Chapter 177

Wu Xinyue was also quite skilled at putting on makeup.

She would put on makeup every time she went out, so of course she couldn't ask someone else to help her with it every day. The best makeup artist is still oneself. Even celebrities can't have makeup artists with them all the time.

However, she just wore light makeup on a daily basis. Now that she was going on stage, she made her makeup look heavier, due to the stage lighting.

Under the bright lights, makeup that's too light can make features look very plain.

So Xiaoqi felt that Wu Xinyue's appearance was more mature and glamorous now. Uh, it was a bit overdone. From afar it still looked fine, but up close it really looked a bit scary.

She didn't have much time left, so she didn't pay attention to the others and started doing her own makeup.

Wu Xinyue also didn't have the composure to notice Su Xiaoqi. She just smiled at her in greeting, then went to watch the other contestants' performances. As it turned out, none of the next few contestants scored above 8 points, so she felt a bit more at ease.

Although she was just a TikTok internet celebrity, she often made TikTok videos. Viewers liked it when hosts filmed outdoors in crowded places, as the effect was better. So she did have experience performing outdoors. She was much better than the other contestants in this regard.

She saw that the second contestant, a fat guy, sang quite well, but was too nervous and stiff. His performance as a whole definitely wouldn't work.

The other contestants also had various issues, either too nervous, too inexperienced, or just average singing skills.

Looking at everything comprehensively, Wu Xinyue felt that she was still stronger than them.

Xiaoqi didn't watch the other contestants. She was putting on her own makeup.

This was actually the first time she had earnestly put on makeup for herself.

After doing makeup for Honey, Yunshu and Weicheng last time, Xiaoqi had specially gone to the library to read books about makeup application.

She realized that there were many intricacies to putting on makeup. The makeup for daily wear and stage performance had big differences.

She had just seen that Wu Xinyue made her makeup heavier to cope with the stage lighting. This was what most people did, like putting thick makeup on elementary school students performing on stage, sticking on false eyelashes and the like, making their faces look like monkeys' butts. This was actually the most basic stage makeup, just to look eye-catching and bright.

But with the advanced technology nowadays, there were also close-up shots on stage. Some cameras could get right up to your face. Thick makeup would look inappropriate in such shots.

Those trendy male celebrities did this very well. Whether it was daily life or on stage, their faces looked flawless even in extreme close-ups, with zero pores and distinct 3D features, looking very refreshing.

With such good-looking faces, no wonder groups of teenage girls and older women would scream that so-and-so was their husband every day. These delicate pretty boys did look better than the greasy men in real life. Xiaoqi had very fair skin, with basically no visible pores. This was thanks to her current lifestyle, with lots of exercise and sufficient nutrition. She exercised and sweated out toxins every day, keeping her skin in excellent condition without a single pimple.

Still, she applied a layer of foundation, choosing the lightest shade. Putting on makeup was actually similar to painting, just that painting was on a flat white canvas while makeup was on the 3D face.

The makeup Xiaoqi wanted to put on herself was quite simple in concept, to match the robes she wore. She just needed a very clean, fresh look.

But it was also a bit difficult in execution. Xiaoqi's features were quite good, with slightly small phoenix eyes. Drawing them out nicely would make them look very attractive, but it was also easy to overdo it and make them look vulgar.

Xiaoqi's face was very suitable for makeup application. She pondered as she worked, not stopping her hands.

At the start, Honey just felt like nothing had changed after Xiaoqi applied the base makeup. Rather, she looked darker compared to her original fairer complexion.

But based on her blind worship of classmates being right, Honey didn't say anything, just watched her deskmate attentively. Although she was usually gossipy, she had quite an accurate understanding and judgement of herself and others. She remembered her dad telling her to know yourself and know others.

Xiaoqi had added some shading to her face, so it looked darker to Honey.

The shading was to create a more 3D look. Xiaoqi was still quite young, with some baby fat on her face. On camera it could make her face look chubby, even swollen if exaggerated.

Her eyelashes were already very long and thick, so she just applied a bit of mascara without using false lashes. She lined her eyes because they were monolids, so the liner was drawn slightly thicker and darker, but still just a thin line rather than thick.

The most difficult part was shaping her eyes, especially the tails and corners.

Xiaoqi's hands were quite steady. She surprisingly felt her artistic sense and appreciation coming into play while applying makeup, even if it was basic skills. She felt it was quite helpful.

When she finished everything, applying light rose lipstick to tone down the glamor of her phoenix eyes, and tying her hair simply in little buns to reveal her forehead clearly, Honey was stunned motionless at the sight of her deskmate. She suddenly felt unable to walk properly, just wanting to lie under her classmate's robes. *whimper*...

The audience's cheers and shouts were getting more and more excited.

On the small backstage screen, Xiaoqi could see that contestant number 14, Wu Xinyue, was performing. The atmosphere was truly heated.

Screams started as soon as she stepped on stage in her costume.

She sang and danced to a Japanese song. Xiaoqi happened to have learned Japanese before, so she could tell Wu Xinyue's pronunciation was unclear and mumbled in places. She probably didn't understand Japanese, but her singing was decent. Her dancing was great though, very charming and flirtatious like girl group idols on TV.

The only downside was her makeup being too thick. Her face looked big in close-ups, and kind of greasy.

But her exaggerated costume, sexy dance moves, and the passionate Japanese song choice worked together to bring the excitement of the event to a climax. The audience kept whistling and screaming, mostly male voices.

Xiaoqi had finished her makeup and was ready to go. Honey didn't pay attention to the noise outside. She just stared at her deskmate with shining eyes, thinking to herself over and over: I'm done for... My sexual orientation might be changing... She had felt the robes might be too plain at first, but didn't object due to agreeing with her classmate. Seeing her now, Honey felt unable to even walk. She wanted to lie under her deskmate's robes so much! *whimper*...

The applause was deafening. Wu Xinyue scored 8.4 points, the highest so far since no one else had scored over 8.

She smiled broadly and walked off stage, forehead slightly sweaty. She didn't dare wipe it off for fear of smudging her makeup since she still had to go back on stage later for the finale. So she hurried off to touch up.

Xiaoqi went on stage from the other side.

She calmly walked to the middle of the stage. To be honest, she was a little nervous.

But working as a tutor in summer had built up her courage somewhat, plus Jiajia often filming her had made her less afraid of cameras. Having gone to TV stations for interviews before, this was just a school competition, so Xiaoqi kept encouraging herself not to be scared and to relax.

In reality, following right after Wu Xinyue's stellar performance was a bit of a disadvantage. Wu Xinyue had done really well, whipping the audience into a frenzy. It was like Teacher Lu singing excellently as the first contestant, then the second contestant ate the loss even though his rendition of 'Plateau of Tibet' was actually better than the subsequent contestants, but he got lower scores.

Xiaoqi was not afraid, because this was a singing competition after all.

She had chosen to sing 'Exploring the Qingshui River', requesting simple guitar accompaniment.

After the previous exciting song and dance, the next contestant coming on stage in robes was quite a contrast. The audience and judges were taken aback, wondering if she was going to perform Peking opera? How interesting.

Luckily the large screens in the gym clearly showed the person walking on stage.

A group of girls exclaimed first: "This pretty boy is too good-looking!"

"It's a girl, didn't you see the program? Su Xiaoqi is a female student in Class 1 of the Information Management Department."

A person of ambiguous gender in long robes walked slowly across the big screen.

The girls all felt it was so elegant and graceful, and were captivated, especially compared to the sexy and revealing fox and bunny outfits Wu Xinyue had worn just before. It was captivating to their hearts, and in an instant felt like a cleansing of their eyes. They felt entertained by the beauty.

The boys, after experiencing the previous energetic song and dance, the long-haired bunny outfit and big tail, like a game character Da Ji's perfect figure - the only regret was feeling the internet celebrity sister's face looked a bit oily up close, but compared to them ordinary students, it was already a visual feast, perfect.

But the contestant who came out now sat down calmly on the high chair in the middle of the stage, adjusted the microphone in front.

Facing the students below and judges, she smiled lightly, just a light smile.

The boys all suddenly felt their hearts race, thump thump, they were actually captivated by her beauty. Her face looked so exquisite on the big screen, simply flawless, beautiful from every angle.

Especially those eyes.

Just now Wu Xinyue was dressed up as a fox, but the clean long robes on the girl in front seemed to give her an innate grace and charm.

She wore very plain clothes, light blue robes, no extra jewelry on her body or hands, just ordinary slippers on her feet, but sitting there, her ankles looked fair and shining, clasped high, just a small section of her neck revealed, very white, when she looked up with a smile, it made everyone involuntarily hold their breath, the whole empty stage seemed to take on an air of elegance and beauty.