Chapter 216: 215 How Straightforward Is She?
Walking onto the stage, Pei Ningle glanced around and saw the packed audience seats. One hundred, two hundred, or three hundred? Anyway, she couldn’t count how many people there were.
Besides the audience, there were four mentors, all very familiar faces. Although she didn’t listen to much mainstream pop music, the fame of these four star mentors was truly resounding. Knowing she was going on the program was one thing, but actually being there, seeing these audience members and star mentors, and starting to experience it firsthand was another matter entirely.
So Pei Ningle felt like she could barely control the heartbeat in her chest.
She bowed to the band’s teacher, then turned back to face the mentors and audience seats, closing her eyes.
Don’t look, pretend they don’t exist, and the pressure will naturally disappear.
Hearing the familiar prelude melody, Pei Ningle immediately calmed down, opened her mouth, and sang softly:
“I want to let go of every dream from the past,
Let go of the impulse to pursue perfection,
Let go of the dazzling vanity,
Hide in a cave alone…”
Singing like this, Pei Ningle suddenly realized that this song perfectly matched her current mood and situation.
She still didn’t dare open her eyes. If she saw a mentor push the lever to reveal their face, she was sure she’d get excited and risk performing poorly; if she saw no mentor pushing the lever, that would create even more psychological pressure and increase the possibility of mistakes.
Moreover, the verse part of this song required very subtle emotional buildup, so she didn’t dare let extra emotions disrupt her state.
“I see the brilliant sunset hiding behind dark clouds,
Fog swirling around front, back, left, and right,
Lonely people are most afraid of loneliness,
The hardest thing is to bravely move forward…”
As she sang, just like described in the lyrics, the young girl suddenly felt a bit lonely.
She often felt lonely, but after meeting Wang Heng, especially in these recent days without him by her side, even with Han Yixuan or Ye Xun accompanying her, she inevitably felt a bit unfulfilled.
Sure enough, was it because she liked him?
The food that used to make her happiest, the hobbies that used to relax her most, all felt a bit empty in this inescapable sense of loneliness. And this emptiness brought even more creative inspiration… How funny, was this masochism? Or tsundere?
Finally, it was time for the chorus climax at the end.
Only then, feeling she had performed well, did Pei Ningle open her eyes. She saw that three mentors’ screens were still blocking their faces, while only the one female mentor had pushed down her screen, revealing her face.
The young girl breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps her performance wasn’t as good as the previous contestants, but at least she wouldn’t be left empty-handed, right?
Having a mentor select her meant her role in this program probably wasn’t over yet, right?
Pei Ningle took a deep breath and began the final high note:
“I see every ordinary day,
Turn into fresh miracles…”
Singing to this point, Liang Kun’s screen lowered, revealing his face.
“I see those brilliant rainbows,
Shining into lonely dreams,
I hear the harp playing crystals,
Weaving into beautiful poems,
I see you…”
As the final line ended with lingering notes, Chu Tianjian and Liu Jiang, the two most experienced mentors, also pushed their levers at the same time.
Pei Ningle took a few breaths, calmed her mood, and was stunned to realize that all four mentors had shown approval for her. In an instant, her emotions soared again.
Liang Kun spoke first: “Introduce yourself first.”
The young girl patted her chest and said into the microphone: “Hello everyone, hello mentors, my name is Pei Ningle, I’m 19 years old, and I’m a bar resident singer.”
Chu Tianjian couldn’t help laughing: “We were just saying, the musicians coming on stage are getting younger and younger, all in their early twenties. And now here’s an even younger one, not even twenty yet.”
Liu Jiang asked: “You’re only nineteen and already a bar resident singer? Didn’t you continue studying?”
Pei Ningle bit her lower lip, feeling this question was a bit tricky… After high school graduation, she didn’t go to university or even college, but ran off to sing in a bar. Would this answer seem bad?
But since it was a fact, what was there to avoid?
The young girl suddenly calmed down and answered frankly: “My Gaokao grades weren’t good enough for the university I wanted, so I decided to do something else I love. I made a bet with my mom and dad: if I don’t make a name for myself within a year, I’ll obediently go home and continue studying.”
Peng Xiaoya asked: “If you don’t make progress within a year, will you really give up music?”
“I’ll go back to studying,” Pei Ningle shook her head gently, “but I won’t give up music. In the future, I’ll find an ordinary job to support myself, and then continue making my own music.”
Peng Xiaoya pressed: “What makes you so persistent?”
Pei Ningle: “Passion. Whatever I love, I have to pursue it with all my life’s strength until my dreams come true.”
The four mentors simultaneously burst into applause. The audience seats also erupted in applause.
“This kid has real ambition!”
“Impressive, such a steadfast mindset!”
In the audience seats, unlike those whispering around him, Wang Heng sat with his arms crossed, motionless, like an expressionless wax figure.
On the stage, after listening to more praise and recruitment from the mentors, Pei Ningle finally had to face that question.
Liang Kun asked: “Choose now—which of us four mentors do you pick?”
Pei Ningle barely hesitated before looking at the only female mentor: “I choose Teacher Peng Xiaoya, because she was the first to acknowledge me.”
Liang Kun was stunned on the spot: “Just for that?”
Pei Ningle blinked and asked back: “Isn’t that enough?”
Liang Kun: “…”
Chu Tianjian: “…”
Liu Jiang clapped and laughed: “Such a straightforward young person, wonderful!”
————
The recording of the first episode of the program ended.
As soon as Liang Kun left the venue, he called his old friend.
Soon, Chang Wen picked up and asked: “What’s up?”
Liang Kun: “That little girl doesn’t need me to look out for her anymore—she picked Peng Xiaoya, not me!”
Chang Wen: “She probably isn’t Peng Xiaoya’s fan, right? Why?”
Liang Kun recalled the scene from moments ago and said in a low voice: “She said she’d pick whoever selected her first…”
“Hahahaha,” Chang Wen burst out laughing immediately, “No helping it then—who told you to be slow? You’ve heard that song before, why didn’t you lock it in earlier?”
Liang Kun said helplessly: “I wanted to hear her high notes first—otherwise, how would I know if her high notes were real or post-production fixes?”
Chang Wen: “I told you, I’ve heard her live—it’s definitely solid!”
Liang Kun: “Do you understand a mentor’s rigor? A mentor’s rigor!”
Chang Wen laughed: “No helping it—you’re as rigorous as she is straightforward.”
“She’s too straightforward…” Liang Kun sighed, “After recording the whole episode, Liu Jiang got three, Chu Tianjian two, Peng Xiaoya two. And me? Zero!”
Chang Wen: “No helping it—try harder next episode. By the way, does your competition still require contestants to write new songs later?”
Liang Kun: “No new songs needed—just this one, rearranged, and later we might sing it together with our mentors, with some music media judges.”
Chang Wen: “That’s good… She doesn’t have many songs, none on the same level as Dawn. If they had to pick a second song, she’d be at a big disadvantage.”
Liang Kun teased: “If I hadn’t seen what she looks like in person, with how much you’re caring, I’d definitely think she’s your secret daughter!”
Chang Wen couldn’t help asking: “Why, after seeing her in person, do you think she couldn’t be related to me?”
Liang Kun: “She’s way cuter than you…”
Chang Wen: “Get lost!”
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