Chapter 116

In the three days leading up to the finals, Qin Qingzhuo and Asperatus experienced an intense rehearsal.

Except for meals and sleep, they spent almost all their time in the studio.

Rehearsing repeatedly, modifying the scores, and refining details was actually a rather tedious process, far from the cerebral climax experienced when writing songs that afternoon.

However, witnessing a song transform from its initial fragmented form to gradually being polished into shape, and finally being played smoothly and cohesively by the band, even feeling a rare resonance during the performance, brought a sense of accomplishment that was extremely satisfying.

On the eve of the finals, after the final rehearsal, everyone packed up their instruments and prepared to go home early to rest.

As they descended the stairs, Zhong Yang was scrolling through his phone and suddenly said, “Our comments and likes are the most.”

“What?” Jiang Ji asked.

“Well,” Zhong Yang handed over his phone, “the production team released the promotional image for the finals.”

Qin Qingzhuo glanced at it, the production team had done a good job of keeping it under wraps, only mentioning that there would be a mystery guest performance at the final, plus they had put ambiguous gray silhouettes on the promotional photos of each band, leaving everyone to speculate who the guest singer might be.

Zhong Yang continued scrolling through the comments, “Some people guessed it was Brother Qingzhuo…”

He clicked on the comment speculating about Qin Qingzhuo. The top reply in the thread was: “How could it be Qin Qingzhuo? He was criticized last time for not singing, and now he has the nerve to come again?”

“Damn,” Zhong Yang cursed, then quickly replied on the screen, typing, “What’s it to you if he comes or not…”

Before he could finish, Qin Qingzhuo patted his shoulder, “Forget it, Zhong Yang, don’t bother replying.”

“It’s okay, Brother Qingzhuo,” Zhong Yang continued typing on the screen, “I’ll argue with them using a burner account, no one will know it’s me.”

“You don’t need to worry about him, Brother Qingzhuo,” Peng Keshi added, “He spends his whole day arguing with hundreds of people.”

Qin Qingzhuo chuckled and didn’t say anything more.

That night, lying in bed with the lights out, Qin Qingzhuo felt somewhat uneasy thinking about going on stage the next day.

Usually, he could fall asleep quickly when sleeping with Jiang Ji, but tonight he was tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Although he controlled his movements and tried not to disturb Jiang Ji’s sleep, Jiang Ji still sensed his unease. “Can’t sleep?”

“Did I wake you up?” Qin Qingzhuo opened his eyes and looked at him through the darkness.

“I wasn’t sleeping deeply either,” Jiang Ji said, “What’s on your mind?”

“Do you think we’ll lose…?” Qin Qingzhuo said softly.

“Do I look like someone who cares about winning or losing? Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi don’t care that much either. Don’t think too much about it.”

“But I care. I’ve never participated in this kind of talent show before, and I thought I was quite indifferent, but now I suddenly realize that I actually want to win, especially don’t want to lose to Urban Collapse…”

Jiang Ji chuckled, “Then how do you know you won’t win?”

“I’m worried that you could have won, but I dragged down the popularity,” Qin Qingzhuo sighed.

“You’re being pessimistic again,” Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then picked up his phone from the bedside table, tapped on the screen a few times, and handed it to Qin Qingzhuo. “Take a look at this.”

Qin Qingzhuo took it, and the screen displayed a video of a music festival he had participated in before his debut in Runcheng. “This video is about ten years old. Why are we watching this?”

“Scroll down,” Jiang Ji said. “Look at the comments section.”

Qin Qingzhuo scrolled down and found that despite the video being ten years old, there were quite a few recent comments below it—

“Could that gray silhouette be you? Although I think it’s unlikely, I can’t help but hope it’s you. I really wish I could hear you sing again.”

“The highlight of the week in the show is seeing you, even though you didn’t sing, being a mentor is also cute.”

“You unexpectedly quit being a mentor on the show, damn it, what’s the show team up to, there’s no excitement every week anymore!!”

“I always felt you looked so happy back then. Now, even though you joke around on the show, you don’t seem happy at all. Sigh, I don’t even hope you’ll sing again, I just hope you’ll be as happy as before.”

“Clearly, you were making albums for others, why aren’t you singing yourself? I don’t want to cause trouble, but I’ll secretly say here that they don’t sing as well as you.”

…

Qin Qingzhuo scrolled through the screen, reading each comment one by one.

After that concert, he actually had a Weibo account. After seeing those disappointed comments about himself, he deleted the account and uninstalled Weibo, never logging in again.

After so many years, he always felt that he had disappointed all his fans, but he didn’t expect this comments section to be like a private gathering place, with each comment expressing love and longing for him.

Although he no longer sang, he had become somewhat numb to both positive and negative comments over the years. But he had to admit that looking at these fans who missed him and hoped he would be happy, he still felt touched.

“In fact, there are still many people who like you,” Jiang Ji spoke up at this moment. “It’s just that their voices are too gentle, drowned out by other noisy voices, so you didn’t hear them. So don’t think too much about it, even if you lose, it won’t be because of you.”

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t say anything, looking at the comments section, feeling a bit emotional.

“Okay, stop looking,” Jiang Ji took his phone back. “Even if they like you, it’s definitely not as much as I do.”

Qin Qingzhuo chuckled, “No need to be jealous…”

“Since you can’t sleep,” Jiang Ji rolled over and pressed down on him, “shall we do something to help you sleep?”

Originally planning to sleep early for tomorrow’s finals, Qin Qingzhuo had even said, “Not tonight,” before lying down. But now he was having second thoughts.

Jiang Ji turned his head and lightly nibbled on his earlobe. “Don’t be nervous. I’ll support you.”

Qin Qingzhuo murmured in agreement, lifting his arm to embrace him.

The next day, the finals were held as scheduled, and Qin Qingzhuo and the band arrived two hours early for the rehearsal.

The rehearsal went quite smoothly, after all, they had rehearsed countless times in the studio before. This rehearsal was just about getting familiar with the stage environment.

Coming down from the stage, they walked towards the direction of the dressing room and bumped into Urban Collapse, who had just finished their makeup and were heading to the rehearsal.

The three members of Urban Collapse were surrounding a beautiful girl, chatting as they walked, with a clearly pleasing expression on their faces—the girl, with delicate makeup, seemed to be the guest singer they had invited for the finals.

As they passed by Qin Qingzhuo’s group, the three members of Urban Collapse wiped away the flattering expressions on their faces, pretending not to see Qin Qingzhuo, without even saying hello, they walked past. The girl, however, was quite polite, waving to Qin Qingzhuo and calling out, “Teacher Qin.”

Qin Qingzhuo smiled at her and nodded.

“Here to stir up trouble again,” a member of Urban Collapse raised his voice as they walked a few steps forward, “Aren’t you afraid of causing trouble?”

“For the sake of winning, anything can be done,” the drummer beside him chimed in, “Really bold.”

Sensing Jiang Ji hesitating for a moment, Qin Qingzhuo squeezed his wrist and whispered, “Jiang Ji, just ignore them.”

“I don’t want to bother with them,” Jiang Ji continued walking forward, his tone cold and obviously displeased, “Fawning like dogs.”

“Damn, they actually invited Miao Yi!” Zhong Yang leaned over and whispered, “Qingzhuo ge, do you know Miao Yi?”

Urban Collapse did a good job of keeping secrets, and even Zhong Yang couldn’t find out the news beforehand this time. Qin Qingzhuo also hadn’t specifically asked Xia Qi, partly because he felt it wasn’t necessary, and partly because he was afraid Xia Qi would feel pressured.

“That girl?” Qin Qingzhuo shook his head. “Don’t know her, but she looks a bit familiar. Is she a singer?”

“She’s the champion of that previous girl group talent show. Her popularity is soaring now. No wonder Urban Collapse is so excited… Damn, they look like toads wanting to eat swan meat. Miao Yi doesn’t even look like she wants to deal with them.”

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t say anything, thinking that Shi Yao really went to great lengths to find Urban Collapse a boost in popularity.

“But they have a sweet sister, and we have a cool sister. Who’s afraid of whom…” Zhong Yang nudged Peng Keshi’s arm, “Right, Sister Shi?”

Peng Keshi glanced at him, clearly not buying his flattery. “Cut it out.”

As they reached the door of the dressing room, Qin Qingzhuo pushed the door and walked in.

Makeup artist Tian Xu had just finished doing makeup for the members of Urban Collapse. While waiting for the next band to arrive, he leaned against the makeup table and started scrolling on his phone. When he looked up and saw Qin Qingzhuo, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, then he smiled and said, “So it’s you who’s the guest singer, Qingzhuo. I was just guessing if the silhouette released online was you.”

“It’s me,” Qin Qingzhuo also smiled. “Nice to see you again, Teacher Tian.”

“Come here,” Tian Xu waved to him. “I love doing makeup for beauties.”

“Teacher Tian, you’re still so good at complimenting people,” Qin Qingzhuo walked over and joked, “Every time I come here for makeup and hair, it’s like having a spiritual spa.”

The members of the band burst into laughter, and Tian Xu looked at them. “Listen, who’s better at flattering people.”

“Start with our bass girl,” Qin Qingzhuo said again. “Do the makeup for girls more delicately.”

“Sure,” Tian Xu responded. “As you wish.”

Tian Xu gave Peng Keshi a stage makeup with a slightly mature and authoritative style, complementing her princess cut. At first glance, she looked quite stunning.

After Peng Keshi’s makeup was done, Qin Qingzhuo didn’t rush to sit down. Instead, he let Tian Xu do the makeup for Jiang Ji and Zhong Yang first.

For the boys, it was mainly about styling their hair. Tian Xu gave Zhong Yang’s hair a slight perm, creating a neat and gentle wavy look.

Then he moved on to Jiang Ji, which was even simpler. He just tousled Jiang Ji’s hair a bit with some hair wax and that was it.

“Qingzhuo, what do you think?” Tian Xu turned to Qin Qingzhuo. “It’s a bit difficult with him looking like this; I don’t know where to start.”

“It looks good,” Qin Qingzhuo said, looking at Jiang Ji. “A bit messy is fine.”

Indeed, it suited Jiang Ji quite well, accentuating his wild and untamed temperament even more.

After all three members of the band were done, Tian Xu finally went to do Qin Qingzhuo’s makeup. He reached out to adjust Qin Qingzhuo’s hair tips. “Your wolf tail has grown a bit longer since last time, looks even better. This time, let’s go for something more refined instead of messy?”

“You do it as you see fit,” Qin Qingzhuo said.

As the three members of the band sat on the nearby sofa, Tian Xu did Qin Qingzhuo’s makeup while gossiping with him. “So, are you two really together?”

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t directly answer, just smiled and said, “What do you think?”

“I think so,” Tian Xu glanced at the sofa through the mirror. “I’ve been watching you all along.”

Qin Qingzhuo also met Jiang Ji’s eyes through the mirror, just smiled with his eyes, still not giving a direct answer.

Tian Xu looked at Jiang Ji, then at Qin Qingzhuo, and suddenly said in Cantonese, “You two are so perfect for each other. When are you going to *bury the skylight?”

*Cantonese for getting married. English equivalent is tie the knot

Qin Qingzhuo was taken aback for a moment, then the smile on his face became even more apparent, and his eyes curved even more.

“Teacher Tian,” he replied in Cantonese, “stop kidding with me.”

Tian Xu chuckled a few times, then stopped talking and focused on doing Qin Qingzhuo’s makeup.

After leaving the dressing room, Qin Qingzhuo was about to walk to the waiting room with the band when a staff member came over and said, “Teacher Qin, you’ll be in the same room as the other guest singers. Let me take you there.”

“What does that mean?” Jiang Ji asked first. “He can’t be with me?”

“Yeah, because we’ll be broadcasting your reactions,” the staff member explained, somewhat embarrassed. “But we also need to keep the guest singers secret until the last moment on stage, so we have to separate you.”

“Alright,” Qin Qingzhuo nodded. After all, the program team had their considerations. He could understand. “Then take me over there.” He then looked at Jiang Ji. “See you later.”

Jiang Ji responded with a “Hmm” and whispered, “Don’t be nervous.” Qin Qingzhuo chuckled softly and said, “I know.”

When the staff member took Qin Qingzhuo to the guest singer’s resting room, he saw that the other three guest singers from the other three bands had already arrived.

In addition to Miao Yi, whom he had just met, there was also a young actress and a singer in the industry whom Qin Qingzhuo knew but hadn’t collaborated with before.

Qin Qingzhuo walked over and greeted them, and the three of them stood up to shake hands with him.

In fact, except for Miao Yi, who was younger, the ages and qualifications of the other two guest singers were similar to Qin Qingzhuo’s. However, Qin Qingzhuo did have much higher fame and status in the industry compared to them, so in front of him, the other two seemed a bit restrained.

On the live broadcast screen, the host went up on stage and began the opening speech.

According to the process, the bands that had been eliminated previously performed again based on online voting to heat up the atmosphere. After that, the four finalist bands took the stage with their guest singers to complete the collaborative performance.

On the screen, the camera switched to the audience seats, where the audience, holding glow sticks, shouted loudly, engaging in enthusiastic interaction with the host.

Meanwhile, the three guest singers started chatting about the bands in the program.

However, Qin Qingzhuo seemed somewhat distracted, suddenly recalling the first episode of the program recording, where the audience was enthusiastic, and the three mentors beside him were enthusiastic, while he was the only one detached from the excitement.

— He still felt nervous and uneasy. Despite rehearsing countless times in the past three days and Jiang Ji providing him with ample support and psychological preparation, as the time approached closer to being on stage, this restless and anxious feeling became harder to suppress.

It had been too long since he last sang.

And he had been too worried about messing up this collaboration on stage.

In this distracted state of mind, time seemed to pass especially quickly.

On the screen, the return performance segment of the eliminated bands had ended. Staff members came in and informed the young actress to go to the waiting area and join the band.

The performance order of the four finalist bands had been determined by the online popularity from the preliminary rounds. The higher the ranking, the later they performed.

As the other three guest singers were called away one by one, Qin Qingzhuo was left alone in the waiting room, feeling the peak of nervousness and unease.

So much so that when the staff member came in and said, “Teacher Qin, it’s time for you to go to the waiting area,” Qin Qingzhuo released the grip of his clenched fingers and found his palms were sweaty, covered in cold sweat that had just emerged.

Walking down the corridor to the backstage, Qin Qingzhuo lowered his head and took a few deep breaths, trying hard to appear normal. However, it seemed to be in vain, his throat still felt tight, and his palms continued to sweat.

This kind of anxious and uneasy feeling had been simply uncontrollable.

Through the thick walls, the drumbeats of the band’s performance could be faintly heard, and the lively atmosphere on stage irresistibly enveloped them.

After walking through this dim and narrow corridor last time, what had awaited him was Shi Yao’s malice, the disappointment of the audience, and the sharp, high-pitched ringing in his ears. What would it be this time…

Thinking like this, suddenly someone walked towards them from the opposite direction.

Qin Qingzhuo looked up and saw Jiang Ji’s silhouette. For a moment, the restlessness and unease briefly subsided.

“Is there something wrong, Jiang Ji?” The staff member, seeing it was Jiang Ji, asked.

“Nothing,” Jiang Ji walked over and took Qin Qingzhuo’s wrist. “I’m here to pick him up.”

“Oh…” The staff member seemed puzzled.

The two of them didn’t speak, just looked at each other for a moment.

Walking side by side, Jiang Ji’s fingers slid down and held Qin Qingzhuo’s hand.

He felt Qin Qingzhuo’s palm was damp, so he held his hand and wiped the sweat from his palm onto his own clothes.

Qin Qingzhuo didn’t know if the staff member walking beside them had noticed their actions, but at this moment, he didn’t want to think too much about it. Being held like this by Jiang Ji made him feel a bit more at ease.

In the backstage waiting area, Peng Keshi and Zhong Yang were standing there, chatting with each other casually, apparently discussing the performance on stage. However, the echo was too loud, and Qin Qingzhuo couldn’t hear what they were talking about.

Seeing Qin Qingzhuo, the two of them greeted him, looking quite relaxed.

The band’s performance on stage was deafening, with drum beats falling one after another, causing even the walls behind them to tremble.

Standing next to the wall, leaning against it next to Jiang Ji, Qin Qingzhuo felt like he was the only one nervous.

Suddenly, Jiang Ji spoke up, “What did Teacher Tian say in Cantonese in the dressing room?”

“Huh?” Qin Qingzhuo was taken aback for a moment, not expecting him to suddenly ask about this. Flashing through his mind was what Tian Xu had said earlier, “You two are so perfect for each other ah. When are you going to break the skylight?” The nervousness and unease dissipated slightly, and he smiled, “He said we were so perfect together, asking when we were getting married.”

“What about the phrase you said?”

“I told him not to joke.” Qin Qingzhuo said.

“You can speak Cantonese?” Jiang Ji chatted with him in this noisy waiting area.

“I used to go to Hong Kong for concerts, so I deliberately studied for a while.”

“Then teach me Cantonese,” Jiang Ji said, “just that phrase from earlier.”

“Now?” Qin Qingzhuo turned his head to look at him.

“Yeah.” Jiang Ji nodded. “Now.”

It was obviously not a good time to learn a language, but Qin Qingzhuo could feel that Jiang Ji just wanted to distract him, so he wouldn’t be too nervous, so he really started teaching Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji learned quickly. At first, his pronunciation was still awkward after two repetitions, but after Qin Qingzhuo taught him a few times, he could say it very fluently.

On stage, the performance of the Urban Collapse band ended, and they began interacting with the host, which meant that in a few minutes, it would be Qin Qingzhuo and Asperatus’s turn to perform.

The feeling of nervousness and unease surged uncontrollably again. Qin Qingzhuo’s mind was filled with various thoughts, such as whether his throat would tighten up and he wouldn’t be able to make any sound when he got on stage, whether tinnitus would suddenly flare up, and what the audience’s reaction would be…

He stopped this brief teaching session and looked towards the stage. “It’s almost time to go on.”

“We should interact a little longer,” Jiang Ji asked as if he hadn’t learned enough, “How do I say ‘I like you’?”

“Oh, hou jung yi lui.”

That feeling of nervousness and unease surged uncontrollably again. Qin Qingzhuo became distracted once more. This time, he couldn’t even focus on teaching Jiang Ji Cantonese.

“Oh, hou jung yi lui,” Jiang Ji repeated after him, then asked, “How do we say ‘we’?”

“Ngo dei.” Qin Qingzhuo hardly thought about it, all his attention focused on the stage just a few meters away.

“Ngo dei,” Jiang Ji repeated, then immediately improvised, “Ngo dei leung jung dim dang dui, gei si loi tin chung ah?”

“Yeah, quite standard…” Qin Qingzhuo said absent-mindedly, then reacted immediately. Jiang Ji’s sentence meant “We’re so perfect together, when are we going to get married?”

In that moment of shock, he suddenly felt his middle finger being fiddled with, and something was slipped onto it – something cool, with a metallic texture.

Shock turned into astonishment. Qin Qingzhuo raised his hand and saw a silver plain ring on his middle finger, shimmering with a matte gloss in the dim light.

The interaction on stage reached its final moment, with the host saying, “Let’s welcome Asperatus and their guest singer,” and the staff also came over to remind them to go on stage.

Qin Qingzhuo looked up at Jiang Ji, those dark eyes carrying a hint of a smile, as if he was pleased with Qin Qingzhuo’s reaction. “Feeling less nervous now, huh?”

“Let’s go,” he raised his hand and touched the ring on Qin Qingzhuo’s hand, reminding him, “Don’t forget to bring the cello.”

“…Hmm.” Qin Qingzhuo hurriedly responded, bending down to pick up the cello, and almost walked onto the stage in a daze.

According to the stage design, the stage was pitch black before the performance started, and the audience could only see the silhouettes of the musicians and the guest singers below.

Sitting on a high stool, Qin Qingzhuo gradually came back to his senses from the daze.

He tuned his instrument, thinking if Jiang Ji was trying to distract him, then he succeeded – Qin Qingzhuo’s attention was now completely focused on the ring on his middle finger, and he had no idea when Jiang Ji had gone to buy the ring.

Jiang Ji, sitting opposite him on a high stool with a guitar in his arms, looked up at him to confirm his state.

Qin Qingzhuo took a deep breath and nodded gently towards him.

“Light In The Deep Alley,” their eyes met, and Jiang Ji’s voice spread through the microphone, “I hope you like it.”

TN:

PROPOSAL?!!!!!