{Chapter: 354 Princess of Dubai?}
The booth was elevated slightly higher than average, and while the rest of the audience could barely see the performer through the poor lighting and stage smoke, Lin Yuan had no such problem. Thanks to his incredible stats—especially his visual acuity which surpassed normal human standards—he could clearly see every detail, even from a distance.
And the moment his eyes locked onto the so-called "singer" standing on the stage, he nearly laughed out loud from the sheer absurdity of it.
This man was even uglier than the poorly printed poster outside had led him to believe. With his pointed chin, uneven eyes, a mouth that stretched in a crooked grin, and cheeks sunken like a malnourished monkey, the man was almost cartoonishly bizarre. It was hard to believe this figure was being paraded as the original singer of such a moving and elegant song like Blue and White Porcelain.
No wonder Lin Yuan had felt uneasy about the image on the advertisement earlier. Now, seeing the man in the flesh, everything clicked into place.
Without even thinking, Lin Yuan muttered under his breath, "This guy is a damn insult to the song…"
However, standing right beside him was none other than Qiao Siying, who clearly heard his comment.
Her reaction was immediate. She turned her head sharply, her golden hair swaying with the motion, and fixed Lin Yuan with an irritated glare. "What did you just say?" she demanded, her voice laced with annoyance. "How is he ugly? He looks... average, okay? You can't just mock someone's appearance like that. He's here to sing and perform. As long as he's talented, that's what matters most."
Despite her tone, Qiao Siying was clearly trying to defend not the man's looks, but the ideals behind them—talent over appearance. She crossed her arms and huffed. "Besides, he wrote Blue and White Porcelain, didn't he? That song is beautiful! And what about you? What have you ever composed? Don't judge others based on how they look."
To be fair, her argument would have made sense—if the man on stage actually was the original composer and singer.
Unfortunately, he wasn't. He was a fraud riding on the song's popularity, and a very poor stand-in at that.
Lin Yuan tilted his head slightly, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "I agree that judging someone purely by their appearance is unfair... but come on. This guy? He's completely ruining the song. I might as well cover my ears. It's like watching a clown try to play a piano at a royal banquet."
Hearing him continue to insult the man, Qiao Siying was clearly reaching her boiling point. Her brows furrowed and she snapped, "You really think you can say that just because you're handsome? Being good-looking doesn't give you the right to ridicule someone who's worked hard."
Then, as if to firmly shut him down, she added confidently, "Besides, even if he's ugly, he wrote and sang 'Blue and White Porcelain.' That song touched me deeply. And you? You probably can't even carry a tune."
Lin Yuan couldn't help but smile at her passionate response. "Well then," he said casually, "what if I told you I'm the one who wrote and sang Blue and White Porcelain?"
Qiao Siying stared at him for a moment in stunned silence, and then suddenly burst into laughter. "You?" she scoffed, her tone dripping with disbelief. "Please. If you're the guy who made Blue and White Porcelain, then I must be the Princess of Dubai."
Lin Yuan grinned. "Princess of Dubai? No way. At best, you'd qualify as the palace's little maid."
Her eyes narrowed. "Say that again?"
"I said," Lin Yuan repeated with a teasing look, "if I really am the original singer, then you, Miss Qiao Siying, would be my obedient maid, serving tea and water."
Qiao Siying's lips curled up into a mocking smirk. "Fine! If you really are the singer, then I'll admit defeat and be your maid. But since you're obviously not, we don't have to worry about that, do we?"
Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, amused. "You sure about that?"
She gave an exaggerated nod. "Absolutely. You're handsome, I'll give you that. But singing? Songwriting? I doubt it. That song has way too much emotion and depth for someone like you to have composed it."
"Oh? And how do you know that?"
Qiao Siying huffed. "Because I've never seen a single video, interview, or even a photo of the original singer. The song was released by Li Feifei's company, but they never revealed who sang it. There's no official music video either—only some pirated recordings online, and the faces are all too blurry to recognize."
She looked away briefly, clearly still disappointed that her emotional connection to the song had led her to this shabby venue with its shady performer.
"Well then," Lin Yuan said softly, a hint of amusement still in his voice, "maybe today's your lucky day."
Qiao Siying blinked and turned back to him, confused. "Huh?"
What had been circulating widely across the internet was that the iconic song Blue and White Porcelain was first performed during Li Feifei's concert. Only the official video footage of that concert had surfaced publicly—no behind-the-scenes clips, no alternate camera angles, and certainly no footage that revealed who actually sang the piece.
And so, Lin Yuan smiled, casually leaning closer as he said, "Then go check the videos from Li Feifei's concert. You'll know who the real singer of Blue and White Porcelain is."
Qiao Siying rolled her eyes, not hiding the disdainful smirk on her face. But something about Lin Yuan's confident tone stirred an odd sense of uncertainty in her heart.
She took out her phone, her perfectly manicured fingers tapping quickly on the screen. Though she didn't believe him—at least not yet—the unwavering confidence in Lin Yuan's voice made her feel a tinge of nervousness.
Is he really the original singer? No way. Absolutely impossible.
Still, her hands moved on their own as she searched for the video. Within seconds, Qiao Siying found what she was looking for: the official video of Li Feifei's Jiangbei concert. The resolution was sharp, and the audio crisp. It was the kind of professional recording you'd expect from a major artist's performance.
She scrubbed through the video to the part where Blue and White Porcelain was performed. The moment the song began playing, a sense of familiarity washed over her—yes, this was the version she had fallen in love with.
But then she noticed something—there was no shot of the male singer. The camera only focused on Li Feifei smiling, standing gracefully on stage, occasionally mouthing a few lines or giving reactions as if someone else were singing.
With a triumphant gleam in her eyes, Qiao Siying turned her phone to Lin Yuan and grinned playfully.
"Hahaha! Look at this! Your bluff has been exposed, Young Master Lin. Are you still going to insist that you're the mysterious singer? This is hilarious!"
Lin Yuan didn't respond with indignation. He simply gave a slow, amused smile, his demeanor relaxed as if he had expected her reaction all along.
"That's the edited version," he said calmly. "Try searching for the uncut live recordings. Use keywords like 'live version,' 'uncut,' or 'fan-recorded'. Then we'll talk."
Qiao Siying furrowed her brows. She was tempted to dismiss him outright, but his tone was so certain—so maddeningly certain—that her curiosity got the better of her.
With a small sigh and another eye-roll, she began typing again. "Fine, let's just see how desperate you're going to get," she muttered under her breath.
A moment later, several video results appeared. To her surprise, there were quite a few unofficial uploads.
One of them had a thumbnail that instantly caught her eye. The title was so exaggerated it felt like clickbait:
"Blue and White Porcelain Original Singing Male God's Face Exposed! The Uncut Version of Li Feifei's Jiangbei Concert! Super Clear Video! Super Close-Up! Witness the Face of a Man God!"
Qiao Siying scoffed. "What kind of title is this?"
Still, she clicked. The video began.
It wasn't the full concert—just the segment where Li Feifei was selecting lucky audience members to come up and perform.
The first two fan requests went by quickly. Then came the third name. The moment the camera panned to the third lucky draw winner, Qiao Siying's eyes widened, and her breath caught in her throat.
There, clear as day, walking up toward the stage, was Lin Yuan.
Her jaw dropped.
Gasps erupted in the crowd within the video, followed by deafening screams.
"He looks like a celestial being! I want to marry him!"
"OH MY GOD! That's the definition of handsome!"
"Ahhhh! Please take my heart, male god!"
Qiao Siying sat frozen, her phone in her hand, her eyes darting between the screen and the real Lin Yuan standing beside her.