Chapter 214: 213 So-called Deep Sisterly Bond
On the second day after arriving in the Imperial Capital, the rehearsal began.
Early in the morning, the program group’s car was waiting downstairs at the hotel, picking up Pei Ningle, Han Yixuan, and Wang Heng, and taking them to the recording site.
It was a building. After entering through the main door, a few staff members led the way, bringing the three to the preparation room behind the stage. According to the process, Pei Ningle brought her own sheet music and song recording version, and went to discuss with the assistant director in charge of the on-site accompaniment.
As for Wang Heng and Han Yixuan…
“During the program recording, the family and friends group’s reactions will be recorded, possibly for the official broadcast. May I ask, do you two agree to be on television?” the staff member asked in a Beijing dialect.
Han Yixuan nodded and was about to speak, but Wang Heng cut in first.
He said, “I’ll pass, she can do it.”
Han Yixuan looked at Wang Heng somewhat puzzled, but before she could ask why he was unwilling, the staff member shoved a piece of paper at her:
“Then please sign this, the agreement. We will record your most real reaction.”
While Han Yixuan was signing with her head down, Wang Heng said, “Can you arrange a seat for me on site? I want to sit in the audience seats and watch.”
The staff member readily replied, “No problem, that’s easy to arrange.”
Soon, Han Yixuan finished signing the agreement and handed it to the staff member. Then the two were led by this staff member to the audience seats.
The rehearsal would take quite some time, possibly not finishing until dinnertime. As the family and friends group, Han Yixuan and Wang Heng certainly couldn’t stand and wait; finding a place to sit and occasionally peek at other competitors’ performances was just right.
At a glance, the audience seats seemed quite empty, with a place that could hold several hundred people occupied by only thirty or forty— these people were obviously other contestants’ family and friends groups.
Wang Heng and Han Yixuan found a spot in the front rows and sat side by side.
“You see, that’s the mentor seats, right?” Han Yixuan pointed to the four spacious high chairs directly facing the stage and asked excitedly.
Wang Heng: “Probably.”
Han Yixuan guessed again, “This time it doesn’t seem to be the mode of listening to songs with backs to the stage and turning around. The mentor seats are all facing the stage directly, like they won’t turn. But there’s a large screen in front of each, what is that for? To block their view?”
Wang Heng: “Probably.”
Han Yixuan: “So this time the mentors still can’t see the singer, and if they think it’s good, they press a button or something to lower the thing blocking the view, then they can see the singer?”
Wang Heng had watched this program during the first playthrough, so of course he knew that Han Yixuan’s guess at this moment was basically the fact.
So he replied, “Probably.”
The young girl suddenly felt a bit melancholy: “Can you change your lines?”
Wang Heng pointed to the stage and said, “Look over there, someone has already come out for rehearsal.”
A young man with long hair tied in a braid walked onto the stage, discussed with the band teachers, and picked up the microphone.
“Is this a contestant?” Han Yixuan commented, “Long wavy hair, hairstyle like a girl’s, he really looks effeminate!”
Wang Heng: “…”
He knew this contestant. Not only did he know him, he was also clear about this person’s development trajectory afterward. After all, this singer named Zhuo Zun was one of the top rising stars in the nation’s new generation singers in the first playthrough’s trajectory. Seemingly, he was also the champion of this episode of the Good Songs Program?
A prelude with a strong ancient style rang out, and the young man held the microphone and sang with great charm.
“Engraved in the brow and heart…”
Han Yixuan, who had just been complaining about his styling being too effeminate, immediately sat up straight.
Wang Heng said in a low voice, “We need to keep an eye on him. Whichever mentor he picks, we have to remind Pei Ningle not to pick the same one.”
Han Yixuan: “To avoid competition? But this is only the first song I’ve heard, maybe there will be even better ones later?”
Wang Heng shook his head: “Unlikely. Whether we can avoid this person is definitely the key point to surviving to the end in the program.”
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The three arrived in the morning, but it wasn’t until after four o’clock in the afternoon that it was Pei Ningle’s rehearsal time. Before that, Wang Heng and Han Yixuan went out to a small diner to settle lunch, then returned to their seats in the audience seats for a nap. After waking up, they played on their mobile phones for a bit before finally reaching this moment.
Pei Ningle briefly discussed with a few musicians, then picked up the microphone and walked to the center of the stage— regarding the accompaniment form, she had already discussed it earlier with a certain assistant director and these musicians, so naturally there was no need to say more now.
In short, just start singing directly.
Against the light, she couldn’t clearly see if those familiar two faces were among the people in the audience seats, only vaguely feeling a few gazes watching her.
Compared to the welcome party at Telecommunications Science and Technology University back then, the audience now was negligible. But thinking about the meaning this stage held, thinking that an astronomical number of viewers might watch this program, see her performance, hear the song she wrote… Thus, the young girl found it hard to suppress her emotions.
The accompaniment rang out, and Pei Ningle opened her mouth:
“I want to let go of every one from before— uh, sorry band teachers, I went off pitch.”
The band teachers were all stunned: “You went off pitch way too fast!”
Pei Ningle bowed to them: “I’m really sorry, can I start over?”
“You can, but you… anyway, reminder: rehearsal can be redone, but during formal recording, even if you go off pitch, you have to keep singing.”
“Understood, I understand.”
The young girl finished bowing and gripped the microphone in her hand tighter.
Down in the audience, Han Yixuan couldn’t help covering her face and groaning, “Why is Xiao Le dropping the ball at a time like this…”
But Wang Heng remained very calm: “It’s fine, it’s her first time on a stage like this, a bit nervous is understandable.”
Han Yixuan: “If she’s nervous now, what will happen during the formal recording? By then, the audience seats will definitely be packed, won’t she be even more nervous!”
Wang Heng shook his head: “Have a little confidence in her. Listen, she’s singing very smoothly now.”
The accompaniment started again, and this time Pei Ningle sang smoothly without going off pitch or stumbling, though her voice still felt a bit stiff and tense.
Han Yixuan wiped the sweat from her palms, then suddenly felt puzzled— logically, Xiao Le was her love rival, she should hope to see her make a fool of herself, so why this reaction?
Meanwhile, Wang Heng secretly observed Han Yixuan’s expression and chuckled inwardly— seeing how deep their sisterly bond is, if the Asura Field escalates later, they probably won’t have conflicts anymore, right?
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