Chapter 21: Cheers
The internet was abuzz…
"Magical Singing—the perfect blend of magic and song, such an intoxicating artistic conception. I absolutely love it."
"This has created an entirely new genre!"
Across the web, on all the major search engines, Xu Zihan’s video of her magical singing abruptly shot to the top of the trending list. Just as the comments said, she had pioneered a new style. Every major streaming platform was sharing the video; in just one hour, Xu Zihan’s followers had soared from twenty thousand to two hundred thousand, and the numbers were still climbing.
“For the grand finale, what should I sing?” Xu Zihan asked. After seeing herself trend online, she felt a tremendous pressure—because this performance would be circulated widely. If she’d known nothing about it, she could have sung anything offhand, but now…
Suddenly, Xu Zihan froze. A message appeared in her mind!
“Xiaomei, is that you?”
“Sister Zihan, don’t worry, I’ve already prepared a song for you. It’s called ‘Ode to the Four Seasons’!”
As Ai Xiaomei’s voice faded, the entire song materialized in Xu Zihan’s mind—not only the lyrics, but every note of the melody. She felt she could recall the words perfectly and even grasp the tune with impeccable accuracy.
“Xiaomei, how did you do this?” Xu Zihan asked.
“I’m a little genius, remember? And for the accompaniment, there’ll be a special effect—a band of music and dancers conjured from rays of light, like a celestial symphony!”
Xu Zihan was astonished, but she didn’t ask further how exactly Ai Xiaomei achieved it.
“All right, let me rehearse a bit here first!” Xu Zihan said.
“Have you decided what to sing?”
“I’ll sing ‘Ode to the Four Seasons’!” Xu Zihan replied.
Yang Fan and the other three finally emerged from their private room. Yang Fan sensed something different; after his intimate moment with Lin Ruo, even Lin Ruo’s cheeks still carried a blush.
On the first floor, the four were utterly stunned—the special area was more packed than they could have imagined.
Yang Fan had already heard Ai Xiaomei’s voice echoing down the corridor and thought to himself, “That girl is always stirring up trouble, never a moment’s peace.”
He called Liu Haoyu, only to learn that Zhang Chen and the others had all come out as well—mainly because they wanted to meet Zhao Jing in person.
Yang Fan introduced everyone to Zhao Jing one by one. After the greetings, he was about to suggest to Liu Haoyu that they help people leave, but Zhang Chen stopped him.
“Yang Fan, you absolutely can’t leave now!”
“Why not?”
“Your best friend just blew up online—you should be cheering her on!” Zhang Chen declared, and the others all nodded in agreement.
“Blew up? How?” Yang Fan couldn’t help asking. In the past hour, what had he missed?
Zhang Chen handed Yang Fan his phone—it was the top trending topic…
Yang Fan smirked. This was certainly Ai Xiaomei’s handiwork. But in that case, Xu Zihan was one step closer to her dream. As her best friend, he was happy for her.
“This is great!”
“Exactly, so you definitely can’t leave!”
“Uncle, there’s a VIP room on the third floor where you can see the special area. It’s already packed down there—let’s go up!”
With the crowd bustling around him, Yang Fan had no chance to leave and was ushered straight to the third floor.
Zhao Jing followed as well. Although she didn’t care about Yang Fan’s background, she wanted to get to know the people around him. This was the change brought about by that marriage agreement—from indifference to active interest. In the past, she’d always closed herself off, but now…
On the third floor, the waiter opened the private room for them. A one-way glass wall offered a clear view of the stage. As Ai Xiaomei’s laughter rang out, Xu Zihan took the stage once more.
Multicolored lights shimmered, creating visions of pipa players, flutists, and all manner of ancient instruments. Lines of sparkling wine did not swirl around Xu Zihan, but blossomed into two crystalline flowers onstage, under which fluorescent light danced.
“Spring begins…”
“Now, I present to you all—‘Ode to the Four Seasons’!”
The crowd erupted in cheers. There was no better word than “magic” to describe such supernatural artistry.
On stage, some had already aimed their phones at her, and several beautiful streamers were broadcasting live.
In every group chat, the same excitement spread. Xu Zihan’s fan group jumped to three hundred thousand in an instant, as ethereal notes swept across the hall!
“Night lingers, spring flourishes!
A hint of rouge intoxicates the mortal world!”
On the third floor, Yang Fan watched Xu Zihan on stage and smiled.
Zhang Chen and the others went wild, watching her follower count climb ever higher.
Zhao Jing listened to the enchanting music, lost in her own memories.
Lin Ruo and Lin Xi wore blank expressions; had Yang Fan turned around, he would have seen both twins’ eyes fixed solely on him.
“Eight hundred thousand! And look, every platform is full of rave reviews!”
“And look, ‘Ode to the Four Seasons’ has already been uploaded! The performance just ended!”
Yang Fan was unfazed. With Ai Xiaomei’s speed, no matter how complex the web, she’d be the first to connect and upload—she was faster than the network itself.
The hall erupted in cheers again—this was, after all, the final song of the night.
“Thank you all once again for being here tonight.” Xu Zihan bowed deeply, grateful for all her years of hard work.
“Sister Zihan, will you come again in the future?”
“Of course I will! This is my home. Who knows? Next time you visit, you might see me greeting you at the door,” Xu Zihan replied playfully.
“Can we have your autograph?”
“Me too! I want one!”
“Of course!” Xu Zihan laughed, overflowing with joy.
“Let’s sign at the door. Afterwards, Sister Xu Zihan will personally send everyone off!” Ai Xiaomei said without hesitation.
Had the crowd surged all at once, it would have been chaos.
Everyone paused, but surprisingly, no one objected.
At the entrance, a long line quickly formed. Thankfully, the space outside was a vast plaza—had it been a street, traffic would have ground to a halt.
Not only did everyone get an autograph, but they also took pictures. All left elated.
“Xu Zihan’s fan club has broken the million mark. And look at the download numbers for ‘Ode to the Four Seasons’!”
Yang Fan glanced at the screen and was instantly stunned.
The power of the internet truly was overwhelming.
Half an hour later, as the crowd finally dispersed, Yang Fan and his friends went downstairs. He called Ai Xiaomei, said a word to Liu Mingfeng, and hurriedly departed.
They dropped Zhao Jing home first. By the time everyone returned to the garden community, it was already eleven o’clock.
“Idol, your followers have doubled again in just an hour!”
“Two million?” Xu Tao exclaimed in shock.
“And ‘Ode to the Four Seasons’ is being downloaded like crazy on every major platform!”
Xu Zihan was so overwhelmed she barely had the courage to turn on her phone—but she did, nonetheless.
Soon, her inbox was flooded with messages…
They came from her company, her director, her colleagues, and countless unexpected joys.
“Come, let’s toast to the realization of Xu Zihan’s dream!”
“Brother, that’s just hot water!”