Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love) Chapter 56

Translator: Diana

Chapter 56: We used to be students at this school. We came to reminisce about our youth.

When Ding Meng and Qiao Yichen's marriage scandal broke, it stole the spotlight from all the other New Year's news. As the end of the holidays approached, the ruckus caused by the scandal also gradually settled.

However, this scandal lead many internet users who had previously not watched Heavenly Voice to find the compet.i.tion's videos. Therefore, the number of hits for the program skyrocketed rapidly in a very short period of time.

There was even an internet user who probably slowed down the episodes by a third to take screenshots of every instance that Qiao Yichen and Ding Meng's eyes met. He pieced them all together to make a big collage and eloquently dubbed it Moments of Love.

As soon as the collage was posted on Weibo, countless internet users began to eagerly repost it. After that, another internet user emerged with a similar collage, although it was made with a completely different intention.

From Qiao Yichen's evaluations of Ding Meng, he selected the harshest excerpts and pieced them together. At the very end, he wrote, "Now the question is: how was Qiao Yichen able to catch his wife? "

This post also received a lot of attention. Some internet users even began to post topics like, "Even Qiao Yichen has a wife, yet I'm still a single dog."

Quite a few months after the end of Heavenly Voice, the program received an unprecedented surge in viewers.h.i.+p. As the number of people who had watched the compet.i.tion increased, fewer people online questioned whether or not Ding Meng relied on her personal connections to win the compet.i.tion.

When Ding Meng noticed that the number of antis who came to bash her daily on Weibo had already shrunk by more than half, her state of mind finally relaxed a great deal.

She had recently finished shooting a chocolate ad and hadn't picked up any other projects so all of her energy was directed towards recording her alb.u.m. The alb.u.m's t.i.tle track Thank You was her first attempt at writing lyrics. Although she hadn't gotten the hang of it yet, it was still progressing day by day.

Today, the recording of Colorful Kiss finally concluded so work ended early. In high spirits, Ding Meng suggested, "Goudan, do you remember that you promised to take me back to school to eat?"

Qiao Yichen, "&h.e.l.lip;"

He did remember. He just didn't expect her to remember as well.

He could also tell that Ding Meng's mood had recently improved a lot. Work rarely ended early so taking her out to eat wasn't such a bad idea, "We can eat, but we can't eat anything too spicy. Got it?"

"Got it, let's hurry up and go!" Ding Meng dragged Qiao Yichen out of the recording booth. The sound technician they left behind wallowed in lonely bachelorhood.

After this alb.u.m was completed, he never wanted to help Qiao Yichen record another alb.u.m for Ding Meng. There was simply no way he would survive.

Instead of returning to their school right away, Ding Meng and Qiao Yichen went home first because Ding Meng insisted that they needed to wear their school uniforms to really feel the nostalgia.

Qiao Yichen had no choice but to suck it up when faced with her spontaneous ideas.

After rummaging through the closet for a long time, Ding Meng finally managed to pull out two school uniforms buried at the very bottom. She exclaimed in surprise, "Goudan, you hadn't thrown them away after all!"

&h.e.l.lip;That's true. Why hadn't he thrown them away? Qiao Yichen shook out the uniform helplessly and sniffed it a couple times. Thankfully it didn't smell of mildew. Otherwise, there was no way he was going to put it on.

The uniform was an oversized athletic jacket which was blue with white stripes. It used to cover Qiao Yichen's bottom when he wore it. Now he stood at 186 cm and the s.h.i.+rt had become a stylish fitted jacket.

On the side, Ding Meng laughed so hard that she doubled over on top of the bed, "Goudan, I didn't expect that you would look so good wearing that, hahaha."

Qiao Yichen, "&h.e.l.lip;"

Why was he going along with her crazy ideas?

Qiao Yichen looked at himself in the mirror for a bit. Frowning, he grabbed the other uniform and tossed it at Ding Meng, "Put yours on too."

"Ok." Ding Meng laughed as she got up. She grabbed the piece of clothing from his hands and put it on. Obviously the school uniforms for boys were larger than the ones for girls. Now when Ding Meng wore Qiao Yichen's middle school uniform, it fit perfectly.

She twirled around once in front of the mirror before walking up to Qiao Yichen and flas.h.i.+ng a peace sign. "This is the most fas.h.i.+onable couple wear."

Qiao Yichen laughed, "Have you been wanting to do this since middle school?"

Ding Meng nodded, "Yup, but sadly Handsome Zhen ignored me."

Qiao Yichen, "&h.e.l.lip;"

He opened up the closet and pulled out a scarf. After wrapping the scarf around Ding Meng, he led her out, "Let's go."

Ding Meng followed after him and brimmed with excitement the whole way there. Since it wasn't rush hour and there weren't that many cars on the road, they arrived at the entrance of 7th Middle School very quickly.

Although the students hadn't been dismissed yet, the stall-keepers by the entrance had already set up shop.

After parking the car, Qiao Yichen asked Ding Meng one last time, "Do you really want to go out dressed like this?"

Ding Meng winked at him and held his hand, "Goudan, true warriors face life's challenges bravely."

Qiao Yichen, "&h.e.l.lip;"

But he was worried that other people wouldn't be able to accept their bravery!

Ding Meng scuttled out of the car after speaking. Sighing, Qiao Yichen opened the car door and followed after her.

The school was across the street on the other side of the crosswalk. Qiao Yichen walked next to Ding Meng and held her hand as they waited for the light to turn green.

Ding Meng turned her head to look at Qiao Yichen. His fitted school jacket paired with jeans made his torso appear broader and his legs appear longer. She pulled down on her scarf and said to Qiao Yichen, "Goudan, you're actually really handsome. You're definitely going to capture the heart of some young girl."

Qiao Yichen laughed and turned around to look at her, "The only heart I need to capture is my wife's."

Smiling, Ding Meng wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed against him, "You captured your wife's heart a long time ago!"

After staring blankly for a moment, Qiao Yichen lifted a hand and rubbed her head. Once their relations.h.i.+p had been exposed, Ding Meng had become more straightforward with expressing her affection.

Could this be considered profiting from a disaster?

He noticed the red light ahead blink twice, followed by the appearance of the green walking man sign.

"Let's go." He held Ding Meng's hand once more and walked across the crosswalk they had used countless times before.

The first stall Ding Meng chose was the crinkle cut fries vendor. When the two of them walked in front of the cart, Ding Meng giggled and said, "Boss, two bowls of crinkle cut fries with extra&h.e.l.lip; green onion."

T/N: So the literal translation of this snack is Heavenly Silkworm Potato (which happens to be the pen name of the author of BTTH, TGR, etc). I'm just guessing that they're tossed crinkle cut fries based on the google images&h.e.l.lip;

Under Qiao Yichen's watchful gaze, the word "spicy" became "green onion".

The boss really did give them more green onion. While tossing the fries, he took a glance at the two of them and asked with surprise, "What are you two dressed up for?"

Ding Meng said with a straight face, "We used to be students at this school. We came to reminisce about our youth."

Qiao Yichen turned his head to look elsewhere. Surprisingly, the uncle who sold fries laughed heartily, "Youth is so precious. Being young is good." He poured the mixed fries into two bowls and handed them over to Ding Meng. "Two servings of crinkle cut fries is $10."

Ding Meng frowned, "But the prices aren't what they once were&h.e.l.lip;"

She remembered that a serving had only cost $1 in the past&h.e.l.lip;

After he fished out a $10 bill and handed it over, Qiao Yichen pulled Ding Meng away hastily.

Since one serving of crinkle cut fries wasn't much at all, Ding Meng finished hers very quickly. She really couldn't understand how this had once subst.i.tuted for dinner. She tossed the empty bowl into the trash and pulled Qiao Yichen towards the next stall.

This time she chose a spring roll stall. Back when she was a student, she had visited the auntie who sold spring rolls practically everyday.

The spring roll stall in front of the entrance of 7th Middle School was now owned by a different auntie, but the taste was just as good. Also, unlike the price of the crinkle cut fries which had risen exorbitantly, the price of the spring rolls had only doubled, making them much more enjoyable.

After Ding Meng finished eating her last one, she turned to the auntie selling spring rolls and said, "I'd like another four with sweet vinegar with extra mustard."

"Alright, sweet vinegar with extra mustard. Does this handsome gentleman want more?"

Qiao Yichen shook his head. He hadn't even finished the ones in his hand yet.

Suddenly, the school bell rang, announcing the end of cla.s.ses. The first batch of students quickly flooded out. Every single stand became surrounded by students. Ding Meng took the last two spring rolls from the auntie and stood off the side with Qiao Yichen.

Since the first batch of students were basically all in a mad scramble for food, no one noticed Ding Meng and Qiao Yichen's strange outfits. Students walked out of the school gates in groups one after the other. When one female student took out her phone to check Weibo, someone by her side jabbed her, "Look Caicai, doesn't that person resemble Ding Meng?"

The girl named Caicai was still focused on her cell, "Which one?"

"The one standing on the side of the road eating spring rolls."

Caicai, "&h.e.l.lip;"

She looked up in the direction that her friend was pointing at and then raised an eyebrow, "Hey, she might actually be Ding Meng! Could the person standing next to her be Qiao Yichen?"

"You're right, that is Qiao Yichen! I saw him before on Heavenly Voice!"

Caicai carefully took a few more glances, "Are they wearing old 7th Middle School uniforms?"

"Seems like it. 7th Middle School is written on the back, but our uniforms are all blue now." After a moment of pause, the friend looked at Caicai with astonishment, "Could they have been former 7th Middle School students?!"

"Eh&h.e.l.lip;" Caicai was at a loss for words. She couldn't help but feel as though they had stumbled upon a big secret.

Meanwhile, Ding Meng stood by the roadside, completely oblivious to the fact that she might be recognized. After she finished her own spring rolls, she looked at Qiao Yichen eagerly.

Qiao Yichen, "&h.e.l.lip;"

He was all too familiar with that expression of hers. He couldn't help but grin as he offered her his last remaining spring roll, "You want it? Mine doesn't have mustard."

"That's fine." Ding Meng directly took a bite from the spring roll in his hands.

A few girls standing around in a circle nearby made a racket which finally got Qiao Yichen's attention. When he turned around to glance at them, he heard a girl say, "Holy c.r.a.p, Qiao dada is like a male G.o.d in real life! He looks so hot even when he's wearing a school uniform!"

Qiao Yichen frowned and hurried Ding Meng along, "Ok, let's go."

Ding Meng still had a spring roll in her mouth so she asked somewhat unintelligibly, "Why? I haven't had my fill yet."

Qiao Yichen replied, "We've been recognized. I'll make you steak when we get home."

"Huh? We've been recognized?" Ding Meng choked and took the lead, "Then let's walk faster."

The light just happened to turn green at that moment. The two of them followed the students across the crosswalk and then quickly got in their car.

Ding Meng was finally able to breathe when she sat down in the car. After taking a moment to calm down, she laughed and said to Qiao Yichen, "Do you still remember what you said that time you fetched me from the chuan chuan restaurant? You said that the only ones who would recognize me were my family and friends. It looks like I've made quite a bit of progress."

Qiao Yichen laughed as he silently shook his head.

After returning home, he took out the two steaks that he had bought earlier in order to cook dinner for Ding Meng. Halfway through their candlelit dinner, Jiang Man called.

Ding Meng instantly became nervous when she saw Jiang Man's name on the screen. Her voice trembled slightly as she answered the call, "Manager Jiang, is something the matter?"

Jiang Man responded, "Did you take a walk down memory lane with Qiao Yichen at your former school today?"

Ding Meng's heart skipped a beat. Had Jiang Man become a psychic? "Yes, we did visit our former school. How'd you know?"

Jiang Man responded, "You two made the headlines."

Ding Meng, "&h.e.l.lip;"

She picked up the tablet that Qiao Yichen had left on the sofa and opened up Weibo. The top search was "Ding Meng Qiao Yichen" and the current trending topic was "we are very much in love".

Ding Meng, "&h.e.l.lip;"

What the heck had happened?

Jiang Man said, "Someone photographed you two standing in front of the school entrance and uploaded it on Weibo. The picture was then reposted by a chain of popular accounts."

Ding Meng, "&h.e.l.lip;"

A chain&h.e.l.lip;that sounded even more terrifying than a chain-reaction car cras.h.!.+

She clicked around Weibo until she came upon the post that Jiang Man had mentioned.

VeggieThiefCaiCaiLovesVeggies: OMG! I saw Ding Meng and Qiao Yichen with my own eyes! That married couple was standing by my school entrance and both of them were wearing old uniforms from 7th Middle School! Could they be childhood sweethearts? This pair couldn't be more loving. Uppercla.s.sman Qiao even fed Uppercla.s.sman Ding spring rolls. Now, I totally believe Qiao dada's hashtag #weareverymuchinlove#

T/N: The cai in Caicai means vegetable!

Two photos were attached below. One captured Ding Meng eating the spring roll from Qiao Yichen's hand. The other captured the two of them holding hands and crossing the street.

Before Ding Meng was able to recover from the shock, she heard Jiang Man say through the phone, "This isn't a bad idea. From now, you two can be more affectionate on Weibo."