Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love) Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Extravagant Beat the Drum, Pa.s.s the Flower

An injury taken for the wife was a badge of honor.

Ding Meng’s maiden heart suffered a sudden blow.

Qiao Yichen’s eyes looked even more brilliant than diamonds or even the stars in the sky. Even when he looked at you expressionlessly like that, he could still make your face quickly heat up.

“I’ll be heading to my room!” Ding Meng hastily grabbed her things and dashed into her room.

Qiao Yichen couldn’t resist grinning from ear to ear when he heard the door bang shut in the hallway.

He sealed up Ding Meng’s unfinished chuan chuan and placed it in the refrigerator. After switching off the living room light, he also returned to his room.

Even after taking a shower, Ding Meng still hadn’t calmed down completely. Was Qiao Yichen being romantic just now? d.a.m.n, he had actually turned into some sort of womanizer. Really corrupted, way too corrupted!

She shook off her goose b.u.mps and crawled into bed early.

The next day when Qiao Yichen got up to prepare breakfast, he discovered Ding Meng was already busy in the kitchen. An ap.r.o.n was wrapped around her waist and she was in the middle of lifting a spoon to sample soup. The morning sun was still very gentle, so when the rays traveled through the window and fell on her hair, little golden sparkles reflected in the light.

Qiao Yichen was captivated by the scene. When Ding Meng sensed that he was standing near the kitchen entrance, she turned around to look at him, “Ah you’re up. I made some pork bone soup. It’ll be ready in a second.”

She had stewed this soup just for Qiao Yichen. Since he was going to remove his st.i.tches today, drinking more soup could aid his recovery.

Qiao Yichen nodded his head slightly and walked over to sit down at the dining table. Not long after, Ding Meng poured out a bowl of soup for him. Inside were pork bones, white radish, corn, and even tomatoes. It smelled really fragrant.

“I simmered this soup for almost three hours. Give it a taste and tell me what you think.”

Qiao Yichen raised his eyebrows, “You woke up at 5 o’clock to make soup?”

Ding Meng nodded, “Yep, aren’t you going to remove your st.i.tches today? This will help you recover faster.”

Now Qiao Yichen understood what his mother meant when she said plenty of people would love to have a doting wife. He picked up a spoon and tried a mouthful. However, what came out of his mouth was, “It tastes great, but in the future, don’t bother getting up so early to make me soup. I can make my own breakfast.”

Ding Meng, “…”

She really wanted to pour the soup over his head right now.

“Drink as you please.” She pouted and walked back into the kitchen to pour herself a bowl. When she came back out, Qiao Yichen had already finished his bowl of soup.

He let out a sigh and asked, “Are you going to the celebration this afternoon?”

Ding Meng replied, “Of course I’m going. I’ve already got the invitation ready.” Why would she not take advantage of an opportunity to feast for free? “Are you going too? You won’t be able to eat much with your head injured like that.”

“Producer Mu personally handed me an invitation so I couldn’t refuse.”

“…Eh, you’re so popular.”

Qiao Yichen ignored her strange tone and followed up with another question, “Has Xingyao Entertainment got in touch you yet?”

“Mhm, they want me to sign the contract tomorrow.”

Qiao Yichen thought for a moment and then nodded his head without saying a word. After finis.h.i.+ng breakfast, he went to the hospital to remove his st.i.tches. Ding Meng stayed at home under orders to make up yesterday’s practice.

Qiao Yichen didn’t come back at lunchtime so Ding Meng casually made some food and then began preparing for the afternoon’s celebration.

Producer Mu lived in an expensive villa. Not only did she have a mansion, she even had a large lawn. That was where this afternoon’s BBQ would take place. Ding Meng picked a dress from the several that Qiao Yichen had previously given her, put on some makeup, and left to attend the celebration.

When she got there, quite a few people had already arrived. Besides the staff members, the top 8 contestants were all in attendance. Mu Shuang stayed next to Producer Mu the entire time. When Producer Mu introduced Mu Shuang to everyone, she didn’t beat around the bush. Instead, she straightforwardly explained Mu Shuang was her niece.

Almost all of the contestants sat at the same table to eat. Tang s.h.i.+ran laughed and chatted with the people next to her, acting as if she hadn’t seen Ding Meng. After Mu Shuang finished her round of social obligations with Producer Mu, she also came over. She was her usual cold, aloof self, and didn’t bother greeting anyone. She simply picked up some food and went to the grill.

Liao Qian on the other hand was very enthusiastic when she saw Ding Meng. The two chatted as they grilled. Ding Meng discovered through their conversation that she had already signed with Xingyao.

It seemed like Xingyao was really fast at making a move.

“I’m going to grab some more shrimp.” After Ding Meng spoke, she walked to the area with all the food spread out. When she picked up two plates of shrimp, she realized Qiao Yichen had also arrived.

His appearance caused the scene to liven up a bit. At that moment, Producer Mu was talking to him, looking very cheerful. Qiao Yichen was still wearing a cap on his head, probably because gauze was still required right after removing the st.i.tches. Ding Meng felt a little sympathetic toward him. The weather was already pretty warm and they were even eating barbecue, but he had still had to wear a cap…

Poor thing.

After Qiao Yichen finished his round of social obligations, he picked up a plate of chicken wings to grill. Several contestants saw him come over and followed, striking up a conversation with him. After Ding Meng finished grilling her two plates of shrimp, she sat off to the side and silently began eating shrimp.

Qiao Yichen turned the chicken wings over and brushed on another layer oil. He snuck a glance Ding Meng who was sitting nearby eating shrimp. When she ate shrimp, she only removed the head, tail, and legs. She shoved everything else directly into her mouth. Qiao Yichen was a little amazed, “You don’t peel off the sh.e.l.l when you eat shrimp?”

Ding Meng responded solemnly, “Mhm, more calcium.”

Qiao Yichen, “…”

She was definitely just being lazy!

Liao Qian disapprovingly lectured Ding Meng about the earth shattering difference in taste between sh.e.l.l on and sh.e.l.l off shrimp. Ding Meng couldn’t endure Liao Qian’s lecture so she desh.e.l.led one slowly. She was relatively slow at peeling and was also peeling and eating one at a time. When she reached out to grab another shrimp, she was surprised. Eh, how did all the shrimp disappear?!

Qiao Yichen quietly handed her a plate which was filled with pre-peeled shrimp. Ding Meng looked at him flabbergasted. She used her eyes to ask, “You peeled these?”

Qiao Yichen raised his eyebrows. Then he picked up another plate of shrimp and went to the grill.

Taking advantage of how no one had noticed anything, she happily started eating. In reality, she didn’t like eating shrimp with sh.e.l.ls either. She was just too lazy to spend the effort. She hadn’t expected that Qiao Yichen would peel all the shrimp himself. Not bad, not bad at all.

Since his head injury hadn’t fully recovered, Qiao Yichen didn’t eat much of the food. Every time he grilled something, the majority was divided among the people around him. Ever since he arrived, Ding Meng hadn’t needed to lift a finger. In any case, she could just eat whatever he cooked. Qiao Yichen had also noticed this and chose to cook foods that she liked each time.

After finis.h.i.+ng one round, the chefs brought over more food. This time there was grilled fish, but fearing that guests would mess up the grilling, the professionals took over the cooking duties.

Overjoyed, Ding Meng asked Qiao Yichen to grab a couple pieces of fish for her since he was the closest to the grilled fish. Qiao Yichen raised his eyebrows, “You’re going to eat more?”

Ding Meng looked at him incredulously, “Of course, I’ve only just started eating.”

Qiao Yichen looked at the small mountain of empty plates in front of her. Silently, he picked up two pieces of fish and went to give them to a chef to grill. A server also realized there were a bit too many plates piling up in front of Ding Meng so he quickly came over to help her clear them away.

Ding Meng ate another piece of fish, drank a big gla.s.s of freshly squeezed fruit juice, and finally began to feel a little full. When Qiao Yichen had returned just now, he had also brought back a plate of freshly cooked rice cakes. She had used her chopsticks to scoop over half of them into her own bowl and sat down nearby to continue eating.

While she was contemplating how many scallops and oysters to eat next, the Heavenly Voice director stood in the center and announced that a little game would start soon.

Ding Meng immediately felt the urge to escape after hearing they were going to play a game.
Any game at this sort of occasion was guaranteed to be as awkward as possible. In response to nearby staff workers who also didn’t want to partic.i.p.ate, the director spoke, “The contestants and judges must partic.i.p.ate!”

Ding Meng, “…”

After that, everyone’s stares were focused on them. Now, she wouldn’t be able escape even if she wanted to. The director grabbed a couple of the staff workers and ended up gathering over twenty people in total. He rounded them all up into a big circle and then began…a game of beat the drum, pa.s.s the flower.

Ding Meng felt the director really deserved to be a director. His imagination could really astonish others.

He pulled out two red flowers out of who knows where and divided them between two people. “We’ll pa.s.s around these two flowers once. One will go clockwise while the other will go counter clockwise. When the piano music stops, the two people holding on to the flowers will have to accept a punishment.”

Ding Meng looked off to the side. On the gra.s.s there was a white grand piano. The back of the pianist who had been playing the whole time was facing them. It looked like the preparations were complete.

She blinked a couple times. This was definitely the most extravagant game of beat the drum, pa.s.s the flower she had ever played.

A staff member raised a hand to ask, “What’s the punishment? Performing a duo comedy act?”

Another staff member asked, “It could also be something like a song and dance duet from the Northeast.”

Ding Meng, “…”

The director laughed wickedly twice. From the table next to him, he picked up a large gla.s.s of glistening green liquid. “This is what I just made using Producer Mu’s fancy juicer. Inside there’s bitter melon, grapefruit, celery, green pepper, lemon, and spinach. I guarantee it’s incredibly sour. The two losers will have to finish this together.”

Initially, everyone had been frightened by that glistening green stuff. Now, everyone was inwardly concerned about another problem, “How were they supposed to finish it together?”

The director spoke, “Look at your distraught expressions. Of course they will be using straws to drink.” As he spoke, he picked up two straws and placed them into the gla.s.s.

Ding Meng’s eyes twitched. Even though this gla.s.s was really deep, its opening was really small. Those straw weren’t even ones that could bend. The two people drinking at the same time would have get extremely close to one another. It would have been alright if they were all girls, but if it was a guy and a girl…

After the rules were explained, the game officially began. When the notes sprang out of the pianist’s fingers, the song that played was Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse.

T/N: L’Isle Joyeuse means ‘The Happy Island’. Blurb about the song and a link to the song here

Only, Ding Meng didn’t have the luxury to appreciate it right now. The two flowers were pa.s.sed around extremely quickly. She had just managed to give one flower to the person next to her when the other flower was rapidly handed over.

On her left side was Liao Qian. After Liao Qian received the flower from Bai Jingrui, she swiftly threw it at Ding Meng. Ding Meng was just about to make a move when the piano music abruptly stopped.

Ding Meng, “…”

What had she done to deserve this?

The people on her right and left simultaneously exhaled. Ding Meng looked around, searching for the other unlucky soul among the partic.i.p.ants.

Qiao Yichen raised his flower and laughed.

Ding Meng, “…”

“Ahhhhh! If I had known earlier that it would be Qiao Yichen, I wouldn’t have given the flower to you!” Liao Qian’s face wrinkled with regret.

The director cheerfully announced, “Alright, the ones accepting the punishment are our champion and Big Judge Qiao. Give them a warm welcome!”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone began to holler and shout. Ding Meng covered her face, wis.h.i.+ng she could crawl into a hole. She and Qiao Yichen were asked to step forward. The director made them walk over to the table and even took out his phone to act as a stopwatch.

Ding Meng raised her head to look over at Qiao Yichen. He was solemnly staring at the fruit and vegetable juice with a straight face. In truth, she had felt a little relieved just now. Since it ended up being Qiao Yichen, she didn’t feel as opposed. Only, the stuff in that gla.s.s…

She also solemnly stared at the fruit and vegetable juice.

“If you guys can’t finish this drinking this in 30 seconds, you’ll be punished with another gla.s.s.” The director excitedly spoke with ruthlessness. Shouts and yells came from every direction.

“Let’s drink.” Qiao Yichen spoke to her and slightly bent over. Ding Meng took a deep breath and also moved in closer to suck the straw.

Even though she and Qiao Yichen had already been married for almost two months now, this was the first time they had been so close to one another. The tip of her nose was practically touching the tip of his. While there was a little bit of separation, she could still feel Qiao Yichen’s warm breath on her face.

Ding Meng raised her eyes slightly and saw his fine eyelashes. At this distance, she could easily count them.

Without any warning, Qiao Yichen looked at her. Ding Meng’s heart jumped and she quickly averted her eyes.

Then she heard a sound of m.u.f.fled laughter come from his throat.

“Go!”

After the director issued his order, Ding Meng sucked in a mouthful of fruit and vegetable juice. Tears immediately filled her eyes. The flavor was incredibly sour, bitter, and spicy. Qiao Yichen’s expression wasn’t great either. However, he didn’t have as big of a reaction as she did. Considering how big this gla.s.s was, Ding Meng figured she couldn’t slack off. Therefore, she clenched her teeth and drank another mouthful.

Her stomach churned uncomfortably like a raging sea. With tears welling up in her eyes, she felt like throwing up everything she had eaten earlier. When she sucked in a breath, preparing to drink a third mouthful, she realized the fruit and vegetable juice had already reached the bottom of the gla.s.s.

Startled, Ding Meng stared blankly at Qiao Yichen. He had nice skin, but it had become really pale.

“18.7 seconds. Looks like my blended concoction tasted really great!” The director quipped. Qiao Yichen had already sat down off to the side as if he had suffered some sort of internal injury and was pouring himself a gla.s.s of water to rinse his mouth.

Ding Meng walked to his side and handed him a warm towel, “Is it really bad?”

Qiao Yichen vaguely grunted a response. A layer of perspiration had covered his forehead. Ding Meng lowered her eyes to look at him and asked shyly, “Why did you drink so quickly just now?”

Qiao Yichen paused for a moment. Then he spoke, “I was scared that you’d throw up in it.”

Ding Meng, “…”