I'll Form the Head

"Ninety-nine babies in one birth, one baby per second."

"Awaken, my multi-blessing power!"

Ye Shuang, who was reading a book, couldn't help but glance to the side. An Shiyi, however, was casually playing on her phone, the sound of a short video still playing. Perhaps noticing Ye Shuang's gaze, Chao Yiyu turned her head as well.

"What are you doing?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? That video of yours..."

"Isn't it pretty popular recently?" An Shiyi said. "Look at this one—'Five Babies in One Birth, Then Forming the Xing Tian Pillar.' Isn't it cool?"

In the video, a cartoon baby, just born, shouted,

"I'll form the head!"

"I'll form the legs!"

Ye Shuang: "..."

Where should he even start with the criticism?

"Let's watch something else," Ye Shuang said reluctantly.

"Fine," An Shiyi agreed, swiping down her finger. Soon, the phone started playing again:

"Folks, it's late again, and you know what that means—tonight's murder case. Today, we have a guy liked by multiple girls, but he ended up burned to death, turned into Brazilian BBQ..."

"Stop," Ye Shuang said, looking at An Shiyi. "What kind of stuff does your phone usually recommend to you?"

"Isn't this interesting?" An Shiyi replied.

"Isn't it a bit too morbid?" Ye Shuang asked.

"Huh, do you like to meddle in other people's hobbies, old man?"

"Not really."

Just then, Ye Shuang noticed his phone ringing. He glanced at it and saw an unusually rare profile picture.

"Aunt Xian?" Recognizing the icon, he unlocked the phone to check the message.

Aunt Xian: Voice message, 30 seconds.

Surprised it was a voice message, Ye Shuang hit play:

"Little Shuang, little Shuang, can you hear me clearly? Hey, are you all ready for that concert? It's coming up soon..."

Aunt Xian was referring to the concert she'd mentioned before, where she wanted Yu You to perform. Although Ye Shuang hadn't forgotten, he'd just taken it as a half-joke. So it was actually serious?

"Tens of thousands of people at this concert, and she wants the kids to perform? Is that for real?" Ye Shuang pondered for a moment, then decided to ask Bai Yuyou and the others for their opinions. If they were really going to participate, the after-school band would have to step up their rehearsals for the show.

"Aunt Xian, are you really planning to let Yuyou and the others perform? It's such an important concert—what if they mess it up?" Ye Shuang replied with a voice message.

"Don't worry, trust me. My fans are very forgiving," came Aunt Xian's response.

Ye Shuang simply replied with a "okay."

After school, as soon as Ye Shuang arrived at the clubroom, he explained the situation.

Bai Yuyou and the others were still having tea and snacks. When they heard the news, Tang Keke was the first to react, mouth hanging open. "No way? Is this for real? Seriously?"

"We're going for it, Keke," Bai Yuyou said earnestly.

"Don't make going to our doom sound so exciting," Keke replied, looking like she was doomed.

Zhixia and Linlin exchanged glances. Even Little Taotao and Yaya looked dazed. A school garage band performing at a concert for tens of thousands of people?

They'd gone from singing at bars to this difficulty level?

"Tens of thousands... how many is that? That's amazing," Yaya said, her eyes spinning.

"Everyone, calm down," Zhixia said, seeing how nervous the others were. "Don't be scared. There were tons of people at the school festival too. It'll be fine."

"Zhixia, maybe you should take a moment to calm yourself," Linlin interjected, since Zhixia was holding a microphone like she was about to hit a drum set.

"Sorry..."

Among them, Bai Yuyou was the most composed, having once heard Ye Shuang say there's no need to be nervous with big crowds—just imagine them as cabbages.

When performing on stage, it was just a gathering of cabbages below.

Sometimes a meeting of broccoli.

"I feel like, with so many people in the music club, they won't miss me, right?" Tang Keke was already trying to back out. She wasn't much of a musician anyway; she usually just half-heartedly played along as an excuse to hang out with Bai Yuyou. Performing in front of so many people at a concert was way too tough.

It felt like going from a basic attack to facing the final boss in a game.

"Keke, since you're this scared..." Bai Yuyou paused, then said softly,

"I can teach you."

Tang Keke thought Bai Yuyou was going to say she didn't need to join, but hearing this, she pouted.

"But that's a concert, not at all like the school festival."

"A concert and a school festival are both just people, aren't they? Isn't ten thousand people the same as a thousand?" Bai Yuyou replied.

Huh.

That kind of made sense.

Seeing Keke hugging her schoolbag in fear, Ye Shuang smiled. "If the whole club performs together, I think even if Keke goofs off, no one will notice."

"That's true," Keke calculated.

If her brother didn't perform, it would be Yuyou, herself, Zhixia, Linlin, Taotao, Yaya, and Yu...

Mixed in with a bunch of people, she really wouldn't be easy to spot. And since she was a slacker not standing center stage, she could just find a corner, sneaky grin.

"Impossible," a discordant voice interrupted. Changfa girl, munching on snacks and streaming shows from the couch, spoke up:

"With that huge backpack of yours, the director is bound to lock the camera on you."

"Self-taunting, a must-attack target."

After Chao Yiyu said that, Tang Keke muttered, "If I wear thicker clothes, it's no big deal, right?"

"Turn into a ball?"

"That's not it!" Tang Keke retorted.

"Then why not put on a cardboard box? Look," Chao Yiyu pointed to a mango box in the corner.

"Slide into it, cut out holes for your eyes."

"No way!"

Watching Keke and Chao Yiyu bicker, Ye Shuang added, "Don't worry about the camera angles. I'll work something out with the director—maybe you won't even show up on screen, Keke."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Hehe, dear brother is the best," Tang Keke said, scratching her head and grinning. But then she thought that it would be kinda a shame not to get a little screen time after all the trouble.

"Just a little bit of camera time won't hurt either."

"Wants to be seen but is too scared," Chao Yiyu squinted her eyes. "Weak."

"I'm not! I just want a quick shot!"