Chapter Sixty-Seven: The First Duke (Part Two)
The waiting room was very hot, and the unspoken rivalry between the teams seemed to fuel the heat.
A traditional Chinese hairstyle takes a long time to create, requiring the hairstylist to work on it for a long time before achieving the perfect look. They treat their hair with great care.
Meng Fanxi openly scrutinized the hairstyles of the WONE group. Their hair was down, which looked hotter and less attractive than theirs. He calmly shifted his gaze away.
Their draw order was in the middle, and the production team specially allowed the two teams in traditional Chinese style to change clothes just before going on stage. In the entire waiting room, only the two teams were still wearing their training clothes.
Even so, it's still too hot.
Meng Fanxi specifically asked the production team for a small fan to blow on himself for a while, and then to blow on his teammates. For better visuals, the production team reminded him to hold the small fan as low as possible.
From other people's perspective, it looked like they were tinkering with something with their heads down, attracting a lot of curious glances.
Wu Jianian, who had been reassigned to the "Abundant Harvest" group due to his lower ranking within the group, sat behind Meng Fanxi and nimbly approached him from behind: "Dude, so relaxed?"
Meng Fanxi instinctively backed away, but when she saw it was him, her shoulders relaxed. "You relaxed just from a fan?"
He wasn't familiar with Wu Jianian, but when faced with a group of people who were all social butterflies, it didn't seem to matter whether they were familiar or not, it didn't prevent them from chatting.
When Wu Jianian saw the fan in his hand, he chuckled. Despite his handsome appearance, his laughter sounded like that of an old man, with a sense of joy emanating from his chest.
The laughter made Zhang Yang and the others turn around to look at Wu Jianian. Such hearty laughter was a bit too much for their somewhat closed-off group that didn't communicate much with the outside world.
Sensing their gazes, Wu Jianian exclaimed, "Don't all look at me! I'm getting nervous, I'm going to blush!" Then she giggled.
"..." The six people silently turned their heads away.
Meng Fanxi was silently amused, and suddenly felt less hot.
When Fengdeng Xiaozi took the stage, he paid special attention to Wu Jianian's performance.
He noticed that he was very serious when performing on stage, completely unlike his playful demeanor offstage.
But this song was one that all the teams had rejected, so it was still too difficult for them. If he remembered correctly, Wu Jianian had a good voice and his dancing skills were also evident.
In this song, he is the rapper, but there's nothing he can do about it since the song is a hip-hop song and everyone in their team takes on the rap part.
The scene deliberately cuts to Zhu Lou's expressionless face.
For songs that are too technically demanding, short-term efforts cannot bridge the existing gaps, except for works like those by Hsu Yu.
Meng Fanxi sighed softly, and after the performance, he clapped vigorously.
After each match, the results were announced live. With the production team's encouragement, both teams on stage looked tense, and some team members even closed their eyes, afraid to look at the results.
Fengdeng Boy lost the battle.
Wu Jianian sat down dejectedly, his hands stiffly wiping the sweat from his forehead with a wet wipe, as if programmed, while his eyes drifted aimlessly into the distance.
"Here you go." Meng Fanxi turned around and handed him the small fan in her hand. "To cool down."
The small fan was handed directly to him. Before Wu Jianian could react, his hand had already instinctively taken it. By the time he was about to speak, Meng Fanxi had already turned back.
"Thank you." The soft thank you and the sound of the small electric fan starting up were mixed with the quiet discussions of the various teams. Meng Fanxi didn't say anything more; he just felt that the other party needed to calm down.
A new team went backstage to prepare for their turn.
The two groups of people in period costumes went to the dressing room to change clothes, and the makeup artist touched up their makeup as well.
The two teams met in the backstage waiting area. Meng Fanxi was already mentally prepared for WONE's makeup and styling. He had informed everyone after returning from the costume warehouse last time. Now, the expressions of the six of them seemed perfectly natural to the production team.
The flowing white costumes have appeared in various period dramas in recent years, and the audience has long been tired of them. Moreover, WONE's hairstyle is a long, loose hairstyle that is very demanding on face shape and head shape. In Meng Fanxi's opinion, this look is just average on them.
Meng Fanxi looked down at the costumes she and her teammates were wearing. Based on the original flying fish costumes, the production team listened to their suggestions and made changes to the hem to make it more suitable for dance movements, which made it look more elegant and dynamic.
Each person's clothing was adorned with different dark red accents. For example, he had a dark red streamlined design added to the front of his coat where the collar met the front, which complemented the jade crown that held his hair up, adding a touch of luxury to the solemnity of his black clothes.
Their dark hair, tied up, fell naturally down their backs. The six men were strong and sharp, as if they had really stepped out of an ancient battlefield. They were tall and straight, and their bodies exuded a cold aura.
The WONE members were visibly shocked when they saw their costumes. Meng Fanxi noticed Jin Ziran scanning their outfits up and down, his expression almost breaking down.
The order of appearance was determined by the group's ranking. The six Eternal Stars were scheduled to perform after WONE. However, at this moment, the eight members of WONE were standing in a corner far from the stage. Zhong Lifu called a staff member over and spoke to him quietly.
It seems they are questioning why the hem of their period costumes wasn't treated properly.
Meng Fanxi stood a little further away, not wanting to hear their voices.
Their discussion and doubts came to no avail. Jin Ziran's eyes were filled with gloom. At the staff's call, the eight of them returned to the area near the entrance.
Meng Fanxi and his six companions retreated in unison, keeping their distance from them.
There is also a broadcast screen connected to the stage in the waiting area.
After the previous team's match ended, staff members came out to clean the stage.
After cleaning, Yun Mengtao gracefully walked to the center of the stage.
In addition to the audience area, which was packed with people, there were two other areas: the mentor area and the special guest judge area.
As Yunmengtao mentioned at the beginning, the invited judges will change somewhat each time.
Meng Fanxi saw Qiu Lü, who was still there, wearing a baseball cap, with no expression.
In the mentor area on the other side, the mentors were all dressed very formally, but their postures were relaxed.
"The next match is not only highly anticipated, but it also has a long history." Yun Mengtao deliberately spoke slowly, enunciating each word clearly, eliciting continuous screams from the audience.
Origins? Meng Fanxi's mind raced. Could it be referring to him?
Yun Mengtao didn't explain much, but it seemed that everyone in the audience understood.
"The theme of this match is ancient style—a response that transcends time. Let's welcome the first team, 'Xiaoyao Ling', to the stage!"
Meng Fanxi watched WONE take the stage, and instantly a huge scream pierced through the walls and space, hitting their eardrums.
The screams were much louder than those from the two teams that had just finished their match.
The six people looked at each other in pairs, and their originally confident mood wavered for a few seconds. WONE is so popular?
The first episode has already aired, and it's possible that WONE has gained a lot of popularity.
My heart was pounding. Could they really receive such enthusiastic cheers?
Meng Fanxi pinched his fingers, clearing his mind of all distractions, and focused on watching WONE's performance.
The rehearsal was conducted secretly under the arrangement of the production team, and this was the first time they had seen the complete stage of "Xiaoyao Ling".
The eight members of WONE stood in a circle, and as the music started and the lights shone down, they all leaned back and made a swishing motion that required a lot of flexibility.
The eight dancers, their robes billowing in the wind, began with a synchronized dance. After a series of complex movements, one of them emerged from behind with a backflip, seemingly rising into the air. The acrobatic-like movements left the audience and many judges speechless.
It was Han Jia who spoke first.
This must have been something they made more difficult; the choreography played during the song selection process didn't include this element.
The hem of their clothes did indeed cover some of their movements, but instead of sitting idly by, they chose to intensify their dance. Their resolute expressions actually did not quite match the mood of the song "Xiaoyao Ling".
But this sentiment clearly infected many people.
Meng Fanxi saw the expressions of the audience as the camera panned across the screen; they seemed to have been drawn into the scene.
The trend of WONE stage performances was very obvious, almost centered around Jin Ziran. Judging from the audience's reaction, Jin Ziran's popularity was quite high.
He wanted to focus on himself and ignore Jin Ziran's existence.
However, in the individual rankings after the last initial stage performance, he ranked 11th. Apart from his teammates, although the names of those ranked ahead of him were not announced, it is easy to guess that members of WONE were among them.
It is very likely that...
How could he possibly be content to be ranked behind someone else?
WONE's performance was nearing its end, and the second half was almost entirely dominated by Jin Ziran and his backup dancers, but undeniably, the overall effect was still quite good.
Meng Fanxi is confident in their song "Swimming Fish". The only variable is that the response after the first episode airs will directly affect the result of the first performance.
They had no idea how the show would turn out.
"The Order of Carefree Life" ends with Jin Ziran turning around and looking back.
Xu You snorted coldly.
"Thank you for the wonderful performance by the WONE group. Now, we invite all the audience members and the 100 specially invited judges to vote."
After the voting ended, WONE sat in an area diagonally opposite the stage to watch the opponent's performance.
The cheers from the audience brought confident smiles to their faces.
"Let's go," Lin Ruohe reminded everyone as they headed towards the entrance.
Thousands of spectators were waiting for their performance; this was the first time he had ever welcomed his own audience.
A determined look appeared in Meng Fanxi's eyes. He pursed his lips and strode forward.
"Now, please welcome the opposing team, 'Swimming Fish,' to the stage!"
The air seemed to tremble, and the screams nearly blew the roof off Mushroom Park.
Meng Fanxi felt a chill run down his spine.
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