Everyone reined in their emotions and chatter and began getting into character.
As a tree, Jiang Jinran had no lines and little stage time, but the moment she appeared, she drew every eye.
This child had a pair of spirited eyes, her dark irises like a thick black night scattered with stars. Everything about her conveyed an unpolished naturalness and vivacity.
Compared with everyone else's uniformly deathly pale foundation and fiery red blush, the bare-faced Jiang Jinran looked like a clear-eyed little deer emerging from the forest-
Simply standing there, she outshone everyone beside her.
Jiang Jinran only needed to appear briefly at the opening. After that, it was showtime for Shi Hui, the leading lady.
She withdrew to the edge of the stage and watched Shi Hui perform without expression.
Vaguely, she sensed a gaze landing squarely on her.
Jiang Jinran instinctively raised her eyes-
To her surprise, Jiang Chuji was looking at her.
Jiang Chuji, who should have been watching Shi Hui's performance, was actually letting his attention wander at this moment. His gaze fell openly and directly on Jiang Jinran.
He smiled, his eyes curving into beautiful arcs.
Jiang Jinran was a little baffled.
Dude, are we that close?
The original owner's relationship with all five of her older brothers had been terrible, but why did Jiang Chuji look-
Like he was on good terms with her?
No, it must be an illusion.
Onstage, Shi Hui's performance continued, finally reaching the most crucial passage-
The singing scene she often messed up during rehearsals.
Jiang Jinran folded her arms and watched Shi Hui at center stage with unhurried composure-
She did not care whether Shi Hui made a mistake.
She was just a little curious whether Shi Hui would flop as usual today or perform beyond her normal level...
The music started.
Shi Hui parted her lips, ready to sing.
But the next second-
Jiang Jinran froze slightly, a flicker of astonishment crossing her eyes.
At that moment, what echoed throughout the theater was not Shi Hui's singing, but something Jiang Jinran could not have been more familiar with-
Her own singing.
Fuck!
Shi Hui was actually lip-syncing.
Lip-syncing was one thing, but she had even stolen her voice!
How could anyone be so malicious?
She flexed her fingers, her expression darkening in an instant.
She was in a very bad mood.
But no one seemed to care about her mood, because at that very moment-
Everyone in the audience already seemed immersed in the singing.
Their expressions shifted from surprise to delight to awe, completely won over by Shi Hui's performance.
When the singing ended, the venue first fell silent. A few seconds later, everyone belatedly began to clap.
Thunderous applause poured toward Shi Hui at center stage.
Even Jiang Chuji, whose mind had been wandering all this time, could not help casting an appreciative look at Shi Hui.
At that moment, Shi Hui seemed to be the true protagonist of this stage.
A pleased smile appeared on her face, bright and joyful.
Jiang Jinran stood in the shadows of the stage, watching it all unfold before her eyes.
At this point in the story, the play was nearing its end.
Jiang Jinran only needed to act out a resurrection in front of everyone in a moment, and that would make for a perfect ending.
The stage lights fell on her.
Jiang Jinran lowered her eyes, expressionless.
Suddenly-
She curled her lips and smiled.
Shi Hui watched nervously from the side, terrified that Jiang Jinran would make a wrong move at the final step.
In Shi Hui's view, her performance had been so perfect that a group award was already nailed down. She might even win "Best Actress" herself.
If she won Best Actress, Shi Hui would have a strong chance of securing recommended admission to the Imperial Capital Film Academy in the future.
Shi Hui had always been interested in acting. She wanted to become an actress, wanted to become a star.
These awards were undoubtedly an incredibly important part of that for her.
All it took now was for Jiang Jinran to bring this performance to a perfect close.
Yet Jiang Jinran simply stood there smiling.
But in Jiang Jinran's curved, smiling eyes, Shi Hui caught a fleeting trace of coldness.
The next second-
She saw Jiang Jinran part her lips.
Jiang Jinran's clear, bright voice suddenly reached everyone's ears-
"It's so good to be alive."
Everyone onstage who knew the situation froze.
Because they knew perfectly well that Jiang Jinran, as a tree, had no lines whatsoever.
Shock and anger surged up together. If they had not been onstage, they would have wanted to start tearing into Jiang Jinran right then!
What the hell was she doing?!
She had actually added her own lines on the spot.
Who had given her permission to speak!
Shi Hui clenched her fists. She struggled to control her emotions, her expression even twisting slightly.
The audience members who knew nothing of this, meanwhile, were charmed by Jiang Jinran suddenly speaking.
They merely assumed this was a scripted line.
Jiang Jinran's voice was sweet and lovely. With the adorable little spirit tree baby saying something so cute, she seemed all the more lively and endearing.
Then Jiang Jinran looked out at the vast audience. The overhead lights fell into her eyes, as though countless stars were blooming within them.
Jiang Jinran began to sing softly.
The song she sang was precisely the one Shi Hui had sung earlier.
There was no accompaniment, no instrument, only the purest human voice.
It sounded like music from heaven.
The audience was captivated once again.
They thought this, too, was part of the script, but halfway through, quite a few people noticed something was wrong-
This singing sounded very similar to Shi Hui's just now.
"What's going on?"
The audience began to lose their composure.
"Isn't this the song the female lead just sang?"
"Having the little tree sing it again after the female lead counts as a callback. Isn't that pretty good?"
"That's not the point. The point is, the little tree and the female lead aren't just singing the same song. Their voices are identical too. The only difference is the accompaniment versus singing a cappella!"
"How could two completely different people have exactly the same vocal tone and singing style?"
"Holy shit!"
"They must both be lip-syncing, passing off the same recording as their own!"
"It's possible they're both lip-syncing, or one could be lip-syncing while the other is singing live."
"Here's the question: who actually sang this ridiculously beautiful song?"
"So what exactly is going on? Who's lip-syncing?"
"No idea. This singing is seriously beautiful. Whoever it is can really sing. I suggest they hurry up and hand over the original singer's name."
The audience was in an uproar, while everyone onstage was on the verge of losing their minds-
Jiang Jinran, that "crazy woman" who never played by the rules, had nearly scared them into fainting.
Did she know what she was doing?
Everyone involved in the play, including the teachers, had long known about Shi Hui's lip-syncing and tacitly approved it. To win an award in the end, they did not mind being just a little "unscrupulous."