Volume One, Chapter 90: Su Muyu Draws Out the Truth

“Form a duo?” Guo Qiang and Wei Hualing were both stunned by Jiang Yu’s suggestion.

“That’s right. Don’t you trust your brother Yu?” Jiang Yu looked at Guo Qiang.

“Brother Yu, I trust you, but…” Guo Qiang frowned deeply, silently weighing the idea. Wei Hualing’s expression was just as uncertain.

Both had always performed as solo singers. Suddenly being told to form a duo left them both unsure.

Jiang Yu smiled. “You don’t have to answer me now. Think it over carefully. When you’ve decided, let me know. Then, I’ll write songs for the two of you.”

“Thank you, Brother Yu!”

“It’s nothing!”

Just then, a familiar figure passed by quietly, not pausing for even a moment.

Jiang Yu caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.

It seemed Wang Linkai sensed Jiang Yu’s gaze. He stopped, his expression a little awkward, and greeted, “Hello, Teacher Jiang.” Then he hurried away.

Being called “Teacher Jiang” left Jiang Yu momentarily speechless.

“Did he fry his brain with a fever? No, his fans say he can write songs even with a 50-degree fever! And all those who used to mock me now call me Teacher Jiang too—it gives me goosebumps!”

Liu Bin and Wei Hualing couldn’t hold back their laughter.

Guo Qiang and the others were both amused and exasperated—Jiang Yu’s tongue was as sharp as ever.

“It’s perfectly normal,” Guo Qiang said. “First, you’ve already quit the competition, so you’re no threat. Second, your popularity is enormous now, with so many fans—if they dared treat you like before, who knows what kind of backlash they’d get. Third, status and standing—you performed on the National Day Gala stage, who are they compared to that?”

“Popularity, status, influence—you crush them on every front. Would they still dare yap in front of you now?”

Guo Qiang had debuted long before Jiang Yu. To boost his own popularity, he’d participated in countless shows and met all sorts of people. He truly understood the ways of the industry.

“Hearing you say that, I feel pretty impressive!” Jiang Yu grinned.

Guo Qiang rolled his eyes. “Pretty impressive? You’re selling yourself short. You’re phenomenal! Since you quit, this show’s lost almost all its traffic. But when the audience heard you’d be back to say goodbye, tickets sold out in minutes!”

“Wow, I had no idea I was this popular!”

“He’s so smug!” Guo Qiang couldn’t take it anymore. He turned to Liu Bin. “What should I do? I really want to beat him up.”

Liu Bin burst out laughing. “Brother Yu, who’s your guest singer this time?”

“You’ll find out when we record the show—what’s the fun in telling you now?” Jiang Yu replied with a mysterious smile. “Let’s go!”

“The contestant meeting is about to start, don’t be late,” Guo Qiang reminded.

Jiang Yu chuckled. “I’m not a contestant anymore, why should I go to some meeting? I hate meetings. You all go ahead—I’m off to find my singing partner!”

...

The show was about to start recording. Su Muyu was getting her hair and makeup done in a private room.

When Jiang Yu returned, she glanced at him, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. “Did you see your old friends?”

“I did.” Jiang Yu sat nearby, quietly watching Su Muyu apply her makeup.

This woman was unbelievably beautiful—she hardly needed any makeup at all. Just the lightest touch, and she was like a goddess descended to earth.

“Wait a moment. Once I’m finished, let’s practice our song a couple more times.”

“All right.”

Feeling a bit bored, Jiang Yu pulled out his phone. He almost forgot he needed to request time off from his eager readers. Plus, he’d be heading home tomorrow and probably wouldn’t be able to write.

“Turkey-flavored Crunchies: ‘I’m taking the next two days off for my monthly visitor.’”

The readers of “Immortal Executioner” had grown numb to their author’s frequent absences.

“Monthly visitor? Is that what I think it is? Does the author really track his own cycle?”

“Haha, this is priceless, Crunchies. You could at least say you had a stomach ache!”

“This shameless author! I suspect there are just a few days every month when he doesn’t want to update, and he comes up with the wildest excuses!”

“Please bring Biyao back to life!”

Reading the resigned comments from his readers, Jiang Yu scratched his head. Now that he’s stopped updating, hardly anyone’s even complaining? The love is gone.

Just then, Su Muyu turned to look at Jiang Yu. “By the way, could you tell your friend Crunchies that she’s taking two days off, and ask if she can make it up the day after tomorrow?”

“Of course! He does take a lot of days off, but he always makes up for it,” Jiang Yu replied automatically. But in the next instant, his smile froze.

He’d just posted about taking time off—how did Su Muyu know? And she’d guessed exactly that it was a two-day break.

Su Muyu was doing her hair and makeup and hadn’t been on her phone at all. So how did she know he was taking time off?

Noticing the change in Jiang Yu’s expression, Su Muyu gave him a meaningful look.

That look sent a chill through Jiang Yu. Suddenly, a bold and terrifying thought crossed his mind—had she figured out that he was Turkey-flavored Crunchies?

Once the idea took hold, Jiang Yu couldn’t shake it. But since Su Muyu hadn’t brought it up, he couldn’t just blurt it out himself, could he?

There were all sorts of delicious snacks on the table, and under ordinary circumstances Jiang Yu would have been happily munching away. But now...

Forget it!

Jiang Yu gritted his teeth and stared at Su Muyu.

“How did you know Crunchies was taking two days off? I just saw the post—he only just put it on Weibo.”

Su Muyu looked at him as she always did, her eyes as clear as autumn water, with a hint of mischief slowly blooming within.

Seeing that look, Jiang Yu basically understood everything. He sighed helplessly. “When did you find out?”

A glint of triumph flashed in her eyes. Recalling all the times she’d complained about Crunchies in front of him, she grew a little embarrassed. “Why didn’t you keep hiding it? Weren’t you doing a great job?”

Jiang Yu, like a child caught misbehaving, fidgeted with his fingers. “I was wrong, but I couldn’t go around telling everyone I’m Crunchies, the author of ‘Immortal Executioner,’ could I?”

That was true.

Su Muyu nearly laughed, but when she saw Jiang Yu stealing glances at her, she suppressed it.

“All right, I’ll let it go this time. I never expected you to be an author too. Just how many more secrets are you hiding from me?”

“You’ll find out little by little!” Jiang Yu grinned, then looked puzzled. “But how did you figure it out?”

Su Muyu covered her mouth and laughed, then explained her entire reasoning process for deducing Jiang Yu’s identity as Crunchies.

Jiang Yu was dumbfounded. Truly, as a great figure once said, women are natural-born detectives—how right he was!

Now that everything was out in the open, Jiang Yu actually felt relieved, and so did Su Muyu. The two of them chatted at length.

Just then, a staff member entered.

“Teachers, the show is about to start filming...”