Chapter 99: The Rose Blooms a Second Time
As for Pei Yansang, how should I put it?
It can be said that, from any perspective, she is a wonderful person.
Although Pei Yansang should be closer to the generation of artists from the 1990s in terms of age, she entered the entertainment industry at a young age due to her difficult childhood. When she became famous, she already had the stage presence and aura of a superstar. So she has the age of an artist from the 1990s, but the seniority and experience of an artist from the 1980s.
Even though Shang Hanyou and Hou Beihua are older than her and have been in the industry for about the same time, Pei Yansang belongs to the "Three Kings and One Queen" generation of the 1980s. As the only female artist who could compete with top artists in the turbulent 1980s, coupled with her consistent gentlemanly manners in social etiquette and consideration for Pei Yansang's devilish and vengeful personality, generally no one would be willing to compete with her unless it was a matter of principle.
After all, if Pei Yansang holds a grudge, she might gather a group of friends at a party to gang up on you, force you to drink, play games with you, and trick you into revealing your dark past... You'll definitely be tormented by her.
While Pei Yansang possesses traditional chivalry and loyalty, she also inevitably has a boss-like personality, enjoying protecting the older and younger sisters around her—if it weren't for the fact that she doesn't have that kind of inclination, the scene of Pei Yansang at the center surrounded by all sorts of beauties would be exactly like a philandering emperor and his harem of three thousand...
However, it was precisely because of Pei Yansang's bossy personality that she was both intimidating to others and well-liked by female artists in the industry. As a result, she served as the captain of the female singer team for several consecutive years, becoming the team's most respected leader.
Therefore, faced with the sharp edge of their eldest sister Pei Yansang, Shang Hanyou and Ling Chen, these two sworn brothers, decisively chose to temporarily avoid her.
"Seeing how sensible you are... I'll let you two off this time. But if I hear you bullying the girls in our team again, I won't let you get away with it!" Pei Yansang glared at the two of them, then went back to continue discussing the program arrangements with Hou Beihua, the captain of the male singer team.
"You don't learn from others, but instead learn from Pei's shrewish and domineering personality!" Shang Hanhao, being older and more experienced, could still make some teasing remarks, but Ling Chen could only look at Li Sishi with aggrieved and dissatisfied expression, silently protesting her tattling behavior.
"Hey, it's you guys who said it again. We're all on different sides, so of course we're enemies—and to deal with enemies, you have to use the most ruthless methods!" Li Sishi replied smugly.
Look at her little devilish appearance, she's totally...
The clone of Pei Yansang, Shang Hanyou, decisively pulled Ling Chen aside and hurriedly left: "Forget it, she's already gone astray so quickly. We good men... Anyway, don't argue with girls too much."
As they were talking, the two of them ran back to the male celebrities' group and found Huo Gucheng, who was massaging his upper arm muscles. Ever since he really made up his mind to cut his hair and tan a few months ago, he has transformed from a former muscular Barbie into a muscular hunk, and at first glance, he seems to have matured several years in an instant.
For most people, this would be a disaster, but for Huo Gucheng, who always felt that his temperament was too effeminate and not manly enough, this was a windfall. As a result, he has recently become so obsessed with his image as a dark-skinned young tough guy that others don't want to get close to him.
The reason is simple: this guy has been showing off his new image too much lately, flaunting his muscles everywhere. When other men get close to him, it looks incredibly gay, so no male celebrity wants to get close and risk offending him…
Only the other three Heavenly Kings had been rumored to be dating each other.
They still remain devoted to each other—although they occasionally find excuses to go elsewhere.
This is also the real reason why Hou Beihua went to communicate with Pei Yansang as the team leader, why Shang Hanyou went around chatting with people to build relationships, why he would squat in corners at dawn to slack off, or why he would occasionally play with the male artists in the back row.
After Pei Yansang returned from "scouting the enemy's situation," Li Sishi and Ye Shanyun went over to inquire about the situation and learned that the four members of the male singer team planned to perform an a cappella medley of classic songs.
A cappella is a type of unaccompanied singing that uses only human voices and no instruments. With their current singing skills and popularity, these four people will definitely be the highlight of this anniversary celebration.
It is undeniable that the Hong Kong music scene has been dominated by men for too many years, with a significant gender imbalance among top artists, which further widens the gap in the ratio of male to female artists performing at the TVB Anniversary Awards.
Even with the presence of two powerful female singers, Cen Xilian and Tang Jingwen, last year they couldn't shake the dominance of the Four Heavenly Kings and snatch the anniversary banner. This year, Cen Xilian and Tang Jingwen have been replaced by Ban Shuyan and Cheng Zouyun, who are slightly less popular... It seems the female singer team is in trouble this year.
It's not that Li Sishi is too pessimistic, but the TVB Anniversary Gala for Singers is indeed only glorious in the last few years. In the next two or three years, the music scene will lose its glory, TBL's cooperation with major record companies will run into problems, and with the rise of TVB Anniversary Gala for film and television awards, TVB Anniversary Gala for Stars will only be a memory of a time when it was brilliant.
Li Sishi
I glanced at the tentative program schedule for this year: in terms of both entertainment value and overall appeal, it's clear that it won't be as exciting and engaging as last year.
Especially for the female singers, while they have plenty of artistry, they lack gimmicks and can't really warm up the crowd, so they'll probably suffer in the ratings. Strictly speaking, this kind of anniversary celebration program is actually roughly equivalent to the company annual meetings of later generations, except that they take advantage of having artists as employees and make it look like a high-class star-studded celebration.
For this kind of "annual meeting" to win the favor of TV station executives and record company judges, having a gimmick and being able to liven up the atmosphere are two very important factors.
Li Sishi glanced at the four people practicing a cappella.
A thought flashed through her mind, and she whispered in Pei Yansang's ear, "How about we do this..."
Pei Yansang was somewhat surprised after hearing Li Sishi's idea: "Really?"
“I really read it in a book. As long as you grasp the timing, there shouldn’t be any problems.” Li Sishi nodded with great certainty.
People in this era might not be able to come up with any ingenious ideas, but those who have experienced the information explosion of the internet age can do so much more easily.
This is because the information explosion brought about by the development of the times has broadened the knowledge base of the new generation far beyond that of the old era.
“It seems that reading more books really does have its benefits. It’s a pity…” Pei Yansang sighed, thinking that she didn’t have time to read more because she had to support her family at a young age. At the same time, she looked at Li Sishi with relief, “Fortunately, you will not have to go through my life again.”
Seeing the look of satisfaction in her eyes, Li Sishi felt a mix of emotions and could only respond with a soft smile.
Then she immediately received a pat on the head from Pei Yansang—facing Li Sishi's surprised little eyes, Pei Yansang, who didn't feel that she was flirting everywhere, said with a straight face: "Although you are already very beautiful when you don't smile, I still prefer you when you smile, you are sweet and beautiful."
"By the way, this year's theme is black and white, so all the girls will be wearing white as the main color. Have you prepared your performance outfits yet?"
“Ready.” Li Sishi nodded.
It perfectly "caters" to the tastes of a certain elder sister—sweet and pretty.
"That's good. The female singers' medley this year, in order of appearance, will sing Cantonese hits, English hits, and Mandarin hits—all relatively 'old' songs..." Pei Yansang flipped through the lyrics sheet. "I remember your Mandarin is good, so I arranged this for you..."
One song, serving as the grand finale for the female singer's Mandarin hits—
"Rose Girl?" Li Sishi took the lyrics sheet and glanced at it to find that it was an early work by Taiwanese pop diva Yun Ni-jun. She liked it and felt it was a challenge. "I will try my best!"
“Don’t worry, you can ask me any questions.” Pei Yansang was amused by Li Sishi’s serious expression. “I used to sing these old Mandarin songs at Liyuan often, so I know a little about them.”
"Thank you so much, Sister Pei." Li Sishi's smile became even more joyful.
After all, Pei Yansang's words were almost a form of modesty. In the early years, those artists who performed at Liyuan were not only unable to earn money but would also be booed and told to leave the stage if they didn't have real talent. Pei Yansang was able to sing at Liyuan from a few years old to her teens and then come out to participate in singing competitions, so her strength was definitely top-notch!
With such an older sister who taught her singing techniques, plus Le Yun as her mentor... her luck in singing in this life is truly enviable.
The rehearsal and the actual performance were close together. As an artist whose appearance time was relatively important, Li Sishi not only put in a lot of effort during the rehearsal time, but also tried to seize every minute and second of the rest of the time.
Even on the evening of the performance day, Li Sishi, who had changed into a new little dress, was still humming softly while getting her hair and makeup done—that's how it is when people are overly excited, humming little tunes to express their feelings anytime, anywhere, instead of treating humming like a daily necessity like eating and drinking, unlike some audiophiles...
“Beautiful, your dress is white, how about pairing it with this headband?” The stylist picked up a headband adorned with a few white roses and held it up above Li Sishi’s head, gesturing as she spoke.
Li Sishi looked at herself in the mirror and said, "Great, this is it."
Since the theme color for this year is white, it's definitely not possible to go for last year's quirky style with red roses and devilish charm. So, taking advantage of her youthful and vibrant 18-year-old age, Li Sishi asked her cousin to collaborate with the designers from "Theme" dress line to design a new generation of rose dresses with a white theme for this year.
Compared to last year's red rose dress, this year's white rose dress leans more towards a simple and retro ladylike style. The length is also quite proper, reaching the ankles. Paired with smooth, long black hair and a white rose headband, it evokes the phrase "My daughter has come of age."
However, the simpler the material, the easier it is to give it its most unique color.
After putting on the headband and fixing her hair, Li Si
The poem smiles slightly at the mirror, and the feeling of the person in the mirror instantly changes from the snowy winter to the gentle and graceful spring.
A white dress best highlights the cool and ethereal side of her temperament, which is innate and unchangeable; but someone who is familiar with the camera and has a certain level of acting skills can add a smile to the same white dress, just like a painting of a beauty comes to life, making the ultimate fairy-like beauty extremely gorgeous, and making the feeling change from a distant ethereal fairy to a beautiful and sweet beauty that is close at hand.
Without a doubt, her new look was another blow to Lu Yiting, a super beauty enthusiast, to the point that she almost lost the composure of a highly educated woman and top agent, and was so amazed that she lost her voice.
Remembering how Lu Yiting took a huge stack of documents to work after seeing the new look, and kept muttering that she would do her best to get her Sishi BB a role that showcased this beauty... Li Sishi was both amused and exasperated.
However, this stopped her from humming the tune with great enthusiasm. Instead, she took the thermos from her assistant, Zuo Lili, and sipped the warm water slowly while looking at the lyrics, trying to memorize them thoroughly.
Just as Li Sishi stopped practicing her singing, another familiar singing voice rang out from not far away.
Li Sishi looked up with a "Why is it you again?" expression and saw Shang Hanyou, dressed in a white shirt and black suit, holding a stack of lyrics that was much thicker than the ones in her hand. He was quietly practicing singing at his dressing table in the corner, seemingly memorizing the lyrics and sheet music.
Yes, this person, whose singing skills are the best among his peers, became an essential scapegoat for the anniversary program. In addition to his own songs, he also provided accompaniment for three other a cappella songs, as well as a medley of Mandarin hits, etc., making his task much more demanding than hers.
Even someone who loves singing so much looked a little tired when practicing.
⑤
Seeing him still practicing singing despite his condition, he picked up his water bottle halfway through only to find it was empty. Too lazy to go out and get another one or ask someone for help, he simply continued practicing while looking at the lyrics...
Li Sishi picked up the insulated bag, opened it, and saw that she hadn't had time to drink her other cup of voice-nourishing tea. She then greeted her assistant and makeup artist and tiptoed over—the recipe for this voice-nourishing tea was given to her by that audiophile, so this was her way of giving him back.
"Rose, rose, the most beautiful; rose, rose, the most gorgeous..."
Li Sishi quietly walked over and saw him reciting "Rose Vow," an old favorite song from dance halls. She hadn't yet decided whether to directly...
When you're giving him a surprise, or rather, surprising him from behind, there's a sudden, forceful impact from behind—
Fortunately, he held the lid of the thermos to prevent it from spilling all over him, but the noise had already alerted Shang Hanyou to the situation next to him. So he quickly sang "Spring and Summer Bloom on the Branches" while reaching out to pull Li Sishi up.
Li Sishi, still shaken, grabbed his hand. Looking up, she saw that the people who had bumped into her were two staff members carrying set props and hurrying by.
After both sides waved to express their apologies and that nothing was wrong, Li Sishi finally grabbed Shang Hanyou's hand as he stood up to steady herself, then turned around and looked up at him.
Because of the height difference, all Shang Hanyou could see was a patch of long, glossy black hair, and several small white roses that looked like ice sculptures or jade carvings against the backdrop of that black hair.
Until the person in front of me raised their head, revealing a pair of eyes that were even closer to the tranquil night sky than the long, black hair beneath their light, misty bangs.
Then those eyes smiled at him, and with that subtle movement, the reflection of the row of lights on the dressing table appeared as if in the blink of an eye, the tranquil night sky was adorned with a galaxy of stars, making it an unforgettable and breathtaking dream that one could instantly remember.
Looking into those eyes, more captivating than twinkling stars, the last line of the first verse, "Rose, rose, I love you," slipped out unconsciously.
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