"Clap, clap—"
"Clap, clap—"
Steven's applause lasted a full thirty seconds.
Countless people looked at him in confusion and fear. The cellists backstage were so frightened that they barely dared to breathe.
"(Hey, Perez, slap me. I'm not dreaming, am I?)"
"(Fuck, I want to slap myself too. Oh my god.)"
"(Mr. Steven actually applauded the classical music Gan Yan Yu performed?)"
"(Could he be being sarcastic?)"
"(Does he look like he's being sarcastic to you?)"
On the big screen.
Everyone could clearly see the tears on Steven's face, as well as the kindly smile on the old man's face.
At that moment,
all the audience members finally lowered their guard completely. Cheers rose once more, and a second wave of thunderous applause swept through the entire venue.
And the moment they saw Steven rise to applaud,
the two old men in front of the television, both already past sixty, could no longer restrain their excitement.
Tuoba Jianhui gripped Gan Hua's wrist with one hand, while the nails of his other hand dug deeply into his palm, trying to use physical pain to suppress the storm raging within him.
The two figures onstage, bathed in applause and glory, seemed in their tear-blurred eyes to reflect the selves they had failed to become all those years ago.
The scoring segment began.
The judges leaned together and began discussing.
Although they had already seen Steven acknowledge the performance with applause, when it came time for the actual scoring, many viewers still found themselves holding their breath.
"Applause is applause. Mr. Steven didn't say a single word, after all. Nobody knows what he's thinking."
Zhang Dong said cautiously in the livestream.
Damn, what a quick change of tune!
He went from "that stupid bastard" to "Mr. Steven" just like that. Brother Dong sure