In an instant, the two of them were caught in a massive public-opinion crisis.

As mentioned before, the Spring Festival Gala audience is not the same group as the usual audience for other entertainment-industry programs.

A lot of people didn’t even know who Song Chi and Zhou Yun were, or had only heard their names but never watched their work.

They had no idea what kind of people these two actually were, but when they saw that these two Celebrities had managed to get a Spring Festival Gala slot with a program rehearsed for only five days, their first reaction was anger. They felt that for the Gala director team to approve this program meant bowing down to celebrity fame and popularity.

Attacks on Song Chi and Zhou Yun flooded in from all sides.

Even many netizens who had always had a good impression of the two of them couldn’t stomach this.

Only rehearsed five days... parachuted in...

Especially the fans of the Celebrity artists who had taken part in earlier rehearsals but were later cut—once they saw this news, that was it. Wasn’t it obvious that their idols’ programs had been robbed by these two last-minute parachuters!

...

The Spring Festival Gala director team had never expected that with New Year’s Eve live broadcast just around the corner, such a huge public-opinion crisis would suddenly explode.

The higher-ups were all calling to ask what was going on.

The chief director explained the whole situation; after a brief silence, the leader asked one question: "So how is their program?"

The chief director said, "All of us in the directing team were moved by it."

The leader fell silent again, then said, "If that’s the case, then don’t worry about the noise outside."

The chief director said, "Thank you for your understanding, sir."

"My understanding isn’t what matters. What matters is that the audience has to say it’s good when the time comes."

The chief director said, "Absolutely."

Having seen this program, he was full of confidence in it.

After hanging up, he frowned, went back into the control room, and said, "Find out who the hell is leaking this crap online and steering public opinion like this. Track down exactly who it is, now!"

...

Zhou Yun was under enormous pressure.

Right now, everyone was waiting to see their program, to see what it was really worth.

When she first accepted the Spring Festival Gala invitation, she truly hadn’t expected to run into such overwhelming attacks.

Guan Xiaohe, on the other hand, was pretty much out of the line of fire. At this point basically no one online knew that she was also part of Zhou Yun and Song Chi’s program.

So this round of public-opinion fire didn’t hit her.

Guan Xiaohe was still worried that the pressure on Zhou Yun was too much; she kept glancing at her uneasily.

Zhou Yun noticed Xiaohe’s gaze and took the initiative to comfort her: "It’s fine, don’t worry. We’ve already done our best to make this performance as good as it can be."

In this performance, Guan Xiaohe’s singing was crucial. Zhou Yun didn’t want this mess to affect Xiaohe’s state.

The last rehearsal was also run strictly according to live-broadcast standards.

Onstage, Zhou Yun made a blocking mistake—caused purely by nerves.

No one noticed, but she herself broke out in a cold sweat.

If something even more serious happened during the live performance, what would they do?

After their program finished, Zhou Yun locked herself in the dressing room.

Both Guan Xiaohe and Song Chi had seen Zhou Yun’s mistake just now; they knew why Zhou Yun was like this.

"Brother Chi, Sister Xiao Yun... is she okay?"

Song Chi was anxious for Zhou Yun too, but his face didn’t show a trace of it. He said, "She’s fine. You go rest first, take good care of your voice, keep yourself in top shape. See you tomorrow."

Guan Xiaohe hesitated and asked, "We’re not rehearsing again today?"

"We’re already in great shape, and we know it like the back of our hand. What we need to do now is keep ourselves in the best possible state so that The Day After Tomorrow we can throw ourselves fully into the performance," Song Chi said. "See you tomorrow."

Only then did Guan Xiaohe leave.

Song Chi let Zhou Yun be alone for half an hour, then knocked on the door and said, "Xiao Yun, let me in."

Zhou Yun opened the door.

Her face looked bad. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Song Chi closed the door behind him.

"You’re still worrying about that mistake just now, aren’t you?" Song Chi asked.

Zhou Yun nodded. "I’m afraid that when we perform The Day After Tomorrow for real, there’ll be an even bigger screw-up."

"Xiao Yun." Song Chi looked into her eyes. "Even if there is a bigger screw-up, it’s okay."

Zhou Yun had thought Song Chi would say there wouldn’t be a screw-up.

She said, "This is the Spring Festival Gala, and it’s okay if there’s a bigger screw-up?"

"Because no matter what mistake you make, I’ll be there to hold you up and help you fix it," Song Chi said. "I was really relaxed in the rehearsal today because I knew that no matter what went wrong with me, you’d be there to cover for me."

Zhou Yun let out a helpless laugh.

"Don’t think I’m just trying to make you feel better—I’m serious," Song Chi said. "So a blocking mistake is nothing. Even if you walk right off into the audience seats, I’ll chase after you and bring you back to the stage."

Zhou Yun gave his shoulder a shove.

"Walk into the audience seats? I’d be on the front page in no time."

"We’re professional actors. It’s impossible to do a live performance without pressure, and it’s impossible for every program to be completely flawless. But you have to have confidence that we have the ability to pull a performance back from a mistake—that’s what I mean," Song Chi said. "So we don’t need to be afraid of mistakes. You’ve already designed this program into the best form it can possibly reach, haven’t you?"

Zhou Yun let out a sigh.

"Director Kang Xin, Xiaowen, Teacher Li Chunhong, and their team—so many people have put in so much for this program. If I mess up and ruin it, all their hard work will be for nothing."

"Xiao Yun, they didn’t put all that in for the Spring Festival Gala; they did it for you. You’re the one who invited them to help with this program," Song Chi said. "How does that turn into pressure on you for your performance? Do you know why they came the moment you called? Because everyone who knows you is just like me. We all believe in your talent and your ability—that you can turn the impossible into possible. Even if, even if in the end we really do screw it up, it’s still okay. So what if everyone curses us out? We’re still us—and I’ll be right there with you."

Zhou Yun’s mood finally began to relax, bit by bit, under Song Chi’s words.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him.

The next day, Zhou Yun didn’t set an alarm and let herself sleep until she woke naturally. In the afternoon, she, Song Chi, and Guan Xiaohe went for one last rehearsal, checking all the costumes and props.

That night, Zhou Yun couldn’t sleep, still tense and anxious.

Song Chi was the same.

The two of them watched comedy movies together to ease their emotions.

The program list was released.

Neither Zhou Yun nor Song Chi checked their phones again.

It was happening tonight.

No one responded to that exposé, because the program itself would be the best response.

They arrived at the venue, put on makeup, changed into costumes, and waited to go onstage.

Many of the performing Celebrity artists were taking group photos and exchanging pleasantries.

Zhou Yun, Song Chi, and Guan Xiaohe didn’t go anywhere; they stayed in their dressing room, quietly waiting for their turn.

Before going onstage, they didn’t want anyone to affect their state.