go home
The scores from the previous round have been tallied, and a preliminary ranking has been created and displayed before the start of the second round.
Lin Ting glanced around and saw that the students who received special treatment were far ahead, but the gap between them and the other high-scoring students was not that big.
Perhaps in the next round, some students who received low scores will be able to achieve high enough scores to secure a place in the top eight.
Lin Ting couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
Chen Taining's performance was the second in the second round. He sang well and his song was great. Lin Ting dares to say that this was his best performance since he started recording this show.
Chen Taining seems to have really started to enjoy the stage. She is not overly tense, but rather able to adapt to the stage and show just the right amount of relaxation.
He got a very high score. Even without adding the 0.5s they subtracted, Chen Taining's score still looked quite impressive.
Lin Ting looked back at the rankings from the previous round and felt that Chen Taining might have a chance to rank in the top eight.
Lin Ting continued watching the program and giving scores with such expectations.
The final tallying process dragged on for an unusually long time, so long that the audience began to wonder and the discussions gradually grew louder.
Lin Ting frowned, also finding it strange. The program team was always quick to tally the scores, so why did things go wrong in this final stage?
However, after a slight delay, the rankings were announced as scheduled. Lin Ting glanced at them briefly but couldn't see anything unusual. Upon closer inspection, Chen Taining was ranked ninth.
A sense of disappointment flashed through Lin Ting's heart, but his disappointment at this moment had been so well-prepared that it had lost its impact and became an unsurprising outcome.
He looked up from Chen Taining's row and his gaze fell on the score of the eighth-ranked person.
In addition to the weighted final score, the scores from the commentators, mentors, and audience were all displayed on the screen. Lin Ting noticed that the audience score for the eighth-ranked contestant was strangely high.
The audience scores of the other trainees were around the same level as the other two scores, with little difference, but this trainee's audience score was much higher than the other two scores.
Moreover, the student ranked eighth happened to be the last student to perform.
After finishing the recording, Lin Ting immediately went to the trainees' waiting room to find Chen Taining.
He saw many trainees in the waiting room, many of whom were packing their things. When they saw Lin Ting coming over, they greeted him.
Lin Ting asked, "Have you seen Chen Taining?"
The trainees looked at each other and shook their heads.
"During the last performance, it seemed like he was called out," a student recalled and told Lin Ting.
“His seat is over there.” Another student pointed to the seat, where a bottle of water was placed.
"If you see him, please tell him I'm waiting for him in the waiting room. Thank you," Lin Ting said.
The trainees agreed and watched as Lin Ting walked to Chen Taining's seat, stared at the bottle of water for a while, and finally sat down in the empty seat next to Chen Taining.
Lin Ting looked at the screen in front of the waiting room, which was supposed to be used to show the live footage to the trainees waiting in the waiting area during the recording. The screen was now black.
He looked around and realized that the room was actually equipped with quite a few cameras, and that there should have been a photographer filming there during the actual filming.
He wondered what the production team had said to Chen Taining. What was the connection between the sudden call for him to leave, the delayed announcement of the rankings, and the unusual audience rating for the eighth-ranked contestant?
He already had some guesses in his mind and was just waiting to meet Chen Taining.
"Teacher Lin, you wanted to see me?" Chen Taining pushed open the door and saw Lin Ting sitting next to him, deep in thought.
Lin Ting looked up at Chen Taining and found Zhao Qinfeng standing behind him.
Zhao Qinfeng noticed Lin Ting's gaze and explained, "I was just looking for you when I ran into a student and Tai Ning who said you were waiting for him in the student waiting room, so I came along with him."
When Chen Taining saw Lin Ting, he smiled at him and said, "I'm fine."
Lin Ting watched as Chen Taining picked up his water bottle, his movements calm and seemingly without much emotion.
Lin Ting sighed, "The production team is looking for you."
Chen Taining nodded, "Yes, they asked me if I was willing to sign a contract, according to the contracts they originally provided to other trainees."
Lin Ting said firmly, "You refused."
Zhao Qinfeng said, "Actually, the conditions offered by the production team were just average, so it wouldn't be a pity to refuse." His words seemed to have persuaded both of them.
"I didn't say it was bad to refuse..."
"Actually, it's not just like that..."
Lin Ting and Chen Taining spoke to Zhao Qinfeng at the same time, their voices overlapping, making it difficult for them to hear each other clearly.
Chen Taining turned to Lin Ting and said, "Teacher Lin, you go first."
Lin Ting felt that it would be awkward for the two of them to go back and forth over a single sentence, so she said, "I don't think it's bad to refuse, it's just... I just feel that this matter is still a bit regrettable."
After Lin Ting finished speaking, Chen Taining said, "Teacher Zhao had privately told me what to pay attention to when signing with a company. So when I got the contract that the program team wanted me to sign, I immediately checked the details that Teacher Zhao mentioned and found that there were indeed many pitfalls, so I definitely have to be careful. But what really made me refuse was not just the contract itself. I haven't really figured out which path I want to take in the future, so I want to give myself some more time to adjust."
Lin Ting looked at Zhao Qinfeng with great surprise.
Zhao Qinfeng smiled, but did not immediately explain to Lin Ting why he had spoken to Chen Taining about this matter privately.
"Are you going back to school soon?" Lin Ting asked.
Chen Taining nodded and said with a wry smile, "I haven't had many classes lately, and I've already applied for online learning through the proper channels at school, but the learning effect is definitely not as good as in school. There's not much time left until the end of the semester, and I'm taking a flight back to school tomorrow morning, so I need to catch up quickly."
Lin Ting patted him on the shoulder, "I wish you all the best in your final exams."
Zhao Qinfeng said, "I wish you a bright future."
Chen Taining accepted their blessings and smiled sincerely, "Teacher Lin, Teacher Zhao, thank you. I've learned so much from your care during this time."
The two said goodbye to Chen Taining, wondering if they would ever meet again, and if so, when.
Lin Ting and Zhao Qinfeng changed out of the clothes they were wearing for the show, and then walked back to their accommodation together in their own clothes.
Lin Ting asked, "When did you tell him about the contract?"
Zhao Qinfeng thought for a moment and said, "It was roughly after the third performance. Actually, he's quite popular with the audience. The production team hadn't initially considered him, but after the third performance, they did a comprehensive evaluation and thought he was pretty good, so they started thinking about it. I remember you mentioned to me that he has other paths to choose in the future, so I gave you a slight reminder."
Lin Ting's surprise turned into gratitude. "I think I just mentioned it casually, and I almost forgot about it myself. It's kind of you to remember."
Zhao Qinfeng said seriously, "He's basically the only student you've mentioned to me. Of course, I should help him as much as I can."
Lin Ting laughed and said, "Wouldn't this be considered a form of 'love me, love my dog'?"
Zhao Qinfeng smiled but remained silent.
After the show's recording ended, the director invited everyone to have dinner together. Zhao Qinfeng had other commitments to attend to, so he declined, planning to fly directly back to Haicheng that evening.
Although Lin Ting didn't have anything urgent to do in the strictest sense, after what had happened, he wasn't really keen on having the meal, so he booked the same flight back to Haicheng with Zhao Qinfeng.
After returning, he got involved in Hu Ming's project.
Since her last business trip, Lin Ting realized that this was also Hu Ming's first time organizing such an event, and she was prepared to face all sorts of strange situations.
Although there were indeed many unfamiliar things, Chang Zhiyuan managed to arrange things quite well.
And so, they stumbled along, pushing the event into the publicity and promotion phase.
"Okay, let's start the publicity campaign now. The submission period will begin next week," Chang Zhiyuan said in the video conference.
Everyone responded, "Received."
Lin Ting's involvement was moderate; she took on some of the standard-setting rules, wrote some copywriting, and was even pulled by Hu Ming to write lyrics.
“You’ve collaborated with this musician quite a few times, are you interested in taking the job?” Hu Ming asked Lin Ting with great interest.
Lin Ting accepted the offer; collaborating with an acquaintance certainly saved a lot of communication trouble.
Almost every time Zhao Qinfeng came back, he saw Lin Ting holding a laptop, typing away, and frequently refreshing the page in different places.
Sometimes Lin Ting would sit cross-legged on the sofa, sometimes he would put his laptop on the closed piano, and once he even moved a chair to sit on the balcony and put his laptop on his lap.
Around 3 p.m., Zhao Qinfeng returned from a nearby recording studio, bringing back some desserts for Lin Ting.
Based on previous cases, Zhao Qinfeng pondered where Lin Ting would refresh this time, and then opened his door.
He changed into slippers and went inside. He glanced at the kitchen, but no one was there. He walked a little further in, put the dessert he was carrying on the dining table, and looked around the living room, but no one was there either.
The music room door was open, but no one was inside. Walking from the living room to the balcony, the clothes drying on the balcony fluttered lightly in the wind. Zhao Qinfeng used a clothesline to take them down, folded them separately, and put them away neatly.
Then he knocked on the guest room door and heard faint footsteps approaching. After a while, Lin Ting opened the door. "You're back! How did the recording go?"
Zhao Qinfeng was a little dazed. He nodded and said, "I looked around and couldn't find anyone. I was actually quite surprised to find you in your room..."
Lin Ting burst into laughter, laughing so hard that her whole body was shaking, and she held onto the door frame to keep herself from sliding down.
Zhao Qinfeng said helplessly, "Is it that funny...?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
