Chapter 26: First public performance (1)
Jiang Fengchi waited until the staff uploaded Qiao Dai’s portrait on the official website before leaving. He watched the comments about her online for a while before turning off his phone.
“Teacher Jiang.”
The night wind had started blowing and when he heard a melodious voice, Jiang Fengchi stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look over and seemed surprised.
“Ruan Tao? Were you looking for me?”
Ruan Tao’s already slender figure looked even thinner in the darkness. She was standing not far from Jiang Fengchi, looking at him and a little hesitant to speak. She stared at him for a long time before quietly asking: “Was Teacher Jiang dealing with Qiao Dai’s issue?”
She wasn’t aware her father had been behind it; in her eyes, it had really been some unknown issue and Jiang Fengchi had been the one to solve it.
When the portraits had been uploaded earlier, Ruan Tao had seen Jiang Fengchi, who had just finished his class, return to the staff room and knew it had been about Qiao Dai’s photo. Her mood was a little complicated; she did not care how less popular her portrait was than Qiao Dai’s but was more concerned about the reason Jiang Fengchi would help her at this time.
Was it because he was her mentor? Or was it because he had himself encountered the unfairness and shady businesses of the circle, he had been particularly concerned about Qiao Dai’s incident? Ruan Tao was desperately trying to convince herself but she always felt uncomfortable in her heart. Even if she knew what type of man he was, many bizarre thoughts crossed her mind. Thoughts were weighing on her, leaving her unable to calm down for the upcoming performance. When she had seen Jiang Fengchi, she hadn’t been able to stop herself and had run to him to ask about his exact reason for helping Qiao Dai.
Afraid her words would make Jiang Fengchi overthink, she quickly added: “I just wanted to thank you on Qiao Dai’s behalf.”
Jiang Fengchi stared at the young girl for a while, before shaking his head and saying in a faint voice: “You don’t need to thank me, I didn’t solve this issue.”
He had contacted the Cheng group but when he had done so, the matter had already been resolved. He had simply stayed in the program group to check with his own eyes if they really were uploading the picture. As for how it had been resolved, none of this had anything to do with him.
Ruan Tao’s eyebrows raised slightly when she heard his answer, some disbelief in her eyes, but Jiang Fengchi had already changed the topic: “The performance will come soon enough, I won’t delay your training.”The girl was still lost in her thoughts but Jiang Fengchi had already politely excused himself. She watched him leave and as soon as he was out of sight, Ruan Tao clenched her fists. There was no her in his eyes. She had always been sensitive to the slightest emotion, and in Jiang Fengchi’s face, she was only an ordinary student, with nothing special about her. Had she been the one with an issue with her portrait, would have Jiang Fengchi worried as much as he had for Qiao Dai? In her heart, Ruan Tao knew the answer, and it was far from the one she wanted.
“Taotao, where did you go just now?”
Ruan Tao returned to the dance classroom where her ranked A Galaxy teammates were waiting for her. Seeing her come back with a pale face, they all stood up and asked about it in worry.
“It’s nothing, I just went to get some fresh air but the wind was blowing.” Ruan Tao shook her head and squeezed a smile. She walked to the mirror, raised her voice in fake enthusiasm, and said: “Let’s continue.”
In no way she could keep on like this, or she would get farther and farther away from Jiang Fengchi. She needed to attract his attention and her best opportunity would be the upcoming performance. Ruan Tao gritted her teeth silently and took a deep breath.
***
On the second day after the portraits were uploaded, the program group announced the performance’s details.
In addition to the repertoire, the program group provided them with nine five-member groups, four eight-member groups, and two twelve-member groups, a total of fifteen songs. The eleven girls of Class A would be captains and the remaining four would be chosen with a quiz among the four other classes; the player who would win first place in each class would become captain and the players would be selected in turn, according to the captain’s ranking.
In order to create some suspense, the fifteen songs were not made public. Only the fifteen captains were able to enter the selection room and choose after listening to the suggestions of the four instructors. Not only the lesser ranked captains would have less choice, they would also not know which songs had been picked up first.
By the time Qiao Dai entered the selection room, a few songs were already missing on the wall.
Zheng Taijing remembered the player who had made her way to Class A with her finger dance. Instead of giving her advice right away, he asked with some curiosity: “Qiao Dai, which song do you like? Is there one you want to choose?”
His gaze swept over the wall. Although he wasn’t saying anything yet, he had already thought of a suitable track for her.
Twelve-person performances were the most difficult and could be put aside. As for the remaining five-person and eight-person songs, the most popular ones had already been chosen. Zheng Taijing felt that her choosing an urban song or a sweet one was the most appropriate but he didn’t know whether she would or not.
Hearing Zheng Taijing’s questions, Qiao Dai looked up and glanced at all the songs on the wall before her eyes were suddenly attracted by a title. She raised her hand and pointed at it.
“Teacher, can I choose this one?”
The four mentors looked at the direction she pointed and read “Treading water”. They exchanged glances with each other with some surprise and Zheng Taijing confirmed: “Are you sure you want to choose “Treading water”? It is adapted from traditional dances and songs, with many national elements such as opera tunes. It requires a lot of technique.”
Qiao Dai nodded and the teacher looked at her with some admiration. The song was very special and was completely different from the others. If it was performed well, it was easy to make an impression.
“Fengchi, what do you think?”
As admirative as he was, Zheng Taijing didn’t agree right away. He turned around to ask the opinions of the other instructors, after all, no matter how good the song was, if the performance wasn’t good, it would be terrible. He didn’t want to push it, he would rather make sure contestants would choose a song that suited them instead of a too complicated one.
The room was very quiet. Jiang Fengchi looked at the repertoire in his hand and couldn’t help but think of Qiao Dai’s underwater portrait. The sound of running water rang in his ears, never stopping. This might indeed be a tune that suited her.
“I am looking forward to your performance.” After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Fengchi finally agreed. As soon as he said that, he added: “Practice hard, and if there is anything you don’t understand, come see us at any time.”
Lu Cong also nodded in agreement, his voice much softer than usual: “You gave me a huge surprise during the first rating. Now that you have chosen this song, I am very eager to see your next stage.”
And that was it, Qiao Dai had selected her song without any problem.
When she came out of the room, the rest of the players who were still waiting in line were taken aback. Nobody had expected it would be so fast. Didn’t Qiao Dai need to think about it for a while? It was the first public performance, if she failed, she would lose all of her chances.
The girls looked at Qiao Dai’s relaxed face and pressure rose in their hearts. At the same time, they couldn’t help but be a little admirative; after all, only great players could act so calmly in this situation.
After the selection was over, they were divided into groups. The fifteen team’s captains selected their members according to their ranking. There was no surprise in the whole process, except for when Song Yiqi refused other captains to instead join Qiao Dai’s group. Upon seeing this, the players looked at each other, all with different expressions.
Teams would train separately and until the day of the performance, no one would know who was performing what. This was not only to create suspense and attract the audience, but also to have the tension and excitement rise among the girls; the unknown was their biggest fear and motivator. Because they didn’t know anything concerning their opponents, they could only redouble their efforts and make sure they went all out on the day of their stage.
Chapter 26: First public performance (1)
Jiang Fengchi waited until the staff uploaded Qiao Dai’s portrait on the official website before leaving. He watched the comments about her online for a while before turning off his phone.
“Teacher Jiang.”
The night wind had started blowing and when he heard a melodious voice, Jiang Fengchi stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look over and seemed surprised.
“Ruan Tao? Were you looking for me?”
Ruan Tao’s already slender figure looked even thinner in the darkness. She was standing not far from Jiang Fengchi, looking at him and a little hesitant to speak. She stared at him for a long time before quietly asking: “Was Teacher Jiang dealing with Qiao Dai’s issue?”
She wasn’t aware her father had been behind it; in her eyes, it had really been some unknown issue and Jiang Fengchi had been the one to solve it.
When the portraits had been uploaded earlier, Ruan Tao had seen Jiang Fengchi, who had just finished his class, return to the staff room and knew it had been about Qiao Dai’s photo. Her mood was a little complicated; she did not care how less popular her portrait was than Qiao Dai’s but was more concerned about the reason Jiang Fengchi would help her at this time.
Was it because he was her mentor? Or was it because he had himself encountered the unfairness and shady businesses of the circle, he had been particularly concerned about Qiao Dai’s incident? Ruan Tao was desperately trying to convince herself but she always felt uncomfortable in her heart. Even if she knew what type of man he was, many bizarre thoughts crossed her mind. Thoughts were weighing on her, leaving her unable to calm down for the upcoming performance. When she had seen Jiang Fengchi, she hadn’t been able to stop herself and had run to him to ask about his exact reason for helping Qiao Dai.
Afraid her words would make Jiang Fengchi overthink, she quickly added: “I just wanted to thank you on Qiao Dai’s behalf.”
Jiang Fengchi stared at the young girl for a while, before shaking his head and saying in a faint voice: “You don’t need to thank me, I didn’t solve this issue.”
He had contacted the Cheng group but when he had done so, the matter had already been resolved. He had simply stayed in the program group to check with his own eyes if they really were uploading the picture. As for how it had been resolved, none of this had anything to do with him.
Ruan Tao’s eyebrows raised slightly when she heard his answer, some disbelief in her eyes, but Jiang Fengchi had already changed the topic: “The performance will come soon enough, I won’t delay your training.”The girl was still lost in her thoughts but Jiang Fengchi had already politely excused himself. She watched him leave and as soon as he was out of sight, Ruan Tao clenched her fists. There was no her in his eyes. She had always been sensitive to the slightest emotion, and in Jiang Fengchi’s face, she was only an ordinary student, with nothing special about her. Had she been the one with an issue with her portrait, would have Jiang Fengchi worried as much as he had for Qiao Dai? In her heart, Ruan Tao knew the answer, and it was far from the one she wanted.
“Taotao, where did you go just now?”
Ruan Tao returned to the dance classroom where her ranked A Galaxy teammates were waiting for her. Seeing her come back with a pale face, they all stood up and asked about it in worry.
“It’s nothing, I just went to get some fresh air but the wind was blowing.” Ruan Tao shook her head and squeezed a smile. She walked to the mirror, raised her voice in fake enthusiasm, and said: “Let’s continue.”
In no way she could keep on like this, or she would get farther and farther away from Jiang Fengchi. She needed to attract his attention and her best opportunity would be the upcoming performance. Ruan Tao gritted her teeth silently and took a deep breath.
***
On the second day after the portraits were uploaded, the program group announced the performance’s details.
In addition to the repertoire, the program group provided them with nine five-member groups, four eight-member groups, and two twelve-member groups, a total of fifteen songs. The eleven girls of Class A would be captains and the remaining four would be chosen with a quiz among the four other classes; the player who would win first place in each class would become captain and the players would be selected in turn, according to the captain’s ranking.
In order to create some suspense, the fifteen songs were not made public. Only the fifteen captains were able to enter the selection room and choose after listening to the suggestions of the four instructors. Not only the lesser ranked captains would have less choice, they would also not know which songs had been picked up first.
By the time Qiao Dai entered the selection room, a few songs were already missing on the wall.
Zheng Taijing remembered the player who had made her way to Class A with her finger dance. Instead of giving her advice right away, he asked with some curiosity: “Qiao Dai, which song do you like? Is there one you want to choose?”
His gaze swept over the wall. Although he wasn’t saying anything yet, he had already thought of a suitable track for her.
Twelve-person performances were the most difficult and could be put aside. As for the remaining five-person and eight-person songs, the most popular ones had already been chosen. Zheng Taijing felt that her choosing an urban song or a sweet one was the most appropriate but he didn’t know whether she would or not.
Hearing Zheng Taijing’s questions, Qiao Dai looked up and glanced at all the songs on the wall before her eyes were suddenly attracted by a title. She raised her hand and pointed at it.
“Teacher, can I choose this one?”
The four mentors looked at the direction she pointed and read “Treading water”. They exchanged glances with each other with some surprise and Zheng Taijing confirmed: “Are you sure you want to choose “Treading water”? It is adapted from traditional dances and songs, with many national elements such as opera tunes. It requires a lot of technique.”
Qiao Dai nodded and the teacher looked at her with some admiration. The song was very special and was completely different from the others. If it was performed well, it was easy to make an impression.
“Fengchi, what do you think?”
As admirative as he was, Zheng Taijing didn’t agree right away. He turned around to ask the opinions of the other instructors, after all, no matter how good the song was, if the performance wasn’t good, it would be terrible. He didn’t want to push it, he would rather make sure contestants would choose a song that suited them instead of a too complicated one.
The room was very quiet. Jiang Fengchi looked at the repertoire in his hand and couldn’t help but think of Qiao Dai’s underwater portrait. The sound of running water rang in his ears, never stopping. This might indeed be a tune that suited her.
“I am looking forward to your performance.” After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Fengchi finally agreed. As soon as he said that, he added: “Practice hard, and if there is anything you don’t understand, come see us at any time.”
Lu Cong also nodded in agreement, his voice much softer than usual: “You gave me a huge surprise during the first rating. Now that you have chosen this song, I am very eager to see your next stage.”
And that was it, Qiao Dai had selected her song without any problem.
When she came out of the room, the rest of the players who were still waiting in line were taken aback. Nobody had expected it would be so fast. Didn’t Qiao Dai need to think about it for a while? It was the first public performance, if she failed, she would lose all of her chances.
The girls looked at Qiao Dai’s relaxed face and pressure rose in their hearts. At the same time, they couldn’t help but be a little admirative; after all, only great players could act so calmly in this situation.
After the selection was over, they were divided into groups. The fifteen team’s captains selected their members according to their ranking. There was no surprise in the whole process, except for when Song Yiqi refused other captains to instead join Qiao Dai’s group. Upon seeing this, the players looked at each other, all with different expressions.
Teams would train separately and until the day of the performance, no one would know who was performing what. This was not only to create suspense and attract the audience, but also to have the tension and excitement rise among the girls; the unknown was their biggest fear and motivator. Because they didn’t know anything concerning their opponents, they could only redouble their efforts and make sure they went all out on the day of their stage.
