Evolving infinitely from ground zero

After a while, Shen Qinghan gradually calmed down.

She stopped crying, though there was still some sniffles.

Wiping her tears dry with her hand, she took deep breaths, trying her best to calm herself down.

In front of her, Lin Zichen had already cut out the basic shape of the dress, only the bottom hem and the straps were left to complete the entire dress.

But at that moment, the host on stage was already calling for contestant number 20 to come up and sing.

Backstage, Li Chuxin was so anxious she couldn’t stand it, constantly making video calls to Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan.

Lin Zichen was too busy to answer, not even lifting his head as he said to Shen Qinghan, “Han Han, pick up Chu Xin’s video call.”

Shen Qinghan was a bit scared to answer, afraid of facing Li Chuxin.

But quickly, she wiped her tears away, adjusted her emotions, and then picked up the phone to answer Li Chuxin’s video call.

“Han Han, it’s our turn to go on stage, where did you and Zi Chen run off to?”

Li Chuxin looked extremely anxious on the video.

Shen Qinghan’s eyes darted around, her voice faltering as she said, “We are at…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Zichen spoke up, “Han Han and I will be on stage immediately. Go up first and stall for a bit, we will be there within half a minute.”

“Then hurry up.”

Li Chuxin didn’t dwell too much on the reason the two had not returned yet, she hung up the video call after saying those words and rushed onto the stage by herself.

Thinking whether a self-introduction or telling an interesting opening joke, she had to stall for half a minute on stage, waiting for Shen Qinghan to get back.

Just as Li Chuxin got on stage, Lin Zichen finally finished tailoring the dress.

He stuffed the dress into Shen Qinghan’s arms, telling her, “It’s ready, hurry to the restroom and change into it. Just throw the dress and panties you take off by the restroom door, I’ll come to pick them up.”

For some reason, Shen Qinghan was much calmer at this point, no longer nervous.

Perhaps like how one wouldn’t feel so sick after vomiting from drinking too much, she felt much better after urinating.

Wanting to save more time and not to delay Li Chuxin further, she hesitated for a moment and then gathered the courage to boldly say,

“No, that’s not necessary, Xiao Chen, turn around, I’ll just change right here…”

Change right here?

Lin Zichen was a bit surprised to hear that, but said nothing, quickly turning his back to let her change dresses.

Seeing him turn around, Shen Qinghan, with her face flushed, quickly stripped off her lower garments and put on the dress that had been tailored on the spot.

Then she hurried towards the stage, tying the dress straps while on the run.

Watching Shen Qinghan’s retreating figure heading for the stage, Lin Zichen realized that she was not as weak as he thought.

In some very urgent situations, with a bit of effort, she was still able to summon some courage.

“I hope the performance goes smoothly,” Lin Zichen murmured.

Afterward, he turned around, picked up the dress and underwear Shen Qinghan had just removed, put them in a bag, and, carrying it, went back to watch Shen Qinghan and Li Chuxin’s performance.

At first, he was quite worried that Shen Qinghan, because of her nerves, would not sing well, but after listening for a while and realizing she was doing great, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Otherwise, he really feared that she would be so struck by her performance that she’d become even more introverted, depressed, self-deprecating, and reclusive.

Fortunately, none of that happened.

A few minutes later.

Accompanied by thunderous applause, Shen Qinghan and Li Chuxin’s singing came to an end.

Both were panting, a smile of satisfaction with their finished performance on their faces.

Then, under the long-lasting applause, they left the stage and walked towards the backstage.

On the way back, Li Chuxin asked curiously, “Han Han, how come you suddenly changed your dress? Did you go out earlier just to change dresses?”

Shen Qinghan’s eyes dodged a little, “The previous dress got dirty by accident.”

“Got dirty?”

“Mm.”

Shen Qinghan didn’t explain much, merely responding with a gentle sound.

Fortunately, Li Chuxin didn’t dwell on the matter and quickly steered the conversation towards their recent singing performance, smiling brightly as she grasped Shen Qinghan’s hand and said,

“Han Han, we both performed incredibly well just now. The applause from the audience was louder than any other contestant’s, for sure. We’re definitely going to place, and we might even take the championship in one fell swoop!”

“Really?”

During her time on stage, Shen Qinghan’s mind had actually been a blank, and she had sung the entire song purely on instinct, not really knowing whether she had sung well or not.

Lin Zichen came up, smiling as he said, “You sang beautifully. I feel like the championship is pretty much in the bag.”

“Mm, if Xiao Chen says it’s a championship, then it must be a championship.”

Shen Qinghan beamed sweetly, her smile blooming like a jasmine flower, delicate and full of vibrancy.

The two didn’t stay backstage for too long, quickly gathering their things and heading towards the audience seats.

The singing was over; it was time to head back and join their parents in the audience.

About ten minutes later, the results of the competition were announced.

As expected, Shen Qinghan and Li Chuxin clinched the championship and happily embraced each other.

Among them, Li Chuxin was so excited that she burst into tears, her eyes swimming with them.

He Yu, who came over to congratulate the two, immediately took out a tissue and offered it to Li Chuxin.

Li Chuxin still remembered the last time He Yu gave her a leftover bathroom tissue to wipe her tears; this time, she assumed He Yu was up to his old tricks again, and gave him a cold look, refusing his tissue.

Shen Qinghan, on the other hand, didn’t cry. She smiled throughout, just feeling a bit surreal, almost as if she were dreaming, never having imagined she would actually win the championship.

Soon, many people came to congratulate Shen Qinghan.

There were her parents.

Her homeroom teacher.

Her classmates.

And even strangers she didn’t know.

From a young age, all of her merits had always been overshadowed by the halo that followed Lin Zichen around.

Only at this moment did she truly feel what it was like to be the center of attention.

And for the first time, she realized she was not worthless.

Even under Lin Zichen’s halo, she could still shine with a faint sparkle, not completely fading into obscurity.

“Who on earth did this? Who’s so lacking in decency to smash a window and tear down and shred the curtains! Didn’t they learn anything?!”

From the backstage storeroom area, suddenly a chorus of loud cursing erupted.

Hearing the string of curses, Lin Zichen’s face couldn’t help but show a bit of unease, feeling somewhat guilty.

Seeing him like this, Shen Qinghan grasped the hem of her dress with her hand, looking at him with eyes full of affection as she said, “Xiao Chen, I love this dress so much. I’m going to cherish it for a lifetime.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a gust of cold autumn wind blew in.

Shen Qinghan’s dress hem fluttered slightly, and she felt a chill on her lower body.

Lin Zichen quickly took off his coat and tied it around her waist to keep her from getting cold.

At the end of the event, to make amends for smashing the window and cutting up the curtains, the two of them volunteered to stay behind to clean up the stage.

After spending over ten minutes tidying up, Lin Zichen noticed several lines of text popping up in the void.

[Achievement unlocked: Collaboration 1000. Completed tasks 1000 times in a cooperative setting.]

[Biometric Attributes acquired: Social Animal]

[Social Animal: Within a certain range, the more of your kind are near you, the higher your combat power will be.]

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