Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 47.2

TL Notes:
Changed "recording studio" to "concert venue" in the past few chapters. Apparently, the concert took place outdoors.

Twelve songs. Twelve performances where the trainees had given it their all.

When the first public performance concluded, the audience still wanted more. However, at the same time, they also left satisfied.

On one of the production crew's shuttle buses back to the city, Jing Xuan glanced at the dimming stage lights outside the window before she turned to Shang Yan and said, "This trip was well worth it. I'd probably regret it for the rest of my life had I missed it."

Shang Yan was still feeling a little depressed from Huai Xu's song, so she simply nodded and said, "Mhm. I'll send you the photos I took once I sort through them."

At this time, two Snow-Kissed Rose fans in front of them turned around and said, "We took lots and lots of photos! We'll send them to you once I get back, Little Xuan!"

"Okay, okay," Jing Xuan replied before chatting happily with her fellow fans about how cool Song Yingshi was on stage, how beautiful Huai Xu was when singing, and whether Song Yingshi and Huai Xu had any special interactions backstage.

After having a fulfilling conversation with her fellow fans, Jing Xuan fell silent for a moment before she turned to Shang Yan and said, "Do you remember? Little Shi told us that Huai Xu deserves our love. Although I never doubted Little Shi's words, I believe those words even more after watching Huai Xu's performance tonight. Snow-Kissed Rose is simply wonderful. Ah, not good; I think I'm tearing up."

Unlike Jing Xuan, Shang Yan wasn't an ardent supporter of Snow-Kissed Rose. Nonetheless, it didn't stop her from seeing the friendship between Song Yingshi and Huai Xu.

"We should support them well, then," Shang Yan said, having become a loyal fan of Huai Xu after tonight.

"I will attend the second and third public performances as well! I don't want to miss any of their stages! I must see them to debut!" Jing Xuan solemnly declared.

Shang Yan responded with an mhm. But then, she suddenly remembered something, "Do you have enough annual leave?"

Jing Xuan: "..."

Disgruntled-Wage-Slave.jpg.

As the audience and fans left the resort on the shuttle buses, they gazed at the shrinking White Tower, their hearts warm despite the chilly night. This was because they knew the girls they liked would continue working hard in the White Tower for when they met again at the next stage.

Inside and outside the White Tower, idols and fans were engaged in a mutual pursuit.

…

Though the audience had left, the trainees' day was not yet over. They gathered in the recording studio, where they filmed the Initial Rating Performance, to record the announcement of the first public performance's vote rankings.

The trainees lined up according to their performance teams. Duan Mi stood at the front, responsible for announcing the results.

Duan Mi was a straightforward person who disliked troublesome procedures. It was also late, and the trainees must be exhausted after their first public performance. Ideally, she would post the results somewhere for everyone to see and call it a day.

Unfortunately, Duan Mi had a script to follow. Moreover, seemingly knowing her personality, the production crew even highlighted the parts she must use to create suspense.

Having received the production crew's appearance fee, Duan Mi had no choice but to carry out her duties.

Duan Mi started by announcing individual votes. Following each trainee being called, the two big screens behind Duan Mi would display the corresponding trainee's results.

After some time, only Song Yingshi's and Huai Xu's results remained unannounced, and the current highest scorer was Rong Yi with 954 votes.

When everyone saw this situation, they knew that Rong Yi wouldn't keep her spot for long. Either Song Yingshi or Huai Xu must be the top scorer tonight.

After a slight pause, Duan Mi called the next name, "Song Yingshi. Do you think you'll receive enough votes to come in first?"

Duan Mi took a deep breath after saying so, her behavior causing everyone else to hold their breath.

Meanwhile, Song Yingshi, holding the microphone her neighbor had passed to her, said, "I hope so. But even if that's not the case, I can accept it."

Immediately, Duan Mi smiled and said, "Congratulations! You got 978 votes!"

Gasps filled the scene.

The 500 audience members could each grant a maximum of 2 points, translating to a total of 1,000 votes. The four mentors could each grant up to 20 points, translating to a total of 80 votes. Hence, each trainee could receive up to 1,080 votes, and Song Yingshi only missed out on 102 votes!

Song Yingshi was personally satisfied with this outcome. After bowing to Duan Mi, her gaze swept across the crowd, vaguely spotting Huai Xu's figure. Whether it was out of pure expectation or the bet between them, she was eager to know how many votes Huai Xu received.

Amidst Song Yingshi's anticipation, Duan Mi called out Huai Xu's name.

"Huai Xu, how do you think you performed tonight?" Duan Mi asked.

Song Yingshi couldn't quite see Huai Xu, but she could hear Huai Xu's voice, which was muffled by the microphone, saying, "I'm very satisfied."

Huai Xu was never one to express herself offstage. This was the first time everyone had heard her affirm herself so ostentatiously.

After a brief silence, everyone cheered and applauded her:

"Well said!"

"You made me cry with your singing! Had you stayed modest, I would've been the first to disagree!"

Interrupting the trainees, Duan Mi said, "Alright, settle down, settle down. I haven't announced Huai Xu's results yet."

The scene grew quiet again.

"Huai Xu, your performance tonight has reassured me and Instructor Shi that we were right to insist on giving you an A during the Initial Rating Performance," Duan Mi sighed. Then, after a slight pause, she continued excitedly, "Congratulations! You received 1,011 votes! You are officially our first place!"

1011 votes!

The only trainee to receive a four-digit vote! Short of only 69 votes from a perfect score!

Huai Xu's teammates promptly jumped and hugged her in celebration. Even Wen Qingzi, who was usually reserved, joined in the celebration.

Song Yingshi opened and closed her mouth before taking the lead to applaud Huai Xu.

She lost.

In reality, Song Yingshi already had a sinking feeling this would be the case when she heard Huai Xu singing.

Although exciting performances had the easiest time winning votes, nothing could match the impact of a genuinely heart-wrenching performance. The only problem was that few could pull off such a performance.

However, Huai Xu pulled it off. In that song, her grasp over the human heart was...unfathomable.

This time, Song Yingshi was defeated.

Duan Mi suddenly changed the subject as the applause settled, saying, "But—! Only team rankings matter in the first public performance. A team's performance is closely tied to the performance of its members. Each team's ranking is determined by the average of its members' votes."

The screens changed in response to Duan Mi's words, displaying a new name at the top of the list. Immediately, everyone looked up to check the new rankings.

"Let us congratulate...Team 'Surrender,' our 'most!'"

…

The announcement of the performance rankings was full of twists and turns.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! I get to come in first place with you all!" Tan Qianyan exclaimed excitedly. "Thank you all for helping me get here! Muah! Muah! Muah!"

Quan Yuanyuan bumped her elbow against Dan Silan and said to Tan Qianyan, "Besides Little Shi, we also have our team leader to thank for getting first place."

Quan Yuanyuan's praise shocked Dan Silan. This was the first time Quan Yuanyuan had taken the initiative to praise her. A sharp comment almost escaped her lips, but she held it back, not wanting to spoil the moment. Nonetheless, she walked with her head held much higher when she left the recording studio.

Tan Qianyan's score was average among the trainees, having a little over 500 votes. However, as Song Yingshi's team only had five members, and the other four members scored well above average, Tan Qianyan's score didn't drag the team down.

Huai Xu's team came in second place. The team was partially held back because of its seven-member count. Although Huai Xu held more votes than Song Yingshi, the difference wasn't significant, and her votes were diluted far more than Song Yingshi's by her team's member count.

But overall, setting aside the production crew's official rankings, everyone knew that Huai Xu was first in individual rankings, while Song Yingshi's team was first in team rankings.

…

When Song Yingshi returned to the dormitory, she was relieved that her roommate finally decided to return home on time for once.

However, this sense of relief quickly disappeared when Song Yingshi recalled the tense pre-match bet between them.

Pursing her lips, Song Yingshi made up her mind. After closing the door, she approached Huai Xu, saying, "Huai Xu, I thought about it, and-- What are you writing?"

When Song Yingshi got closer to Huai Xu, she saw the other party writing something on a piece of paper, the sight giving her pause. If Huai Xu suddenly got the inspiration for a new song, she would postpone her discussion. After all, creation was more important than their little wager.

As Song Yingshi thought so, Huai Xu set down her pen and tapped on the paper she had written on, asking, "Was it written like this?"

"What's written like what?" Song Yingshi asked, suddenly having a bad premonition. Then, she moved closer to look at the words written on the paper—

Snow-Kissed Rose

The words written with black ink on white paper were clear and distinct.

Song Yingshi: "..."

Song Yingshi was startled to see Huai Xu bringing up this term. Subconsciously, she tried to justify the term, "This...should be a CP concocted by the production crew to improve the show's ratings. Everyone will quickly forget about it if we pay it no mind."

Despite her words, Song Yingshi knew that the ship involving her and Huai Xu wouldn't disappear any time soon. Setting aside their capabilities, their looks alone would attract many netizens to pair them together. Not to mention, by the looks of today's audience composition, the Snow-Kissed Rose ship should already have a significant fanbase. Hence, the ship should last for at least the entirety of the show.

Huai Xu nodded and asked, "What is CP?"

Song Yingshi: "?"

Huai Xu didn't know?

Thinking it over, Song Yingshi felt that this was a possibility. After all, before participating in Star of Spring, Huai Xu rarely interacted with people her age. The trend of shipping celebrities also only became popular in recent years.

"It basically means a pairing of characters," Song Yingshi explained. "Maybe the production crew made this decision after seeing that we are good roommates..."

While explaining, Song Yingshi linked the topic with friendship to mislead Huai Xu.

Huai Xu hummed in response.

Worried that Huai Xu might probe deeper into this topic, Song Yingshi put her hair down and changed the subject, saying, "I want to tell you something."

Raising an eyebrow, Huai Xu said, "Go ahead."

After taking a deep breath, Song Yingshi said, "Tonight's results don't count as my win."

Their wager was a competition between them as individuals. Song Yingshi wasn't comfortable with winning against Huai Xu while relying on her team.

Of course, for the sake of her life, Song Yingshi wasn't so rigid with the conditions, cleverly saying, "But it also doesn't count as my loss, so our bet from before is void. What do you think?"

"Why doesn't it count as your win?" Huai Xu asked, frowning.

Song Yingshi: ?

"Do you think I'm such a sore loser?" Huai Xu snorted.

"I didn't mean that..." Song Yingshi replied.

Raising her eyebrows lazily, Huai Xu asked, "What do you mean, then? Miss Song."

Song Yingshi: "..."

Song Yingshi admitted that Huai Xu's casual and aggressive look was annoying.

Suppressing the anger welling up within her, Song Yingshi said coldly, "The matter between us has nothing to do with the production crew's rules."

"You won. This is a fact," Huai Xu stated as she massaged the bridge of her nose, looking like an adult facing a child throwing a tantrum. "Do you have anything you want me to cooperate with today?"

Song Yingshi looked at Huai Xu sullenly.

Huai Xu chuckled at Song Yingshi's behavior and said, "I'm going to go take a shower if you're not going to say anything."

Song Yingshi glared at Huai Xu weakly. Then, before Huai Xu could react, she moved closer and lightly hugged Huai Xu.

This development stunned Huai Xu, her arms hanging stiffly by her sides.

As their bodies pressed together, Huai Xu could feel their bodies rising and falling with their breaths. She could also smell the faint fragrance radiating from Song Yingshi's body.

It wasn't a remarkable scent, but it was uniquely Song Yingshi's. It was a scent that left one feeling nostalgic but not daring to want more.

"You..." Beside Huai Xu's ear, Song Yingshi spoke hesitantly. "Huai Xu, you are really amazing. I'm willing to accept my loss."

Out of Song Yingshi's sight, Huai Xu smiled. Looking down, she lazily said, "You didn't lose."

Because, Song Yingshi, you're everywhere in the song that beat you.