Chapter 18: The Second Performance (1)

Zhou Laoyezi was a professor at Hua University, with many students.

When he discovered that Xie Feiran was the third son of the Hai City Xie Family and an artist under Xie Ling’s company, he immediately called Xie Ling.

He wanted to use his old face and his relationship with the Xie Family to ask Xie Ling to let Xie Feiran participate in the documentary filming.

“Hello, Xiao Ling.”

Zhou Laoyezi held the phone and said.

“Grandpa Zhou, is there something you need?”

Xie Ling, sitting in the car, asked.

After drafting in his mind, Zhou Laoyezi said, “The artist under your company, I see he can do Double-sided Embroidery, and he’s very skilled. So I want to invite him to shoot a documentary about Double-sided Embroidery.”

On the other side, Xie Ling looked at Cheng Yuan and asked with his eyes: Xie Feiran can do Double-sided Embroidery?

Cheng Yuan quickly opened his phone and pulled up the Weibo Hot Search: “He just got on the Hot Search not long ago.”

After taking a glance, Xie Ling hurriedly said to Zhou Laoyezi: “Feiran still has to participate in a competition during this time. Once his competition ends, I’ll have him come for the filming.”

Zhou Laoyezi immediately smiled: “Alright, alright, that’s good.”

“By the way, my granddaughter said he became a celebrity after debuting. Then how much should I pay him for shooting a documentary?”

Zhou Laoyezi remembered this and hurriedly asked, “I can’t let the kid work for free.”

At these words, Xie Ling couldn’t help but curl his lips and said: “No need. If he knows it’s a documentary, he wouldn’t take your money anyway.”

“How can that be?”

Zhou Laoyezi protested.

“Really, no need.”

Xie Ling said, “If you give it to him, he’d only feel pressured.”

“I see.”

Zhou Laoyezi said with some regret, “Then let’s hang up. If you have time, call your grandpa over to have a drink with me.”

“Mm.”

As the words fell, both sides hung up.

Outside the study, Zhou Yueyue poked her head in and said, “Grandpa, is Xie Feiran really going to film your documentary?”

“Of course.”

Zhou Laoyezi smiled.

“Then can you help me get an autographed photo?”

Zhou Yueyue looked at Zhou Laoyezi expectantly.

“You little girl, why do you only care about his face?”

Zhou Laoyezi couldn’t help but scold.

Zhou Yueyue giggled, “He can make a living with his skills, but he lives off his face. If I don’t look at his face, what should I look at?”

After saying that, Zhou Yueyue ran off with her phone.

***

On the other side, several Hot Search spots under Shenghua Entertainment’s artists had been stolen, making the higher-ups unhappy.

“Can’t you think of a way to reduce the exposure of those Xingyun Entertainment people?”

Chairman Zhang, the real power behind Shenghua Entertainment, couldn’t help but curse.

“Chairman Zhang, who could have predicted he’d get on the Hot Search?”

Someone replied below.

“Qiyu, what do you think we should do?”

Chairman Zhang looked at Qiyu, who couldn’t go out for filming due to an injury.

That Wen Qingyun was the one Chairman Zhang wanted to promote, and a lot of resources had been invested early on.

If he couldn’t be promoted, how could she make money?

How would she recover the early investment?

“Then we can only ask Polar Bear not to broadcast their practice footage.”

Qiyu said.

Chairman Zhang was stunned, then smiled: “You’re right.”

As long as Xie Feiran isn’t on camera, no matter how talented he is, he won’t make waves.

Chairman Zhang rubbed the emerald ring on her hand: “I’ll handle this with Polar Bear.”

“Just say the Vocal Room and his room’s cameras are broken and can’t be fixed.”

In the Vocal Room, under everyone’s gaze, Xie Feiran had finished the Double-sided Embroidery on five pieces of clothing.

Each piece was exquisitely embroidered, vivid as if it would fly off the fabric at any moment.

However, even now some people claimed Xie Feiran’s footage was sped up—after all, no one could finish five large Double-sided Embroidery pieces in two hours.

Finally, unable to endure it, everyone argued back in the comments.

[You say Xie Feiran’s footage was sped up, then why wasn’t Ye Ansheng, eating apples in the same shot, sped up too? He eats at a normal human speed. What? Polar Bear has the power to speed up only one person in the same shot, not both?]

[That must be because this was a pre-recorded video, specially edited.]

[Shi Baiyan only gave Xie Feiran the pattern this morning. If it was pre-recorded, when was it filmed?]

[He must have been sped up!]

There are people in the world like this—they only believe what’s in their head.

Even if you lay the facts in front of them, they won’t listen or believe.

While the arguments raged in Xie Feiran’s Live Room comments, the screen suddenly went black.

No one could see what Xie Feiran was doing anymore.

Soon, the official Polar Bear Youth account posted an announcement that the Vocal Room’s camera had malfunctioned due to technical issues and was under repair.

Polar Bear didn’t go too far—they only shut off Xie Feiran’s Practice Room camera, leaving the one in his Dormitory still on.

Chairman Zhang wasn’t too satisfied with the result, but this was the best they could do.

Fans and viewers watching Xie Feiran practice in the Live Room cursed at the interruption and demanded Polar Bear fix the camera quickly, or at least replace it with a new one.

After the camera shut off, Xie Feiran handed the clothes to Ye Ansheng and the others.

“Try them on.”

These clothes were all designed by Shi Baiyan, perfectly fitting the two-dimensional aesthetic and full of seductive charm.

The fusion of Shi Baiyan’s vivid imagination and Xie Feiran’s sewing skills brought these five dance costumes to life.

After changing, Ye Ansheng looked at the others and couldn’t help but say, “You’re so flashy.”

The next moment, Wei Yunnian slapped Ye Ansheng.

“Aren’t you the same?”

These were clothes that seemed normal at first glance, but on closer inspection, everyone would show an excited expression.

Especially Luo Wen—on him, the outfit was angelic at first, but a closer look revealed a mix of purity and desire.

“I wonder what expressions those people in front of the screen would have if they saw us.”

Ye Ansheng rubbed his head.

Xie Feiran suddenly looked up at the ceiling camera and calmly said, “They probably can’t see anymore. The camera’s off.”

Ye Ansheng froze, then quickly understood.

Someone was targeting them.

“How can they do this?”

Luo Wen couldn’t help but ask.

But Xie Feiran remained calm, folded the clothes, and smiled at Luo Wen.

“For me, it’s a blessing in disguise.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to give them a surprise.”

The Vocal Room was always under surveillance; Xie Feiran and the team’s practice was broadcast to everyone.

No matter how impressive their arrangement, overexposure dulled the impact, making it hard to wow anyone during the Public Performance.

This time, someone asked Polar Bear to turn off the camera, which actually helped Xie Feiran a lot.

“But…”

Luo Wen still felt indignant—Xie Feiran was so good, yet he was being targeted.

“Don’t worry.”

Xie Feiran reached out and patted Luo Wen’s head.

“Just focus on practicing.”

“Yeah.”

Luo Wen nodded.

“No matter what, I’ll help you win first place.”

Xie Feiran didn’t reply.

The whole team entered intense practice mode.

The flute was out of sync—start over.

The drumbeat missed the rhythm—start over.

The erhu lacked emotion—start over.

After countless restarts, Xie Feiran’s group of five finally finished their day’s practice.

“I’m going to puke.”

Cheng Linxi slumped against the wall.

Ye Ansheng wasn’t much better.

He rubbed his mouth.

“My lips hurt from playing.”

“This feels just like the art entrance exam days.”

Wei Yunnian said.

At his words, everyone exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

“Let’s go!”

Back in the Dormitory, Xie Feiran finally reappeared in the Live Room.

Fans who had stayed the whole time felt heartache seeing him.

[The kid’s gotten thinner.]

[Is practice tiring?]

[I haven’t seen you for half a day—I miss you to death.]

Xie Feiran walked out of the bathroom, looked at the camera, and said:

“My teammates and I are preparing a gift for you. I don’t want to spoil it. The completed version of Song of the Raven will definitely surprise you.”

With that, Xie Feiran smiled at the camera.

[Ahhhhhhh, Feiran, I’ll wait!]

[Polar Bear still hasn’t fixed the camera. If you say there’s no conspiracy, I don’t believe it.]

[Sisters, vote hard and keep Feiran’s popularity at number one!]

[I don’t want to vote—can I just pay-to-win directly?]

[Wuwuwu, Feiran said not to pay-to-win.]

After Xie Feiran finished speaking to the viewers, Xie Ling sent him a message.

Pay-to-win Whale: I heard the camera broke. Need me to pressure Polar Bear?

Xie Feiran: No, it’s actually a good thing.

Pay-to-win Whale: ???

Xie Feiran: Otherwise, how would I amaze everyone?

Pay-to-win Whale: Professor Zhou Yue Sen from Hua University wants to invite you to film a documentary about Double-sided Embroidery. I’ve already agreed for you, but there’s no payment.

Xie Feiran thought for a moment: It’s your decision.

Pay-to-win Whale: Zhou Lao is a professor at Hua University, with wide connections. It’s good to know more people.

Xie Feiran: Okay.

Pay-to-win Whale: Rest early.

After replying good night, Xie Feiran turned off the lights.

The next morning, a new day of practice began.

The next day, Polar Bear’s camera still wasn’t fixed.

In the days that followed, it stayed broken.

During this time, without Xie Feiran stealing the spotlight, Wen Qingyun’s Hot Search climbed again and again.

Even trivial matters kept hitting the Hot Search, making people annoyed.

But Wen Qingyun also gained many new fans.

This result made Chairman Zhang very satisfied.

Soon, seven days passed, and the time for the Second Public Performance arrived.

The entire web gathered in the Polar Bear Youth Live Room, waiting for the contestants to perform.

Meanwhile, all three hundred spectators in the studio had taken their seats.

First to perform was Wen Qingyun’s group—a ten-member team singing and dancing, stage lights spinning, instantly energizing the audience.

As the first act, Wen Qingyun’s group received high praise.

Yun Ziyuan gave them an S.

Yu Xiutao gave an A.

Ning Chuyu gave an A.

Song Qiusheng gave an S.

Yu Xiutao rolled her eyes on the spot.

Wen Qingyun’s group couldn’t dance or sing as well as Xie Feiran’s, but being from Shenghua, they only gave high scores to their own people.

Soon, it was the next group’s turn.

The performance was still lively, with no mistakes in dance or singing, all pretty similar.

After that, the similar performances brought a sense of aesthetic fatigue.

The audience below seemed worn out, watching the stage with calm faces.

Until Xie Feiran’s group appeared, and the dark stage lit up again.

Five beams of light landed on the five of them, revealing the traditional instruments in their hands.

Seated in the center, Xie Feiran wore loose clothing, with a raven poised to take flight embroidered on his sleeve.

The V-neck dropped just below his chest, the white collar edged in red, contrasting beautifully with his fair skin.

A black choker around his neck accentuated his slender neck, and the silver pendant hung down to his collarbone, the red gem perfectly matching the color of his collar.

[ Xie Feiran! Come fence with me! ]

[ Ahhhhh, I can’t hold on, they’re all so seductive! ]

[ Everything online is virtual. I’m afraid you all can’t handle it! This water runs deep—leave these dangerous men to me! ]