Chapter 10: CH 10

When Xia Mingxi called, Yu Nian had just taken a dance class. He pressed the answer and wiped the sweat from his forehead, “Mingxi?”

Xia Mingxi was strangely quiet for a few seconds. Just when Yu Nian wanted to ask what was wrong, Xia Mingxi’s weak voice came over, “Nian Nian…… Did I disturb you?”

Yu Nian was puzzled, “I just got out of the class, what happened?”

Xia Mingxi was silent, and then cracked without pausing, “What the hell, I thought you were…..ah, ah, ah, ah…..you were talking so breathlessly that I accidentally had a bad association, sorry!”

It took a while for Yu Nian to react, then he laughed and scolded, “Xia Mingxi, what kind of yellow waste are you in your head? I’m panting because I just danced! Dance!”

Xia Mingxi coughed several times, “This is really embarrassing, let’s stop here.”

He quickly changed the topic, “Nian Nian, where did you come from? I showed my vocal teacher a few songs that you gave me before, and she said they were all very, very good! They are not difficult to sing, suits me very well and the live effect will be very good when sung!”

Yu Nian smiled and said with a white towel in his hand, “That’s good, the lyrics and songwriters of these songs are my—” He paused and then continued, “It’s Mrs. Sheng Lingyi, whom I like very much.”

Xia Mingxi didn’t notice the pause in the middle, “Yes, yes, my teacher gave me some general knowledge, saying that Teacher Sheng Lingyi has been brilliant for decades, a national treasure-level songwriter. I just realised that many of the songs I’ve heard were written by Teacher Sheng. Yes, and the school song of Ningcheng University too!”

Yu Nian was in a trance for a few seconds and quickly smiled, “Well, the first time I met Brother Meng, he asked me to sing a song to listen to, and I sang the school song of Ningcheng University.”

“Hahaha,” Xia Mingxi burst into laughter, “Yu Nian, what a genius you are! Singing the school song, isn’t it strange? Your manager must have been shocked!” After laughing, he returned to the topic, “By the way, have you chosen the song yet?”

“I’ve chosen, Yu Qing’s ‘Distant Star’.”

Xia Mingxi was shocked, “Oh My God! Why do you want to be so willful? This song is very famous and difficult to sing! If something goes wrong, you will be ridiculed to death. But why did you choose Yu Qing’s song?”

“I am familiar with the lyrics and music of her songs,” Yu Nian is still very confident, “I should be able to sing the emotion if I can remember the lyrics as much as possible.”

Xia Mingxi remembered what he said, “My life is given by the teleprompter”, and burst into laughter again.

……….

It’s almost time for the second round. Yu Nian was still the first to go to the studio, but within ten minutes, Xia Mingxi also rushed in wearing a peaked cap.

“Are you surprised? I guess you must have come very early, so I came to play with you early!”

Yu Nian shared the two bottles of freshly squeezed juice in his hand with Xia Mingxi, and was in a good mood, “Have you had breakfast?”

Xia Mingxi shook his head and shook the juice in his hand, “One bottle of this is enough. My agent is worried that I will gain weight.”

At this time, He Qiubai came over and slapped Yu Nian and Xia Mingxi on the shoulders, “Seeing you is like seeing a hot search!”

He is in good spirits at happy events, “I’ll tell you, before the show started the big Vs in the media were all bad-mouthing, saying that the second season of ‘Sound of Nature’ was a typical ‘second generation’. Even if the first season is good, the second season will definitely be unpopular.” He laughed, “Now they are all slapped in the face, so I’m in a good mood! Come on you two, earn more hot searches for the show!”

Yu Nian was curious, “Director He, who is the singer who will fill in this episode?”

The recording is about to start, so He Qiubai didn’t hide it, “He was put in by the management, purely to earn a wave of traffic, and shouldn’t make it to the next round.”

Xia Mingxi patted his chest and exaggeratedly took a deep breath, “I have a slightly higher chance of staying!”

He Qiubai laughed at him, “Believe in yourself!”

This time, both Xu Xuan and Fang Huai came earlier than before. Fang Huai pretended not to see Yu Nian, and Yu Nian didn’t even think about putting a cold face in front of him. Instead, Xu Xuan sat down and took out a pen and paper, “I’m sorry to bother you, my sister likes you very much after watching the first episode, and keeps asking me to ask you for an autograph every day.”

Yu Nian took the pen and paper, seeing Xu Xuan’s embarrassment, he smiled, “To be honest, this is the first time I have signed other than signing the contract.” He neatly signed his own name on the pink paper, and asked, “Would you want me to write your sister’s name?”

Xu Xuan nodded quickly, “If it’s not troublesome! My sister’s name is Xu Fu, the Fu of Furong.” After Yu Nian finished writing, she took it with both hands and said gratefully, “Your writing is so beautiful! Thank you, she’ll be very happy to take it!”

Yu Nian closed the pen cap and returned it, and said with a smile, “I’m also very happy when someone asks me for an autograph.”

After Xu Xuan went back to do her make-up, Fang Huai, who had been sitting beside her, snorted coldly. But Yu Nian didn’t hear it and continued to hold the phone and try to memorize the lyrics.

In this draw, Yu Nian drew the second-to-last one, Fang Huai was the first to play, Xia Mingxi was the second, Zheng Na, who came to fill the spot, was the third, and Xu Xuan was the last.

When the camera turned away, Fang Huai threw the sign with the serial number in his hand. Xia Mingxi couldn’t stand it any longer, so he dragged Yu Nian and whispered, “This guy is so weird, does he think that if he gets another number, he can win the first place?”

“Probably, you always have to find a reason for your grades, right?”

“Distant Star” is a song that requires both singing skills and emotional input. It was sung by popular female singer Yu Qing, and the songwriter Si Ning wrote the lyrics. It is about after the death of the relative, the protagonist confides in the hope that the deceased relative can be transformed into a distant star in the sky, and see you every night.

Completely different from the first time, Yu Nian only wears light makeup, so that the complexion will not be unsightly after taking the stage. Wearing a simple white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, standing under the spotlight, even the surrounding air calmed down.

When his voice sounded with the sad music of the cello, the audience seemed to be brought into that grief.

“I look at the starry sky every night, looking for your traces, and want to hear your voice again……” Yu Nian held the microphone with one hand, with clear and fair knuckles. His eyelashes drooped down, and light shadows fell on the white porcelain-like skin.

As he was singing, tears gradually gathered in his eyes, until the snow-like high pitch rose with the tune, and Yu Nian’s tears also flowed down.

After singing the song, Yu Nian stood in the same position with red eyes, embarrassed he took a slow breath, “Sorry, I lost my way.” His eyelashes were still wet, and with a faint nasal voice, he tried to laugh, “I miss my Grandma.”

Someone in the audience began to shout, “It’s okay—” Soon, more people shouted together, “Yu Nian, it’s okay!!”

Yu Nian held the microphone in both hands and bowed deeply, “Thank you, everyone.”

When he got off the stage and walked to the lounge, the person who followed him asked, “Are you feeling better now?”

Yu Nian nodded, even more embarrassed, “It’s much better. I promised my grandma not to cry, but I couldn’t help it when I sang. Thank you for your concern.”

In the lounge, Xia Mingxi was holding a bag of paper in his hand. When he saw Yu Nian come in, he stared at him and said, “You’ve memorized this pot. While you were singing, you made me and Xu Xuan cry.” The tip of his nose turned red and his voice lowered, “I also miss my grandma.”

Xu Xuan, who was on the side, just finished her makeup, “I also cried when I heard you sing. I also miss my grandmother, especially her.”

When Yu Nian sat next to Xia Mingxi, Xia Mingxi took advantage of the lack of camera and shared gossip with Yu Nian in a low voice, “Wow, you don’t know, the person who was first to finish singing kicked the stool over as soon as he entered the lounge, he has such a big temper! His manager asked the show team to cut this part later, otherwise, the character design will collapse. Alas! poor manager, it’s really heartbreaking.”

Yu Nian discovered that Xia Mingxi was simply the source of his gossip, but he was more concerned about, “How did you sing?”

Xia Mingxi raised his chin, proud, “I asked my agent about the on-site effect, and he said it would be no problem to stay. But I don’t know whether I’ll take second or third place.”

Yu Nian estimated, “If there is no problem with singing, it should be the second.”

As estimated by Yu Nian, Xu Xuan took third place in this round, Fang Huai was still fourth, and the replacement singer Zheng Na was eliminated directly and went on a day trip. Xia Mingxi won second place, and Yu Nian won first place again.

This recording started relatively early, and it was only ten o’clock when the recording ended. Xia Mingxi didn’t even remove his makeup, he persuaded, “Yu Nian, you have already won first place twice, I think everyone should go to sing together!” He also gave Yu Nian a wink.

Yu Nian understood what Xia Mingxi meant, so he responded with a smile, “If everyone is free later, how about I invite everyone to sing together?”

In the end, a total of 11 people went to the clubhouse. All of them were about the same age, and Xia Mingxi had a cheerful personality, so they were not bored at all.

……….

Box No. 1

Qu Xiaoran opened the door and came in, bypassed the pool table, walked to where Xie You was sitting, and urged him, “Xie Xiaoyou, are you really not going to play a game?”

Xie You was staring at the phone, looking at something. When he heard the words, he said indifferently, “I’m not interested.”

“Yes, yes, you aren’t interested, then tell your brother, what are you interested in?” Qu Xiaoran was also tired of playing, so he simply sat down beside Xie You and said, “I know I know, you are interested in that newcomer!”

“His name is Yu Nian.”

Qu Xiaoran was swept by Xie You coldly, and he quickly corrected, “Yes, yes, Yu Nian!” He muttered again, “Tsk tsk tsk, the protection is so strict……”

Xie You continued to look at his phone, ignoring him.

Qu Xiaoran sat bored, trying to find a topic, and a flash of inspiration flashed, “By the way, that Yu Nian participated in “Sound of Nature”, right? When I had just come back from the toilet, I heard two people chatting. It seems that someone took first place again, and come over here to sing —hey you wait —Xie You where the hell are you going!”

Xie You walked out of the box but found that he forgot to ask Qu Xiaoran where he met him. He thought for a while and walked towards the bathroom.

Yu Nian came out to answer a call from Meng Yuan and was about to go back, but when he turned around, he saw Xie You again.

“What a coincidence, I met you again!” Yu Nian greeted, “Good evening!”

Xie You looked at the smiling person in front of him and felt a little hot from the heart to the whole body. He loosened his tie with one hand, his voice slightly hoarse, “Good evening.” After two seconds, he said again, “Congratulations on winning first place.”

Yu Nian was a little surprised, and then smiled and raised his eyebrows, “Thank you! Did you also watch the first episode of “Sound of Nature”?”

“Well.” Twice a day, I saw it twelve times.

Xie You added, “My mother likes it very much.”

Yu Nian nodded in understanding —Xie You should have watched this show to accompany his mother.

But he was still very happy. Although Xie You talked less, they were very comfortable with each other. Yu Nian said easily, “I just finished recording the second episode, and came over to sing with my friends after the end.”

Xie You replied seriously, “Me too, with my friends.”

Yu Nian counted the time, it was not good for him to be out for too long, so he said, “Then I will go first, and have a good time.”

“Okay, have fun.”

After Yu Nian left, Xie You did not go back to the box directly but went to the supervisor’s office.

Box No. 1 has always been reserved for Xie You. The manager of the clubhouse knew that Xie You was here tonight, and he was terrified that something would happen, and he would attract attention. Seeing Xie You coming over, he was even more frightened. He didn’t dare to raise his head, “Hello, Mr. Xie, may I ask if you need anything?”

“Check in which box Yu Nian is —forget it,” Xie You thought for a while, and instructed succinctly, “All boxes are free tonight.”

So when it was close to 1 a.m., Yu Nian went to checkout and was told that because the boss was in a good mood, all boxes were free today.