Chapter 118 Idol (End of Text)
The ice and snow are melting, and spring is coming.
The breeze is blowing gently and the lake is rippling with ripples.
There was a crowd of people outside the A City Stadium standing along the lake, and the hustle and bustle was surrounding the lake, as if a grand event was going to be held here.
Amid the noisy crowd, the blonde girl standing at the front of the stall smiled brightly and with a wave of her hand she collected all kinds of peripherals.
"Jingqing! Have you bought it? The line at the entrance is super long!" asked the girl who was traveling with her, frequently looking towards the entrance.
"Don't worry, it's still early, there's definitely still time!" Jing Qing's eyes sparkled, she pulled the laser bag on her shoulder, and hurried over to the tour peripheral sales booth.
The afternoon sun was particularly majestic, shining on the carefully arranged logo outside the venue. The colorful words WAX&WANE -FANTASY- LIVE TOUR 2025 were stunningly dazzling.
Tonight, the much-anticipated Wax&Wane national tour concert will hold its first performance here.
There were still several hours before the show started, but a long, snaking queue had already formed in front of the ticket gate. People were probably rushing to City A from all over the country to attend the banquet, and many of them were carrying luggage.
The constant sound of heated conversation raised the temperature outside the stadium a few degrees, as if you were in a bustling summer.
Shen Miao, who was standing in the ticket checking line, kept fanning himself with a round fan printed with the Wax&Wane logo.
As the team moved, she suddenly discovered something, took out her cell phone, pointed the camera at the upright sign and took several photos, then she heard the fans behind her excitedly discussing something.
"Wow, the Q-version figurine on the sign is so cute. I heard it was drawn by Shen Xun!"
"Yes, so cute! The captain also participated in the peripheral design this time. My favorite is this luggage tag~"
"This is also suitable for hanging as a decoration. I am tempted."
"Really? Really? It's so pretty! I waited in line for a long time before I could buy it..."
Shen Miao looked down at the luggage tag hanging on the bag and smiled happily.
On the other side, in front of the commemorative photo board, a couple was busy taking photos enthusiastically.
"Look at the camera, 1, 2, 3--" Father An looked at his wife's excited expression as she took a photo with An Juesui's standee and pressed the shutter.
"How is it?" An's mother came over to check the photos. "Not bad, not bad! A few more."
Father An seemed to be hesitant to speak, but he nodded, raised his camera, and took several photos under his wife's instructions.
“Take a few more photos from a different angle!” “The autograph board should also be included in the photo.” “We can also take photos with the peripherals later…”
With no sign of ending, Father An finally couldn't help but speak up: "...Take a few photos for me too."
Seeing his aggrieved and angry expression, An's mother smiled and took the camera, whispering, "If you want to take a photo with your son, just tell me earlier..."
The shadows dragging on the ground were getting longer and longer. As the show was about to start, the team finally began to move in large numbers.
Outside the venue, a woman came in hurriedly: "There was an emergency consultation, luckily I made it in time..."
As she spoke, she took out two brand new tickets from her bag. Looking at the bustling scene ahead, Ji's mother was stunned and exclaimed, "So many people..." and walked towards the entrance with Ji's father who had been waiting for a long time.
As it got darker, the lights in the venue came on. Most of the audience have already taken their seats, waiting for the performance to officially begin.
In the seats for related persons on the side of the stage, Qu Qinghuan looked with interest at Meng Yu and Ye Xiao, who had somehow struck up a conversation and were discussing the venue layout and stage design.
"I heard from Lin Chiran that there is an architect friend helping us this time. I think he must be Boss Ye." Meng Yu has been talking non-stop since he entered the venue and he is quite interested in this gorgeous stage.
"I'm just helping to confirm how to arrange the structure of the venue more reasonably." Ye Xiao said modestly, looking at the band members nearby, and smiled heartily, "Grey Vertigo is also a band I like very much. I didn't expect to see it here. I'm overjoyed!"
"Come to our live show next time!" Meng Yu was used to making friends with all kinds of musicians, so he said, "We can collaborate if there's a chance!"
Qu Qinghuan casually asked, "Why, you want to find him to build a live house?"
“What if? All the musical instrument brands are selling motorcycles, so it would make sense for the band to build a live house, and the revenue can be fed back to the band…” As he said this, even Meng Yu himself felt that it made some sense. No, it was simply genius!
Lu Shun, who was listening to this conversation, twitched his eyes and quickly changed the subject, fearing that Meng Yu's train of thought would continue to deviate.
Ye Xiao was not particular about details, and he laughed when he saw this, "Mr. Meng is really humorous, unconventional and unrestrained!"
Qu Qinghuan thought to himself, "Don't use the wrong words. These two people are really well matched since they can talk to each other."
Qi Puxin, who was sitting not far from them, looked confused and asked Ning Sheng for confirmation: "This is the Wax&Wane performance venue, right? Why do I feel like I'm listening to crosstalk... Is this their usual style?"
Ning Sheng laughed. They had come into contact with several of them during the SLANT event, but everyone was very businesslike during the collaboration. This was the first time they had seen such a relaxed attitude. It seemed that the team atmosphere was quite harmonious.
On the other side, in the inner audience seats, fans were busy confirming the final equipment.
"Hey, how do I turn on this light?" someone whispered to himself.
"Just remove the plastic sheet on top of the battery compartment." Zhou Qing gave a friendly reminder.
"Okay, the cheering T-shirts are ok, the light sticks are ok, the bracelets are ok, the towels... ok! We're just waiting for the show to start!" He turned around and smiled and thanked the person who had just helped him, "Thank you!"
Zhou Qing also smiled back. She hadn't been to a concert for a long time. She didn't expect to step into this venue again. Looking up at the gorgeous and dreamy stage, she suddenly had the illusion that time and space overlapped.
The night when Lin Chiran graduated seemed like just yesterday. The idol who stepped off the stage covered in starlight is now pushing more talented young people onto the stage.
It was difficult for Zhou Qing to describe the feeling he had when he came to this venue, but he began to try to accept it all. If this was what he wanted to see, then he would just enjoy this beautiful dream.
In fact, the fans' feelings are so simple and pure at the beginning, as transparent as glass. They just want to support the person they like.
Suddenly, the lights in the venue dimmed and the performance officially began.
The gorgeous sound of string music rang out in the darkness, and an interlude from the album "Fantasy" was rearranged and performed live in the form of a quartet.
The sudden sound beam drew a clear note like a wind chime, and the bright colors wiped out all the darkness.
At the same moment, a huge water dome unfolded above the space, and a water curtain was propped up with the stage as the center. Brilliant lights crisscrossed on the arc formed by the water, and water mist rose slowly, with a hazy line of white light vaguely visible in the middle.
The dreamlike changes in light and shadow effects amazed the audience. Amidst the endless exclamations, the figures of the five members of Wax&Wane hidden in the mist gradually emerged.
On the stage, transparent partitions created a three-dimensional space the size of a telephone booth, with each member in a room. Four lamp posts stood on the edges of the cube, and the slightly bluish light illuminated the space filled with a thin mist.
The opening song "Eye Line" is a dreamy and mysterious intertwined sound of the clear plucked strings of the acoustic guitar and the compressed synthesizer tone.
The vocals enter with precise beats, changing from weak to strong to create an erratic atmosphere for the song.
The five people seemed to be trapped in a transparent box, dancing a puppet dance, like exquisite puppets in a beautiful box. Their every movement seemed to be controlled by a few strings, deliberately revealing a lifeless stiffness.
The music, dance and stage design bring out the weirdness of the fantasy theme particularly well, drawing the audience into the peculiar worldview of Fantasy from the very beginning, making people immersed in it.
As the song was about to end, fans familiar with the song suddenly noticed some changes and vaguely heard the sound of several gears turning.
Looking around, I saw that a small arched door had quietly risen on the stage at some point, and the door was covered with complex, constantly rotating gears. There was a key floating in front of the door. The key was bright gold in color and flew in front of the people.
Shen Xun took the key and opened the door smoothly. There was a hole behind the door that looked very deep, which instantly reminded people of the rabbit hole leading to the fantasy world in fairy tales.
The five people looked surprised and gathered together to find out what was going on.
The audience who were closer didn't dare to blink, for fear of missing something. They saw a flash of lights in front of them and the scene suddenly changed. Only then did they realize that it was a projection effect. However, the mechanism door was real, which made the audience curious for a moment.
"Wow, it's so realistic! How was this done?" There were constant exclamations and all eyes were focused on the stage.
As the whole audience was surprised, the newly arranged version of "Virtual Bubble" sounded lively and countless colorful little bubbles were blown away by the wind and floated in all directions in the venue.
The puppets escaped from the exquisite gift box and entered the dream world led by the rabbit hole. Their eyes were filled with rich and brilliant colors. The strings that bound them were no longer there, and a joy called freedom rose in their hearts.
While still immersed in the colorful dream, a rhythmic melody sounded in my ears, and the title song of the new album "Liuli" came on stage, and the atmosphere became more and more lively.
On the large transparent mobile stage, the clever funk rhythm and the locking elements in the dance fit perfectly. The movements of the few people naturally revealed a lively and cheerful atmosphere. Even their smiles became brighter, and they relaxed and enjoyed the time on the stage.
The singing finds the best balance between freshness and sweetness, like the few drops of lemon juice that add flavor to summer drinks, clear and transparent, refreshing.
The moving stage passed over the audience seats, and the idols' vitality was overwhelming. The audience's eyes kept following the five members of Wax&Wane on the stage, immersed in the music, swaying their bodies and nodding their heads to the rhythm.
When it came to a cleverly designed loop phrase, joyful clapping sounds surrounded the entire venue, and the rhythm contained in the sound source was reproduced on the spot in the form of clap.
The orderly clapping and the pleasant singing break through the silky water curtain to meet each other. Before the night falls, there is no need to care about all kinds of complicated emotions, just grasp the joy of the moment and rejoice for the present and this moment.
The projection lights that were just neat and tidy began to jump at this moment, with colorful colors and irregular shapes, everything became free and dazzling.
"Liuli" was probably born to be performed live, with the idols and fans working together with all their might, interpreting the vitality and aura that serve as the background to the fullest in a way that only this moment can do.
The atmosphere reached its climax with the first few songs, and the light beams were focused on the five people at the front of the stage.
The idols standing on the stage had slightly flushed cheeks and their breathing became a little faster, but the brilliance in their eyes was even brighter, as dazzling as glass. The passionate emotions were not weakened by the medium in the slightest, and were conveyed to every audience member present without any loss.
The next second, the screen flickered, the tape rewound, the clock rotated, the mirror reflected light, time and space kept changing, on the slowly moving alien stairs, the traces of splashing water disappeared, and a world where everything was reversed gradually emerged.
The ambiguous vocals and the walking bass in the bass section handle the tension between the notes just right, and the song "Mirror" with jazz elements begins to slowly tell the story...
In the second half of the performance, the five members of Wax&Wane appeared on stage again as a band.
Chen Xun lowered his eyes to look at the microphone stand in front of him that was wrapped in silver branches and leaves, and counted silently along with the metronome in his earphones. His expression was calm, but the moment the music started, he burst out with a very powerful voice, quickly covering the entire venue with his extremely penetrating sound pressure, turning the singing into his instrument.
Jingxing's hair on his forehead was soaked with sweat, but he played without any hesitation. He quickly played a series of metallic tones on the keyboard. The flamboyant shape of the shoulder-mounted synthesizer added a bit of wildness to him.
The electric guitar was not to be outdone. Ji Qifeng aimed at the platform in front of him and jumped up. The notes rushed around, stirring up the overflowing emotions. With full concentration, the eyes beneath the black hair were surprisingly bright, and the dazzling musical phrases were given the soul of live by the performer's slender hands.
The two members of the rhythm group looked at each other and seemed a little impatient.
Jiang Hechu swayed to the rhythm of the music, and his movements of striking and plucking the strings were clean and neat. When the camera turned, his handsome slap caused the audience in the front row to exclaim in surprise, and the smile at the corner of his lips made people unable to take their eyes off him.
Beautiful embellishments filled the rhythm, and An Juesui blinked his eyes. With his nimble wrist, he swung the drumstick quickly into the air, which turned around and landed steadily back in his hand. While beating the rhythm steadily, he tilted his head to sing the chorus into the microphone.
The aura on the stage is dazzling, and the irrepressible enthusiasm spreads at an incredible speed among the audience, like a magical and irresistible perfume that makes one fall in love with it just by smelling it. The fascination with the figures on the stage reaches its peak at this moment.
The last song was a song Wax&Wane wrote especially for their fans, and they sang along with the entire audience, knowing the lyrics by heart.
The chorus echoed in the air, and the five people couldn't help but take off their ears and listen to the sounds, wanting to imprint this moment forever in this story that belonged to everyone.
Suddenly, after a loud bang, several golden flashes spurted out in front of the stage, dazzling ribbons fell from the sky, and lights swept across, like a colorful golden rain.
The audience exclaimed excitedly and looked up at the sky. The scattered colorful lights turned into stars filled with joy in everyone's eyes.
People raised their arms high and grabbed a few ribbons. They saw long ribbons with colorful drawings of Wax&Wane members printed on them. They held them tightly in their hands. Joy, excitement, happiness, happiness and touching moments seemed to be embodied in this moment.
When the show ended, the enthusiasm that overflowed in the exit passage had not yet dissipated, and the audience was passionately discussing the performance.
On the other side of the Internet, the same excitement was also going on. The "Thousands of Faces" character Lin Chi Ran episode, which had caused a huge stir, was finally officially aired tonight.
In the wonderful scene edited at the beginning of the film, the young man stands quietly under the night sky, and the voice-over asks him: If you are given another chance, will you still choose such a life?
"Yes." The answer was resounding and without any hesitation.
With the melodious melody of the accordion and the follow-up camera of the "Thousands of People Thousands of Faces" program crew, we get closer to the face of this outstanding young producer outside the spotlight.
The surprising proposal at Wax&Wane's new work launch conference, the focus on work as usual when caught in the storm, and the sharp response at the Golden Music Awards exit interview...
Every moment of the past six months has been captured by the camera, and the positive, negative, behind-the-scenes scenes that people have never seen and the other side of the idol are gradually unfolding before their eyes.
It turns out that Producer Lin, who is famous for his originality, boldness and enthusiasm for innovation and whose every choice after graduating from idol group is jaw-dropping, also has such an emotional and delicate side.
After the official planning meeting for "Fantasy", the voiceover asked him, "Producer Lin, why didn't you choose to let Wax & Wane release a new single as a four-member group first, but insisted on waiting for An Jue Sui to resume activities before producing an album directly?"
After Lin Chiran proposed this possibility, in addition to the people involved in record production, there were also departments that raised objections from a commercial perspective. In order to realize this decision, a lot of time and energy were spent on persuasion.
The audience in front of the screen also has this question. For idol groups, continuous new works and exposure are their life. For capital, making money is the top priority. To put it bluntly, no company will change the entire group's business strategy for an idol.
The answer given by Lin Chiran was beyond everyone's expectations.
"I once thought about a question: what is the basis of one's life behind the camera? If it is a musician or an actor, everyone will answer without hesitation that their work is the basis of their life, but what about idols?"
"Music? Dance? Performance? Personal charm? These are all part of what makes up an idol, but I have thought about it for a long time, and it seems that there is still something missing from the final answer." The young man pondered.
"The conclusion I came to in the end," he suddenly raised his eyes and looked directly at the camera, his eyes soft, "is the support of the fans."
"When I tried to think from the perspective of a fan who has grown up with the five of them, I found that what I wanted to see was not just a long string of numbers on the sales charts, but the beauty of the five of them trying their best, sharing honor and disgrace, and looking forward to their dreams, both on and off the stage."
“These things are not as visible as numbers, but they are the first thoughts that come to mind for every idol fan.”
With a gentle smile, he said, "I want to protect everyone's pure heart."
Just as Lin Chiran said, fans have been anxious during this period of time, worried about An Juesui's condition, worried about the future development of the five people, not wanting to forget anyone, but also afraid that it would create a gap.
It wasn't until the various plans for the resumption of activities were released that they saw the five people again and felt relieved that the thing that made them like Wax&Wane was not gone.
It turns out that all this is not just a coincidence, but the result of someone's thinking and efforts behind the scenes.
Careful viewers noticed that all this did not happen in a peaceful daily life, but was born out of a time when countless suspicions and accusations against Lin Chiran himself arose.
I was stunned for a moment. What kind of person can remain sincere in such a situation, not be moved by the external turmoil, and be loyal to his original intention.
The scene moves to an apartment, where a young man is introducing the display cabinet behind him to the camera.
"This is a group photo of everyone's first meeting after SLANT confirmed the members." Lin Chiran moved the photo placed on top of the display cabinet closer to make it easier to shoot. The boys in the photo were in high spirits, and there was still a bit of childishness on their faces.
"This is a photo of our outdoor performance when we first debuted." He ran his finger across the photo frame, and smiled helplessly as he recalled something: "It was really hot that day. It was almost evening before the temperature dropped below 40 degrees. It was hard for the audience to come under the sun. It let me know that so many people like us."
The camera slowly scanned the wall, and the young man patiently introduced them one by one, from his trainee life to his idol career memories during the SLANT period, to Lin Jing's past albums, and photos of Xu Wanqing with past artists...
Time flows backwards along this wall and finally falls back on Lin Chiran, who is still a child. The boy had a childish face and a dazzling smile. He held a blank CD high in his hand, and his light brown pupils were burning with a gleam of yearning.
This is a group photo. The camera zooms in on the picture. Standing next to the childhood Lin Chiran is the singing king Lin Jing. The voice-over asks about the story of this photo.
"A blank CD is weird, isn't it?" Lin Chiran said with a nostalgic tone, smiling softly: "When I was a child, I asked an adult a question: how can I be like them and make so many people smile."
"They handed me this blank CD and told me to put the feelings I wanted to convey on it and let everyone feel it."
“It’s like magic.”
The camera followed his gaze to the side of the photo, where there was a row of various records, some of which Lin Chi Ran participated in as an idol, and some with the name Wax&Wane printed on them. In the front was the blank CD.
Under the cover of night, the inexhaustible light in the light brown pupils is as bright as before.
The audience watching this scene suddenly felt that compared to a mature businessman, the young man in front of them seemed to be the idol who was desperate and willing to devote his whole life to his dream.
Capturing the dazzling brilliance in those clear eyes, the last question was thrown out of the camera: "As a former idol and now an idol producer, how do you view idols?"
“We live in the best of times, with abundant material goods, convenient internet, and readily available information resources; we also live in the worst of times, with material goods unable to fill an empty heart, our words being misunderstood, our sincerity denied, and too much redundant information blocking our eyes from understanding the world.”
"For me, idols represent the original intention of people who are unwilling to let it be obscured even when times and circumstances change. They represent people's instinct to pursue beauty regardless of their own safety."
"It's like magic, it shines brightly at all times."
——End of text——
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com