South Third Ring.
It was only just past five, but the sky had already gone dark.
From afar, lights could be seen blazing above the old industrial district.
High-powered stage spotlights pierced through gaps in the steel framework—red, blue, purple, icy white—one beam after another, staining half the gloomy winter night sky with a hazy, multicolored glow.
The outer walls of the factories along the street were covered in neon signs.
They rose and fell at different heights, their colors glaring.
The steel archway at the entrance was wrapped in neon tubes, their cold blue-white light making the words "Ice and Snow Rock Music Festival; Yancheng" shine brightly enough to be seen from a great distance.
This music festival would last for three days in total.
Tonight was only the opening performance.
Tomorrow and the day after, it would remain open throughout both the day and night.
The park was divided into inner and outer sections.
The outer area consisted of shops, booths, and temporary bars converted from abandoned factory buildings. Several green train carriages that had been repainted had also been turned into cultural merchandise stalls, coffee bars, and pop-up exhibition spaces.
Since the outer area did not require tickets, it was already quite crowded.
The entrance queue had been split into three or four lines by barricades, stretching outward along the roadside.
Heaters had been set up at regular intervals.
Most of the people who had come were young, gathered in clusters and dressed in all sorts of styles.
Motorcycle leather jackets, workwear jackets, military coats, distressed denim, exaggerated prints, metal chains...
Any one of those outfits would have been eye-catching on an ordinary day, but with everyone crammed together tonight, they somehow looked perfectly fitting.
Beside the third heater from the right of the main gate.
Moli