Chapter 42

With an appropriately formal smile, the host said, "The next award is the Annual Best New Star Group Award at the 15th CMJ Music Awards."

"Please welcome our presenter, Mr. Cheng Jiu, to reveal the winner."

Whispers immediately broke out in the second-floor fan stands.

Gu Zhijing was nervous, but his senses had become unusually sharp. Hearing the sudden commotion upstairs, he resisted the urge to look back and whispered to his teammates, "What's going on?"

Jiang Yu said, "They probably didn't expect an actor to present an award at a music ceremony."

After a moment's thought, he added, "But if you really think about it, there's nothing wrong with it. He was in a boy group, after all, and won a CMJ award with them once. It makes sense that he'd be invited to present a group award."

By then, Cheng Jiu had already stepped onto the stage and taken the envelope from the host.

Having achieved outstanding success as both an actor and an idol, he had also once been the white moonlight in the hearts of many girls in the second-floor fan stands.

The saying that there were only three hundred fangirls in the entire Chinese entertainment industry really wasn't wrong.

For them, this was a massive case of getting caught climbing the wall, a meeting between their former and current favorites.

It was so thrilling.

The livestream cameras cut to the nominees in the audience.

At the same time, Cheng Jiu slowly drew the card from the envelope.

In that instant, the audience both at the venue and in front of their screens couldn't help holding their breath.

[I'm so nervous I'm dying. I can't watch. Just tell me when the results are out. I'm logging off, bye-bye.]

[Don't be scared! Whether they win tonight or not, Color4 is the freaking best in my heart.]

[Our Vegetable girls are the freaking best too!]

The fans were comforting and encouraging one another, and emotions were running high, when someone suddenly came in to take a snide jab.

[You're hyping them up so much now, but if they don't win, all those millions you spent will have been for nothing.]

[Exactly. Even if you threw millions into the water, you'd at least see a splash.]

Color4's fans were known throughout the Chinese entertainment industry for being polite and humble, dropping to their knees whenever they encountered a senior. They had hardly any rival fandoms.

A quick check of the commenters' fandom affiliation.

Got it.

They were Wei Ming's fans.

The fans weren't angry, and politely clapped back.

[I spend my money because it makes me happy. Besides, it all ends up going to my boys anyway, so what's wrong with that? The most important thing in life is to be happy.]

[Stop being so sour. Even if you get any sourer, first place will still be ours. Nyah nyah nyah.]

While they were busy arguing online, Cheng Jiu had already begun reading the award citation onstage.

His gaze fell on the first line, and his eyes curved involuntarily. Then he looked in a certain direction in the audience before saying calmly, "They are a rising new star at the end of this year."

Gu Zhijing's eyes flew wide open.

The first few lines of an award citation were usually vague stock phrases that fit most of the nominees. This was the first time he'd heard one so clearly pointed.

He knew the camera would be turning toward him now, so he kept his expression unchanged, but his hand instinctively reached for the armrest beside him.

To his surprise, he didn't find the armrest.

Instead, he touched something warm.

Gu Zhijing froze for two seconds. Realizing it was Sheng Chi's hand, he tried to pull away at once, but Sheng Chi immediately clasped his hand and held it in his palm.

On camera, Sheng Chi's expression was calm and detached, as though nothing could ever disturb him.

But down in a corner the camera couldn't see, he was holding Gu Zhijing's hand tightly.

Gu Zhijing blinked.

Sheng Chi's palm was covered in sweat, and every muscle was tense, refusing to relax.

He couldn't help feeling like laughing.

This man looked so calm and unruffled.

In reality, he was clearly even more nervous than Gu Zhijing.

"Since their debut, they have chosen to let their abilities speak for themselves."

"We believe they will go even further in the future and show us more of what idols can be."

A smile colored Cheng Jiu's voice. "Congratulations, Color4."

The spotlights, cameras, and gazes of everyone present all swung toward them at once.

Jiang Yu hurriedly nudged the stiff-bodied Sheng Chi. "Let's go, captain."

As though waking from a long dream, he came back to his senses, released Gu Zhijing's hand, and stood up.

The path to the stage seemed so long.

Amid the thunderous applause, Gu Zhijing, dressed in a suit, followed Sheng Chi, stepping forward one pace at a time on the soft carpet.

For an instant, time seemed to slow to its very limit.

He seemed to hear so many things.

In front of their screens, the fans who had labored over votes and fundraising covered their mouths to stifle their screams.

Outside the hall, fans who had queued and kept watch through the night hugged one another and cried.

At the company, countless staff members who had stayed up working overtime cheered and jumped for joy.

That day, snow suddenly began to fall in S City, where it hadn't snowed for a long time.

Although Gu Zhijing knew nothing of it inside the venue, he didn't know why he suddenly remembered that when he had run away from home alone, it too seemed to have been a day when the winter snow was beginning to melt.

The four of them stood onstage together.

Cheng Jiu took the trophy from the hostess and handed it to them, his gaze gentle and warm, encouraging his juniors. "Congratulations. Keep it up."

Gu Zhijing raised his eyes.

The spotlights onstage were too dazzling, and he couldn't make out the faces in the dark mass of the audience below.

Yet he found himself smiling.

He suddenly wanted very much to tell his newly eighteen-year-old self something.

That somewhat childish, somewhat stubborn boy who had run away from home with nothing but his courage.

Keep going.

Don't be afraid.

Your choice wasn't wrong.

As you run, you'll encounter a bigger world, a dream more worth pursuing, and companions who are a better fit for you.

And then you'll meet the people you love most.

You'll run with them, work hard together, and dream together.

You'll stay up late training together in the practice room, gather around to eat cheap boxed meals, travel together to different places across the country, wear different makeup, and stand on all kinds of different stages.

Then, just like now, you'll bow together and shed tears together.

And rise together again.

The young men raised the trophy high, their eyes red.

Then they shouted those words together again.

"Hello, everyone, we are-Color4!"

Author's note: Writing this felt like the ending, but it actually isn't. There's still a long way to go.

Let's work hard to become top stars, Kalefo!

-

Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: Shaqiqi, Ni Yi Yingjun Xiaosa, 1 each;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: Chang'an Yijiu, 30 bottles; Shiqi, 22 bottles; 24716651, 10 bottles; Tangcuyu, T#T*^O^*, wenjiu., Jiang Ting Shi Wo Shenshou Shou, 1 bottle each;

Thanks, darlings! Smooch!

Chapter 43

"Hey, hey, over there, Jiang Yu, a little to the left."

"Okay, okay, right there."

"Ah, good. Nice."

Jiang Yu jumped straight down from the ladder and clapped his hands. "Was this really necessary? You even went out of your way to get a display cabinet for it in the office."

"Of course it was!"

Fei Yue pointed up. "Don't be fooled by there being only one trophy now. This whole row will be full someday."

He'd had a little to drink again today and looked especially happy. "This is the first award you've won. It means a lot, so it has to go right at the top, in the middle. And you're not allowed to throw it away later, either. Got that?"

The four members of Color4 said, "..."

Only Gu Zhijing humored him, reluctantly raising his paws to clap, his voice full of perfunctory agreement. "We won't, we won't."

He muttered under his breath, "Who said anything about throwing it away? It's the first award we've won, after all. I was going to put it in our dorm."

"There's barely any room in your dorm. How would it fit?"

Fei Yue looked at the gleaming gold trophy again and again, delighted even by the little line of text on it. He seemed to have grown several years younger in an instant. "It's much better here with me."

"I'm telling you, don't think this is no big deal just because it's a newcomer award given out every year."

"Do you know there were years when CMJ didn't give the award out at all because there weren't any suitable candidates?"

Gu Zhijing said, "...?"

Though it sounded like nonsense, on closer thought, it really was something that judging panel, which outsiders called a bunch of stubborn lunatics, would do.

Fei Yue patted the cabinet, so drunk he could barely speak clearly. "You've only debuted for a few months! And you won this! Do you know what level that puts you at? Do you?"

"The level of! Sweeping through! The entertainment industry! In the future!"

Color4 said, "..."

The four of them immediately huddled together and whispered.

Xu Linyuan said quietly, "I think Brother Fei might have had too much. Should we send him home early?"

Jiang Yu said, "Exactly. Look what time it is."

Gu Zhijing rubbed his aching peach blossom eyes, his voice listless, barely able to muster any energy. "It's past one already. Even if he isn't tired, I am."

The CMJ awards ceremony hadn't ended particularly late, but as an award-winning group, they had to give several backstage interviews to the media.

They had already been on the verge of collapse by the time they returned, but Fei Yue had dragged them into ordering takeout for a late-night meal and kept them busy until now.

There was nothing they could do. Fei Yue was genuinely happy today.

No matter how popular Color4 had been before, or how many fans they'd had, it had all still been limited to the small-scale bustle of fandom. They weren't well known enough among the general public and could easily have been a flash in the pan, disappearing among the entertainment industry's endless stream of newcomers.

But after winning this CMJ award, they had officially entered the ranks recognized by the mainstream music industry.

Their resources, opportunities, and stages would all improve step by step in the future.

No wonder the fans back then had insisted on giving it their all to send them after this opportunity. Once they won, after all, their standing in the industry would shoot up.

The alcohol hit him.

Fei Yue immediately felt dizzy and euphoric, as though he could already see Color4 standing at the very peak of the entertainment industry, punching the traffic stars of the southern mountains and kicking the best actors of the northern sea.

While he stood there dreaming,

Color4 had already reached a decision.

"We still have a show to record tomorrow."

Sheng Chi settled the matter. "I'll call Sister Yu."

He was about to take out his phone when he heard Fei Yue say in great dissatisfaction, "You guys still don't get it, do you?"

He played his trump card. "Fine. Once the New Year is over, when you move out of the dorm and into a new place, you'll get it!"

Color4 said, "!!!"

Jiang Yu was the first to perk up. "Really?"

"Are we moving into a big villa? You know, the kind I've seen other groups living in together, with people to cook and clean for them!!!"

The drunk Fei Yue was especially generous. "If other groups have it, we have to have it too!"

Gu Zhijing promptly took the phone Sheng Chi had just pulled out.

"What are you all standing around for?"

He urged them on. "Hurry up and get Brother Fei to sign it and put his fingerprint on it!"

They all began voicing their requests at once.

"I want a villa in XX District. The surroundings are nice there!"

"It has to have a garden!"

"And a swimming pool! A swimming pool!"

"I want one with a recording studio in the basement. Hmm, preferably with a full set of music equipment too."

"Can we get a room just for Color too? It's had a hard time following us around these past few months."

After writing down all their terms and requirements, they coaxed and tricked Fei Yue into signing and adding his fingerprint.

Finally, Jiang Yu turned his head.

Sheng Chi, who hadn't taken part at all, stood to one side and watched the whole show at his leisure.

Alarm bells immediately went off in Jiang Yu's head. "Captain won't sell us out, will he?"

Hearing this, Gu Zhijing didn't hesitate. He folded the signed paper and held it out to Sheng Chi, looking as though he'd already thought of a solution. "Let Brother Chi keep it. All four of us in Color4 are accomplices in the same boat. None of us can escape."

Sheng Chi raised an eyebrow.

He still looked largely expressionless and didn't take the paper. He merely said, "Dragging me into your dirty business?"

He looked at Gu Zhijing, held out his palm, and crooked his fingers. "Then what's in it for me?"

Jiang Yu immediately grew anxious.

But Gu Zhijing's peach blossom eyes curved, and he slapped the paper straight into Sheng Chi's hand. "What's our relationship? Why would you need anything in return?"

Sheng Chi took the paper and looked at it, then suddenly smiled.

He said, "All right."