Chapter 143 Writing a Song for the Mentor

“Na Jie, what are you doing?” Su Tong felt a shiver of unease. Na Jie was about the same age as Principal Song, but Principal Song was dignified, graceful, and refined, with the bearing of an elder.

Na Jie, however, was different. When she was sober, she was perfectly normal, but after a few drinks, she looked nothing like a woman over forty. She became a complete little girl, still brimming with childlike mischief.

“Don’t think I can’t see them. That’s quite a lot of tips, you know. Most of the credit goes to A-Lin and me, right? Tell me, how are you going to repay me? A-Lin doesn’t count. Letting him play games with you for one night without charging him is already generous enough.” Na Jie cast Su Tong a flirtatious glance and giggled.

“Hey, hey, Na Jie, that’s not fair!” Teacher A-Lin immediately protested. He had done most of the work, hadn’t he?

Na Jie looked at him with a wicked smile. “Fine, then. I won’t steal Little Tong from you. He belongs to you tonight.”

A-Lin shuddered and hurriedly waved his hands. “Forget it, forget it. I’d rather pay for the game.”

Su Tong was speechless at Na Jie’s antics. They had been back from the restaurant for nearly three hours, yet she still had not sobered up.

“Teacher A-Lin, while you were streaming just now, I wrote a song for you. I don’t know whether you’ll like it.” Su Tong handed him two sheets of paper.

“Oh? I’ve heard Little Tong’s songs before. They’re all pretty good. Let me have a look.” Teacher A-Lin smiled as he accepted the pages, though he was not particularly concerned. He had not heard all of Nian Nu Jiao’s songs, only one or two.

Na Jie immediately grew displeased and pressed herself against Su Tong. “You heartless little rascal. I did the most work tonight, didn’t I? If you were writing a song, you should have written one for me.”

Su Tong smiled and produced another two sheets from behind his back, slipping them into her arms before she could pounce on him.

“You really wrote one for me?” Na Jie asked with a grin, her cheeks flushed. “At least you have a little conscience.”

In truth, Na Jie and A-Lin were alike. Neither of them cared all that much about Su Tong’s songs. What mattered to them was that he had thought of them.

But as they continued reading, humming softly under their breath, their expressions gradually changed. Each saw a trace of astonishment in the other’s eyes.

“You wrote this tonight?”

“You finished it in just over an hour?”

Na Jie and A-Lin asked almost simultaneously.

“What do you think?” Su Tong laughed. “How does it feel?”

Na Jie demonstrated her feelings through her actions. She lunged toward Su Tong, intending to smother him in an embrace, and he hurriedly dodged away.

“Na Jie, Teacher A-Lin is still here. If you want to force a hug on me, you’ll have to wait until he leaves.”

Teacher A-Lin was astonished, his expression complicated. “This song suits me perfectly. Ah, I only wish Jingjing could hear me sing it. It was because of you that I shifted the focus of my career to the mainland.”

Na Jie had sobered considerably by then and stopped fooling around. She turned to A-Lin and said, “A-Lin, let’s exchange songs and have a look.”

A-Lin nodded, and the two exchanged their pages.

Lin Yin had been nowhere in sight all evening. Only now did Su Tong remember her. He assumed she was not used to being around the mentors and had gone to spend time with her manager.

But when he pushed open the door to Madam’s room, he discovered that the young woman was stretched out across the bed, sleeping soundly.

All four mentors had been drinking at dinner that night. Lin Yin had drunk as well. Su Tong was the only one who had remained sober.

After he switched on the light, Lin Yin seemed to be disturbed by it. She rolled over and curled up, lying on her side like a little kitten, her lovely face relaxed and content.

“If you sleep like this, you’ll catch a chill tonight. What will you do if you come down with a cold tomorrow?” Su Tong had grown familiar enough with Lin Yin that he no longer stood on ceremony. He gave her a light pat on the bottom and pulled the air-conditioning blanket over her.

Just as he was about to leave, Lin Yin kicked the blanket away. Her long, pale legs were immediately exposed, and part of her bottom showed as well.

Su Tong’s eyes widened. Oh no.

Was she even wearing underwear?

Because of Yang Feifei, this question had tormented him for more than a month.

Lin Yin’s pajamas were short to begin with, barely reaching her knees. When she tossed and turned in her sleep, they were bound to reveal more than they should.

He glanced at Lin Yin. She was sleeping deeply, and his courage suddenly grew. Forget it. He would just lift the hem and finally solve one of the ten great mysteries of his life.

He had taken only two steps when he stopped again.

Wasn’t this terribly lecherous? He was being far too disrespectful to Sister Yin Yin.

No. She would never know. He could not keep losing sleep over one of life’s ten great mysteries.

A man had to look out for himself, or even heaven and earth would condemn him. Solve the mystery. Solve it.

He took another step forward, imagining what kind of view would await him beneath Lin Yin’s pajamas.

They said it was the sight every passionate young man would spend half his life yearning to enjoy. Su Tong felt his heart begin to race.

“Little Tong, Little Tong...” Na Jie’s voice suddenly came from the living room.

Su Tong jumped. He had a guilty conscience.

He no longer cared what view awaited him. He hurriedly ran outside.

“Haha, your big sister hasn’t spoiled you for nothing.” Seeing Su Tong emerge from Madam’s room, Na Jie paid no attention to where he had been. She said generously, “The payment for tonight’s stream is settled with these two songs. I’ve realized that I don’t know you very well at all. I’ll have to get to know you better when we return.”

Teacher A-Lin was delighted as well, visibly moved. “Little Tong, if you had given me this song earlier, I might not be in this state today.”

Su Tong knew about A-Lin’s situation. He and his wife, Jingjing, had divorced several years earlier.

Jingjing was also an entertainer. Like A-Lin, she came from the island, though she had begun developing her career on the mainland before him.

It was precisely because Jingjing had moved to the mainland that cracks had appeared in their relationship, eventually leading to divorce.

Afterward, A-Lin also began working on the mainland, serving as a mentor on several seasons of Voice of China.

History had repeated itself in an uncanny way. By giving these two songs to Na Jie and A-Lin, Su Tong was merely offering flowers to their rightful owners. In his former life, the songs had belonged to the two of them in the first place.

“Teacher A-Lin, no one can predict what the future holds. Look ahead, but if you truly love her, turn back. I’ve heard that giving birth is one of the most painful ordeals in the world. So I don’t think there’s anything shameful about a man serving his wife like an ox or a horse. Pride can’t be eaten.” Su Tong offered him a word of comfort. He could see the glimmer of tears in A-Lin’s eyes.

In fact, in his former life, the song he had given A-Lin had been written jointly by that married couple: the husband composed the music, while the wife wrote the lyrics. And yet, in the end, they had still divorced.

No matter how solemn the vows of eternal love, no matter how firmly one proclaimed one’s devotion, none of it could withstand all the unknowns along life’s road.

No one knew whom they would meet or what they would encounter in the future. Those people and events were the culprits that eroded one’s original intentions, drop by drop, or sometimes swept over them with thunderous force, leaving everything that had come before in ruins.

“Ah, I still prefer to think of you as a fresh-faced young star. You shouldn’t understand so much. What’s the point of knowing all that?” Na Jie’s eyes were slightly red. She was divorced as well, and she and A-Lin shared the same unfortunate fate.

A-Lin’s wife had cheated on him. Na Jie’s husband had been unfaithful too.

“It’s getting late. You two should go back and rest. You still have to record the program tomorrow.” Su Tong saw both mentors off.

After returning, he took a shower. Exhaustion overcame him, and with a journey back to Yandu awaiting him the next day, he went to bed.

He slept until the middle of the night before slowly waking.

Someone was sitting beside him, their hair hanging loose around their face.