Jiang Chengfeng did not believe in the rumors on the internet either. He only believed in his intuition. He felt Liu Man was a very kind and moral girl, just like when he felt Liu Man was a super beautiful girl the first time he watched Liu Man live-stream.
He had accurate intuitions. No need for explanations!
"Sis, don't get affected by those idiots online. Focus on attending the performance with Xiaoru. I will be there to support you guys," Jiang Chengfeng encouraged her.
Li Xiaoru glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, "Hey, hey, hey. Who permitted you to call my nickname?"
Jiang Chengfeng grinned, "You can call me Chengfeng. I won't mind."
Li Xiaoru rolled her eyes.
The conversation between the two made Liu Man laugh and extenuated her mood.
He Qisi said, "I have a question. Why are you here in a folksong instrument shop? Aren't you supposed to be preparing for the performance backstage or something at the concert hall?"
"Yeah, when I received your location, I also felt strange," Zhang Jiaojiao glanced around her, "Didn't you say there are three girls for me to apply makeup on? Where's the other one?"
Li Xiaoru and Liu Man's expression immediately changed.
Sun Weiwei, who was very smart, immediately guessed the reason and pulled on Zhang Jiaojiao.
Everyone was straight-A students, and Zhang Jiaojiao naturally understood what Sun Weiwei meant. She stopped asking follow-up questions, "Oh, right. Where are we going to do the makeup?"
"You can do it here," Owner Li interrupted, "At this time, there must be a lot of people at the music hall, no matter front or backstage. You can't apply makeup on the street."
Owner Li knew a lot about the music university.
And so, Zhang Jiaojiao opened her makeup bag and started putting on makeup for the two girls. Sun Weiwei stood aside and handed over things at times.
The boys all went out to wait outside.
Fang Hao used this chance to tell He Qisi, "Hanfu Goddess's reputation online cannot be even worse right now. We shouldn't have come to watch her perform today. If we continue to contact her, it will affect the popularity of 'Happy Guo Guo.' What if netizens start blaming us for supporting a known villain? Let's go back to school before we get seen by anyone. If we get recognized, and our photos get uploaded to the internet..."
His voice was loud enough for all the boys to hear him.
"Ha, you guys think of yourselves as some real celebrities? There are beauties and handsome-looking boys everywhere in the music university. Who has the time to notice you, average-looking boys?" Jiang Chengfeng laughed coldly, and his voice filled with irony.
"When you gained so many fans and were popular over the entire Tik Tok platform because of Hanfu Goddess's popularity, you comfortably enjoyed the result of her hard work. Now that her reputation's blemished, she's hated by everyone, and she cannot be relied on anymore, you are cutting all contacts with her? You guys are great at manipulating."
Fang Hao's expression became weirdly awkward.
He Qisi started frowning. Jiang Chengfeng said, "you guys," so he was directing this at all of them.
If it wasn't for Liu Man as the middleman, Jiang Chengfeng wouldn't have known any of these Chinese majors. He only knew Fang Hao - The popular guy in their computer science major. So he continued to mock Fang Hao, "Hanfu Goddess helped you film your videos without asking for a single penny. Looks like her selfless support did not make you develop any appreciation."
"Wait. Please do not blame all of us," He Qisi said sincerely, "At least I'm very thankful for her."
He Qisi didn't give Fang Hao his face, and he felt too embarrassed.
Being so infuriated, Fang Hao said, "From now on, I'm quitting from 'Happy Guo Guo.' I don't want to be dragged by Liu Man and make my reputation bad. Look for someone else who's better at this job."
The other three male members were surprised; they did not expect Fang Hao to make this scene.
Jiang Chengfeng continued to mock Fang Hao, "Oh, yes. Your reputation is the best, and you dump a girl every six months. You must be the best man alive in this world."
Fang Hao couldn't get even angrier and said hatefully, "Just wait for 'Happy Guo Guo' to die."
He then walked away without turning his head once.
Wang Sheng was close friends with Fang Hao and got angry instantly, too. He berated He Qisi, "Everyone has the freedom to choose. We deserve to choose whether we want to watch Liu Man's performance or not. Why are you making us all unhappy just because of Liu Man?"
Wang Sheng then strode after Fang Hao; he was quitting too.
And Wang Sheng already promised Liu Man before to film her performance, but he didn't keep his promise.
If one looked closely, Wang Sheng came to the music university empty-handed. He did not bring his camera set at all. It meant that he had forgotten about his promise long before...
The rest of the three boys exchanged glances.
The four girls in the shop were all busy putting makeup on the two performers, so they had no idea of what just happened outside.
Not only did Zhang Jiaojiao put makeup on Liu Man and Li Xiaoru, but she also helped them with their hairstyle, dresses, and organized their appearance. She looked like a professional costume organizer.
There was only less than an hour left before the performance after everything was done.
Owner Li had also packed up the Guqin and said, "Find a boy to carry it there for you. If you are walking back, then you have very little time. You need to hurry up."
Right then, Liu Man's phone started ringing. She picked the phone out from her bag. The call was from Yu Zhan.
"Where are you right now?" Yu Zhan sounded worried.
"I'm at an instrument shop at the music store street, and I'm heading to the concert hall."
"What's the shop's name? Wait for me; I will be right there."
"I'll send you my location on WeChat."
Liu Man hung up, opened WeChat, and realized Yu Zhan had already sent her a few messages. He only called when he didn't receive her reply.
She told Li Xiaoru and the other girls, "My friend's driving us over."
Li Xiaoru smirked, "Is it Yu Zhan?"
Liu Man nodded.
Suddenly, for some unknown reason, Li Xiaoru felt much calmer. He was just a pet clinic boss, and the only thing special about him was his vet skills, but she felt there was a weird aura on Yu Zhan. She couldn't describe this feeling, as if they were in a TV show and some big character was going to appear. It was like with him here, everything was going to turn out to be all right, and everything was stable.
"It's good that we have a car," Sun Weiwei said, "This Guqin is a bit heavy."
Liu Man thanked Owner Li and went outside with the other girls to wait for Yu Zhan.
A flash of astonishment went through their eyes when the three boys saw Liu Man and Li Xiaoru in their performing uniform. The stage costumes assessed the girls' stature. Liu Man was 168 centimeters in height, and Li Xiaoru was two centimeters taller; 170. Both of them were skinny and tall, and they could fit in even more exaggerating costumes.
Liu Man's costume was more reserved. The long, light gray colored dress reached to her ankles, and the sleeves up to her elbows were half-transparent since they got made from organza. Her lapel was round, so there was no way she would be exposed.