Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love) - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Deep kiss?!

Qiao Yichen stood by himself on the balcony, bracing the cold wind as if it could calm him down.

He knew that the one in poor condition wasn’t Ding Meng, but rather himself. He had known Gu Xin for a number of years, but this was his first time seeing Gu Xin take the initiative to collaborate with a female singer.

Now, he was certain that Gu Xin was interested in Ding Meng. Gu Xin was even willing to use his own popularity to give her a boost through this proposed collaboration.

He had mentioned to Xiang Guang before that he would raise her to the top of the music industry. While he still had the confidence to do so, he had suddenly discovered that he wasn’t the only person capable of accomplishing such a feat.

Gu Xin didn’t lose to himself when it came to musical talent. For the last two years, Gu Xin had been dedicated to writing his own music. The critical acclaim he had earned was no less than when the two of them had worked together in the past. Compared to himself, Gu Xin’s biggest advantage is his large fanbase.

Although he was renowned in the musical industry as an award winning producer, he had always been behind the scenes. He absolutely could not match up to Gu Xin’s influence on the stage. Everything that he could give to Ding Meng, Gu Xin could provide and more.

If she had Gu Xin beside her, then he would become unnecessary.

Qiao Yichen furrowed his eyebrows. Acknowledging these truths was ruining his mood. Under normal circumstances, he wasn’t one to bring personal matters to work. However, just now, he couldn’t control his emotions.

He took a deep breath and felt the air calm the irritation he felt in his heart, mind, and soul. It alleviated his unease somewhat.

He waited until he felt that he was capable of working like normal before turning around and returning to the recording booth.

Ding Meng was sitting on the couch drinking her water. When she saw him come in, she choked on her water. Qiao Yichen glanced over and walked towards her, “Am I that scary?”

… You don’t know how scary you can be?

This was what both Ding Meng and the sound technician thought in response.

“Alright, stop slacking off, let’s start from the top.”

Ding Meng frowned. Just now, he had clearly been the who decided to take a break. Now, she had turned into the one slacking off?! While heading into the recording booth to put on her headphones, she silently cursed Qiao Yichen.

The intro she had heard god knows how many times already began to play once again.

Truth be told, Ding Meng had recorded so many takes that her singing had already improved a lot after suffering through Qiao Yichen’s relentless criticism. This time she had managed to sing for a long time without Qiao Yichen ordering her to stop. She felt slightly astounded inside. Just now, where had Qiao Yichen gone to regain his emotional stability?

After she finished singing the song, Qiao Yichen still had parts he was dissatisfied with. However, unlike his earlier scolding, he calmly explained what was wrong. Ding Meng frowned slightly, why did something still feel off?

After thinking this over, she felt horrified. God, had Qiao Yichen’s training turned her into a masochist?

The next few days were filled with endless recording and practice. Things were progressing smoothly, but she still felt like there was something off about Qiao Yichen. At the recording studio, he didn’t scold people, and at home, he was unusually calm. It was as if that kiss from the other day didn’t happen at all.

The one thing worth celebrating was that Jiang Man had given her more time to consider collaborating with Gu Xin. Jiang Man explained that Gu Xin’s side wanted to let her finish her own song before resuming their discussions about the collaboration.

Ding Meng knew that this must’ve been Gu Xin’s doing, which made her very grateful to him.

Two days later when the recording of I’m Here concluded, Qiao Yichen declared that the song needed an MV. The filming set was actually located in A city, but in order to match the song lyrics, they took the pains to find an abandoned western-style mansion.

Filming in the mansion at night made Ding Meng a little afraid. Additionally, this was her first time acting. Even though it was just an MV, she still received endless NGs. The worst part was that there was also a scene where she had to get drenched in the rain.

She didn’t understand why these MV directors all liked shooting scenes in the rain to create a sorrowful mood. Didn’t they get wet themselves as well?

After watching the workers make the artificial rain, she boldly entered the rain wearing a luxurious dress. However, after getting drenched for a bit, real rain began to fall.

The director urgently cut the scene. Everyone packed up their equipment and found a place to take shelter from the rain. Qiao Yichen grabbed a towel and handed it over to Ding Meng, “Dry yourself so you don’t get sick.”

“Thanks.” Ding Meng didn’t have an assistant yet so she had to take care of many matters herself.

“I’ll go ask the director if that take just now was acceptable. If it is, you can go change your clothes.” Qiao Yichen also handed her a cup of hot water before turning around to find the director. Ding Meng used the towel to wipe her face dry and drank a sip of piping hot water.

Though Qiao Yichen was taking care of her like this at the film set, she still felt that they had become slightly distanced from one another. Even the way they talked to each other had become unfamiliar.

When did this start? Ding Meng pondered for a while… could it be that he actually minded her singing with Gu Xin that much? But she didn’t say that she would collaborate with Gu Xin for sure.

After she pursed her lips and took another sip of water, Qiao Yichen returned. “The director said that the cut was acceptable. You can go change clothes now.”

“Ok, sounds good.” She wanted to say more, but she didn’t know what to say. Without any better option, she returned the water cup to Qiao Yichen and left for the changing room.

After changing her clothes, the director didn’t ask to shoot more scenes so the workers began to leave. Ding Meng didn’t have any work scheduled afterwards, so she went directly home. She took a hot bath, dried her hair, and sat in front of her computer browsing the internet.

The company had already determined that the new song’s release date would be on October 1st and many fans were expressing their anticipation. Ding Meng’s followers had already broken past a million. From time to time, she would even receive all sorts of private messages requesting collaborations.

After she got bored of perusing the internet, she glanced at the time in the bottom-right corner of the screen. It was already 11 PM, why hadn’t Qiao Yichen come home yet?

Since the song had recently entered the last stages of production, he had been really busy, but never to the point of being this late. Ding Meng was mulling over whether or not to call him when she heard the sound of a door opening.

She got up to take a look and surely enough, it was Qiao Yichen.

“You’re still up?” He lifted his gaze to look at her while changing into the slippers at the doorway.

Ding Meng said, “I’m getting ready to sleep, why are you so late?”

“Today, the master recording was finally completed, I brought it to the MV director so that he wouldn’t have to rush us for it.” In order to meet the deadline for releasing I’m Here, the MV filming began immediately after the song had been recorded. The director had never heard the song before so he couldn’t fully grasp the feeling of the song. Qiao Yichen let him listen to an unedited version and personally went to the filming site to keep in touch with him throughout the process to ensure the quality of the MV.

When Ding Meng heard the words master recording, she felt a little excited. Even she didn’t know what the song would sound like after editing.

Looking rather exhausted, Qiao Yichen walked over to the couch, sat down, and loosened his tie. “Go to sleep first. Tomorrow you’ll have to film.”

At this time, Ding Meng noticed that he was wearing the same outfit as the one he had worn during the daytime. He had also gotten wet when it rained. Why hadn’t he changed?

Qiao Yichen leaned on the couch and closed his eyes, looking as if he didn’t want to lift a finger. Ding Meng walked over to him and asked while looking at him, “Goudan, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“It’s nothing.” Qiao Yichen’s tone was very light, as if he was about to drift into sleep.

Ding Meng thought that his complexion looked a bit flushed so she felt his forehead. She exclaimed in alarm, “So hot! You’re running a fever!”

“I’m fine…” Qiao Yichen responded subconsciously.

Ding Meng frowned and looked around for medicine to reduce his fever. For the sake of her new song, he hadn’t had any time to rest recently. Today he got drenched in the rain and didn’t even change… he was a Dog Egg, not an Iron Egg!

T/N: Gou (Dog) Dan (Egg)!

She found the medicine in a drawer and proceeded to pour a cup of warm water. Then, she sat down next to Qiao Yichen and said, “Sit up and take some medicine. You remembered to tell me to change, but what about yourself?”

“Mn…” Qiao Yichen answered in a daze without opening his eyes. Ding Meng called his name several times before he reluctantly opened his eyes and swallowed the medicine she was holding up to his mouth in one gulp.

The medicine must have had a bitter aftertaste because he frowned a bit afterwards. She seized the opportunity and thrust the cup of water next to his lips, “Drink some water to wash down the medicine. You’re not allowed to spit it out.”

Unexpectedly, Qiao Yichen obeyed her by drinking the water and swallowing the medicine. However, he proceed to weakly lean against her.

Ding Meng, “…”

She seriously wondered whether or not he was doing this intentionally.

Qiao Yichen’s scalding body temperature permeated through his clothes. Ding Meng frowned but decided to let him be. She wouldn’t pick a fight with a sick person..

As if holding Ding Meng could alleviate the discomfort from the fever, Qiao Yichen subconsciously wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his head against her like a child and mumbled, “Wifey…”

Ding Meng, “…”

Don’t think that being sick gives a person the right to act immorally!

She didn’t respond so Qiao Yichen continued mumbling wifey endearingly. His hoarse crooning made Ding Meng feel as though her own body temperature was rising. In the end, she couldn’t help but feel the urge to push him off.

He appeared so weak, but when he sensed that she was about to push him off, he miraculously managed to lock her down. The amount of strength he had didn’t make sense! Ding Meng tried to push him off twice to no avail.

“Wifey…” Qiao Yichen called her again. This time his tone was distinctly unhappy. When she tried to push him off once more, he pressed her down onto the couch.

Ding Meng, “…”

How could he still have this much strength when sick?!

Qiao Yichen laid on top of Ding Meng and opened his eyes slightly to look at the person beneath him, “Wifey, don’t reject me…”

Ding Meng, “…”

His pleading made her feel slightly dizzy, but his hurt tone and the significance behind his words left her yelling a single phrase.

HELP! HELP!!

After Qiao Yichen finished speaking, he used his delirious vision to accurately find Ding Meng’s lips and kissed them.

…

Ding Meng felt her entire body explode.

He was sick, not drunk. How did the situation turn out like this?! This rogue was a bit too skilled at getting his way!

Wait a minute, where were his hands touching?!

Just as Ding Meng opened her mouth, Qiao Yichen’s tongue seized the opportunity and slipped inside.

Ding Meng, “!!!!”

Tongue… a tongue entered! Was this the so-called… deep kiss?!