232: Chapter 232 National Style Exchange Meeting

Until his phone vibrated once, Shen Qingxue sent a message.

"Awake yet? The rain outside seems to be getting heavier."

Lu Li typed back.

"I'm awake, just daydreaming while listening to the sound of the rain."

"Then do you want to come over for breakfast? I ordered takeout, and there's quite a lot."

Lu Li stared at those words for two seconds, then crawled out of bed, freshened up briefly, walked out into the corridor wearing slippers, and knocked on her door.

The door opened quickly.

Shen Qingxue was wearing a loose off-white sweater, her hair draped casually over her shoulders, holding a cup of hot soy milk in her hand.

"Come in, it was just delivered not long ago."

Lu Li walked in and sat down beside the coffee table.

On the table were porridge, pan-fried dumplings, steamed buns, and two cups of soy milk; it was indeed quite a sumptuous spread.

Shen Qingxue sat down opposite him and handed him a pair of chopsticks.

"Judging by the weather, this rain might fall all day, and this afternoon we still have to go to the theatre to prepare for the evening's Guofeng Exchange Conference. Hmm... it's a bit troublesome."

Lu Li took the chopsticks, picked up a steamed bun, took a bite, and mumbled a reply.

"It's fine. Even if it rains, tonight's Guofeng Exchange Conference is indoors, so we won't get wet."

"That's true."

Shen Qingxue also picked up a steamed bun and took a leisurely bite.

"Right, last night, Xu Hang added me on WeChat from somewhere."

Lu Li's chewing action paused for a moment.

"Did you accept the friend request?"

Shen Qingxue shook her head, a hint of a smile in her tone.

"Of course I didn't accept. I'm just telling you so that a certain someone doesn't hear about it from other channels later and pretend not to care while being jealous."

Lu Li was hit right in the thoughts by her words and didn't deny it either. He took a bite of the steamed bun and mumbled vaguely.

"Since when am I so narrow-minded?"

"You totally are."

Shen Qingxue looked at him, the curve of her lips carrying a trace of smugness, but the warmth in her eyes softened.

The two of them ate breakfast quietly for a while.

The rain outside the window didn't ease up; instead, it became denser, beating against the windowpane with a continuous sound.

Lu Li put down his chopsticks, picked up the soy milk and took a sip, then leaned back against the chair, his gaze falling on the gray sky outside the window.

"This rain doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon."

"Yeah, then bring an umbrella when we go out this afternoon."

Shen Qingxue also finished eating, tidied up the dishes and put them into the takeout bag, tied the opening, and placed it by the door.

"Right, did the organizers of the Guofeng Exchange Conference say when the rehearsal is?"

"They said two in the afternoon, but today is mainly about blocking for the Guofeng Exchange Conference. We don't need full-makeup rehearsals like in a competition, so it shouldn't take too long."

Lu Li nodded and didn't ask any further.

The two sat in the room for a while longer, chatting about some of the procedures for the evening's Guofeng Exchange Conference.

When it was almost time, the two returned to their respective rooms to change clothes, grabbed their umbrellas, and then went downstairs together to hail a cab.

Pedestrians at the entrance of the Sucheng Grand Theatre were much fewer than yesterday, with only a scattering of audience members holding umbrellas.

The two entered from the side door and walked along the corridor toward the backstage.

When they reached backstage, the staff were already there, testing the stage lights and sound system.

Liu Fang was also there, holding a walkie-talkie. Seeing them enter, he quickly walked up to greet them.

"Teacher Shen, Teacher Lu, you're here."

"You've worked hard, Teacher Liu."

Liu Fang waved his hand, signaling that there was no need to be polite, and then led them to the rest area on the side of the stage, flipping open the schedule booklet in his hand.

"Tonight's procedure is like this: the show officially starts at eight. First, several singers in the Guofeng field will take the stage to perform, then an interview segment will be interleaved in the middle, and finally is the grand finale performance by the two of you."

He raised his head and looked at the two of them.

"At that time, your program will be arranged as the very last one, placed before Lin Zhihan."

"Before?"

Shen Qingxue tilted her head slightly.

Liu Fang quickly explained.

"No, it's Lin Zhihan who is placed before you. You are the last to take the stage, but given your strength, appearing as the grand finale is actually a good thing."

Lu Li listened from the side and couldn't help letting out a chuckle.

"Fine then, the finale it is. Anyway, whoever goes first or last is the same."

Seeing that they had no objections, Liu Fang breathed a sigh of relief, explained a few more details about the stage blocking, and then went off to busy himself with other matters holding his walkie-talkie.

Only the two of them were left in the rest area.

Shen Qingxue took her phone out of her bag, opened the lyrics to blue and white porcelain, and went through them once more.

Lu Li sat next to her, leaned over to glance at her screen, and then spoke.

"Once this song is sung tonight, it's probably going to trend on the hot searches again."

"You sure are confident."

"Of course. If I didn't even have this bit of confidence in blue and white porcelain, I might as well find a piece of tofu and crash into it to die."

Shen Qingxue gave his leg a light, exasperated slap.

"You just love running your mouth."

Lu Li chuckled sheepishly and didn't dodge.

The two of them sat in the rest area for a while longer until a staff member came to inform them to go on stage for blocking.

The blocking went smoother than expected, and everything was finished in less than half an hour.

When coming down from the stage, Lu Li glanced at the time; it was only past four in the afternoon.

"It's still early, the show doesn't start until eight tonight. Do you want to go back to the hotel to rest for a bit first?"

Shen Qingxue thought for a moment and nodded.

"That's fine too. We can just go back and review the lyrics again."

The two didn't delay much and left directly from the side door.

The rain outside was still falling, slightly lighter than it was earlier in the afternoon, but walking on the road with an umbrella, one could still feel the fine rain being blown slantwise against the face by the wind.

After returning to the hotel, they each went back to their rooms to rest for a while.

Lu Li leaned against the head of the bed, closed his eyes, and ran through the melody of blue and white porcelain in his mind. Confirming there were no issues, he finally relaxed.

At six-thirty in the evening, the two met up punctually in the hotel lobby and took a cab to the theatre once again.

Backstage was much livelier than in the afternoon; makeup artists and staff shuttled back and forth, and the sound of music coming from the direction of the stage could be faintly heard.

Lu Li found a seat in the rest area and sat down, swept his gaze around, and then tilted his head slightly to look at Shen Qingxue.

"Look over there."

Shen Qingxue looked over following his gaze.

Not far away, Lin Zhihan was sitting in front of a makeup mirror, with two assistants standing beside her.

Her expression looked relatively calm, but from time to time she lowered her head to glance at her phone, then whispered instructions to someone beside her ear, obviously still a bit nervous.

Lu Li withdrew his gaze and didn't look much more.

Time passed bit by bit.

During this period, both of them finished their respective makeup, styling, and costumes.

As for their attire, both were traditional historical costumes, with colors leaning toward white with hints of blue-green, fitting the imagery and background of blue and white porcelain very well.

...

Finally, right at eight o'clock, the Guofeng Exchange Conference officially started on time.

The moment the livestream screen lit up, the number of online viewers surged upward at a speed visible to the naked eye, instantly breaking the 100,000 mark.

And the related bullet comments were flying across the screen even faster.

[Tonight's Guofeng Exchange Conference has finally started, I've waited so bitterly]

[To put it bluntly! The protagonists of tonight are Rock Sugar Pear! Everyone else step aside for now!]

[No way, the earlier lineup isn't bad either, there are quite a few veteran Guofeng singers]

[That's true, but what I'm looking forward to the most is still Rock Sugar Pear]

[Brothers, inside scoop, I heard that the song they are singing tonight is a new one, seemingly the one from the earlier Guofeng relay that wasn't released]

[Holy cow, really or fake? There's a new song?]

[Lu Li's workhorse nature is truly well-deserved]