Page 20

By then, the Qualifier Round to narrow the Southern Division of Dance Miracle from fifty contestants to thirty was already halfway through.

Author's note: A little skit—

Tang Shi (serious face): "From today on, please call me Rich ╭(╯^╰)╮"

Lu Hengzhi: "I swear I'll become Rich's man (づ￣3￣)づ╭?~"

Chapter 21

In the noisy, crowded backstage area, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi stood dumbfounded in a dim corner, watching the chaotic crowd around them. Their heads were still spinning. To be precise, ever since Tang Shi had learned that he'd won the lottery, his brain had been starved of oxygen and unable to think.

Even though he knew this would eventually become reality, and even though he thought he'd prepared himself for it, Tang Shi only realized that none of his mental preparation had been enough once it actually happened and was right there in front of him.

Tang Shi unconsciously touched his chest and let out a quiet laugh. His foolish laughter, as if his IQ had dropped by two hundred points, sounded completely out of place backstage, where everyone was tense and on edge. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice that anything was wrong with him. They were all busy with their own affairs and had no time to pay attention to his elation.

His stomach was growling with hunger, and his body was starting to feel weak and uncomfortable. But Tang Shi didn't notice. At that moment, his mind was filled with the joy of getting four million for free. His elation had even drowned out his body's demands. He'd been in this state for quite some time. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that throughout the trip to claim the prize and back, his mind had been blank, his feet felt like they were walking on cotton, and he'd been in a daze.

He couldn't stay clearheaded. Even when he'd handled the prize claim at the Lottery Center, he'd been tense and absent-minded. Unable to think clearly, he'd simply followed the staff's instructions: producing whatever documents they asked for and doing whatever they told him. Fortunately, Lu Hengzhi, who'd gone with him, had stayed relatively calm and carefully checked every step. Tang Shi had only come to his senses for a moment when it was time to sign and finally confirm the account for the deposit—

It was like a dream. He'd suddenly become rich.

Tang Shi grinned foolishly. Four million might be a drop in the bucket to the truly wealthy, but to him, it was an enormous fortune. In both his lives combined, he'd never seen so much money.

When he went to the bank to transfer the money, he'd even been tempted to ask the staff to exchange the four million for cash and pile it in front of him, so he could see for himself just how much money it was. But after thinking it over, he'd decided that would be far too embarrassing, and he ultimately hadn't gone through with it—

Still, he was so happy he felt as if he were drowning in euphoria.

People who'd never experienced the dizzying feeling of suddenly going from poor to rich would never understand it.

Who cared about a dry mouth or stumbling over his words? Who cared that his mind was completely blank? Tang Shi felt as if someone had pressed the legendary laughing spot on his body. He wanted to laugh—he could only laugh—and nothing could stop his foolish laughter. In the end, his face ached from smiling, but he still couldn't relax his facial muscles.

Compared to Tang Shi, Lu Hengzhi was a little more clearheaded. Given his family background, he wasn't exactly wealthy, but he'd seen his share of the world. Four million yuan was a lot, but compared with the Lu Family's assets of over a hundred million, it was hardly a drop in the bucket. Besides, neither of them had actually seen a mountain of cash. It was just a number with a string of zeroes at the end, transferred from a check into an account, along with the enormous tax receipt in their pocket.

It was only four million—

But it wasn't the same. No matter how rich the Lu Family was, that was money Lu Hengzhi's grandfather and father had earned through hard work and sacrifice. It had nothing to do with him. But he'd earned this four million because he'd trusted Tang Shi.

If Lu Hengzhi hadn't trusted Tang Shi that day, if he'd bought only his own birthday numbers like Cui Yujin, if...

If anything at all had gone differently, then today he wouldn't have been able to celebrate alongside Tang Shi, sharing the same feelings. They were overjoyed, thrilled for each other. If things had turned out differently, Tang Shi would have been disappointed too, wouldn't he?

His best friend didn't believe in him or support him or whatever...

They'd been together since childhood, and although Lu Hengzhi sometimes couldn't understand Tang Shi's exceptionally sensitive nature, he always tried his best to take Tang Shi's feelings into account. When they went out together, Lu Hengzhi could easily afford to put them both up in the best hotels, but he'd rather squeeze into a cheap inn with Tang Shi and eat at street stalls than ignore Tang Shi's embarrassment and insist on going somewhere upscale. His parents gave him tens of thousands in pocket money every month, but to show Tang Shi that they were in the same situation, he'd rather leave the money in the bank to earn interest and spend only ten or twenty yuan a day. Sometimes he'd even mooch off Tang Shi for a hand-torn pancake or a grilled sausage, then wolf it down.

Tang Shi had misunderstood these little gestures as proof that Lu Hengzhi didn't like spending money, didn't know how to enjoy himself, and was even miserly. But Lu Hengzhi was perfectly content and never tried to explain.

He felt that when you truly valued someone, you should make an effort to help them feel comfortable and at ease, rather than deliberately changing them or deliberately accommodating them.

So whenever Lu Hengzhi saw a scene in a romance drama where a rich young man lowered himself for a poor girl—forcing himself to eat at street stalls or wander through cheap markets despite being uncomfortable, making the girl deeply moved—he found it amusing.

If you truly liked someone and wanted to get along with them, how could you make them feel as if you were doing them a favor? That blatant declaration of "I don't belong here, but I'm lowering myself for your sake" would make the other person feel awful in real life, wouldn't it?

Pulling his thoughts back from their wandering, Lu Hengzhi turned to look at Tang Shi, who was trembling with excitement. His heart softened, and he wrapped an arm around Tang Shi's shoulders again, ruffling his hair as he said with a smile, "Don't get too excited. Like Auntie Li said, this four million isn't even half the price of one endorsement by a top star. As long as we both work hard, we'll earn another four million, then a third, in no time. What matters right now is calming down and getting our emotions in order. We need to perform our dance as perfectly as possible when we go onstage later and qualify for the top thirty."

As he spoke, Lu Hengzhi cast an ambitious glance toward the stage, which was completely blocked from view. Through the gaps in the dense crowd, he could only see the brilliant lights on the ceiling and the audience packed below. The glow sticks and signs looked dim beneath the dazzling lights, but to Lu Hengzhi, they were even more radiant than the stage itself.

Lu Hengzhi hoped that one day, when he and Tang Shi stood onstage, those glow sticks and signs would be raised just for them, forming a sea of stars. The frenzied, hoarse shouts would fill the dark studio, making it shine brighter than the stars.

A chill against his burning cheek snapped him out of it. Lu Hengzhi's unfocused gaze sharpened, and he saw Cui Yujin in front of him, looking troubled and holding a plastic bag of food. Inside were bread, sausages, potato chips, and two bottles of chilled mineral water. The bottle in Cui Yujin's hand was the one that had just pulled Lu Hengzhi out of his deep daydream.

"You two are about to go onstage. Eat something to tide you over. You haven't had anything since this morning," Cui Yujin said, pulling bread and sausages from his pocket and tossing them to the two of them. He'd bought them at the employee shop downstairs while they were standing around in a daze.

Tang Shi took the bread blankly, thanked Cui Yujin, then mechanically opened the wrapper and put the soft bread in his mouth. He chewed, and only after swallowing the first bite and feeling his body cry out with urgent relief did he realize how hungry he was—

His stomach had been aching with hunger for ages.

After sincerely thanking Cui Yujin again, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi wolfed down their bread and sausages, then drank half a bottle of water. Satisfied, they patted their stomachs and leaned against the wall to stretch.

Seeing this, Cui Yujin laughed and said, "Just eat something to build up your strength for now. After the competition, we'll go have a proper meal—at the best hotel in Apple City. You're treating me to the most expensive banquet they have! You two won the lottery, after all!"

At the mention of it, Cui Yujin still felt a little resentful. But there was nothing he could do about it. He hadn't believed Tang Shi at the time. Like his grandma always said, that was fate. Maybe he, Cui Yujin, was simply destined never to win the lottery. So even though he regretted missing out on four million so much that his guts were turning green, life had to go on. He couldn't undo what he'd done, so all he could do was squeeze Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi for a favor and ease his frustration.

Missing out this time nearly became a lifelong shadow for Cui Yujin. From then on, for the rest of his life, he believed everything Tang Shi said. No matter what Tang Shi told him, Cui Yujin never disagreed. Even later, after he'd successfully founded a top fashion magazine and become the CEO of a multinational media group, he joked to reporters in an interview that he'd lived all these years without believing in anything—except Tang Shi.

Believe in Tang Shi, and you'll live forever.

Hearing Cui Yujin grumble about being "fleeced," Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi exchanged a smile and nodded. "Of course. Order whatever you want later. You've helped us so much—we have to treat you."

Besides, they'd prepared a surprise for Cui Yujin, but they couldn't tell him just yet.

Cui Yujin smiled faintly at the two of them, then raised his camera and continued faithfully documenting everything happening around them. But he still wasn't in high spirits—

That was only natural. Nobody could miss out on four million and not be bothered by it.

The atmosphere fell quiet again. Tang Shi stood dumbly backstage, staring at the light spilling in from the stage, his expression dazed. After a long silence, Lu Hengzhi set a hand on Tang Shi's shoulder and asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about so intently?"

Tang Shi came back to himself. He glanced at Lu Hengzhi, who still looked calm, though the hand on his shoulder trembled slightly, and smiled. "Nothing. I'm a little nervous."

Lu Hengzhi smiled knowingly and nodded. "I'm nervous too."

Tang Shi smiled faintly and was about to reply when Lin Zhaoran sidled over and said mysteriously, "When did you get back? Did you get the money?"

After Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi had left, he and Song Lijia hadn't been idle either. They'd been talking about it the whole time. In Lin Zhaoran's eyes, Tang Shi was simply outrageously lucky. Winning the lottery was such a rare stroke of luck, and it had happened to him. Compared with that, the claim that he'd gotten through the Auditions by pulling strings didn't seem like such a big deal anymore—

Strangely enough, once he'd thought of it that way, Lin Zhaoran felt much better.

Song Lijia reached out from behind and shoved Lin Zhaoran, speaking in a low voice. "Don't say things like that. There are too many people around. Someone might overhear."

He still didn't know that Tang Shi had already agreed with Li Mei to make the lottery win public. He was simply reminding Lin Zhaoran not to flaunt their wealth, hoping to spare Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi any trouble.

Lin Zhaoran curled his lip dismissively but didn't say anything more...

Song Lijia then asked Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi, "How's your dance coming along? Not many groups from our division made it through, and your dance style is so unique. You shouldn't have any trouble, right?"

Lu Hengzhi put an arm around Tang Shi's shoulders and answered modestly but confidently, "I don't know, but we'll do our best."