In a focused state, most of the seven hours quickly passed, and with two hours left until the start, the guests began putting on makeup.
Everyone spoke less, and while getting their makeup done, they kept looking at the lyrics book and repeatedly practiced singing.
Mu Qiu was still answering phone calls at this time.
Her parents called, the conversation wasn’t long, mainly telling her not to be nervous, to remember to eat, and not to be scared on stage.
They also greeted Cheng Zhirang, and everyone in the makeup room perked up their ears to listen.
Right after this call came another from Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu was abroad now, but luckily the time difference wasn’t much; it was afternoon there as well.
As soon as the call connected, Zhao Yu’s unique raspy voice came through.
"Honey, are you nervous?"
Mu Qiu looked at herself in the makeup mirror, calmly responding, "Of course, I’m so nervous I almost want to wear a hood on stage."
The makeup artist stifled a laugh.
Zhao Yu said, "I knew you’d be nervous, so I called specifically to comfort you. Don’t be afraid; as Yan Shen once comforted newcomers—just consider the audience below as a bunch of carrot tops."
"So should I thank your Yan Shen or you?"
Zhao Yu replied, "You can thank both. Rest assured, when you’re on stage, I’ll take screenshots for you in the live stream, and if I have time, I’ll do a refined edit for you. By the way..."
The voice on the phone lowered, making it easy to imagine her sneaky demeanor.
"...Are you really going to hug each other on stage? I’m afraid the fans’ screams might blow the roof off the venue."
Mu Qiu closed her eyes to let the makeup artist draw her eyeliner and responded with a question, "Are you hiding in the bathroom slacking off to make this call? Be careful not to get a pay deduction."
Zhao Yu exclaimed, "...Scoundrel, I’m slacking for your sake!"
Nevertheless, after taking this call, Mu Qiu indeed felt less nervous.
She took a deep breath, leaned back against the chair, and let the makeup artist sketch on her face.
Thanks to Cheng Zhirang and Lin Lian, she had a complete eyeliner, eyeshadow palette, and lipstick to use, and for other needed items, she obtained a bit of usage rights through transactions.
Otherwise, the psychological barrier to overcome today might not just be nervousness, but the belief of how to go on stage with a garish face without being booed off.
With makeup done, next was changing clothes, and then continuing rehearsal.
——
After the last dance rehearsal, everyone gathered backstage to wait.
Mu Qiu stood behind Cheng Zhirang, avoiding Guan Yu’s creepy gaze and eager claws, trying hard to preserve her "purity".
On stage, the host was already opening the show, and whatever they said elicited a burst of astounding screams from the audience.
Like waves crashing over, fierce and powerful.
Guan Yu couldn’t keep her lecherous eyes on her, patting her chest, saying, "My god, the show just started and they’re already this excited? Are these screams from eight thousand people? How terrifying?"
Everyone grew nervous again.
Li Yang peeked out and said, "Don’t be nervous. The concert atmosphere is usually high. Just treat it as interacting with fans, get their emotions up, and the stage will be a success."
He wore a song promotion outfit that he chose himself, a black undershirt underneath a white shirt, with only the bottom two buttons of the white shirt done and tucked into his belt.
Moreover, he wore a pinky ring on his finger, a stylish silver necklace around his neck, and when he extended his hand, the black wristband on his wrist was visible.
He looked every bit the most eye-catching delinquent in school.
He was supposed to jump three times in a row, so in theory, he should be the most nervous.
Mu Qiu took a deep breath, clasped her left hand over her chest, and silently chanted to herself, "Relax, relax."
This first group dance wasn’t difficult; she didn’t even have dance moves, just needed to stand behind a semi-transparent floating screen and hype up with the rhythm brought by Li Yang and the others.
Plus, after the first dance, there were several programs before her and Cheng Zhirang’s turn, so no need to rush.
Convincing herself to relax, coincidentally the host on stage loudly announced the start of the performance.
Minutes before, in a venue with blackout curtains closed and air only exchanged through the vents, a row of spotlights at the front of the stage rotated in one direction and then dispersed. After repeating twice, the host came on stage.
On the vast stage, the background lights ordered came on, accompanied by a sound that mimicked the manual opening of some mechanical door.
Then, on the ultra-long screen wrapping half the venue, suddenly appeared a stage photo of twelve people.
The live audience erupted again with fierce screams, cheers, deafening.
"Ahhhhhhh Brother Cheng!"
"Li Yang! Li Yang! Li Yang!"
"Ahhhh the guys are about to come out!"
"Brother Huai, did you get to eat the peach tower ice cream?!!!"
"Hurry up! I can’t wait any longer!!!"
"Damn! So handsome!"
"I’m gonna be entranced by Mu Qiu!!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"Brother Cheng! Brother Cheng!"
"Li Yang, shine on! Li Yang, go for it!"
The host was startled.
The fans were too enthusiastic, each one staring up at the stage, wishing they could drag their idols down to replace them. The host abandoned the idea of saying more opening remarks, briefly introducing the significance of this offline stage and the scoring rules for this episode, then directly announced the guest entrance.
"Everyone should know, this stage affects the points of our twelve guests, and their hope for points ultimately rests in your hands. Right now, the 8,000 viewers who grabbed a ticket link and entered the venue have a voting device fixed on the right armrest of their seats. This device will come into play during the four-person and eight-person group dances, which are the final performances of the stage. When they finish the final group performance, each viewer can use the voting device to vote for the team they believe performed better. Red represents Guan Yu, Shu Ran, Chuchu, and Zhang Li’s group, blue represents the other group.
The team with the most votes, their opponents will earn 60 team points, which will be evenly distributed among each member. We hope everyone will follow their heart and choose the team you think performed the best.
Although they won’t get points, they gain more recognition from you, making the trip worthwhile! I also saw and heard your anticipation for this performance by our twelve guests, your screams are practically piercing my eardrums. Since everyone’s impatience is tangible, let’s start right now! Let’s welcome the twelve guests for the opening show! Here we go!"
The speakers placed in all corners emitted the excited voice of the host, and the audience below expressed their excitement with enthusiastic applause and deafening screams.
The lights dimmed, and six floating semi-transparent screens descended from the top of the stage, hiding the people standing behind. From the calves up, nothing could be seen, only shadows cast on the screen, speculating that those standing behind were all female guests.
The main spotlight illuminated the person at the center of the stage from top to bottom, the silver-dyed hair tips and the black wristband-wearing hand resting on the microphone stand bathed in unique light.