Chapter 68: Chapter 67: 120th Anniversary Celebration Warm-Up
For the next two days, Gu Yu was buried in rehearsal with Lin Xinyue in the vocal studio, practicing their duet.
Although both of them had decent singing abilities, they inevitably encountered issues with rhythm coordination during the duet.
Fortunately, with vocal coach Gui Anni's guidance throughout the process, any issues were pointed out on the spot.
"Alright! That's almost it. There are still a few minor flaws in the high notes, but there's absolutely no problem for the celebration event."
Gui Anni smiled with satisfaction, raising her hand to signal that Gu Yu and Lin Xinyue could take a break.
Gu Yu finished his vocal descending scale in one breath and exchanged a smile with Lin Xinyue.
He first poured Lin Xinyue a cup of warm fat sea tea, then sat before Teacher Gui to listen to her suggestions.
"Matching the high notes and staying in rhythm with two people is so difficult, sigh!"
Gu Yu sighed, and Teacher Gui immediately stretched out her hand to pat him lightly on the head.
"Smack!" "Ouch!"
"You're already doing great! You've only been training for a few days; what more do you want? To compete in the national top ten singers contest?"
Gui Anni gave Gu Yu a sideways glance; this guy was never satisfied with his own abilities!
She has never seen such a talented student before!
The day before, she had gone to recommend Gu Yu to Dean Shu Fugai of the Art College.
Dean Shu said he would wait to see Gu Yu's performance during the anniversary celebration, and if it indeed turned out to be very good, he could apply to the school for Gu Yu to transfer colleges!
She already knew that Gu Yu was a student of Software College.
In her opinion, studying computer science was not as valuable as studying art; with Gu Yu's talent, he was sure to make a splash in the entertainment industry in the future!
But she had not yet discussed this with Gu Yu.
One reason was she worried that he might get too excited and neglect the school celebration, and the other was that she wanted to give him a surprise after the festivities!
Content from m-vl|em|p,yr
"Tomorrow night you'll be on stage, are you two nervous?"
Gui Anni looked at them with a smile.
"Hmph, of course I'm not nervous! Don't you know me by now?"
Lin Xinyue was sipping her fat sea tea. Hearing Teacher Gui's question, she quickly set down her cup and smiled coyly.
She had hosted numerous big and small events throughout her four years of college; how could she possibly get stage fright at the celebration?
On the contrary, Gu Yu nodded sincerely, "I am indeed a bit nervous, I haven't participated in this kind of event much."
Aside from military training, he had never participated in such a large gathering with thousands of people!
And he was to perform on top of that!
To say he wasn't nervous would be a lie!
"Being nervous is normal. I'll take you two to the venue for a live practice session soon! Familiarize yourselves with the procedures and performance part in advance, to keep from freezing up when the time comes."
Gui Anni stood up, with one hand on each Gu Yu and Lin Xinyue's shoulders.
Feeling the encouraging weight on their shoulders, Gu Yu and Lin Xinyue shared a knowing smile.
Night fell.
After eating dinner together in the cafeteria, the three of them hurried to the gymnasium.
This year's school anniversary was being held at Haidong Gymnasium, which could accommodate nearly thirty thousand teachers and students!
When the three arrived, the venue's staff that had been contacted in advance was already waiting at the entrance.
"Teacher Zhou, how is it? Can we arrange for a stage rehearsal now?"
Gui Anni smiled as she greeted Teacher Zhou, who was in charge of the venue's arrangements.
"No problem! A pair of students just finished using it, and the lights and props have not yet been removed; you can use them directly."
Teacher Zhou nodded.
"Great! Let's get started as soon as possible; the more we rehearse, the more secure we'll be for tomorrow!"
Gui Anni's face lit up with joy, and she hurriedly pulled Gu Yu and Lin Xinyue along behind Teacher Zhou towards the backstage.
To accurately simulate tomorrow's process, both changed their clothes.
Entering the dressing room, Gu Yu took out his outfit from a leather suitcase.
It was a set of wine-red tuxedo with dark gold checks, extremely stylish when spread out, especially the pure wool fabric which was also very comfortable to the touch.
In addition, there was a pair of handsome brownish-black pointed leather shoes.
Since the school had pre-registered information for all performance participants, all the clothing was tailor-made and expensive!
This was a testament to how seriously the school took this 120th anniversary celebration!
Gu Yu carefully donned the tailored suit, fastening the buttons one by one in front of the mirror.
The reflection showed him transformed into the image of a British royal prince!
The corners of his mouth curved slightly upwards as he profoundly bowed to his own reflection in the mirror.
Handsome and gentlemanly, with a graceful demeanor!
Looking at his handsome reflection in the mirror, Gu Yu's nose suddenly felt sore as he recalled the impoverished and shabby person he once was.
That self who felt inferior and powerless, whose gaze darted left and right when seeing a girl, who even had to consider whether to add a fried egg to his bowl of noodles, no longer existed!
All of this seemed like a dream.
If it was a dream, he hoped never to wake up from it.
Gu Yu stood still in front of the mirror for three minutes, until the door to the changing room was knocked on, bringing him back to his senses.
"Gu Yu, have you changed your clothes?"
"Yes!"
He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and tried his best to appear even more confident.
Pushing open the door, Gu Yu walked slowly out of the changing room.
"Wow!"
"Ahhhh!"
"..."
As soon as he walked out of the changing room, a burst of exclamations erupted from outside.
The first exclamation came from Gui Anni, who opened the door, and the second was from Xinyue as she excitedly bounced around with her mouth covered, along with the surprised voices of other backstage teachers.
Because the newly dressed Gu Yu was simply too handsome!
He was by no means inferior to the popular male stars in Korean dramas, and even carried a faint British Prince's aura!
Gu Yu was also stunned, oblivious to the praise around him, because his gaze was entirely captivated by Xinyue.
Lin Xinyue wore a pinkish-purple French net tulle dress, with sparse diamonds twinkling on the meshed fabric at the neckline. The light shone on Xinyue's upper body like shimmering stars adorning her shoulders and collarbones.
She embodied elegance without losing playfulness, grace without sacrificing dignity, just like Artemis, the moon goddess from ancient Greek mythology!
"Xinyue... you look so beautiful!"
Gu Yu's throat bobbed as he found himself at a loss for words to describe Xinyue at that moment!
What about being a big internet star on Dou Ying? That's nothing in comparison!
Keep in mind that this is Xinyue with only her regular light makeup on, she hasn't even put on her stage makeup yet!
"You... look so handsome too..."
Xinyue's cheeks flushed quickly, her words bashful and stammered.
Standing by, Gui Anni seemed to witness the fireworks ignite as the handsome man and beautiful woman locked eyes.
A smile like that of a proud mother appeared on her face, as she stepped forward and took the hands of both.
"You two, today you've really shown me and Teacher Zhou the true meaning of a talented man and a beautiful woman!"
"It's so enviable! Alright, alright! Time to go on stage! I've arranged for the lights and microphone."
Teacher Zhou was also all smiles, but considering the time constraints, he urged them to hurry onto the stage.
Gu Yu and Xinyue nodded to each other and then walked hand in hand to the stage.
Standing in the center of the stage, Gu Yu looked up and surveyed the entire gymnasium.
Colorful lights crisscrossed overhead, more than half of the banners and streamers were already decorated, and a dozen staff were working overtime.
The interior of the entire gymnasium was festively embellished, decorated with Haidong University's emblems and flags everywhere, primarily in red hues, with all seats covered in red chair covers.
Looking at the rows of red waves, even though they were empty, Gu Yu could already feel an intangible pressure.
"Let's start," Xinyue suggested, taking two microphones from the stand and handing one to Gu Yu.
Gu Yu looked at Xinyue, who appeared so natural, her eyes full of encouragement.
"Tomorrow on stage, we just have to hold hands! Don't be nervous, I'm here for you!" she said with a gentle smile.
A warmth filled Gu Yu's heart, and he nodded slightly.
"Mm!"
They composed themselves and quickly got into the right frame of mind.
A moment later, their singing began, and the working staff inside the gymnasium stopped and turned to watch the duo on stage.
Even students passing by outside the gym stopped in their tracks, quietly listening to the song being sung over and over again.
"Stop! Do you hear that? Is someone singing inside the gymnasium?"
"Wow! It's Lonely Brave! The male and female duet sounds so good!"
"Could it be that the school actually spent a lot of money to invite a singing star for rehearsal?"
"I'm so looking forward to the celebration tomorrow!"
"..."