The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 120

These past years, Li Rong had rarely set foot in places filled with crowds and entertainment.

Before the incident, he had attended concerts and theater performances with his parents, enjoying the nourishment and refinement that art brought.

While he wouldn’t claim deep expertise in the arts, growing up in an intellectual household meant his parents had provided him with a solid cultural foundation.

He could appreciate the beauty of music and literature but never deeply understood the creators’ intentions.

However, after all that had happened, he found himself resonating more with the meanings behind works of art.

This newfound understanding, though, came with pain, leading him to avoid lively, laughter-filled places.

Lin Zhen’s competition marked his first attempt to step out of his comfort zone, to return to the calm life he once had, and to embrace a normal person’s experiences again.

The tickets Lin Zhen reserved for them weren’t in the central front rows but slightly off to the side, though the view was still excellent.

Li Rong scanned the central seats, noticing the banners in some hands. They clearly belonged to relatives or friends of contestants from prominent companies or with prior fame.

It wasn’t surprising. Compared to them, Lin Zhen came from a much humbler background.

After the show airs, things will change. Li Rong remembered clearly that Lin Zhen initially didn’t get much screen time, but every appearance left a deep impression. He had all the signs of becoming popular, which is why a heartless company later set its sights on him.

But now… with Jian Fu around, there was no worry about Lin Zhen being sidelined.

Large bags of snacks weren’t allowed in the venue, but since the recording took a long time, small snacks for quick energy boosts were permitted. 

Li Rong brought a pack of chocolates, planning to snack on them if he got hungry. He also remembered to bring throat lozenges—he couldn’t just sit in such good seats without cheering for Lin Zhen.

Li Rong slipped the larger pack of chocolates into Cen Xiao’s pocket and instructed, “Sneak these in later when it’s crowded. Don’t let the ticket checkers catch you.”

Cen Xiao: “…”

He had never done anything sneaky in his life.

Jian Fu, holding two light boards with Lin Zhen’s name on them, stretched on tiptoe to look ahead. He couldn’t help but scoff, “Is it really necessary? You don’t even need to bring snacks. If you’re hungry, just go backstage and find Lin Zhen. He’s got tons of snacks.”

Li Rong, inexperienced, asked curiously, “You can go backstage anytime?”

Jian Fu replied matter-of-factly, “Of course we can. Later, Lin Zhen will give us staff badges. Even if he doesn’t, it’s fine. The restrooms are connected, and during intermission, you can bump into contestants there and follow them back. No one will stop you.”

Li Rong looked thoughtful. “I’ve never been backstage at a performance.”

Jian Fu smirked. “It’s chaotic. There aren’t even private dressing rooms. Everyone’s crammed together, and you can’t even have a proper conversation.”

Li Rong raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What do you need to say that requires privacy?”

Jian Fu’s eyes darted around. “…It’s just a figure of speech. Who said I needed privacy?”

Li Rong chuckled softly, shook his head, and let it go.

Fortunately, Cen Xiao seemed too intimidating to provoke, so the ticket checkers didn’t make a fuss and let the chocolates in.

The recording venue was already packed. Many of the back-row seats were filled with fans of the judges, who had arrived early to claim good spots and cheer for their idols. 

The VIP seats up front were sparsely occupied, with some people calmly scrolling through their phones and others even working.

Unlike the general audience, VIPs didn’t have to hand in their phones, enjoying much better treatment.

Not long after they sat down, Lin Zhen ran out from backstage to deliver staff badges.

With half his makeup done, Lin Zhen looked more dazzling than usual. Cupping his hand around his mouth, he whispered to Li Rong, “Class monitor, with this badge, you can come backstage to find me. There’s food back there you can help yourself to. But it’s a bit messy. There might be TV station executives or investors’ reps, but they just chat with contestants. Don’t worry.”

Li Rong nodded and raised his voice, “Got it. Go get ready!”

Just as Lin Zhen turned to leave, Jian Fu grabbed his sleeve. “Why are you only talking to Panda? What about me?”

The tug made Lin Zhen stumble. He wanted to roll his eyes, but with many fans likely sneaking long-lens cameras into the venue, he suppressed the urge.

“I told you last time, didn’t I?”

Jian Fu pouted. He just wanted Lin Zhen to lean in and whisper to him, like he had with Li Rong.

“Which spot is your performance this time?”

Lin Zhen thought the question was reasonable and forgot to pull his sleeve away from Jian Fu. The two ended up standing as if holding hands.

“Hmm… It’s near the end this time, so it might be a long wait.”

Jian Fu frowned. “Isn’t being near the end bad? If someone before you performs exceptionally well, the pressure will be huge. Plus, the audience might get tired and cheer less.”

Lin Zhen shrugged. “True, but that’s how competitions work. It’s the luck of the draw.”

Li Rong said quietly, “Not necessarily luck.”

Lin Zhen’s attention immediately shifted to him. “Class monitor, what do you mean?”

Afraid of giving Lin Zhen too much stress, Li Rong shook his head. “Nothing. Go back quickly; we’ll come backstage if we can.”

In fact, Li Rong suspected that the company that once lured Lin Zhen into signing a contract had manipulated the order. From their style, it would’ve been strange if they hadn’t.

After realizing their own artist was hopeless, they’d begrudgingly signed Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen didn’t linger. After a few words, he hurried backstage under the urging of a director.

Cen Xiao, who had overheard Li Rong’s remark, asked after Lin Zhen left, “You’ve been paying attention to the entertainment industry?”

Li Rong smiled, leaned close to Cen Xiao’s shoulder, and tilted his head toward him. “Not really. I just happened to notice.”

He was referring to his memories from his previous life when he had learned of Lin Zhen’s blacklisting.

Cen Xiao peeled a chocolate for himself and popped it into Li Rong’s mouth. “What a coincidence.”

Li Rong wrapped his tongue around the chocolate and smiled. “Yeah…” Then, straightening suddenly, he added, “When I warned Lin Zhen that time, did you figure out that I…”

He trailed off deliberately.

It was during the time Cen Xiao had guessed his address that Li Rong first became suspicious of him.

However, this suspicion was a lucky guess that hit the mark.

He believed that the past Cen Xiao didn’t know his address at all, but in reality, Cen Xiao had been paying attention to him since he was very young. Many of the things he didn’t know or understand before were mostly just an act.

But his suspicion wasn’t wrong—Cen Xiao indeed retained the memories of his previous life.

Cen Xiao peeled a chocolate bean for himself, a tacit acknowledgment.

In fact, it wasn’t just that one time. He had gone through many instances of testing and subtle probing before he could confirm this conclusion.

At first, Li Rong likely spoke recklessly, relying on the fact that the concept of reincarnation was too absurd to believe. But later, he seemed to have caught onto something from Cen Xiao and began to act cautiously, even subtly probing Cen Xiao in return.

When Cen Xiao first saw Li Rong from their high school days, his emotions were complicated.

On the one hand, he felt that his intervention hadn’t brought Li Rong any good results, so he didn’t dare to approach him easily or form any bond beyond that of classmates.

On the other hand, he felt that he couldn’t let the person in front of him replace the one in his memories—the person who had shared years of life experiences with him.

Perhaps in Li Rong’s eyes, their past experiences weren’t pleasant. But to Cen Xiao, even every moment of their clashes was extraordinarily precious.

Although he knew this was the same person and that he might have a chance to start over and correct all the mistakes, making Li Rong hate him less than in the previous life, so that he could feel better about himself—

He couldn’t convince himself to forget. Even if it was painful, he wanted to remember, to remember that the person in his memories once existed.

So, when he heard Li Rong mention things from the previous life in front of him, Cen Xiao didn’t know how to describe his feelings.

Lost and found, cautious, terrified, joyful, and worried.

He didn’t dare to take a step forward easily, afraid that the rare tranquility would shatter in an instant. He carefully hid his secret but couldn’t help but intervene to help Li Rong whenever he was in trouble.

Fortunately, neither of them had truly changed, yet they had both changed—so much so that they could walk together as they did today.

The lights in the venue dimmed, and Ji Xiaochuan exclaimed excitedly, “It’s starting! It’s… starting!”

Jian Fu shoved a light stick into Ji Xiaochuan’s hand. As the only one among them who could convincingly act like a fan, Ji Xiaochuan naturally took on the role.

Li Rong and Cen Xiao also stopped chatting and focused on the show starting.

First, the on-site director came on stage to liven up the atmosphere and guide the audience in recording cheers that could be inserted into the program.

After everything was wrapped up, the judges and mentors officially took the stage.

What followed was the introduction of the contestants and their performances.

Li Rong listened to a few performances. Some were indeed good singers with appealing looks, while others seemed awkward—probably due to nervousness—and didn’t perform as well. Still, there were a few diehard fans screaming their support.

He couldn’t help but glance back, trying to spot those with completely different tastes from his own.

Jian Fu began muttering, “I told you, Lin Zhen should hire some fans. Look at the artists from big companies. No matter how they sing, at least they’ve got presence. That naive fool is too low-key; without anyone to back him, he’s at a disadvantage.”

Li Rong glanced at Jian Fu and said meaningfully, “Yes, without anyone to help him, he’d indeed suffer. You’d better watch over him.”

Jian Fu quickly responded, “Of course!”

But the moment he said it, he immediately fell silent, realizing something.

Li Rong had just said, you’d better watch over him, not we’d better watch over him.

What did that mean?

Did it mean Li Rong thought he was the one best suited to protect Lin Zhen?

It made sense. After all, his father was the president of the Internet Business Association, and he had plenty of ways to help Lin Zhen.

Jian Fu felt a subtle sense of satisfaction, as if being able to help Lin Zhen was an honor in itself.

The show had been recording for two hours, but it still wasn’t Lin Zhen’s turn.

Li Rong, feeling some back pain from sitting so long, stood up and placed a hand on Cen Xiao’s shoulder. “I’m going backstage to check on how Lin Zhen is preparing.”

Cen Xiao gently rubbed the back of his hand. “Should I go with you?”

Li Rong shook his head. “No need. Lin Zhen doesn’t have any background, so it wouldn’t look good if he had too many people with him backstage. I’ll be back soon.”

At the same time, a staff member from the production team was enthusiastically leading an investor through the back entrance.

“President Zheng, this way, please. The artists are all waiting backstage, and they’ll all have time this evening.”