Chapter 96: Adding icing on the cake, rather than overshadowing the main subject.
Yi Jia waved vigorously to Zhu Fan, who was rushing to the playground carrying her cello, "Fanfan, over here."
The stage on the playground had already been set up in the morning.
Before Zhu Fan could even catch his breath, Yi Jia dragged him to line up for a lottery.
Yi Jia wanted to help her carry the cello on her back.
Zhu Fan smiled and shook his head, "I'm used to carrying it, it's not very heavy."
She was afraid that the cello on her back might accidentally bump into Yi Jia when she moved around, so she made sure Yi Jia stood in front of her.
This campus singing competition has twelve singers who have made it to the finals. From these twelve singers, the top ten singers will be selected, and the champion and runner-up will receive generous rewards.
If you're lucky, you might be scouted and have the chance to debut.
Amidst their immense popularity, some students have already broken out of their niche and become minor internet celebrities.
Among them, Zhou Song and Yi Jia are the most popular.
On the platforms where the two release their works, Zhou Song has over 300,000 followers, and Yi Jia's followers are also approaching 300,000.
For this year's campus singing competition finals, the school attracted more sponsors, including beauty brands and new energy vehicle brands.
Sponsor logos are visible everywhere in sight.
Yi Jia's goal this time is to get into the top three.
"Who else is missing? We agreed to meet at 1:30. Don't you have any sense of time?"
The girl who was first in line arrived the earliest, and now she was shivering from the strong wind blowing across the playground.
She wrapped her camel-colored coat tighter around herself. For the sake of looking good, she wore only a thin sweater and a short skirt underneath, without even wearing any tights.
She grew impatient and began to complain.
Yi Jia shuddered when he saw the girl's beautiful legs exposed to the air.
Today was a rehearsal, but behind-the-scenes footage will be uploaded to Kyoto University's official account as a preview. Although the performers who came weren't wearing their costumes for tomorrow's performance, they were all dressed up carefully.
She originally wanted to wear that too.
Zhu Fan told her that it wouldn't be worth it if she caught a cold and it affected her performance.
Tomorrow is the start of winter.
Of all the people queuing up, only she and Zhu Fan were dressed warmly and conservatively.
Someone replied apologetically, "It's Zhou Song. He said in the group that he would be ten minutes late and let us draw first."
The boy politely asked the organizers if he could draw the lottery on behalf of someone else.
The boy who was speaking was in the same dormitory as Zhou Song.
The complaining girl's expression softened considerably when she heard that Zhou Song hadn't come.
Zhou Song is the most handsome guy in the Computer Science department; he's good-looking and sings well too.
Everyone is betting that he will be the champion of this year's top ten singers.
The organizers asked everyone to wait another ten minutes.
The originally orderly queue became loose.
Zhu Fan handed Yi Jia the throat lozenges and hot water he had brought.
Last night, she and Yi Jia practiced until very late.
Yi Jia worked incredibly hard, making it all the way from the preliminary rounds and semi-finals to the finals.
She saw it all.
Yi Jia got up this morning and called her to discuss the clever ideas she had come up with, hoping to make tomorrow's performance even more outstanding. Her voice was a little hoarse.
Zhu Fan peeled a throat lozenge for her and said, "Tell me honestly, did you practice for a long time on your own last night?"
Yi Jia, with a throat lozenge in his mouth, smiled brightly, "Fanfan, now that I've dragged you into this, I definitely won't let you down."
Zhu Fan said earnestly, "Yi Jia, this is your stage."
What she needs to do is add the finishing touches, not steal the show.
Yi Jia blinked.
Zhu Fan pointed to the cello behind him and smiled assuring her, "I definitely won't hold you back."
Yi Jia hugged Zhu Fan's arm, her eyes slightly red.
From the start of this competition, Zhu Fan would practice with her, encourage her, and cheer her on whenever she needed it.
Her current popularity is inseparable from Zhu Fan's campaigning and support.
Some people started chatting to ease the tension.
"Ugh, this is so stressful. Everyone has found amazing support teams. I wish I had asked my teammates to join too."
"The finals are all top-tier teams, sob sob, I'm already getting nervous just from the rehearsals."
"Qianya, you have to believe in yourself. In this vote, you, Yi Jia, and Zhou Song are all recognized as the top three seed candidates."
He Qianya looked at Yi Jia and Zhu Fan standing at the end of the line, thinking of Yi Jia's explosive popularity. Her expression was very unpleasant, "Some people rely on their strength, while others cheat by relying on popularity."
Yi Jia had a throat lozenge in her mouth, her chin resting on Zhu Fan's shoulder. When she heard He Qianya's words, she lifted her eyelids and glanced at her.
This woman, ever since the semi-finals, has been making all sorts of sarcastic remarks.
During the semi-finals, because the two chose the same song, the organizers decided who would sing the song based on the order in which they announced the song title.
The organizers assigned that song to Yi Jia.
He Qianya refused to accept this and wrote a thousand-word essay on the confession wall at Peking University, subtly criticizing her.
They said she used her popularity to bully others and bribed the competition organizers.
Yi Jia couldn't bear it, so he went to find He Qianya.
She has a bad temper, and He Qianya almost slapped her after teasing her.
The innocent-looking girl, abandoning her tough stance, tearfully apologized to her. She said she shouldn't have stolen her song and was sorry to the fans who had always protected and supported her.
The video was maliciously edited and posted online.
If Zhu Fan hadn't found the complete video, Yi Jia would have almost been cyberbullied and disqualified from the competition.
Since then, He Qianya's public image has become very poor.
Neither of them benefited from this situation.
Yi Jia didn't want to let it affect her mood at the moment.
If I don't like someone, I won't look at them.
Whether she has the ability or not is not up to He Qianya to decide.
When He Qianya met Zhu Fan's indifferent gaze, she bit her lip and lowered her head.
Zhu Fanqing stood there aloof, exuding an air of distance. Now, with his cold gaze fixed on her, she felt a strange sense of fear.
The girl chatting with He Qianya subtly distanced herself from He Qianya.
What a joke! Yi Jia's strength is universally acknowledged.
He Qianya's actions were purely driven by resentment and jealousy at not being as popular as Yi Jia, leading her to smear Yi Jia.
Although she sometimes felt a dark jealousy, she was mostly envious.
Zhou Song arrived with his support teammates.
"Zhou Song really invited the owner of Shanyu Milk Tea Shop over."
"Zhou Song spent a week helping the proprietress make milk tea before he could get this."
"A violin genius, today is a feast for the ears."
"I feel like Zhou Song might come in first place."
"Don't boost others' morale and dampen your own confidence. Everyone who makes it to the finals has the potential to win the championship, runner-up, or third place."
"Although I am also a contestant, I am really looking forward to Zhou Song's performance this time."
"I wonder if he will sing his own original song this time."
"Here's some good news we just received: last year's top ten singers champion will be joining this year's competition to sing a duet with the champion and give away prizes."
...
Yi Jia wasn't focused on the chat. She glanced at Zhu Fan's casual outfit of a black bomber jacket and light-washed flared jeans, then at Zhong Fei, who was walking towards her in an elegant cheongsam and white coat with a classic Qian style, her makeup exquisite and her smile gentle. She whispered to Zhu Fan, "Ever since you and your boyfriend wore matching outfits every day last week, she finally stopped copying your style."
If Zhong Fei continues to learn, it would be tantamount to admitting that she is imitating Zhu Fan.
Yi Jia: "To be honest, your boyfriend has great taste in clothes. But with his physique and looks, he looks handsome in anything."
Zhu Fan smiled but didn't say anything.
Yi Jia nudged her arm. "Zhong Fei is watching you."
Zhu Fan looked up, smiled and nodded to Zhong Fei in greeting, nodding without any emotion.
Zhou Song asked Yi Jia if he was interested in recording a collaborative video with him after the event, which would then be posted on the video platform.
Yi Jia readily agreed.
Fans left messages in the comments section, asking her to post more content.
Fans should love the collaboration with Zhou Song on a song.
Zhong Fei didn't mind Zhu Fan's coldness at all and took the initiative to talk to her, "Didn't your boyfriend come with you?"
Zhu Fan felt that uncomfortable and strange feeling again.
Zhong Fei's gentleness only served to highlight Zhu Fan's aloofness and unapproachability.
Yi Jia pressed down on his suddenly twitching left eyelid, a half-smile playing on his lips: "Boss lady, you seem quite interested in other people's boyfriends?"
Yi Jia's words, seemingly cold yet sharp, elicited a smile from Zhong Fei, who confessed, "I'm a fan of the Sweet Porridge CP. I ship you two every day."
"I want to see you two being all lovey-dovey in person."
Zhong Fei's eyes were filled with laughter, but it didn't reach her eyes.
The draw began, and the lines started to loosen.
Zhong Fei stared intently at Zhu Fan with her dark eyes.
Zhu Fan, carrying his cello, left the group, his voice clear and gentle: "He's in the laboratory building."
Yi Jia pulled the cello off Zhu Fan's back and pushed her back into the group.
"Fanfan, can you draw lots for me?"
"I feel like you don't really want to talk to me."
Yi Jia and Zhong Fei finished speaking at the same time.
Under their gazes, Zhu Fan nodded twice.
One was directed at Yi Jia, and the other was a response to Zhong Fei.
She didn't want to talk to Zhong Fei.
Yi Jia tilted his head and laughed.
She loved Zhu Fan's aloof demeanor.
That really touched her.
Zhong Fei was met with a rebuff.
Zhou Song also noticed the subtle atmosphere and started a lighthearted chat with Zhong Fei.
Yi Jia stood beside him, took Zhu Fan's hands out of his pockets, and rubbed them together.
Zhu Fan lowered his head, blew on his palm, and asked Yi Jia which number he wanted to draw.
The girl in front of Zhu Fan clasped her hands together and prayed, "Please don't draw a number too early, it'll make me nervous. And please don't draw a number too late, it'll be agonizing to wait. I hope it's a number in the middle, please."
Zhu Fan wasn't infected by the girl's anxiety; she calmly rummaged through the cardboard box.
There were only two slips left in the box. After she drew one, she gave up her spot to Zhou Song.
She unfolded the strip of paper, which had been folded into a square.
Yi Jia leaned closer to look, saw the numbers, and burst out laughing.
She took the slip of paper, unfolded it, and kissed it: "Number 1, Fanfan, you're really good at drawing lots. The sooner you finish, the easier it will be."
Some people drew the number they wanted, while others drew an order of appearance they were not satisfied with.
Upon hearing that Zhou Song had drawn second place, Yi Jia stretched and said with a smile, "We're both pretty lucky."
Zhou Song smiled brightly, "Please give me your guidance."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com