clearly in her heart, but her voice just wouldn’t come out. This wasn’t a problem with her throat; it was definitely psychological!

”Qian, help! Xiaoxi suddenly can’t talk!” Hai Zhao went straight to the point.

”What? Say that again, what exactly happened?”

It sounded noisy over on Qian’s side, as if she was in the middle of dealing with something. She found a quiet spot, and after hearing Hai Zhao out, Qian understood.

This was pressure building up too much, emotions too tangled, suddenly hitting a critical point and bursting.

”Don’t panic yet. It looks serious but it’s actually simple. After the performance, bring her to me. I can sort it out in one session.”

”How can I not panic? Her voice is half her life. If anything goes even slightly wrong, what is she supposed to do! I’m taking her back right now!” Hai Zhao wished he could grow wings and fly back.

He knew Yu Mingxi had brought him to meet that man who could make her sing and cry at the same time. He’d already mentally prepared a whole bucket of jealousy to drown himself in, but among all those preparations, absolutely none included watching her lose her voice and be unable to speak!

”You’re the one who calls me a goddess, and if the goddess says it’s fine, then it’s fine! I once treated someone who was paralyzed purely from psychological reasons; one session and he could stand. This really is nothing in comparison. Don’t be afraid, just bring her back.”

Qian spoke very lightly; in her field, this kind of psychological issue really wasn’t that difficult.

Hai Zhao trusted Qian, but he couldn’t relax about Yu Mingxi. He grabbed her, wanting to leave immediately and rush back to find Qian!

By now they could already hear the host announcing on stage. Yu Mingxi tugged on Hai Zhao’s sleeve, shook her head at him, and gestured toward the stage.

She was a professional singer, not some gossip-mongering star who hyped her private life to climb up.

A singer should have a singer’s professionalism. This was her stage, and also her battlefield.

In a place like this, she wanted to use her voice to awaken the conscience that hadn’t yet been extinguished in these people, to help them return to society as soon as possible.

She had already promised to go on stage. Even if she couldn’t sing, she had to give everyone an explanation. Even if many in the audience had committed crimes, as long as they were sitting under the stage, they were an audience—an audience worthy of respect.

Her voice had a problem; even if she ended up just bowing and apologizing before leaving, she couldn’t slip away without a word—that would be the same as deserting the battlefield.

Hai Zhao’s heart ached for her, but at this point they were already riding a tiger and couldn’t get off. As the two walked toward the stage, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He bent over to her ear and whispered his plan. Yu Mingxi stared at him in surprise—this could work?

”We don’t have the luxury to overthink it. Let’s do this first. Anyway, what they like is you as a person. You standing there is better than you leaving early. When we’re done singing, I’ll explain everything to them!”

Yu Mingxi was still hesitating, but Hai Zhao had already taken her hand and gone up to the front of the stage with her.

Together, on three!

This meant the two of them were exposed together; there was no way back!

”Next, we’ll give the stage to Shu Xi, and ask her to bring us this inspirational song, ’Start Over’!”

In fact, the host was also a little flustered, seeing a big star up close like this—who was that man next to the big star?

Uh, maybe he’d just been locked up too long and fallen out of touch with the outside world, so now there were big stars he didn’t recognize? This host was actually a prisoner acting as a guest host!

The host wasn’t the only one thinking this; many in the audience were as well. Just who was this man?

Some of them were already completely disconnected from society and had no idea who he was; they only thought that he looked pretty handsome.

Right now all of Xiaoxi’s thoughts were on Hai Zhao. She was worried whether Hai Zhao’s idea—that he would sing while she danced alongside—would pass muster, and even more worried that he would mess up. Hai Zhao could sing okay, but when it came to high notes, he just couldn’t hit them—just couldn’t!

Just imagining him cracking on a high note in front of so many people and being yelled at to ”get off the stage, get off the stage” made her break out in a cold sweat. Why did this damned voice have to fail her at a time like this?

Because she was so worried about Hai Zhao, she didn’t even have time to look for Sun Xia. With so many people below the stage, all with the same haircut and the same clothes, who could tell who was who!

There was no turning back now; Hai Zhao had already started singing!

His voice was actually very pleasant; aside from not being able to hit high notes, there wasn’t much wrong. The first few lines were okay. Just as Hai Zhao had predicted, everyone below stared at the big star they’d only ever seen on TV, and no one paid attention to the singing. But the chorus was coming up, and Hai Zhao took a deep breath.

For his Xiaoxi, he was going all in!

”As long as the heart lives! The dream lives on!”

That was absolutely him forcing it out with a busted kettle of a voice. Before ”between heaven and earth” even came out, some people could already hear something off.

This was supposed to be a pop star, so why did he sound like them humming off-key in the showers? The high notes weren’t there at all—was the speaker broken?!

Seeing that Hai Zhao was about to embarrass himself again on the next line, and Hai Zhao himself was ready to just shout to the end regardless of how humiliating it might be, someone beat him to it!

”Between heaven and earth, true love still remains! Win or lose, life is bold and bright, it’s nothing but starting over again!”

Yu Mingxi’s clear, beautiful voice came pouring out of the speakers, and the audience instantly exploded!

The contrast was like when you were singing karaoke and suddenly the original vocal track was turned on for comparison. Her voice was so much higher, so much better than Hai Zhao’s, it instantly ignited the whole hall.

Hai Zhao looked at her, thrilled. Xiaoxi nodded at him with the mic in hand. Yes, at the critical moment, her voice was back.

Seeing him working so hard, it was as if all the knots in her heart suddenly no longer mattered.

Love might be the kind where you drink and sing your heart out in the red dust, caring nothing for who’s who tomorrow; or it might be a quiet, steady stream, watching the clouds roll and the wind blow. In truth, the form it takes doesn’t matter. What matters is that he can step up when she needs him.

It was his persistence and devotion in coming all this way to find her.

It was his years of quietly guarding her as she chased ahead.

And even more, it was his courage to stand on stage to cover for her when her voice failed, despite knowing he couldn’t sing the high notes.

All of this moved her deeply.