As Ye Shuang pressed the final note, Linlin finally finished singing the song.
The group bowed slightly to the audience.
"Thank you!"
The crowd erupted into thunderous applause—
"That was amazing!!!!!"
"Whoooooo!"
"Damn, that last line gave me chills."
"666666666!"
"..."
"Thank you, everyone!" Backstage, Linlin expressed her sincere gratitude to Ye Shuang and the others. If it hadn't been for Ye Shuang and An Shiyu improvising on the spot, the performance would have been a disaster.
"At least we managed to pull it off in the end," Ye Shuang said with a smile. "Though it was a bit chaotic."
He glanced at An Shiyu. "Where did you find that sheet music?"
"Just searched for it online. Though I might have picked the more complicated version," An Shiyu replied casually, blowing a bubble with her gum. "Didn’t expect you to nail it at over 200 BPM on the first try."
Ye Shuang deadpanned, "So you were betting on me failing?"
"Who knows…" An Shiyu shoved her hands into her pockets and looked away.
Ye Shuang: "..."
Never mind. No point arguing with this fish.
Meanwhile, Bai Yuyou, who had been quietly standing beside Ye Shuang, suddenly pulled out her phone. A message flashed on the screen:
Mom: Sorry, Rou Nü, something came up last minute, so I couldn’t make it to your performance.
Mom: I’ll definitely come next time.
Mom: [Transfer: ¥100,000]
Bai Yuyou tightened her grip on the phone, her usually calm eyes dimming slightly as she stared at the screen. After a pause, she slowly typed out "It’s okay" before slipping the phone back into her skirt pocket.
Her fingertips felt oddly numb, and she unconsciously rubbed her arms for warmth.
Gazing at Ye Shuang’s back, she reached out and tugged lightly on his sleeve.
"What’s wrong?" Ye Shuang turned to find Bai Yuyou looking up at him.
Bai Yuyou shook her head. "Nothing…"
Yet she wrapped her arms around his.
Ye Shuang studied her face. Though her expression remained as blank as ever, he sensed the subtle shift in her mood.
After a moment, he smiled. "By the way, did Aunt Xian and the others see your performance?"
Bai Yuyou didn’t answer, but her grip on his arm tightened slightly.
Understanding dawned on Ye Shuang.
With a silent sigh, he turned to Zhixia and the others. "Yuyou and I are heading out for a bit. We’ll be back later."
"Sure thing!" Zhixia replied warmly.
"Keke, come with us," Ye Shuang said to Tang Keke.
"Me?" Tang Keke blinked, scratching her head. "Won’t I just be a third wheel? The electricity’s already overflowing here."
"Let’s go."
"Huh?"
Though confused, Tang Keke obediently followed.
Ye Shuang tapped on his phone before leading the two girls out of the backstage area.
"Brother, where are we going?"
"The audience seats."
"Eh?"
Bai Yuyou, too, had no idea what Ye Shuang was planning. But the warmth of his hand around hers was enough to anchor her.
After weaving through the crowd for a minute or two, Ye Shuang suddenly stopped and grinned at Bai Yuyou.
"We’re here."
"Yuyou, sweetheart, you were incredible up there!"
"Such a brilliant performance!"
"Yuyou-jiejie, you sounded so good!"
Familiar voices made Bai Yuyou peek out from behind Ye Shuang. There, in the audience, sat Aunt Li, Chen Hai, Chen Qin, Chen Qiaoqiao, and the others—all beaming at her.
An indescribable emotion surged in her chest. She ducked back behind Ye Shuang, her fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt. Her eyes glistened faintly as she buried her face deeper, her ears turning pink beneath her hair.
"She’s shy," Ye Shuang chuckled, patting her shoulder gently.
"Big-chest sister, I recorded your part too!" Chen Qiaoqiao waved her camera at Tang Keke.
Tang Keke grimaced. "It’s Keke-jiejie."
"Huh?"
The exchange drew laughter, and Chen Hai’s wife pinched Qiaoqiao’s cheek in playful reprimand.
"Everyone’s here for you, Yuyou," Ye Shuang murmured. "Even if Aunt Xian couldn’t make it, you’ve got all of us. So many people care about you."
"Come on, look up."
Bai Yuyou slowly raised her head. The faces around her were filled with warmth and pride. Her lips parted slightly.
"Was… my performance good?"
"The best!" Aunt Li and the others cheered.
"Here, darling, Auntie took tons of close-ups! Let’s see which ones you like." Aunt Li brandished her DSLR, already planning to compile the photos into an album.
"A memento of our Yuyou’s first stage performance."
"Thank you, Aunt Li…" Bai Yuyou whispered.
Ye Shuang crossed his arms, watching as Bai Yuyou and Li Fugui huddled over the camera. A smile tugged at his lips.
Well, as long as she’s happy.
It was her debut, after all.
"You handled that well back there," a voice said beside him. Chen Qin rested a hand on his shoulder, her other hand poking his cheek.
Dressed in a sleek black evening gown adorned with jewels, her striking figure turned heads wherever she went.
"We were scrambling for most of it," Ye Shuang admitted. The audience hadn’t noticed, but the girls had been on the verge of panic mid-performance.
Chen Qin glanced around. "Did Aunt Xian show up?"
"Planned to…" Ye Shuang trailed off. "But no expectations, no disappointments."
"That’s why she never hopes for much. She’s used to being let down."
"Aunt Xian really…" Chen Qin sighed, then leaned closer. "Hey, Ye Shuang, why not just keep Yuyou by your side forever?"
"Where’s this coming from?"
"Just a thought." Chen Qin changed the subject. "Anyway, about Yang Wei—I dug deeper like you said. He did leak our confidential projects to Tianwei Group. How’d you sniff that out?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
