Yan Cheng turned to see Wang Muman not looking at her phone, but watching the performance on stage, craning her neck. He watched the video again, thinking the netizens these days were too sharp; were their eyes that keen? He saw comments saying: "He noticed us, will our shipping stop now!" Yan Cheng felt helpless, finding their way of attracting traffic so peculiar, consuming them for attention. However, Yan Cheng paid no mind, focusing instead on the program on his phone.
“Zhou Mingyu, are you watching the comments?” He Lele whispered to Zhou Mingyu.
Zhou Mingyu pointed to his phone, “I’m watching their backstage live stream too! I can only say, my brother is too good at this!” He was dumbfounded by the subsequent actions, his unspoken thoughts all appearing in the comments.
He Lele immediately opened her phone to check. It had already hit the trending list with the title: "The Story of the Detail-Oriented Male Pianist, Too Amazing!" The video had captured many of Yan Cheng’s small gestures. After watching, He Lele sighed profoundly, “I feel like I can’t even insert myself into their friendship!”
At the end of the performance, the host invited all performers onto the stage to announce the final results.
“Alright, thank you to these performers for their presentations. Now, combining audience votes and judge scores, we announce the first prize winners are contestant number 5 and contestant number 9. The second prize winners are contestants number 1, 4, and 6. The third prize winners are contestants number 2, 8, 12, and 15. The excellence award winners are contestants number 7, 10, 11, and 13. Congratulations to these contestants. Now, please welcome the renowned actor Bai Tian to the stage to present the awards!”
Wang Muman glanced at her number, finding it hard to believe she had actually won first prize.
Yan Cheng smiled and said to Wang Muman, “We need to go to the front, the center. Don’t be nervous this time, you don’t have to speak.” He then took Wang Muman’s wrist and led her towards the front of the line.
The flashbulbs were dazzling. Yan Cheng accepted the trophy, then handed it to Wang Muman, and stood there waiting for photos. During the photoshoot, he leaned closer to her. Unexpectedly, Wang Muman also leaned towards him, as she felt a bit too close to the stranger next to her. They were almost touching, and in this way, they finished the photos with smiles.
Afterwards, Wang Mujin took the three children home. On the way to her own home, Wang Mujin asked Wang Muman while driving, “How do you plan to split the prize with Xiao Cheng?”
“Five hundred each. I said I didn’t need the phone, so I gave it to him.” Wang Muman’s pocket was filled with five hundred yuan.
“The performance was brilliant, well worth all the practice these past few days. Father also said it was very good; he watched the live stream on his phone and sent me a text.” Wang Mujin had expected their father to come, but he couldn’t make it back in time due to a meeting. “Oh, right, several reporters approached me just now, wanting to interview you and Xiao Cheng, but I declined, saying you’re still children and shouldn’t be influenced.”
“I don’t like this sort of thing anyway. I get nervous even going on stage, let alone talking to strangers,” Wang Muman shook her head. Yan Cheng had sent her a text message: Grandma wants you to visit often.
Wang Muman thought of her pleasant interactions with Grandma these past few days and felt the elder’s care. So she replied: I’ll come when I have time, I really like Grandma! She attached a cute cat emoji.
Wang Muman returned home and placed the trophy on the bookshelf.