帘子半开的时候

Behind stall 28, the curtain is only half open, and A Cheng keeps watching the alley entrance.

The corn auntie says, “When the singer arrives, we will turn on the lights.”

More and more customers stand around, so the high school student has to help arrange chairs first.

A Cheng says quietly that once the music starts, no one will notice their nerves.

But there is no one backstage, only a paper with three song titles written on it.

The vendor says that when they play the first song, she will know to come onstage.

When the music starts, the masked girl in the front row suddenly stands up.

She smiles and says, “When everyone stops looking for me, I can walk out from the audience.”

Only then does A Cheng realize she had been helping the children clap along.

When the curtain opens fully, the stage no longer feels like a temporary corner.