''the fact that i can't hear them but i got chills''
"Have I the honor of inviting you to a performance once again?" Coco looked at the five hundred thousand audience members, the ones who were there and the ones sitting behind a screen, as she invited Liu Man.
Everyone was staring at her, so Liu Man couldn't refuse. Besides, Coco's smile was full of benevolence. Although she was using Liu Man to advertise herself, to anyone else, this was THE 15 seconds of fame.
Liu Man logged off her live-stream, put her phone in her bag, and walked forward.
The man who was playing the electro piano left to give Liu Man a spot. Liu Man sidled up beside Coco, where Coco's live-stream could film her.
"Wow, wow, wow! So beautiful."
"Yeah, and no makeup, from the looks of it."
"Our Coco never uses any filters. She's a goddess-like person."
"No wonder that video went viral. Everyone has eyes-we know true beauty when we see it."
"So, Coco called her up to have her as an extra again?"
"An extra? Shut up if you have nothing nice to say."
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Liu Man also wore a puffer coat, a large black one, to protect against the chill. It wrapped around her tightly, sculpted her face into delicate petiteness. Her cheeks were red in the cold, almost as if they had been rouged.
Coco's live-stream bubbled with the vivacity of a live crowd. Liu Man felt countless eyes staring at her, countless cameras aimed at her. This was much more exaggerated than that last time she performed with Coco at the music-themed restaurant. To be honest, Liu Man felt a bit nervous inside.
A freezing hand suddenly held onto hers. Liu Man turned her head to see Coco grinning and blinking as she said in a low voice, "Don't be scared, I'm here with you."
Liu Man was affected by her grin, and her face showed a small smile, too. It looked like a plum blossom blooming under this cold, cold winter day.
"Oh, god. She looks so attractive when she smiles!"
"That is a smile that will make people fall in love with her."
"Does anyone know if she's a superstar?"
"Well, I've never seen her. She's probably just a common passerby."
"...Go find a common passerby like her on the streets."
"Yeah, there are passersby that look pretty, but something like temperament cannot be simply from a common passerby. Without a good environment to grow up in and good teachers affecting her childhood, she wouldn't be able to have this aura."
Coco picked her guitar up and said to the audience, "I invited sis over because I want to sing 'Thinking About You' with her again. She's my lucky charm, and I like her," That Tik Tok video made "Thinking About You" popular even before it was publicized, all thanks to Liu Man.
The words, 'I really like her,' coming from Coco, made Liu Man feel glad. She liked Coco, too. It was simple for girls to admit this sometimes, and their likings for each other were simple. Sometimes first impressions could form pure friendships.
Coco finished her sentence and started to strum the guitar strings. She began to play the intro of "Thinking About You." The audiences were just settling down to listen to the song when Liu Man suddenly grabbed onto Coco's arm and stopped her from continuing to play. Coco was unprepared when Liu Man grabbed onto her, and her finger made a sharp ugly noise on the guitar. The noise was prominent and stunned everyone.
"What is she doing?"
"Is she here to cause trouble?"
"Is she jealous of how famous Coco is?"
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Everyone started to murmur, and Coco looked at Liu Man with a confused expression. Liu Man explained, "You played your guitar for a very long time, and your fingers are going to get frostbites. Take a break."
Coco unconsciously took her arm back and shook her head, "I can't. I'm live-streaming right now, so I cannot pause," Coco's live-streaming platform and the album company signed a contract with her. She had to ensure the live-streams' quality when she live-stream, and they would provide the best spots for her to live-stream at. If she doesn't obey, she would have to pay a large amount of money to the platform and the album company for their losses. To fulfill her part of the contract, she had traveled all around the country the past month and had not been able to take a single rest.
People only saw the bright side of the famous, and they did not understand the effort celebrities put into their work. Coco has been through a lot and has experienced the pain many would not even be able to imagine. She had to try so hard to go from just a normal person to the spot she got to today.
Liu Man didn't say that in a low voice, and with the microphones out, the audiences in the live-stream directly saw Coco's hands, which were red from all the freezing.
"I feel so sorry for Coco. She played the guitar for such a long time under such cold weather."
"I'm sitting so close to the screen, and I didn't realize that! I'm not a meeting expectation fan."
"Coco, don't play your guitar. Wear a pair of gloves, or put your hands into your pockets to warm it up. This live-stream is not urgent; we can wait for a while to listen to your song."
"Yeah, yeah. We have time to wait for you."
The audiences who were watching the live-stream from inside their warm air-conditioned room can wait, yes. However, it doesn't mean those audiences who were standing under the cold wind could wait. They were all freezing from the cold. If Coco complained or took a break, those audiences would most likely be very unhappy.
Coco's hands were almost numb, especially at the joints of her fingers. She smiled bitterly at Liu Man, "I have to continue."
It was a crucial time for her career. She had just signed a contract with a good album company, and any fault she made could easily get her entire future ruined.
Liu Man flipped through the music scores beside the electric piano. The music sheets for "Thinking About You" were in there. She quickly skimmed through it and told Coco, "I will play the piano, and you will only have to sing. Is that alright?"
Coco was completely stunned. She looked into Liu Man's confident eyes and slowly nodded. The contract said she had to finish her live-streams, but they never said she had to play her guitar while singing.
Liu Man put her hands onto the keyboard to try the notes, then she tried to play the intro of "Thinking About You." At first, it could be told she wasn't good at playing the piano. Electro pianos are different from actual ones, but Liu Man quickly got used to playing electric pianos and continued to play.
Liu Man was a student from the piano major after all. Although her exam scores were the worst of her grade, her techniques were far more than enough to play a folk song.
The surroundings that became noisy from Liu Man's interruption went abruptly quiet. Everyone was attracted to Liu Man's playing, not because of how good she could play, but because of how magical this scene was.
The girl who was always seen as a useless background suddenly started to play the accompaniment for their favorite singer without any preparation. It was an improvisation, and it already looked very good to amateurs.
The audiences inside the live-stream were watching attentively, too...
With Liu Man accompanying, Coco started to sing, "The autumn wind is blowing, I see fallen leaves all over the garden. I was in a trance, for my husband has left for many years now..."
Coco's singing perfectly blended in with Liu Man's playing, and it was surprisingly compatible. Even Coco felt magical. She looked towards Liu Man, and Liu Man looked at her, too. The two girls smiled at each other.
"It's so sweet! They are like a pair of CPs."
"Haha, yeah. One is tall, and the other is short. One has a darker skin color, and the other has a lighter skin color. It looks like a pair of CPs."
"Additionally, she's so pretty and benevolent. She's warm and prudent. She was worrying about Coco when she interrupted her."
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During the interlude near the end, Coco publicly said, "Sis, would you like to sing with me for this last part?"
As soon as she said it, everyone started to clap and cheer, "Sing together, sing together, sing together!"
As the interlude ended, the singing parts were going to start soon. The time was too short for Liu Man to think or hesitate, so she looked at the lyrics on the music sheet and began to sing with Coco, "Waiting for the sunrise, my tears turned into deep despair and disappointment. We said goodbye at the bridge, in front of the mist-covered mountains. The moonlight shone on my tears-covered face as I recollect our past, hoping for your next return."
This was the first time Liu Man sang. In her previous life back in the Qin Dynasty, Xiao Zhao said she inherited her mother's singing talent. She never had the chance to sing in front of anyone.
Her voice contained a magical feeling, a feeling that traveled through thousands of years. Although this song was very sad, and although the winter wind was blowing harshly, her voice filled everyone's heart with warmth and hope. The audiences couldn't help but smile as they heard her and Coco's singing.
"This is so, so, so good!"
"I put this song on loop many times, but this is the best time I've heard so far."
"The song sounds so different when the accompaniment is an electric piano and not a guitar."
"It's not just about the accompaniment, but it's also about the part this beautiful girl sang which harmonized with Coco's."
"I think she must have a very sturdy music foundation. Not everyone can perform an extemporaneous improvisation that well."
"So, who is she and where did she come from?'
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The discussion in the live-stream went on coherently, and the actual performance went to its climax. Almost no one could move on this entire street. The audiences who were standing at a faraway place were still engrossed in the music and couldn't pull themselves back into reality. The audiences who were standing closer to the stage also were in a trance, for Liu Man's smiling face seemed to be glowing. She wasn't just pretty; she looked like a fairy.
The applause of the entire street of crowds was very loud and zealous. It pierced through the night sky and didn't stop for quite a long time.
Liu Man accompanied Coco for three songs that night. Except for "Thinking About You," she didn't sing again.
The audiences were too excited. Coco and Liu Man were finally able to leave that pedestrian mall with the protection of bodyguards. Coco had a car that was given to her by her company, and she offered to give Liu Man a ride back to her hotel, which Liu Man accepted gladly.
In the car, Coco finally stopped pretending to be a confident and strong celebrity. She leaned against her seat exhaustively and took a drink, "It gets very, very tiring for me every time I live-stream like this."
"Do you have any idea how many viewers you received for your live-stream today?" Coco's agent was in the car, too. She was in her mid-30s and was wearing a pair of glasses, and she was very excited as she examined the data on her phone.
Coco guessed based on her usual experiences, "Eight hundred thousand?
The agent shook her head.
"Nine hundred thousand?"
The agent continued to shake her head.
Coco wrinkled her nose, "It can't be even less than the last time, can it? Six hundred thousand?"
The agent laughed, "1.45 million."
Coco widened her eyes with an unbelievable expression. She abruptly stood up and didn't even feel the pain when her head hit the ceiling of the car. She walked up to Liu Man and hugged her tightly, "Sis, you really are my lucky charm~!"