Chapter 176
In the evening, Wei Cheng brought two large boxes of mooncakes, one box for Xiao Qi, saying it was from the racecourse boss.
There were already mooncake coupons obtained by Mi'er from the student union in the dormitory, as well as the freshly made meat mooncakes unique to Fucheng sent by the driver of Gu Yunshu's parents. They were still hot when delivered. In addition to the mooncakes brought by Wei Cheng, there were piles of mooncakes in the dormitory.
Fortunately, pastries like mooncakes can still be kept quite well.
Everyone first ate the meat mooncakes sent from Gu Yunshu's family.
Gu Yunshu didn't like to eat meat, but her mother loved to eat this kind of mooncake, so she specially sent it over, probably because her mother thought you would like to eat it.
It was very fresh, the meat inside was fat, but crystal clear, not greasy at all, with both sweet and savory flavors, both quite tasty. When I first ate it, I felt the sweet one was delicious, but when I ate it later, the slightly salty one was more durable, but the slightly salty one had garlic flavor. Xiao Qi was worried about bad breath and didn't dare to eat too much.
The four girls in the dormitory just ate some together. Although none of them went home, eating mooncakes together in the dormitory was also a perfect Mid-Autumn Festival.
Everyone called home.
Xiao Qi had sent her military training clothes and mobile phone back home. Her parents had already received them. Now everyone having a mobile phone is quite fashionable.
It's just that the network at hometown is not good, otherwise they could have had video calls.
Sheng Juanhua originally didn't want to use a mobile phone. One mobile phone was enough for the couple. Paying fees for two mobile phones was too much. But nowadays, her husband's bamboo weaving business was unexpectedly getting better and better. Although there were others in the village doing bamboo baskets and bamboo baskets, you wouldn't know without doing it yourself and having something to compare with. On the contrary, it highlighted Su Youfu's superior craftsmanship. Exquisite workmanship resulted in even better sales. Su Youfu was very busy. Sheng Juanhua would answer calls for custom orders for bamboo wares. Although Sheng Juanhua was not well educated, she could remember customers' requirements and the like, and she spoke loudly and confidently, giving people a free and easy impression. She was also very careful in her work, so more people called her and both of them ended up using mobile phones.
Xiao Qi chatted with her parents for a while and heard that everything was fine at home, so she felt relieved.
After taking a bath at night, Xiao Qi borrowed Mi'er's makeup kit, and the four roommates in the dormitory went to the gym together in full force.
Xiao Qi checked the rented clothes and there was no problem. The hem had been neatly sewn in for an extra length last time by the shop owner. It was a simple alteration that could easily be let down again if needed for a taller person next time.
It looked more fitting like this.
When they arrived at the gym, it was completely different from the rehearsal in the afternoon. There were countless colored lights at the entrance, as well as red carpet, and a bunch of people with cameras, camera stands, looking very professional. The dorm mates walked over and Mi'er took lots of photos, even finding someone to take a group photo for the four of them.
The gym was like a real concert scene, very cool.
Inside too, rows of seats, not sure where they were brought out from, and the stage was dazzlingly decorated too. The most exaggerated thing was the mentor seats. They were probably modeled after the coaches' seats in the TV show "The Voice of China", with six coach positions, all in red boss chairs.
The mentors were student union chairman Xiao Shengzhou, music club president Du Xinyan, veteran musician Yi Zhou, up-and-coming little heavenly queen Ding Nan, school sponsor Mrs. Su, and Gao Qimin, deputy chairman of the Meng City Entertainment Alliance.
Xiao Qi didn't even know how they got all these people to come, except for the student union chairman. Although the school sponsor Mrs. Su was of special status, it wasn't too surprising that she could be invited. The elderly lady cared a lot about school affairs and often made appearances. But that little heavenly queen Ding Nan seemed to be quite a hot celebrity, a native of Meng City who got famous through a talent show. Xiao Qi wondered how the school got her to come. There was also the musician Yi Zhou whom Xiao Qi wasn't too familiar with, but according to his introduction, he seemed to have very high status.
And that deputy chairman...his profile also seemed very impressive, even owning several entertainment companies.
From Mi'er's gossip, the music club president Du Xinyan was also an extremely capable girl. These mentors were usually invited over by her.
Looking at the venue and lineup, it was hard to imagine that this was an event organized entirely by students. Xiao Qi felt that Enhua University, apart from everything else, just had such great organizing abilities that finding jobs in society after graduation would definitely not be a problem. No wonder people all said Enhua graduates had high employment rates. Maybe half of them had good family backgrounds and got arrangements, while the other half, had indeed benefited from Enhua's many training opportunities.
She was the 15th contestant, out of 20 in total, so there was no rush. She went backstage again before the start to familiarize herself with the process, then went back amidst her roommates.
The event was very formal. Audience had to apply for tickets in advance to enter or leave the gym, even though they were free. As a contestant, Xiao Qi had a ticket with a front row seat. And even if she didn't get a ticket, Mi'er could still get one, just slightly further back.
There were really a lot of students who came, partly because the little heavenly queen Ding Nan would also be performing. Some came to see the celebrity, some were friends and relatives of students, and some were new students who came just for fun without knowing what was going on―just trying to join the excitement. Anyway, the atmosphere in the venue was very warm.
To kick things off, the first contestant on stage was Teacher Lu. She sang the Russian version of "The Red Plum Blossom Opens", which Xiao Qi didn't understand at all. Fortunately, the lyrics were projected in Chinese on the big screen. Teacher Lu really had an extremely wide vocal range. As soon as she opened her mouth, the whole audience quieted down, very sonorous. That night she wore a small floral white long dress with a shawl over her shoulders, looking very elegant and beautiful, as if bringing people back to Teacher Lu’s youth. Although her hair was all white, at this moment when she sang it was as if she was the young girl who had studied abroad in Russia, beautiful and vibrant. Her beauty contained a glimpse of an era.
There was thunderous applause across the venue. The mentors even stood up to applaud.
No scores were given.
Next was the second contestant, a student.
It was a tall and fat boy who looked a bit clumsy and nervous. But he sang “The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau”, hitting very high notes at the start, with excellent timbre. But at the climax, probably from nervousness, his voice cracked a little, somewhat shrill. The earlier Xiao Qi wouldn’t have noticed, but now with her improved singing skills, she could clearly feel the obvious difference.
In the end, the judges gave their scores one by one, averaging out to 7.8 points.
Then came the third contestant, fourth contestant, scoring 7.9 points and 7.0 points respectively. It seemed the mentor teachers were scoring very cautiously.
The fifth contestant was Garen. He chose the Chinese song “A Fire in the Winter” and stunned the audience as soon as he appeared, wearing a dazzling sequined suit with vest and pants which went with his big beard, looking very handsome. And when he started singing in Chinese, the atmosphere became even more enthusiastic. Although his pronunciation was a bit vague, this song was too familiar. Garen wore shiny leather shoes, even singing and dancing at the same time, making a group of students scream. Many foreign teachers were also shouting “Garen! Garen! Garen!” there.
After listening to Garen finish singing, Xiao Qi went backstage to get ready. She was the 15th contestant. Although quite late, it was about time for her to go get her makeup done. With the student union status, Mi'er followed Xiao Qi to sneak backstage to carry the makeup kit for her.
Xiao Qi decided to do her own makeup. She had already submitted her music. The music club just needed to provide the basic accompaniment. Judging from the songs earlier, the musicians in the music club were very capable indeed, providing professional accompaniment.
She chose a long dress in an ash grey shade with light blue. The color seemed light when looking normally. But after seeing the stage lighting effects, it actually looked bright under the lights. This long dress had a silky feel to it. Under the lights the color looked deeper and more gorgeous.
When she was in the makeup area, Wu Xinyue was already backstage.
With Mi'er following Xiao Qi as a little attendant, her jaw practically dropped when seeing Wu Xinyue's outfit. Wu Xinyue had made herself up to look all fluffy, like either a rabbit or a fox, complete with a long tail, bunny ears, a pink furry one-piece micro dress and black over-the-knee boots. Her long black hair reached all the way to the hemline. The coquettish yet sexy look in this outfit could probably overwhelm most male classmates instantly.
Xiao Qi took a glance and also felt somewhat surprised. It was really...ahem...a bit too dreamy. The skirt seemed to be a little too short, she could see the underwear when sitting down, although Xiao Qi didn't do it on purpose.
However, it did look good, it's just that Wu Xinyue's face was slightly more mature. It would look even better if she appeared more childish and lively, but I don't know why, Wu Xinyue gave people the feeling that she was quite mature.
Xiao Qi only swept a glance without looking much. She put on her robe before starting to put on makeup, worrying that changing clothes after finishing makeup would ruin it.
The quality of Mei'er's makeup products felt somewhat average to Xiao Qi.
Wu Xinyue also saw Su Xiaoxiao wearing a long robe. She felt like an underdeveloped little boy...she became even more confident about herself, feeling that she would definitely rank among the top ten beauties tonight.