Chapter 30 Concert

At the Cultural Center of City A, the night was ignited by the frenzied atmosphere of the “Yao·Bian” tour concert.

Tens of thousands of glow sticks in the venue waved to the rhythm, forming a dazzling galaxy, and the screams and choruses almost blew the roof off.

In the center of the stage, Zhou Ai is the only master.

The 360° surround LED giant screen creates dazzling and blurred light and shadow, and the holographic projection technology outlines a futuristic alien scene.

Zhou Ai had just finished singing and dancing the first song of the opening, and her breath was still surprisingly steady.

His silver-gray hair was soaked with sweat, with a few strands sticking unruly to his forehead, adding a touch of wild charm.

The close-up shot accurately captured the movement of his Adam's apple as he took a slight breath, causing the audience to scream uncontrollably.

The music pauses for a soothing piano interlude.

Zhou Ai walked to the front of the extended stage and sat down casually, his long legs dangling over the edge. The spotlight enveloped him, as if he were the only one left in the world.

He held the microphone and began to sing the first song of this year's special album "Chasing Light"

I chase the light

Disorientation

The answer is in your quiet eyes

Light is not false, not far away

·It is the star track that twinkles for me in your eyes

I chased the light and finally looked back

·I found that you were waiting for a long time

·The light never goes out and love never leaves

Your silent protection is the eternal guidance

...........

The voice was a little hoarse from the previous singing and dancing, but it unexpectedly gave the love song a deeper sense of tenderness and story. Each ending note was like a small hook, gently tickling the hearts of the listeners.

The photographer also doted on him very much, frequently giving him close-ups, and the huge screen magnified Zhou Ai's impeccable appearance to the extreme.

Those iconic affectionate peach blossom eyes looked particularly deep at this moment because of her concentration in singing. The pupils seemed to be filled with broken stars. As her eyes moved, there was both unintentional laziness and captivating concentration.

The straight bridge of the nose cast a faint shadow, and tiny beads of sweat on the tip of the nose sparkled in the light.

The lips are beautifully shaped, moving slightly as she sings, sometimes forming a subtle arc, and sometimes opening slightly due to the high notes, revealing a little white tip of the teeth.

At this moment, Zhou Ai's skin was so white that it was almost transparent under the strong light, forming a sharp contrast with her silver hair. An almost enchanting beauty impacted everyone's visual nerves.

Occasionally, beads of sweat would slide down the clear jawline and drip into the depression of the collarbone, which was another detail that caused the audience to roar wildly.

However, careful fans and photographers noticed that Zhou Ai's gaze always seemed to drift inadvertently to a fixed position in the front VIP area.

That was an empty seat.

In the almost crazy atmosphere around, that empty seat seemed particularly abrupt and deserted.

Between songs, he walked to the other side of the stage to interact with fans. When he turned back, his eyes once again quickly swept across the empty seat, and his brows frowned almost imperceptibly, so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.

The photographer also seemed to be curious about the empty seat, and at one point he even deliberately pointed his camera at the empty seat, letting it flash on the giant screen, triggering a burst of puzzled whispers from the audience.

"Whose position is that?"

"It seems to be reserved and always empty?"

"Zhou Zhou seems to be looking over there all the time?"

Of course, Zhou Ai saw the image of the empty seat that briefly appeared on the big screen. He raised his hand and adjusted his in-ear monitor without any panic. Instead, when the next melody sounded, he smiled very lightly in the direction of the empty seat.

The stage presence in the following performance was even more impactful, with every movement being precise and powerful.

At the end of the last song, golden ribbons fell from the sky and fireworks exploded in the night sky outside the venue, illuminating Zhou Ai's sweaty face.

He stood in the center of the stage, accepting the thunderous screams and bowing deeply.

When he stood up, Zhou Ai took a last deep look at the still empty seat.

An impeccable audio-visual feast, an unknown promise that was broken, and finally everything returned to a quiet exhaustion.

The concert ended successfully.

———

In the waiting hall of Beijing International Airport, Chu Yi was wearing a simple gray sweater and casual trousers, with a pair of sunglasses covering most of his face. He sat quietly in the corner of the VIP waiting room, leaning back in a chair with his eyes closed.

Not far from him sat two young girls, huddled together and staring intently at their cell phone screens. The flickering light on the screens illuminated their excited faces.

Even though Chu Yi deliberately kept his distance, the sound from the girl's phone still clearly penetrated his ears.

Deafening cheers, rhythmic drum beats, and that familiar and penetrating singing voice.

It is the live broadcast of Zhou Ai's concert.

The sound came out of the phone intermittently from a distance, but Chu Yi could clearly hear every breath and every change of tone of Zhou Ai.

Every note seemed to have life, bypassing the calm barrier that Chu Yi had deliberately built and striking his heartstrings with precision.

Chu Yi closed his eyes and tried to maintain a dozing posture, but his fingers on the armrest tightened almost imperceptibly.

His sunglasses concealed all his emotions. Only he knew that his heartbeat beneath his chest was uncontrollably following the rhythm of the song, hitting his eardrums again and again.

“…Oh my God, this shot! Zhou Ai’s face is truly God’s graduation project!” A girl screamed excitedly in a low voice.

"Shh—be quiet, this slow song is so beautiful...I'm about to cry..."

Chu Yi's Adam's apple moved slightly, and he forced himself to shift his attention to the flight information screen, but with little effect.

Zhou Ai's singing was like an invisible thread, entwining his thoughts.

Just then, the singing in the live broadcast paused and a talking segment came on. Zhou Ai seemed to say something, which made the fans in the audience laugh.

This was followed by a whispered discussion between the two girls next to him.

"Hey, have you noticed? Zhou Zhou always seems to be looking to the left of the stage?"

"You noticed it too? I thought so too! The camera even seemed to scan over an empty seat?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Right in the front row of the VIP area! The director even had the mischief to give it a close-up!"

"Who is that seat reserved for? No one's sitting here? What a waste!"

"I don't know... maybe some of my friends in the circle didn't come at the last minute?"

"It's possible... But look at Zhou Zhou's eyes, he seems a little lost..."

"Ahhh, stop talking, it hurts so much! Who had the heart to stand up our Zhou Zhou?"

Empty seats...

Chu Yi's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He almost immediately remembered the two concert tickets that he had locked deep in the drawer.

The gold-stamped texture and the look in Zhou Ai's eyes when he handed it to me, which seemed to give no reason to argue.

The girls were still whispering about the mysterious empty seat, speculating on various possibilities.

Chu Yi closed his eyes, and the world behind his sunglasses was dark, but Zhou Ai's singing and the girls' discussions became clearer.

An extremely subtle and unfamiliar emotion, like a tiny vine, quietly wrapped around his heart.

It wasn't guilt, but more like an... indescribable throbbing and sudden realization.

It turns out he really reserved a spot.

It turns out he was really looking forward to it.

In the live broadcast on mobile phones, the concert seemed to have entered the final encore. Zhou Ai's singing voice sounded again, more passionate than before, as if to burn out all the energy.

Chu Yi took a deep breath, then finally raised his hand and gently removed his sunglasses. The bright lights in the waiting room made him squint slightly. He pulled out his phone, and the dark screen reflected his expressionless face.

He didn't open any social media apps, nor did he search for any news about the concert.

He just rubbed his fingertips across the screen unconsciously a few times, then put it away.

The boarding notice sounded over the radio at the right time, and a clear female voice reminded passengers bound for Guizhou to start boarding.

Chu Yi put on his sunglasses again, stood up, pulled the suitcase beside him, and walked straight to the boarding gate without stopping.

The last thing he heard was the thunderous final cheers from the live broadcast on his phone, and Zhou Ai's clear but slightly hoarse farewell: "Thank you... Goodbye..."