Chapter 115 'Rehearsal'

Watching the old man get on the elevator, the elevator door closed, and the display screen showed a downward number, the smile on Ding Ling's face disappeared, her eyes swept across Lu Yao's back in front of her, and she sighed.

"Go to class."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yao turned around and nodded to Ding Ling, then walked towards the practice room.

Ding Ling stood there, motionless, feeling that her expectations this morning were a joke.

No wonder when she asked Su Junliang about Lu Yao's guardian, the expression on his face was so subtle and he was vague in his words.

At that time, she just felt angry. She hated leaders who only spoke half of their sentences. They must be mentally ill.

But now, she understood, she understood completely.

guardian?

Is that old man Lu Yao’s guardian?

Thinking of the scene in the office, Ding Ling felt that she couldn't say this.

From the moment Lu Yao brought the old man into the office, it was clear that Lu Yao took the absolute initiative.

He explained his purpose very straightforwardly, and after Ding Ling took out the contract, he looked through it himself to make sure there was no problem. Then he pointed to the place where a signature was required and asked the old man to sign.

Ding Ling tried to stop him and told the old man not to worry, saying they could discuss it again and make a decision.

As a result, the old man just looked at Lu Yao's expression, and after the other party nodded, he directly signed his name.

The scene that Ding Ling imagined of having a long conversation with the guardian, discussing Lu Yao's past and growth, and discussing future development did not appear at all.

There was only Lu Yao's nod and the old man's signature.

No, is the guardian’s only purpose to sign?

What exactly is this guardian for?

Ding Ling was filled with more doubts.

However, today's meeting was not useless. Ding Ling at least knew the old man's identity.

When leaving, Lu Yao addressed the old man as "Village Chief."

Thinking about this name, Ding Ling had all kinds of guesses, but these guesses were destined to remain unanswered.

Because Lu Yao never answered all the questions she had asked about her past growth.

Ding Ling sighed again, feeling that the situation was extremely difficult.

Lu Yao's unique background and unknown past add to the uncertain dangers he faces.

*

After Lu Yao's contract was signed, the fifth generation was finally included in the final list of the group.

The trainees were busy preparing for the group formation night, and the company had meetings one after another. The leaders were busy all day and never showed up. Only Sun Yutong was still diligently writing the plan. Two days before Cong An's birthday, she asked everyone to take half a day off to record.

There are two trainees who have birthdays in February, Cong An and Qiao Sinian.

Unfortunately, Qiao Sinian’s birthday happened to be on the day of the group’s formation night.

Sun Yutong felt a little regretful when she thought of this incident.

From the day we made it public, except for Wanyuanzhou whose birthday is in January and sometimes falls during the Chinese New Year so he can't celebrate his birthday with everyone, almost everyone else's birthday is celebrated together.

After celebrating birthdays for so many years, this year, Qiao Sinian’s last birthday in the fifth generation will be spent on the group’s formation night, which announces their farewell.

Just thinking about it made Sun Yutong's heart ache.

As a planner, she has conceived countless birthday events over the years, and she has put her heart and emotion into each event. She wants every trainee's birthday to be interesting and memorable, but maybe that's how life is, it's always full of regrets.

Just like Cong'an, the last person to celebrate his birthday in the fifth generation, and Qiao Sinian, the first person who could not celebrate his birthday in the fifth generation.

"Let's have a rehearsal today." Sun Yutong and a group of staff sat down in the familiar practice room 2. The trainees sat neatly in front of her on both sides of the practice room.

There is still more than a week until the group’s debut night, and it’s almost time for rehearsals.

Everyone's stage has not been prepared to perfection, but rehearsals at this time are more likely to reveal problems.

Sun Yutong looked at Cong'an, who had a serious and earnest look on his face.

Sun Yutong took out the program list in a serious manner: "Let's arrange the group program first."

There were four group performances on this group formation night.

One is the theme song "The Fifth Album" performed by all sixteen trainees, and the other three are songs of the three small teams that were divided into groups based on songs and positioning.

According to previous rehearsal procedures, there will be no makeup in today's rehearsal, but corresponding clothes must be worn.

It is both a fitting and a way to see if dancing in these clothes will hinder movements.

The first rehearsal program was "The Fifth Memorial Album".

The costumes for this stage are the uniforms worn by the trainees in "The Fifth Epoch". They have been worn once, so it is unlikely that there will be any problems if they are worn again for dancing.

Everyone was very familiar with the dance and lyrics, so after the rehearsal for the first show, everything went very smoothly.

Then the trainees left and went to the dressing room to change into clothes for the next stage.

In just three to five minutes, the trainees, after changing their clothes, reappeared in the practice room and began rehearsing according to the order set by Sun Yutong.

The first rehearsal group was Qiu Yuge, Zhu Xiangming, Cang Zizhen, Yin Hongxue, Bai You, Luo Wenbai, and Wang Mingzhi.

The long-lost 7A has returned to the stage, and not only Sun Yutong feels nostalgic, but also the trainees who performed and watched the performance.

The stage brought by 7A this time is still as they jokingly call it among fans, very A, very exciting, full of explosive power, and it makes your blood boil just by watching it.

Although she knew it was fake, Sun Yutong couldn't help but put a series of check marks on the back of the program list as per the custom of formal rehearsals.

Everyone performed very well, which made Sun Yutong a little dazed.

The last time she sat in Practice Room 2 for rehearsal was during the concert rehearsal last September. In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed, and the trainees had also undergone visible changes.

He became taller and stronger.

Young people grow up like mushrooms after rain, changing every day.

The muscle lines become more obvious, and sharp edges appear on the sides of the face, symbolizing the disappearance of the lovely round curves, replaced by increasingly obvious masculine features.

For the first time, Sun Yutong realized so clearly that the group of young people in front of her had grown up.

What time brings to them is not only changes in appearance, but also improvements in strength.

This long-awaited collaboration between 7A was their best performance ever.

"Very good." Sun Yutong raised the microphone and commented with a smile on her face.

Bai You was breathing heavily, and an uncontrollable smile appeared on his face.

No one can feel the changes better than him who is performing.

Zhu Xiangming seemed to be immersed in the explosive style of this song, and the smile on his face was less cute and more sharp.

Luo Wenbai looked back and saw Cong'an clapping with his hands raised.

His eyes were shining, and it was obvious that he was impressed by everyone's performance.

After the first group finished, the second group came on stage. The people who had performed in the first group did not rush to leave. They sat down on both sides and began to watch the rehearsal of the second group.

The second group to perform was Lu Yao, Jiang Mu, Wu Anyi, and Qiao Sinian. Compared to the explosive performance of 7A, their stage performance was more aesthetic.

Except for Lu Yao, who has outstanding vocal skills and can change his voice freely, the other three have thinner voices. They are better at gentle singing than powerful singing.

By adding Lu Yao to this combination, it is obvious that the company wants to try something new this time.

And judging from the rehearsal results, this attempt was very successful.

With Lu Yao's powerful voice as the foundation, the singing of the other three people suddenly became less hollow than before and became much more solid, able to better display the characteristics of their voices, making this song particularly catchy.

At the same time, the four of them have a very unified appearance. Compared with the heavy and gorgeous appearance, they all tend to be more elegant and soft, which, coupled with their slim figures, is most suitable for performing such ethereal songs.

Sun Yutong couldn't help but tick a series of boxes on the program list.

No, we agreed to just put on an act in front of Cong An, how come it actually turned into a rehearsal?

After the third group came up and saw Cong'an inside, Sun Yutong woke up from her dream and remembered the purpose of today's rehearsal.

While Cong An and others were adjusting the microphone, Sun Yutong quickly signaled to others.

Qiu Yuge quickly caught Sun Yutong's gaze, stood up and said naturally: "Let's go change clothes first."

Sun Yutong nodded nonchalantly: "Then you all go together."

So, except for the Cong'an group who were about to rehearse, everyone else left the practice room under the pretext of changing clothes. With more than a dozen people missing, the room became empty in an instant.

Seeing this, Sun Yutong's gaze involuntarily fell on Cong An. Seeing that the other party had a good expression and no doubt at all, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, start with the rehearsal of the An group.

Although everyone in this group except Cong An knew that this rehearsal was just a show, like the previous two groups, everyone was very serious and gave their all in facing this "rehearsal". When the song ended, Sun Yutong applauded from the bottom of her heart.

Since the launch of the Quadrant Project, the continuous concerts and recordings have enabled the trainees to make great progress in their abilities.

If you put them together now and then from a year ago, the trainees themselves would probably be shocked.

How did their strength improve so much?

Even Huang Xi and Lu Jianian, the "lower-ranked" trainees who had already been laid off, have worked much harder during this period than before.

If they show their current performance to others, no one will doubt their identity as trainees.

Not to mention Cong'an, his strength is not weak. He was previously limited by his appearance and height, and was always limited in matching with others. Now he has grown taller, lost his baby fat, his face has become much more mature, his strength has increased, and his movements are more tense.

He is no longer that cute little brother, but has truly become a passionate young man.

Sun Yutong ticked the box after the program list.

Then she said with a smile: "You guys should go change your clothes too, there's no rush."

After saying that, she kept winking at Wu Hai.

It's a pity that Wu Hai, who had just finished rehearsal and was still a little tired from dancing, didn't notice Sun Yutong's eye contact at the first time. Sun Yutong, who seldom did such "winking" things, made her eye contact a little obvious. Without Qiu Yuge's immediate response, Sun Yutong's eye contact became a little abrupt.

"Teacher, what's wrong with you?" Cong An saw Sun Yutong's unnatural expression and spoke worriedly.

Sun Yutong's expression froze, and she felt as if every one of her facial features was frozen. Her eyes, nose, and mouth all began to become out of control, and her heartbeat became violent.

No, stay calm and composed.

Smile, smile!

Sun Yutong kept repeating it in her mind, and as a result, her facial features became even more out of control.

What should she do? Can anyone tell her?

Just when Sun Yutong was anxious, Tianlai appeared.

Wu Hai nudged Cong An from behind: "Teacher is urging us to go, let's go."

Hearing this, Sun Yutong's expression relaxed, and she nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, you guys should hurry up, we will try to finish the lottery before dinner."

Upon hearing this, the doubtful look on An's face instantly disappeared.

Doubt? Doubt about what?

Is there anything more substantial than getting off work?

When you have doubts, change your clothes and come back.

Without Wu Hai saying anything else, Cong'an grabbed Wan Yuanzhou and Wu Hai and urged Huang Xi and Lu Jianian to hurry up.

But in a moment, the room was completely empty this time.

But not long after, a series of footsteps were heard, and then the door of the practice room was opened. The people who had said they were going to change clothes reappeared, holding banners, ribbons, balloons and other things in their hands, and rushed into the practice room, and began to decorate it in a hurry.

Wu Hai and others who walked into the dressing room also started their own "plan".

Lu Jianian picked up his clothes and said with an exaggerated expression: "Oh, why are my clothes complicated?"

Wu Hai leaned over to take a look: "It's really complicated, with an inner layer, an outer layer, and so many small accessories."

Hearing the discussion, Cong An also went over to take a look, nodded repeatedly, and expressed his own opinion: "It is indeed very complicated."

Lu Jianian immediately said: "Then I will change my clothes first."

Cong An said without hesitation: "Okay."

Then Lu Jianian rushed into the dressing room holding the clothes.

Lu Jianian went to change clothes. When Cong An looked back, he found that Wan Yuanzhou and Huang Xi had also entered the changing room with their clothes to change clothes.

Their dressing room is neither big nor small. It only has three small compartments for changing clothes, and the rest is filled with rows of hangers full of clothes.

Now in this dressing room, besides Cong An and Wu Hai, there is also a dressing teacher sitting there, resting with his mobile phone.

Originally, if there weren't enough compartments, Cong'an wouldn't mind changing outside.

But now there are costume teachers out there...

No matter how used Cong An is to it, it's impossible for him to change clothes in front of the female teacher.

Seeing this, Cong An knew that he couldn't change his clothes for the time being, so he stopped worrying and started looking at his own clothes.

This time, the clothes were specially designed for his stage. Apart from him, everyone else's clothes were basically designed specifically for the song. Everyone put forward a lot of their own ideas, so An could see his own clothes at a glance——

No. Where are his clothes?

I looked back and forth several times on the hangers with labels labeled "Group Night", but I didn't find any clothes that matched the concept I had proposed. But how could it be possible?

Cong An glanced to the side a few more times and saw that the other hangers were filled with very regular clothes, which were obviously used for recording daily materials. They had nothing to do with the gorgeous stage style and there was no way they were going to wear the clothes for their group night.

So the clothes for the group night will be on this hanger, and his clothes will also be here, but where are his clothes?

Everyone else has already changed, and there aren't many clothes left on the hangers. Apart from Wu Hai's, shouldn't these be his?

Wu Hai finally noticed that something was wrong with Cong An. He put down the clothes in his hands, turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Cong An expressed his discovery: "My clothes are gone."

"Ah?" Wu Hai was naturally puzzled: "How could it be?"

Cong An nodded: "Yes! How come?"

Wu Hai immediately put down his clothes, walked over to Cong An, and offered to help: "Then let's look for it."

"Okay." Cong An nodded.

So the two of them started searching together in the sea of ​​clothes.

Wu Hai looked for the clothes very seriously, almost one by one. After looking at them, he asked Cong An about the color and general style of the clothes. If he saw something that looked similar, he would call Cong An over to confirm it immediately.

The little friend was so serious that Cong An naturally agreed with him. He would always go over to confirm the other party's discovery as soon as possible, and then leave disappointedly.

After repeating this three or four times, Cong'an slapped his head and felt that he was really stupid.

The costume designer is right next to them, so why should they look for him/herself? Can't they just ask him/her directly?

He did it as soon as he thought of it. Cong An pulled Wu Hai, who was still looking through clothes, and pulled him to the front of the clothing teacher.

"Teacher, I can't find my clothes. Do you know where they are?"

Cong An asked directly, but Wu Hai's expression was a little uncontrollable.

No, why did Cong An react so quickly this time?

Wu Hai clearly saw the clothing teacher's hand tremble as she scrolled through her phone. Then she slowly raised her head and asked in a very deliberate tone, "Can't you find your clothes? What clothes?"

Wu Hai's expression became even more tense.

This is really poor acting.

Who on earth would be fooled?

Ann began by sincerely explaining why he was in the dressing room and the clothes he was looking for.

Wu Hai opened his eyes wide.

Cong An actually believed it? He actually believed it!

The costume teacher looked much more relaxed.

After Cong'an finished speaking, she put down her phone and began to help look for the clothes. As she looked, she explained, "Your teacher Zhang packed the clothes for the group night, so I don't know exactly where they are. She's in a meeting now and won't be back for a while. Anyway, let's look for them first. It must be in this room anyway."

Wu Hai: ...

Well said.

With the teacher joining in, the three of them searched together much faster, but it didn't take long before Cong'an spoke again.

He stopped the costume teacher and said, "Teacher, why don't you send a message to Teacher Zhang and ask? We're still recording in the practice room, and we can't keep looking for clothes here."

Cong An made a very reasonable request! And he also offered the costume teacher an offer that she couldn't refuse!

Recording is in progress, need to hurry up, and in order not to disturb Teacher Zhang who is in a meeting, choose to send a message!

Such a short sentence contains so much information!

Wu Hai couldn't help but look at Cong An with a completely new perspective.

It seems that during this period, Cong'an has not only grown taller, but also grown smarter.

The costume teacher suddenly realized something and pulled out her phone: "You're right! Why didn't I think of sending her a message to ask?"

After saying this, she looked at Wu Hai sincerely, trying to get some affirmation.

Wu Hai really didn't want to cooperate. Such poor acting was really too much.

But in order to delay Cong'an's actions, he could only nod painfully: "It's not too late to ask now."

Fortunately, after the costume teacher sent the message, Teacher Zhang did not reply immediately.

Although Teacher Zhang is not here in person, her spirit is still contributing to today's planning.

Finding clothes is temporarily at a standstill.

Cong An felt that he couldn't just sit there and wait like this, so he spoke again: "How about Wu Hai, you change first, I'll go back and watch them rehearse, and when it's almost my turn, I'll come over and change clothes."

Another perfect suggestion!

Wu Hai couldn't find a reason to refuse.

Wu Hai's brain was working frantically, but before he could come up with a solution, Lu Jianian's compartment was opened with a swish, and then his voice rang out.

"Cong'an, is this your dress?"

Lu Jianian was seen wearing half of his clothes, holding another set of clothes in his hands, using the curtain of the dressing room to cover his lower body, and sticking his head out.

When Cong An looked back, his eyes suddenly lit up: "It seems so."

It turned out that Cong'an's clothes were taken away by Lu Jianian. Wu Hai was behind Cong'an and silently gave Lu Jianian a thumbs up.

Lu Jianian smiled faintly, hiding his achievements and fame.

"It's good that it's yours. I was probably too anxious just now and didn't even look at how many clothes I had. I just grabbed them all at once." Lu Jianian explained, "Don't worry. Once I'm done changing, you can come in and change."

Cong An simply nodded, without any suspicion on his face as to why Lu Jianian had taken his clothes, nor was he puzzled by the fact that his companions, who usually could change clothes in three to five minutes, had not finished changing for more than ten minutes. He simply replied, "Okay."

Wu Hai was shocked and scared watching from behind. He was afraid that Cong An would find out, but he also wondered how Cong An could not have found out. But since things had come to this point, he could only continue to act like this.

In short, after Lu Jianian, Huang Xi and Wanyuanzhou worked hard to delay time, several minutes later, Lu Jianian finally changed his clothes and gave the cubicle to Cong'an.

Wanyuanzhou and Huangxi also came out, and Wu Hai took his clothes in to change.

When Cong'an came out after changing his clothes, there was suddenly no one in the dressing room except the teacher who was still sitting there resting.

The costume teacher had a lot of words in mind, but stopped the moment he met Cong An's gaze.

There was no trace of surprise on Zong An's face, as if he had already anticipated what would happen. He just looked at the costume teacher with a smile, said hello, and walked outside.

But this pace seems so slow no matter how you look at it.

It doesn't feel like we're in a hurry to record, but more like taking a walk after dinner.

Cong An stopped after every step, and only increased his pace when he was almost at the practice room.

The sound of footsteps could be clearly heard in the corridor.

Spreading through the empty corridors.

When he reached the door of the practice room, Cong An took two heavy steps, then paused for a moment, quietly pushed the door open, and looked inside.

My goodness, it’s clearly afternoon, but the practice room is dark.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Ahh ...

When I was taking notes, my handwriting was too messy and I misread it, so I celebrated his birthday in advance. TT, I had mistaken it for November!

Please forget that An has already celebrated his birthday in November and treat this as his first birthday.

I will modify the previous article to make it about another person’s birthday, and Cong An is curious whether Lu Yao will give that person a gift, and thus starts a conversation with Luo Wenbo.

This tells us that when we take notes, we must write beautifully... otherwise we may not be able to understand it...

(Remaining at 5:31 PM on July 14, 2025)