CH 28

Chapter 28: Accident

According to the rating system of the first public performance, the four mentors each held ten promotion cards in their hands. After each performance, they could decide whether to give a card or not, a way to ensure the players would be promoted in the end; the ones who did not get a card would only be rated in accordance to the live audience and popularity voting page on the official website. Before the “Treading water” group, none of the previous teams had entirely qualified for promotion and as soon as Meng Lingsi’s words fell, let alone the barrage, the other contestants were also baffled.

Obviously, all the mentors thought Qiao Dai’s team’s stage had been formidable, and the gentle smile on Meng Lingsi’s face became even softer. Although she was in her late thirties, the years had been particularly gentle with her. She had very shallow wrinkles at the end of her eyes and looked both wise and beautiful. It felt as time had been gifted to her specifically, giving her an entirely different charm as she aged. And what everybody could see in her eyes was her clear appreciation for Qiao Dai’s team.

Listening to Meng Lingsi’s words, Jiang Fengchi quickly took over: “Teacher Meng doesn’t need to borrow promotion cards from us, we will gladly give them ourselves.”

Jiang Fengchi looked at his colleagues and they all nodded their heads in agreement.

“This is a great performance. We really look forward to seeing your brilliant figures in future stages.”

Some viewers had thought Meng Lingsi was just trying to promote her own “Treading water” by promoting the girls. But hearing the other mentors agree with her, they were all speechless.

[Daidai is really a treasure girl.]

[I am so happy! The first group to advance, Qiao Dai’s team is the best!]

After their evaluation, Qiao Dai and her teammates slowly stepped back with their promotion cards. The next to perform would be Lin Lang and Jiang Ruowei’s group.

As soon as they stepped off the stage, the girls who had already finished their performances rushed to Qiao Dai’s team and surrounded them.

#Qiao Dai treads water#

#Song Yiqi’s opera voice#

#Treading water’s team entirely promoted#

“Treading water” was already widely discussed on the whole network and it did not take long for Qiao Dai’s name to hit the hot search once more.

This time, many netizens who did not pay attention to the draft clicked on the video. Most of them were literary and artistic enthusiasts, with certain aesthetic requirements. They all knew about the original “Treading water” and were aware it was a traditional song; with some curiosity, they wondered how a girl group could perform it, shaking their heads with disbelief at the same time. Wouldn’t they ruin the music?

Mostly with a negative attitude, they all clicked on the hot searches one after another, and after seeing tidbits of the stage, they all changed their minds at once.

[I was fortunate enough to once watch “Treading water” performed by Teacher Meng. Unfortunately, in the following years, many people forgot about this song and no one reproduced the stream and the group of girls. After watching today’s performance, I had a nostalgic feeling. It is no wonder Teacher Meng regrets she cannot work with them anymore. Thank you Qiao Dai and her teammates for choosing “Treading water” so more people can see our country’s excellent traditional music.]

Fans of Meng Lingsi were also very excited. Over the years, the talents in their circles had withered and even if they still had some excellent seedlings, they were now more inclined in choosing other dance styles. Because the traditional dance was its own family, it paid more attention to meaning than popularity or winning, which was inherently incompatible with the pursuit of today’s mainstream standards.

But after Qiao Dai’s team performance, many netizens took an interest and researched the traditional style. They looked for related videos on the Internet and gradually realized that traditional dance was an excellent one; it combined both strength and softness and many things they were not aware of before.

With the magic Qiao Dai and her teammate’s “Treading water” had brought, the following groups became less remarkable despite their vigorous singing and dancing. When Lin Lang and Jiang Ruowei got off the stage, their faces were dark.

Their group had chosen a classic girl-group style song but did not have the explosive feeling of Luan Zhen’s or the emotions of Qiao Dai’s. In the end, only Lin Lang, as the captain, had barely gotten promoted thanks to her vocal strength and the others had to wait for the popularity votes.

“What should I do? Several members of Galaxy haven’t performed yet… With their popularity, won’t I be brushed down?”

Jiang Ruowei was obviously nervous. She began to panic and even her heavy makeup could not conceal the worry in her eyes. Her performance today was not bad, but she knew it wasn’t good enough either. Everyone was improving, yet she stayed the same, how was it happening? This time, she had really lost to Qiao Dai; she finally accepted it.

The rest of the players were equally miserable. After all, Ruan Tao’s team had not been on stage yet. Even if they did not all get promotion cards, the remaining girls were definitely highly popular players and would get the most votes. They all felt they were on the verge of being eliminated.

Lin Lang also felt upset for a while. What if she got a promotion card? The next rating would still be based on popular voting; she had confirmed she could advance but she also knew it was only because of her skills and did not know whether the audience would vote for her.

If the girls were currently guessing the rankings, so were the fans and a few names kept being mentioned. Ruan Tao’s fans were a bit restless, seeing that other people’s fans had already congratulated their little sisters. Ruan Tao had not performed yet but they needed to divert their attention.

[Stop applauding in advance, strong players have not appeared yet!]

[Don’t say strong players when you just mean Ruan Tao.]

[They’re anxious, they’re anxious! Ruan Tao has not produced any results for so long, of course they should be anxious.]

[Remember Ruan Tao’s constant praises during the first issue? And yet nobody saw her strength.]

The barrage became lively at once. But as they were all arguing with each other, the program team suddenly cut the screen, but not before they could notice the host’s weird expression as he announced a sudden break. The show would continue later and the live broadcast room quickly switched to commercials, leaving a lot of confusion among the viewers.

[What’s with this sudden ad?]

[Did something happen at the venue?]

[Can anyone at the scene tell us what happened?]

[If you’re there and still watching the live broadcast, go ask!]

“What’s happening?”

After their show, Qiao Dai and her teammates went back to the dressing room to change. When they came out, there was a mess in the corridor; staff members were anxiously talking on the phone and it looked like something had gone wrong.

An employee rushed and almost knocked into Shi Qing who had just walked out of the room. Shi Qing yelped but fortunately, Qiao Dai was standing next to her; she held her hand and helped her stay upright.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

The staff member was also shocked, fearing another player would get injured. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and kept apologizing. Fortunately, the girls didn’t really care about this matter and Qiao Dai even asked him: “Are you okay? You seem to be uncomfortable.”

It was the first time this employee had heard about a contestant caring about them and he was slightly startled. He looked at Qiao Dai’s concerned eyes and his heart moved a little; his original anxious mood even relaxed.

“It’s nothing, thank you for your concern. You girls should rest in the room first, backstage is a bit chaotic right now.”

Song Yiqi was keenly aware something was wrong. She glanced at all the staff members who were running back and forth before her eyes fell on the man in front of her: “Did something happen?”

Today’s recording was past halfway and the busiest time should be over. Why the sudden commotion? The only reason should be that something unexpected had happened.

Hearing Song Yiqi’s question, the man did not conceal it anymore and sighed before saying helplessly: “Ruan Tao is injured.”

At the same moment, when everybody was discussing the sudden intermission, an exclusive comment related to appeared.

[Ruan Tao had an accident backstage and broke her leg. She has been rushed to the hospital and will most likely not participate in the first public performance.]