DYUTVOBGA Chapter 85

After the performance, Quentin went back to the dressing room to remove his makeup and change clothes.

By then, the sky was completely dark. Originally, the program team had planned for them to leave through the back door by bus, but the on-site staff discussed with the crew, saying that many fans were still gathered at the front gate waiting.

Those fans who hadn’t won tickets and had come just to catch a glimpse of them had waited even longer. If possible, it would be good to let the trainees leave through the front gate and greet the fans.

The program team thought about it and found it reasonable, so they contacted the bus driver on the spot, asking him to drive the bus to the roadside near the front gate.

There was still a need to queue in the dressing room, but removing makeup was easier than applying it, so the overall efficiency was much higher than during the day. Whoever finished changing and washing their face first would go out first and sit on the bus.

Quentin was near the front of the line, almost among the first batch to finish these things. Coincidentally, Xue Mingzhu was also in the first batch, so the two of them walked toward the front gate together, while other teammates still in the dressing room shouted at them to save seats.

“Hey, Quentin, don’t you think time flies so fast?”

Xue Mingzhu walked with his hands in his pockets, and leaned on Quentin’s shoulder, his tone inexplicably a bit melancholy: “The second public performance is already over. In a couple of days, another batch will be eliminated, followed by the third performance, and after that is the finals. The show will just be gone…it’s too fast.”

Quentin had no mood for sentimental thoughts and estimated very objectively: “There’s still the random dance challenge after the second performance. After the third performance, there should be other activities too. In between, we still have to record spin-off shows. If we’re going to be this busy for over another month, it doesn’t seem fast, right?”

Xue Mingzhu looked troubled: “Don’t remind me, I almost forgot about the random dance challenge… … sigh, I still don’t know how the production team will arrange it. I’ve barely learned less than ten of those dances, and I forget the moves if no one leads me. No, when it’s time to form groups, I must stick close to you.”

He didn’t know that Quentin, just like him, had only started learning those dances after entering the show.

And Quentin had it even worse…before this, he hadn’t even heard those songs, relying purely on the assistance of the system’s practice room to cram-learn these fifty songs.

Learning fifty songs and dances in half a month…it was too demanding, it was no surprise that Quentin’s dancing improved so noticeably during the first and second performances.

While their team was performing earlier, Yang Xu kept saying from the audience, “Has Quentin improved again? / How is he dancing better than during rehearsal? / Choosing him as center was brilliant, he alone raised the whole team’s dance level a notch…”.

When Quentin thoroughly mastered those fifty most popular boy and girl group songs and dances, the quantitative change produced a qualitative change. His control and execution of boy group dances became even more outstanding.

Even though the choreography for “Fire Seed” was simple, at most entry-level difficulty, he could still dance with a very pleasing and smooth feel.

That sense for dance is innate.

Over the past half month during the day, Quentin and Xue Mingzhu had basically practiced together. Logically, Xue Mingzhu should have realized he was also a beginner.

But Quentin’s learning ability was too strong, he picked up dances too quickly and danced too well. Even the production team behind the cameras only thought Quentin was rusty from not practicing for too long. Xiao classmate Xue, with his zero dance foundation, would naturally not doubt the big boss’s strength.

Quentin, the big boss, nodded calmly, saying very confidently: “Alright, I’ll take you along then.”

Besides the two of them, there were quite a few others on this path from the dressing room to the front gate, young people in white t-shirts leisurely moving in the same direction.

The light from street lamps outside vaguely seeped in, and the noisy clamor grew louder and louder.

Inside the venue, apart from some workrooms with lights on, the light in the outer corridors was relatively dim.

When Quentin stepped out the door toward the noisy sounds, he was met head-on by light, and subconsciously raised his hand to shield his eyes, squinting as he looked ahead.

Before his vision could focus, cheers from all around suddenly grew even louder, with countless people screaming and shouting his name.

Looking out was a sea of flickering green light.

The dark green support bracelets fans wore on their wrists actually glowed in the dark. Fans of other trainees didn’t wear as many sparkling things, so the layers of green light in the square almost seemed to swallow up the light sticks of other colors.

This glowing green scene was truly spectacular. Every trainee walking out the main entrance was practically frozen for two seconds. Who didn’t know by now that Quentin’s support color was dark green?

Many secretly grumbled in their hearts: “Aren’t Quentin and Qi Yang’s votes about the same? How is his offline popularity so high? How popular is Quentin outside right now?”

“Quentin! Quentin!” a fan raised their voice to ask, “Can you accept letters?”

Quentin followed the voice and saw a girl in the front row holding up her hand, a thick stack of envelopes in it.

The girl noticed Quentin looking over, her eyes lit up, and she waved her arm vigorously: “Look here! Quentin! I’m here!”

Xue Mingzhu also noticed this. He raised his hand and patted Quentin’s shoulder, gesturing with his chin: “Well, you go ahead. We’ll just be sitting and waiting on the bus anyway, might as well chat with fans for a bit. I’ll go collect letters too.”

“Mm.”

Quentin nodded and stepped toward the left.

The boy in the white t-shirt and sweatpants seemed much more approachable and gentler than on stage. The sense of distance, like an unreachable star, gradually weakened as he drew closer.

The fans who were shouting and screaming watched him approach, their voices suddenly stuck in their throats.

The girls either fixed their hair or covered their mouths, hurriedly standing in place, their expressions of restraint and anticipation clearly reflected in Quentin’s eyes.

“Quentin, these are letters from members of the fan group. They don’t live in Yanhai, so it wasn’t convenient for them to come, so they asked me to bring them to you.”

“Quentin, Quentin, here are also letters I brought together for fan friends. They’re not many, just a few friends privately.”

“Quentin! This is a doll I designed myself and had custom-made at a factory. It’s based on your debut stage makeup and styling! Inside there’s also a wellness aromatic sachet, you can put it by your bed to prevent insomnia, it’s for you!”

“Quentin, if you can’t hold everything, I have a bag here, use this to carry them, here.”

“Quentin, look over there, our fan support club organized an ice cream truck activity. Unfortunately the ingredients are all used up now… you must come and try it out next time, we’ll treat you to a three-scoop ice cream cone.”

The girls chattered on and on, as if they had endless things to say. They didn’t mind Quentin speaking little; instead, they were more enthusiastic about teasing him, hoping to see his calm expression break.

Fans who came to see the live performance were basically all adults, meaning they were all older than 17-year-old Quentin. Fans who considered themselves big sisters were itching to see the handsome little brother shy.

A 17-year-old boy who just finished the college entrance exam, surrounded by a group of girls…wouldn’t he be shy?

Quentin used to be an ordinary top student, he probably didn’t have much experience interacting with the opposite sex, right?

The girls thought this way, so their words were even more bold.

“Quentin, how are you so handsome, your skin is so good.”

“Quentin, how tall are you? You’re at least over 1.8 meters, right? I’m almost 1.8 meters in high heels, I rarely see boys taller than me.”

“Quentin, when are you going to study at Yanhai University? If you don’t come soon, I’ll have already graduated…”

“Quentin, are those things heavy? Do you want to go put them on the bus first, then come back down to continue chatting?”

……..

Quentin walked from left to right, covering the length along the caution tape on both sides from start to end.

He held two or three dolls in his arms, and both hands were carrying bags. Someone wanted to give him a big, expensive bouquet of roses, but he really couldn’t hold any more. For subsequent gifts, he could only shake his head and decline.

Seeing that the fans who couldn’t give their gifts were disappointed, he comforted: “Don’t worry, there will be chances to meet again in the future… have you eaten dinner?”

The fans replied in unison: “No!”

“Are there shopping malls nearby?” Quentin asked the system in his mind, “Is there a place that can accommodate this many people for a meal, maybe private restaurants?”

The system quickly replied: “It’s dinner time now. Without prior reservation, private restaurants are no longer possible. But the second and third floors of XX restaurant still have many vacant large private rooms that can accommodate all the fans here.”

“Hm, help me contact them, book the rooms.”

After finishing with the system, Quentin looked down at the girls in front of him, “I booked private rooms at XX restaurant. It’s nearby, only a 10 minute walk away. If you’re not in a hurry, Go have dinner. Order whatever you want, it’s on me.”

“Wow! Really? Am I dreaming!”

“Wuuu, Quentin how are you so nice qaq.”

“The Sichuan and Hunan cuisine at XX restaurant is really famous. I’ve seen online reviews, they all say it’s very good.”

“Eat earlier so you can go home earlier. If any of you are staying at the same hotel, try to go back together by car, don’t stay out too late.”

Quentin’s voice wasn’t loud, but his presence was strong. When he spoke, the surroundings unconsciously quieted down.

He looked left and right: “There are guys here, right? I just saw several guys… everyone, don’t drink alcohol at the gathering. Do you want milk tea? I can have a friend help me order some and send it over, how about that?”

“No no, no need to trouble yourself! We can bite ourselves”

“Thank you, Quentin, but you can’t pay for everything. We can afford a cup of milk tea ourselves.”

“You must be tired after today’s performance, you should go back and rest early too! Sleep early, it’s fine to sleep in the next day, you don’t have to be the first one up to go to the practice room every day, it looks exhausting.”

The boy being watched with concern curled his lips into a smile. His green eyes in the night were still clear and transparent, the pupil color not so bright, but gentle like jade.

He hadn’t blushed despite being praised so much by fans, maintaining a calm and composed expression all along. This sudden smile, however, made all the fans praising him blush fiercely instead.

To put it superficially, most of Quentin’s fans fell into the pit because of his looks.

Handsome guys are common, but top-tier extremely handsome guys are as rare as national treasures. And when this face smiles, even just a faint smile, it’s enough to make people swoon and scream with excitement.

Fans on the other side of the road looked longingly at Quentin’s back, pricking up their ears to catch the delayed news coming from across.

“Huh? Quentin wants to treat us to a meal? Where, when?”

“What, what else did he say? Quentin wants us to go home early?”

“Why are they suddenly screaming over there? What did Quentin do again? Damn, I’m so jealous, why didn’t he come over here to speak.”

“Wait, what did you say? Quentin smiled?!”

“Ahhh really?! ….What did I miss!!!”

Xue Mingzhu, who was also holding dolls, had just finished chatting with fans when he was startled by the sudden outburst of wails of agony nearby.

He swallowed back the curse word he almost blurted out, thinking to himself: “Quentin’s fans? What’s up with them, they look like they’ve been robbed… …”

Xue Mingzhu shook his head, too lazy to ponder, and turned with his things to look for Quentin.

He had just reached Quentin’s side and hadn’t opened his mouth yet when he heard a loud “clang” not far away.

Immediately afterwards, a security guard’s stern warning rang out.

“Please do not push, do not cross the security cordon, maintain distance… …”

Xue Mingzhu subconsciously looked toward that direction.

He first saw Qi Yang standing next to the security guard, then spotted a thermos cup that had fallen on the ground.

Looking more carefully, he noticed a girl who had squeezed against the cordoned off area by the roadside, trying to rush inward, staring straight at Qi Yang.

The girl didn’t speak, but from her body language, one could tell she wasn’t afraid of the security guard. Even with the guard’s warning, she still stood inside the security cordon.

The place of conflict was less than five meters from where Xue Mingzhu and Quentin were. They could even clearly hear the whispers of Qi Yang’s fans gathered there.

“It’s her again, always causing trouble…”

“Is she that sasaeng fan the support club blacklisted multiple times? Is this person mute? I’ve never heard her speak… …”

“Keep your voices down, stop talking! At least not in front of her.”

“Tsk, she dares do it but won’t let people talk? If she weren’t so young, they should have called the police on her already.”

Many l fans of other trainees were already filming with their phones. The thermos cup lay quietly on the ground. The girl still stubbornly stared at Qi Yang. Thick bangs covered her eyes, and a mask covered the remaining half of her face, making it impossible to see what she looked like.

Whenever Qi Yang tried to lift his leg to leave, the girl would rush outward. The security guard didn’t dare push her too hard, so she charged even more fiercely.

The scene was momentarily at a standstill. Qi Yang’s fans watching this were also anxious, shouting for Qi Yang to get on the bus first and ignore her.

Quentin raised his hand, his arm passing through the handles of the bags he was carrying and letting the paper bag filled with letters hang from his elbow.

Then he took two steps toward that direction, bent down, and picked up the thermos cup from the ground.

His movements were not concealed, and everyone one gradually turned to look at him. No one expected him to get involved at this time.

Sasaeng fans have always been a sensitive topic in the entertainment industry, let alone the sasaeng fan of a rival. What did he want to do?

Qi Yang’s fans were on alert, closely watching his every move.

Quentin walked to the security guard’s side, lowered his gaze to look at the girl with thick bangs. The latter reluctantly withdrew her gaze from Qi Yang, looked up, and glared at Quentin with a gloomy expression.

The black-haired boy standing before her had a calm expression. Those green eyes seemed able to see through all the dark secrets in the world.

Under the boy’s slightly probing gaze, the girl suddenly lowered her head, as if shrinking back, not uttering a word.

“This is for you, please return it to him later, thank you.”

Quentin shifted his gaze, politely handing the thermos cup to the security personnel beside him.

Xue Mingzhu, who was following behind Quentin, leaned in to look at the thermos cup. Seeing the sticky note stuck on the cup, he guessed it was the gift the girl wanted to give Qi Yang earlier.

He raised his hand and put it around Quentin’s shoulder, saying loudly: “Everyone, please don’t send food items in the future. We’re all dieting to lose weight, we can’t just eat and drink anything. You keep them for yourselves to eat, okay?”

By now, anyone with eyes could see Quentin and Xue Mingzhu were helping to defuse the situation.

Qi Yang’s fans cooperated and responded in agreement. And that “chief culprit” sasaeng fan, kept her head down for some reason, never lifting it again.

“Hey, why did you suddenly get involved in this kind of thing? Are you overflowing with kindness?”

Xue Mingzhu put his arm around Quentin as they walked toward the bus, leaning close to his ear and whispering: “Are you very familiar with Qi Yang? You don’t seem like the type to meddle in other people’s business.”

Quentin had just turned to wave goodbye to the fans. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow: “Guess?”

Xue Mingzhu: “……Fuck, you’re pulling this trick? Quick, tell me, don’t keep me in suspense!”

Quentin pondered for two seconds, then calmly dropped a bombshell: “The person just now was a boy.”

“……Huh? What? Who?”

Xue Mingzhu didn’t react.

After a long time, he gradually came to his senses, stammering a bit: “Uh…you, you mean that long-haired person with thick bangs and a mask… … was, was a guy??”

He suppressed the urge to turn around and take a closer look, trying hard to recall: “No way, she… she… … he was wearing a skirt too. Uh, you mean, that person is the legendary cross-dressing guy?”

Quentin nodded: “Mm.”

Xue Mingzhu: “…City folks really know how to have fun. No, wait, does Qi Yang know about this?”

Being pestered by a sasaeng fan is bad enough, but a cross-dressing sasaeng fan? What kind of perverted buff was this? His goosebumps are all rising!

Quentin noticed Xue Mingzhu’s constantly changing expression and shook his head: “I don’t know. You can go ask Qi Yang.”

Xue Mingzhu pouted: “I’m not familiar with him, I’ve never even spoken to him… yo, he’s standing at the bus door looking at us. Could it be that he wants to say thank you?”

As expected, the kind and good-hearted Xue-Qur duo successfully received sincere thanks from the person involved.

Xue Mingzhu felt a bit embarrassed by Qi Yang’s earnest thanks. He waved his hands repeatedly, saying “it’s a small matter, it’s a small matter, I only went over because I saw Quentin going”, naturally also forgetting his initial doubt about Quentin’s actions.

Quentin was not someone who meddles in other people’s business, so why did he suddenly step forward?

Of course it was because the progress bar of Main Character No. 3 was unlocked!

The prompt sound of “Main Character No.3 +0.01%” occurred at the same moment as the sound of the thermos cup hitting the ground.

Just like the sound of Wen Xinyi’s phone falling in the bathroom earlier, “0.01%” merely meant that he had an intersection with the BE plotline of Main Character No. X, it didn’t mean he had impacted the BE plot.

It happened too coincidentally, so Quentin immediately locked onto the target.

Qi Yang was Main Character No. 3 from the original novel, and that sasaeng fan who dropped the thermos cup was most likely directly related to Qi Yang’s BE plot.

So Quentin took the initiative to step forward, and using the opportunity of returning the thermos cup, carefully observed this sasaeng fan’s appearance.

Unfortunately, the other party’s face was covered too thoroughly, and it was impossible to see his appearance.

But Quentin’s observational skills were good enough.

He keenly noticed that this person was wearing a wig, their body frame was broader than a normal girl’s, their hips were narrower than a girl’s, and their standing posture was also somewhat awkward, as if deliberately imitating a girl but not doing it well.

Overall, this person’s figure was closer to a young male, but thinner and smaller than an adult male, perhaps an adolescent teenager.

If a boy in this age range wore a wig and mask to cover the face, plus a skirt, it would indeed be difficult to distinguish his gender. And this person also had a silk scarf tied around his neck, just covering the Adam’s apple.

If one didn’t observe carefully with a preconceived skeptical gaze, like Quentin, they would most likely be fooled.

A cross-dressing sasaeng fan. What kind of BE plot could this type of person cause, it was really hard to imagine…

Quentin sat in the window seat on the bus and turned to look at the huge and dense crowd outside.

The large patches of green light still hadn’t left. From time to time, someone waved at him excitedly.

He smiled, lowered his head, picked up the paper bag and pulled out the envelopes, opening them one by one to read.

Different handwriting, with densely packed lines, narrated similar feelings. The intense emotions overflowing between the lines always made one’s heart feel warm.

This was the love of fans…sincere, pure, and overwhelming.

It always made one feel that only by working harder, doing better, and standing higher, could one deserve this weighty affection.