Chapter Sixteen: A Stunning Performance

  Zou Ze held his beloved guitar in front of the microphone, his calm face expressionless, gently strumming the strings, singing a slow Beyond's Boundless Oceans and Vast Skies.

  Ji Xin'an stood up and listened carefully to the classic old song sung by Zou Ze, although the voice was still a bit childish, it had another flavor, and she slowly started humming along.

  Zou Ze's voice is really nice, Ji Xin'an knew it before, but never listened so carefully.

  The music ended and applause erupted, Ji Xin'an also smiled and applauded. Turning around, she saw Yu Yao not far away with shining eyes, and even if Ji Xin'an wasn't a reborn person, she could tell that was the look of someone who liked another person.

  Ji Xin'an suddenly understood why she and Shi Lin had been targeting herself all along, because every time, more or less, it was related to Zou Ze, they must have misunderstood something.

  I see, Ji Xin'an smiled self-deprecatingly. A leftover woman in her previous life, she was now being envied by a 13-year-old girl - this was treatment she had never enjoyed before!

  And then she discovered that Ji Xin'an had an evil and interesting idea, wondering if the person Zou Ze would marry in the future was actually Yu Yao. She liked Zou Ze so much now, and the two families also had similar backgrounds, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible, and she couldn't help but reveal a playful smile.

  "Hey, what's on your mind? I've called you several times and you haven't responded?" Zou Ze walked down from the stage and came directly to her side, while Ji Xin'an was still there gossiping, unable to hear what he said.

  "Did you call me? Oh, I was thinking about something and didn't hear it, is there something?" Ji Xin'an came back to her senses and looked at Yu Yao for the first time, and indeed saw a change in her expression, which made her feel even more amused inside.

  "My clothes are all yours, you want me to freeze to death?" Zou Ze carried his guitar, and his body was shaking slightly.

  Ji Xin'an just realized he was still wearing his thin performance attire and hastily handed over the coat in his hand.

  Zou Ze put on his clothes but didn't leave, instead he stayed with Ji Xin'an to watch the performance and make comments on it. The two of them chatted and laughed together. Ji Xin'an wanted to consider Yu Yao's feelings, but she couldn't sacrifice her own friendships for Yu Yao's sake, especially since their relationship wasn't that close yet. So she thought it was best to just go with the flow.

  Yu Yao's performance was just an electronic piano solo, if the piano could be brought up, her show would definitely be very colorful, but changed to an electronic piano solo, it seemed a bit monotonous, but had to say, her piano playing was indeed good.

  "Zou Ze, what do you think of Yu Yao?" Ji Xin'an intentionally wanted to probe his thoughts.

  "Your piano playing is not bad." Zou Ze replied casually.

  "Isn't Guqin pretty good?" Ji Xin'an thought to herself, it seems that Yu Yao's pursuit of love is still a long and arduous road.

  "What else can be done?" Zou Ze looked at Ji Xin'an with a strange expression, feeling that she seemed to have an ulterior motive.

  Yu Yao wore a pure white dress for the performance today, and it's hard to deny that Yu Yao is very beautiful. Now she looks even more innocent, standing there like a lotus flower about to bloom. Ji Xin An thought that such a beautiful girl who has deep feelings for him would make him feel something, but he really didn't have any feelings, and he didn't know what to say about it.

  The front desk is much colder than the back, Yu Yao's small face was a bit pale with only one skirt on, after finishing a song, she was already trembling with cold, Shi Lin quickly wrapped her coat around her body.

  Yu Ya pulled her clothes tightly and looked over at Zou Ze, but he was laughing and chatting with Ji Xin'an, and she couldn't help feeling a sudden pang of disappointment.

  Ji Xin'an didn't know before and didn't feel it, but now she knows. Being looked at by her with that kind of gaze makes him somewhat uncomfortable.

  It's almost there at Ji Xin'an, and just as Ji Xin'an was about to get up, Zou Ze pulled her back, "You're leaving just like that?"

  "What's wrong?" Ji Xin'an turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

  "You're just going to wear this and not change clothes?" Zou Ze had never seen anyone so careless before.

  "This isn't bad, is it? Who says you have to freeze when performing? Besides, they're here to listen to my songs, not look at my clothes. Right?" Ji Xin'an glanced at her outfit: a long white shirt underneath a short jacket, straight-leg jeans on the bottom, and sneakers that looked like skateboarding shoes - this was an outfit she had finally managed to put together! And with her hair tied up in a ponytail, she looked even more spirited.

  "Also, go ahead, add oil!" Zou Ze heard this and thought about it for a moment. He felt that there was some truth to it, and after taking a look at Ji Xin'an, although she didn't have as much makeup on or wear fancy clothes like others did, he still thought she looked quite pretty now.

  Ji Xin'an smiled brightly and walked up onto the stage.

  Jian Xin'an took the stage, Yu Yao and Shi Lin also looked up at the stage. Shi Lin had a somewhat disdainful expression, thinking that she had just learned to play the piano for a few days and was already showing off, not messing it up would be good enough, let alone winning, dream on. While Yu Yao was confident in herself, but added a bit of nervousness.

  Ji Xin'an, although it was her first time standing on such a stage, didn't show any signs of nervousness. She calmly stood in front of the electronic piano, gave a gentle smile to the audience filled with people below, and the prelude began to sound.

  Every time in loneliness and solitude strong

  Even if very hurt, no tears shine

  I know I've always had a pair of invisible wings

  Take me flying over despair

  Don't think about their beautiful sunshine

  I see that every day's sunset also has changes

  I know I've always had a pair of invisible wings

  As soon as Ji Xin'an's voice sounded, the whole place fell silent, and everyone's expression could be described as stunning. She was the kind of person who performed better on bigger stages, and during practice, she still felt that she wasn't in good condition and didn't sing well. But now she had really found that feeling, singing this song made her think of herself, her own future, thinking that since she had been given a second chance, she would definitely choose what she wanted, and she would definitely succeed, no matter how difficult it was.

  Her state is directly reflected in her singing, she seems to have let everyone see a girl who has been struggling hard for her ideals, and now she is more beautiful than ever, more gorgeous than wearing any performance costume.

  I finally see all dreams blooming

  The young singing voice is loud and clear in pursuit

  I finally soar with a focused gaze, unafraid

  Wherever there is wind, fly as far as you can

  Invisible wings make dreams last longer than heaven

  Leave a wish for yourself to imagine

  Zou Ze wasn't the first time he heard her sing this song, but it seemed that every time he was conquered by her soft yet powerful voice. This time her performance was even better than before, and he felt that Ji Xin'an had sung out everything in this song as if it were written for her, and he couldn't help but be moved.

  When the last sentence was sung, the scene suddenly became quiet, but only for a moment, and then applause erupted, louder than ever before, accompanied by whistles and cheers.

  Ji Xin'an said thank you and came down, seeing Zou Ze still standing there applauding, asked him "How was it?"

  "Awesome! Today was the best performance." The two of them tacitly gave each other a high-five and smiled.

  Ji Xin'an was still basking in the joy of her first successful performance, telling Zou Ze about how relaxed and great she felt after going on stage. Of course, she wouldn't notice the two people with very ugly expressions on the other side, and Zou Ze was accompanying her in her happiness, not even thinking about it.

  The next performance was not only uninteresting to Ji Xin and An, but also the audience below were still immersed in the song just sung and didn't want to watch anymore.

  Ji Xin'an indeed entered the top ten and got third place, because the first two places were teachers, so it was the highest ranking among students at that time. However, Ji Xin'an herself thought that as long as she entered the top ten, everything else wasn't very important anymore. She felt that today's experience was the best reward for her.

  But what she didn't know was that this song and her overnight became a well-known figure throughout the school, fortunately, it's just in time for the holiday tomorrow, otherwise she would definitely regret it.