The evening gala began with the decorative lights lighting up one by one. A handsome male and female student host walked onto the stage, speaking the opening remarks to the audience seated on the sports field.
Lin Jin, standing at the back of the stage, leaned against the wall of the sports field. He listened to the sounds from the stage with one ear, occasionally glancing around to observe the numerous performers packing the backstage area.
Among all the performers, Lin Jin and his companion seemed the least professional. While others were dressed in vintage military uniforms or the like, Lin Jin was clad in an utterly modern black suit. Chen Xinya, who looked quite similar to Lin Jin, wore a white dress, shivering from the cold.
"Nervous?" Chen Xinya, shivering, stood next to Lin Jin. She hugged her arms and stomped her feet but still showed concern, saying to Lin Jin, "It's so dark, the audience won't see clearly. Just treat it like a rehearsal when you go on stage."
"How could they not see?" Lin Jin's nervousness had somewhat eased after arguing with Feng Jing, but as the evening gala began, he couldn't help feeling tense again, so tense that his limbs felt unresponsive.
"Just think of them as radishes, you won't hear what they say anyway." Chen Xinya, with her experience, tried hard to alleviate Lin Jin's anxiety. "Take deep breaths before going on stage, and do it several times, you'll feel much better. Don't look at the audience during the performance."
Lin Jin nodded, then heard a burst of cheers from the stage and the music that signaled the start of the first act.
He and Chen Xinya were scheduled as the third performance. He estimated that he wouldn't have more than fifteen minutes before taking the stage.
So Lin Jin became even more nervous. The closer he got to going on stage, the more his hands and feet felt weak.
"It's almost our turn." Chen Xinya's cold hand grasped the back of Lin Jin's hand, gently stroking it. She comforted the visibly panicking Lin Jin, "It's fine, just treat it like a rehearsal. The teachers said our act was quite good during the rehearsal, so don't worry too much."
Lin Jin didn't know why he was so nervous. By his nature, he shouldn't be like this. Even if he was nervous, it shouldn't be to the point where he needed a girl to calm him down. He could only nod at Chen Xinya, then be led like a zombie to the edge of the stage, ready to go on at any moment.
The first few acts of the New Year's Eve gala were individual performances, so the quality was not very high. After the first act ended, amid scattered applause from the audience, the student who had recited poetry left the stage with a flushed face, hastily put on a coat, and ran to the field to find his classmates.
Lin Jin was somewhat worried that his performance would also be met with such sparse applause. He looked towards the audience on the sports field and noticed three cameras, one on the left, right, and center, filming the stage.
"It seems like there really is a live broadcast." Lin Jin's mouth twitched, and he began to tremble all over, his nervousness now intensified.
"They say it's on Douyu. Let me check." Chen Xinya quickly downloaded the Douyu app on her phone and then spent five minutes finding the live broadcast of the school's New Year's Eve gala. There were only about s thousand people watching at that moment, but the barrage of comments was overwhelming, most of them complaining about the boring nature of the last performance.
"There really is a live stream..."
It was just a technical college, yet they were embarrassing themselves with a live stream...
"Please welcome the performers for the next act to the stage! Welcome Lin Jin and Chen Xinya!"
Hearing the host's voice, Lin Jin felt his hand being pulled again and suddenly snapped out of his daze. "Isn't it just the second performance?"
"You were daydreaming." Chen Xinya smiled helplessly. "It's our turn to go on stage. Don't be too nervous."
"Okay."
Lin Jin kept his head down, fiddling with his phone as he followed Chen Xinya, ready to walk onto the stage. He tapped his phone a few times and suddenly an unfamiliar object appeared in his pocket. He glanced around and hurriedly popped a pill from his pocket into his mouth.
Damn, this feels so awkward! Being broadcast live for the first time to the online audience, and the people below... As Lin Jin stepped onto the stage while the host was still present, he quickly glanced down at the audience. Though there were no streetlights, various phone lights illuminated the audience, and he saw at least a dozen classmates seated together.
"Lin Jin! Lin Jin! Lin Jin!"
Suddenly, Wen Xuan burst from the group, hopping and shouting support for Lin Jin. Feeling a bit embarrassed shouting alone, he pulled up others from the ground, including Wu Min, Lin Xin, Cai Jianlai, and a group of classmates.
"1! 2! 3!" Wen Xuan raised his hand and called out, rallying the others to join him in cheering for Lin Jin.
"Go Lin Jin!" the dozen or so classmates shouted in unison.
F*ck! This isn't even a competition, it's just a New Year's Eve gala, okay?
Lin Jin's mouth twitched as he looked at those classmates, stunned as if his head had just been caught in a door. His face turned bright red from their support, even to the tips of his ears, and his hands, due to nervousness, didn't know where to place, so he just tucked them into his pockets. His eyes flickered towards the crowd below, looking at the heckling classmates, feeling as though he had befriended the wrong group.
"1! 2! 3!"
"Go Chen Xinya!"
This cheer was not only from the dozen or so male classmates but also from the only ten or so female students in the class who suddenly started to join in.
"A bunch of lunatics..." Chen Xinya, who had initially been amused by Lin Jin's embarrassed and reddened face, now found her own cheeks flushing red as well.
The two hosts continued to introduce the program to the audience on their own, while Lin Jin and Chen Xinya stood in a shadowed corner of the stage, awkwardly greeting the audience.
Wasn't the master's pill supposed to be amazing once taken? Why does it feel like I just ate a jelly bean?
Lin Jin watched wide-eyed as the host's speech was about to conclude, but still felt no difference in his body.
Did the black cat give me a fake product? Or maybe it's expired? Why do I feel nothing after taking it?
Lin Jin was tremendously frightened. He had originally planned to use the master's pill to support his stage performance. Although he had practiced, he hadn't thought about anything else.
After a bunch of opening remarks, the male host raised his left hand and said loudly,
"Now! Please welcome Lin Jin and Chen Xinya to perform 'Rainbow after Storms, Unyielding Roses' for you all! Let's applaud in support!"
The evening gala began with the decorative lights lighting up one by one. A handsome male and female student host walked onto the stage, speaking the opening remarks to the audience seated on the sports field.
Lin Jin, standing at the back of the stage, leaned against the wall of the sports field. He listened to the sounds from the stage with one ear, occasionally glancing around to observe the numerous performers packing the backstage area.
Among all the performers, Lin Jin and his companion seemed the least professional. While others were dressed in vintage military uniforms or the like, Lin Jin was clad in an utterly modern black suit. Chen Xinya, who looked quite similar to Lin Jin, wore a white dress, shivering from the cold.
"Nervous?" Chen Xinya, shivering, stood next to Lin Jin. She hugged her arms and stomped her feet but still showed concern, saying to Lin Jin, "It's so dark, the audience won't see clearly. Just treat it like a rehearsal when you go on stage."
"How could they not see?" Lin Jin's nervousness had somewhat eased after arguing with Feng Jing, but as the evening gala began, he couldn't help feeling tense again, so tense that his limbs felt unresponsive.
"Just think of them as radishes, you won't hear what they say anyway." Chen Xinya, with her experience, tried hard to alleviate Lin Jin's anxiety. "Take deep breaths before going on stage, and do it several times, you'll feel much better. Don't look at the audience during the performance."
Lin Jin nodded, then heard a burst of cheers from the stage and the music that signaled the start of the first act.
He and Chen Xinya were scheduled as the third performance. He estimated that he wouldn't have more than fifteen minutes before taking the stage.
So Lin Jin became even more nervous. The closer he got to going on stage, the more his hands and feet felt weak.
"It's almost our turn." Chen Xinya's cold hand grasped the back of Lin Jin's hand, gently stroking it. She comforted the visibly panicking Lin Jin, "It's fine, just treat it like a rehearsal. The teachers said our act was quite good during the rehearsal, so don't worry too much."
Lin Jin didn't know why he was so nervous. By his nature, he shouldn't be like this. Even if he was nervous, it shouldn't be to the point where he needed a girl to calm him down. He could only nod at Chen Xinya, then be led like a zombie to the edge of the stage, ready to go on at any moment.
The first few acts of the New Year's Eve gala were individual performances, so the quality was not very high. After the first act ended, amid scattered applause from the audience, the student who had recited poetry left the stage with a flushed face, hastily put on a coat, and ran to the field to find his classmates.
Lin Jin was somewhat worried that his performance would also be met with such sparse applause. He looked towards the audience on the sports field and noticed three cameras, one on the left, right, and center, filming the stage.
"It seems like there really is a live broadcast." Lin Jin's mouth twitched, and he began to tremble all over, his nervousness now intensified.
"They say it's on Douyu. Let me check." Chen Xinya quickly downloaded the Douyu app on her phone and then spent five minutes finding the live broadcast of the school's New Year's Eve gala. There were only about s thousand people watching at that moment, but the barrage of comments was overwhelming, most of them complaining about the boring nature of the last performance.
"There really is a live stream..."
It was just a technical college, yet they were embarrassing themselves with a live stream...
"Please welcome the performers for the next act to the stage! Welcome Lin Jin and Chen Xinya!"
Hearing the host's voice, Lin Jin felt his hand being pulled again and suddenly snapped out of his daze. "Isn't it just the second performance?"
"You were daydreaming." Chen Xinya smiled helplessly. "It's our turn to go on stage. Don't be too nervous."
"Okay."
Lin Jin kept his head down, fiddling with his phone as he followed Chen Xinya, ready to walk onto the stage. He tapped his phone a few times and suddenly an unfamiliar object appeared in his pocket. He glanced around and hurriedly popped a pill from his pocket into his mouth.
Damn, this feels so awkward! Being broadcast live for the first time to the online audience, and the people below... As Lin Jin stepped onto the stage while the host was still present, he quickly glanced down at the audience. Though there were no streetlights, various phone lights illuminated the audience, and he saw at least a dozen classmates seated together.
"Lin Jin! Lin Jin! Lin Jin!"
Suddenly, Wen Xuan burst from the group, hopping and shouting support for Lin Jin. Feeling a bit embarrassed shouting alone, he pulled up others from the ground, including Wu Min, Lin Xin, Cai Jianlai, and a group of classmates.
"1! 2! 3!" Wen Xuan raised his hand and called out, rallying the others to join him in cheering for Lin Jin.
"Go Lin Jin!" the dozen or so classmates shouted in unison.
F*ck! This isn't even a competition, it's just a New Year's Eve gala, okay?
Lin Jin's mouth twitched as he looked at those classmates, stunned as if his head had just been caught in a door. His face turned bright red from their support, even to the tips of his ears, and his hands, due to nervousness, didn't know where to place, so he just tucked them into his pockets. His eyes flickered towards the crowd below, looking at the heckling classmates, feeling as though he had befriended the wrong group.
"1! 2! 3!"
"Go Chen Xinya!"
This cheer was not only from the dozen or so male classmates but also from the only ten or so female students in the class who suddenly started to join in.
"A bunch of lunatics..." Chen Xinya, who had initially been amused by Lin Jin's embarrassed and reddened face, now found her own cheeks flushing red as well.
The two hosts continued to introduce the program to the audience on their own, while Lin Jin and Chen Xinya stood in a shadowed corner of the stage, awkwardly greeting the audience.
Wasn't the master's pill supposed to be amazing once taken? Why does it feel like I just ate a jelly bean?
Lin Jin watched wide-eyed as the host's speech was about to conclude, but still felt no difference in his body.
Did the black cat give me a fake product? Or maybe it's expired? Why do I feel nothing after taking it?
Lin Jin was tremendously frightened. He had originally planned to use the master's pill to support his stage performance. Although he had practiced, he hadn't thought about anything else.
After a bunch of opening remarks, the male host raised his left hand and said loudly,
"Now! Please welcome Lin Jin and Chen Xinya to perform 'Rainbow after Storms, Unyielding Roses' for you all! Let's applaud in support!"
