Lin Xiaoman stared at the pain-relief spray for a long time, somewhat hesitant.
“How are you?” Wei Qinghuan’s voice suddenly came from behind.
Lin Xiaoman put the spray back in her bag and turned around.
Before the dance even began, she could already imagine how stunning Wei Qinghuan would look while dancing. In that instant, she decided to endure the pain and go on stage. This was to honor everyone’s unremitting efforts over the past few days.
“I’m ready,” she said firmly.
When Lin Xiaoman and the others took the stage, the entire venue fell silent. The lights dimmed, and red lights slowly brightened. As the music started, a woman in a flowing red dress standing in the center of the stage began to move. Everyone’s gaze was captivated by her – her glance, her gentle smile, and her gracefully swaying waist made hearts flutter.
Immediately after, an ethereal female voice rang out, and four spotlights suddenly lit up. Five women in identical costumes began to dance with flowing sleeves, as if a gentle breeze could blow them away, floating like immortals. A high-pitched female voice joined in, the music becoming lighter. They changed dance poses, moving elegantly, sometimes raising their wrists, sometimes lowering their eyes, their expressions full of charm. Then various instruments played together, the rhythm becoming faster. With gentle harmonies, the central dancer continuously spun, while the others around her waved their long sleeves, moving like dragons and phoenixes, seemingly transporting the audience to the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
As the music gradually stopped and the stage “immortals” gracefully departed, the entire audience remained silent. Even Xu Wei, who had come to mock them, was stunned.
She never expected that simplifying the five-person dance and focusing attention on the central performer would actually work.
Because of the central performer’s stunning dance, the movements of those around her became blurred. As long as their movements were synchronized and looked good, no one would pay much attention.
Xu Wei couldn’t help but start clapping.
With this first applause, others quickly followed, and thunderous applause filled the massive studio.
In the backstage, hearing the commotion, Wei Qinghuan hugged Lin Xiaoman: “We did it, Xiaoman!”
“I told you it would be fine,” Lin Xiaoman laughed, patting her head, then embraced her teammates, “Thanks to everyone.”
At this moment, the camera was on the group of girls hugging, and the previously quiet comment section exploded:
— What touching sisterhood, I want to cry too!
— This is a real girl group! Crying uncontrollably…
— Cheering for Xiaoman, we’re all perfect fans tonight!
— Go, Xiaoman, turning the tide tonight!
— Beautiful team spirit, hope these five can go all the way!
…
With the crazy comments, Xiaoman’s votes, originally in eleventh place, surged instantly to third place, just tens of thousands of votes from second place.
The backstage data showed Lin Xiaoman’s votes were rising at an almost explosive rate. The staff monitoring this section almost suspected they were hallucinating.
On the other side, as Lin Xiaoman and others went on stage for evaluation, Wei Qinghuan, though in the center during the performance, pulled Lin Xiaoman to the middle, holding her hand with a teammate on each side, secretly supporting her.
The three judges gave high praise, awarding them the highest score of 93 out of 100, placing them first. They then praised Wei Qinghuan’s performance.
When the host handed the microphone to team leader Wei Qinghuan for comments, she spoke about Lin Xiaoman.
As she spoke, her voice choked up, and she covered her eyes with her hand, “How embarrassing, I didn’t want to cry, I’ll stop talking. Lastly, please support Xiao Man.”
After finishing, she bowed deeply to the audience below.
The live-streaming audience was once again moved by their friendship, and comments flooded the screen:
Mom asked me why I’m crying while watching someone sing.
Didn’t expect a talent show to make me cry, it’s truly beautiful…
Sister, did you forget that the person you want us to support is your competitor?
Is this me sabotaging myself? Haha, I’m dying of laughter…
First time seeing someone campaign for their opponent, ‘Creating Idols’ is truly a magical show where anything can happen…
Afterward, it was the individual competition, and everyone returned to their own rest rooms.
Lin Xiaoman’s injuries became more painful, swelling even more than before.
She had previously chosen an upbeat song suitable for stage performance, paired with a T-shirt and short skirt. Her ankle was severely swollen, and not wanting to startle the audience, she asked the costume designer to cover her ankle with lace.
On stage, all her movements were the same as during practice. If not for the obvious decoration on her ankle, no one would have noticed her injury.
Can’t tell she’s injured at all, Xiaoman is amazing!
Afraid people won’t know she’s hurt, she even specially used lace to remind everyone, what a schemer…
Watch if you want, otherwise get lost!
Careful listening reveals tremors in her high notes, she must be in pain, poor thing!
Xiaoman is so dedicated! Sisters, let’s go, vote for her quickly!
The comment section was in an uproar about Lin Xiaoman, but it didn’t affect her continuously rising ranking. Soon she had surpassed second place and was only tens of thousands of votes away from first place Wei Qinghuan.
When all contestants finished performing, Lin Xiaoman’s ranking continued to rise.
As the host counted down the voting time, her vote count was only a few dozen votes behind Wei Qinghuan’s.
Wei Qinghuan nervously squeezed Lin Xiaoman’s hand. She felt that with the other’s abilities, winning the championship would be well-deserved. She could accept this result, but she was always nervous waiting for outcomes.
But then she suddenly realized the person beside her was enduring ankle pain and might be hurt by her grip, so Wei Qinghuan quickly loosened her hand.
Lin Xiaoman, however, reached back and held her hand, gently squeezing it.
When she was still Tang Feifei, she had experienced much more nerve-wracking scenes, so compared to the anxious Wei Qinghuan, she was much calmer.
“Time’s up!”
With the host’s command, the numbers on the big screen suddenly stopped.
Lin Xiaoman, by just one vote, overtook Wei Qinghuan in the last second to become the champion of “Creating Idols”!
“That’s amazing!”
Wei Qinghuan screamed, seemingly forgetting she had just been overtaken, and hugged Lin Xiaoman tightly, crying loudly: “Congratulations!
It’s truly wonderful!”
The others around them also gathered, congratulating Lin Xiaoman.
Lin Xiaoman, who in her previous life had received awards without much feeling, now found herself unexpectedly moved, her eyes glistening with tears, perhaps infected by the atmosphere or the little crybaby in her arms.
This was her first genuine gratitude since crossing over. It felt good to be standing here.
After the awards ceremony, Lin Xiaoman received a text from Ji Zhixian that he was coming to pick her up.
Today was the day she would leave the dormitory and move into Ji Zhixian’s home according to their contract.
After packing her things, she went to the underground parking lot. Just as she emerged from the elevator, a black sedan’s headlights flashed, stopping steadily in front of her.
The car door opened, and a cold, handsome man stepped out. Ji Zhixian strode to her, said nothing, and directly took her luggage, opening the car door for her.
Lin Xiaoman stepped forward but wobbled due to her painful ankle.
Ji Zhixian quickly steadied her, his gaze falling on her swollen ankle, which looked more inflamed than when they left the hospital. His face darkened as he placed her luggage in the trunk after stabilizing her.
