After the regional awards were presented, there were speeches from guests and shareholders.

These were all standard parts of the gala’s program. By this point, the number of online viewers had dropped a bit, but not by much.

This was all by the organizers’ design.

Placing the popular broadcasters’ performances after the executive speeches was a deliberate move to keep the audience hooked and stop them from leaving.

The show on stage continued, and the people in the venue were growing a little drowsy. Suddenly, the lights flared to life, and the host’s impassioned voice rang out, "Tonight, we have a very special segment!"

"We’ve invited the top ten broadcasters from this year-end PK competition to come on stage and perform for us!"

"Some have chosen to sing, others to dance. And what’s amazing is that almost every broadcaster has chosen a performance related to their own special talents!"

"It looks like you all have plenty of hidden talents we haven’t seen on your streams! Now, let’s welcome broadcaster X Yun from the Game Commentary section with her song, ’New Year’!"

The special performances began. Jiang Qiuqiu had just sat up straight when a staff member approached her. "Jiang Broadcaster, you can head backstage to get ready."

Jiang Qiuqiu stood, gathered the hem of her dress, and made her way toward the back of the stage.

Because she was seated in the center and quite far away, plus her dress was rather large, the other broadcasters had mostly gathered by the time she arrived.

They didn’t really know each other, so after a few brief greetings, everyone found a place to sit.

Some of them started discussing how much longer the event would last.

"Not much longer," said a broadcaster who had attended the annual gala before. "The main program is already finished. After we perform, Chairman Qian will likely give some closing remarks. It’s almost 9:40 now, so we should be done around 10:30."

The broadcasters went on stage to perform one by one, in reverse order of their rankings. As the number one winner, Jiang Qiuqiu would be the grand finale.

It was boring waiting backstage, so she simply opened her terminal and started watching the live broadcast.

The broadcaster currently on stage was performing a dance. She wasn’t professionally trained, but Jiang Qiuqiu felt her dancing was quite good and looked very graceful.

Sure enough, the live comments were filled with praise.

Comments like, "Our favorite is amazing, a queen in every field!"

and "She’s so beautiful!" were everywhere.

’It made Jiang Qiuqiu wonder what her own fans would say during her performance.’

Jiang Qiuqiu only closed her terminal when the host announced the third-to-last performer. For a rare moment, she felt a sliver of nervousness.

At that moment, only she and Xiong Xin remained in the backstage waiting area.

She looked up and found Xiong Xin standing beside her, though she hadn’t noticed him approach.

"Miss Jiang."

"Bear Broadcaster?"

"I came to apologize," Xiong Xin said. "I’m very sorry for what happened during the PK competition."

"It’s alright," Jiang Qiuqiu said with a smile. "It wasn’t your fault. Didn’t you even come forward to clarify things?" The fact that he had bravely stepped up to apologize for his fans’ behavior had given Jiang Qiuqiu a good impression of him.

"I’m just glad it didn’t cause you too much trouble." He offered another sincere apology, then stepped to the side before Jiang Qiuqiu could say anything more.

’Maybe people into Mechas all have that kind of cool aloofness?’

Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t give it much thought. But Xiong Xin, standing a short distance away, couldn’t help but clench his fists.

Before the annual gala, he thought he had already calmed down and come to terms with his loss.

But the moment he arrived, it felt like every little thing was grating on his nerves.