Tender

Lin Ting paused for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening and closed the door to prevent anyone from bumping into her.

After he went in, he checked and found that the curtains were drawn. Then he looked at Zhao Qinfeng, who was sitting on his bed with an innocent expression.

"Why didn't you turn on the light? It's scary." Lin Ting reached out and flicked Zhao Qinfeng's forehead.

"I was tired of waiting and was thinking of taking a nap here, but you came back as soon as I turned off the lights, so I didn't know whether I should say anything or not," Zhao Qinfeng explained, covering his head.

Lin Ting reluctantly accepted his explanation and handed the late-night snack to Zhao Qinfeng, saying, "This restaurant is pretty good. I brought you some. Just eat it in my room, and then go back to rest."

Zhao Qinfeng stood up, put his arm around Lin Ting's waist, and placed the late-night snack on the table in an awkward hugging motion, while resting his head on Lin Ting's shoulder.

Lin Ting reached out and put her arm around Zhao Qinfeng's back, letting him lean against her.

This unreserved embrace felt like a human recharging process, and Lin Ting felt very at ease.

After hugging for a while, Zhao Qinfeng let go and sat down at the table to eat a late-night snack.

There was only one stool in the room, so Lin Ting sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, casually scrolling through her phone behind Zhao Qinfeng.

"How was tonight? Did it go smoothly?" Zhao Qinfeng asked.

"It went quite smoothly," Lin Ting said, turning off his phone and putting it aside. "There was one student who left a deep impression on me. He was a student surnamed Chen, probably still a student studying architecture. His work was very interesting."

"This 'work' must refer to the songs he wrote?" Zhao Qinfeng couldn't help but confirm, since following "architecture" made it hard not to think of something like engineering drawings.

Lin Ting was both amused and exasperated. "It's a song."

Zhao Qinfeng exclaimed in surprise, "That's quite a leap..."

"Fortunately, another interview was scheduled for tonight. There were a few people interviewed with me before, and I didn't stand out much then, but after being given a second chance, I did have a brighter performance. In the end, it all comes down to opportunity, but opportunities are rare..."

Zhao Qinfeng strongly agrees, "Because the competition is too fierce, opportunities are rare at any stage."

Lin Ting asked, "What about you? Are you still trying to seize an opportunity?"

Zhao Qinfeng put down his chopsticks; this was clearly a question that required his serious consideration and careful answer.

"Yes, I remember telling you before that I need to keep surprising the audience, otherwise I will be forgotten very quickly. How to stabilize the existing exposure, meet everyone's expectations, and how to balance my career in terms of commerce and art, as well as the choices among various invitations, the improvement of songwriting and singing... At my stage, it is not difficult to support myself and even my own team, but this is only the foundation of everything. There is still a lot to work on."

After listening, Lin Ting felt it was no surprise. He knew that Zhao Qinfeng was very opinionated about his career, otherwise he would not have resolutely rejected the original company's contract renewal invitation and chosen to establish his own studio in an uncertain environment.

Lin Ting grabbed her clothes and prepared to go into the bathroom. "You eat slowly, I'll take a shower first."

Zhao Qinfeng turned around, nodded, and waved to him.

After taking a shower, Lin Ting brushed her teeth and washed her face. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw that Zhao Qinfeng had almost finished eating.

"Alright, it's getting late. Go back and rest after you've finished eating," Lin Ting said to Zhao Qinfeng, a towel on her head.

Zhao Qinfeng nodded, but went into the bathroom first.

Lin Ting was puzzled, but decided to tidy up the things on the table first.

Zhao Qinfeng returned quickly.

Without turning his head, Lin Ting asked, "What are you doing in the bathroom..."

Then a hand reached over his head, supported his cheek, and used a little force to turn Lin Ting's face at an angle.

Lin Ting's mouth was sealed shut, and Zhao Qinfeng easily pried open her slightly open mouth, which she had been completely unprepared for, and went deeper inside.

Having been kissed or initiated kisses quite a few times, Lin Ting was no longer as flustered as she had been at the beginning, but responded calmly.

He had just brushed his teeth, and his breath tasted minty. He had initially thought Zhao Qinfeng's breath might taste like the food he had just eaten, such as cumin mixed with salty and savory flavors. But in reality, the taste was very faint; he had to kiss him for quite a while to detect even a tiny bit of it.

As their lips parted, Lin Ting answered her own question as if it were her own mouth: "Oh, so you went to rinse your mouth."

He knew he was blushing again. It was strange; even though he was used to kissing, he still found himself unconsciously flustered by such an action.

Lin Ting added, "That's good too, then I won't have to brush my teeth again."

The slight romantic atmosphere created by the kiss was shattered by Lin Ting's two sentences. Zhao Qinfeng chuckled sullenly, kissed Lin Ting on the cheek, then said goodnight to him and tiptoed away.

Judging from the sounds outside, they probably didn't run into anyone.

The next day, the trainees who passed the audition gathered at the recording location and met with the six mentors and three guest commentators.

In addition to Lin Ting, the commentators included Professor Xu from the composition department of the music academy and Wang Qiong.

"Dear trainees, congratulations on passing the intense preliminary rounds and entering the next stage. Here, we hope that you can uphold the principle of 'friendship first, competition second,' get along well with your fellow trainees, learn from each other, and make progress together." Zhao Qinfeng held a microphone in one hand and a cue card in the other, reading out the instructions.

There were many trivial matters to attend to. Dormitories were assigned by drawing lots on-site, with students from the composition and singing tracks sharing rooms. Then there were the procedures and rules for the performances and competitions, as well as the music theory and vocal lessons scheduled later. Zhao Qinfeng flipped through the cue cards in his hand, reading for a long time, while also making sure everyone was listening.

Lin Ting was getting a little tired of listening, so he decided to ask Zhao Qinfeng later if he had received an extra salary for hosting.

"Special reminder..."

The voice suddenly changed. Lin Ting looked to his side and saw that it was a mentor from the creative track who had raised a microphone and cue cards.

He suddenly realized: the narrators were reading in rotation.

"Due to the impact of the pandemic, it's unfortunate that this show's recording will not have an audience present, unlike some past talent shows. But even if there's no one in the audience, you must understand that someone will be watching your performance intently from the other end of the internet, so please give it your best!"

"Actually, a live performance without an audience is closer to the state of just stepping onto the stage. Except for a very few lucky ones, most people don't get much attention when they first step onto the stage. But only by giving your all to perform in front of an empty audience can you have the chance to leave one listener after another."

Lin Ting was slightly moved. He looked at the mentors beside him. They all showed some emotions, some were sentimental, some were relieved, and some were not so empathetic.

The absence of an audience was a necessary arrangement due to the current situation; without the pandemic, a live audience would have been provided. However, after hearing what the mentor said, this arrangement seems to have a special meaning.

This gathering had a collective icebreaker feel to it. Instead of immediately asking the students to produce their work and compete to the death, they were asked to introduce themselves one by one and get to know each other.

There was even a Q&A session where the students swarmed around the mentors and asked them a lot of questions.

Lin Ting and the other two guest commentators watched from the sidelines with amusement as the six mentors were surrounded by everyone answering questions, squeezing out a legitimate break time from their busy filming schedule.

"Teacher Lin Ting!" A student emerged from the crowd, shouted, and walked towards him.

Lin Ting panicked for a moment, but forced himself to meet the other person's gaze and greeted them calmly.

"I really enjoy watching your videos. You've been so productive lately!" the student said eagerly.

Lin Ting shook hands with him, "Thank you for liking my videos. I have been updating quite frequently lately, but you are the first person to praise me in person."

The two chatted for a while, and then the student went back and stood with the other students in the same dormitory, continuing to ask the instructors questions.

Lin Ting quietly let out a breath. To be honest, it was quite rare to run into a friend who was interested in his videos in such a setting... Wait, he seemed to have run into one when he recorded the show last time.

Wang Qiong joked, "Teacher Lin, you're quite popular!"

Lin Ting laughed and said, "I still can't compare to Teacher Wang. You have more than ten times as many followers on Weibo as I do."

Professor Xu watched the two young people bickering and laughing quietly, smiling kindly.

Lin Ting felt that her joking around with Wang Qiong was leaving Professor Xu out in the cold, which was really unfair, so she took the initiative to strike up a conversation: "Hello Professor Xu, I remember you were busy with the preparation of the musical a while ago. What made you take time out of your busy schedule to participate in the recording of this program?"

Professor Xu felt a sense of goodwill upon hearing that this young woman knew what she had been busy with recently. She replied leisurely, "I'm very curious about the fresh blood in the music industry, and I happen to know the director, so I came to take a look."

The first showcase was scheduled for that evening, with the singing and songwriting tracks recorded together and alternating. Both the singing and songwriting tracks required participants to sing a complete song; the former chose an existing song, while the latter chose their own original work.

So after finishing their various chores in the afternoon, some trainees chose to go to the practice room arranged by the program team to continue practicing, while others chose to stay in their dormitories and get to know their roommates for the next period of time.

Lin Ting was carrying out the program's tasks as he moved between the karaoke rooms. In addition to him, Zhao Qinfeng from the singing track and a singer from the songwriting track also received the same task.

A photography teacher followed behind Lin Ting. Before knocking on the door, he mentally went over the process again, quickly preparing himself mentally, and then knocked.

Chen Taining opened the door. "Hello, Teacher Lin Ting."

"Hello Tai Ning, sorry to bother you. We're just here to watch the practice. It'll be over soon, just sing as usual," Lin Ting said kindly to him.

“Okay,” Chen Taining said. He still looked visibly nervous, but he continued singing while holding the sheet music.

After listening to a portion of the song, Lin Ting formed a general judgment. The quality of this song was slightly higher than the one she sang during the audition, making it a suitable choice for her initial performance.

Chen Taining looked at Lin Ting halfway through his song.

Lin Ting noticed his gaze, snapped out of her thoughts, and said to him, "You sang those two lines of the chorus too nervously; your voice was muffled in your throat. Try to relax a bit and sing it again."

Chen Taining complied and sang it again. Although he was indeed aware of the problem, he still sang it in a very dull way.

Lin Ting wanted to demonstrate it himself, but he was worried about misleading others and was a little anxious.

Just then, there was another knock on the door, and Zhao Qinfeng walked in.