Chapter 101
The surrounding environment was noisy, but Shan Jia, leaning on Zhou Li's shoulder, felt like he was in a world of his own.
Seeing that the boss was resting, Zhu Le stopped talking and sat next to Zhou Li, playing with his mobile phone.
Zhou Li swallowed carefully, tilted his chin slightly, and looked over his shoulder.
Shan Jia's jade-white profile was right in front of him. From her head, he could see the lines of her neck disappearing smoothly into the folds of her collar. There was no expression on her face. Zhou Li lowered his shoulders and relaxed his muscles to let Shan Jia lean more comfortably.
The three of them sat in the corner of the waiting area, out of reach of the headlights.
Tang Bai learned from Li Simeng that Shan Jia should have signed up as well. He stood up and glanced left and right among the many contestants. Zhou Li took off his hat and put it on his face, also closing his eyes to rest. Zhu Le lowered his head to play with his mobile phone. The three of them were completely submerged in the crowd. Tang Bai didn't see them, curled his lips, and sat down again.
A storm disappeared into thin air, and Zhou Li heard the sound of a horn.
"Contestants No. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, please begin waiting for your performances. Contestant No. 15, please prepare for your interview."
Five numbers would be called at once, and Zhou Li and her group drew number 18. Zhou Li lowered her chin and said softly to Shan Jia, "It's our turn."
Shan Jia raised his head with clear eyes and bumped into Zhou Li's chin.
Zhou Li hissed, and Shan Jia tilted his head back and asked, "Did you bite your tongue?"
Zhou Li shook her head. Shan Jia pinched her chin and moved her head left and right to take a closer look. The skin on her chin was a little red.
Zhou Li broke free from her hand, rubbed his chin and said vaguely: "Go backstage to prepare."
Shan Jia used his eyes to confirm that Zhou Li was fine before he stood up.
The three of them walked through the crowd of contestants to the backstage. Tang Bai saw them then and he deliberately blocked Shan Jia. Zhou Li frowned and Zhu Le became nervous. Tang Bai sneered and put his palm in front of his neck, making a beheading gesture.
Zhou Li held Shan Jia's hand, wanting to give her strength.
Shan Jia glanced at Zhou Li with a dull expression on her face. She said to Tang Bai, who was blocking the road, "Don't be childish."
Tang Bai was stunned. Shan Jia pushed Tang Bai away with one hand and took Zhou Li's hand and walked forward.
Zhou Li fell behind. She followed closely and caught up with Shan Jia, running shoulder to shoulder with him. Zhu Le also trotted forward to catch up. When passing by Tang Bai, she made a face at him and whispered, "Childish."
Tang Bai's chest heaved, and he turned and yelled to the person beside him, "What are you looking at?!"
"Tsk!" The band member sitting next to him made a contemptuous gesture towards him.
Tang Bai was even angrier. Shan Jia always had a way of irritating him. He wanted to see how long Shan Jia could last! He already knew the exact format of the match! In this match, he was going to crush Shan Jia! He was going to avenge his past crushing defeat by Shan Jia!
Tang Bai returned to his original position. His bandmate put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Captain, why bother with them? They're just an unknown band. How can they be as famous as ours? You're lowering your status by arguing with them."
"What do you know!" Tang Bai pushed the hand off his shoulder with a serious look on his face.
He'd actually been following the Windmill Band for years. He was probably more familiar with the melodies of every Windmill Band song than he was with Shan Jia, the composer. Every time he heard a new song and saw Shan Jia, the composer, the lyricist, the guitarist, the vocalist, and even the mixer, he felt an immense jealousy. He was jealous of how could such talent not belong to him? Shan Jia's band wasn't a big hit, but Tang Bai, knowing her talent, knew that if he gave Shan Jia a chance, she would eventually become a big star. Otherwise, he wouldn't have suppressed the Windmill Band for so many years.
Tang Bai sat down slowly with a gloomy face. His teammates around him looked at each other and didn't dare to get any closer.
Zhou Li and his two companions were waiting at the back with the other four teams. They could faintly hear singing from the front. From the moment they stepped in, they had been watching footage that would be shown as highlights during the show. Everyone was extremely cautious and afraid of making any mistakes.
After discussing with Shan Jia and Zhu Le during the audition, Zhou Li did not choose his band's song. It was not because he was not confident in his own songs, but because song selection was very important in the audition. Their new song might not sound good to the judges. The safe way was to choose a familiar song and let Shan Jia adapt it to make it more suitable for their band's performance.
Shan Jia stood against the wall with her arms folded. The performance of a song only lasted four to five minutes, and the judges' comments would not exceed ten minutes. It would be their turn soon.
Zhou Li took out the drumsticks and made a rhythm in his mind, playing tricks on his hands as usual. Zhu Le also lowered his head, letting his arms hang naturally, unconsciously playing their song.
"Number 18? Number 18, get ready! You're next!"
Zhou Li was instantly awakened from her own world. She subconsciously looked at Shan Jia. Shan Jia nodded. Zhu Le extended his hand and said, "Come on!"
"come on!"
Put three hands together to encourage yourself.
The staff led them into the performance venue. The judges were some distance away from them. There was only a drum set and a few microphones on the venue.
Zhou Li walked in front, Shan Jia stood behind her on the left, and Zhu Le stood behind her on the right. The three of them bowed politely as they entered. Zhou Li picked up the microphone on the stand and said, "Hello everyone, we're a one-month-old band called Rebirth. I'm the drummer, Zhou Li. To my left is Shan Jia, our lead singer and guitarist, and to my right is Zhu Le, our bassist. Today we're performing an old funk song."
"Please start your performance." said the judge sitting in the middle.
Zhou Li looked at Shan Jia, who had already put his guitar on his back, and Zhu Le had also put his bass on his back. She smiled shyly, "Teachers, could you allow me to try the drum set first?"
The teachers looked at each other and the teacher on the left gave their permission.
Zhou Li's palms were sweating, and she was far less calm than she appeared on her face. However, in the ears of professionals like them, the wrong tune of the drums was no less than a huge flaw. Zhou Li would not allow her performance to have such mistakes caused by pitch.
She struck the drum with a drumstick, testing the sound one by one, tightening where it should be tight and loosening where it should be loose.
The drum set provided by the program team was only playable, not good or bad. But after adjusting the pitch, Zhou Li had the music score. She adjusted it quickly, which took a few minutes. Then Zhou Li politely said, "We can start the performance."
The judges, who were originally frowning, thought that Zhou Li was here to act, not to perform, until they heard the pitch of his ears, and then they nodded approvingly.
"Please start." said the judge.
After a month of working with everyone, Zhou Li has already developed a tacit understanding. She taps her drumsticks against each other, one, two, three, and steps on the pedal. The first note is accurately hit, and the bass follows tacitly. After the two of them finish the prelude, the wild guitar catches up with a burst of explosion. A wonderful funk music sounds in the studio. The judges present can't help but raise their eyebrows in surprise, and their bodies sway to the wild rhythm. The sound waves are so strong that the cameraman who is filming can't help but tap his feet.
Some people like funk, and some don't.
At the end of the song, Shan Jia's voice ended neatly. This funk song focuses on the music rather than the lyrics. The singer's singing part is very short, and most of the time it is a collision of fierce drums and surging guitars. The bass acts as a glue to prevent the two instruments from fighting. The adaptation is extremely wonderful.
One judge said: "This song is well adapted. Do you have any expert advice?"
As the leader of the band, Zhou Li naturally stepped forward and answered, "This song was adapted by our band's lead singer and guitarist."
The judges nodded.
Someone else asked, "Is your band's style going to be funk? If you were to compete on stage in the future, having a single style might be disadvantageous to you."
Zhou Li smiled shyly, "We are also ambitious and want to try various styles of songs. Funk is just one of the styles we like. We hope to perform different styles for you teachers in the future."
"I really enjoyed your performance with the guitarist. I'll give it to you."
Zhou Li's breathing became heavier. If he passed three, he could go in directly. If he passed two, he would have to wait until all the contestants finished their performances before discussing it.
"Although I think funk is very one-dimensional, I have to say that your arrangement is wonderful and the performance is also very good. I have also given it a try."
Zhou Li looked at the third judge with bright eyes.
The third judge said with a distressed look, "Your band has a strong drummer and guitarist, the lead singer's voice is rich, and the ending is crisp and clean, but I have to say the band still has a weakness: your bass."
Zhu Le's heart suddenly began to tighten.
“My bass needs to be improved, but I love funk, so of course I’ll pass it!”
Zhou Li jumped up and his first reaction was to run towards Shan Jia. Shan Jia did the same. The two of them bumped into each other and hugged each other tightly. Finally, Zhu Le ran over, hugged them both in his arms, and smiled foolishly.
He was not discouraged by the judges' comments, and was immersed in the joy of advancing.
"Come and get your promotion medals." The judge said with a smile.
Zhou Li finally reacted and leaned his head against Shan Jia's, smiling broadly.
Zhu Le let go, and Zhou Li took the medal. The judge said, "I look forward to your future performances."
"Thank you." Zhou Li tried hard to suppress his smile and took Zhu Le and Shan Jia to the promotion area. At this time, there was only one team in the promotion area. Including them, there were only two bands that advanced among the top 18.
Seeing the word "advanced" appearing again on the big screen in the waiting area, Tang Bai had a premonition of fate that it was Shan Jia's team that advanced. He clenched his fists and thought unwillingly again that as long as she wanted to become famous, her talent would bring her to everyone, and even he would not be able to stop her.
Zhou Li took the initiative to greet the only band in the promotion zone, "Hello, we are the Rebirth Band."
The veteran band members present felt deeply moved when they saw the young band members across from them, whose average age was no more than 20 years old. They were so young.
The captain, wearing sunglasses, coolly extended his hand, "Hello, we are the Yizhihua band." He then turned his gaze to Shan Jia, "Long time no see. I really liked the song you wrote for us last time. I didn't expect you to participate in the competition. I heard your band disbanded."
Zhou Li held it and turned his head to look at Shan Jia, unexpectedly he was an acquaintance.
Shan Jia nodded calmly and said, "Long time no see."
"Windmill has disbanded, and I am now a reborn guitarist."
"And the lead singer." Zhou Li added with a smile.
Shan Jia looked at her and said nothing.
"Take a seat," the band leader across from me offered me a seat. "There are many bands back there, and we can watch the live broadcasts on the screen here."
Zhou Li inspected the promotion area and saw a TV and a table with many snacks and drinks on it. Of course, there was also a camera. From the beginning of the interview, they had entered the recording range of the program and had to be alert at all times. Of course, Zhou Li didn't think so after a while.
After the performance, Shan Jiaru was like a lazy snake, sitting lazily next to Zhou Li, staring at the TV intermittently, as if the performance just now had consumed all the energy in her body, and she was now in semi-standby mode again.
Zhu Le was like a little bee, happily carrying food from the table and stuffing it into Zhou Li and Shan Jia's arms, then sitting aside happily eating snacks and watching the show. It was so cool.
Zhou Li looked around and then held his forehead to think.
There is no such thing as being cautious, as there are only two funny guys beside her.
Looking at the older brothers in the band, they were all paralyzed and sleeping, not caring about their image at all. Zhou Li thought, forget it, it might not be broadcast anyway, so she relaxed her muscles and served as a pillow for Shan Jia. She sat on the chair, opened the snacks, and fed Shan Jia from time to time.
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