Chapter 138 – Seventh shift
Chapter 138 – Seventh shift
At this moment, the girls in “National Idol” ‘s training camp didn’t know their approval ratings because their mobile phones were confiscated.
After the initial ranking, the program group did not give them any more rest time and they soon began their next task – learning the theme song and dance.
Moreover, the study time was only three days.
72 hours for learning a new song and a dance was simply an impossible task!
However, in the face of all the contestants questioning and sighing, Producer Zhang Li responded with a ruthless iron fist. “In only three days, you will have your first performance before the four judges. We will choose the ten contestants who will eventually perform on the central stage and the most important C position will be assigned based on your performance.”
With that, Zhang Li looked around, paused, and then added, “All the contestants are expected to step on the central stage and get position C, that is to say, if the players in the upper circle are lazy and don’t practice hard these days, they may be taken down. You are not safe.”
When her words fell, the contestants in the upper circle, who had not taken it seriously at first, became alarmed. They had no idea that the competition system would be so cruel.
Zhang Li looked at them. Although her face was expressionless, she was very disappointed in her heart.
Before making this program, she went to Korea and Japan specially to learn from them. Their idol market competition was very fierce and all trainees were trying their best to learn a new song and a dance within three days. It was a common practice for them.
In contrast, within the domestic market, the idol industry was not yet standardized, and their understanding of this niche was also very superficial. Coupled with the fans’ tolerance for idols they had no sense of crisis at all.
If they continued to have this mentality and really entered this circle, the cruel reality would be too much for them to take.
It was a pity that even if Zhang Li said this to them now they wouldn’t take it seriously. So she simply didn’t say anything and used actions to teach them.
When Zhang Li left, the discussion at the scene was immediately opened.
Yao Xuetong looked at Xia Shiyu and couldn’t help asking, “What are you going to do?”
Xia Shiyu didn’t seem to panic, but calmly said, “What else? Practice, ah!”
Yao Xuetong wanted to say something more, but Tian Sisi dragged Lena and ran over to them. “Captain, Sister Xia, what are we going to do? How can I learn a dance in three days!”
Xia Shiyu stopped, turned around and asked, “Why can’t you learn?”
“Because..... Because... ” Tian Sisi was stuck.
Xia Shiyu looked at Lena again. “You also think you can’t learn?”
Lena gritted her teeth and said, “I have no problem with dancing, but I still have a problem with learning how to sing it. I think....”
Xia Shiyu sighed gently from the bottom of her heart. She didn’t know whether to envy them or to pity them. Although they practiced very hard on weekdays, they didn’t really feel the pressure, so their first reaction when they heard about the task was that they couldn’t do it.
Everyone thought Lena was very quick when it came to learning a new dance, that she was very talented. But nobody knew it was her own hard work.
In those days when Tang Wanjun had just joined the record company in order to get ahead, let alone learn a song in three days, she did it within one day and one night. People’s potential was infinite. When they were pushed to their limit, they could do anything.
Xia Shiyu looked at them and explained slowly, “In the past when we were in the company, we only needed to complete tasks assigned by the teachers step by step, but if you want to get ahead in this circle, it’s not enough to only do what’s within the scope. Although it is just a test at present, it’s also an opportunity. As long as you work hard, you can stand out. What a lucky thing!”
She was talking about her own perception. In her opinion, this era was very lucky. As long as she worked hard, she could be seen by others, unlike in her past life, when even if they were desperate, they would never be famous as long as they did not appear on stage.
Lena knew that Xia Shiyu said this for their own good, but she couldn’t help saying, “It’s easy to say so, but how can it be so easy to do?”
Xia Shiyu faintly said, “This is only the first hurdle and it will get more and more difficult later. If you can’t even do this you’d better give up as soon as possible.”
After that, she stopped wasting time with them, turned to leave the hall and went into the practice room for training.
Lena was half-mad. “What did she mean?”
Yao Xuetong thoughtfully stopped Lena’s outburst. “What she said is reasonable. You may work hard other times and may not be able to stand on the central stage. This is a good opportunity to stand out.”
“Captain!”
Yao Xuetong’s face sank. “Did you forget your goal? We’re here to make our debut! These years of sweat and tears were for the sake of such an opportunity. Now that this opportunity is in front of you, you are not even willing to fight for it!”
“I......”
Seeing their unconvinced appearance, Yao Xuetong shook her head in disappointment and followed Xia Shiyu in the practice room, leaving Lena and Tian Sisi behind.
Tian Sisi held Lena’s hand in bewilderment. “Lena, what shall we do?”
Lena clenched her teeth. “Let’s go to practice, too. If Xia Shiyu can do it, I don’t believe we can’t!”
When they spoke before, they didn’t lower their voices, and most of the girls next to them heard it.
The original complaints become much smaller. Many people followed them to the practice room, and the hall was soon empty.
Zhang Li sat in the studio and watched the video sent back from the camera. Her face was much better than before. “I thought they would have to suffer some more setbacks before they learned it, but now it seems that these girls are quite motivated.”
The director laughed. “Yes, but it’s still thanks to Sister Zhang’s vision. This Xia Shiyu is really suitable for our program.”
At his words, Zhang Li looked at Xia Shiyu in the practice room. Compared with other girls with dance foundation, Xia Shiyu’s movements were much rustier, but she was smart and learned quickly. After memorizing the movements, she practiced silently by herself, making progress at the speed visible to the naked eye.
Zhang Li’s eyes fell on her, and then unexpectedly she thought of another person – Ye Cang.
When he was in the knockout stage of “Star of Tomorrow”, she didn’t have a clear impression of Ye Cang, only remembering that beautiful face. After entering the top ten, Ye Cang changed his agent and it was almost like he changed his personality too. Step by step, he reached the position she had to look up at now.
Looking at the artists in Shen Huai’s hands, they were all so talented, as if they were born to shine.
Thinking of this, she sighed and said to the director, “Where do I have any vision? I’m just lucky to know a boss with a good vision.”
–
Over the next few days, the contestants started practicing the theme song day and night.
Shen Huai naturally wasn’t idle either during this period of time. After finding out the truth about Xia Shiyu, he continued to deal with Huayue while letting his people bribe some people from Huayue.
In recent years, the reason why An Yuanjie had been able to climb to the top of Huayue step by step was Feng Yankai, Huayue’s president. Feng Yankai was good to An Yuanjie, but An Yuanjie was greedy. He used Huayue’s resources to fill his own pockets and no one knew how much money had been embezzled due to his greed. But, because of Feng Yankai’s trust in him, he bribed several key figures, so even if someone knew about it, no one dared to talk.
In the past, when Huayue was in full swing, Feng Yankai would not care too much even if he knew about it. At most, he would warn An Yuanjie making him stay low for a short period of time, and then it would be a thing of the past. But now Huayue was in a difficult situation. Feng Yankai was worried every day, just like a bucket of fireworks that could set off at any moment. An Yuanjie was afraid that he would no longer be able to walk away with his pockets full.
An Yuanjie himself knew that Huayue had reached its most dangerous time. However, in the recent period, instead of reining in, he became more and more rampant.
An Yuanjie thought he was careful and didn’t leave any traces, but he didn’t know that Shen Huai had been watching him for a long time and wanted to give him a big “gift”.
Shen Huai looked at the drama inside Huayue with a smile on his face, but didn’t intend to stop there. He stared intently at the computer screen and gave orders.
It was not until he had finished all this that he started dealing with his daily work.
On the other side of his office, Ye Cang was wearing earphones and writing on a sheet of paper with a pen in his hand.
His promotion had come to an end. At present, he had nothing else but the work related to “National Idol”, so he could finally write a song quietly.
Since Ming Wei discovered the relationship between the two of them and Shen Huai said that he would make it public someday, Ye Cang completely opened up by simply moving his workplace directly to Shen Huai’s office.
Both of them were busy, one with his work and the other concentrated on writing songs. No one disturbed the other, which seemed very harmonious.
Ye Cang wrote for a while and felt tired. He took off his earphones and stretched.
His sitting position was next to Shen Huai, so he could see his profile.
Shen Huai’s hair seemed to be a little longer, and strands of hair were hanging down on his forehead. He was absorbed in his work and didn’t notice it, making Ye Cang a little itchy. He wanted to fix it for him, so he simply stood up and walked towards Shen Huai.
The pen in Shen Huai’s hand hadn’t stopped for a long time. He was not dead, he could sense it when someone stared at him for a long time. He heard Ye Cang’s footsteps and turned his face sideways. “You.....”
Ye Cang’s fingers intended to pull the strand of hair for him, but Shen Huai turned his head suddenly and almost knocked his glasses off his face.
Shen Huai grasped his wrist in time and said helplessly, “What are you doing?”
Ye Cang acted very innocently. “I think your hair has grown a little longer. I just wanted to fix it for you.”
It was only then that Shen Huai noticed the naughty strand of hair on his forehead and realized that he had misunderstood Ye Cang. A little embarrassed, he apologized in a low voice and made an excuse of pouring coffee to cover up his embarrassment.
Shen Huai took advantage of the time needed to make coffee, and finally calmed down. Recently, Ye Cang had finished his promotion work and had nothing to do but write songs every day. As a result he was full of energy at night, which deprived Shen Huai of sleep these days, so he unconsciously became a little sensitive.
Shen Huai walked towards Ye Cang with two cups of coffee, but the familiar dizziness appeared again.
Shen Huai’s gaze darkened, and his whole person staggered for a few steps. The coffee cups in his hands fell directly on the ground, and the hot coffee splashed on the ground leaving a stain.
Ye Cang quickly jumped up from his seat and rushed over to hold Shen Huai.
“Are you alright?”