Chapter 50 – Brother, am I Beautiful?

When Xu RenDong arrived at his seat, the performance activities had just begun. Lian Qiao’s performance was after two game trials. Xu RenDong didn’t understand the content of these two games. His attention was completely taken away by Koala Sauce who was screaming in excitement next to him. In contrast, WeiLan is too quiet. Even when the demonstration reached the most exciting point, he only smiled lightly. He looked completely like a lady from a well-to-do family.

Wait, he wouldn’t be a girl, would he?!

Xu RenDong looked at WeiLan with lingering fear and confirmed the existence of an Adam’s apple. Somehow he felt a complex mood that was both comforted and, at the same time, disappointed.

Finally it was Lian Qiao’s turn to go on. The staff quickly rushed to the stage and arranged some simple traditional Chinese-style scenery. When Xu RenDong looked at it from the side, it just looked like colorful cardboard and didn’t seem realistic. However, the audience in the audience suddenly became excited.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh Ah-Qiao ah!”

“Finally it’s Ah-Qiao’s turn!”

“FML my phone is running out of battery! Who has a charging pack? Lend it to me fast!”

The audience was whispering and talking frantically. On the big stage, the screen suddenly turned black and the audience fell silent. Xu RenDong wondered if there was an accident in the live broadcast. Suddenly a gorgeous title appeared on the screen:

[Sun Quan, The Emperor]

{This is a Chinese Vocaloid song. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJms1CGHjn8?– With lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPduT7DMdNo?– Violin cover}

At the same time, a passionate note sounded from behind the curtain. It was like a sharp arrow bursting out from the air!

Just a title and a note made the audience burst into excitement once more. The screams one after another erupted spontaneously at the venue. Everyone stared at the stage excitedly, wondering whe! Lian Qiao would come out.

The violin performance didn’t stop. The powerful melody shot directly from the instrument into the eardrums of the listeners. Every note stirred their nerves and the atmosphere suddenly ignited. Finally, under the rapt attention of the audience, Lian Qiao walked out slowly from the side of the stage while playing the violin.

He was wearing a blue-gray uniform, and the armor plate on his chest looked very light and did not affect his playing. He wore a purple-gray wig on the top of his head and it was twisted into two small buns, looking like small butterfly bows. A few strands of long hair hung down to his chest, in sharp contrast with the blue armor and it swayed gently and rhythmically with the movement of his bow.

An MV animation was simultaneously being played on the big screen behind Lian Qiao. As the MV screen kept flashing, Xu RenDong gradually understood that this song was about Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period and it was Sun Quan that Lian Qiao cosplaying. {Sun Quan is one of the major characters from “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” which has been adapted into a lot of different mediums.}

This was... Ancient period costume right? Playing the violin in a period costume? It felt kind of weird.

However, the audience around him clearly didn’t think so. Everyone raised the objects in their hands and shook them to the melody. There were mobile phones, posters, dolls.. there was even a game console in the back row. The movements were neat and tidy as if they had been rehearsed. Xu RenDong felt that he recognized this scene and soon remembered, oh, this is called “fans support”.

Looking at Koala Sauce and WeiLan next to him, one had bright eyes and was crying with excitement, the other was holding a mobile phone while recording. On the surface he looked calm but his two legs under the table couldn’t be controlled and were shaking like crazy.

...Was it worth it?

Although Xu RenDong felt that Lian Qiao played the violin very well, he was still far away from being able to touch people so much that they would cry.

However, it was undeniable that the song was full of rhythm and the melody was also very catchy. In addition, the MV’s screen angle of view was repeatedly switched, giving people a very passionate feeling. Lian Qiao’s violin performance brought a completely different feeling to the scene. The bow in his hand seemed to arouse the emotions of the audience and push the atmosphere towards a climax.

Lian Qiao’s body shook slightly with the rhythm and Xu RenDong’s eyes could not help but follow the movement of his violin bow. Others were listening to the song and watching the MV, but Xu RenDong suddenly noticed that Lian Qiao’s posture was very handsome. His strong wrist moved back and forth, like a willow branch that has just been drawn, soft but also tenacious. The bow moved freely and neatly. The young man stood with the violin and bow and was filled with enthusiasm.

At this moment, he really seemed to be a young monarch on the battlefield.

....He looked good.

Xu RenDong stared at Lian Qiao’s wrist unconsciously until the end of the performance, when the violin bow dragged out the last note and Lian Qiao then slowly dropped his hand. Applause broke out in the venue immediately!

Amidst the thunderous applause, Lian Qiao’s mouth raised his mouth and suddenly looked over towards him.

Lian Qiao was like someone who had just finished playing basketball. His chest rose and fell and he was panting slightly, but his eyes were bright. His eyes passed through countless audience members, through the exploding air in the venue, through all the noise and disturbance, and steadily met Xu RenDong’s eyes. With eyes that couldn’t hide his excitement, the corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards, his chest kept undulating, and then he proudly and silently said to Xu RenDong:

Compliment me.

Obviously Lian Qiao was the one who stood in the center of the stage and received everyone’s attention but the look in his eyes made Xu RenDong feel as if the spotlight was instead focused on him.

Xu RenDong looked at his smiling face and couldn’t help but smile back. The performance was successfully completed and he was sincerely happy for Lian Qiao. He even felt a little proud. However, before this joy could continue to ferment, a scene suddenly flashed before Xu RenDong’s eyes.

In the scene Lian Qiao was sitting on top of him, pressing down on his shoulders with both hands, pressing him to the ground. Lian Qiao looked down at him and his eyes were heavy with killing intent.

The next second, a dagger appeared in Lian Qiao’s hand. He clenched the dagger with both hands, raised it high, and then stabbed it downwards!

That sharp knife pierced Xu RenDong’s chest. There was a sharp pain and then the pressure of dying spread throughout his chest. He could even feel the pain of his heart tearing as it beat desperately against the blade.

This scene flashed before his eyes. When Xu RenDong came back to his senses, he found that he was still below the stage. On the stage, Lian Qiao was gone, replaced by the event host and two other guests.

Xu RenDong panted in shock and couldn’t help but press his hand against his heart.

What just happened? What did I just see?

Koala Sauce suddenly sideled over. He smiled and said: “Lian Qiao has gone to the locker room to change his clothes! He wants you to go backstage to find him and said he wants to keep exploring around with you.”

On the way to the locker room, Xu RenDong kept thinking about the scene he saw just now. It was clear, Lian Qiao had killed him with his own two hands. He also didn’t hesitate or feel sad when he did it. Recalling the strong killing intent in Lian Qiao’s eyes, Xu RenDong felt cold even now.

He didn’t believe that Lian Qiao would do such a thing, but then why would he see such a scene?

Xu RenDong suppressed his doubts, knocked on the door and walked into the locker room.

“Brother RenDong, you’re here!”

Lian Qiao was still wearing that antique military uniform and ran over, looking like a small terracotta warrior. The locker room was not large and it was separated from the venue by plastic panels. It should have been temporarily built for the needs of the exhibition. The dressing room was small, but mirrors, dressing tables, tables and chairs, and even washing sinks were all available. At this time, there were a few cosplay costumes piled on the sofa. Xu RenDong had no place to sit so he had to stand by the door.

“Why haven’t you changed your clothes yet?” Xu RenDong asked.

“There is a knotted strap at the back of this armor. I can’t untie it by myself.” Lian Qiao turned around and exposed his back. “Can you help me?”

That scene suddenly appeared before Xu RenDong’s eyes again: Lian Qiao’s cold eyes when he killed him. Now looking at Lian Qiao’s back, he suddenly thought:

It would be easy to kill him right now when he has his guard down..

Xu RenDong was taken aback by his own thoughts. He forced himself to stop thinking about it and reached out to find the knotted strap in Lian Qiao’s armor.

The inside of the armor was hot. Xu RenDong touched it for a while but couldn’t find the strap. He said: “Stop moving around, I can’t find it like this.”

Lian Qiao forced a smile and said, “But I’m so itchy.. I’m sorry I’m particularly ticklish, hahahahahahaha..”

The more Lian Qiao laughed, the itchier he felt. His body is so sensitive that he practically couldn’t touch a thing. He laughed and avoided wherever Xu RenDong touched. Xu RenDong was annoyed. He reached out, covered Lian Qiao’s mouth and gave him an angry look.

“Stop laughing!”

At the same time, he seized the opportunity to fumble around on Lian Qiao’s back.

Lian Qiao’s mouth was covered. His eyes opened wide and his cheeks were flushed. Although he himself took the initiative to ask Xu RenDong for help, he didn’t expect it to become like this. He was almost held in Xu RenDong’s arms and his mouth was covered, as though he were about to be forced to do something...

Lian Qiao was so excited that his eyes flashed: Hurry! Do it! Don’t pity me because I am a delicate flower!

Do it! Use force! Quickly! Right now!

However, the scene of ten thousand words that had filled his brain didn’t occur and Xu RenDong quickly found the knot. He stopped covering Lian Qiao’s mouth and reached in with both hands to untie the knot. The physical contact between the two was minimized instantly.

Lian Qiao: Yingyingyingying, disappointed.?{Yingyingyingying is a crying noise.}

Desiring to be penetrated by a lethal weapon. Lian Qiao didn’t know that the Xu RenDong who was standing behind was also restraining the desire to use lethal weapons. {Just in case it’s confusing or it bothers you, LQ is the gong but when he gets excited he often has a little girl mentality lol.}

It’s just that the two people have different definitions of the word “weapon”..

Fortunately, the armor became loose and Xu RenDong can easily untie the ropes. He lifted the armor up and Lian Qiao shrank his neck down. The armor was taken off.

“Okay.” Xu RenDong breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the sofa. Only then did he discover that Lian Qiao was still wearing a complicated uniform under his armor. The shirt is very close to the body and it was embroidered with dark gold patterns. Even though when Lian Qiao wore the armor plate, these exquisite embroideries were completely concealed and wsa completely invisible to the audience when he was performing on stage. However, even so, the people who made the costume still embroidered these patterns meticulously, as if this costume is not a cosplay prop, but a real uniform.

He remembered that this costume and props were prepared by WeiLan. The boy looked quiet and inconspicuous and he did not expect that he would put so much effort into making the costume.

Xu RenDong stared at the pattern on the shirt in a daze. Lian Qiao tilted his head to look at him and a smirk suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He stretched out his fingers, lifted up Xu RenDong’s chin and said with a smile: “Brother~ Is Quan-er beautiful~?”?{Quan-er is a cutesy nickname for Sun Quan, the character LQ is cosplaying. This sentence has an additional meaning which will be explained in a second.}

Xu RenDong looked up at Lian Qiao and was suddenly surprised to see that Lian Qiao’s eyes were green. He quickly realized that he was wearing cosmetic contact lenses, but these eyes were so beautiful, like some kind of precious mineral, both radiant and dazzling.

His attention was completely attracted by these eyes and he stared at Lian Qiao blankly for a long time. So that when he came back to his senses, he blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Lian Qiao was still looking at him with a smile, as if waiting for a response. Xu RenDong recalled just now, Lian Qiao seemed to say something like “Is Quan-er beautiful?” Wait, does this “Quan-er” refer to Sun Quan from the song “Sun Quan, the Emperor”?

Xu RenDong suddenly realized. Looking at Lian Qiao again, he finally read a trace of expectation from Lian Qiao’s expression.

Was Lian Qiao waiting for him to co-operate and act out something with him..?

But he didn’t know how to act.

Xu RenDong made a decisive decision and took out his phone to search Baidu. When Lian Qiao saw this, he was taken aback and had a bad feeling. Immediately afterwards, Xu RenDong looked at his phone and began to read in a low voice.

“I smiled and started to dance, just like the courtesans from the brothel. My footsteps circled the room with light steps. Every moment, every look, was filled with charm..”

Lian Qiao’s expression changed instantly.

Xu RenDong felt this sentence was a bit weird. He glanced at Lian Qiao suspiciously but insisted on continuing to read: “As I danced, I started to take off my clothes and finally there was only one piece of clothing that barely covered my thigh. On the last spin, I sat down on my elder brother’s lap. I smiled and hooked my brother’s neck..” {Brother in Chinese is an intimate way of calling any male that’s older than you in the same generation, not necessarily blood related.}

Lian Qiao rushed forward: “Ahhhhhh, don’t read it!”

However, it was too late and Xu RenDong said the last words softly: “Brother, is Quan-er beautiful?”

Lian Qiao collapsed instantly. He covered his face and knelt down in front of Xu RenDong.

Xu RenDong looked down at Lian Qiao. A minute ago, Lian Qiao was still hooking his chin and looking down at him condescendingly, but now he is kneeling on the ground too ashamed to get up. This really was a turn of events.

Xu RenDong also had no intention of bullying him. In order to resolve the embarrassment, Xu RenDong took the initiative to say: “So, you actually like to read this kind of novel.” {obviously this is from some kind of novel inspired by Three Kingdoms and not the original text. Sun Quan is definitely not a courtesan in that one!}

Lian Qiao: “Ying!”

His whole person suddenly rolled up like a watermelon!

Xu RenDong saw that the situation was not right. Knowing that he had said something wrong, he coughed: “Sorry, I shouldn’t judge your reading preferences casually.. I wrote down the title of the book and I will read it carefully when I go back.. ..”

Lian Qiao: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

The watermelon began to roll on the ground holding its head!

Xu RenDong: “..” He was at a complete loss as to what to do.

Lian Qiao covered his face, crying out while rolling around on the ground. He even knocked into the sofa and the table. The scene was very chaotic for a while. Xu RenDong carefully retracted his legs towards the sofa to prevent himself from accidentally hurting Lian Qiao.

Lian Qiao rolled on the ground for ten minutes and finally stopped, exhausted. He lay on the ground panting with red eyes, staring at Xu RenDong sadly. At the same time, the door of the locker room suddenly opened and Koala Sauce and WeiLan walked in while talking and laughing. They saw Lian Qiao lying on the ground gasping and froze, shocked

Xu RenDong took the initiative to explain: “It’s like this, just now he..”

Lian Qiao: “Ahhhhhhhhh!” Suddenly a new round of tumbling began!

Xu RenDong & Koala Sauce & WeiLan: “???”

After another ten minutes, the two finally figured out what happened just now. Lian Qiao chewed his sleeve and felt wronged. Koala Sauce laughed and patted his shoulder to comfort him. Xu RenDong said that he was going outside to get a breath of fresh air. WeiLan carefully sorted out the armor and shirt that Lian Qiao took off, and patiently patted every inch of dust on it.

He put his exquisite clothes aside and then took out a leather whip from his suitcase and looked at Lian Qiao gloomily.

“Is this a good reason for soiling the clothes?”