Chapter 9: Draft
On the day of the competition, Su Jinli emerged from a hotel near the venue. His studio was a bit far from the competition site, so Hou Yong brought Su Jinli here a day in advance to avoid any delays.
Hou Yong took advantage of his old classmate relationship with Zhang Heming to persuade him, and eventually gained permission for them to arrive early and allow the makeup artist of the crew to assist Su Jinli with his makeup.
Su Jinli carefully walked towards the set, clutching at his clothes, fearful of getting them dirty.
His clothing was of ancient style, with a combination of white and a shade of mint green. The cuffs and collar were adorned with intricate gold embroidery, and as he walked, his robes billowed gracefully.
Upon arriving at the venue, only a few staff members were preparing the scene. After making a few phone calls, Hou Yong found the make-up artist.
The make-up artist was originally sitting on a chair, sending messages. Upon seeing Su Jinli's clothes, her gaze was immediately drawn to him. She looked up at Su Jinli and couldn't help but be stunned.
After realizing her reaction, she immediately stood up and said to Su Jinli, "You look so handsome."
Su Jinli smiled and responded.
The makeup artist was supposed to be a man, but dressed a bit like a woman, with flamboyant attire. He deliberately spoke with a soft voice, which Su Jinli found somewhat novel, but not unpleasant.
After Su Jinli sat down, the makeup artist looked at him and asked, "Don't you have a wig?"
Su Jinli shook his head and answered, "I didn't prepare one."
"How do you want me to style your hair then?" The makeup artist touched Su Jinli's face as he spoke. "Your skin is so good, what do you usually apply?"
"Da Bao."
"Uh..."
"Hou Ge left half a bottle for me."
"Even if you have good skin, you still need sunscreen. Do you know that UV rays are our beauty killer?" The makeup artist spoke while patting her own cheek and winked at Su Jinli.
"Okay, I'll remember."
The makeup artist, named Bobo, didn't waste much time introducing himself to Su Jinli while he was fixing his hair. "My name is Bobo."
"Hello, I'm Su Jinli," Su Jinli replied.
Bobo was quite troubled when designing Su Jinli's hairstyle. He made Su Jinli stand up three times, carefully examining his clothing and even asking what song Su Jinli would be singing.
In the later stages, Su Jinli hummed a tune while Bobo assisted him with his styling.
Bobo thought it sounded good and even took out her phone to record it.
"If you do a live broadcast, you could become popular. Your voice sounds so good without any tuning," Bobo said to Su Jinli after pressing the stop button.
"Thank you, Bobo."
Bobo was someone who was attracted to good-looking people and liked to chat with them more. So she also advised Su Jinli, "You know, when you enter the group later, perform well. Maybe many eyes will be watching you."
"Okay."
"I hope won't be stupid."
After finishing his styling, Su Jinli looked at himself in the mirror and noticed quite a few changes. He seemed more refined, and his demeanor had changed accordingly.
Bobo gathered all of his hair and fixed it to the top of his head, intentionally making it slightly fluffy, and tied it into a small bun.
Next, she found a wig that matched his hair color and placed it on top of the bun.
She even made a hair ornament on the spot and put it on him, making it look like he had real long hair.
His face is small and fair, with delicate and handsome features that become even more evident when his face is fully exposed to everyone present. As for his makeup, Bobo did not opt for heavy eyebrows or exaggerated eye makeup. Su Jinli already had a clean, boyish look, and Bobo's design for him was an elegant gentleman image.
After the makeup was done, it carried a hint of scholarly elegance and a touch of melancholy. "Remember to slightly squint your eyes," Bobo said while holding her phone and taking a photo of Su Jinli.
"'Why?" he asked.
"Closing your eyes slightly will make you appear more scheming. Do you know that squinting your eyes gives people a sense of unfathomable depth? Your eye corners naturally droop, giving you a smiling expression, but the effect is better when you squint slightly."
"What does 'scheming' mean?"
"It means that you appear very clever."
Su Jinli seemed to understand, but still nodded. "Bobo, you're amazing."
"The styling looks good, right?"
"Uh-huh, it looks like I really have long hair."
"Is this all?" Bobo's expression fell.
"No! I also have a hair crown," he replied.
Bobo waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright. You go and participate in the competition."
"Okay! Thank you, Bobo."
After saying that, he left happily.
Bobo watched him leave, pinched her waist, couldn't help but laugh, and muttered to herself, "Silly, but quite cute."
Upon entering the preparation hall, Hou Yong couldn't follow Su Jinli anymore. He registered at the door and walked into the corridor, looking around and couldn't help but open his mouth in amazement. He thought it was a pity.
The corridor was decorated luxuriously, with a long light path on the floor and triangular lights indicating the direction of travel. It was a shame that there were so many mirrors in the corridor, but none of them were whole. They were all triangular fragments, pasted on the walls. Did the mirrors break and they decided to use them as wall decor?
'They can do this too in their studio,' he thought.
As he walked around the corner of the corridor, he came across a table with large mirrors on both sides. Finally a whole mirror.
The mirror had a sentence written on it: "Please write your own number plate."
Below it was a prompt in brackets: "(Registration number, name, feel free to add anything else!)"
He looked at the things on the table and was pleasantly surprised to see a brush, so he opened the inkstone, rolled up his sleeves, ground the ink, and then wrote his number and name on the card with the brush: "23 Su Jinli".
After writing his number plate, he picked it up and continued walking inside. At this point, a staff member reminded him, "There is adhesive behind it, you can tear it off and stick it on your body."
"The ink is not dry yet, can I wait a bit before sticking it?" he asked.
"Oh, yes you can," the staff member replied.
He continued walking inside but couldn't understand why the corridor was so long. He walked for a long time before reaching the door. He knocked on it and then walked in.
As he entered, the first thing he saw was that the whole room was made of mirrors.
After being shocked for a moment, Su Jinli noticed that there were other people in the room who were all looking at him. He immediately bowed slightly and nodded in response.
There were both men and women in the room, some of whom responded to him while others ignored him.
Su Jinli was number 23 and there were 22 people waiting in the room in front of him.
Some were wearing headphones, listening to music and looking at their phones. Others were practicing their dance moves in front of the mirror, and some were sitting together chatting.
Because Su Jinli had good hearing, he found a corner to sit in after entering the room and overheard someone discussing him.
"Wow, he came in costume, so grand!"
"He's probably going to sing a traditional song, so unique. He's the most special one in the whole room."
"A calculated move."
"But he's really good-looking, so handsome..."
Su Jinli held his number plate, waiting for the ink to dry before sticking it on his body.
While sitting and waiting, he suddenly remembered Bobo's words and couldn't help but look around at the mirrors. He looked up as well but didn't notice anything special.
Before coming here, Hou Yong and Brother De had taught him about cameras, microphones and other equipment.
Su Jinli didn't see any cameras in the room, but he did see some equipment covered with cloth, probably stored here.
Gradually, more people came in and the lounge became less quiet.
The lounge was spacious enough to hold a total of 60 chairs.
The order of entry seemed to be based on the order in which they arrived at the venue. Despite being early, Su Jinli was delayed due to makeup and ended up being the 23rd person to enter.
As more people entered, there were different types of individuals, some glancing at each other while others were focused on their own world.
At this moment, someone opened the door and walked in with great momentum.
The lounge suddenly became restless, and someone whispered, "Is that An Zhihan?"
"Who is An Zhihan?"
"An Zhiyan's younger brother."
"Oh my god, why would someone from such a prestigious family come and compete for a spot with us?"
After An Zhihan walked in, he looked around and quickly noticed Su Jinli in his costume. He smiled and walked over to Su Jinli, asking, "Your outfit looks great."
"Jinli, you're here too!" Chang Siyin was excited to see Su Jinli and walked over to him.
Su Jinli immediately stood up and greeted them.
As he looked up, he saw one of the boys who had criticized him earlier standing awkwardly behind them.
An Zhihan sat down next to Su Jinli in a carefree manner, with his arm draped over the back of Su Jinli's chair, and sighed unhappily, "Why does the hallway take up so much space, like we're going to run a marathon?"
Su Jinli was already nervous about An Zhihan's aura, and his discomfort only increased when An Zhihan assumed this position. He twisted his posture and tried to stay as far away from An Zhihan as possible.
Su Jinli tried to make small talk, "The lights in the hallway are pretty nice."
"Do you want me to take two of them down and give them to you?"
"No, no, no...that's okay." Why was this person so presumptuous?
Seeing that there were no more chairs next to Su Jinli, Chang Siyin had to sit next to An Zhihan and leaned over to Su Jinli, "Jinli, you look pretty good in your costume."
"Your clothes look good too," Su Jinli complimented.
"They were made by the company," replied the other person.
"Really? That's great," Su Jinli said with envy. He had his own clothes tailor-made and paid for them with Yura's money.
An Zhihan glanced at Su Jinli's number, "Number 23? You had to enter pretty early."
"Yeah, that's right," Su Jinli confirmed.
"I'm number 56, I'll probably have to sit at the very end. I wonder if they'll provide a lunch box at noon?"
Su Jinli shook his head. He hadn't even had breakfast yet and felt a bit aggrieved at the thought.
After An Zhihan and the others arrived, they were already quite late. The door was officially closed after the last male student entered.
Immediately after, a large screen appeared directly in front of them, descending from the gap in the wall and hanging in mid-air for everyone to see.
Su Jinli, who came from the mountains, was not used to this kind of technology. When he saw the large screen drop down, he was momentarily shocked and his eyes widened in amazement.
He quickly calmed down as the big screen started up and began playing a video. He watched it attentively.
The first thing to play was a promotional video for their program, like a slideshow, that lasted less than a minute. The limited budget made it not particularly impressive, but it was enough to quiet the 60 young people in attendance.
The promotional video had an unexpected awkward effect.
After the room had quieted down, the big screen displayed the stage.
The first person to walk out of the hallway was a man who looked of average height and build, but walked with an imposing air. As soon as he emerged, someone exclaimed, "Teacher Han Kai!" Su Jinli didn't recognize any of these celebrities and just watched silently. Then he heard someone nearby commenting, "Who is Han Kai?" It turned out he wasn't the only one who didn't know. Along with An Zhihan, a male colleague from the same company asked, "Is he an older senior?" This question was quite polite.
"Who's he?" An Zhihan looked at the big screen and replied after thinking, "He's a singer. Some people from your dad's generation might like him. But...he sings folk music, which is more niche and hasn't really taken off. After all, your dad's generation prefers songs they can dance to in the square."
"Oh..." the boy responded.
"He's talented, with a good foundation," An Zhihan commented. He could have ended there, but decided to add, "He also looks talented with that stubble. He looks like a rock singer. But if you're going to sing folk music, you should tone it down a bit. Looking at him gives me the feeling of eating black pepper."
Chang Siyin had been nodding along, but couldn't help but burst out laughing at An Zhihan's comment.
Following that, a girl entered and it was evident that she had a good figure. Even before she came out, An Zhihan recognized her: "Cang Ai."
It was really Cang Ai who came out a while later.
"Amazing!" Chang Siyin exclaimed.
"You can tell just by looking at her figure," An Zhihan replied, turning to Su Jinli who still seemed unaware. He then introduced, "She's a female singer who used to be part of a girl group. Now she's a solo artist. She's pretty and has a great figure."
Chang Siyin seemed to have spotted a goddess and was very excited as he added, "She sings well and dances great too."
An Zhihan was a bit of a chatterbox and immediately asked, "With such a beautiful girl in front of you, can you still look at anything else?"
"Of course I can, talent cannot be hidden," he replied.
"I can't see that, in my mind she's just beautiful, oh my goodness, so beautiful. Then a song ends, she finishes dancing, and I can't remember what she did before that."
" She's my goddess," Chang Siyin answered.
An Zihan found it interesting and responded with a smile, "I remember her because of her name. It sounds like a family name for the Cang Ai clan. It's powerful that she didn't change it when she debuted. I heard that her previous group was called the 'Too Cool for School' group because of her."
Su Jinli looked at them explaining and felt like an outsider.
Then he looked at the big screen and realized that this girl wasn't as well-proportioned as Yura. He still vividly remembered how Yura looked in a dress.
He didn't know that when he first came to the world, he met the champion of a beauty pageant and then went to the Muzitao company to apply for a job and met a group of people who wanted to become idols.
The starting point is too high, so the standards are also very high,
After that, two more people came out, one man and one woman.
The woman's name was Xiao Yuhua, also a talented singer. Her songs are popular and considered must-play in KTVs, but she isn't very popular herself, mainly because her appearance isn't that great.
The man's name was Gu Ju, An Zihan didn't mention who he was, and he looked about the same age as them. Later, he introduced himself on the show and they found out that he was a newly debuted artist. He seems to have released an album, but the possibility of it flopping is very high.
The four judges had already come out.
Out of the four people, only Cang Ai is relatively famous. The others are either has-beens or haven't made it big yet, making the team quite disappointing.
At that moment, another person walked out of the passage, tall and with a figure that could be seen from just the outline, as if he were a model.
"No way..." An Zhihan couldn't help muttering when she saw his silhouette.
When An Zhiyan finally came out, An Zhihan immediately rolled her eyes amidst the cheers of the others.
"He's an actor. What's he doing here causing trouble? Can we still watch this show with him on it?" An Zhihan couldn't help but comment after seeing him.
When Su Jinli saw An Zhiyan also appear, he entered a disheartened state, his face turning a bit pale.
How could he continue participating in this program with two other handsome men present?
"Isn't he your brother?" Chang Siyin's eyes lit up at the sight of An Zhiyan, a rising star, and said, "With him here, the ratings are guaranteed, right?"
"It's my brother, but what's he doing on this kind of show? He can't even dance. He sang a song at a New Year's Eve party and got caught lip-syncing. It was on the trending page of Weibo for several days. How can he have the nerve to come here?"
The closest sibling sells the harshest truth.
Immediately afterwards, An Zhiyan took the microphone and introduced himself, "Hello everyone, I'm An Zhiyan. I'm quite nervous to be on this show, as it's my first time crossing over to hosting."
An Zhihan listened and her disdain lessened slightly, "Oh...a host, huh?"
At this point, on the recording side, the judges had already taken their seats. An Zhiyan chatted with them, breaking the ice at the beginning of the program.
Immediately afterwards, Cang Ai took the initiative to ask An Zhiyan, "I looked at the list of participants for the program and it consists of 40 trainees and 20 amateurs who participated in the audition. There is a very special contestant among them."
Han Kai responded, "Yes, I noticed that too."
An Zhiyan stood on stage, smiled upon hearing this, and didn't shy away from asking directly, "Could you be talking about our family's scandal?"
"Hmm, family scandal?" Han Kai asked, confused.
"I mean the kind of family scandal that should not be exposed to the public," An Zhiyan clarified.
This was clearly a joke, but An Zhihan was so angry that she was breathing heavily. He was about to curse, but then Su Jinli, who had been silent all this time, spoke up: "That phrase isn't meant to describe people."
An Zhihan turned to look at Su Jinli and burst out laughing.
"Have you read 'Wudeng Huiyuan'?" Su Jinli asked. (Note: 'Wudeng Huiyuan' is a Chinese Buddhist text that discusses the principles of Chan Buddhism.)
"What...what is it?"
"The origin of that phrase."
"Oh..." An Zhihan realized that he couldn't connect with Su Jinli.
At this point, An Zhiyan spoke up, "But since he's already here, let him perform first."
An Zhihan was shocked and exclaimed, "Isn't it supposed to be in order?"
An Zhiyan was serious and had already had staff members backstage find An Zihan and her group, allowing them to perform first.
An Zhihan quickly stood up while adjusting his clothes and exclaimed, "Is that my own brother? Oh my god!"
Su Jinli, however, breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he waved goodbye to An Zihan, feeling a sense of joy that he was finally leaving.
An Zihan was momentarily stunned when he saw Su Jinli's smiling face. It was the first time he had ever seen Su Jinli smile at him.
However, An Zhihan didn't stay long as he had to go participate in the competition. He quickly made his way to the exit.
Soon after, An Zhihan's group appeared on stage with An Zhiyan standing by their side, allowing them to introduce themselves.
"Are you performing as a group?" An Zhiyan asked them.
After exchanging glances with each other, An Zhihan was the one who answered, "Actually, we just decided to team up temporarily."
"Is it because the company knew that you would embarrass yourself if you went up alone, that's why they arranged it like this?"
An Zhihan felt like laughing after hearing this, but he held back and asked in return, "Can you please say less?"
"How should I talk to my brother?"
"I don't believe you can beat me up on stage."
While listening to their conversation, Zang Ai found it particularly interesting and asked, "An Zhihan, does your older brother beat you up at home?"
An Zhihan held the microphone and opened up about An Zhiyan's misbehavior, saying, "Often. When we were younger, we were playing at home and accidentally broke a vintage vase belonging to our dad. We both thought he would be angry, so we agreed to take the blame together. But just as our dad's car entered the courtyard, my brother started spanking my butt.
When our dad came in and saw what was happening, he felt sorry for me and said, 'Okay, son, don't get tired.' Then, he took me from my brother and continued beating me. But my brother was fine."
After listening to them, all four judges burst out laughing. An Zhiyan was also at a loss for words, and followed with an awkward laugh.
Only Su Jinli listened carefully and murmured, "Hmm, really bad."
His brother, on the other hand, is not like that. His brother is especially protective of him.
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