Chapter 189: The End
“Ahhhh!!! I actually sang in front of thousands of people!”
Backstage, Li Mu (Xiao Jing) was holding onto Yu Fan’s arm, jumping up and down like a little girl, super excited. “I’m amazing! I’m totally going to be a big star in the future! A famous singer!”
“Yes yes, big star.”
Yu Fan could feel Li Mu’s soft body rubbing against his arm. His face turned a bit red as he answered half-heartedly while sneaking a glance at her skirt bouncing with her jumping.
It felt like he could almost see the top of her thighs, and he was very tempted to look more.
“Let Li Mu take back control of the body now,” he said while rubbing his nose, trying to calm himself down.
“No way! Ahhh!! I’m so happy!!”
Li Mu didn’t take back control, maybe because she wanted Xiao Jing to stay excited for a while longer, or maybe she felt too embarrassed to show her face after singing in front of the whole school.
But suddenly, Xiao Jing stopped jumping and smiling. She looked confused, then followed Yu Fan’s gaze downward, and grabbed the sides of her skirt.
“You want to look?”
“N-No,” Yu Fan quickly looked away with a red face. “This is your sister’s body, don’t mess around... and there are too many people here.”
“Oh~ So you mean, if it was my sister who let you see, then you would look?”
“Don’t say weird things!”
Xiao Jing looked down at her chest and mumbled, “Why is my sister’s chest so big? Mine is as flat as an airport.”
“How old were you when you died?”
“Are you hitting on me? I’m telling my sister!”
“I was just asking your age...”
Right now, Xiao Jing was acting super playful and mischievous, which made it hard for Yu Fan to handle. Especially since he never saw “Li Mu” acting so childish. It was really hard for him to treat Xiao Jing like a kid.
His face was red, but inside he was kind of happy. After all, this was the closest he’d ever gotten to Li Mu. Normally, he’d never get this chance.
He was just worried that once Xiao Jing gave the body back, Li Mu would beat him up.
“By the way, Brother Yu Fan,” Xiao Jing suddenly looked curious, “didn’t you say that after the performance, you wanted me to give the body back to my sister and you confess your love? You even talked to the teachers about it, right? Why didn’t you do it?”
“Well… Li Mu said she didn’t like being the center of attention...” Yu Fan replied.
“So when are you going to confess?”
“I don’t know.” Yu Fan scratched his head in frustration. “I’m not even sure how she really feels about me.”
Sometimes she seemed cold, but other times there were hints of something more. He worried he was just overthinking it.
Like that time when they went shopping, and a stranger told him to put his arm around her waist. Li Mu didn’t stop him, maybe because she didn’t want to embarrass him in public?
And then there were those slightly flirty things she sometimes said… but maybe he misunderstood and imagined it.
“My sister definitely likes you.”
“Don’t mess with me,” Yu Fan mumbled. “If she liked me, she would’ve... Wait, can Li Mu hear us right now?”
“She can.”
Yu Fan’s face went dark, and he quickly looked away like nothing had happened, just as Yang Ye came down from the stage.
There were still two more performances left. After that, everyone would go back up on stage for the awards.
“I heard you two will at least be in the top three,” Yang Ye said with a big smile. “I gave you both a perfect ten!”
“That’s cheating, isn’t it?” Yu Fan joked.
Yang Ye didn’t care at all. “If I don’t give top marks to my own students, who else would I give them to, right? Right, Li Mu?”
Li Mu (Xiao Jing) nodded excitedly and ran up to hug Yang Ye’s arm, but Yu Fan grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back, keeping her from jumping on him.
Damn it, it's one thing for you to hug me, but I can't let other guys take advantage of Li Mu!
“Looks like Li Mu really enjoys singing,” Yang Ye just thought she was still excited from the performance.
He smiled, nodded, and walked over to talk to the next group of contestants who were about to go on stage.
Most of the singers who joined the contest were solo performers. It was rare for a duo like Li Mu and Yu Fan to compete as a team.
Backstage, a few people who had already performed were sitting or standing around. The ratio of guys to girls was about 3 to 7.
Every now and then, people glanced at Li Mu and Yu Fan. These two were a good-looking couple, and their earlier closeness made it seem like they were really dating.
Soon, the last two contestants finished singing, and everyone rushed to line up on the side of the stage as they had practiced the day before.
“Please welcome the Top Ten Singers to come up and receive their awards!”
Xiao Jing and Yu Fan were at the back of the line, walking slowly behind the others onto the stage.
“Don’t get too excited,” Yu Fan glanced back and whispered to her. “Everyone’s watching. Try not to bounce when you walk.”
She was so excited, even her walking looked like skipping, like a kid who hadn’t grown up yet.
“Don’t embarrass your sister.”
“I’m Li Juan,” she replied confidently.
“First place in the Top Ten Singers goes to: Yi Junjie from Class 2!”
Honestly, the surname Yi was already pretty rare, and he was a guy in nursing class, also very rare.
People said he was the only male student in the 3rd year of that major.
Yu Fan curiously peeked over and saw a guy with soft, slightly feminine features.
“Was his singing that good? Why didn’t we win first place?” Xiao Jing muttered.
“He was actually really good. Probably close to professional level,” Yu Fan nodded.
Li Mu had arrived late and missed the part where Yi Junjie amazed the audience with his performance.
Second place also went to a freshman from the same class.
“Third place: the ‘Helping Ghosts is Fun’ duo!”
There weren’t any long speeches. The top three just received a medal, only one per team, from Yang Ye.
He smiled warmly and personally placed it around Li Mu (Xiao Jing)’s neck. It was rare to see Li Mu (Xiao Jing) looking this happy.
“If you really like singing, I have a friend who works in that field,” Yang Ye said cheerfully, patting her on the head. “Do you want to learn more?”
Even though Yu Fan knew Yang Ye probably just saw Li Mu as a student, he still felt annoyed. Even he hadn’t patted that head before.
Xiao Jing’s eyes lit up and she was about to say yes, but Yu Fan cut in, “She will think about it during the New Year break.”
Yang Ye gave Yu Fan a look, smiled, and nodded. Then he raised the mic again and called out,
“The top three singers of 2020 have been announced! Let’s give them a big round of applause!”
The sky was already getting dark, and the event had basically turned into an evening show.
Xiao Jing stepped off the stage slowly, not wanting to leave. Even though the school stage was kind of simple, with few lights and no big screens, she really loved the feeling of the audience cheering like a huge wave.
But her excitement didn’t last long. Her smile quickly faded, and she looked down at Yu Fan’s arm that was still in her embrace.
“How are you feeling?” Yu Fan hadn’t noticed anything wrong. He kept pushing his arm against Li Mu’s chest, trying to enjoy the moment.
“If you still want to sing, there are contests in college too. College gives you more free time. We can even sing on the streets or perform in bars.”
“……”
Li Mu didn’t reply. Yu Fan turned to look at her, and saw her face full of anger and embarrassment, staring right at him.
He quickly pulled his arm away and gave an awkward smile.
“You could’ve warned me…”