Dating the Heartthrob Superstar-Chapter 35: Two Tone Deaf People

Chapter 35: Two Tone-Deaf Stars

Han Zhi has been a fan of Chen Jingqing for ten years. It’s fair to say that Chen Jingqing’s songs defined Han Zhi’s entire youth, and his composition style has been heavily influenced by Chen Jingqing.

What Han Zhi never expected was that Chen Jingqing actually knew who he was.

Chen Jingqing said, "I know you, the original singer of ’Wasted Time.’"

’Wasted Time’ was the song that took Han Zhi by storm all those years ago, becoming a nationwide sensation.

"You wrote ’Wasted Time’ well, and your voice is remarkable. Why haven’t I seen you release any more songs?" When Chen Jingqing first heard ’Wasted Time,’ he was immediately captivated by Han Zhi’s extraordinary voice—a natural gift from the heavens. When Han Zhi sang, his voice seemed ethereal, silent yet powerful. It was this voice that made Chen Jingqing pay special attention to Han Zhi and fully appreciate the emotions embedded in ’Wasted Time.’

The song itself was outstanding, with a delicate and lingering melody that carried a force touching the soul. Back then, Chen Jingqing had even curiously looked up the credits for ’Wasted Time’ and discovered that both the lyrics and composition were by Han Zhi. He had thought that Han Zhi’s future potential was limitless, imagining he could go very far in the music industry.

Yet Han Zhi disappeared like a flower that blooms for only a fleeting moment. After ’Wasted Time,’ Chen Jingqing never heard anything about him again.

Assuming Han Zhi had left the industry due to some personal issue, he always felt it was a great pity. So now, he casually brought it up, but he immediately caught the fleeting look of sorrow in Han Zhi’s eyes. Without waiting for Han Zhi to reply, he cleverly changed the subject. "I heard the show has prepared a fun music challenge today. When does it start?"

The two tone-deaf movie stars exchanged glances and looked bewildered.

Fun music challenge? What is that? Why hadn’t they heard about this earlier?

Both of them turned their gaze to the production team. The director cleared his throat and explained, "Today’s guests are both singers, so, naturally, we need to adjust for our lineup. That’s why we’re hosting a fun music challenge on the beach. Mr. Lin, Mr. Meng, let’s start with rock-paper-scissors—the winner can pick their teammate first."

Following the director’s instructions, Lin Qin and Meng Chao were put in opposing teams today, and their partners would either be Chen Jingqing or Han Zhi. It was a two-on-two battle.

This was the first time Lin Qin and Meng Chao had been on opposite sides throughout their entire time on the show. Both seemed rather excited and looked forward to the upcoming competition.

The director proceeded to announce the rules of the contest.

The fun music challenge involved games played in a musical format. There would be three rounds in total, and the winning team would get to designate a musical note to the losing team. At the end of the games, both teams would be given three hours to compose a song. The song must incorporate the designated note from the opposing team and repeat it four times.

A small music concert would be held on the beach later in the evening where both teams would perform their newly composed songs. The winning team would enjoy a special seafood feast prepared by the production crew.

After Lin Qin and Meng Chao heard the rules, only one thought crossed their minds: Can we quit the show?

During previous filming sessions, when the group chatted at night, there were moments when guests sang together. It was then that the entire production team discovered a shared flaw between these two phenomenal acting stars—they were tone-deaf. Even with simple children’s songs like "Old MacDonald," the two managed to sing the melody in inexplicably comical ways. It was downright magical.

So, for Lin Qin and Meng Chao, this fun music challenge felt like pure torture.

But both of them were talented actors. To avoid making fools of themselves, the two pretended to be calm and began their rock-paper-scissors duel.

Meng Chao won the first round but proposed a best-of-three match. Lin Qin played along.

"Rock," Meng Chao said.

Lin Qin obediently threw rock, while Meng Chao threw scissors. Lin Qin won.

In the third round, Meng Chao said, "Paper."

Lin Qin followed with paper, while Meng Chao threw rock again. Lin Qin won once more.

Meng Chao withdrew his hand and smiled. "You’ve won. Go ahead and pick first."

"Oh," Lin Qin responded casually. He hesitated for a moment before having a realization, "Wait a minute—you were letting me win just now!"

Chen Jingqing, Han Zhi, and the crew: We saw that. Everything had been orchestrated by Meng the Magnanimous.

Meng Chao pinched Lin Qin’s cheek and said matter-of-factly, "You’ve won. Pick your teammate."

Lin Qin didn’t dwell on Meng Chao’s potential charity and instead wrestled with his decision. No matter who he chose, he would feel nervous playing the games later and struggle to relax—unless it was Meng Chao.

He glanced at Meng Chao, silently pleading for guidance.

Meng Chao shook his head, ruthlessly refusing to help, leaving Lin Qin to fend for himself.

With no one to turn to, Lin Qin chose to rely on himself. He closed his eyes, made a dramatic spinning motion, and after a few dizzy rotations, he stopped. Meng Chao helped him steady his footing. Once Lin Qin stood firmly, he saw his hand pointing slightly toward Han Zhi’s position.

"Alright, Han Zhi it is," Lin Qin declared.

Turns out Lin Qin had just used himself as an impromptu human compass. His method of decision-making was oddly adorable.

So Lin Qin partnered with Han Zhi and formed the "Fresh Meat Team" due to their younger age, while Meng Chao and Chen Jingqing teamed up as the "Legendary Team" because they were both iconic figures in their respective fields.

With teams formed, the music challenge began immediately. The venue was set up on the beach, and the program crew had already arranged all the props behind the scenes.

The first round involved a large square dug into the sand, within which musical notes were buried. Teams needed to find the notes, arrange them based on the numbers indicated, and reconstruct the melody of a song’s chorus. The first team to guess the song title would win.

For the two actors whose musical knowledge barely extended beyond "do-re-mi," they put on poker faces, obediently accepted their tasks, and dedicated themselves to the manual labor of digging up notes from the sand. Meanwhile, Han Zhi and Chen Jingqing took charge of the mental challenge—guessing the song’s title.

And thus, this set the tone for the entire day. Lin Qin and Meng Chao resigned themselves to the inevitable, helpless in their tone-deafness.

At the signal from the referee, the game began.

The four players charged into the marked square.

Just before they entered, Meng Chao leaned in to whisper in Lin Qin’s ear, "If you feel nervous, stick close to me. I’ll always be here."

Lin Qin nodded.

So, from the beginning of the game, even though Lin Qin and Meng Chao wore uniforms for different teams, they looked more like they belonged to the same one.

Midway through the game, Chen Jingqing raised his hand.

Everyone thought he had figured out the song title, but instead, he exclaimed, "I protest! We have a traitor in our team!!" His voice carried a desperate lamentation, and his expression mirrored that of an unloved cabbage.

The game was paused, and members of the production team couldn’t hold back their laughter. No one had expected the superstar to have such a knack for comedy.

The director cleared his throat and declared, "Protest denied! But we ask someone to seriously focus on the competition and stop handing over the notes they’ve found to the opposing team." Naturally, the culprit was Meng Chao, whose generosity with Lin Qin had triggered his teammate’s outcry.