Chapter 350 Just a Little Bit (Second update is here, please vote!)

After a brief chat with Chen Ziyan, Lu Yanhe went to take the final exam for one of his courses this semester, and everything went smoothly.

After finishing the exam, he packed his backpack and headed to the studio of Icefield Video.

The recording of "Idol Era" was jointly handled by two platforms, Jingtai and Bingyuan Video. As it is a weekly program, it also adopted a rare "director + dual teams" production model to ensure quality.

The episode that Lu Yanhe participated in was recorded by Bingyuan Video.

Zou Dong and Wang Biao were waiting for him at the school gate.

When Wang Biao saw him, he immediately waved excitedly with a bright smile, called out "Brother Lu," and ran over with an iced latte.

"Brother Lu, how did your exam go?"

"Not bad," Lu Yanhe replied with a smile.

He should have fewer classes this semester, so the pressure of preparing for exams isn't that great, and he's prepared very well.

Wang Biao said, "That's good. I was worried that the voices online would affect your performance on the exam."

“It’s not that serious,” Lu Yanhe said. “It seems like these kinds of questions come up every few months.”

“But this time it’s mostly Ma Zhiyuan’s fans causing trouble!” Wang Biao immediately added aggressively. “Some media outlets have already dug it out. The people who are stirring up trouble online the most are all Ma Zhiyuan’s fans.”

Lu Yanhe: "Is that so? It's alright, we'll see the real test tonight anyway."

"Aren't you angry at all?" Wang Biao looked at Lu Yanhe in shock, surprised by Lu Yanhe's reaction.

Lu Yanhe said, "I'm angry, but not that angry. It was something I could have predicted. From the beginning, he didn't want me to perform a duet with Li Zhibai. After their vote, we still had to perform on stage, so he was definitely unhappy. Now that I've given him an opportunity to exploit this, he'll naturally seize the chance."

Wang Biao: "So we're not going to fight back?"

"What are you going to retaliate against?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Wang Biao hesitated for a moment, stammering and thinking for a long time without knowing what to say.

At times like this, it seems that retaliating is useless.

The main point of their attack is that Lu Yanhe wrote three songs in one go, so the quality of the songs must not be high. Therefore, unless Lu Yanhe releases the songs, there is no point in saying anything more.

Only then did Wang Biao understand why Lu Yanhe had said, "Anyway, we'll see the real deal tonight."

-

Lu Yanhe and his group arrived at the recording site at 11:00 a.m.

The lounge is ready.

Xu Fanxing, who was assigned by the production team to handle the matter, was waiting at the door early on. After picking up Lu Yanhe and his group, they went to the lounge.

Lu Yanhe asked, "Sister Fanxing, have Li Zhibai and Yan Liang arrived yet?"

“Yan Liang has arrived, but Li Zhibai hasn’t; he’s on his way,” Xu Fanxing said. “However, Yan Liang is currently undergoing a preliminary interview, which is expected to last another half hour.”

“It’s nothing, I don’t have anything urgent to discuss with him,” Lu Yanhe said.

Xu Fanxing was initially quite worried about Lu Yanhe's condition, but seeing that Lu Yanhe had been in good spirits since he entered the room and did not seem to be affected by the online public opinion at all, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She reminded him, "Yan He, I heard that at 3 a.m. last night, Ma Zhiyuan suddenly contacted the production team to make changes to his stage performance."

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback when he heard this.

Xu Fanxing said, "However, we don't know what changes were made. It's very confidential. They rehearsed again early this morning. The scene was very secretive, and no information was leaked."

Lu Yanhe snapped out of his daze, nodded, and said, "Okay, I understand. Sister Fanxing, it's alright."

It's likely that Ma Zhiyuan has prepared some "secret weapon" for his show, which is why he's making it all so mysterious.

Lu Yanhe went into his lounge.

Xu Fanxing asked, "Shall I bring you your lunchbox now?"

“Okay.” Lu Yanhe nodded.

Xu Fanxing went there immediately.

Lu Yanhe sat down on the sofa and took out his laptop.

Zou Dong and Wang Biao then sat quietly to the side.

Lu Yanhe, holding his laptop, opened the document for "My Own Swordsman" and began revising the script for the third episode.

About fifteen minutes later, the boxed lunch was delivered.

Although Lu Yanhe did not make any requests, the production team still arranged a very lavish meal for him.

The three of them brought seven dishes and a soup.

"So lavish!" Lu Yanhe exclaimed in surprise. "Thank you, Sister Fanxing."

It was indeed a very lavish meal; it was all delivered from the Icefield Video Company's cafeteria, not takeout.

However, Xu Fanxing knew that Lu Yanhe's standards were only average compared to those of other artists.

Lu Yanhe was the only member of the team who did not make any demands regarding the boxed meals.

Of course, this doesn't mean that making requests is unreasonable. Yan Liang's request was very simple: he didn't want anything spicy and just wanted a soup. That's a perfectly normal request.

Some people make such demanding requests that the cafeteria staff get angry.

Xu Fanxing said, "Yan He, please prepare. We have an interview at 1:30 pm, which is expected to last about 30 to 45 minutes. The interview will be broadcast live and shown to netizens as a warm-up for the evening's live broadcast. This is the outline of the questions. They are all standard questions, but because of the public opinion this morning, a few questions about the public opinion have been added. You can take a look in advance. I have already sent these questions to Sister Ziyan, and she said they are fine."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Thank you."

Xu Fanxing then left.

Lu Yanhe said to Zou Dong and Wang Biao, "Let's eat something quickly first. After Li Zhibai and Yan Liang come over, we need to rehearse our positions again, rest for a while, and then we have to do the interview. After the interview, we need to do our styling and take promotional photos. There are a lot of things to do."

“Okay, okay.” Wang Biao immediately said, “Brother Lu, I’ve already discussed it with Sister Fanxing, and I will follow every step of the process.”

-

Li Xiaobin has a final exam this afternoon.

It's the end of June. After finishing the last few exams, summer vacation will begin.

However, what is a summer vacation for others to rest and go out and have fun is two months for Li Xiaobin to work and earn money.

He has already taken on three tutoring jobs, filling his summer vacation to the brim.

In this busy life, his only outlet is music.

What he's thinking about most today is the live broadcast of "Idol Era".

Before the exam, his mother called to ask if he would be coming home for dinner that night.

Li Xiaobin wanted to watch "Idol Era," so he said he was going back.

If you watch it in the dorm, your roommates are playing games, watching matches... all sorts of noises, there's no quiet environment at all.

When his mother heard him say he was going back, her tone immediately softened with a smile, and she asked, "What would you like to eat? Mom will make it for you."

Li Xiaobin said he wanted to eat sweet and sour pork ribs.

This is a dish he has loved since he was a child.

"Oh dear, after all these years, your taste hasn't changed at all," his mother muttered, then happily hung up the phone.

Li Xiaobin then entered the examination room.

He never expected to see Chen Siqi in this examination room.

The star student at school.

Lu Yanhe's girlfriend.

Editor-in-Chief of "Jump Up".

Chen Siqi sat by the window, wearing headphones, quietly reading and reviewing.

After Li Xiaobin sat down, he heard people around him whispering about something.

Upon closer listening, it was indeed about Chen Siqi and Lu Yanhe.

Li Xiaobin couldn't help but find it somewhat ridiculous.

Many people at school seemed to be wondering why Lu Yanhe was with Chen Siqi.

One is a big star, and the other is just an ordinary female college student who is somewhat pretty but unremarkable.

Everyone assumed that her position as editor-in-chief of "Jump Up" was due to Lu Yanhe's influence, and had nothing to do with her personally.

Although Li Xiaobin didn't know why Lu Yanhe liked Chen Siqi, every time he saw Chen Siqi, she was either reading a book, discussing something with someone, or sitting in a library or coffee shop typing on a keyboard.

He never saw any game or movie screen on Chen Siqi's laptop.

This alone earned Li Xiaobin's deep respect.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed in surprise, "Wow!"

Li Xiaobin turned his head in surprise.

The girl sitting to his left said, "Is Ma Zhiyuan subtly implying something about Lu Yanhe?"

Li Xiaobin was taken aback.

He turned and glanced at Chen Siqi.

The girl turned on the speakerphone: "...I spent a lot of money to buy the copyright for this new song. I invited Park Hye-ran from Korea to rearrange it, and I also invited the top choreographer, Sam-shi, to choreograph a really amazing dance for us. Just one stage performance, not even counting the cost of the dancers rehearsing with me, has already cost over 100,000 yuan. To prepare a stage, especially a stage that I want to bring a shock to everyone, you have to prepare for a long time. It can't be done casually in a week or two. I won't show that kind of thing on the 'Idol Era' stage. That's too perfunctory. I won't do something so perfunctory to my fans."

After Ma Zhiyuan finished speaking, the students in the classroom looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Xiaobin, who is very familiar with "Idol Era", doesn't need to go back to what Ma Zhiyuan said earlier; he can already clearly hear the implications of Ma Zhiyuan's words for Lu Yanhe.

In the morning, so many people questioned Lu Yanhe's songwriting speed, suggesting he prioritized speed over quality. In the afternoon, Ma Zhiyuan made similar remarks in an interview, making it hard not to draw parallels.

"Lu Yanhe's interview has ended. It's such a pity, otherwise we might have been able to see Lu Yanhe's response."

"What's there to respond to? What can a scoundrel like Ma Zhiyuan do besides verbally taking advantage of others? Lu Yanhe has long since left him far behind."

"They're on completely different tracks, okay? Lu Yanhe has never been a match for Ma Zhiyuan when it comes to being an idol artist." The person who spoke was clearly a fan of Ma Zhiyuan.

The two started arguing.

Li Xiaobin looked in Chen Siqi's direction again.

She was wearing headphones and engrossed in her book, seemingly oblivious to the noise.

Even though he didn't know her, he felt inexplicably fortunate at that moment that she hadn't heard any of this.

-

Liu Zhiyin entered the interview room.

She greeted everyone with a smile.

The host said, "Zhiyin, please say hello to everyone!"

"Hi everyone, I'm Liu Zhiyin." She sat down in front of the host with ease.

"Zhiyin hasn't started working on her look for tonight's performance yet, has she?"

"Not yet, because I have to do an interview first," Liu Zhiyin said. "I have to keep my look for tonight a secret for now and can't reveal it."

The host nodded. "How long has Zhiyin been preparing for this stage performance?"

Liu Zhiyin laughed and said, "Three weeks."

"You're ready in just three weeks?" the host asked. "You're known for being a workaholic; I heard you often practice dancing until the early hours of the morning."

“Yes, but three weeks is already a long time to prepare for a stage,” Liu Zhiyin said. “I have to prepare for two stages a month. If it weren’t for the fact that this is the last stage of the first half of the year, I wouldn’t have given this stage three weeks to prepare. We are professional artists, not just participating in a show occasionally. We must make good use of our time and give each stage enough practice time.”

"Is this performance of a new song?"

"No, it's an adaptation of a song I really like, with new arrangements and choreography."

"Ma Zhiyuan just said that he spent over 100,000 yuan to build a new stage and hired top arrangers and choreographers to design it. What about you?"

"Me? I don't have that much money." Liu Zhiyin stuck out her tongue in feigned helplessness. "I asked a composer and choreographer I know very well to polish this piece. Although they are not as famous as the teacher Ma Zhiyuan worked with, they have worked with me for a long time and are very familiar with my strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, this time they have created the most creative highlights within my capabilities. I can't wait to let everyone see it."

"Besides your own performance tonight, whose performance are you most looking forward to?"

"The performance of Li Zhibai, Yan Liang, and Lu Yanhe," Liu Zhiyin said without hesitation.

"Huh? Why?"

“Because I’m very familiar with them. We recorded two seasons of ‘Days of Youth’ together, and we’re about to record the third season together.” Liu Zhiyin said with a smile, “And although I’ve known them for so long, I’ve hardly ever seen them perform together on stage. I’m very curious.”

...

One by one, the artists entered the interview room.

Their words are watched by millions of viewers, and even a casual remark can generate huge buzz and spread online.

The topics kept trending on social media.

Ma Zhiyuan subtly criticizes Lu Yanhe for being perfunctory towards his fans.

Liu Zhiyin sarcastically remarked that Ma Zhiyuan's stage preparation time was ridiculously long.

Li Zhibai simply gave a cold laugh.

Yan Liang retorted expressionlessly, "Isn't 'Idol Era' all about letting the stage speak for itself? When did it start relying on words?"

...

Even before the show aired, "Idol Era" had already gone viral online.

This level of hype has drawn attention from the industry and made everyone realize one thing: tonight's live stream is likely to be a hit.

Icefield Video quickly contacted technical staff to ensure that the live stream wouldn't crash if too many people watched it that night.

-

Li Xiaobin left the examination room after finishing the exam.

Chen Siqi walked ahead of him.

She had her headphones back on, as if the whole world had nothing to do with her.

Almost everyone around Li Xiaobin was discussing gossip about "Idol Era"—many people may not have watched the show, but given the amount of buzz today, especially after a final exam, everyone needed something to distract themselves.

Li Xiaobin left quickly, showing no lingering interest in their discussion, and boarded the bus to go home.

When choosing a university, he chose Jiangguang University almost without hesitation.

With his scores, he could have gone to a better university.

However, Li Xiaobin felt that if it was just a little better, he might as well stay in the city where his family lived, which was also close to his mother.

When I got home, as soon as I opened the door, I smelled the familiar aroma of sweet and sour pork ribs.

"Mom, I'm home! It smells so good!"

"Are you hungry? Come on, wash your hands, dinner will be ready soon." Mom's voice came from the kitchen.

Li Xiaobin smiled, responded, and went to the bathroom. Passing through the living room, he saw a family photo taken when he was a child on the shelf next to the TV.

At that time, he was only three or four years old, and he was standing in front of a rockery in a park, holding hands with his father and mother.

My mother had a fashionable perm and wore a pink suit. At that time, she worked for a foreign trade company and was a rare female white-collar worker in those days.

My father was wearing a dark green suit, with his hair styled in a side parting. He was handsome and had a smile on his face.

Li Xiaobin doesn't remember much about that time anymore, but fortunately there's this photo that reminds him of his happy childhood.

His mother always said that he looked a lot like his father when he was young.

Looking at myself in the mirror now, and then at my father in this photo, I can vaguely see some similarities.

Li Xiaobin recalled a memory that seemed like a fleeting dream: his father was driving and singing along to the radio, while he sat in the back. The melody was etched into his memory.

What song is it?

He has searched for a long time over the years, but has not found it.

"What are you daydreaming about? Have you washed your hands? Dinner's ready!" Mom came out of the kitchen with the dishes and saw him spacing out, so she immediately said.

Li Xiaobin snapped out of his daze, said "Oh," and hurried to the restroom.

His mother was taken aback by the guilty grin on his face.

The setting sun streamed in through the window.

In that instant, it was as if that person from twenty years ago had traveled through the long corridor of time and returned to her.

She was momentarily dazed, then came to her senses.

What are you thinking? So many years have passed.

But this child is really starting to look more and more like his father.

His mother put down her bowl of vegetables, went into the kitchen, turned her back, raised the back of her hand, and wiped her eyes.

The setting sun cast a hazy glow through the window, making her silhouette appear slightly hunched.

She knew she wasn't actually crying.

So many years have passed, and all the tears that needed to be shed have long been shed.

Her eyes were only slightly moist.

Just a little bit.

(End of this chapter)