Chapter 72

As a former courtesan burdened with idol baggage, He Zhizhou was very angry.

(T/N:An idol’s baggage. This Internet slang term refers to the fear of losing fans that causes artists or celebrities to hide their true selves in public. They might hold fast to the established image on purpose to maintain popularity.)

He doesn’t mention debuting with a male idol group in the center position. Instead, he goes straight to assembling a resilient AKB84, ready to brave the waves, akin to the caliber expected of a resident band at a top-tier bar.

(T/N: The center position in the male idol group is considered a’spotlight position’. AKB84 (pronounced A.K.B. Forty-Eight) is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group’s theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history.)

However, at this moment, he was called a “funeral singer” by a group of unruly kids.Even the Queen Elsa imitation show failed miserably, turning him into a “paper money burner.”

He Zhizhou felt that his professional abilities had been insulted, which was even more unacceptable than others mocking him for pretending to be proficient in swordsmanship.

Of course, this statement could only be whispered behind one’s back. If people in his sect found out, he would probably have to endure another round of “education of love.”.

The little rascals cried and wailed, while the older brothers and sisters in the alley knew three hundred and sixty-five ways to harm them yet seemed powerless to stop their crying.

In the deadlock, Pei Ji took a few steps forward.

Although he had an extremely handsome appearance, he always had a gloomy expression on his face. At this moment, with a slight furrow of his brows and thin lips pressed into a straight and sharp line like a knife, coupled with the long sword at his waist, the implicit meaning was clear.

—It’s getting cold. It’s time for these noisy brats to shut up for good.

Chen Yueming was closest to him, trembling with fear and not daring to move. She thought she might be stabbed in the head with the glaring long sword, but to her surprise, there was no movement. Instead, the other party lowered his voice and said softly, “Stop crying.”

It was a clear and pleasant teenage voice.

Her tears were still streaming down, but through the mist of tears, she could barely see the small thing that was handed to her.

It turned out to be a small butterfly woven from grass, fluttering its wings gently as Pei Ji’s fingertips moved slightly.

Pei Ji still had an expressionless face, seemingly not good at comforting people. His tone was as dry as a stone: “For you.”

Chen Yueming gritted her teeth and didn’t move.

She, she, she… she wouldn’t be swayed by such a cheap little trinket! She was the second miss of the Magistrate Chen’s family. Was she someone who would easily yield?

—Although the little green butterfly was quite cute,

Seeing her pursing her lips, Pei Ji didn’t speak but took out another equally green little object from his storage bag and handed it to Chen Yueming.

It was a round, grass-woven frog. With a gentle press from him, it leaped into the air, then swiftly fell and was caught in the slender fingers of the young man. Now, even if Chen Yueming wanted to save face, the children around her couldn’t help but swarm around to see the excitement.

The emotions of the unruly children fluctuated quickly, and they were all drawn to Pei Ji, leaving their tears and snot hanging on their faces like a pot of stew.

“The two brothers and sisters were just now doing magic tricks to amuse you.”

He patiently placed the butterfly and the frog in the hands of the two children. “These are gifts to apologize to you. I’m sorry.”

Actually, Pei Ji’s expression had never been particularly gentle, but compared to the previous Zheng Weiqi, who seemed like Run Tu, Ning Ning, who could eat children alive at any moment, and the human oil, He Zhizhou, he could barely pass as a normal humanoid creature.

(T/N: Run Tu and Chua are characters and animals appearing in Lu Xun’s novel “Hometown.” In the novel, Run Tu, to prevent Chua from stealing melons from the ground, uses a steel fork to pierce Chua.

(Human oil here describes He Zhizhou, who is indolent, narcissistic, annoying, misogynistic, and/or lewd.)

There’s a saying that it’s all thanks to good companionship.

The hearts of the unruly children were in shambles, and they needed a psychological anchor. The more indifferent and rigid Pei Ji appeared, the more reliable and composed they felt he was—so pure and unpretentious.

Simply untainted by mud, let alone, he brought novel and cute little gifts.

The group of children finally stopped crying, but the expressions of the older brothers and sisters at the alley’s entrance were even worse than crying.

He Zhizhou’s face was full of disbelief, and the hand he pointed at himself trembled slightly.

“Is my handsome face scarier than Pei Ji’s? Why? Why? Is it because my performance of ‘A Spray of Plum Blossoms’ wasn’t high enough?”

Zheng Weiqi was full of defeat; her expression dazed. “Did I actually lose? Did I lose to Pei Ji in entertaining children? My swordsmanship is not as good as that frog?  Am I really just a monkey?”

These two fell into deep self-doubt; only Ning Ning found it novel, walking up to Pei Ji and asking, “Did you buy these on the street, or did you make them yourself?”