Mistakenly Marked – Chapter 12
by Little PandaDesign
“‘Wouldn’t that give the gala its trending hype?!'”
“I’ve communicated with the staff over there.”
“According to them, they didn’t buy the trending topic. They’re currently working on cooling it down too.”
Zhou Fu operated the coffee maker as she continued,
“Of course, there’s always the possibility they’re lying. But the other scenario is far more likely.”
“It’s the male lead’s side deliberately redirecting the conflict onto you… and Miss Bo.”
Zhou Fu pushed the freshly poured coffee in front of Xu Jialuo. “Jialuo, what do you think?”
“Thanks.”
Xu Jialuo accepted the coffee, her fingertips tracing the rim of the cup. She spoke plainly, her tone detached:
“Is there any way to make people talk less about things that have nothing to do with my music?”
Zhou Fu raised an eyebrow. “Understood. I’ll handle it as I see fit, then.”
Zhou Fu looked down and rapidly fired off several messages in her work contacts group.
“I’ll get someone to bring down the trending heat directly. Cold treatment.”
Xu Jialuo responded, “Okay.”
The sweet-looking omega loved peppering her speech with modal particles, but as a manager, Zhou Fu’s efficiency and professionalism were top-tier.
Completely trustworthy.
“But Jialuo, I’ve actually been really curious about something.”
Zhou Fu set down her phone and leaned closer to Xu Jialuo. “Is the bad blood between you and Miss Bo really that deep?”
The bitterness of the coffee was spreading across her palate. Xu Jialuo swallowed, long lashes shadowing her ink-dark pupils. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason, just wanted to know your attitude toward her.”
“Between the theme song incident and this one, the current public opinion actually favors us. Most netizens are sympathetic and indignant on our behalf.”
“So—”
Zhou Fu’s eyes curved, her voice as sweet as ever,
“If there really is bad blood and you want to use this trending topic to have someone publish hit pieces and stomp her down a few notches, that’s totally doable.”
“I can arrange it right away.”
“…”
“No need for anything that complicated.”
Xu Jialuo stood up, turning her back to Zhou Fu, and went to the sink to rinse out the coffee cup.
“I wrote a new song. I want to go to the recording studio first and lay down a demo to see how it sounds.”
Zhou Fu narrowed her eyes.
A few seconds later: “Alright, I know you just want to focus on making music. But not today—we have another event.”
“What event?”
“Xinghai’s 10th Anniversary Celebration Gala.”
Handing Xu Jialuo an invitation, Zhou Fu explained,
“Senior Mu suddenly fell ill and can’t participate anymore. Her manager has some connection with me—she said Senior Mu wanted to ask if you could step in and save the show.”
Mu Zhiyu was a veteran who had swept multiple Golden Melody Awards1. Calling it “saving the show” was really an intentional gesture to give a newer artist a good opportunity.
Xu Jialuo understood this clearly and nodded. “Zhou Fu-jie, please thank Senior Mu and her manager for me.”
Zhou Fu nodded with a smile. “I knew you’d agree.”
To have the freedom to focus on the music she wanted to make, Xu Jialuo hadn’t signed with any company.
But as her audience and performance opportunities grew, there were many things she wasn’t good at.
Until Zhou Fu, who had resigned from an entertainment company out of dissatisfaction with workplace unspoken rules, approached her proactively and offered to be her manager, handling everything outside of creative work.
Zhou Fu had indeed delivered on her word.
Meticulous and organized. She also knew which events would interest Xu Jialuo and which to turn down.
Zhou Fu glanced at her watch. “We need to head over right away. We have to make it for the rehearsal.”
“Okay.”
“But Jialuo, are you feeling unwell? Your complexion seems a bit off.”
“I’m fine, might have caught a slight chill. But my voice is in good shape—it won’t affect my performance.”
“Mm. The temperature’s been fluctuating with all the rain lately. I’ve heard several artists are feeling under the weather. Remember to wear a mask when it’s crowded—watch out for cross-infection.”
Her footsteps paused briefly. Xu Jialuo responded, “Mm.”
A figure in a hoodie and black pants stood on stage, baseball cap pulled low, revealing only a pale, sharp sliver of chin.
As a drumbeat like a heartbeat began, the lights overhead suddenly converged.
In the moment the light gathered and scattered, the person on stage gripped the microphone in one hand, and the singing began.
The busy, chaotic venue fell several degrees quieter.
After one line was sung, it went nearly completely silent.
“Wow… Xu Jialuo, right? She sounds this amazing live too.”
“That’s all-live mic2, and she’s singing so steadily.”
“I need to record this, it’s incredible.”
“Hey, stop talking for a second, let me listen properly.”
“…”
Everyone in the venue was drawn to the performer on stage.
No one noticed the dark corner nearby, where a production director lowered his voice. “See? The one on stage is Xu Jialuo.”
A staff member beside him glanced over. “Are we really… going to do that?”
“What’s there to hesitate about at this point? With that trending topic going, if not now, when?”
“In a bit, you take two cameramen and stake out the corridor outside her dressing room.”
“Once that person goes in too and the two of them come face-to-face—as long as there’s any shouting, or the moment they come out—cut the pre-show backstage livestream straight to them!”
“But if we do this and actually capture an ugly confrontation on the livestream…”
“Wouldn’t that give the gala its trending hype?!”
“But…”
The person beside him said in an extremely low voice,
“If it really blows up and negative public opinion spirals, if Fuguang Entertainment comes after us…”
“What’s there to come after? An artist walked into the wrong room, they don’t get along, they were stupid enough to have a conflict, and it happened to get livestreamed. What does that have to do with us?!”
“…Fine. I’ll go set it up.”
Rehearsal ended. Xu Jialuo tugged at her hoodie.
There were many stage lights overhead, and the heat had made her break a slight sweat.
Someone approached. “Teacher Xu, please follow me. I’ll take you to the dressing room.”
“Okay.”
A masked staff member led Xu Jialuo offstage and around to the backstage area.
It was a single-occupancy dressing room.
Zhou Fu brought over a makeup artist to change Xu Jialuo’s outfit and do her makeup.
“I prepared a few options in advance. Take a look. If you wear your hair down, go with this black dress. If you want an updo, wear this high-collar dress.”
Both could conceal the scar on the back of her neck.
“This one.” Xu Jialuo pointed at the first option. “No need for an updo, keep it simple. If there’s time, I can do another rehearsal run.”
“Alright.” Zhou Fu signaled the makeup artist and patted Xu Jialuo on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, that run was already amazing.”
The removed clothes were hung to one side.
On someone with such excellent natural features, makeup was simple.
The look was finished quickly.
Zhou Fu crossed her arms, admiring from top to bottom. “Absolutely stunning.”
The long, draped gown was effortlessly carried by her tall frame, a feather-woven belt resting at her waist and hips.
It wasn’t the clothes that made the person beautiful—it was the long legs, the narrow waist, a natural clothes hanger of a figure.
The stylist added a black swan necklace to her pale neck as a final touch.
Zhou Fu nodded. “Perfect.”
A staff member waiting outside knocked. “All non-artist staff, please follow me. We’ve prepared some special perks.”
Zhou Fu lifted her chin. “You all go ahead. I’ll wait here.”
“Well… our production director said he has matters to discuss with the managers, so we’d like to ask you to come along as well.”
Probably some follow-up collaboration matters.
Zhou Fu nodded. “Alright. Then Jialuo, you go ahead to rehearsal. I’ll come find you in a bit.”
Xu Jialuo walked out of the room with her, heading toward the stage. “Okay.”
“Miss Bo, this is your dressing room. Please come in.”
Assistant Xiao Nan supported the person inside. “Huh, why is there clothing hanging here? And a… hoodie?”
It didn’t look like any kind of performance costume.
“Ah… it must be, must be something a staff member forgot to clear out. I’m so sorry, I’ll have someone remove it right away.”
Not pausing to question further, Xiao Nan nodded and helped the person beside her sit down on the sofa first.
As if she had no bones, the woman sank softly into the sofa the moment she sat.
Cool brown curls were dotted with scattered flowers, and the white lace gown was similarly speckled with petals.
Star-bright eyes, a lushly beautiful face. Sheer gauze revealed skin pale as jade—the whole person looked like a flower fairy stepping out of a fairy realm.
Only her cheeks seemed unusually flushed, and her thick, curled lashes drooped low, making her look listless.
“Jiejie, someone was tailing our car way too aggressively on the road. All the staff who were supposed to come with us got stuck in traffic. But don’t worry, they should be here soon!”
Bo Suiqing leaned against the sofa and responded, “…Mm.”
Her originally crisp voice was hoarse to a painful degree, sounding rough even to listen to.
Xiao Nan’s heart ached even more. “Jiejie, have some more hot water—ah, it’s already empty.”
Xiao Nan shook the cup in her hand and immediately stood up. “Jiejie, wait here a moment, I’ll go find some hot water right away!”
Footnotes
- 金曲奖 | Jin Qu Jiang | Taiwan's premier music awards ceremony, widely regarded as the Chinese-language equivalent of the Grammys; sweeping multiple editions signals elite, top-tier industry status.
- 全开麦 | quan kai mai | Entertainment industry term for a performer singing completely live with no prerecorded vocal backing tracks—a rigorous standard that exposes raw vocal ability.
0 Comments