Chapter 226: Music Festival Debut
A dense sea of heads surged like waves toward this stage. The clamor was like that of a grand festival, to the point that anyone even a short distance away couldn’t hear themselves speak.
Standing on such a stage, Pei Ningle couldn’t help but feel her legs wobbling. Moreover, the guitar hanging in front of her seemed exceptionally heavy.
She steadied herself on the microphone stand and turned her head to look toward the side rear. Standing there cheering her on were Han Yixuan and Wang Heng.
“Xiao Le, good luck!” Han Yixuan pumped her fist.
On stage besides Pei Ningle, there was a bassist, a keyboardist, and a drummer, a total of four people. These three accompanying musicians had only met her yesterday, and they’d rehearsed for just one day. At this moment, Pei Ningle looked around, her gaze sweeping over their faces, and realized she couldn’t even recall their full names, only the nicknames she’d called out many times.
“Mosquito, are we starting?” Pei Ningle shouted to the drummer.
The stocky drummer with the odd nickname glanced at the electronic watch on his wrist and shouted even louder: “Two more minutes, wait for the broadcast announcement! After the broadcast introduces you, say a few words to the fans, and we’ll start!”
Pei Ningle glanced at the crowd below the stage: “Where did I get so many fans?”
The bassist next to her laughed: “Have some confidence. Your songs are well-written, and you were on the CCTV program. There must be plenty of audience members. Of course, your foundation is still shallow, so you probably don’t have any loyal fans yet, but your appeal to passersby is already great. Even if they aren’t now, after you sing these two songs, make them into your fans!”
The keyboardist joked: “You have to do your best. Later, when you’re a full A-list star, we can boast about you on our resumes.”
“It’s not that exaggerated. Just being able to support myself would be good enough…” Before Pei Ningle could finish, the broadcast beside the stage sounded.
It was a host’s voice, sounding quite excited: “Does everyone still remember the most outstanding student from the first episode of Tian Xia Hao Ge Qu? She’s right here today, offering up her only two original songs so far! That’s right, besides the 《Dawn》 from the program, there’s also one more!”
At this point, a burst of cheers rose from below the stage. However, compared to the number of people in the audience, the cheers were obviously a bit thin.
The bassist said again: “Don’t be nervous. Just sing like you’re performing for friends for fun. The more relaxed, the better.”
At this moment, the host’s voice on the broadcast reached its final line: “So, let’s welcome Pei Ningle!”
Another round of somewhat sparse applause. Soon, the area around this stage quieted down, and the audience waited for the sound from the stage.
On stage, Pei Ningle held the microphone with both hands and said: “You were too kind just now. I don’t think I was the most outstanding in the program, though I do have a lot of confidence in my songs… uh, what was I going to say?”
Scattered bits of laughter. But for a cute girl, everyone was obviously quite forgiving, and the laughter carried more good-natured teasing.
Pei Ningle scratched her cheek and smiled: “I won’t say anything else. Today is my first time on such a big stage. One 《Lost》 and one 《Dawn》. I hope everyone likes them!”
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When Pei Ningle began singing, Wang Heng and Han Yixuan were standing at the side rear of the stage, in a spot where they could see both the audience below and the singer on stage.
“She was so nervous before starting, but I didn’t expect her first time on such a big stage to go so well!”
Han Yixuan listened carefully to the singing voice and couldn’t help but exclaim this.
Wang Heng said calmly: “Don’t let her nervous demeanor fool you. She actually performs great on the spot. No matter how nervous she gets, as long as she closes her eyes, she always finds her feeling for singing.”
Han Yixuan sneaked a glance at him and whispered: “You seem to know Xiao Le pretty well?”
Wang Heng said very naturally: “Of course. I was her agent for half a year and saw her sing so many times. Naturally, I know her.”
Han Yixuan was still a bit bothered by his earlier term “girl” for her. Those two characters struck her as quite intimate. Yet he’d never used such a term for her.
When Pei Ningle finished the first song 《Lost》 and began the second 《Dawn》, the young girl finally couldn’t hold back and asked: “Can you… not call me ‘Han Yixuan classmate’ anymore? Five characters, it sounds so troublesome.”
Wang Heng: “Then what should I call you?”
“Like how Xiao Le and I call each other, call me Xiao Xuan. We’re good friends too, so it’s totally normal…”
As Han Yixuan said this, she thought her seemingly minor request would be brushed off again, but unexpectedly, the next moment she heard him agree straightforwardly:
“Sure.”
“Then can I call you Brother Heng from now on?”
The young girl’s hands were tucked in her jeans pockets, looking casual, but actually clenched into fists.
Wang Heng glanced at her, seeming a bit hesitant.
Han Yixuan quickly added: “You’re already 19 now, and I’m still stuck at 18. Calling you brother isn’t over the top, right?”
Wang Heng: “But your temperament is much more mature than Xiao Le’s. And you’ll be my assistant in the future, helping me handle a lot of matters. Calling me brother always feels a bit off.”
Han Yixuan: “Then should I still call you Boss Wang?”
“That works,” Wang Heng nodded. “OK, let’s listen to the song. The final high note in Dawn is really pretty good.”
The two quieted down and listened to the song silently.
However, as Han Yixuan mulled over their earlier conversation, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just been issued a subordinate card that explicitly ruled out any ambiguous relationship?
————
“I hear the harp playing crystals, weaving into beautiful poems. I see you…”
For this final line, as Pei Ningle sang it, she instinctively looked toward the side rear. She saw that although Wang Heng and Han Yixuan stood side by side, they maintained about half a meter of appropriate distance between them, and they weren’t exchanging words with each other, seemingly listening seriously to her singing.
Turning back to face the audience below, hearing the suddenly erupting applause and cheers, the young girl grew even happier. Especially thinking back to the bewildered melancholy of over half a year ago, before she’d met Wang Heng, and comparing it to now—she was so thrilled she wanted to jump up.
Of course, she didn’t forget she was on stage and couldn’t act too strangely. So she bowed to the audience below, then straightened up, her gaze sweeping over those faces brimming with enthusiasm.
She took the microphone off the microphone stand, one hand steadying the guitar in front of her, the other holding the microphone, and walked forward a few steps—right to the very front edge of the stage, where she couldn’t go any further.
“Thank you everyone for your support. Thank you so much!”
The young girl’s big eyes sparkled with excited tears.
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