The first few group PKs were all good. The members of Class A and Class B undoubtedly occupied the center position in their teams and became the most eye-catching presence.
One of the groups chosen by a member of Class B, perhaps in order to achieve fairness within the team, frequently changed the center position throughout the entire singing and dancing performance. This actually made the focus of the entire program not stand out, and caused the originally more outstanding trainees to be submerged in mediocrity, making it look like a group of people doing aerobics.
Sure enough, this team lost to their opponent in the PK round, and the vote difference was huge. One member of the losing team couldn't hold back his emotions and tears streamed down his face. His teammates quickly went up to comfort him.
Yin Chengjue then recalled that the trainee who cried was later accused by netizens of deliberately playing the victim and was subjected to a lot of teasing.
There's no other reason than that this trainee has a rugged, angular face. He doesn't evoke pity when he cries like a girl group trainee, nor does he stir up maternal instincts when he cries like those baby-faced pretty boys.
So, while others can evoke sympathy by crying, this trainee attracted a large wave of haters who accused him of being pretentious. The haters' most frequent comment about him was: "If you don't have a face that's suitable for crying, don't take on this role of playing the victim."
Many netizens labeled him a "crybaby" because of this, and he hasn't been able to shake it off for many years.
Despite his tears, he was incredibly dedicated, and he also played the piano exceptionally well and had strong composing skills, which attracted many fans who appreciated his personality.
In the later episodes, apart from the group with the straightforward boy who put on a lively and humorous choreography that left a deep impression on Yin Chengjue, the other performances were all very conventional singing and dancing, and were not particularly outstanding.
Yin Chengjue was getting sleepy watching the show, until the host called out Rong Yu's name, which woke him up from his drowsiness. He looked up and saw Rong Yu on the big screen.
However, he only had time to see Rong Yu wearing a white long-sleeved ancient-style dance costume with red patterns, holding a fan in her hand to cover half of her face, and her bright red eye makeup was faintly visible when the stage lights flickered and went dark.
The venue fell silent for a moment due to the sudden darkness, and soon, a distant sound, as if coming from an old record, filled the entire venue.
"A song of wine, a dream of the past is too late..." The melodious opera singing, coupled with the slightly depressed old tune, instantly transported Yin Chengjue into that era.
Immediately afterwards, a spotlight shone down, drawing everyone's attention to a particular spot where a person sat back in a wicker chair, fanning himself with a folding fan in one hand and holding a letter in the other, his chin slightly raised as if reminiscing.
"Ah! It's Zhengqi!"
"Although I'm not a fan of his, I have to admit that Fei Zhengqi looks really handsome in this outfit!"
The fans watching the show were whispering among themselves.
Fei Zhengqi is a member of Class B. His performance in Class B is not outstanding, but Rong Yu chose him first when selecting people.
Among so many trainees, Fei Zhengqi's looks aren't considered top-tier, but he has a very memorable feature: a red mole between his nose and the corner of his eye. Coupled with his rather reserved personality, his fans jokingly call him the "Melancholy Prince."
However, in his previous life, after his debut show ended, Eun Seung-jue rarely saw him in public. He probably felt it wasn't a good fit and switched to another industry.
Thinking of this, Yin Chengjue stopped focusing on Fei Zhengqi and continued searching for Rong Yu on the stage.
As the short opera tune ended, the stage lights blazed on, and the people who were already in position on stage immediately began to dance to the suddenly powerful music!
The piece they drew was "Nostalgia," which tells the story of a male actor playing female roles in a turbulent era and a scholar aspiring to serve his country.
To seek revenge, the male actor pretended to submit to the enemy, but in reality, he was constantly sending messages to the outside world. The first meeting between the scholar and the male actor was in a small alley. The male actor held a blood-dripping knife in his hand, and at his feet lay a man with wide-open eyes, already lifeless, wearing the uniform of an invader.
Hearing footsteps coming from outside the alley, the scholar made a quick decision, pulling the male actor into the depths of the alley, and then escaped through a well-hidden tunnel.
From then on, the two worked together to pass on many urgent messages to the organization, helping it avoid several crises.
However, the fact that the male actor was an undercover agent was eventually exposed. When he was publicly executed, if his companions hadn't held him down and knocked him unconscious and taken him back, the scholar would definitely have rushed forward.
In that case, all the hard work the organization had put into preparing would be for nothing.
Gunshots pierced the sky. The comrades in the organization stared wide-eyed, their fists clenched so tightly they cracked. They were determined to etch this scene into their very bones, to make those heinous invaders pay for their crimes in blood! They wanted their heads to be offered as a sacrifice to comfort the spirits of the fallen heroes!
In the final battle, they fought bravely, reaping the heads of the invaders. They carried the hopes of the fallen heroes on their shoulders and the spirit of this land. Finally, they drove the invaders out of this land!
After the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, the scholar came to the grave of the male actor playing female roles and took off his military cap.
His comrades following behind him also took off their military caps, pressed them tightly to their chests, and bowed deeply.
I cherish the memory of my departed loved ones, but their memory will remain forever in my heart.
The scholar said, "You are in my heart. Your songs, your melodies, your dances, your soul are all in my heart, living on forever."
This is the storyline behind the song "Nostalgia".
Generally speaking, on such a competitive stage, dancing to a song that is originally melodious and lingering is very unwise. If they rearrange the song into a boy band dance style, it will completely ruin the original meaning of the song. But if they follow the original melody, it will lack originality and the performance will only look out of place.
Rong Yu's team, however, directly adapted the song into a perfect combination of long, melodious opera singing and soaring DJ tunes. During the group dance, their movements were perfectly synchronized. When the opera singing part came on, as the notes were drawn out, the trainees found their own roles and quickly dispersed from the center of the stage to the edge, their expressions solemn, as if they were immersed in the scene of "Nostalgia"—searching for light in the darkness and striving forward amidst forbearance and sorrow.
Viewers will soon realize that, in addition to Rong Yu and Fei Zhengqi, who play male dan (female impersonator) and scholar respectively, the other trainees also play other members of the organization.
Although they were dancing on stage, their hands would occasionally touch, implying the secret passing of messages. It wasn't very obvious on the spot, but their movements could be clearly captured by the camera angles that were close by.
This detail was handled very well, showing that the choreographer put a lot of effort into it.
When the lyrics reached the part about the execution of the male dan (female impersonator), several supporting actors in black came on stage and locked Rong Yu's arms from behind.
The other trainees pulled Fei Zhengqi back from different directions and angles as she tried to rush forward.
Of course, it wasn't about forcibly pulling or dragging someone, but rather about dancing around the scholar's rhythm, using performance to express the inner conflict and contradiction.
At this point in the song, there is a brief pause. Rong Yu struggles against the men in black, laughs loudly a few times, then breaks free of his restraints, takes out a dagger from his sleeve, makes a suicide gesture, and then collapses on the spot.
This is also the climax and turning point of the song.
The lights then shifted to the other trainees dancing in the middle of the stage, seemingly having forgotten about Rong Yu who had fallen to the ground.
As the song neared its end and the victory horn sounded, the lights shone on that corner of the stage once more, where Rong Yu was still lying, maintaining the same posture she had when she fell.
During the dance, Fei Zhengqi, who played the scholar, tore off his long robe and mandarin jacket, revealing the military uniform he was wearing underneath.
He stepped forward and took off his hat, and the others followed suit.
They knelt down on one knee in unison and bowed deeply.
At that moment, the entire scene seemed to be affected; everyone looked at the stage and remained silent.
Fei Zhengqi's voice rang out, slightly hoarse: "You are in my heart, your songs, your melodies, your dances, your soul, all live on in my heart forever."
A line from a traditional Chinese opera tune played from an old record player: "Old memories, old memories, the old friend is gone, but will be remembered forever."
The lights suddenly dimmed in the lingering echo of the sound!
When the dim light shone down again, it fell on Rong Yu, who had fallen to the ground, and Fei Zhengqi, who was kneeling on the ground.
The song begins with a soft, melodious Peking Opera tune: "A song of fine wine, a dream of the past, so late..."
Rong Yu slowly got up from the ground, flicked her water sleeves, and gently brushed them across Fei Zhengqi's face.
Fei Zhengqi raised his head in response, a gentle smile appearing on his lips. He stood up, stepped forward, took Rong Yu's hand, and the two danced a short dance to the melodious tune.
As the music ended, the two jumped to the middle of the group and struck a pose the moment the lights came on.
After the music ended, the audience remained silent for a long time.
I don't know who started clapping first, but soon the applause joined in, thunderous and continuous.
Yin Chengjue snapped out of his daze and raised the light board with Rong Yu's name on it. Although he didn't cheer like the excited fans, he couldn't hide his shock and excitement.
He remembered that he had also come here in his previous life and witnessed this performance. However, because he knew that Rong Yu had drawn the same song as Ming Qian, he tried his best to hypnotize himself to forget it and then blindly voted for Ming Qian.
Now that he has stepped out of that narrow circle and is truly looking at the performance fairly, he will realize how naive and ridiculous he was back then.
Yin Chengjue murmured the name to himself, a surge of anticipation rising in his heart.
Rong Yu, how far can you go? I died young in my past life and couldn't see it. In this life, I want to watch you closely and see how high you can climb.
Yin Chengjue took a deep breath and raised his hand to press his chest, which was pounding like a drum.
It's strange. I just saw a promising talent that my company should nurture, so why is my heart beating so fast?
Yin Chengjue paused for a moment, then tried to suppress his emotions, his eyes revealing hatred again—next, it was Ming Qian's turn to appear.
Now that Feng Chengda has been exposed for having an affair, Yin He has naturally filed for divorce. As long as the evidence is conclusive, the law will order the cheating party to leave with nothing.
Feng Chengda was extremely busy with this, and how could things possibly be any better for his illegitimate son, Feng Changheng?
Without Feng Changheng's investment and support, how could Mingqian possibly defeat the powerful Rong Yu?
Thinking of this, Yin Chengjue's lips curled into a cold smile. While the stage was still being prepared, he casually opened a live stream on a certain platform to see how the online reaction was.
However, when he saw the comments scrolling across the screen, his face suddenly darkened.
Author's Note: This story will officially enter the competition next month, in September!!! Daily updates will resume once the competition resumes!!! Daily updates!!! Daily updates!!! Please leave a comment if you like it!!! /(≧▽≦)/～
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
