Chapter 10 As long as you are alive, it's good 3
While I was busy preparing, the days passed by in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the school competition.
Today is Saturday. I didn't expect Ye Zixi to come with Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye. They showed up at my door early in the morning, waiting for my mom and I to bring out the goodies. This was my first time meeting Uncle Ye.
Uncle Ye drove a very spacious and beautiful silver-white car. He wore a pair of narrow glasses with gold wire frames. He looked gentle and had a strong aura, which was completely different from Ye Zixi's flamboyant personality.
Seeing us come out, he and Aunt Ye got out of the car, helped us open the trunk, put Ye Jing's guitar that I borrowed in it, and then enthusiastically asked my mother and me to get in the car.
Along the way, Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye enthusiastically chatted with my mother about various situations at home, and my mother knew that they were Ye Zixi's parents, so she was also happy to talk to them.
"Luo Huayin, are you nervous?"
After a while, Ye Zixi, who was sitting next to me, came close to me and whispered.
"What do you think?" He asked a ridiculous question. My hands were clenched so tightly around my clothes that they turned almost white.
He wasn't embarrassed at all. He coughed and looked at me with his eyes downcast: "What should I do? I'm pretty nervous too."
"Why are you so nervous? It's not like you're going to sing on stage."
"Ah? I'm nervous for you. If you can't continue singing, you won't jump off the building, right?" He looked at me nervously.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him: "I really don't want to."
The school is not far from my home. After more than ten minutes, we arrived at the school.
It was clearly Saturday, but the school auditorium was packed with people. It was not at all like the deserted preliminary rounds in previous years. At first glance, it felt like the finals performance.
"Luo Huayin..." Ye Zixi was rare and sensible enough to help me carry the guitar, and I gritted my teeth and looked around.
After feeling the gazes cast towards me, he couldn't help swallowing.
Then, Ye Zixi came a few steps closer to me and asked me again in a low voice: "How about we just give up? With this situation... do you still dare to sing on the stage? A few months ago, you didn't dare to talk to people in front of our class door..."
I couldn't help but glare at him: "Ye Zixi, you really ruin the atmosphere! Can you stop messing around? Will you die if you cheer me up? You always keep saying whether to give up or not..."
"No..." He looked at me awkwardly, "I feel like this isn't a matter of refueling anymore... Can you really do it?"
This naughty kid!
I grabbed the guitar and put it on my back, then walked into the auditorium with my head held high amidst the fierce gazes of the people around me: "Let's go! It's just a song, what's the big deal."
"School Star"... This was the competition Ye Jing wanted to participate in before the accident.
No matter what happens in the future, today, I must stand on the stage and sing this song for Ye Jing.
It's great that so many students came today! With my singing skills, I definitely can't make it to the next round, let alone the finals... I was originally worried that no one would come to the preliminary round, and the girl Ye Jing liked might not be there - now it's all right, so many students, it feels like almost everyone in the high school department is here, and even many people from the junior high school department are here... The girl Ye Jing likes must be here too.
Taking a deep breath, I suppressed the sadness in my heart and secretly cheered myself up. Then I temporarily said goodbye to Ye Zixi, my mother, Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye, and walked to the backstage of the auditorium alone to prepare with the other 39 contestants.
In the huge backstage, all the contestants and student leaders who organized the event were gathered in groups of three or four, and I was the only one sitting alone on a chair.
No one was willing to come over and talk to me, but these people's eyes hardly ever left me. They kept looking at me, then whispered about something, showing a look of disgust or ridicule from time to time.
"nervous?"
I don't know when Ye Jing appeared from the mirror and stood beside me.
"nervous."
I nodded obediently.
He burst into laughter, revealing his two beautiful dimples: "Just think of it as singing to me. Nothing else matters. I can hear your feelings."
"Luo Huayin, pin it on the lower right corner of your clothes. You are number 1, and you will be the first one to go up."
Suddenly, the student leader in charge of queuing came over, hurriedly handed me a number tag, and left without saying a single word to me.
1. Number 1? I'm number 1? Are you kidding me?
I stared at the number card in my hand in amazement, then pinned it stiffly on my clothes.
The contestants around me looked at me in a daze and laughed secretly.
"Forget it, number 1 is number 1, the sooner I die, the sooner I will be reborn!" I lowered my voice and said through gritted teeth, "Ye Jing, go to the audience and listen to me sing. I will only look at you guys in a while and won't look anywhere else."
"Number 1! Number 1! Get ready to go on stage!"
No matter how many people there are, this is still just an insignificant preliminary round and does not require much preparation.
Soon, the student leaders began to shout out numbers.
Ye Jing had already flashed away from the backstage.
I took a deep breath, hugged my guitar, and walked from behind the scenes to the stage.
Because it was a preliminary round, there were no special lights or sound effects, everything was simple, except for the five judges sitting in the first row. However, behind the judges' seats, the chairs that were supposed to be empty were all filled with people, and it looked dark at first glance... The student who announced the event came up, not wearing any formal attire, but just wearing casual clothes and gave a brief introduction.
"Contestant No. 1, Luo Huayin, the song she is competing in is the original song Lovely Girl."
As the voice fell, the audience burst into laughter.
I held my guitar, walked to the center of the stage, and bowed to the audience: "Hello, judges, my name is Luo Huayin..."
I tried my best to restrain myself from shaking, but looking at the dark crowd of heads below, I felt a little dizzy.
Suddenly, I saw Ye Zixi and his family. The whole family was sitting in the middle seat, looking at me excitedly and waving their hands as if to cheer me on.
Then, I saw Ye Jing... He was standing in the aisle of the audience seats, standing very straight, looking at me from afar, with a familiar smile on his face.
I sat on a chair in the middle of the stage, took a deep breath, raised my trembling hands, and gently plucked the guitar with the pick, producing a series of jerky and incoherent preludes.
To date, I have only practiced guitar for 10 days. I practiced the song written by Ye Jing day and night, and I can play his melody simply. Of course, compared with Ye Jing's performance, he and I are simply in heaven and earth, but I can barely sing it...
The first time I saw you, you walked away in a hurry and passed by me; the sky was blue, the wind blew your hair, and let me see your rosy cheeks; do you know how beautiful you are?
My lovely girl...
…
I sang the first bar in a trembling voice, a little tune-out, and the guitar melody was also stuttering.
The audience immediately burst into laughter, and there were even whistles and boos one after another, making the scene very lively.
I took a deep breath, my eyes were red, but I refused to let the tears fall.
Looking at Ye Jing, I continued to play the next melody. The guitar sound was still terrible...
The second time, you looked up at the sky, revealing your smile with dazzling light; even on rainy days, I didn’t want to leave, and for the first time I wanted to stay with someone; do you know how beautiful you are?
My lovely girl...
It was just a few lines of lyrics, but I had a very hard time singing it, and I paused several times.
The booing and laughter from the audience almost blew the roof off the auditorium, as if I wasn't singing but a clown trying to attract attention.
I gritted my teeth secretly.
I made up my mind and just spoke loudly.
I must...I must persist! No matter how difficult it is, no matter how badly I sing, I must persist in singing it...
I am standing here for Ye Jing!
I want to express Ye Jing's feelings on his behalf!
Tears were rolling in my eyes but they refused to fall. I looked at Ye Jing without blinking, as if I couldn't hear the booing at all.
I continued to play the guitar, which I was not familiar with, loudly and stutteringly, while trying to sing on...
Sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph.
It was far away, and I don’t know if I was seeing things.
The young man standing in the corridor stared at me without blinking. His beautiful big eyes looked so different in this noisy auditorium.
Suddenly, I saw a glimmer of mist in those beautiful eyes.
Then, a sparkling light unexpectedly dripped out from the eyes and quickly slid down the delicate face.
…
Hi, lovely girl, if I say hello to you, will you give me a smile?
Hi, lovely girl, if I say I like you, will you stay with me?
…
I continued singing, trying to open my eyes wide to see the boy over there clearly.
How can it be?
I must be seeing things... How could Ye Jing cry... Suddenly, I saw Ye Jing's whole body tremble. From a distance, he suddenly stared at me with wide eyes, and then began to back away.
One step, two steps...
You are my lovely girl. In the hot summer, I want to take you to eat ice cream. You are my lovely girl. In the cold winter, I want to put your hand in my pocket.
Ye Jing's whole body was shaking like a sieve, he stared in disbelief, and then stopped. Suddenly, he turned around and ran out of the auditorium after madly passing through countless people.
Hi, lovely girl, you know what? You won't be alone, let me accompany you, okay,
…
I insisted on singing the last sentence.
But the translucent figure had long disappeared.
I saw Lu Yanye standing in the first row of the audience, his eyes sparkling, and he was the first to applaud me. Amidst the huge whistles and laughter, I stood up, ended, and bowed.
