Lao Zhao sent a few more messages afterward, which were nothing more than nonsense like telling him to watch his image and not to say the wrong things. Lu Zhixian was too lazy to reply, so he took a shower and lay down.

It was a dreamless night.

At twelve o'clock noon the next day, Sister Chen appeared downstairs at the hotel on time.

It was the same black nanny van from yesterday. Lu Zhixian got into the car, but Lin Shiya was not in the back row.

"Shiya went to the venue first; the stylist is waiting for her there," Sister Chen explained while driving.

Lu Zhixian gave a hum of acknowledgment and looked down at his phone.

A message from Lao Zhao: "The line outside the fan meeting venue is already hundreds of meters long. I'll send you some photos of the scene."

It was accompanied by three photos.

There were dense crowds of people holding light boards of various colors. Fans in the first few rows had even brought small stools to wait on.

Lu Zhixian zoomed in on one of them, scanned the crowd, and found that many of the light boards had his name on them.

"You have quite a few fans." Sister Chen had clearly seen similar situations.

Lu Zhixian put his phone back in his pocket.

"Don't let Shiya know, or she'll get jealous."

Sister Chen laughed but didn't respond.

When the car reached the venue, it went directly from the underground garage into the backstage passage.

Sister Chen led him through many twists and turns, finally stopping in front of a door labeled 'Guest Lounge'.

"You stay here for now; I'll come and get you when it's time."

Lu Zhixian pushed the door open and went in.

The lounge was simply decorated with a sofa, a coffee table, a wall-mounted TV, and a few bottles of water and a box of snacks on the coffee table.

He sat down on the sofa, opened a bottle of water, and took two sips.

His phone vibrated.

"Arrived?"

"In the guest lounge, enjoying the VIP treatment. The snacks are pretty good."

"Don't eat too much. Don't blame me if you get a stitch while singing later."

"When have I ever gotten a stitch?"

Lin Shiya didn't reply.

Presumably, the stylist was doing her hair.

At two o'clock, the fan meeting started on time.

The screams from the audience could be heard even through several walls.

On the TV screen, Lin Shiya walked out from the side of the stage, wearing a slim-fitting black long dress, her long brown hair styled in slight curls.

Her entire aura was like a completely different person compared to when she was eating braised pork in the small restaurant yesterday.

Lu Zhixian chewed on snacks as he watched her interact with fans on stage.

Lin Shiya's state on stage was completely different from her private self. She was quiet in private, but her ability to control the crowd on stage was extremely strong.

She could handle whatever the fans shouted, and occasionally she would even crack a small joke, causing bursts of laughter from the audience.

The signing session began.

Staff guided the fans to line up on stage, walking up to Lin Shiya one by one to hand over their albums, get a signature, take a photo, exchange a few brief words, and then leave.

It was an assembly-line process, but Lin Shiya treated every fan who came up seriously. After signing her name, she would look up at the person, smile, and say thank you.

The performance session began.

Lin Shiya first sang the title track of the same name, "lunar eclipse."

From the very first line she sang, Lu Zhixian nodded inwardly.

She was in a great state, her breathing was steady, and her emotions were on point.

This kind of large-scale event was already second nature to her.

The second song, the third song—the styles were all different, but Lin Shiya held her own through all of them.

The atmosphere in the audience rose wave after wave.

After the fourth song, before the applause had even died down, Lin Shiya walked to the center of the stage and stood still with the microphone.

"The last song for today is a bit special."

The audience went quiet for a moment.

"This song isn't just mine, so..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

The accompaniment started immediately.

The intro to "the rose in the palm" flowed from the speakers, the piano melody clear and soothing.

Someone in the audience realized what was happening.

"Ah—it's that song!"

"A duet! It's a duet!"

Scattered screams began to break out.

Lin Shiya stood in the center of the stage, closed her eyes for a moment, and began to sing.

"The warmth unique to your gaze—"

"Is the tomorrow that will never go out—"

The screams from the audience gradually subsided.

Over three thousand people listened in silence.

After the first verse, the interlude transitioned, and the chorus was about to arrive.

Right at that moment, the curtain on the right side of the stage moved.

Lu Zhixian walked out.

There was no spotlight following him, nor any kind of buildup.

He just walked out naturally from the side of the stage, holding a microphone, his pace neither fast nor slow.

He wore a simple white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms and black trousers; he looked clean and refreshed.

The audience exploded.

The screams of three thousand people erupted almost simultaneously. The sound waves were so loud that by the time Lu Zhixian reached the center of the stage, the accompaniment in his in-ear monitors was nearly drowned out.

But his expression didn't change as he walked to a position two steps away to Lin Shiya's right and stood still.

Lin Shiya turned her head to look at him.

Lu Zhixian gave her a slight nod.

The chorus arrived.

He opened his mouth to sing.

"the rose in the palm—"

The screams from the audience reached another level, but they were immediately suppressed by the "shushing" sounds of even more people.

Everyone wanted to listen.

"Stung without realizing—"

Lin Shiya's falsetto cut in precisely at the transition point. Lu Zhixian's voice pulled back half a step at this time, leaving space for her.

"You deserve to be loved—"

"You understand my expectations—"

By these two lines, Lin Shiya leaned half a step in his direction.

The distance between the two of them shrank from two steps to one.

Someone in the audience began to cry.

It wasn't exaggerated wailing, but the kind of uncontrollable tears that come after being struck by emotion.

"Withered after brilliance"

"After several cycles of the moon"

On the final line, the two of them turned toward each other at the same time.

Face to face.

"I am here"

"You are here"

Lu Zhixian sang "I am here," and Lin Shiya sang "You are here."

Then Lin Shiya stopped singing first.

Lu Zhixian's voice followed half a beat later, with the final note trailing off.

The accompaniment only stopped two seconds after the final note faded.

The stage was silent for about three seconds.

Then the applause crashed over them like a wave.

All three thousand-plus people in the venue clapped and screamed simultaneously.

Lin Shiya turned her head and looked at him.

Lu Zhixian raised his microphone and shouted to the audience: "Thank you, everyone. Today's protagonist is Lin Shiya; let's have a round of applause for her."

The cheers from the audience grew even louder.

Lin Shiya held the microphone, paused for a beat, and softly added: "And thank him too."

The applause came in another wave.

The two of them bowed to the audience together.

The fan meeting ended amidst the applause.

Lu Zhixian was the first to leave the stage and return to the backstage lounge. Just as he sat down, he heard staff in the hallway shouting, "Prepare for the signing session."

He didn't go out, staying in the lounge to drink water.

After about ten minutes, Sister Chen pushed the door open and came in.

"Shiya is outside signing albums. You can come over and wait for a bit if you want; there's a small booth over there."

Lu Zhixian followed Sister Chen to a small room next to the signing area. The door was half-open, allowing him to see the signing table outside.

Lin Shiya sat behind the signing table, with stacks of albums piled up in front of her.

The fans were in a long line that stretched from the signing table all the way to the venue exit.

As each fan came up and handed over an album, Lin Shiya would lower her head to sign. After writing her name, she would look up and smile, occasionally say a few words, and then take the next one.

The movements were repetitive and mechanical, but every time she looked up, her smile was genuine.

Lu Zhixian leaned against the doorframe and watched.

Twenty minutes passed, and the end of the line was still nowhere in sight.

Lin Shiya's right hand, which was signing, subconsciously shook for a moment.

The movement was very small; if one wasn't staring intently, it would be impossible to notice.

At the thirty-minute mark, she shook it for the third time.

Sister Chen brought a cup of hot water and placed it on the signing table. Lin Shiya picked it up, took a sip, set it down, and continued signing.

Forty minutes.

Lin Shiya's signing speed began to slow down slightly, and her grip on the pen changed from a three-fingered pinch to being enveloped by her entire palm.

One hour and ten minutes.

The last fan's album was finally signed.

When Lin Shiya put down the pen, the knuckles of her right hand were stiff.

She flexed her fingers a couple of times and stood up to give the staff a few instructions. Then she turned and walked into the small booth where Lu Zhixian was waiting, plopping down onto a folding chair.

"My hand is dead."

Lu Zhixian unscrewed the cap of a water bottle and handed it to her.

"How many copies?"

"Didn't count."

"About three or four hundred copies," Sister Chen said as she walked in from outside, flipping through the signing records.

"Three hundred and eighty-six copies."

Lu Zhixian did the math. In over an hour, three hundred and eighty-six copies meant she was signing one every ten seconds on average.

"You could have signed a bit slower."

Lin Shiya gulped down half the bottle of water. Her right hand hung at her side, her fingers bending and stretching rhythmically.

"They waited in line for so long; it wouldn't be right to make them wait even more."

Lu Zhixian didn't say anything else.

Sister Chen was packing things up nearby, muttering about the schedule as she did so.

"Shiya, there's a brand dinner tonight at seven-thirty..."

"Cancel it." Lin Shiya didn't let her finish.

Sister Chen looked up at her.

"My hand is numb from signing; I'm not in the mood for socializing." Lin Shiya flexed her fingers again.

Sister Chen sighed, pulled out her phone, and went to send a message.

Lu Zhixian stood up, took the pass from around his neck, and placed it on the table.

"Then I'll head out too. I'll wander around Magic City and take the high-speed rail back tomorrow."

Lin Shiya looked up.

"Wander where?"

"Haven't decided, just walking around. Last time I came, I just stayed in the recording studio and didn't go anywhere."

Lin Shiya thought for two seconds.

"I'll go with you."

Lu Zhixian raised an eyebrow.

"I have nothing to do anyway," Lin Shiya added, her tone very flat, as if she were talking about something perfectly ordinary.

Sister Chen's phone was halfway up when her movement stopped, and her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.

"Then I..."

"You go back to the company, Sister Chen. Thanks for your hard work." Lin Shiya stood up and put her bucket hat back on.

Sister Chen opened her mouth, but in the end, she swallowed her words.

"Fine. You two be careful not to get photographed."

Lin Shiya changed into a grey hoodie and pulled her mask up over the bridge of her nose. Lu Zhixian also put his baseball cap and mask back on.

The two of them left the venue through the backstage passage. By the time they reached the street, the sky had already begun to darken.

The evening air in Magic City carried a hint of dampness, and the distant skyscrapers were starting to light up.

Lu Zhixian walked ahead, looking back at Lin Shiya.

"Does your hand still hurt?"

"It's a bit stiff, but it doesn't hurt."

"Where do you want to go?"

Lin Shiya pulled at the brim of her hat and walked forward a few steps to be side-by-side with him.

"Maybe a walk around The Bund? There should be fewer people at this time."

Lu Zhixian hailed a taxi and opened the rear door.

"Get in, Miss Lin."