Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 46.2

More on-site audience members arrived as time passed, gradually livening up the resort's serene environment.

At the same time, the trainees were repeatedly reminded that their first stage performance in front of a live audience was rapidly approaching.

After returning from her walk outside the White Tower, Song Yingshi spotted Huai Xu and her teammates standing together.

At a glance, it was apparent that Huai Xu was the tallest among her team. With her back leaning against the wall and her smooth, long hair covering the delicate contours of her face, her posture appeared more upright than usual.

Huai Xu's teammates were engaged in a lively discussion, while Huai Xu stood with her eyes half-closed, appearing aloof and detached from the group.

Song Yingshi guessed Huai Xu should be brewing her emotions, hence her uncommunicative behavior. It was similar to when they were tackling their Initial Rating Performance.

Without much thought, Song Yingshi walked over to greet the team.

Despite Song Yingshi's light footsteps, Huai Xu immediately sensed Song Yingshi's presence, her gaze sweeping past her teammates and landing directly on Song Yingshi.

Behaving as if what happened yesterday never happened, Huai Xu looked at the approaching Song Yingshi and asked, "What do you want?"

The other members of the "Halfway Mountain" team also looked over.

When Xing Huan saw Song Yingshi approaching Huai Xu, she shrank back to make herself as unnoticeable as possible.

Meanwhile, Wen Qingzi smiled and said, "I thought something was missing today. It turns out that we didn't see our Little Shi this entire morning."

After greeting everyone with a nod, Song Yingshi smiled and said, "I went outside just now and met two of the show's fans. They told me to pass on their cheers to your team leader."

After saying so, Song Yingshi looked at Huai Xu, her expression growing more serious as she continued, "You, in particular, should try not to disappoint the fans' expectations. Stay in form and perform well."

Huai Xu nodded.

Seeing as Huai Xu didn't intend to say anything, Song Yingshi said, "Then, that's it from me. I still need to meet up with Dan Silan and the others. Don't be nervous, and keep up the good work."

After saying so, Song Yingshi turned around and left.

Xing Huan sighed in relief at Song Yingshi's departure. At the same time, she self-consciously circled around to Wen Qingzi's side, not daring to stand too close to Huai Xu.

Wen Qingzi glanced at Xing Huan but said nothing about the latter's behavior. Instead, she looked at Huai Xu and asked, "Why didn't you cheer on my daughter just now?"

"Your daughter?" Huai Xu narrowed her eyes.

"I think everyone knows by now that I'm Little Shi's mother fan," Wen Qingzi stated calmly. Although she felt like her world had crumbled when she learned that her daughter had started dating at such a young age, she was an open-minded parent. Rather than break the young lovebirds apart, she decided she would keep an eye on Huai Xu instead.

Everyone: ??? Have you ever mentioned that?

After staring at Wen Qingzi for a moment, Huai Xu pushed herself away from the wall and said with a faint smile, "I already told her yesterday."

"But you haven't cheered her on today," Wen Qingzi said, a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice.

"You're right," Huai Xu replied with a thoughtful look.

Huai Xu's response confused Wen Qingzi. However, Huai Xu's calm and distant expression made it difficult for her to glean any information, so she ultimately chose to end this episode and resume discussing their upcoming performance.

...

The time before the public performance passed quickly. Before everyone knew it, the sun was dipping below the horizon, and the audience was eagerly taking their seats in front of the stage.

Backstage, most of the trainees were already seated in the recording room. Song Yingshi used the remaining moments before recording to check her makeup and tidy her clothes in the restroom.

While adjusting her collar, Song Yingshi suddenly thought of the scene from last night--

After Huai Xu finished the sentence that made Song Yingshi utterly mortified, she followed it up with a seemingly unrelated line:

"Do well on tomorrow's stage."

Song Yingshi couldn't make sense of the sudden change in topic, but she felt something strangely romantic about it.

Song Yingshi didn't try to decipher the meaning behind those words at the time. She only recalled them before going to bed, and she couldn't help but wonder if Huai Xu was worried the abrupt revelation might affect her first public performance.

As Song Yingshi left the restroom while pondering this matter, she suddenly received a system mission:

"Special Mission: Embrace Huai Xu in front of the camera tonight."

Song Yingshi: "…"

Song Yingshi didn't tell the system she wouldn't do the mission. However, she had already made up her mind not to do it.

Despite knowing she couldn't wholly avoid Huai Xu if she wanted to complete her future missions, Song Yingshi decided to give herself and Huai Xu a two-day respite. At the very least, she wouldn't accept any missions until after the first public performance.

While having such thoughts, Song Yingshi looked up and saw Huai Xu standing by the door of the backstage recording room.

Putting the mission aside, Song Yingshi walked over to Huai Xu, trying to sound as natural as possible as she asked, "Why aren't you going inside?"

Huai Xu hummed. Instead of answering Song Yingshi's question, she asked, "Are you nervous?"

Song Yingshi was stunned, the question bringing to mind a mundane conversation with Huai Xu in the dormitory where she confessed to checking her makeup in the restroom whenever she was nervous. She didn't expect Huai Xu to still remember this detail.

Chuckling, Song Yingshi said, "I'm good."

Huai Xu's gaze lingered on Song Yingshi's face, scrutinizing every inch of Song Yingshi's expression. Then, she stated, "But you're not excited."

"I'll get pumped up once I'm on stage, don't you worry," Song Yingshi assured.

"Why should I worry?" Huai Xu curtly replied.

At this point, the two fell silent again.

A moment later, Song Yingshi smiled and took a step forward, saying, "Then, I'll be going in first—"

"Little Shi."

Song Yingshi's eyes widened as she turned to look at Huai Xu.

This... What is going on? Song Yingshi wondered. Huai Xu had never called her "Little Shi," so why now? Why after their relationship had supposedly soured from yesterday's incident?

Seemingly not noticing Song Yingshi's surprise, Huai Xu said, "Have you ever considered the possibility I would refuse to cooperate with your antics?"

"What are you getting at?" Song Yingshi asked in confusion.

In response, Huai Xu's eyelashes fluttered and her lips curved as she said, "If you can beat me in the first public performance, I will continue listening to you."

Taking a step away, Huai Xu continued, "But if you lose, I won't be inclined to continue humoring your...cute and childish behavior."

After saying so, Huai Xu chuckled and gave Song Yingshi a teasing look.

Song Yingshi: "…"

Song Yingshi's chest heaved rapidly. She told herself that there was nothing wrong with what Huai Xu said.

However, while reason dictated otherwise, her emotions had already erupted.

She still cared about her dignity, okay?!

Song Yingshi bumped Huai Xu's shoulder aside as she moved past the other party. Then, she raised her chin defiantly, fighting spirit igniting in her eyes as she glared at Huai Xu and said, "Just you wait."

Huai Xu raised her eyebrows in delight, saying, "I hope you don't let me win too easily."

…

In the backstage recording room...

While waiting for their turn, the trainees could observe the stage through the TVs in the room.

The seats in the room were divided into the left and right sides, and Song Yingshi's teammates left her a seat on the right facing the aisle.

When Song Yingshi sat down with a stern expression, her teammates instantly turned to look at her.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Song Yingshi asked, trying to stay calm.

"You look even fiercer than I do right now," Quan Yuanyuan said. Then, she added, "But you're still freaking beautiful."

Quan Yuanyuan's words might have been flirtatious, but her statement was based on facts.

Although Song Yingshi possessed striking features and a gentle demeanor, her almond eyes and rosy cheeks somewhat softened the impact of her beauty. But now, the intense aura she radiated made her blindingly beautiful. If Song Yingshi were to appear before the audience now, Quan Yuanyuan didn't doubt that she would elicit many screams of excitement.

Just as Song Yingshi was about to say something, Huai Xu entered the room and sat next to her on the other side of the aisle.

Song Yingshi looked at Huai Xu through the corner of her eyes, only to find that Huai Xu's gaze wasn't focused on her but on the screen ahead.

…

Finally, the stage preparations were complete, and a wave of pre-recorded applause and cheers was played. Then, the mentors took to the stage one after another, their entrance signaling the commencement of Star of Spring's first public performance.

All four mentors were present this time.

Shi Shuyao, Ren Qian, Duan Mi, and Zheng Qiyi.

Ren Qian served as the host as usual, while the other three mentors took their seats.

After greeting the audience with a smile, Ren Qian tilted his ear to the audience and asked, "Who are you here to support?"

Immediately, the names of different trainees were called out with high-pitched voices, filling the recording studio with enthusiasm.

As Ren Qian shielded his ears from the audience's deafening cheers, his eyes caught sight of a giant LED sign.

"Snow-Kissed Rose?" Ren Qian murmured.

Backstage, the trainees also noticed the LED sign, and they couldn't help but exchange glances with one another.

"What's Snow-Kissed Rose?"

"Snow-Kissed Rose?"

"It sounds like a ship name!"

"It is a ship name! Look closer, at the smaller characters beneath 'Snow-Kissed Rose'!"

Besides the trainees, the camera also noticed the smaller characters hiding beneath "Snow-Kissed Rose" as it zoomed in on them:

Song Yingshi x Huai Xu

Immediately, everyone in the room turned to look at Song Yingshi and Huai Xu.

Meanwhile, Tao Qin, the first person to ship the two together, nearly fainted.

It turned out that there were so many like-minded individuals in this world! The ship she supported was no longer a rowboat but a cruise powered by a diesel engine!

Snow-Kissed Rose forever!

Xing Huan, who had tried but failed to employ coupling to boost her popularity, sighed wistfully at this revelation.

Hearing the sigh, Wen Qingzi gave Xing Huan a questioning glance.

Noticing Wen Qingzi's gaze, Xing Huan leaned over and whispered, "The fans this season are fortunate. They get to support a real couple."

"Unlike you, who can't even come up with a fake one?" Wen Qingzi responded.

Xing Huan: ?

Meanwhile, when Song Yingshi saw the signboard and the countless bullet messages spamming "Snow-Kissed Rose" across the screen, her brain went blank for a second.

Huai Xu and I have a ship?

What's more, there are so many fans supporting it?

The current situation was akin to a couple planning to break up suddenly discovering they had a child. Moreover, this child wasn't a fetus but a child ready to start elementary school.

Facing this situation, Song Yingshi instinctively turned to look at Huai Xu.

Almost simultaneously, Huai Xu turned her head to look over.

Song Yingshi saw that Huai Xu was equally stunned.

TL Notes:
Fyi, due to my decision to use "Snow-Kissed Rose" as the ship name, I had to rewrite parts of this chapter.