For a moment, Ning Meng thought that she was hallucinating. She rubbed her eyes and opened them again. Huo Beichen maintained his position of leaning toward her. He was clad in a black suit and wore leather shoes which made him not blend into his environment at all. The lines on his face were frozen stiff, and his facial features seemed to show his indifference. It was a sight that would cause anyone to fear him.
As he lifted his eyes, his jet-black pupils started to sparkle. The arena was crowded and colorful lights were beaming all around. Fine streaks of lights occasionally flew by, causing his face to light up and dim out. Although she did not know why, Ning Meng could only sit in a trance.
She felt that the loud cheers from the crowd were completely shut out. She only had one thought in her mind.
Why was he here?
In the midst of her being stunned, the man then gently spoke. Yet, his voice was drowned out by the incoming music and piercing screams.
Ning Meng shouted out in a panic, “What did you say?”
She leaned forward, trying to hear what he had to say. The man did the same and leaned forward as well. They were coming so close toward each other that she could almost count each strand of his eyelashes. So close that she could smell the scent of his shower gel wafting off his freshly showered body. Close enough for her to feel the air that he was exhaling. Ning Meng felt a sudden panic and quickly distanced herself.
His intense eyes quieted down, and Ning Meng realized that what she just did had been too abrupt. Feeling flustered, she tried to smile and then shouted, “Why are you here?”
Huo Beichen was saying something but the environment was just too noisy. She could not hear clearly and could only take a guess at what he had just said with about six words. She was slightly stunned and then pointed toward the stage. “Let’s talk after the competition is over.”
The man looked helpless. At the same time, he felt disgusted with the dense noise around them as he slightly furrowed his brows. Finally, he decided to suppress his impatience and nodded. Ning Meng then focused her attention back onto the stage.
Su Tiantian had just finished performing her song. Her face was plastered with dreadfulness but she tried really hard to carve a faint smile. Bowing before the audience, she did not want to say much, so she turned and left the stage.
Li Haojie’s team was up next. After Li Haojie was the Lin Qingbei and Zhen Shanmei pair. As Li Haojie went up the stage, Ning Meng peeked toward the backstage and noticed that Zhen Shanmei was already prepared. She told Huo Beichen, “Wait for a while.”
Bending her waist forward, she ran up to the backstage entrance from the first row. She borrowed a staff pass to avoid being noticed by security. When she arrived, she encouragingly said, “Zhen Shanmei, don’t be nervous! All the best!”
Li Haojie had just finished singing. As the emcee was interacting with the crowd, Li Haojie walked toward backstage. He was feeling confident as his control of the rhythm for this song was commendable. His amateur pair had accompanied him well too. He was momentarily shocked when he heard Ning Meng encouraging Zhen Shanmei.
“Don’t try to fix broken porcelain if you don’t have the liquid gold! Do you really think everyone can sing? If that was the case, everyone would be a King of Pop by now!”
Ning Meng wanted to retort back but Zhen Shanmei held her and shook her head. Soon, the emcee announced, “…let us now invite our next artist, Lin Qingbei and his partner, Lady Zhen Shanmei. The song they will be singing for us is titled ‘You Are My God’!”
Zhen Shanmei grinned at Ning Meng. Lin Qingbei then held out his hand in a gentlemanly manner and Zhen Shanmei straightened her back. With one hand holding her skirt and the other holding onto Lin Qingbei, both of them went up the stage.
Li Haojie wanted to see this performance for himself and so, he went straight to the VIP area and sat next to the senior in the first row. Ning Meng waited until the pair had reached the stage before going back to her seat.
Soon, the music began!
