Oops! I Became a Fan of My Rival Idol! - Chapter 4

However, the moment Qiao Huihui pressed the first piano key, everyone’s expressions changed.

Soft lighting fell upon the girl, and the audience below could only see half of her serene profile, yet she still seemed to glow with beauty. Her long lashes lowered as she focused intently on the keys.

Instantly, the word “angel” surfaced in everyone’s mind.

The scene was so beautiful it seemed like a fairy tale, made even more enchanting by the exquisite piano music. She was like a celestial fairy descending to the mortal world with her own background music.

Zhang Han’s eyes immediately lit up. As a diva, she was naturally the most sensitive to music. Thus, the moment Qiao Huihui played a few notes, she recognized the piece.

Laymen enjoy the spectacle, while experts appreciate the craft.

Others merely thought the piece was incredibly beautiful or that Qiao Huihui looked stunning while playing, but Zhang Han thought of the world-renowned difficulty of this composition.

Many pianists used this piece as a benchmark for skill—only masters could play it, and no performer as young as Qiao Huihui had ever attempted it before.

The beautiful melody flowed out, enveloping the audience. Those who had earlier dismissed Qiao Huihui’s performance as mediocre were now proven wrong, as anyone with ears could tell how extraordinary it was.

Moreover, Qiao Huihui’s striking looks added a visual feast to the auditory delight, elevating the performance to explosive heights.

If Shen Nanqing’s performance had been shrouded in darkness, Qiao Huihui was now the light piercing through it. The warmth conveyed through her playing dispelled the lingering sorrow in everyone’s hearts.

Not only had she not been overshadowed by Shen Nanqing’s performance—she had matched it blow for blow!

“Yes, this angle! Camera two, zoom in—right onto her face!” Director Liu roared into his headset backstage.

Perfect. The trailer just got another high-quality shot.

The few minutes of her performance felt timeless. The audience below listened to the ethereal purity of the piano piece, their minds emptied, and coupled with the girl’s breathtaking beauty on stage, many wore expressions of rapture.

Xia Niao’s jaw dropped. She truly hadn’t expected her casually made new friend to be this incredible. During their earlier chat, Qiao Huihui had mentioned being an amateur, so Xia Niao assumed she had no standout talents—never imagining such a delightful surprise.

When the performance ended, the audience remained spellbound. It was Xia Niao who broke the silence first, shrieking, “Huihui, you were amazing!” before clapping enthusiastically.

Qiao Huihui, already nervous from the crowd’s silence: “…”

Now she felt even more tense—and inexplicably embarrassed.

Spurred by Xia Niao, the others finally reacted, offering belated applause.

Chu Junling walked over with a microphone, glancing at Qiao Huihui’s hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes. “You seem nervous?” she asked with a smile.

Qiao Huihui nodded.

“Why are you nervous? Do you think you didn’t play well?” Chu Junling seemed fixated on the question, pressing further.

Qiao Huihui stealthily glanced at Le Xingshan sitting in the audience before taking the microphone and lying through her teeth with a straight face: “Because there were so many people.”

She would never admit she was nervous because her idol was watching from below the stage!

Chu Junling smiled and winked at Qiao Huihui: “Then you should be more confident from now on, because you played… exceptionally well.”

Hearing this affirmation, Qiao Huihui froze in surprise.

But what came next shocked her even more.

“Congratulations, Qiao Huihui—A Class!”

Her advancement ignited competitive spirit among those who hadn’t considered her a rival before. Everyone knew that from this moment onward… there was one more opponent to take seriously.

Qiao Huihui, however, seemed dazed and disbelieving. Like a wandering spirit, she stumbled off the stage to her seat, only snapping out of it when Xia Niao’s delighted voice sounded beside her.

“This is amazing, Huihui! We both made it to A Class!”

A Class? Her?

Qiao Huihui’s emotions at this moment were indescribable.

#What do you call it when someone meant to just dabble but ended up trapped in their own game?#

She cast a mournful look toward the stage, deeply worried about her brother’s company.

She’d never heard of a talent show where contestants debuted through musical instruments—this wasn’t about forming a band. Shouldn’t the standard format be girls singing and dancing?

Now that she’d been selected, what were they supposed to do?

She genuinely couldn’t sing or dance! Would the next competition require her to perform live painting on stage???

That would be even weirder!

Yet no one knew about her internal meltdown. As Xia Niao chirped commentary about the dancing contestants, Qiao Huihui gloomily pondered her next move.

Maybe she should just quit?

Her brother would probably allow it if she asked.

But wouldn’t that cause trouble for the production team? They’d have to edit out all her footage…

Deep in thought, she suddenly heard a voice above her.

“You were wonderful—keep it up!”

Qiao Huihui jerked her head up to see Le Xingshan’s approving smile.

Her face burned crimson, but inwardly she was screaming.

My idol praised me—I can do this again!

I, Qiao Huihui, would rather die on this stage today than quit!

All thoughts of withdrawing vanished instantly. Now that she thought about it, continuing in this competition wasn’t so bad after all.

Her idol was in A Class—they could attend training together.

She could watch her idol’s performances up close.

She’d get endless new inspiration daily, sketching every version of her idol while supporting her rise to debut stardom. Wasn’t this every fan’s dream?

Just as Qiao Huihui lost herself in wild fantasies, the very subject of her imagination suddenly leaned in and whispered: “Are you a Little Star?”

Qiao Huihui’s eyes widened in shock. Staring dumbfounded, she became convinced her idol must have mind-reading abilities.

How else could she have known?

Indeed, “Little Stars” was the name of Le Xingshan’s fanbase, while fans affectionately called her “Shan Shan”—derived from the lyrics “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.”

Watching Qiao Huihui who seemed ready to bury herself in her clothes, Le Xingshan could only chuckle helplessly.

Earlier when greeting her, she had already noticed—the term Qiao Huihui hastily stopped herself from saying was the affectionate nickname her fans used for her. Combined with the other girl’s nervous blushing, a classic fan-meets-idol reaction, it was practically spelled out right before her eyes:

That’s right, I’m your fan!

Who would have thought she’d run into one of her own fans while participating in a talent show. Le Xingshan felt this must be a special kind of fate. And since Qiao Huihui looked utterly adorable, she couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

She just hadn’t expected the girl to be this shy.

Blushing like a peach on the verge of ripening.

With this thought, Le Xingshan instinctively pulled a candy from her pocket—coincidentally, it was peach flavored.

Chuckling softly, she pressed the candy into Qiao Huihui’s hand and said, “Here, have some candy to calm your nerves, hmm?”