The T-shirt Luo Ding wore was one he had Gu Yaxing pretend to be a fan and obtain from the support team after hearing about their activities at the venue entrance. Gu Yaxing had initially thought Luo Ding was just curious and wanted to take a look at the shirt. No one expected him to wear it directly under his jacket.
It’s not uncommon for fans to cry during concerts, but few idols can make their fans cry before the show even starts. Wu Fangyuan, watching from backstage, was moved to tears, wiping his eyes and nudging Gu Yaxing: “Boss Gu, I thought you were just being cheap by asking for the shirt. Turns out I was wrong.”
“…” Gu Yaxing actually had a bit of a cheap streak in him too. After all, the T-shirt didn’t need to be returned, and it was quite well-designed. He could only respond seriously, “You still have a lot to learn.”
Outside, the screams were so intense that even Pan Yiming and the others in the VIP section couldn’t help but get excited. Pan Yiming had also held concerts before, quite a few of them. In the music industry, she could definitely be considered Luo Ding’s senior. Her fans were also very passionate, but only today did she realize the difference between a regular singer and an idol singer.
Pan Yiming wasn’t an idol singer; she didn’t follow the female idol route. Luo Ding, however, balanced being a talented artist with an idol image. The fans’ self-organized order, self-initiated support, and spontaneous distribution of support items… Now, looking around the massive venue, wherever the lights shone, everyone was wearing the same T-shirt as Luo Ding. Everyone held glow sticks of the exact same color. When the glow sticks waved earlier, the entire venue seemed to be swept by a magnificent wave, a truly spectacular sight.
Pan Yiming thought back to her first concert after debut, held in Beijing at a stadium with a capacity of 15,000. Back then, the venue was two-thirds full.
At that time, she had finally stepped onto the grand stage she had always dreamed of, moved to tears. But only now did she realize that some people’s paths in the entertainment industry could be like this.
Her eyes were filled with complex emotions—joy, relief, or perhaps envy. She smiled and waved her glow stick a few times, then turned to observe the reactions of others in the same row.
Yuan Bing’s gaze was gentle, Wu Yuan looked excited by the cries and screams behind him, and the directors who had attended, being older, seemed a bit overwhelmed by the noise, exchanging helpless glances but still smiling visibly.
As for Duan Xiubo… huh?
Pan Yiming was startled. Her gaze had initially swept past him but was abruptly pulled back to carefully observe Duan Xiubo’s expression.
The man’s expressionless face stood out starkly against the excited and emotional crowd around him. But Pan Yiming, skilled at reading people, immediately noticed his tense jaw and clenched fists. He was staring intently at Luo Ding, who had just finished bowing and was now speaking on stage. His gaze… how to describe it?
It was as if he wanted to devour Luo Ding whole.
That description didn’t seem quite right?
Pan Yiming wasn’t sure, but the sharp Duan Xiubo seemed to notice her gaze. He turned his head and met her eyes.
Where was the intensity from before? His eyes were now filled with warmth and calmness, a gentle smile on his face.
He nodded at Pan Yiming.
Pan Yiming flusteredly nodded back. Seeing that he had already turned away, she didn’t dare to look again. She must have been mistaken, right? The lighting in the venue was dim, making people look more intimidating than they actually were.
The clear sound of crying from the audience made Luo Ding feel like crying too. He hadn’t shed many tears in this lifetime. In his past life, during his first concert, he had been so moved by the audience’s cheers and enthusiasm that he choked up halfway through, and the fans cried with him. This time, although he felt the same impulse, he wouldn’t let such emotions disrupt the concert’s flow.
He decided to ignore the jacket he had tossed aside earlier. After all, when he looked in the mirror earlier, he thought the simple T-shirt looked quite good on him, giving him a more youthful vibe.
The fans were still crying and shouting his name. The lights dimmed once more.
The background music, which had been playing softly, suddenly grew louder, and the spotlight on Luo Ding in the center of the stage became brighter.
The heartbeat-like rhythm resonated with the restless hearts of everyone present. The synchronized frequency, the restless energy—tears gradually dried as many refocused their attention on the large screen and the stage.
The drums exploded with sound.
The dancers, as if swept by a gust of wind, quickly scattered. Only Luo Ding remained in the center of the stage, his back to the audience, head lowered.
This title track was particularly lively. While the song might not rank among Luo Ding’s top works, its widespread popularity was undoubtedly due to its excellent rhythm. The dance for this song was also the one Luo Ding had spent the most time learning. Unlike many singers, Luo Ding insisted on mastering every part of the choreography, even if it wasn’t featured in the music video. If he didn’t have time during the MV shoot, he would make time to learn it afterward. You never knew when such details might come in handy.
This was his sincerity as a singer.
The choreographer from Europe and America had almost become his exclusive choreographer, often coming up with new moves. Gu Yaxing had also found a domestic choreographer with a slightly different style for Luo Ding. The two collaborated, and the dance moves became increasingly impressive, though also more challenging.
Luo Ding turned, his smooth hair drawing a light arc in the air. Under the flickering lights, he slowly raised his eyes, his long, thick eyelashes casting a clear shadow under his eyes.
His eye makeup had smudged a bit, but his eye shape was so beautiful that the smudged makeup didn’t look messy at all. Instead, it made his eyes appear unnaturally large.
Just this one move was enough to drown out the crying with screams. Fortunately, the fans remembered the concert rules about not screaming while Luo Ding was singing, so after a moment of enthusiastic shouting, they quieted down.
“Luo Ding!!!!!!”
“Luo Ding ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”
His strong arms swung in a graceful arc. Luo Ding tilted his head back, his jaw and neck forming a curve that made people want to reach out and touch him. His tall, slender frame gave off an indescribable fragility, but his aura made the space around him feel like the eye of a storm capable of capsizing ships!
The dancers’ presence was completely overshadowed. Wearing the most ordinary clothes, Luo Ding made everything about himself utterly captivating.
In the large venue, the pulsating music seemed to echo. As Luo Ding danced, he adjusted the microphone with one hand and slowly began to sing.
The familiar, soaring melody seemed unaffected by the intense dance moves. But upon closer listening, subtle differences between the live and studio versions could be heard—the inevitable heavy breathing from dancing, the slightly less precise enunciation compared to the studio version. Still, this live performance was far better than many concert performances!
The long hours of training paid off. His ample lung capacity and stamina ensured that a few intense moves didn’t leave him gasping for breath. His long legs moved to the intricate rhythm, his upper body tightly wrapped in the T-shirt, his lean waist swaying with the dance.
The dancers gathered in the center of the stage, momentarily obscuring him. As the final beats played, Luo Ding quickly turned.
Then, in the next second, he turned back at an unexpected speed. Sweat-drenched strands of hair clung to his cheeks, but he made no move to brush them away. Instead, his gaze swept over the audience, and he slowly smiled.
The venue fell silent for less than two seconds before erupting in cheers.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”
Luo Ding tried to speak, but his voice was completely drowned out by the screams. He could only smile and tilt his head, letting the fans cheer to their hearts’ content.
The sound of his breathing, amplified by the microphone, reverberated through the venue. Many fans blushed upon hearing it, and Duan Xiubo clenched his fists even tighter.
When the crowd finally quieted down a bit, Luo Ding continued: “Today, this concert is quite special to me.”
“Getting to where I am today, I owe it to everyone’s support and understanding.”
“I may not be the best, but you all certainly are.”
The cheers that followed were likely an involuntary outburst, but the fans quickly remembered the rules and quieted down. Everyone covered their mouths, waving their glow sticks frantically, tears streaming down their faces as they stared at the center of the stage.
Luo Ding’s expression didn’t change at all. He continued to smile warmly, his gaze sweeping over the audience before landing on the VIP section.
“Today, there are a few special guests who have given me a lot of help along the way.”
Including Duan Xiubo, the group of invited guests in the VIP section smiled and looked at Luo Ding.
The backstage director had already sent someone to whisper an invitation for them to come on stage.
The directors, despite their years in the entertainment industry, had never faced an audience of tens of thousands like this. Being older and more reserved, they were too embarrassed to go up. Pan Yiming and the others also felt it would be too ostentatious, so after some pushing and shoving, they sent a representative.
Luo Ding laughed when he saw the representative: “Why is it always you?”
Duan Xiubo spread his hands innocently: “They’re all too shy to come up. I’m the only one who’s not afraid.”
Luo Ding and Duan Xiubo’s relationship had long surpassed mere familiarity. Without hesitation, Luo Ding reached out and pulled Duan Xiubo to stand beside him, then smiled at the audience: “This is the representative of the friends I just mentioned.”
Duan Xiubo happily wrapped his arm around Luo Ding’s shoulders, leaning in close and waving to the audience.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!” The audience responded enthusiastically, cheering even louder than before. Some even screamed: “Show some love!!!”
After waving, Duan Xiubo turned to look at Luo Ding, smiling. His arm remained draped over Luo Ding’s shoulders, and Luo Ding, long accustomed to such intimate gestures, didn’t find it out of place even in front of tens of thousands of people.
Backstage, Gu Yaxing rubbed his hair and whispered to Mi Rui: “Duan Xiubo’s gaze is making me uncomfortable. What’s he trying to do?”
Mi Rui kept a straight face. Ever since Luo Ding and Duan Xiubo’s relationship became clear to them, Mi Rui, as Duan Xiubo’s manager, had lost all dignity in front of Gu Yaxing. It wasn’t just that Duan Xiubo never made him look good; the way Duan Xiubo acted like a fool around Luo Ding was downright infuriating. The man had no shame when it came to Luo Ding.
The fans of Luo Ding and Duan Xiubo, as well as their CP fans, had long grown accustomed to their public displays of affection. Among all the male celebrity pairings in the country, these two seemed completely unfazed by public opinion, remaining as close as ever. By now, both had surpassed the need for such rumors to boost their fame. They were both known for their clean images, rarely involved in scandals, yet they didn’t find their close relationship awkward despite the CP fans’ fervor. Look at Duan Xiubo, still comfortably draping his arm over Luo Ding’s shoulders in such a setting.
Fans had long considered them an official pair, but their closeness was always framed as brotherly, with no concrete evidence of anything more. The CP fans’ enthusiasm felt like they were secretly rooting for a romance that the two themselves might not even be aware of.
A little sweetness was enough to send the fans into a frenzy.
Many celebrities engage in CP marketing, but few have achieved the level of nationwide popularity that Luo Ding and Duan Xiubo have.
A concert couldn’t be all high-energy dancing. After a few quieter songs, the finale was another dance. As the concert neared its end, Luo Ding felt a surreal sense of emptiness.
He looked at the audience surrounding the stage, and the audience looked back at him intently.
By the time he sang the quieter songs, the crying had subsided.
It wasn’t that no one was crying, but the fans were doing their best to suppress their sobs.
Many of these fans had been with Luo Ding from the beginning, accompanying him through ups and downs, overcoming countless hardships to reach this day. Years ago, they had first heard his name in a shaky fan-recorded video.
Now, the name “Luo Ding” was etched deep into their souls, like a family member.
From a little-known, obscure figure to a confident, successful idol standing on a grand stage—this journey had been both smooth and arduous.
But at this moment, everyone knew they had succeeded.
There were no screams, no repeated expressions of gratitude. But both sides knew how deeply they cared for each other.
In the relationship between an idol and their fans, this was enough. They were already far luckier than most fan groups.
Luo Ding’s final song was a group sing-along, the tempo neither too fast nor too slow—a deliberate choice for the closing segment.
The lights in the venue dimmed, leaving only the spotlight on Luo Ding in the center.
The flowing waves of glow sticks became even more striking, layer upon layer of uniform ripples surrounding him, even in the farthest reaches of the venue, where fans still waved them with sincerity.
He bowed deeply, more than 90 degrees, reluctant to leave.
The lights in the arena brightened, illuminating the fans wearing the same T-shirts as Luo Ding.
Wu Fangyuan wanted to signal for someone to bring Luo Ding back, but as soon as he took a step, Gu Yaxing grabbed his arm.
In the audience, someone started a trend. Beginning from the VIP section, fans began to stand up one by one.
Luo Ding didn’t leave or exit the stage. Instead, he waved to the audience, as if wanting to see them off.
Perhaps it started with the fan club, but someone began to bow to him. Luo Ding was surprised, but other fans, noticing this, also stopped in their tracks.
They stood on the tiered seats and bowed sincerely to the idol who had inspired them to chase their dreams.
Luo Ding was flustered. He took a few steps back, raising his hands in front of his chest in a rare moment of helplessness.
Then he heard a unified chant, as if rehearsed, echoing around him—
—”Luo Ding!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!”
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