A back piece tattoo like this couldn’t possibly be completed in one session, but this customer had a high pain tolerance, so for the first session, Xu Zhinan managed to ink quite a large area.

By the afternoon, she had a photo shoot scheduled, so she had to pause, with the remaining work to be continued tomorrow.

It was three in the afternoon when she saw the customer out. Xu Zhinan still needed to visit the organizing office of a tattoo design competition she had previously registered for to submit some design drafts.

Just as she had packed up and was about to leave, Gu Congwang arrived.

The car stopped in front of the shop. He honked twice and called out from inside the vehicle, “Closing shop so early today?”

“I need to go somewhere to submit some design drafts.” Xu Zhinan ran to the car and bent down. “Why did you come here?”

“Had nothing to do, so I came to hang out with you.” Gu Congwang waved his hand, “Get in, I’ll drive you there.”

Previously, Xu Zhinan had only registered for the competition online and hadn’t mentioned it to Gu Congwang, so she only told him about it now.

Gu Congwang asked, “Is the competition difficult?”

“I don’t know. I’m just giving it a try. It’s summer vacation anyway, and I don’t have much else to do.”

“If you win a prize, can you raise your prices? After all, you’d be a renowned badass tattoo artist, right?”

Xu Zhinan laughed, “It’s not that easy to win a prize. But if I can achieve good results in the competition, business might improve a bit.”

When the young girl laughed, she looked extremely beautiful. With red lips and white teeth, she was gentle and tender without any hint of aggression. Her voice was soft and delicate, making listeners’ hearts flutter.

Gu Congwang caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye. His eyelid twitched as he gripped the steering wheel tighter and concentrated on driving.

He cleared his throat lightly, “If business increases, you’ll be busier too. With your studies as well, have you thought about hiring someone else?”

“I can still manage for now. Everything is scheduled by appointment anyway, so it doesn’t interfere.”

“A full sleeve or back tattoo requires you to keep your head down for several hours, right?”

“Mm-hmm, that customer earlier took five hours.”

“If you keep going like this, your cervical spine will eventually have problems.” As he spoke, he reached over and squeezed her shoulder, “You’ll end up with frozen shoulder.”

Xu Zhinan suddenly recalled that Lin Qingye had also squeezed her shoulder like this before, concerned about her spending hours continuously tattooing.

She avoided his touch and pressed her shoulder, “It’s fine. I don’t spend much time on computers or phones, I only bend my head during work. If I get tired, I just need to rest a bit.”

But then Gu Congwang suddenly asked, “By the way, what’s going on between you and Lin Qingye?”

“Huh?” Xu Zhinan was a bit startled, her heartbeat quickening, “How do you know about that?”

“Someone sent me that post from your university forum.” Gu Congwang frowned slightly, “How did you get involved with him?”

“It’s not like that…” Xu Zhinan stammered, not knowing where to begin.

“Is he pursuing you?”

He asked this as if it were perfectly natural, seemingly not considering that Lin Qingye was someone with so many fans following him.

“No, the forum post was just people making things up.”

Gu Congwang nodded, “I thought so. I met him briefly a while ago. I think our families have some connection.”

Xu Zhinan was taken aback, “What kind of connection?”

“How would I know? I can’t be bothered with those distant relations. We just happened to meet at a meal a few days ago.”

The light turned red, and Gu Congwang stopped the car at the crosswalk. “I think it was the same day you invited me to dinner. I had lunch with him.”

It took Xu Zhinan a while before she responded with an “Oh,” turning her head to look at the scenery quickly passing by outside the window.

She remembered how both Lin Qingye and Gu Congwang had called her one after another that day.

And that night, Lin Qingye had waited outside her dormitory all night.

Gu Congwang drove to the organizing office that Xu Zhinan had mentioned.

There were quite a few people outside the entrance, both men and women, all with various types of tattoos.

The tattoo community was already considered a niche, and it was rare to see so many tattooed people gathered in one place.

It was evident that they were probably tattoo artists like Xu Zhinan, here to submit their design drafts.

To make matters more conspicuous, Gu Congwang’s car was a bright yellow sports car, an eye-catching color that made several people at the entrance turn to look.

Xu Zhinan got out of the car under their gaze, holding a stack of design drafts. She approached the nearest man, who had two full-sleeve tattoos.

“Excuse me, is this the organizing office for the tattoo design competition?”

“Yes,” the man squinted at her, “Are you in charge here?”

“Ah, no, I’m also a contestant who registered for the competition.”

As soon as Xu Zhinan finished speaking, the man with the sleeve tattoos laughed outright, quite disrespectfully. Not just him, other tattoo artists around also began to laugh.

“You’re a tattoo artist?!”

Xu Zhinan nodded, “Yes.”

Her tone was serious, which only made everyone laugh harder. Someone asked, “Little sister, are you even of legal age?”

“…”

Gu Congwang, who had been waiting in the car, observed the situation for a while before getting out. He quickly walked over, hooking his arm around Xu Zhinan’s shoulders from behind, and said with a smile, “Don’t look down on her. She’s going to be the top-seated contestant.”

“Oh! My apologies! My mistake!”

“Please go easy on a newbie like me during the competition. Don’t make me lose too badly.”

“Yes, yes, yes, just by looking at your figure, I can tell you’re top-tier!”

…

Xu Zhinan: “…”

Most tattoo artists had outgoing personalities. Hearing what Gu Congwang said, they all followed along with exaggerated praise. There was no real malice; it was just that Xu Zhinan looked too young standing among them, with her well-behaved appearance, so they couldn’t resist teasing her.

Beside her, Gu Congwang also took their side, laughing so hard he bent over.

Xu Zhinan sighed softly, not arguing with them. She asked good-naturedly, “Why aren’t you all going inside?”

“Don’t mention it. The person in charge has no concept of time. We’ve been waiting for twenty minutes, and they still haven’t shown up.”

So they all had to stand outside waiting together.

Gu Congwang was sociable and quickly engaged in lively conversation with several nearby tattoo artists.

The sun hung fiercely overhead, so Xu Zhinan asked Gu Congwang for the car keys and went back to get a sun umbrella.

The sleeve-tattooed man asked, “Bro, is that young girl your girlfriend? She’s quite pretty.”

Gu Congwang paused, neither denying nor confirming, just smiling slightly.

“You’re lucky,” the man continued, “You’re quite indulgent with her, actually letting a kid like that participate in this kind of competition.”

Gu Congwang rubbed his nose, “She is a tattoo artist, and she’s quite skilled.”

The tattooed man assumed Gu Congwang was just protecting his little girlfriend’s dignity, so he smiled and let it pass.

Xu Zhinan returned with the umbrella, and together with Gu Congwang, they stood in the sun for another fifteen minutes before the person in charge of the competition finally arrived.

Everyone lined up to submit their tattoo design drafts.

Xu Zhinan was completely out of place among the group of tattoo artists. Even when it was her turn, the person in charge gave her an extra look.

After submitting her draft, Xu Zhinan pushed through the crowd to leave. Gu Congwang was waiting for her outside.

She had also received a competition process sheet.

The tattoo design competition was divided into two stages.

The first stage categorized submissions into four main tattoo styles: Old School, Traditional Eastern, Realistic, and Tribal. Xu Zhinan had chosen the Realistic style, where she had the most competitive edge.

All tattoo artists needed to submit a piece of work in their chosen style within half a month for online voting, which would select the top ten from each style.

The second stage would bring the selected forty tattoo artists together for a live competition, judged by professional assessors, to select the first place in each category and an overall champion.

Gu Congwang read through the entire process sheet and asked, “Does the organizing committee provide the models?”

“Of course not, we have to find our own. There are so many tattoo artists who have registered.”

“Who are you going to find?”

Xu Zhinan shook her head. She wasn’t integrated into any tattoo circles and was quite independent: “I’ll see about that later.”

“If you don’t have anyone in mind, I can be your model,” Gu Congwang offered.

Xu Zhinan laughed, “No way. For the competition, the design will be on the larger side. How can I just tattoo you randomly for this competition?”

After all, while tattoo enthusiasts might want to cover their entire bodies, there was also a large group of people who couldn’t accept tattoos at all.

“Can you find someone then?” Gu Congwang shrugged, “I’m okay with it.”

“Let me think about it first.”

With the broadcast of the first episode of “I Come for Music,” the recording of the second episode also began.

The show started by announcing the voting results from the first episode’s performances.

Amid applause from everyone, Lin Qingye was announced as the champion of the first episode.

The three singers with the lowest votes were directly eliminated. Zhou Ji, whom he had met at the opening reception, was once again seated next to him. Zhou Ji’s votes were in the middle to lower range, but he still made it to the second round.

Apart from Lin Qingye, the top-ranked contestants were all established singers.

As the second round of performances began, Lin Qingye took the stage.

The fans holding his light boards in the audience were much more numerous than before. As soon as the host introduced his name, deafening cheers and screams erupted.

Other waiting contestants watched from the backstage monitors.

“I heard that since our show aired, the bar where Lin Qingye used to perform has been packed every day, doing incredibly well.”

“I heard that too. The bar owner was reluctant when his band disbanded, but letting Lin Qingye go to develop his career turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

During the prelude of the song, everyone chatted backstage.

Among them, a popular singer, Shen Linlin, said, “When he first won the Golden Melody Award, I specially had someone approach him to request a song.”

Shen Linlin had also debuted with a band before going solo several years ago. She was now considered one of the representatives of the new generation of singers in the music industry and had placed second in the previous episode.

Zhou Ji asked, “Which of your songs was written by him?”

“None,” Shen Linlin shrugged, “He completely ignored me, not even a refusal. I was so angry at the time that I complained about him to my manager. He had just won an award, but what was with the attitude?”

As she spoke, Shen Linlin made a fist and pushed it forward, “Now I see, this guy just has that temperament. You know what, the more you look at that arrogant face, the more acceptable it becomes.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Someone asked, “Sister Linlin, now that you’re on the same show, have you asked him why he ignored you back then?”

“No, I guess he’s probably forgotten about it by now. I don’t want to embarrass myself,” Shen Linlin crossed her arms and made a shivering gesture. “Besides, his aura is too strong. I don’t dare.”

This comment immediately drew agreement from the others.

“Sister Lin, even you, as a senior, don’t dare!”

Shen Linlin shook her head, “I’m even more intimidated after seeing him this time. I always feel like he’s in a really bad mood.”

For today’s performance, Lin Qingye had chosen to do a cover rather than an original song.

Previously, the Locust Tree Band’s style had leaned toward rock. Lin Qingye could easily get the entire studio audience fired up, drumming and singing simultaneously.

The stage was dim, with a beam of white light shining down from above, enveloping him.

He kept his gaze lowered. Having worked up a sweat from drumming, his black short hair was damp, with sweat sliding down the contours of his face, dripping from his sharp chin onto the drum surface, creating splashes with each strike.

Dry ice made the stage misty.

Viewed from the audience, the scene was as beautiful as a hot-blooded youth manga.

Except that the youth’s expression was cold. His usual casual nonchalance was now covered, revealing the hardness and detachment hidden deeper within.

Still, it didn’t stop the audience from desperately trying to suppress their urge to scream.

When the song ended, everyone in the audience stood up and applauded, the entire studio boiling with excitement.

Lin Qingye exited from one side of the stage, just as Zhou Ji was coming to wait for his turn.

Zhou Ji approached with a smile, greeted him, and patted him on the back, “Amazing, amazing. You might retain the championship.”

He happened to touch the area where Lin Qingye had his tattoo. Under the stage spotlights, the temperature was high, and he had been sweating. With sweat soaking the area, he hissed in pain.

Zhou Ji was startled, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Inside the studio, the host had already begun introducing the next act, so Zhou Ji had no time to ask further and quickly walked in.

This recording session lasted a total of five hours, and by the time it ended, it was completely dark outside.

Each singer selected for the show was a powerhouse, so for the audience, these five hours weren’t difficult to endure—it was a genuine feast for the ears.

Lin Qingye had sweated during his performance, and although he had dried off by now, the tattoo on his back was still throbbing with pain.

Zhou Ji walked out with him, “How are you getting back?”

“I drove here,” Lin Qingye said.

“I envy you, bro. I still have to take the subway back to the hotel on Qingfeng Road.”

“I’ll take you.”

Zhou Ji was caught off guard by the sudden kindness from Lin Qingye. He was stunned for a moment, surprised, “You’ll take me!?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his reaction was too exaggerated. Fortunately, Lin Qingye only gave him a calm glance and added, “It’s on my way.”

Once in the car, Zhou Ji noticed that Lin Qingye didn’t look right. “What’s wrong with you?”

Lin Qingye touched his back, frowning as he cursed, “It might be infected.”

“Where?”

“My back.”

“How did it get infected?”

“Got a tattoo a while back.”

Zhou Ji paused, then asked, “How many days has it been hurting?”

Lin Qingye casually replied, “Two or three days.”

Zhou Ji frowned, “Then it probably is infected. Listen, there’s a tattoo shop run by a friend of mine on the way from here to Qingfeng Road. Let me have him take a look at it.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just take some antibiotics.”

“No, you really should have it checked. Tattoo artists understand these issues better, and if it doesn’t heal properly, the colors and patterns of your tattoo will be affected.”

Only then did Lin Qingye agree.

The tattoo shop Zhou Ji mentioned was quite large. Lin Qingye didn’t know much about tattoo shops before, but judging by the premises, this was probably the largest one in Yan City.

There were several tattoo artists inside, some full-time and others visiting, each with their independent clientele.

Zhou Ji pushed open the door and asked, “Is Lu Xihe here?”

One of the tattoo artists called from the back room, “Boss! Someone’s looking for you!”

A burly man walked out, wearing a black tank top, with large sleeve tattoos on both arms. Seeing Zhou Ji, he said, “Hey, what brings you to Yan City?”

“Here for a show. I’m not looking to get a tattoo today,” Zhou Ji pointed to Lin Qingye beside him. “This is my friend. He got a tattoo recently, and it seems infected now.”

“Infected? Where did you get it done? The tattoo artist might not be skilled, and your skin might be severely damaged.”

Lu Xihe put on sterilized gloves and examined the tattoo on Lin Qingye’s back, joking, “Oh, it’s even a person’s name?”

Hearing this, Zhou Ji quickly peered over to look.

On his back was a clean, sharp black calligraphy—”A’Nan.”

Shocking!

Zhou Ji stared at his back for a while, then looked at Lin Qingye’s face, then back at his back, going back and forth several times, still incredulous.

This guy was a romantic?!

“Wild Bro, is this a girl’s name?” Zhou Ji asked.

“Mm.”

“Girlfriend?” Zhou Ji took a deep breath, very familiar-like, “Why haven’t you brought her around to introduce her?”

Lin Qingye glanced at him, “She’s too beautiful.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ji couldn’t help but burst out laughing. But looking at Lin Qingye’s expression again, it didn’t seem like he was joking. He seriously thought she was too beautiful to bring out and show to everyone.

Zhou Ji: “…”

He finally believed it: Lin Qingye, with his cold exterior in public, was truly a romantic at heart.

After examining his back, Lu Xihe said, “Judging by the technique, the tattoo artist must be quite skilled. The infection is probably because you didn’t protect yourself well during the recovery period. Fortunately, it’s not a large tattoo, and being pure black, the color won’t be much affected. If it were a tribal design or something similar, it would be more problematic.”

Lu Xihe took out a tube of ointment from a nearby cabinet, “Apply this medication after showering every day.”

“Got it.”

Lin Qingye glanced at the price and took out his phone to scan the code for payment.

Lu Xihe replied to a customer’s message, then laughed, casually chatting, “Speaking of the name ‘A’Nan,’ I’ve had quite a coincidence today. This afternoon, I went to some competition thing and met a kid called A’Nan. Then tonight, I’ll meet you.”

Lin Qingye’s fingers paused, and he looked up.

Lu Xihe continued, “That A’Nan I met in the afternoon claimed to be a tattoo artist too. Went to submit some materials, even had a boyfriend drive her there. I wonder if she’s even 18 yet.”

Zhou Ji picked up the conversation, “What competition is this?”

Lin Qingye didn’t pay attention to what the two discussed afterward, only catching those three words.

His expression gradually darkened.