Following the sisters' vibrant and rhythmic song, "The graceful hot girl, I am on the water's edge, da da da!" the atmosphere on stage was further ignited, with the audience's cheers and applause intertwining.
The next two people, greeting each other, also joined the chorus.
"Naive, happy wandering
Only then did we suddenly understand our hometown.
Look at the sun's rays,
And the shape of the white clouds.
Have you forgotten yesterday's sorrow?"
After some practice, their voices in the chorus no longer clashed as they did initially; instead, they blended together well, creating a pleasant sound. However, when moving to the next part,
The first line was no longer sung by Yi Xing; he and Zhang Han swapped turns, with the latter starting first. But his sense of musical rhythm was not as good as Yi Xing's, and his voice was one beat behind the music.
Unexpectedly, an accident still happened, but this was good, as it proved their stage was live with open microphones, not performed via recording.
Yi Xing, standing at the other end, knew immediately upon hearing it that something was wrong. He constantly paid attention to the music's rhythm, ready to appropriately pick up, swallowing the first few words, and bringing the rhythm back on track.
As the song entered its final chorus, the Hua Shao Group's singing became more passionate, emotionally singing: "A little more dreams, a little more hope, memories, Yearning, all are in the distance."
The stage lights continuously changed with the rhythm of the song. Colorful lights shone on the members of the Hua Shao Group, making them appear even more dazzling. Yi Xing's red hair highlights looked even better under these lights.
After the song ended, He Jiong and Xie Na ascended to the interview area. One of them picked up a microphone and said, "Thank you, Hua Shao Group, for bringing us such a wonderful performance. Please move over here, and greet our audience here and in front of the screens."
Wow, not only did they have to be interviewed off-stage, but on-stage too. This shows Mango TV's emphasis on this program. If "Accelerating" hadn't been recorded too early, it might have had a similar experience.
Since Yi Xing was standing at the very edge and his position was closer to the interview area, he led the others behind him towards that direction, standing between the two hosts.
"Please introduce yourselves to everyone." He Jiong handed the microphone in his hand to the person next to him. At the end of the performance, the performers' microphones were muted, so they could only speak through the hosts' microphones.
"Hello everyone, I'm Yi Xing. I wish you all a Happy New Year in advance, smooth sailing in everything, and all your wishes come true." After he finished speaking, he passed the microphone down.
After each member introduced themselves to the camera and offered New Year blessings, the microphone returned to He Jiong's hand, and he began to ask, "I want to ask our eldest sister, who was the most troublesome during your journey these past few days?"
The microphone in Xie Na's hand was passed to Zheng Peipei. She picked it up and replied, "Everyone was troublesome in their own way. But if I had to pick the most troublesome, it would still be Xiao Xing. He always runs off alone without warning, which worried me terribly."
Yi Xing, who was cued, rubbed the back of his head. He had only done that a few times in the first few days, okay? For the rest of the time, he had been driving, practically exhausted to death, so how could he have time to run off?
He only said these things in his heart. He would never do something like expose someone in public.
"Then, who made you the most at ease?"
"Also Xiao Xing. Don't let it fool you that he sometimes runs off on his own, but that's always after a day's journey has ended. I'll give a little spoiler here: we're going on a road trip later, and he's taken on a very important role."
"Moreover, whenever we encountered difficulties, he always rushed to the forefront. Basically, he solved most of the problems along the way, so he's also the one who made me the most at ease."
Hearing this, Yi Xing left his position and hugged his Pei Ma, a moved and warm smile on his face.
"Are you happy that Big Sister praises you like this?"
"I'm so happy. Big Sister is like a mother in our team, caring about everyone's physical and mental well-being. She even forces us to wake up when we don't want to get out of bed. For the rest, everyone, please watch the show; I can't say too much."
He heard a cough beside him and quickly stopped his thoughts of continuing to speak. Too much adrenaline had been secreted, causing him to lose a bit of control.
The interview was about to end, and He Jiong picked up the microphone to promote: "Thank you, Hua Shao Group, for bringing so many interesting stories, making us look forward to the show's broadcast even more. When is it again?"
"February 23rd at ten PM."
"February 23rd at ten PM, be sure to tune in to Divas Hit the Road. I believe there will be more interesting things happening on the show. Please exit the stage in an orderly fashion."
Back in the lounge, Yi Xing quickly put on his jacket and padded coat. The temperature was too low; he felt his fingers were almost numb and unable to move.
After warming up a bit, he left the backstage and went to the viewing area prepared by the production team for the guests, enjoying the subsequent performances. The other members of the Hua Shao Group also came and sat down to his right.
The seat to his left was still empty. This was a spot he had specifically saved for one person. Presumably, Ju Jingyi's company wouldn't let them leave so quickly; there was an opportunity to go on stage a second time later.
He was referring to the New Year's Eve countdown stage. Artists who didn't have a performance but were present could stand on stage again and count down loudly with everyone until the arrival of the New Year.
A few minutes later, Ju Jingyi came out with her teammates, walking directly towards Yi Xing. She had received a photo before coming out, clearly knowing his location.
After sitting down, the two first pretended not to know each other, watching the performance on stage. Only when everyone's attention was on the stage did they start talking in low voices.
"Why did you take so long to come out?"
"I finished a long time ago; I was just waiting for the others~ Hey, how was your performance? This is your debut stage, after all."
"I'm quite satisfied, but I don't know what the audience thinks."
"Don't worry, don't worry, we are very lenient with newcomers." She gently patted Yi Xing's hand and said with a smile.
"We?" he asked, puzzled, his eyes meeting Ju Jingyi's. Looking into someone's eyes when speaking to them is the greatest respect.
"Yes, us. Can't I be your audience?"
"Of course you can."
While they were chatting happily, Zhang Kaili, who was sitting next to him, interjected, "Xiao Xing, who is this beautiful girl?"
In the days after the divas hit the road recording ended, she had been wondering whether to introduce her daughter to Yi Xing. They were only one year apart, he was handsome, and had a good personality. She didn't want to miss out on such a good son-in-law candidate.
But seeing this scene, she knew her daughter probably had no chance; they had met too late.
"Kaili Ma, she is Ju Jingyi, my... good friend."
"Hello, I'm Zhang Kaili." After hearing they were just friends, her little scheme sprang back to life. It seemed her daughter still had a chance! In her opinion, as long as a relationship wasn't confirmed, there was always a chance. She offered a friendly smile and greeted her.
"Hello, Sister Kaili, I often see you on TV." Ju Jingyi replied politely. She racked her brain but couldn't think of the other party's representative works. She was still too young and hadn't watched many old TV dramas.
"Xiao Xing, I have a daughter named Zhang Keying, born in '97. Are you interested in getting to know her?"
Zhang Kaili no longer hesitated, directly introducing some information about her daughter. She really wanted a son like Yi Xing; a son-in-law is half a son, after all.
"No, thank you, Sister Kaili. I'm not interested in dating right now." He flatly refused, changing his address from "Ma" to "Sister." He now understood why she had always insisted on him calling her "Ma"; it turned out she had this little ulterior motive.
"I'm not asking you to date now; getting to know each other is always good."
"No, thank you."
"Oh, well, that's a shame then; she doesn't have that good fortune."
On the surface, she was smiling, but her actions betrayed her inner thoughts. She subconsciously leaned closer to Xu Qing, moving away from him. On one side was her daughter, whom she had raised since childhood, and on the other was someone she had known for a brief twenty-odd days. Any fool would know how to choose.
Yi Xing didn't care about this at all. Anyway, the variety show they collaborated on had finished recording, and whether there would be another opportunity to work together was still unknown. If she was dissatisfied with him, then so be it. He continued chatting with Ju Jingyi.
"You refused too directly. Won't she be unhappy?"
"Who cares about her? Whether she's happy or not is her business; it has nothing to do with me."
"Alright." Seeing his aversion, Ju Jingyi also didn't think highly of Zhang Kaili, especially after hearing her say she wanted to introduce a girl to Yi Xing. It made her even more displeased, though she didn't show it on her face. When he refused, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the entertainment industry is a place that values social etiquette, for things that truly affect him, Yi Xing would still decisively say no.
He was not a so-called people-pleaser, someone who would compromise himself to cater to others' needs or to please others, viewing others' approval as a very important thing. He couldn't do that.
If he could do that, he would have directly agreed to work at his father's company at home that day. Why would he run out to mix in the entertainment industry? He just wanted to be himself.
The two sitting in the audience watched the performance above while chatting. Unfortunately, no melon seeds were provided, and it felt like something was missing. Fortunately, the countdown was about to begin.
A staff member approached from not far away, notifying the artists present to return to the waiting area, preparing to re-enter the stage. At this moment, it was five minutes before midnight.
"Let's go, it's time to go on stage."
"Mhm mhm."
Each followed their respective teams back backstage. As they walked, Zhang Kaili quickened her pace and swapped places with Liu Tao, who was ahead. Yi Xing saw this and smirked disdainfully. The bond of eating and living together for over twenty days was nothing more than this.
They quickly arrived at the waiting area and stood in position, waiting for the host in front to say, "Dear audience friends, there is less than a minute left until the chime of midnight. Let us welcome our guests with warm applause to celebrate this moment together on stage."
As these words fell, the group of guests in the waiting area stepped onto the stage with joyful strides, generally standing according to their status. The hosts stood in the middle, flanked by TFBOYS and some popular actors.
Those with less fame, like Yi Xing and Ju Jingyi, stood on the edges. Just taking their positions took forty seconds, leaving only a dozen seconds until the New Year arrived.
In the final five seconds, He Jiong and Wang Han led everyone in the venue in a countdown.
"5, 4."
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Happy New Year!"
Yi Xing turned his head to look at Ju Jingyi not far away. He had originally wanted to emulate the people next to him, rushing to hug someone he knew, but seeing that the girls around her had already embraced her, his idea instantly vanished. He could only cup his hands around his mouth, trying his best to mouth the words.
"Happy New Year!"
However, even though Ju Jingyi was being hugged by several people, her eyes were always on Yi Xing's side. She knew what he wanted to say and replied with, "Happy New Year!" Then the two exchanged glances and smiled happily.
After the New Year's Eve countdown ended, everyone took the cars arranged by the production team back to the hotel. Yi Xing uploaded the photos he took in the dressing room to Wei Bo. He hadn't updated in a long time; if he didn't post soon, people might forget he even existed.
The accompanying caption was very simple, merely adding a happy emoji after "Happy New Year." After posting, he went into the bathroom to wash up, dried his hair, and as soon as he lay on the bed, he felt a wave of sleepiness and immediately fell into a dream.
Unbeknownst to him, after a night of fermentation, his New Year's Eve look completely broke out of the circle. The curse of not breaking two million followers, which had persisted for a long time, was achieved after this concert, and it was still continuously rising, heading towards 2.1 million. All of this, he, in his sleep, was unaware of.
(I said it would end today, and it will, I keep my word.)