Chapter 45
Although his steps were still a little stiff, his pounding heart gradually calmed down.
The noise-canceling headphones filtered out the buzzing noise, but the judges' voices were still clear.
When her number tag was read, Zhang Jusong's hand holding the microphone trembled slightly. She took a deep breath and introduced herself quickly.
The moment she heard the first note of the song's accompaniment from her headphones, she closed her eyes, completely blocking out the world, leaving only the melody that was so familiar that it couldn't be more familiar.
"I want to ask the heaven where you are, I want to ask myself..."
I know every word by heart, just like those silent nights, when I am immersed in the small universe of music, isolated from the world.
"I don't want to indulge anymore, nor do I want to drift every day and every night, nor do I need to ask more, say more, and ask more for my dream, my dream."
After singing the word "dream", she slowly opened her eyes.
The small square was silent for a moment, and her heart sank.
However, before she could sink to the bottom, Xia Zhiheng's applause stabilized her uneasy heart.
His applause was like a signal. After a brief silence, everyone started to applaud. One judge even stood up and clapped his palms until they turned red.
A great victory.
Zhang Jusong seemed to be stepping on clouds, soft and light. Even though her roommates and classmates smiled and said, "Wow, you sing so well," she still felt it was unreal.
The neon lights came on, the voices faded away, and Xia Zhiheng held her hand and walked along the path on campus. The street lamps painted warm yellow light into the pond, the floating light was golden and sparkling.
Zhang Jusong stopped and said, "So, I really finished singing today?"
Xia Zhiheng smiled and said, "Yes, you advanced, and everyone said that you sang very well!"
"Really..." She murmured, her tone very unsteady, "Why is it like a dream, so light-headed."
Xia Zhiheng looked down at her, chuckled and shook his head. The next second, accompanied by Zhang Jusong's exclamation, he suddenly hugged her waist and lifted her up high.
"Are you awake now?" His pair of small fangs were revealed, and his eyes were slowly filled with smiles.
"Xia Zhiheng!" Zhang Jusong angrily looked down at him and looked around, "Put me down quickly, don't let anyone see me."
Xia Zhiheng smiled and agreed "OK", but he deliberately used force with his hands and shook her.
Zhang Jusong was shocked, and he held him tightly with both hands, and shouted at him again in a rage: "Xia! Zhi! Heng!"
As soon as she landed, she used both hands to hit him alternately.
Xia Zhiheng smiled and dodged: "Sister, I was wrong, I was wrong, I just wanted to wake you up."
You are laughing so happily, what the hell is wrong with me?
Zhang Jusong was so angry that he hit him twice more. Unexpectedly, Xia Zhiheng suddenly covered his legs, cried out, and sat down on the lawn.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Jusong was startled and hurried over to take a look.
Xia Zhiheng cried out in grievance: "It hurts."
"Where does it hurt? I didn't hit your leg. Let me see."
She suddenly became nervous and looked carefully to see where he was injured. Unexpectedly, just as she approached him, Xia Zhiheng suddenly pulled her into his arms and sat on the lawn together.
I could hear his low laugh: "Sister, how could you be so gullible?"
Zhang Jusong was so angry that his teeth were itching, but his hands were firmly held by the man, so he could only glare at him angrily.
"I was wrong. Don't be angry, sis..." Xia Zhiheng's tone was almost coquettish. "Look, isn't the moon especially round tonight?"
Following his gaze, Zhang Jusong raised her eyes. There was no wind tonight, the clouds were light, and a bright moon shone across a thousand miles.
Very beautiful moonlight.
Zhang Jusong looked at the moon, and he looked at her, and they stayed like that in silence for a while.
He put his head on her shoulder and said, "The moon doesn't know how peaceful and bright it is, and you don't know how good you are. Today, many people applaud and cheer for you."
Xia Zhiheng hugged her a little tighter: "Seeing that they like your singing so much, I am happy, but also a little... well, how should I put it, a little scared? I am afraid that you can't tell which one is me among all the applause."
His voice was muffled, "I'm sorry, sister, am I a little bad?"
Zhang Jusong gently stroked his cheek with his backhand: "I think you are a little silly."
She smiled and said, "It's just a campus singing competition. It's not as exaggerated as you say. It's like I'm giving a concert in the National Stadium. Don't worry, no matter what, I don't think I will ignore you."
"Really?" Xia Zhiheng said, "I'm not allowed to lie to you."
"Okay, okay," Zhang Jusong didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Why are you acting like a child all of a sudden?"
"I'm not a child!"
"Well—if you say it's not, then it's not."
After Xia Zhiheng's series of antics ended, Zhang Jusong's original sense of unreality disappeared.
Her schedule was packed with classes to earn credits, homework in the library, and singing practice at KTV - this time she finally allowed Xia Zhiheng to accompany her in the private room.
No matter what song she sang, even if her voice broke, the only invited audience member listened with gusto.
The campus singing competition proceeded in an orderly manner. In late autumn, when the leaves fell and the ground was covered with golden yellow, Zhang Jusong successfully entered the finals.
A student leader from the Arts and Literature Department of the Student Union found her and said they wanted to shoot a promotional video for her for the finals.
"Do we still need to shoot a promotional video?" Zhang Jusong pointed at himself, his eyes slightly widened.
The secretary of the Arts Department nodded and said, "Yes, it won't take up much of your time. It's just a one-minute film. We'll have to edit some footage for the general preview of this year's Campus Top Ten Singers Competition. Oh, and by the way, we'll also play promotional videos during the warm-up for the finals. After all, everyone will vote, so we have to get to know the contestants."
Zhang Jusong stroked his forehead with his hand: "Do we have to take the photo?"
"Yes, please. It really won't take up much of your time." The secretary of the Art Department was a cute girl, one grade younger than Zhang Jusong. It was a common practice to lower himself to ask her for help, so Zhang Jusong naturally couldn't refuse.
Students at A University strive for perfection in everything, big or small. Although it was just a one-minute promotional video, the members of the Arts Department wrote a complete storyboard based on Zhang Jusong's image and singing style, making it very formal.
During the filming, Zhang Jusong wore a khaki windbreaker and walked back and forth in the dancing ginkgo trees for more than ten times.
The secretary of the Arts Department thanked her repeatedly: "Thank you, senior sister, you have worked hard."
"It's okay," Zhang Jusong glanced at their SLRs, "If it's okay, I'll go back to study."
"Okay, don't worry, we will make sure the post-production is beautiful!"
After work, the Art and Literature Department secretary grabbed two team members and worked together late into the night to edit Zhang Jusong’s promotional video.
When scrolling the video axis, a boy in the group said: "It's so strange, I feel like this picture looks familiar."
"What picture?"
“This is the frame where she’s sitting on the rock and looking up.”
The secretary of the Arts Department took a quick look and said, "I say, you think all the beauties look familiar! Stop being lazy and get the video track done quickly so that you can get back before the dormitory closes. I don't want to stay up late in the Student Activity Center any longer."
"Okay." Under the pressure from the little boss, the boy gave up thinking further and continued to do the work of a late-stage migrant worker honestly.
To paraphrase Borges' poem "The Unknowable", "The moon does not know her tranquility and brightness, nor does it even know that it is the moon."
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