Chapter 5: Fate Works in Mysterious Ways
In a luxury apartment somewhere in a small city.
Having just finished a bath, An Ran'er lay lazily on the sofa in the living room, wearing a bathrobe and enjoying the comfort.
She opened her laptop, logged into Li-Station, clicked on her followed creators, and entered a certain creator's homepage. Her actions were smooth and practiced, as if she did this regularly.
When she saw that the uploader had not posted a new video today, a disappointed expression appeared on her face.
Just as she was about to watch something else, her phone rang.
"Hello."
"Hello, Ran'er. Did you report to Nanqin High School today?"
"Yeah."
"So? Did you find that cover singer from Li-Station yet?"
Hearing the excited voice on the other end, An Ran'er pouted.
"Are you stupid? There are so many people in that school. How could I find them in just one day?"
"Uh... I guess that's true."
"If you hadn't told me that uploader goes to that school, I would never have come to study at such an ordinary high school."
"Relax. Someone as talented as her must be pretty well known at school too. She should be easy to find."
"I hope so."
"If we can invite her to become our lead singer, our band will definitely become even more popular than before."
"Yeah."
"Oh, right! How was your first day of class? Did anything interesting happen? Did you meet any cute boys? Hehe."
Hearing her friend's gossip-filled question, black lines seemed to appear on An Ran'er's forehead.
In a cold voice, she replied,
"No. I'm hanging up."
"Hey! Wait, I wasn't fin—"
Before the girl could finish speaking, An Ran'er ended the call.
She changed into comfortable pajamas, picked up the guitar hanging on her bedroom wall, and began playing.
Beautiful melodies filled the room.
She lost herself in the music, and only after who knew how long did she finally hang the guitar back on the wall.
Before putting on a face mask and going to bed, she sat down at her computer once more and refreshed the website.
Just as she expected, the uploader called "A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold" had posted a new video.
An Ran'er had discovered this uploader by chance six months ago.
At that time, her band's lead singer had been lured away by another company offering a huge amount of money.
The band was on the verge of breaking up.
She had been extremely stressed and had even developed mild depression.
Then she accidentally came across one of this uploader's cover songs.
The clear and ethereal voice immediately captivated her.
Whenever she listened to this person's songs, her restless heart would gradually calm down.
Thankfully, that voice had accompanied her through one of the lowest periods of her life.
Otherwise, she might not have been able to handle it emotionally.
Now that their contracts had ended and their lead singer had left, she shared the uploader's videos with the other two band members and their manager.
Everyone agreed that this person would be perfect as their new lead singer.
The only problem was finding them.
For some reason, this uploader loved using anime pictures and clips as the background for cover videos.
If the uploader had been willing to show their face, finding them would have been much easier.
If not for Xiao Lu's huge network of online contacts, they might not have discovered even a little information about the uploader's real-life identity.
Putting on her headphones, An Ran'er clicked the video.
Today's cover was a song called "Pleasant to Hear."
Just like always, the background was made up of anime images.
Soon, that clear and beautiful voice reached her ears.
An Ran'er closed her eyes and quietly enjoyed the comfort the voice brought her.
"Following your words, I close my eyes."
"This dream is so beautiful, let it continue."
"Everything you say sounds so wonderful."
"I can't tell whether you love me or not."
"Maybe you're only treating it like a game."
"But I've fallen too deeply."
Meanwhile, inside his apartment, Li Nuo had just finished editing today's cover song into a video and uploaded it to Li-Station.
When he saw people immediately liking, tipping, and saving the video, he could not help grinning foolishly at the screen.
To him, every like was proof that people appreciated his voice.
More importantly, likes and tips on Li-Station could earn him money.
After browsing through the comments, he was about to shut down the computer and go to bed when he noticed a new comment.
"Waaah, big sis! I really love your voice. If possible, could you give me your contact information? Please!!"
The comment came from a user named "Dust Never Stains."
Li Nuo clicked on the profile.
Judging from the avatar and profile information, it seemed to belong to a girl.
"I'm sorry, but I really can't do that."
Sitting in front of the screen, Li Nuo stared at the comment with a gloomy expression.
He truly did not want people to discover that the owner of that beautiful female singing voice was actually a boy.
He could already imagine their reactions.
Once they learned the truth, they would probably feel disgusted and disappointed.
He did not want to relive what happened in middle school.
Because of his voice, he had been bullied, mocked, and insulted.
He was afraid.
And he did not have the courage to face that again.
Maybe he was simply weak.
For him, only the protection provided by the internet allowed him to comfortably be a singer.
He knew that away from the internet, he was just a short boy with a strange voice, someone others could easily bully.
After replying to the comment with a simple "Sorry." He shut down the computer.
After putting the laptop back on the desk and stretching his body, he lay down on the cool bamboo mat.
Taking out his phone, he checked the class group chat on QQ.
99+ unread messages.
When he opened it, the content was exactly what he expected.
Everyone was discussing An Ran'er, the former girl group member who had transferred to the school today.
Some people claimed that after her group disbanded, her grades were too poor, so she had no choice but to attend this ordinary school.
Others said her boyfriend studied there, so she had followed him.
Someone even suggested that because her band's lead singer had left, she came to their school to look for a new one.
That person was immediately laughed at by everyone else.
After all, Nanqin High School was just an ordinary high school.
How could there possibly be someone qualified to become the lead singer of a girl group?
And even if such a person existed, they would surely be famous throughout the entire school.
The rest of the discussion was mostly meaningless gossip.
Li Nuo quickly lost interest.
Suddenly, someone with an anime avatar sent him a private message.
"Bro, bro, do you have my goddess's contact information?"
"Your goddess?"
"My goddess is your deskmate, An Ran'er!"
"Uh... no."
"No way. You sat next to her all day and still didn't get her QQ? You're hopeless!"
"......"
Li Nuo rolled his eyes.
Forget getting her contact information.
He had barely spoken a single sentence to her.
Just looking at her for too long was enough to earn him an annoyed glare.
Too lazy to explain himself, he simply ignored the message.
After setting his alarm, he pulled up his blanket and went straight to sleep.