Chapter 161: Cheng Xiaoyu Is About to Unleash His Cheats

Tears welled up in the eyes of Sung Xiujing and Jing Xuexuan, while Bae Suzy bit her lip in bewilderment, the disappointment in her eyes unmistakable. Izumi Yuri hung her head as a single teardrop caught the sunlight, flashing with iridescent colors before striking the slightly polished, yellowed wooden floor and blooming into a tiny, transparent flower. Xu Qinning hugged Bae Suzy and Jing Xuexuan to comfort them, her brow furrowed as she tried to recall where things had gone wrong.

The Shanghe staff inside the small theater looked at the heartbroken girls on stage as if feeling their pain, rising as one to offer thunderous applause. Even though the debut of Idol Project might be delayed, their performance had already captured everyone's heart. The applause grew increasingly fervent in the post-rain sunlight within the modest little theater.

Cheng Xiaoyu walked calmly onto the stage, his expression neither joyful nor sorrowful. He first bowed to the friendly audience and remained bent for a long time.

The heartbroken girls of Idol Project snapped back to reality and, with tear-filled eyes, bowed deeply alongside the audience, whose applause still continued unabated. At that moment, a shout of "Idol Project, we support you!" echoed through the entire floor, loud enough for Su Changhe to hear as he walked away.

Only then did Cheng Xiaoyu straighten up and speak loudly into the microphone, "Thank you all for your support. There are always setbacks in life, but I believe that for us youth, this is also the driving force for growth. Today, the girls have done more than enough; leave the rest to me. I, Cheng Xiaoyu, swear here that Idol Project will debut on schedule no matter what. I hope everyone will continue to support these very beautiful and hardworking girls in their work when the time comes!" With that, Cheng Xiaoyu bowed once more.

The applause below subsided entirely. No one understood where the unassuming, slightly chubby young man on stage got the audacity to make such wild remarks. Even the company president could not make a unilateral decision on such matters, yet he had stated this declaration with absolute finality, which was nothing short of an intensely bold challenge to the Shanghe Production Department.

Facing more than a hundred pairs of skeptical, disdainful, and even indifferent gazes from below, Cheng Xiaoyu turned and walked off the stage. The girls on stage were also stunned by Cheng Xiaoyu's sudden declaration. Naturally, they understood Cheng Xiaoyu's identity much better than the people in the audience, so they chose to believe him. The lingering gloom in their hearts dissipated significantly, their tears stopped, and they looked at Cheng Xiaoyu with hopeful eyes.

As Cheng Xiaoyu walked out of the small theater, the girls hurriedly followed after him.

Cheng Xiaoyu returned to the planning department first to find Cao Danian. The girls went nowhere else, following closely behind and waiting anxiously outside Cao Danian's office.

Cheng Xiaoyu spent over half an hour inside Cao Danian's office, and the girls of Idol Project stood waiting outside for the exact same duration. Everyone who passed by offered them encouraging smiles and words of "Keep it up," to which the girls politely replied, "Thank you."

When Cheng Xiaoyu finally emerged from the office and saw the girls gazing at him with rapt attention, he was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected them to remain standing outside in their high heels. He immediately urged the girls to go and change their shoes. As for their inquiring looks, Cheng Xiaoyu simply smiled and said to them with a resolute gaze, "Rest assured, I've got everything handled. Get yourselves ready to face the spotlight!"

"Wow..." Instantly, the girls gathered around Cheng Xiaoyu, jumping and cheering. Only Su Yuxi felt a flicker of doubt as to why Cheng Xiaoyu was so certain; even her father hadn't been able to resolve the issue, and she truly couldn't believe that a half-hour chat with Cao Danian could fix everything.

An excited Sung Xiujing even threw her arms around Cheng Xiaoyu's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. This caused the usually composed Cheng Xiaoyu not only to blush furiously, but also to make up an excuse about needing the restroom and flee head over heels from the group of enthusiastic and excited girls swarming him.

Silver-bell laughter filled the corridor. The girls found this uncharacteristically unreserved side of Cheng Xiaoyu utterly adorable. Thus, the members realized that Cheng Xiaoyu's thick-skinned persona was just a facade; he was actually more terrified of being teased than anyone else.

Happily yet distressfully, Cheng Xiaoyu ran toward the restroom, still bearing the mark of Sung Xiujing's lipstick on his cheek. After washing his face, wiping away the lipstick, and calming his shy otaku heart, he emerged from the restroom to find Su Yuxi waiting for him by the door.

Tossing his paper towel into the trash can, Cheng Xiaoyu knew what she was thinking and smiled at Su Yuxi, "Don't you believe me?"

Su Yuxi stood with her hands behind her back, leaning against the wall in a posture reminiscent of a lovely maiden waiting to be cornered against a wall. She shook her head with a smile and said, "It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just curious."

Looking into Su Yuxi's soul-stirring, sparkling eyes—which he had painted himself—Cheng Xiaoyu gave a slight smile, gathered his composure, and snapped his fingers in front of her. "It's rare for you to be curious about anything. Well then, hold onto your expectations and watch your older brother take you on a miraculous journey." With that, Cheng Xiaoyu winked at Su Yuxi and strolled swaggeringly toward the practice room, humming a delightful melody.

A subtle, imperceptible smile touched the corners of Su Yuxi's lips as she watched Cheng Xiaoyu's broad back. For the first time, she realized how wonderful and fortunate it was to have someone to trust and rely upon. Although she didn't care much about the debut of Idol Project, these experiences were indeed rare setbacks for her. They made her realize that under the pressures of society, convention, tradition, and the collective, she was not omnipotent. She might not care much about her own feelings, but she could not ignore the feelings of her companions; she was merely detached, not cold-blooded.

This time, she had wanted to help, only to find herself completely powerless. Yet her older brother—the one she once felt was far inferior to her—had told her with casual ease, "I've got everything handled." This allowed Su Yuxi to truly experience the warmth of that word. She remembered that snowy night in the capital, Cheng Xiaoyu standing in the wind and snow singing to a little girl. She wondered if this seemingly unreliable older brother would, like an unquenchable flame, warm that little girl's entire long life.

Su Yuxi quickened her pace to match Cheng Xiaoyu's, stepping to his rhythm as they walked down the dim, lengthy corridor. She lowered her head to count Cheng Xiaoyu's footsteps, feeling the word "brother" gradually grow heavier in her life. Walking in the shadow of his broad silhouette, she felt as though she were enveloped by a gentle breeze. Listening to Cheng Xiaoyu hum that unknown, beautiful melody, she thought: How fortunate it is, in this noisy world, to have met him—when everything around was so desolate and barren, and only he quietly kept her company in the cold moonlight.

She had once believed she had no grand dreams, nor many things she wished to persist in doing to the end. She felt there was no need to live a brilliant life, nor was she afraid of having no one to confide in, for she needed no confidant. She believed she could handle anything on her own, thinking that loneliness did not haunt her so much as she was loneliness itself. That was until a tenderness called "brother" appeared—he was a small tree growing silently by her side, and she was the flower bud waiting to bloom beneath that tree.

Su Yuxi reached out and gently grasped Cheng Xiaoyu's shadow. In her vast and solitary world, having him keep her company was the greatest blessing of all.

These were words Su Yuxi would never say aloud to him, though it was equally true that she desperately wanted him to know them.