Chapter 126 113: Joker

Sparse shadows of people passed by in front.Tang Xin's eyes were dim as she stood in the corner of the park, clutching the bass in her arms. The snowflakes falling were light, but they felt heavy enough to crush her shoulders.

Under the streetlamp, the young girl's eyes were red, her thin body shivering with cold, swaying as if a slight push would make her fall.

She felt ridiculous now, still holding on to such naive, unrealistic fantasies, dreaming of stepping onto a grand stage, chasing after the idols she admired.

"Are you okay, little girl? Do you want an ice cream?" An elderly lady passing by with a cart couldn't bear to see the girl's pitiful state and said gently.

The performance had already started in the distance.

Clearly, she was not the star of the show tonight.

On stage, the young man's figure was dazzling under the stage lights. Every gesture exuded confidence, and the audience cheered and screamed for him. The sound carried far and wide until it disappeared into the horizon.

"Hey hey, Little Cauliflower's performance is beginning! Let's go quickly!"

In a corner of the park, young girls walked hand in hand, passing by quickly like joyful little birds, while passersby hurried by, none stopping for her.

"I'm fine."

Tang Xin choked up, smiling faintly.

A few children gathered around, and one little girl sniffled, holding an ice cream as she approached Tang Xin:

"Big sister, are you crying?"

"No." Tang Xin shook her head gently.

"Big sister, do you play the guitar?" The girl asked, tilting her head.

"This is a bass..."

"Is it called a bass?"

Tang Xin said nothing.

"Sister, don't be sad, think of happy things." The girl said innocently.

"Like sister playing the guitar. That's really impressive. I can't play it at all, and the teacher scolds me every day because of it." The girl felt a bit down, as if recalling something sad.

Tang Xin's gaze softened. She crouched down, ruffling the girl's hair, and said, "Do you want to hear? How about I play for you?"

The girl's eyes lit up: "Yes, yes, I want to hear."

At least she still had a few young listeners, at least in the corners of this world, there were still a few children willing to pause for her. Thinking this, Tang Xin strummed the strings and sang a song from her childhood softly.

The children listened intently, applauding and cheering for her.

"It's nice, sister, even better than the teacher's singing."

"Sister's voice is so gentle, I love it!"

It seemed like it wasn't so sad after all.

Watching the few jubilant little figures, Tang Xin thought, all her grievances and unhappiness transformed into flowing notes played by her fingertips and sung from her throat. Like an unnoticed rose, she quietly bloomed in the corner of the Ice and Snow World.

On stage, Lin Fan indulged in self-expression. His exaggerated body movements, paired with vivid expressions, pushed the concert atmosphere to its peak.

"I didn't catch the sunset, missing it before the night fell~"

"The intersections of the horizon are like the relationships we missed, never to meet again."

"We are just passing strangers to each other, swiftly passing by."

"Little Cauliflower!"

"Little Cauliflower!"

The fans below the stage called his name in unison, waving glowing sticks and signs inscribed with words of love for him.

Yes, that's right!

As the young man's sweat fell, he lifted his head arrogantly.

Tonight he was the sole protagonist on this stage, the rising star on the stage, whose brilliance everyone would behold!

Being an artist promoted by Rongsen Media, he hadn't faced any setbacks since entering the industry, everything went smoothly, resources automatically tilted towards him, every day upon waking, the number of fans on social media increased automatically, and clicks on the new album skyrocketed as if a rocket, shattering the sky with just a night's sleep.

Girls eager to spend money on him were aplenty, as long as he hinted a bit, birthday wishes would flash on the skyscrapers in the King's District.

Everyone around him had to flatter him, he was the living hot topic and traffic sensation,

He wondered why, and finally concluded.

Because they were all too stupid.

The fans below the stage were like that, those girls too, his manager also, as well as the netizens on social platforms.

Everyone was like this.

Looking at the fervent faces of the people below the stage, he found it very amusing.

Apart from a handsome face, he actually had nothing, no singing skills, no acting skills, couldn't dance, no talent for composition.

Every persona was packaged by the management company for him.

Including that persona he still found shameful to hear even now.

'Why do you call him Little Cauliflower?'

'Because he is so dazzling that whenever someone sees him for the first time, they cover their mouth and exclaim—Wow~'

He didn't need to worry about any of this, as the management company had a tremendous team for creating personas, composing melodies, tuning, releasing albums, and promoting, all one stop.

Because of this, he once felt uneasy, wondering whether he should work hard to improve himself, to deserve all this, but upon finding out that no matter if he worked hard or not, it made no difference, he became at ease.

He figured it out, he should stand at the pinnacle of the Star of Art, as this was all his by right!

Fate was inherently unfair; there should be bones frozen to death by the roadside. Blame it on those fools' bad luck.

"That wasn't my love, we have no future!"

He sang vehemently, shamelessly displaying himself to the audience below.

He bounced and danced across the stage, relishing the cheer and revelry of the people.

Whether it was his illusion or not, since just now, the yelling from the audience seemed to be gradually quieting down.

What... what's going on...

Why are you looking at me with such strange eyes?

"A bunch of fools, what's this?"

It wasn't until he saw the raised signs and glow sticks being lowered and every face in the audience showing bewilderment, that he sensed something was off.

Just then, his last uttering of the word 'fools' was maximized infinitely, transmitting clearly into everyone's ears.

The audience widened their eyes slightly.

Among them, a female fan covered her mouth, full of disbelief: "Little Cauliflower?"

The vast stage scene turned pin-drop silent.

Lin Fan stood on stage, his mind blank, he murmured out:

"What happened?"

"What's going on!?"

In the shed at the back of the stage, someone stood up in a panic: "The tuning equipment just malfunctioned for some reason!!"

"The accompaniment, quickly play the accompaniment!!"

Everyone in the shed was thrown into chaos by this performance disaster, until someone shouted, drawing out a card from the malfunctioning tuning equipment—Joker.

They exchanged looks.