Chapter 37: Cheering
In the open space outside, many girls had gathered to watch the competition.
Most of them were wearing green support uniforms, holding banners and talking in low voices.
Wen Nian followed Wen Shu to the entrance. Seeing so many people, he almost buried his head in his chest.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you wearing the support headband?”
Wen Shu looked at her son, who was starting to isolate himself again, and used her fingers to lift his chin, forcing him to wear the headband to support Chi Xiasheng.
Wen Nian shook his head unwillingly. “I don’t want to. If I wear it, a lot of people will look at us.”
Wen Shu smiled gently. “That means our support is very effective. We have to let them see Xiaxia’s support sign, right? Otherwise, who would know we’re here to support him?”
Seeing that resistance was futile, Wen Nian could only pout and put on the headband that Wen Shu had custom-made overnight.
There were three small round signs on the headband, with Chi Xiasheng’s name flashing on them, which looked quite cute.
The man who had come with Wen Shu also smiled and praised, “Niannian looks very cute with this on.”
Wen Nian started to isolate himself again, hiding behind Wen Shu and ignoring the man’s words.
But the man was not discouraged. After all, it was not easy to coax a grown child. But one day, he would be able to break through Wen Shu’s defenses and become Wen Nian’s father!
Xu Bin was Wen Shu’s recent boyfriend, a big shot who had recently emerged in the investment industry. He was young, rich, and had a very keen sense for investment.
Wen Shu had met him when she was preparing to make some money. Xu Bin had fallen in love with her at first sight and had quickly fallen head over heels, not even minding that she had a son. Instead, he had used all his knowledge to teach her how to make money.
Wen Shu was very invested in learning, and of course, she was also quite satisfied with this boyfriend for the time being.
If nothing unexpected happened, Xu Bin’s position as her boyfriend would be secure until she had completely learned how to invest in stocks.
As for after she had learned, well, that would depend on Xu Bin’s performance, Wen Shu thought without any psychological burden.
The three of them put on their uniform support headbands and stood among a group of chattering girls, looking very out of place.
A girl holding a Q-version support banner of Pei Zhixuan saw the beautiful Wen Shu and couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with her. “Miss, whose fan are you?”
Wen Shu smiled, making the people around her who saw her smile a little dizzy.
“It’s Chi Xiasheng. He’s my son.”
The girl nodded in understanding. A “mom fan”!
“But wasn’t Chi Xiasheng an actor before?”
Wen Shu nodded. “Yes, but he’s also a great singer!”
The word “also” made the girl next to her a little unconvinced, but she was too embarrassed to say that Chi Xiasheng’s acting was terrible in front of her and could only indirectly introduce her own “brother.” “My brother is a super great actor! He’s already a three-time Golden Film Emperor, and his songs have also been selected as the hottest Chinese golden melody of the year!”
Wen Shu didn’t know whose fan this girl was and tilted her head in confusion. “Who?”
“Pei Zhixuan! Miss, have you not seen the TV series he’s acted in? He’s so handsome!”
Hearing this name, Wen Nian also poked half his little head out from behind Wen Shu.
“Mom, is she talking about Brother Pei?”
Wen Shu thought it might be, but looking at the Q-version head in the girl’s hand, she wasn’t so sure and could only wave her hand. “Never mind. If we really see him later, we’ll give him one of Xiaxia’s support headbands. The more people, the more power!”
The girls around them thought they were daydreaming.
They’re talking as if they’re so familiar, and they even want Pei Zhixuan to support Chi Xiasheng. Are they kidding?
Even Xu Bin on the side coughed softly and explained to Wen Shu who Pei Zhixuan was.
But before they could say much more, the security guard checking the tickets came out and told everyone to line up in an orderly manner to have their tickets checked.
Wen Shu quickly pulled Wen Nian and Xu Bin to a good spot and waited to enter.
When they arrived at the studio, Wen Shu looked at the huge stage in front of her and couldn’t help but look around for Chi Xiasheng.
“It’s okay, they’ll be on stage to sing later.” Xu Bin protected Wen Shu’s shoulder, preventing her from being pushed by others.
Only then did Wen Shu suppress her excitement and sit down to wait for Chi Xiasheng to come on stage.
Backstage, several singers were drawing lots to decide their performance order.
Chi Xiasheng saw Ye Qi draw the first spot and couldn’t help but sigh at his bad luck.
When performing on stage, the first and last spots were the ones everyone least wanted to draw.
Going on too early not only made you nervous, but the audience would also easily forget about you after watching the later performances. It was an extremely bad position.
The best order was in the middle, where you didn’t have to worry about being forgotten, and you wouldn’t be so late that the audience would be aesthetically fatigued.
But this spot was drawn by Cheng Yue.
Now Cheng Yue was even more at ease in her heart, thinking that what Chi Xiasheng had said before was definitely just bluffing.
With her luck today, how could she possibly sing worse than the others!
Ye Qi held the lottery paper, his face slightly pale.
He was conceited and arrogant, so while the other singers had come for a sound check in advance, he had been sitting in the dressing room, flirting with other girls.
By the time he arrived late, the competition was about to begin.
Therefore, the first group of contestants—Ye Qi and Chi Xiasheng—were both going on without even a sound check.
The director thought, What is this?! He almost wanted to stop them and have them draw again.
If these two were in the first place, and there was a stage accident, wouldn’t his show be ruined!
But the director couldn’t stop them because the competition was being live-streamed, and many viewers who had entered the live stream early had already seen the performance order.
If he said to draw again at this time, it would only make the audience question whether the show was rigged.
With this uneasy feeling, after the host finished his introduction, Ye Qi clenched his fists and went on stage.
He was a competing singer and, according to the rules, had to go on stage before the guest singer. Otherwise, with his personality, he would definitely have pushed Chi Xiasheng to go on first.
There were also some of Ye Qi’s little fans in the audience. When they saw him start to sing, they shouted his name loudly to cheer him on.
Wen Shu looked at the girls’ cheering slogans and slapped her hand in annoyance.
“We should have thought of a slogan to cheer for Xiaxia too. How could I have forgotten!”
Wen Nian and Xu Bin on the side quickly wiped their sweat, thinking to themselves, It’s a good thing you didn’t think of it. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing to shout it out in public!
Ye Qi’s singing had his own unique style. He first whispered the lyrics, and then, at the climax, he began to render the emotions with great force, shouting out the rap part.
Many viewers in the audience and in the live stream said they couldn’t appreciate this style:
[I still don’t understand how Ye Qi debuted.]
[You don’t know how bad that season’s talent show was. He was considered good-looking among them, even though his skills were not that great…]
Finally, when Ye Qi finished singing, the audience all expressed a sigh of relief and even advised him to drink some hot water. They were really afraid he would have shouted his throat raw during that performance.
When Ye Qi returned backstage after singing, the other singers all had a look of relief on their faces.
It seemed that there was another contestant who would be at the bottom of the competition.
If it weren’t for the fact that Ye Qi was always in the last one or two places in every competition, he wouldn’t have been unable to invite a guest singer and ended up collaborating with Chi Xiasheng.
Chi Xiasheng also felt that his luck was bad, to have run into such a trash like Ye Qi.
Ye Qi saw the disdain in Chi Xiasheng’s eyes and retorted with great dissatisfaction.
“What are you looking at? Just don’t embarrass yourself on stage. We’re a team now!”
Chi Xiasheng ignored him. He didn’t want to start a fight, especially since it was still being live-streamed.
Seeing that the two of them were about to argue, the cameraman’s eyes lit up, and he quickly turned the camera over.
The viewers in the live stream were directly stunned by Chi Xiasheng’s divine looks and were almost lost in his eyes.
[Damn, is Chi Xiasheng really so handsome? I always thought he was just average-looking.]
[This is stage makeup! Can other celebrities learn from this?!]
[Other celebrities: Is it that I don’t want to learn? It’s that I don’t have this face!]
But in just two seconds, the camera turned away and moved to Ye Qi.
Ye Qi quickly raised an eyebrow and smiled at the camera, which almost made the viewers who had just seen Chi Xiasheng’s looks want to throw up.
[The self-righteous handsome guy, only makes people feel greasy…]
But fortunately, Chi Xiasheng was next to go on stage. The camera focused on him again, which finally calmed down the viewers who had been on the verge of crying from the ugliness.
Under the relaxed gazes of the others who were watching the show, Chi Xiasheng took a deep breath to adjust his emotions and slowly walked onto the stage.
The lights dimmed. Chi Xiasheng listened to the intro of the song and, when he saw the headband with his name flashing in the front row of the audience, his expression froze for a moment.
Then he saw Wen Shu and Wen Nian waving desperately at him, sitting among a group of girls and cheering for him.
Chi Xiasheng’s heart couldn’t help but warm up.
Although it was his first time singing on stage, it wasn’t a big deal, so he hadn’t told Wen Shu and Wen Nian.
Wen Nian’s live-streaming career was gradually getting on track, and Wen Shu was also busy. Chi Xiasheng was not one to trouble others, so he naturally wouldn’t mention asking them to come and watch his competition.
But he never expected that they would come secretly without telling him.
And they were even wearing that cute and funny support headband. Chi Xiasheng could imagine Wen Nian’s wronged little appearance when he put it on.
Chi Xiasheng felt that he suddenly understood the confidence that came from having the protection and support of his family. No matter where you stood, the courage in your heart could support you to give it your all!
Even seeing the disgusting face of Su Chimian on the judges’ panel, Chi Xiasheng’s good mood was not ruined.
As the accompaniment entered the first line of the lyrics, Chi Xiasheng also held the microphone and began his performance.
In an instant, a light and beautiful singing voice filled the studio.
Every line of the lyrics seemed to have been enchanted, drawing everyone’s attention to Chi Xiasheng, unable to look away.
Su Chimian, who was sitting in the audience, ready to watch a good show, his expression slowly began to stiffen. Only one thought appeared in his mind:
Didn’t Chi Xiasheng even do a sound check? How can he sing so well?!
