105: Chapter 105: Seventy thousand people stood up, and the entire audience cried.

The first laser beam shot out from the top of the stage.

Then, a massive curtain of light woven from hundreds of lasers poured down from the zenith. Red and white beams intersected, refracted, and shattered, forming a gigantic red bean above the stage.

The entire stadium exploded.

The curved LED screens on both sides of the stage lit up simultaneously, extending from the main stage to the very end of the extended platform, wrapping the entire performance area into a semi-enclosed space.

Deep blue particle effects flowed across the screens, and combined with the mirror reflections on the ground, looking up from the VIP section, the whole stage looked like it was floating in a galaxy.

Shen Nian tightened her grip on the handbag on her lap.

In the center of the stage, a beam of white light fell straight down from the highest point.

Xu Qingya stood on the lifting platform, slowly rising from the ground.

She wore a long red dress with a train nearly two meters long, fluttering slightly in the airflow of the lift.

Her hair was swept up, revealing her entire face and slender neck.

A pair of diamond earrings on her ears shattered into a sky full of starlight under the laser light.

The sound in the stadium reached its peak the moment she appeared—

The big screen gave Xu Qingya an extreme close-up of her face.

The stadium erupted with countless screams.

Xu Qingya was thirty years old this year.

But that face under the lens had delicate skin, without a single line at the corners of her eyes.

Fans in the front row were already shouting.

"Wife, you are so beautiful, ahhh—"

"The diva has descended—"

"Sister, you've reversed aging, haven't you!!"

"How are you even prettier than the year you debuted?!"

Shen Nian stared at Xu Qingya's face on the big screen for several seconds, then turned to look at Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan's expression didn't change, but the corners of his mouth tilted up slightly.

The prelude began.

A few clean chords, and one could tell immediately which song it was.

"Red Bean."

The moment Xu Qingya opened her mouth, the entire stadium went quiet.

Seventy thousand people, not a single person spoke.

"Haven't felt it properly yet—"

As the first line came out, Jiang Fan knew Xu Qingya was in excellent form tonight.

Her voice was clean and transparent, and every word was articulated precisely.

During the chorus, the glow sticks in the stadium swayed to the beat.

Shen Nian stared at Xu Qingya on stage, her eyes unblinking.

When the song ended, the applause and screams almost flipped the stadium over.

Xu Qingya stood in the center of the stage, breathing slightly, and smiled at the camera.

"Friends in the Magic City—"

"Ahhh—"

Before she could finish, the crowd exploded.

Xu Qingya smiled and waited for five seconds for the screaming to die down.

"Did you miss me?"

"Yes—!!"

"I missed you too."

With just a few simple interactions, she had the atmosphere of the entire stadium completely under her control.

Another round of screaming followed.

For the next hour and a half, Xu Qingya went through the classic tracks since her debut.

By the fifth song, she had changed into a black leather skirt with over-the-knee boots, a 180-degree turn in style that made the male fans in the audience scream until their voices cracked.

In the middle section, the lights dimmed, leaving only a grand piano and a chair on stage.

Xu Qingya had changed into a black velvet long dress, her hair let down, with waves draped over her shoulders.

She sat in front of the piano, her fingers resting on the keys.

"the woman who easily gets hurt."

As the melody started, all the glow sticks in the stadium went out simultaneously—everyone took out their phones and turned on their flashlights.

Seventy thousand white lights lit up, brighter and denser than the glow sticks.

Looking back from the VIP section, it looked like an inverted starry sky.

Xu Qingya's voice flowed through this sea of starlight.

When the chorus came, she left the piano and walked to the very front of the extended stage.

Her skirt trailed behind her, drawing a long shadow on the mirrored floor.

She crouched down and reached out to touch the hands raised by the fans in the front row.

A girl was crying so hard her makeup was ruined; Xu Qingya held her hand and smiled at her.

The big screen captured this scene, and the stadium erupted in another wave of commotion.

Shen Nian's body leaned forward slightly, her elbows resting on her knees, watching very intently.

The concert entered its finale.

The lights on stage returned to the blue-white tone of the opening, and the laser dome lit up again.

Xu Qingya stood on the lifting platform, having changed back into a white dress.

"The last song, dedicated to everyone present tonight."

"legend."

As the prelude sounded, the whole stadium boiled over.

During the chorus, the entire stadium sang along; the voices of seventy thousand people merged together, drowning out Xu Qingya's microphone.

She simply took the microphone away from her mouth and held it up towards the audience.

"Just because I took one extra look at you in the crowd—"

"I could never forget your face again—"

Seventy thousand people sang in unison.

The wave of sound rushed in from all directions, and the floor was vibrating along with it.

Shen Nian felt goosebumps rise on her back, and she subconsciously sat up straight.

As the last note fell, Xu Qingya stood in the center of the stage and bowed to everyone.

"Thank you all, good night."

According to the schedule, the concert ended here.

But no one moved.

Seventy thousand people sat in their seats, not a single person got up.

The glow sticks were still on, and the phone flashlights were still on.

Then, it was unclear who shouted the first call—

"Encore!"

One person's voice was drowned out by the buzzing noise.

But immediately, a second person followed, then the tenth, the hundredth—

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

The rhythm was uniform, starting from the front row, and within three seconds, the voices of seventy thousand people merged into the same word.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

The dome of the stadium was resonating.

Shen Nian was stunned by this scene.

The shouting lasted for a full two minutes.

Then, a light turned on on the stage.

Only one.

A beam of warm yellow spotlight hit the center of the stage.

Xu Qingya walked out from the side curtain.

She hadn't changed her clothes; the hem of her white dress dragged on the floor.

She walked to the center of the stage and stood in that beam of light.

The shouting in the stadium stopped abruptly.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Xu Qingya raised the microphone.

"It was supposed to end here tonight."

Her voice was a little hoarse.

"But I want to let you hear a new song."

The audience began to stir.

A new song? What new song?

There had been no announcements, no promotions.

"This song was written for me by someone very important."

Xu Qingya didn't say who it was.

"When I first heard this song, I cried. When I recorded it, I cried again."

She smiled and rubbed the tip of her nose with the back of her hand.

Someone in the audience shouted, "Diva, don't cry."

Xu Qingya took a breath.

"This song is called— 'as you wish'."

Two characters appeared on the big screen.

Black text on a white background, without any fancy special effects.

A few minimalist chords unfolded, then the strings came in from underneath, layer by layer.

Xu Qingya closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them again, she began—

"You are the distant road, the lamp in the mountain mist—"

"I am a child, walking in your eyes—"

Xu Qingya's voice came out of the microphone and reached every corner of the stadium.

Shen Nian was frozen, and not just her; everyone in the stadium was frozen.

The melody of this song was different from all the other songs tonight.

"Whether we meet or not, it's a lifetime, to embrace you—"

Xu Qingya's voice was terrifyingly steady.

Every word was placed squarely on her breath, without a single note wavering.

The chorus.

The orchestra layered in.

The trumpet section cut in from the middle, raising the melody to an extremely high position.

"And I will love the world you love—"

"Wishing for the smile you wish for—"

Not a single person in the stadium held up a glow stick.

Seventy thousand people sat in the darkness, listening quietly.

"The mountains and rivers are safe, the fireworks are ordinary—"

"But you are the gaze you wished for—"

"Children, sleep peacefully in your dreams—"

"Just like the one you loved deeply—"

Xu Qingya's voice rose to an almost incredible height in the last line.

The last line—

"I promise you, a lifetime as clear as your young face—"

It fell softly.

The string music of the outro slowly dissipated, until nothing was left.

Only that beam of warm yellow light remained on stage.

Xu Qingya stood in the light, the microphone hanging by her side.

There was silence for five seconds.

Many audience members covered their mouths, tears falling uncontrollably.

Seventy thousand people in the stadium stood up within ten seconds.

The applause came last.

Shen Nian stood there, her eyes red.

She stared at the stage, her fingers clutching her skirt.

She was thinking—one day, she would also stand in that position.

The applause lasted for over a minute, with no intention of stopping.

Xu Qingya raised the microphone, wanting to say something, opened her mouth twice, but her voice was choked in her throat.

Finally, she only said one sentence.

"Thank you all."