Sparse figures passed by in front of her.
Tang Xin's eyes were dim as she stood in a corner of the park, clutching her bass to her chest. The falling snowflakes were clearly light and airy, yet they felt heavy enough to crush her shoulders.
Under the streetlight, the girl's eyes were rimmed with red, and her slender body trembled from the cold, swaying as if a gentle push would knock her over.
She felt that she was truly pathetic right now, still clinging to such naive, unrealistic fantasies, thinking about standing on some grand stage and chasing the shadow of an idol.
"Are you alright, little girl? Would you like an ice cream?" An old woman pushing a cart nearby saw the girl's pitiable state and spoke out of pity.
The performance in the distance had already begun.
Clearly, she was not the protagonist of tonight.
On the stage, a youth's figure was incredibly dazzling under the stage lights, every gesture filled with confidence. The audience below cheered and screamed for him; the sound from that direction traveled far, far away, until it vanished into the horizon.
"Eek, Little Cauliflower's performance has started! Let's go, quick!"
In the corner of the park, young girls walked past hand-in-hand, moving quickly like cheerful little birds. Passersby hurried along, and no one stopped for her.
"I'm fine."
Tang Xin smiled through her sobs.
A few small children gathered around. One little girl's nose twitched slightly as she walked up to Tang Xin, holding an ice cream.
"Big sister, are you crying?"
"No," Tang Xin shook her head gently.
"Big sister, do you know how to play the guitar?" the girl asked, tilting her head.
"This is a bass..."
"Is it called a bass?"
Tang Xin didn't speak.
"Sister, don't be sad. Think about happy things," the girl said innocently.
"Like how sister can play the guitar—that's amazing. I can't play at all, and my teacher blames me for it every day." The girl looked a bit dejected, as if thinking of something sad.
Tang Xin's gaze softened. She knelt down, rubbed the girl's head, and said, "Do you want to hear it? How about I play a song for you?"
The girl's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes! I want to hear it!"
At least she still had a few little audience members. At least in this corner of the world, there were still a few children willing to stay for her. Thinking this, Tang Xin plucked the strings and sang a song from her childhood.
The children listened intently, clapping and cheering for her.
"It sounds so good, sister! Better than my teacher!"
"Sister's voice is so gentle, I love it!"
It seemed she wasn't quite as sad anymore.
Looking at the few cheering little figures, Tang Xin felt all her grievances and unhappiness transform into flowing notes, plucked from her fingertips and released from her throat. She was like a rose that no one cared about, quietly blooming in a corner of this world of ice and snow.
...................
On the stage, Lin Fan displayed himself wantonly. His exaggerated body movements, paired with his vivid expressions, pushed the atmosphere of the entire concert to its peak.
"I didn't catch the sunset, I missed it before dark~"
"The intersection of the horizon is like our diverging feelings, never to meet again."
"We are both just passing through each other's lives, missing each other in haste."
"Little Cauliflower!"
"Little Cauliflower!"
The fans below shouted his name in unison, waving glow sticks and light boards emblazoned with his name and messages of love.
Yes, that's right!
As the youth's sweat sprayed, he raised his head proudly.
Tonight, he was the sole protagonist of this stage, a rising star. His shining light would be seen by everyone!
As an artist pushed by Rongsen Media, he hadn't encountered a single setback since entering the industry. Everything had been smooth sailing; all resources automatically tilted toward him. Every day he woke up, his follower count on social media platforms grew automatically. The clicks on his new album were like a rocket; he only needed to take a nap for them to pierce the heavens.
There were plenty of girls willing to spend money on him. As long as he showed a bit of intent, birthday wishes would flash across the buildings in the King's District.
Everyone around him had to flatter him. He was a walking topic of conversation, a magnet for heat and traffic.
He had wondered why, and finally, he reached a conclusion.
Because they were all too stupid.
These fans below were the same, those girls were the same, his manager was the same, and so were the netizens on social platforms.
Everyone was like this.
Looking at the faces of the people below who were fanatical for him, he only felt it was ridiculous.
Aside from a handsome face, he actually had nothing. No singing technique, no acting skills, he couldn't dance, and he had no talent for composing.
Every aspect of his persona was packaged for him by the management company.
Including that persona that he still felt ashamed of even now when he heard it.
Why did they call him Little Cauliflower?
Because he was so eye-opening that whenever someone saw him for the first time, they would cover their mouths and let out a "Wow!"
He didn't need to worry about any of this. The management company had a huge team of people to help him create his persona, arrange music, tune his voice, release albums, and handle the whole chain of buying traffic and promotion.
Because of this, he had felt mentally uneasy for a period, thinking about whether he should work hard to improve himself so he would be worthy of all this. But after discovering that no matter how hard he worked, it made no difference compared to before, he became at peace with it.
He had figured it out. He should stand at the very top of the Star of Art. This was all his due!
Fate was inherently unfair; there should naturally be frozen corpses by the roadside. If anyone was to blame, they should blame those fools for their bad luck.
"That wasn't my love, there is no future for us!"
He sang with all his might, recklessly displaying himself to the audience below.
He jumped and bounced vigorously, his steps circling the stage as he enjoyed the people's cheers and revelry.
He didn't know if it was his imagination, but starting just a moment ago, the desperate shouts of those audience members seemed to gradually quiet down.
What's going on...
Why are you looking at me with those strange eyes?
"A bunch of idiots, what are they doing?"
It wasn't until he saw the raised light boards and glow sticks being lowered, and saw the look of shock on everyone's faces below, that he realized something was wrong.
Coincidentally, his last mutter of "idiots" was infinitely amplified and clearly transmitted to everyone's ears.
The audience's eyes widened slightly.
One female fan covered her mouth, her face full of disbelief. "Little Cauliflower?"
The vast concert venue became so quiet that a pin could be heard dropping.
Lin Fan stood on the stage, his mind a complete blank. He murmured breathlessly:
"What happened?"
"What's the situation!?"
Inside the booth behind the stage, a person stood up in a panic. "The tuning equipment just malfunctioned for some reason!!"
"Where's the accompaniment? Play the accompaniment, quick!!"
Everyone in the booth was frantic because of this disastrous performance accident, until someone shouted and pulled a playing card out from the damaged tuning equipment—a Joker.
Rate on N.U.
