8 – Dunhuang Flying Apsaras Dance, King of the Human Gu
The girls of the Hurricane group gradually finished their preparations.
The ice-breaking stage was the simplest performance in this variety show. The girls would showcase their strengths in vocal music, dance, instruments, or rap to leave an initial impression on the mentors and audience.
Su Jinxia, as the most popular contestant, took the stage first!
She chose a lyrical song, wearing a flowing white dress with a soft and sweet voice. For the ending of the song, she lay down in the lotus pond stage prop, captivating the hearts of her fans like a fairy.
“Jinxia’s voice is heavenly!”
“It feels pretty average, just not off-key. Did she already plan to compete with Yan Qing, so she’s acting so confident?”
“Are you a fan of Yan Qing? Fans are just as sour as their idol! Even if it’s average, it’s still better than your jinx. Does Yan Qing even have the nerve to ask what she can do?”
“I’m just a fan of her looks! I can’t stand Su Jinxia’s pretentiousness. Yan Qing’s face alone is enough to make her stand out on stage!”
“How funny! If you can’t compete, just admit defeat. Is she using her looks to cover up her lack of singing and dancing skills? Fans of her looks, just wait and see her make a fool of herself!”
Su Jinxia rose from the lotus pond, smiling faintly as she bowed to the mentors. “Thank you, everyone.”
The mentors politely applauded.
She deliberately glanced at Jiang Wangyan, hoping to see his reaction, but the man kept his eyes lowered, not giving her any attention.
The dance mentor, Nan Jing, continued with the process. “Please exchange positions, Yan Qing and Su Jinxia!”
Su Jinxia could only step back to the waiting area at the side.
Yan Qing stood there, but the dim lighting didn’t illuminate their faces. Su Jinxia looked disdainfully at her outfit. “Yan Qing, I hope you don’t lose too badly.”
Yan Qing had hidden her dance costume underneath.
From the outside, it looked like she was wearing a tattered sack, with no effort made to dress up for the stage.
“Lose?” A smile flickered in her eyes.
Yan Qing gracefully turned her gaze to Su Jinxia. “You should worry about your own little head first. Don’t let it go bald too ugly.”
Su Jinxia found this sourpuss utterly baffling.
Yan Qing couldn’t be bothered with her either. She lifted her delicate face slightly and strode toward the center of the stage on her long, fair legs.
“Hello, mentors. My name is Yan Qing.” She bowed.
The mentors, who had just finished writing their comments for Su Jinxia, looked up one by one. Even Jiang Wangyan raised his eyes.
Everyone was taken aback by her plain attire.
Only Jiang Wangyan’s gaze fell on her bare feet.
Exposing her waist was one thing, but why wasn’t she wearing shoes?
Jiang Wangyan’s eyes darkened slightly, and his fingers, which had been lightly tapping the table, paused. He picked up the microphone. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
The cameraman immediately zoomed in on her feet.
Gradually, everyone noticed her outfit—a simple, long black cloak with a loosely draped hood, revealing only a clean, delicate little face.
Yan Qing curved her lips. “It’s for the performance.”
The audience went wild with laughter at her shabby appearance.
“Which nunnery forgot to lock its door?”
“Hilarious! ‘For the performance’? What can she even perform? A live show of exposing skin for hype?”
“You call this nun-like outfit ‘exposing skin’?”
“Whatever! She’s just a nobody anyway. Let’s wait and see her make a fool of herself. I’m already looking forward to her embarrassment!”
“I really don’t believe she can pull off anything impressive!”
But Jiang Wangyan didn’t question her outfit further—after all, her clothes… were changed with his help.
So he nodded slightly. “Please begin your performance.”
The stage lights dimmed accordingly.Xiao Bei was in the backstage, petting an alpaca in front of the TV. When she saw the nun-like outfit, she immediately pinched her philtrum…
She knew this woman was good at attracting hate!
Xiao Bei was almost in despair, but just then, the stage spotlight suddenly lit up again!
Against the light stood a slender and graceful figure.
A serene Buddhist chant slowly began to play…
As the lights spread across the stage, Yan Qing, who had just been mocked as a nun, had already shed her shabby, plain cloak. Now, she wore a golden dance costume adorned with tassels, its color as vibrant as cinnabar and as brilliant as a bright sunset!
The mentors and the Hurricane Girls all sat up straight.
Yan Ke pointed at the stage and exclaimed, “It’s… it’s the Dunhuang dance!”
Yan Qing held a pipa in a reverse-playing pose.
Her delicate fingers plucked the red strings.
The majestic sound of Dunhuang flowed from her fingertips as she spun and twirled, as if flying through the clouds, gracefully glancing back!
The barrage of comments went blank for a moment out of shock…
Dunhuang music, the Feitian dance!
No wonder the performance required… bare feet!
Even Xiao Bei, who was pinching her philtrum, froze. She immediately rushed to the TV, widening her eyes in disbelief.
Yan Qing’s slender waist was soft and flexible, her sleeves fluttering like clouds. She danced gracefully to the majestic music, as if treading on auspicious clouds, pulling the entire audience into the vast desert!
“How is this possible…” Su Jinxia was stunned.
Yan Qing couldn’t dance at all, let alone perform such a difficult reverse-pipa Dunhuang Feitian dance!
But now, Yan Qing seemed to be filled with starlight.
Beneath the veil of tassels, she curled her lips coldly and charmingly. In her graceful, soft yet powerful dance moves, her exquisite fox-like eyes sparkled with allure.
The woman on stage was simply too captivating…
Su Jinxia trembled with anger, but just then, a long Dunhuang-colored silk ribbon flew past her eyes!
A 20-meter-long silk ribbon fell into Yan Qing’s hands.
Following the drumbeats of the Dunhuang music, the long silk ribbon twirled and danced across the stage, scattering colorful clouds of light. Yan Qing’s slender, graceful figure intertwined with the ribbon.
As the Buddhist chant faded, Yan Qing struck an ending pose, bending backward while swirling the silk ribbon!
“Clap, clap, clap—”
The entire studio erupted in thunderous applause!
Even the dance mentor, Nan Jing, suddenly stood up, clapping wildly like a seal. “Beautiful!”
“Truly beautiful,” the vocal mentor, Ye Weizhi, also rose to her feet.
The audience was almost dumbfounded…
“Was… was that Yan Qing just now dancing?”
“This is absolutely stunning! Her waist is everything! I could watch this a billion more times!”
“Seriously? Does anyone still think the emperor conquered the Western Regions just for lamb skewers and raisins?”
“Keep hating, haters! I don’t care—I’m a fan now because of the Dunhuang Feitian dance! Please keep performing, sis! When you dance, you’re like a human enchantress!”
“Who said Yan Qing was bad at singing and dancing?”
“So what if she can dance? She didn’t even sing! Su Jinxia’s singing is way better than hers!”
Yan Qing gathered the long silk ribbon and stood up. She reached up and removed the tasseled veil, revealing her stunningly beautiful face.
She bowed sincerely. “Thank you.”
Xiao Bei clutched her chest, feeling like she needed emergency heart pills. She had actually…
been enchanted by her own artist, who was supposedly bad at both singing and dancing!
She was clearly—an! amazing! dancer!
Watching the girl shining brightly at the center of the stage, Jiang Wangyan subtly curled the corners of his lips.
His peach blossom eyes, filled with laughter, gazed at her, the adoration in them almost overflowing…Before the audience could recover from the dance.
Jiang Wangyan was the first to pick up the microphone, his low and seductive voice slowly ringing out, “You didn’t let me down after all.”
Yan Qing: !!!
Her eyes widened in an instant with shock.
Stop it, you flirtatious man—I don’t want to be torn apart by your fans!
Stretching out a hand in panic.jpg