Chapter 10 Talkative

Chapter Summary: Truly a human megaphone!

Mu Zhi took the phone from Zhou Jingzhu and looked down to see that the page that opened was an entertainment gossip group on a certain forum.

Several posts with her name were displayed on the homepage.

I clicked on the post and quickly browsed through its contents to get a general understanding of the situation.

According to the timeline, the events unfolded as follows:

Half an hour ago, a netizen suddenly started a thread revealing that "[Mu Zhi burst into tears in a second during the talent show at the trainees' tea party yesterday, and confessed: 'I have very sensitive tear ducts.'"]

Twenty minutes after the "Amway" post was published.

That is, 10 minutes ago.

Some netizens started a thread implying that "mz (an abbreviation of Muzhi) is hypocritical".

First, screenshots of today's live broadcast of the 48-to-25 elimination round were taken, showing multiple groups of eliminated or advanced trainees crying their eyes out, which were then compared with screenshots of Mu Zhi with a calm expression.

Here's the content from the Amway post from half an hour ago.

In conclusion, the original poster summarized: Mu Zhi marketed herself as having a high tear duct and strong empathy, but when it came to the 48-to-25 elimination round, half of the trainees had to leave the stage, she remained indifferent, cold-hearted, and heartless.

This implies that Mu Zhi is cold-blooded and fake; her well-developed tear ducts are a fabricated persona.

The most upvoted replies to the post are all indignantly echoing the original poster:

"Didn't MZ cry the most when she was being criticized for slacking off and being useless in the first four episodes? So many girls were eliminated today, and she didn't cry at all. It's so fake! [vomiting]"

"I watched the live broadcast of the 48 to 25 elimination round. Among the eliminated girls was one who had worked with the 'flower vase' girl before. She didn't shed a single tear the whole time. She acted cold-blooded on one hand, and on the other hand, she was trying to create some new persona of being good at crying. My impression of her is... so hypocritical!"

"After the second performance, MZ (Mu Zhi)'s professional skills improved, but I still couldn't bring myself to like her. My ideal group of five is the Great Demon King Xin Yan, Liu Jingcai, Zhou Jingzhu, the twice-cooked pork Zhang Mengyu, and actress Lü E."

......

The content of the post was quickly copied by a group of cunning marketing accounts on Weibo, and the hashtag #MuZhiIsAccusedOfColdBlood# was already featured in the "Real-time Rising Hot Topics" section below the Weibo trending topics list.

Yesterday's tea party was not broadcast live. Apart from the program staff, only the trainees present knew that Mu Zhi "shed tears in an instant." The staff members all signed confidentiality agreements and dared not spoil the unaired segments online.

Especially since they had just revealed the information and then immediately started playing games together, using the live stream screenshots from today.

This seamless operation was clearly prepared specifically for Mu Zhi.

Zhou Jingzhu was utterly speechless after seeing the mindless attacks on Mu Zhi online. During today's elimination livestream, not only Mu Zhi, but also she, Liu Cai, and several other trainees didn't cry. It's clear this wave of criticism is deliberately amplifying Mu Zhi's words and actions, a forced attempt to smear her.

Taking the phone back from Mu Zhi, Zhou Jingzhu skillfully tucked it into her lower back. "I'm showing you this not to see you affected or upset, but to kindly remind you: it's obvious you're being watched. This could be the beginning, so be careful."

"Thank you, I understand."

Pick the softest persimmons.

Among the top 6 contestants in terms of likes, only Mu Zhi belongs to a small company.

Competition for debut spots is fierce.

She naturally became the target.

Somewhat puzzled, "Why are you telling me all this?"

I only collaborated with Zhou Jingzhu on stage once. In today's rankings, Zhou Jingzhu's position remains stable at 4th, unchanged. If it were someone like Lü E, she would definitely feel that someone else's presence affected her ranking and take her anger out on Mu Zhi.

Zhou Jingzhu tossed her hair, crossed her arms, and looked at Mu Zhi with a haughty tone: "Because I'm sure I'll debut in the group, and I think you're quite suitable to be the visual center of the group."

Debuting as a five-member group doesn't guarantee a bright future for them. In recent years, several talent shows have been held annually, and some groups formed through platforms like Owl, Green Apple, and Golden Mango have faded into obscurity within six months, their peak occurring on their debut night.

She hopes that the girl group selected by "Chasing the Light" will be a group with strength and potential, and not fade away too quickly.

In Zhou Jingzhu's opinion, Mu Zhi was more suitable than Zhang Mengyu and Lü E.

After listening, Mu Zhi was surprised to find that Zhou Jingzhu had such a high level of thinking.

He said thank you again.

As for the negative rumors circulating online, she has no time to pay attention to them. Right now, the most important thing for her is to prepare for the third performance. She has to prepare two programs by herself. Time is tight and the task is heavy. Her strength and wonderful stage performance are the best way to fight back against those hiding behind the scenes.

She enjoys seeing others secretly plotting against her but unable to do anything about it.

Zhou Jingzhu saw that Mu Zhi was not only unaffected by the negative rumors online, but was even more motivated. Since the collaboration on "Beautiful Skin," Mu Zhi, like a beautiful vine, seemed to have taken root and begun to grow vigorously.

After coming out of the restroom, Zhou Jingzhu took two steps and then stopped: "Keep up the good work! Among the celebrity seniors invited by the production team this season, Ning is quite popular, and his fans are very loyal."

However, his singing and dancing skills...

He was halfway through his words of encouragement when his eyes went blank. "I don't think I've ever sung in public before?"

Mu Zhi: "......" (The word "danger" is written in capital letters.)

That afternoon, Mu Zhi, Liu Cai, and others began practicing singing.

The lyrics of the song "Beautiful Woman" are perfectly balanced and have a natural rhythm. The song's imagery and the operatic singing in the falsetto in the chorus give it a very ancient feel. However, unlike other ancient-style songs, this song is not accompanied by many classical instruments. Instead, it has a strong metallic feel. When all these elements are combined, it becomes a song that is both ancient and new, with a unique flavor.

Mu Zhi's first impression of this song was: amazing, beautiful, and quite novel compared to the pop songs she occasionally heard when she opened her music app.

However, the original singer's voice has a metallic quality, which doesn't match their clear and sweet girlish voices at all.

I'm worried that I won't be able to capture the unique flavor of the original singer's voice.

Liu Cai laughed heartily upon hearing this: "To present a perfect stage performance, it's not simply a matter of learning the song from the original singer and being able to sing it..."

Here's a brief introduction, the gist of which is:

The song "Beautiful Woman" was chosen by Ning Yao. Mu Zhi and others will collaborate with Ning Yao to present this song on the stage of "Chasing the Light Girls," and they will bring a different style of "Beautiful Woman."

While the audience's attention may be focused on the trainees and guest performers during each group's performance, there are actually many behind-the-scenes staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes for a show.

For example, the adapted version of "Jiaren" brought by Mu Zhi and her team was arranged by the program's music director. If the contestants are knowledgeable about music, they can raise good ideas and discuss them together; otherwise, they can just follow along.

The production team also invited a vocal coach to provide guidance.

Of course, the vocal coach wasn't there the whole time, so the trainees' music theory knowledge and learning ability were very important. Of the five, Liu Cai and one of the girls had some basic skills. Since the coach wasn't there, they took care of Mu Zhi and the other two...

The next morning, when Mu Zhi woke up, she found that she had practiced singing so hard the day before that her voice was a little hoarse.

Lyrics were no challenge for Mu Zhi. She could easily memorize long passages of lines when filming, and she had an almost photographic memory. She was dubbed a "line machine" by the actors she had worked with, so memorizing the lyrics of a song was a piece of cake for her.

But memorizing the lyrics isn't enough.

Mu Zhi's appreciation of music is only superficial, that it "sounds good." Like the original owner, she doesn't understand music theory, so she easily sings off-key, can't reach high notes, and even cracks her voice.

One word: sorrow.

In the afternoon, Mu Zhi and the others were practicing singing and rehearsing their marching formations, leaving Ning Yao's spot temporarily vacant.

Liu Caigang muttered, "When is Senior Ning Yao coming? We need to divide up the lyrics!"

The next second, the door opened.

"Hello? I'm Ning Yao, nice to meet you all!"

A sunny young man, about 1.83 meters tall, wearing a black baseball cap, a loose white T-shirt, light-colored jeans, and black sneakers, walked in, radiating youthful energy.

I smiled and nodded at everyone, greeting them one by one.

"Hello, I am Mu Zhi."

Ning Yao recognized Mu Zhi and made no attempt to hide his admiration: "You're even more beautiful in person than on TV, and in the video call yesterday. Do you have any plans to act in the future?"

I thought to myself: It's a shame that this face isn't used for acting.

Mu Zhi smiled: "If there's a chance."

Ning Yao's arrival quickly enlivened the atmosphere in the practice room.

I have absolutely no airs about me, and I was just as humorous and witty as I was yesterday during the video call.

He talks a lot.

"I was filming in Hengdian before, and I would finish work around 6 or 7 pm every day. Every Saturday night after I got back to the hotel, I would watch the live broadcast of 'Chasing the Light'..."

Without being asked, they revealed it themselves.

Why did I choose the song "Beautiful Woman"?

"I heard this song on a show on another platform and really liked it. I've been practicing it secretly for a long time, thinking about when I can show it off."

“It just so happened that ‘Chasing the Light’ gave me this opportunity. I asked the director if I could sing ‘Beautiful Woman’. The director said yes, so I came.”

After saying that, he opened a certain cloud computing app, looked at the lyrics, and sang the whole song a cappella.

Mu Zhi and the others: "!!!" They thought he was a bronze-level player, but they didn't expect that although he couldn't reach the level of a king, his level was much higher than that of a bronze-level player.

Ning Yao's voice is very magnetic, and her pitch is very accurate, bringing out the original singer's "metallic voice".

Next, Mu Zhi and the others took turns singing a cappella, and then the lyrics were divided according to each person's vocal quality and other factors.

Mu Zhi obediently waited for the assignment; she wasn't good at music, so she followed the instructions.

The preceding paragraphs were divided into sections, and when it came to her section...

"Huh? I'm going to sing this part? Are you sure?"

The highlight and the most amazing part of this song is these few lines of Peking Opera singing.

Liu Cai looked at him with a "Yes, you got a great deal" expression: "Meizhi, you sang this song the whole time, and these few lines were the most accurate in pitch. You were also the only one among us who sang this part, and you had a unique opera-style flavor."

The others nodded in agreement.

The original singer's rendition is so deeply ingrained in people's hearts; their performance should bring a different perspective to "The Beauty".

One of the reasons Liu Cai chose Mu Zhi to sing this highlight part was that she had seen Mu Zhi's performance in "Beautiful Skin". Mu Zhi's face is very good at making expressions for different situations, and these few lines will have a stunning effect. When she puts on makeup and changes clothes, only Mu Zhi can perfectly handle it.

Another point Liu Cai guessed was that Mu Zhi might have taken a speech class? Listening to her recite the lyrics, her intonation was very steady, so singing this short passage had a unique charm.

Mu Zhi was very grateful to her teammates for giving her the opportunity to perform, and without being pretentious, she said, "Okay, I will definitely sing well!"

Three hours later, it will be almost dinner time.

Everyone stopped to rest.

Ning Yao was extremely thirsty and downed a third of a bottle of water in one go, saying he was going to visit the practice room next door: "I'm going to say hello to the other celebrity seniors."

The second half of the sentence, lip-synced with the younger sisters: "Let's find out about their progress."

Liu Cai nodded hurriedly, and after Ning Yao left, she said, "The world is finally quiet."

Big, you've really gone bold!

However, Ning Yao's fans in the live stream were not angry at all, and even laughed in the chat.

They don't hold back when it comes to criticizing their own idols:

"Brother Ning is a real gossip, please bear with him, ladies."

"Ning-ge's mouth never stops; he drinks countless bottles of water every day!"

"Thank goodness it's just singing. I thought my brother was coming to the 'Chasing the Light' show to bring his sister to play the suona!"

......

Ning Yao, who had just come out of the practice room, sneezed and almost bumped into someone. She quickly stopped and said, "Excuse me."

"Senior brother!!"