Qianchuan Shushu took the stage, and their appearance sparked a wave of enthusiastic cheers. Clearly, the freshmen were no strangers to this duo of Lu Xiaoshu and Miao Chuan.
"Hey, it's the two uncles who sing well." Xixi tugged at her father's sleeve with a hint of surprise. The little girl had sharp eyes and immediately recognized Lu Xiaoshu and the others.
"Yeah, that's right, it's them." Yang Yi smiled slightly.
Under the dazzling stage lights, Lu Xiaoshu and Miao Chuan still looked ordinary and dressed plainly, but signing with a management company had clearly given them a big boost. The two were brimming with confidence, their faces lit up with shy yet assured smiles.
"I got lost in the northern winter, wandering through the boundless wilderness, watching a few lines of wild geese fly away, thinking of her..."
The familiar melody and lyrics began as Qianchuan Shushu launched into their performance. Yang Yi couldn't help but gently sway his head, listening to their music. This somewhat melancholic folk song, though an unreleased amateur piece, was still beautiful to hear.
Especially Lu Xiaoshu's voice, as clean as the northern snowfields, carrying their own unique charm.
This was far more captivating than any other program in the entire evening so far!
Folk and rock were different; the audience didn't need to vent their emotions wildly. They just needed to listen quietly to savor the beauty of folk music.
And offstage, not only Yang Yi but also the other audience members were entranced. Even Ding Xiang, who wasn't particularly good at appreciating music, listened intently.
There were no hiccups along the way. Qianchuan Shushu finished their song completely, followed by warm applause from the audience. Yang Yi noticed that they had polished the song's ending, making it cleaner and more decisive than the previous version.
Maybe they took my advice? Or perhaps, after signing with the management company, they got guidance from someone skilled?
Yang Yi didn't know the answer, but he didn't mind. He smiled and applauded for these two big boys who loved music.
After Qianchuan Shushu finished, the crowd still shouted for an encore, but the evening continued according to the planned schedule.
Xixi started to get a bit bored because the following acts were quite average, especially the skits, which she didn't understand or like. She kept pestering her father, asking, "Daddy, when will Uncle Guo come on?"
"Almost there, almost there!"
After repeated questions and repeated reassurances, it was finally Guo Ziyi's turn. The little girl, who had been yawning, perked up a bit.
"I want to see Uncle Guo!" Xixi couldn't sit still on her little stool and insisted on squeezing into her father's arms. She felt she could see better sitting on his lap.
Yang Yi himself was a bit uncomfortable sitting there. At 1.87 meters tall, he couldn't stretch his long legs properly on such a small stool, but he still picked Xixi up and held her in his arms.
The evening was lively, but it was autumn after all. The night breeze carried a chill that seeped through clothes into the bones. Yang Yi held his daughter; her skin was icy cold, which was heartbreaking. But she refused to put on the jacket her father had brought for her, so Yang Yi had to use his own body heat to warm the little one.
After the host's introduction, Jiangnan's top scorer in the college entrance exam, the chubby Guo Ziyi, finally came on stage with his guitar. He wasn't nervous at all and immediately started making funny faces at his classmates in the audience, drawing bursts of laughter from those who noticed.
"Ahem!" Guo Ziyi adjusted the microphone to a suitable height and then said leisurely, "Thanks for the host's kind words, but let's drop the 'top scorer' label. Today, Guo Ziyi is just an ordinary freshman here to sing for everyone!"
The audience laughed. When the host introduced him as the top scorer, some felt a bit awkward, but seeing his straightforward demeanor, they felt much more at ease. Many cheered loudly, livening up the previously dull atmosphere, making it even more enthusiastic than when Tang Kaitai opened the show.
This was something Du Yuanlei hadn't anticipated. She looked at Guo Ziyi, who was acting like a clown on stage, with some surprise and a hint of regret: "If I'd known he had such great stage presence, I wouldn't have arranged for Qin Wen to go on after him!"
Qin Wen was another celebrity freshman from the film academy this year, a young actress who had appeared in many film and TV works.
But at that moment, Du Yuanlei saw Guo Ziyi looking straight at her.
"What does this mean?" Du Yuanlei glanced around to confirm that Guo Ziyi was indeed staring at her. She had a bad feeling.
On stage, Guo Ziyi held the microphone on its stand and continued, "But even though I'm here to sing today, the song I'm bringing—ahem, don't get me wrong—it's not my original work. It's a new song I begged from a very good friend that hasn't been released to the public yet..."
Ding Xiang, sitting next to Yang Yi, chuckled and said, "What 'very good friend'? Isn't that just Brother Yang Yi?"
Xixi looked at Ding Xiang in confusion, not understanding why Sister Ding Xiang mentioned her father's name, but she kept her eyes fixed on Uncle Guo on stage. Wasn't the whole point of coming tonight to see Uncle Guo's performance?
Guo Ziyi continued, "This song, I want to sing it to a special person—our evening's head director, the most beautiful Senior Sister Du Yuanlei!"
As soon as he said this, a wave of commotion erupted.
It wasn't that campus romance was shocking, but this sudden confession caught everyone off guard.
After the commotion came rounds of applause, along with suppressed laughter surrounding Du Yuanlei.
Du Yuanlei frowned. She found Guo Ziyi's declaration of affection hard to accept, even off-putting. She disliked this kind of showiness and especially disliked people like Guo Ziyi with such a flamboyant personality.
"Senior Du, is that chubby guy about to sing you a love song?" a girl beside her teased.
But Du Yuanlei glared coldly, and the others fell silent immediately.
After all, she was the director...
"'College Days,' hope you all enjoy it!" Guo Ziyi was about to start singing, his tone finally less playful. After snapping his fingers, he calmed himself and began strumming the guitar in his arms.
The intro was a bit long, and without piano chords, it sounded somewhat thin, but the melody was still beautiful—clear, with a simple loop, like raindrops dripping from the eaves.
The audience, which had been buzzing about Guo Ziyi's sudden confession, was drawn in by the melody and quieted down, turning their attention back to the stage, watching the boy playing his guitar with deep emotion.
Was this also folk music? Campus folk?
Qianchuan Shushu, who hadn't left, perked up. Lu Xiaoshu and Miao Chuan looked at Guo Ziyi in surprise, listening intently, eager to learn from the lyrics and melody—a habit of every musician.
"Crossing the sports field, letting the rain soak me... my shy you, when did you become lonely..." Guo Ziyi's voice, still carrying a hint of youthful immaturity, revealed another value at this moment—rawness and purity.
Unlike Lu Xiaoshu's weathered purity, Guo Ziyi's voice was clean with the marks of youth. Without any forced depth, just softly humming this campus folk song, it instantly struck a chord in people's hearts.