Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

: Comforting the Fans

"Sister Li, what's the matter with you?" Zhao Youyue quickly replied.

When Su Li saw Zhao Youyue's reply, she naturally grew agitated. She started murmuring things like "she's not dead" and "she's still alive." In a sudden torrent of emotions, she poured her heart out to Zhao Youyue about how everyone on the internet was "defiling" her. Simultaneously, in a querulous tone, she asked what Zhao Youyue had been up to recently, and why she had suddenly stopped live streaming for such a long time.

Zhao Youyue was speechless as she listened to Su Li's grievances. She suspected that the netizens have already brainwashed Su Li into thinking that her drawings were filled with evil, and that tragedy would befall upon whatever she drew…

In actuality, all of this was just a coincidence.

Su Li was really the pan-carrier.

How could Zhao Youyue possibly be killed by Su Li?

Not a chance!

She was the mastermind behind the scenes…

Zhao Youyue replied, "Well, like I said, I was appointed as the host of my school's New Year's Eve. This party just so happens to coincide with our school's 100th anniversary. This would make it a highly anticipated and important event. Therefore the school officials would not allow any errors. Hence, I've been spending all my nights on rehearsals and preparations, and it has left me with no time to live stream."

After Zhao Youyue's explanation, Su Li realized that New Year's Day was just around the corner. She unconsciously started reminiscing about her own high school days, where things were uncannily similar. She expressed her understanding towards Zhao Youyue's situation, but she still hoped that Zhao Youyue would at least log into Ah Yu's Weibo and explain everything to her fans. If not, those fans of hers might really start to wreak havoc.

Some netizens were genuinely concerned had also indicated that they intended to contact the police. They could not just stand there and do nothing while knowing that Ah Yu had gone missing, right?

Thereafter, Zhao Youyue finally logged into her sockpuppet "Ah Yu" Weibo account. Upon logging in, she discovered that her Weibo was bursting with activity and interactions. Other than her fans who were concerned about her, many others were gloating over her disappearance. They were saying things like "now that you've finally gotten a taste of Su, the Great Deity's mysterious powers, how do you like it"

Zhao Youyue was at a loss for words. All these netizens must be bored out of their minds. Why do they persist on stirring up trouble, one after another? It was quite apparent that, no matter what Su Li draws in the future, everyone would definitely overthink it. It had become so unscrupulous, to the point that if someone were to meet with an accident after seeing her illustrations, they might even link it to her and blame her for it.

The netizens would surely blow things out of proportion and start saying things like how Su, the Great Deity's illustrations have finally managed to kill a reader. Fortunately, the mainstream media would not get involved, under normal circumstances. It was only the netizens who were particularly fond of creating this sort of drama.

One fact could not be denied - Su Li's popularity had exploded, due to her being known for terms like "poisonous touch" and "the mysterious force from the East." Many of those who did not even read mangas, were slowly being made aware of her "great achievements."

This had garnered even greater attention towards Su Li's Weibo. Some had requested for Su Li to draw people that they hated, in the hope that her mysterious power would be able to help them get revenge.

As Su Li's influence had extended far beyond the constraints of the manga community, her reputation and net worth grew. Everything she drew would inevitably become a hot topic for discussion. Some content creators were even willing to offer themselves up and bet on how they would be the first creator to be immune to her "mysterious powers"…

There were also creators who had "bento-giving obsessions," who felt that they should not go overboard with the characters in their works. As long as they worked with an illustrator like Su Li, and give bentos to their characters, the pan would definitely fall on her head.

Zhao Youyue was about to post a Weibo status to clarify the mist around her recent disappearance. At the same time, she made it clear that she was still alive. Otherwise, some netizens who did not truly understand the situation would really think that she had been killed by Su Li.

However, her focus shifted to the piano on the stage, and something dawned upon her. She realized that if she were to just send out a simple message, it would never be sufficient to calm the worried hearts of her fans. If that was the case, she might as well do some fan service - play a song on the piano and record a video of it for her fans. This would also amount to solid proof that she was still alive and well.

Thinking that it was about time for Huang Zongchao's rehearsal of his piano solo performance soon, Zhao Youyue decisively said, "Let me play one song later."

Huang Zongchao could not help but doubt her, "You can also play the piano?"

"Yeah, I can play the piano."

Huang Zongchao felt surprised hearing this. Zhao Youyue was already amazingly good with the violin, was she an accomplished pianist as well?

No, this was impossible. She was probably only a beginner, and her piano skills had to be mediocre, at best. If not, she would have chosen to perform with the piano instead of the violin at the party.

After all, when it came to the expression of music, the piano still did a better job. Violin performances were not as expressive compared to piano performances, unless the skills of the violinist were completely beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Thus, as Zhao Youyue was always casually playing the violin during the rehearsals, she had not yet revealed her true strength. This gave Huang Zongchao the impression that she was just a mediocre violinist, just like a mass-produced factory product. Apart from her familiarity with the violin, she had no other redeeming factors.

If her violin skills were only at that level, despite the fact that it was her main instrument, it was easy to imagine how bad her piano skills would be. She might only be able to do so much as to play a few very simple songs

However, Huang Zongchao was already a little sick of playing the song that he had prepared. Furthermore, today was the last rehearsal before the New Year's Eve party. He had also long been well prepared, hence he happily agreed to let Zhao Youyue play for him instead. He smiled and said, "Sure, go ahead and play in my stead, then."

Zhao Youyue happily said, "The chairman is ever so kind and considerate, thank you!"

After Huang Zongchao saw Zhao Youyue's smile, he realized that she really looked beautiful. A sweet scent breezed past him, and Zhao Youyue was already headed towards the stage.

Huang Zongchao could not help but fantasize about how Zhao Youyue would look like, in her gown on the day of the event. In fact, he was even eagerly waiting for it to come.

Zhao Youyue had already skillfully started video recording on her mobile phone. As usual, she did not show her face. However, her school uniform was exposed in the video. She went on to explain about why she had not been live streaming recently, while also telling her fans that she would be playing a song named "B Comme Brise"[1], originally composed by Chu Luoxun.

This was a very soft and gentle piano piece. It had a calming effect, which made one feel as if they had been placed right in the middle of Spring, enjoying the sunshine as the flowers around them bloomed most beautifully…

Zhao Youyue did not hold back this time. She immediately activated the "Chu Luoxun card." She had been prepared to play such a piano piece to take away all the uneasiness that her fans had been experiencing lately.

Translation note :

[1] "B Comme Brise," (lit. B for Breeze)RAW:""(lit. Spring Whispers) was a piano piece originally composed by Chu Luoxun in the novel "Beautiful April." It was composed as a tribute to Richard Clayderman, a French pianist, which is why the title of the song bears a striking similarity to Richard Clayderman's "A Comme Amour," (lit. L for Love) or""(lit. Autumn Whispers). 'Breeze' translates to 'brise' in French. We decided on such a name, because Spring is commonly associated with breezes.