17 – Backstage

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The opening ceremony for the China New Generation tour wasn't big, but it wasn't small either; although it couldn't be compared to the Spring Festival Gala, it was still being broadcast live across the network and the on-site controls were very high.
In addition to the safety facilities for events such as a fire or an explosion, even the script had been revised several times, just to avoid issues if something was to go wrong.

The live broadcast delay was only three seconds.
If there was an accident, their main priority was to be aware of the incident immediately and stop the broadcast in time.
 In order to ensure accurate editing and recording, Qu Lang even called in a member of the Secret Service specialising in electronic technology to watch.

Xiao Yao personally confirmed that the entire studio had no equipment smuggled in, and everything seemed to be normal.

Baiju guarded from behind the curtain beside the stage, looking at the messy backstage, he felt that these artists must be really exhausted.
This morning, the little fox didn’t have long after he arrived, before he participated in the rehearsal.
The walk through lasted one hour and forty minutes, then after the rehearsal, it was lunch time.
After lunch, all the participants for the live broadcast changed into their costumes, putting on makeup, warming up, opening your throat, etc.
They were never idle.
Baiju was carrying his small backpack, sitting at the backstage entrance, watching from all directions, all kinds of noisy sounds and scents stimulated his senses, making him very sure that he was back in the human world.

He had a headache.
Baiju raised his hand and pressed his temple, stuffed back a memory he hadn't recalled for a long time, and took out his mobile phone to send a message to Xiao Yao.

——Yao Yao, where are you now?
——Audience, what's the matter?
——I'm backstage, on the left hand side of the stage.

Baiju immersed himself in typing:

——Come to me.

Xiao Yao held his mobile phone for a moment, and was stabbed by Qu Lang's elbow, “Xiao'ge, what do you think?”

“Check the tickets, keep an eye out.” Xiao Yao regained his senses, typed “Ok” and hit send.
He put the phone in his pocket and raised his eyebrows and smiled, “I have to go to a particularly safe place to stay obediently.”

Qu Lang, “…”

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Qu Lang looked at his childhood friend and saw his whole demeanour coming alive.
He scratched his head in a puzzled manner, then after a long while he uttered a word, “…Fuck.”
Idiots, just say if you don't want to work…I don't see you for three days, or even three months, and even the workaholic has learnt how to slack off.

Xiao Yao knew how Baiju's thought very well.
This stupid dog told him to go over, probably not because he was tired or troubled, but because he felt that the event was almost starting, and he should bring his ward to his side to guard him, so as to save them from being scattered and lost later.

Baiju really was thinking this.
After all, the time he and Xiao Yao had spent working together was rather short.
Except for the time with the billboard in Feng Le Square last time, they hadn't worked together, and didn't know each other's depths.
Baiju feels that it would be better to have him nearby to himself rather than to take risks and cooperate autonomously.

Qu Lang stood there sourly for a while, then went to work on his own.

Xiao Yao shifted from the last row of the auditorium, walked to the front of the stage and with his palms turned up.
He walked around the curtain and in a few steps his sight accurately caught the little Baiju sitting among the folds of the curtains.

Baiju was holding his phone and looking at something.
He raised his head when he heard movement and immediately showed a small smile, “Yao Yao, come here.”

Every time Xiao Yao saw this version of Baiju, he felt a small arrow hit his knee and his heart softened.
He almost picked up the little baby and called him dear.
But he still needed to maintain his image.
Xiao Yao coughed lightly and walked over, habitually raised his hand and rubbed Baiju's hair, and asked him, “What are you doing?”

Baiju showed his phone to Xiao Yao, “Look at this, does it look good?”

On the phone was s a picture of a pair of ear studs.
The shape looked like a rivet, but it seemed to be made of black jade.

Xiao Yao zoomed in on the picture and commented, “It's not bad, why are you suddenly looking at this?”
The studs looked simple yet opulent at the same time it was a bit alluring.

Baiju took the phone back, flipped through some more pictures, and replied, “Today I saw a lot of similar things on the little fox's clothes.
They were very bright and beautiful.” But they didn't seem to suit Xiao Yao very well.

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Xiao Yao didn't care too much about Baiju's motives.
In his opinion, it was good for Baiju to become interested in more things in modern life.
He was like a stiff and dusty treasure gradually awakening and exuding new life.

Xiao Yao pulled a stool over and sat next to Baiju, leaning over to look at the pictures of jewellery on his mobile phone, and asked, “Do you like these? Would you like me to take you around jewellery stores next time.”

Baiju shook his head and said, “I can't say that I like it particularily.
But it's true that there are many kinds of modern accessories.
The mass produced trinkets are also very delicate and beautiful.
Before, it would take a top craftsman significant effort to make a single piece.”
Baiju just casually expressed his emotions, his slender fingers swiped the pictures again and again, then he stopped and put the phone back into his small backpack.

“Yao Yao, do you have anything you want?” Baiju asked, holding his cheeks as he watched the dance troupe preparing their props.

Xiao Yao looked sideways at Baiju's profile.
From his perspective, he could see Baiju's thick eyelashes, like a fluttering white butterfly.
He couldn't help but raise his hand and poked the cheek below the little eyelashes, and couldn't help but reveal a little bit of doting in his words, “Why do you ask? Does Bai'ge want to give me a gift?”

Baiju turned his head and shook Xiao Yao's fingertips, revealing two small fangs, “I'm half a mountain god, if you make a wish to me, I can fulfill it.”
The little Baiju still spoke very seriously, and his dark eyes were without a trace of impurity, “As long as you aren't out of line, I can help you achieve anything you want.”

Xiao Yao was so enamoured with the small mountain god that he almost wanted to cry, he faintly answered, “Is is only possible to make a wish once?”

Baiju smiled, “More than once, but the opportunity is limited, so you can't be too greedy.”

Xiao Yao rubbed Baiju's hair, and said in his heart, I want you, the mountain god, to accompany me through this life.
Is that too greedy?

“Then I'll save it for now,” Xiao Yao said, “I'll have to save all my luck and make the most greedy wish within the allowed range.”

Baiju rubbed Xiao Yao's palm, and whispered, “Then you can get a big wish.”

Xiao Yao didn't answer this time.

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The two huddled together and chatted for half an hour.
The staff came to distribute the lunch, and the show would start after everyone ate.

Baiju and Xiao Yao weren't picky eaters, even though the food of the box lunches wasn't very good, they still stuffed a lot in their stomachs.

While eating, Baiju still murmured with emotion, “The artist's lives are really hard, they can't eat anything before the performance.” Especially these musicians who wanted to sing, eating anything would affect the condition of their voice.

·

At 7:30 in the evening, the opening ceremony began, the cameras were put on the stage, and the host also began to introduce the program.

China New Generation was originally a talent show, which was attended by those with musical dreams from all over the country to audition.
It was held every summer and venues for it sprouted up all over the country.
The entire event took three months, the auditions were in the first two months, and the third month was the national finals.

This program had been held for ten years, and it wasn't very popular at first.
It wasn't until it's second year when the little fox Qiu Ziran showed up at the Luocheng stage and became famous.
By it's tenth year, Qiu Ziran had become more and more popular, and the show had undergone several changes in format in order to preserve freshness.
Still it was unavoidable that it was eventually best it in the market by other talent new shows.
This time, the opening ceremony was held in Luocheng, to take advantage of the popularity of the little fox to pick up some momentum.

It was precisely because of this that at least a quarter of the audience who came were old fans of Qiu Ziran.
They had all watched him “grow up” from a sixteen-year-old boy to a twenty-five year old enchanting young man.
When footage of Qiu Ziran was shown on the stage, the audience immediately became enthusiastic.

“The little fox has a lot of fans,” Baiju said in the backstage.
“If I had so many followers back then, maybe I would have ascended.”

Xiao Yao thought about the “repost koi” craze and the various koi characters that would appear from time to time online.
He felt that if Baiju was willing, he could become such a koi, and then maybe the meme would come true.
Thinking of the many awards that Baiju had won in Feng Le Plaza last time, Xiao Yao couldn't help but blurt out, “Bai'ge, if you want to, you can post the results of the last lottery you won on the Internet.
I promise you, you can gain more fans than the little fox.”

Baiju glanced at him, knowing that he was joking, but still honestly said, “I’m afraid it’s useless…I’ve seen those netizens repost koi, in fact, not many people are really praying.
 The heat comes and goes fast, and occasionally it seems to work, but it's just luck.”
Belief wasn't a cheap thing.
If it could be collected so easily, it wouldn't be so difficult to become a god.

…moreover, it was especially easy to lose.

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Baiju lowered his eyes slightly, constricting a trace of sorrow in his eyes, and then gathered up his energy to continue to pay attention to the situation in the studio.

As the warm-up neared the end and the hour hand was about to point to eight o’clock, the host gradually brought the topic to the upcoming tour, making the atmosphere more and more exciting.
At eight o’clock exactly, the music of the specially invited musician’s program sounded and the atmosphere in the studio completely detonated.

Baiju felt that his ears had been severely damaged, the high-decibel music and screams were really a bit irritating for him.

Xiao Yao saw that Baiju was struggling and walked behind him amusedly to cover his ears, “Can you still bear it?”

Baiju patted Xiao Yao's wrist, took his hand off, and shook his head and said, “It's okay, don't block it…otherwise I might miss other voices.”
The floor under his feet vibrated with the music, and Baiju listened for a while, and pulled Xiao Yao's hand, “How about you, can your ears handle it?”

Xiao Yao pointed to the earpiece on his left ear, “The earbud is connected to Qu Lang and has a noise reduction effect.”

Baiju looked at it, and didn't ask how his other ear was.
The young man's work attitude was honest, and he wouldn't pretend to miss sounds that may be clues because his ears couldn't bear it.

Countless small voices converged from the huge studio, Baiju closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

The audience was whispering, a costumer backstage yelled anxiously, a female assistant dashed about on ten centimetre high heels, and a lighter in the director's room clicked…

There was also a subtle and abnormal sound under the seats of the auditorium…the deformation of the steel frame.

“Sure enough.” Baiju raised his eyes slightly, a trace of scarlet filling his irises.

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Director: Action!  【Lighter.jpg】