Lin Hai returned to school and went straight to the vocal practice room to find Liu Xinyue.
“Lin Hai, the Qingge Competition is the day after tomorrow, and I’m so nervous.” They walked to the small grove by the entrance, and Liu Xinyue grabbed his hand, hopping up and down as she spoke.
“What’s there to be nervous about? My Xinyue is the best.” Lin Hai gently stroked her hair with affection.
“I’m just afraid I won’t win the championship and fulfill my dad’s wish.” Just mentioning her father made her mood dip again.
“Lin Hai, will my dad ever wake up?”
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow night, I’ll give your uncle the last pill, and after that, he’ll wake up.”
“Really?” Liu Xinyue’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Silly girl, have I ever lied to you?” Lin Hai reached out and playfully flicked her little nose.
“Lin Hai, thank you.” Liu Xinyue leaned into his chest, deeply moved.
“Brother Lin, Bro—” Ye Ziming, thinking he spotted Lin Hai, came bustling in noisily, only to freeze in awkwardness.
“What is it?” Lin Hai frowned.
“Oh, I’m here to give you the tickets.” Ye Ziming quickly stepped forward, wearing a flattering smile, and handed a purple magnetic card to Lin Hai.
“Aside from the ones reserved for the leaders that aren’t for sale, we’ve secured all the front-row tickets—including the ones that were already pre-sold. Those have all been canceled too.”
“I asked for tickets. Why are you giving me a card?” Lin Hai looked puzzled.
“Young Master Lin, you might not know this, but the tickets are all locked away in the Cultural Palace’s advance-sales office. Just take this card to their general manager, and you can pick them up—there are over a hundred of them in total.” Ye Ziming felt a pang of regret as he mentioned the number of tickets.
“Oh, I see.” Lin Hai took the card.
“Over a hundred, huh? Pretty generous.” He patted Ye Ziming on the shoulder. “Thanks, Brother Ye.”
Generous my ass! Ye Ziming cursed inwardly.
My heart is bleeding here! Sure, I don’t care about the money, but a lot of those tickets were meant for important guests! Now I’ve offended every single one of them.
He had no idea what had gotten into his father, insisting on giving all of them away. Was it really necessary?
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, Brother Lin. I won’t bother you anymore.” Ye Ziming was already fed up just looking at Lin Hai.
“Hey, wait.” Lin Hai called him back.
“Something else, Brother Lin?”
“This Qingge Competition—there’s nothing shady going on, is there?” Lin Hai asked with a half-smile, remembering what Zhen Shuang had said.
“Shady? How could there be? The judges for this competition include both popular movie stars and singers, as well as seasoned veteran artists. It’s absolutely fair and impartial.” Ye Ziming quickly assured him.
“Really? I sure hope so.” Lin Hai didn’t believe a word of his nonsense. That Qin Shou was also invited as a judge—and with that kind of scumbag, you expected fairness?
Yeah, right.
Still, Lin Hai had plenty of confidence in Liu Xinyue. After learning the Moon Palace Celestial Melody technique, although he didn’t know why she couldn’t reach his level, winning the Qingge Championship should still be no problem for her.
Even if other contestants tried to bribe people, they couldn’t possibly buy off most of the judges, could they?
“What tickets? Over a hundred of them?”
After Ye Ziming left, Liu Xinyue asked curiously.
“Tickets to the Qingge Competition—and they’re all front-row seats.” Lin Hai waved the magnetic card at her with a flourish.
“Ah!” Liu Xinyue grimaced.
“What’s wrong?”
“Xiaoqing went out today to queue up and buy tickets for Mom and herself. If we already have so many, why bother buying more?”
“Buying tickets?” Lin Hai frowned. “Xinyue, if Auntie needs tickets, she just had to tell me. Why send Xiaoqing to buy them?”
“Well, Mom always feels like she’s troubling you too much.” Liu Xinyue pouted.
“What’s there to worry about when you’re using your own son-in-law?”
“Ugh, who said you’re our son-in-law?”
“Not yet?” Lin Hai suddenly leaned close to her ear. “So, do we have to do it first before I qualify?”
“Stop it!” Liu Xinyue felt the warm breath by her ear and her whole body tingled like an electric current.
Watching her bashful face, Lin Hai felt a stirring in his heart and grabbed her hand.
“Xinyue, when can we finally do it?” he asked eagerly.
“L-later… after the competition.” Liu Xinyue lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper.
“Haha, you said it! The day after tomorrow, the competition’s over, and then I’m going to—” Lin Hai grinned mischievously and raised an eyebrow.
“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Liu Xinyue turned her head away in embarrassment.
Lin Hai panicked and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“‘Impossible’—does that mean yes or no?”
“Fine, yes!” Liu Xinyue stomped her foot in shyness, her voice so soft even she could barely hear it.
“Haha, awesome! Yes! Goodbye to being a virgin!”
“Hey, keep your voice down!” Liu Xinyue turned around angrily and pummeled him with her little fists.
They lingered a little longer until Liu Xinyue suddenly gasped.
“Oh no, this is all your fault! I completely forgot—didn’t I say Xiaoqing went to buy tickets? I need to call her right away and tell her not to buy them. What a waste of money.”
She pulled out her phone and dialed Liu Xinqing.
“Phone’s off? It must be dead. What now? That’s a few hundred bucks.” Just thinking about it made her wince.
“How about I go find her? I can pick up the tickets while I’m at it.” Lin Hai headed back to the dorm, got in his car, and drove off.
At the Workers’ Cultural Palace, long queues snaked around the ticket booth.
Men and women grumbled about the slow pace while anxiously waiting.
“So many people want to watch the Qingge Competition?” Liu Xinqing was surprised. She hadn’t expected it to be this popular.
“Pfft, the competition itself isn’t that interesting. Most people in line are just here to see the celebrity judges—myself included,” said a young girl standing to her left.
“Oh.” Liu Xinqing nodded. “That makes sense. I was wondering why a municipal-level singing competition would draw such a crowd.”
After waiting in line for over half an hour, there was finally only one person ahead of Liu Xinqing.
“Hey, which row are you planning to buy?” The girl next to her had already struck up a friendly conversation while they waited.
“I’m getting seats further back,” Liu Xinqing said quietly.
“Back row seats are boring! I’m going for the front row—it’s way more immersive. But I’m not sure I’ll get them; they seem to have been mostly pre-sold.”
“Oh.” Liu Xinqing felt a little down. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her mom and herself to see her sister perform up close—it’s just that their family’s finances simply wouldn’t allow it.
The person ahead finally bought their tickets and left. Liu Xinqing was just about to step forward when an arm reached through the side aisle and stuck itself into the window.
“Two tickets, middle of the front row,” said a heavyset woman, shoving her way in front of Liu Xinqing.
“Hey, why are you cutting in line?” Liu Xinqing protested angrily. She had been waiting for over half an hour.
“Hurry up.” The fat woman completely ignored Liu Xinqing and urged the ticket seller.
“Hey, no cutting! Get to the back!”
“Exactly! Can’t you see we’re all waiting in line? Have some decency!”
“Get in line at the back. Now.”
“What are you all yelling about? I’m not lining up, so what? Bunch of idiots?” The fat woman not only refused to queue but turned around and shouted at the crowd defiantly.
“You cut in line and then curse at people? Are you asking for—” Before the man behind her could finish, he noticed a heavily tattooed man with a gold chain glaring viciously at him, and he quickly shut his mouth.
Only then did everyone notice the intimidating brute of a man standing behind the woman.
“Hmph, so rude!” Liu Xinqing stamped her foot in frustration.
“Who are you calling rude?!” To her surprise, the fat woman whipped her head around.
“Damn it, you dare call me rude? I’ll slap you, you little wretch!”
The fat woman raised her hand and swung it straight at Liu Xinqing’s face.
Smack!
“Ah!” A woman’s scream rang out, and the noisy hall fell instantly silent.
