Chapter 27: Kunqu Opera Takes the World by Storm

"I don't want to go to jail, I won't do these things anymore! Really, I promise!"
Xu Yuan began to beg for mercy at this moment; she never expected herself to end up like this, kneeling on the ground, wailing in tears.
Zhong Huayan turned off the recording, then glanced at Fu Yanyan.
She stepped forward and slapped Xu Yuan right across the face.
"Let me tell you, there's always someone richer, always someone in higher office. Xu Yuan, you may have no shame, but does your family? You just had bad luck crossing me.
I'm someone who holds a grudge. Today, I'm sparing you because I want you to pay slowly. I want you to taste what it feels like to be cut down piece by piece."
She was in no hurry; what she wanted was the downfall of the entire Xu family.
Years ago, Xu Yuan knowingly committed her crime, tipped off her family about Zhong Huayan's whereabouts, causing her to die in a fire.
Xu Yuan's cruelty was naive, but Li Yanyan had already been killed by her, and Xu Yuan had no right to continue living happily.
Xu Yuan was frightened by Zhong Huayan's imposing manner, her heart clenched with pain.
Outwardly, she trembled pitifully, her words all pleas for mercy, but inwardly she sneered, hating Zhong Huayan to the bone.
The video of Xu Yuan, the once celebrated Miss Xu of Capital University, kneeling drenched on the ground, instantly exploded across the university forum.
[Ten years of fortune, ten years of misfortune—she finally got what's coming.]
[You reap what you sow, sooner or later. She used to be so cruel, nearly killing others more than once. This time, looks like she's finished.]
[Li Yanyan now has the Fu family backing her, she's really impressive. I saw Fu Yanyan play piano the other day—he was incredible!]
[I think Li Yanyan is beautiful too, and her Kunqu Opera is trending online! She’s truly from a cultured family, I feel she’s very talented!]
Zhong Huayan looked at the university forum. The world is like this: when you have power, everyone stands with you.
Her account on the Capital University forum now had two thousand followers, and the school’s prevailing influence was shifting toward her.
Xu Yuan once relied on her family’s clout and the support of teachers and classmates to act recklessly, but now, stripped of credibility, she would find every step difficult at school.
Meanwhile, Zhong Huayan’s Kunqu Opera performance at the arts festival had gone viral, with the official city video sparking nationwide interest overnight.
There was no video of Fu Yanyan playing piano with her online—likely handled by the Fu family’s PR team.

On the video, she was radiant; every movement was graceful, each smile enchanting, her every step dazzling amid the piano music.
She had reached a high level in Kunqu Opera performance, remarkable in this era of pop songs, and the comments were full of praise for her skill.
Zhong Huayan had studied Kunqu since childhood, and with her passion and frequent learning from masters, she was confident her singing would not disappoint.
"This is tea and pastries sent by Mr. Fu. He said lunch will be at twelve."
Zhong Huayan nodded, only now remembering Fu Yanyan had gone to the kitchen.
"He cooks himself?"
"Yes, it’s rare to see the young master cook."
Zhong Huayan hadn’t known he could cook.
While the place was quiet and the internet was full of messages urging her to livestream, she started an appraisal broadcast in the courtyard.
With two million on hand, she was determined to hunt for treasures online and see if she could add to her collection.
[You’re live? Rare to see the streamer online in the morning.]
[Streamer, how do you feel about Kunqu suddenly going viral? Is it considered intangible cultural heritage?]
[Enough talk, start the appraisal! I’m addicted to your treasure appraisals! I didn’t know how to get through the days when you weren’t streaming!]
Zhong Huayan thought it was probably the heavy makeup for Kunqu that kept people from recognizing her.
Besides, she used a pseudonym for appraisals, so despite high viewer counts, her fan base wasn’t large.
Today, her livestream had twenty thousand viewers.
The first to join was Li Yang.
He looked a bit weary today, hurriedly greeting her on video.
"Li Yang, how’s business these days?"
"Same as before. The girlfriend you introduced has a lot of culture, but she’s really open. Talking to someone so uninhibited is a bit overwhelming at times."
Zhong Huayan recalled the personality of the art teacher Yang—if those two had a meal together, Li Yang likely wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The art teacher had originally been a pawn against Xu Yuan, but now seemed to have lost her value.
"Right, I wanted you to appraise a few thangkas today."
Li Yang opened the first one: a thangka of Maitreya Buddha, with one head and two arms, surrounded by green leaves and shining with golden light. Each finger touched a blossom from the dragon-flower tree, adorned with jewels and silk skirts.
She glanced at it and spoke, "This is a Maitreya Buddha thangka, obviously old, but likely not very valuable—just over twenty thousand."
He opened the second thangka, depicting the Buddha as Tathagata, in dark orange, robed and riding a lion.
She nibbled at the pastries on the table and answered, "This is a Lamp Buddha thangka. Since the Sui dynasty, many Lamp Temples have existed, and this is from one, but it’s not authentic."
Li Yang finally opened the third, a group thangka, with Buddhas seated on lotus moon thrones, black and yellow interwoven.
Zhong Huayan was surprised to find the pastries were her favorite flavor.
She brushed crumbs from her hands and said, "This group thangka is worth ten times more—the composition is meticulous, each Buddha distinctive and proportional, the coloring uniform for the figures with a blue background. This thangka could fetch two hundred thousand. The craftsmanship is clearly more complex than the others. Where did you get these? How come there’s both genuine and fake?"
Li Yang put away the thangkas, lit some incense, and, wearing a jade pendant, thought for a moment before saying,
"My family specializes in collecting these, but previous appraisers never agreed. After seeing your appraisal of the Water-Moon Guanyin, I brought them all for you to see.
That Water-Moon Guanyin has been validated—it’s close to the Liao dynasty, the genuine artifact that ended up abroad. Now valued at over ten million.
Mr. Fu didn’t just buy the Water-Moon Guanyin; he also got a Jin dynasty wood-carved Water-Moon Guanyin. It's still being restored—it was in terrible shape when purchased, with broken arms and back, but definitely an authentic relic."
Zhong Huayan stopped chatting and moved on to the next appraisal.
Next up was a large, engraved silver ingot.
The lighting on the other side was dim, a crowd gathered, and the ingot sat on a dirty table.
The man across spoke awkwardly in accented Mandarin, "Miss, can you tell me if this thing’s worth any money?"