Chapter 23
In the final few days before the official stage performance, time seemed to speed up several times over.
Training, rehearsals, final styling…
Even Ji Ran, who was already used to high-intensity training as a trainee, was still so exhausted every day that he could barely drag himself up.
The only thing the three male “girl group members” felt lucky about was that the production team still had a bit of conscience. Even though it was a girl group stage, they had not arranged for the three special male members to wear women’s clothing.
In between training sessions, Director Fang also found time to film a promotional video for them.
“The tickets are already sold out, and we added a lot of extra seats,” Director Fang said. “With this many fans coming to support you, you’d better perform well!”
It was not until the day of the official stage that Lin Zhiqiao truly understood what Director Fang meant by “not a single empty seat.”
The performance venue had been set at a stadium.
There was still more than an hour left before the show began.
Lin Zhiqiao secretly took a peek in the direction of the audience seats, sucked in a breath, and immediately shut his eyes—
[Holy shit holy shit holy shit! Why are there this many people!!!] Lin Zhiqiao screamed inwardly. [This is more people than I’ve seen in my whole life combined, ahhh!]
The others standing beside him also had tense expressions.
It was not as if they had never seen such a big scene before, but previously, it had always been on stages they were familiar with.
This time was different.
888 asked in confusion, [Host, haven’t you performed on stage before too?]
[How is that the same?!] Lin Zhiqiao muttered. [Before it was school stages and competition stages. There weren’t this many screaming chickens down there!]
888: […]
What kind of “screaming chickens” was that supposed to be?
Though… weirdly fitting.
“Xiao Qiao, open your eyes a little.” Makeup artist Chen Xiaolin held up an eyeliner pen, sounding helpless. “Don’t be nervous.”
Chen Xiaolin had worked with Lin Zhiqiao before. This was the second time, and she clearly no longer had the same nervousness she had the first time.
—Nor did she need to worry anymore that Lin Zhiqiao raising his hand meant he was going to smack her on the head.
Lin Zhiqiao insisted stubbornly, “I’m not nervous.”
“Okay, okay, not nervous.” Chen Xiaolin tried hard not to laugh. “Our Xiao Qiao’s eyelashes are trembling this badly not because he’s nervous, but because the wind is too strong.”
Lin Zhiqiao continued to hold his ground. “Exactly!”
A moment later, he suddenly realized: [The windows aren’t even open, so where is the wind coming from, ahhh?!]
Chen Xiaolin tried and tried, but in the end she still burst out laughing.
Lin Zhiqiao shut his eyes again in grief and indignation.
Chen Xiaolin said, “Open your eyes, Teacher Lin.”
Lin Zhiqiao obediently opened them. “…Oh.”
*
With the stage about to begin, there was no way not to be nervous.
Director Fang had already gone onstage and started introducing the performance process to the audience below.
Lin Zhiqiao and the others were already waiting backstage, ready to go on the moment Director Fang gave the signal.
From here, they were even closer to the audience seats.
[No good, I’m still so nervous.] Lin Zhiqiao took a deep breath. [Better eat some gossip to calm down.]
Everyone else: “…”
Who calms down like that?!
But everyone exchanged glances and, with perfect tacit understanding, held their breath and skillfully struck their usual poses for shamelessly catching melon.
[Ji Ran got so nervous last night that he had insomnia, so in a fit of rage he changed twenty outfits for his new favorite Big-Eyed Frog doll, then finally fell asleep peacefully hugging Big-Eyed Frog in a maid outfit—]
Ji Ran’s eyes flew wide open. “?”
Excuse me?
How did the melon end up on his head again?!
He opened his mouth in outrage, but before he could make a sound, the person behind him clamped a hand over his mouth.
Tang Zhou smiled at him with the utmost innocence.
Lin Zhiqiao: [Tang Zhou secretly reposted twenty lucky koi posts on his alt account…]
This time it was Ji Ran’s turn to cover Tang Zhou’s mouth.
Then came Wen Li, Pei Ning, Jiang Qianqian… even Director Fang, who was already onstage, got hit too.
By the time Lin Zhiqiao finished eating melon and turned around, the few people behind him had somehow devolved into complete chaos, seemingly… covering one another’s mouths?
Lin Zhiqiao: “?”
[What kind of new method for relieving nerves is this?]
In return, he received a wave of resentful yet complicated looks.
Still, it could not be denied that after all that chaos, everyone’s nervousness had eased up quite a bit.
At that very moment, Cheng Xia was sitting in the audience.
He was in the front row, dressed low-key, with a mask on and the brim of his cap pulled down very low.
It was as if an invisible wall surrounded him, sealing him off from all the noise around him.
Perhaps knowing what the audience had come to see, Director Fang kept his speech very brief and soon invited the six main performers onto the stage.
All the lights went out, plunging the venue into darkness.
The next second, brilliant, dazzling light illuminated the stage.
Screams rose from all around him, and the audience seats erupted with shouts and calls.
Cheng Xia’s mind wavered for a moment, his thoughts seeming to drift back to that summer two years ago, when the frenzied cries of fans rang in his ears.
“Cheng Xia ahhhh!!!”
“Cheng Xia! You’re the best!!!”
Cheng Xia’s heartbeat thundered like drums.
That spotlight shining down on the stage felt as if it were shining on him instead.
The dance music was bright and lively, with a strong, bouncing rhythm.
But all Cheng Xia could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
Again and again, each beat stronger than the last, as though trying to tell him something.
Trying to tell him—
You shouldn’t be in the audience.
This is not where you belong.
Cheng Xia’s fingers suddenly tightened as his gaze fixed on the people onstage, drenched in sweat beneath the lights.
There was no denying it—this was not a particularly outstanding performance.
It was raw, clumsy…
But every single person was trying their best to do the best they could.
Just like he had once been when he first stepped onto a stage.
Cheng Xia’s throat moved slightly, and he suddenly raised a hand to cover his chest.
That fleeting image he had once seen through Lin Zhiqiao flashed through his mind once again.
Cheng Xia suddenly realized that image had not been Lin Zhiqiao’s imagination.
—it had been himself.
He was someone who should have been shining on the stage from the very beginning.
The fear and hesitation buried deep inside him were, in this moment, overwhelmed by endless longing and passion.
It seemed he… finally knew what he wanted.
*
The stage performance ended fairly smoothly.
Lin Zhiqiao was panting, and everything that followed seemed to rush past like flowers seen from a galloping horse.
Director Fang controlled the stage, the audience voted… and then it was time for the popularity king to give a speech.
It was not until the microphone was shoved right up to his mouth that Lin Zhiqiao suddenly snapped back to reality—
Wait!
How had he become the popularity king with the highest number of votes?!!!
Lin Zhiqiao was completely bewildered.
[I suspect someone rigged the votes in secret, but I have no evidence.]
The audience below burst into laughter they could not suppress.
Fang Xinnan coughed lightly. “Zhiqiao, your speech.”
Lin Zhiqiao came back to himself. “First of all, I want to thank my teammates, thank Cheng Xia, thank Director Fang, thank the cameraman, thank the program team, thank all the fans and friends present or not present…”
“I’ll keep working hard!”
A very official speech, and one that could not go wrong.
Lin Zhiqiao mentally gave himself a thumbs-up for his cleverness.
Fang Xinnan asked him, “It looks like Zhiqiao is very satisfied with this episode’s idol-life experience. So in the future, would you consider switching careers and becoming an idol?”
The smile at the corner of Lin Zhiqiao’s lips stiffened slightly. “Being an idol is great… but I won’t be coming next time.”
[It’s still happier to lie flat, eat gossip, and be a salted fish.]
Good-natured laughter rose from the audience below.
The performance came to a fairly perfect close.
Still in a daze, Lin Zhiqiao carried back a little “Popularity King” trophy.
Ji Ran patted him on the shoulder and said, “You deserved this.”
After all, he was the melon god.
The people who voted for him were all believers of the melon god.
The group chatted and laughed on their way back to the dressing room, but before they even entered, Lin Zhiqiao suddenly heard someone call his name.
“Brother Zhiqiao!”
It was Cheng Xia.
Lin Zhiqiao froze. “Eh? Didn’t you say you had something to do today and couldn’t come?”
Cheng Xia had already taken off his cap and mask. He smiled at Lin Zhiqiao. “Mm. It’s fine now.”
Lin Zhiqiao gave an “oh.” “As long as it’s settled, then we—”
Before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace.
It was a brief but fervent hug, as if it carried many complicated emotions that could not be put into words.
Lin Zhiqiao froze and instinctively asked, “What’s wrong?”
[Did some blind idiot bully my goose-son again?!]
Cheng Xia let him go.
“I’m fine,” he said, but his eyes were shining so brightly it was almost startling. “I just suddenly really wanted to hug you.”
