Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Backstage Encounter (2 in 1)
[Chapter 45, Backstage Encounter]
Xu Baichuan's right eyelid twitched several times today. It is said that "left eye twitching means good fortune, right eye twitching means disaster", and the right eye twitching is not a good sign.
But it may not necessarily happen to FTM. Maybe he will run into some trouble himself? What's more, this kind of folk metaphysics has no theoretical basis, and it may be that I didn't sleep well last night.
Xu Baichuan rubbed his temples and ignored the uneasiness in his heart.
After having dinner with the five people, he asked everyone to rinse their mouths, touch up their makeup, and then return to the backstage through the staff passage.
There were three other celebrities sharing the lounge with FTM, and they didn't know each other, so the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Chen Mian, who was sitting and resting, met Fang Yinnian's gaze and greeted him with a dry smile: "Hi, you're back."
Although Chen Mian is not very popular, he is a senior in the circle after all.
Fang Yinnian took the initiative to walk up to him and chat: "Brother Mian, I happened to follow the episode of Soul Singer that you participated in that year."
Chen Mian was flattered: "Really?"
Fang Yinnian said: "Well, I really like your voice and I even voted for you in the competition."
Chen Mian scratched his head embarrassedly: "Haha, this happened five years ago, and few people remember it now."
Five years ago was the first season of the popular music variety show "Soul Singer", which was also the most popular season of all time. In addition to Chen Mian, there is another contestant - today's top star Tao Yizhou.
Fang Yinnian was still in junior high school at the time. The first thing he did when he got home every weekend was to turn on Nanxing Satellite TV to watch the live broadcast of "Soul Singer".
Chen Mian is one of his favorite contestants. His smoky voice is very unique, and his emotional expression when singing is also very sincere.
Unfortunately, in the 7-to-4 match, he was drawn to compete with Tao Yizhou and was defeated and eliminated.
At that time, Tao Yizhou already had a large number of fans.
The marketing team behind Tao Yizhou is very powerful - of course, when Fang Yinnian was in junior high school, he didn’t understand the marketing tactics of the entertainment industry, and simply thought that Tao Yizhou could only win if he sang better.
Now it seems that Tao Yizhou won the championship that year because he had a team behind him to help him. And "self-employed" people like Chen Mian who have not signed a contract with a marketing company will naturally become cannon fodder in the competition.
Now that Fang Yinnian has entered the entertainment industry himself, he has seen many things clearly. In fact, there is no fairness in this circle.
If you want to make a breakthrough, either you have to have a very powerful marketing team behind you, or you have to have strong personal strength.
In addition to singing skills, there is another key to a singer's hard power - that is creation.
If you don’t have creative ability and can only rely on others to write songs, and you can’t find a good producer, it will be difficult to produce good works.
For example, Chen Mian, who won fifth place at the time, had good singing skills and voice, but unfortunately he didn't have good resources and only released one song.
He is a typical singer whose subsequent works failed to keep up and then gradually became obscure. Nowadays, when people talk about "Soul Singer", they only know Tao Yizhou, and few people can remember the fifth place in the competition that year.
But it was obvious that when they were PKing back then, their strength was equal, but their subsequent developments were worlds apart.
FTM is lucky enough to have the connections of their agent Xu Baichuan and teacher Yu Ziluo who tailor-made songs for them.
But what if one day Teacher Yu doesn’t have the energy to write songs for them?
It is better to rely on yourself than on others. Fang Yinnian has always believed in this truth. He cannot always rely on his master.
During this time he has been learning songwriting.
He must write his own songs. Only by improving his own abilities can he go further in the future.
Everyone in this lounge was familiar with each other and didn't put on airs, so they quickly became friends. Fang Yinnian and Chen Mian even added each other as friends.
The lounge was full of joy.
Xu Baichuan went out for something and said he would come back to see them at ten o'clock. Fang Yinnian guessed that the agent might have gone out to talk to someone.
At 7:30 in the evening, the live broadcast of the New Year’s Eve Gala officially began.
There is a screen in every lounge backstage where you can watch the live broadcast in real time, and everyone can sit down and watch the party together.
The opening show was very festive, with many people singing a song together, which quickly brought about the lively atmosphere of the New Year's Eve.
The program proceeded in an orderly manner.
When it was almost 9pm, Tan Junwen suddenly said, "I want to go to the bathroom. Does anyone want to go?"
The backstage passages were complicated and Tan Junwen would definitely get lost if he went alone. Fang Yinnian stood up and said, "I'll go too."
There are many stars tonight and there are dozens of lounges. The lounge they are in is marked as Area B.
The two of them went out and walked about ten meters in the direction of the arrow pointing to the restroom.
After turning the corner, Fang Yinnian saw "Sonic Lounge" on the door on the right, and "Tao Yizhou Lounge" further ahead.
This party gave Fang Yinnian a lot of knowledge - it turns out that people who are not famous enough can only share the lounge when participating in large-scale events.
For top stars like Tao Yizhou, their independent rest rooms are twice as big as theirs, with their own dressing rooms, and they can even bring in makeup artists and stylists.
These confused people have to go to the shared locker room to change clothes. The door is locked and separated for men and women.
The entertainment industry has always been like this, everything is based on status, and if you are in a circle, you have to abide by the rules of the circle.
The two walked into the bathroom.
Fang Yinnian saw a boy washing his hands in front of the sink. He had very fair skin, a cold expression, and was wearing a red and gold performance costume.
The boy's eyeshadow was dotted with red to match his clothes, his ear bones were inlaid with a row of diamonds, his hair was neatly combed and styled, and his makeup showed a bit of aggressive charm.
Fang Yinnian didn't recognize who this was, he just felt that he looked familiar.
He walked around him and headed into the bathroom. Suddenly, he heard a cold voice behind him: "What a coincidence, Fang Yinnian."
Fang Yinnian stopped.
The boy raised the corner of his mouth, turned to look at him, and looked him up and down unscrupulously.
Fang Yinnian felt uncomfortable being stared at, so he asked politely, "Who are you?"
The boy smiled and extended his hand: "Hello, I'm Qu Yan."
Fang Yinnian: “…”
It turned out to be Qu Yan, the center of the boy band Sonic. He had seen this person's photo on the Internet before. No wonder he looked familiar.
Looking closely, Qu Yan's face is even more delicate than in the photo.
His temperament is very unique. He is gentle and harmless when he smiles, but when he looked indifferent just now, there was a strange aggressiveness in him, as if he was a ferocious beast lurking quietly in the dark, ready to tear people apart at any time.
He is worthy of being the face of the Sonic boy group, a popular idol with tens of millions of fans, and his appearance is indeed impressive.
He took the initiative to extend his hand, and Fang Yinnian had to shake hands with him out of politeness - the temperature from his fingertips was icy cold, probably because the other party had just washed his hands with cold water.
Fang Yinnian withdrew his hand calmly.
At this moment, another boy came out from the inner room. His hair was dyed burgundy, and he had a bright wing-shaped tattoo on his shoulder. His red eyeshadow slanted to his temples, and his makeup was a bit exaggerated.
Facing Fang Yinnian's gaze, the boy raised his eyebrows jokingly: "Hey, isn't this the legendary Fang Yinnian?"
Legendary? Is he famous?
Fang Yinnian nodded politely: "Hello."
The boy said with a half-smile, "You two, the Cube CP, are really popular recently. You and Mo Xun are really good at business. You have become a model in the industry. Our agent asked us to learn from you."
It's actually quite rude to say this to your face.
Fang Yinnian also heard the sarcasm in his words, which translated into: You little obscure group are really unscrupulous in promoting CP.
Fang Yinnian finally recognized who was in front of him—the captain of the Sonic men’s team, Jin Yiyang, who was also the one paired with Qu Yan.
The agent mentioned this matter before, saying that inspired by the rise of the Magic Cube CP, other boy groups have been hyping up their CPs to an increasingly larger extent recently.
Fang Yinnian was too busy practicing dancing to pay attention to these things.
Sonic happened to be at Yuntu TV for this New Year’s Eve party, and I didn’t expect to meet him backstage.
I never expected that the other party would mock me in person.
Maybe Jin Yiyang thought that FTM was just a small and obscure group, and no one would expose their private conversations online anyway, so a few sarcastic remarks would not matter.
Fang Yinnian was unhappy in his heart, but he looked friendly on the surface. He smiled and said with curved eyes: "Thank you for the compliment. Mo Xun and I are also learning how to run the business and will continue to work hard."
Jin Yiyang: “…”
Tan Junwen almost laughed out loud.
Fang Yinnian used his little effort to achieve a great result, and the opponent's ridicule was hit like a punch into a pile of cotton. As expected, Jin Yiyang walked away with a sour face.
Qu Yan, who was standing in front of the sink, chuckled, glanced at Fang Yinnian, and said, "Are you all using microphones today?"
Fang Yinnian: “Yeah.”
Qu Yan said meaningfully: "You are quite courageous. Keep going."
He turned and left the bathroom.
Fang Yinnian looked at his back and always felt that this man’s eyes and body temperature were very similar to those of an animal—a cold snake?
Whether staring at someone or shaking their hand, it makes people feel uncomfortable.
Fang Yinnian didn't think much about it. After going to the bathroom, he followed Tan Junwen back to the lounge.
Tan Junwen actively leaned over to Mo Xun's ear and complained: "Brother Mo, guess who we ran into in the bathroom just now?"
Mo Xun asked curiously, "Who?"
Tan Junwen lowered his voice mysteriously: "Sonic boy band's most popular ACE Qu Yan, and their captain Jin Yiyang."
Mo Xun understood and said, "Oh, their group is also celebrating the New Year on Yuntu TV. It's normal to meet by chance... Is there anything wrong?"
Tan Junwen continued to tell tales: "Jin Yiyang mocked Yinnian, saying that the Mofang CP is very popular recently. You two really know how to do business."
Mo Xun frowned unhappily: "He said that to my face?"
Tan Junwen: "Well, Yinnian said he would continue to work hard."
Mo Xun: “…”
I was originally wondering if Yinnian was being bullied and was about to get angry, but this sentence made Mo Xun couldn't help laughing out loud.
As expected, he is Fang Yinnian. He doesn't want to suffer any loss, nor does he want to have a head-on conflict with others. He can easily handle it with a Tai Chi technique, and others can't do anything to him.
Emotionally stable, the responses were smart.
Mo Xun walked up to Fang Yinnian and whispered, "That Jin Yiyang is sneering at you. Does that mean he really cares about your popularity?"
Fang Yinnian nodded, leaned over to Mo Xun's ear and whispered, "If he hadn't mentioned CP, I would have remembered that Sonic also had a CP. He put on so much makeup that I almost didn't recognize him."
Mo Xun: “…”
If Jin Yiyang heard this, he would probably be furious.
The CP popularity that you care about most is exactly what we in Yinnian care about the least.
***
The time came to 21:30 and Sonic's performance officially began.
Sonic is a group limited by auditions. The audition process went through many fierce competitions and cruel eliminations. Those who stayed were all very talented. After forming the group, they also had a period of running-in and now they dance very in unison.
As for singing skills...
It's lip-syncing anyway, and it sounds pretty good.
The song they performed this time was called "Fire of Suzaku", an electronic music with a traditional Chinese style. All members wore gorgeous stage costumes with a red base and gold embellishments, and their makeup and tattoos also fit the theme of the song.
During the interlude of the song, Qu Yan and Jin Yiyang danced a duet.
Jin Yiyang put his arms around Qu Yan's waist. Qu Yan's body was very flexible, so he half-held him while he spun and jumped, and bent down easily. The two of them cooperated well, and from time to time they pressed their bodies against each other and looked at each other affectionately.
This song is well written and has a very Chinese flavor.
But Fang Yinnian didn’t know how to evaluate Sonic’s performance.
No matter whether it is the exaggerated makeup or the design of the two people dancing together with their bodies close together as if performing acrobatics, they all steal the show - what was originally a passionate Chinese style music has become a greasy cake to sell CP business.
It reminded Fang Yinnian of those charming boys posing and pole dancing in the bar.
Is that a bit too much? CP fans may love to eat it, but passers-by will just think that a group of monsters are jumping around.
As a limited group, Sonic is destined to disband in two years. Not many people are committed to the team spirit, and the light sticks brought by fans are also for personal support.
Qu Yan's support color is dark purple, Jin Yi Yang's is bright gold, and a large number of purple and gold light signs appeared in the audience.
These two are very popular and have a lot of CP fans, but their fans often quarrel with each other and think that the other party is not worthy.
The song ended quickly. In the ending pose, Jin Yiyang picked up Qu Yan and let him stand on his legs. Qu Yan put one hand around Jin Yiyang's neck and stretched out his other hand...
There were deafening screams at the scene.
Fu Fei and Tan Junwen were stunned, Tang Che had a look of “old man on subway looking at phone.jpg” on his face, Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun were silent at the same time.
Just imagine him doing this with Mo Xun, and Fang Yinnian would get goosebumps all over his body.
Has the CP hype become so complicated now?
Fang Yinnian looked at Mo Xun and said softly, "Good meeting."
Mo Xun shook his head: "I can't learn it."
The two smiled at each other and quickly ignored the matter.
Let them put their bodies close together and dance passionately. They will probably laugh countless times... Let's just forget it.
At 21:30, Tao Yizhou appeared amid deafening screams.
Judging from the live broadcast screen, the effect of Tao Yizhou appearing on the starship was indeed very handsome. The lights in the entire venue dimmed, and only the suspended starship floated above the stadium.
He sang passionately to the camera, and his breathing and panting sounds were quite obvious in the microphone.
Of course, the pre-recorded track was played.
After watching the show, Fang Yinnian searched online and found that there were indeed a lot of fans and media praising him: "Tao Yizhou is super stable on stage!" "It sounds as good as if he had eaten a CD." "Who knows how he can sing so well with the mic on!"
Fang Yinnian: “…”
No wonder he sings in the air every time he appears on stage. The top star in the music industry seems as fake as a castle in the air.
Chen Mian, who debuted at the same time as him, had a complicated look in his eyes - they were obviously singers from the same show, but the other person had become a top star with countless fans, while he himself was becoming more and more obscure.
The gap between people in different circumstances will only get bigger.
At 22:30 in the evening, Xu Baichuan came to the backstage lounge, waved and said, "Let's go, change into your performance clothes."
FTM will be out at 23:30, with one hour to go.
The five of them went to the dressing room to change into their performance costumes.
The overall design of the clothes this time is black and white. Fang Yinnian was wearing a white stage costume with the hem falling to his knees. When he danced, he looked very fairy-like.
Tang Che's clothes are decorated with tassels on the shoulders, Junwen is wearing an elegant gentleman's tuxedo, and Xiaofei's energetic top has a hood.
Mo Xun's clothes were the coolest. His black vest was tucked into his waist, revealing his beautifully-shaped arm muscles. There were gold embellishments on his clothes and belt. He wore a cape at the back and black leather boots on his feet.
After everyone changed, they turned and headed to the lounge.
When I got close to the lift, I suddenly heard the staff’s voice: “Please move aside, we’re moving the props. Thank you!”
Several people immediately stepped aside to make way.
The prop is very large and there is a cart underneath.
Mo Xun walked at the end and stepped aside to let the props team pass.
Fang Yinnian heard a slight "hiss" sound and when he turned around, he found that Mo Xun suddenly frowned. He took a closer look and found that his left arm was bleeding!
Fang Yinnian was startled by the glaring blood, and his voice became slightly tense: "Mo Xun, what happened to your arm?"
This sentence made all the teammates look over.
Fu Fei's eyes widened: "Damn, there's so much blood!"
Tan Junwen also ran over: "Is Brother Mo scratched?"
Tang Che looked at the staff in front and said coldly: "You guys don't take protective measures when moving things?"
The staff rushed over and said, “Sorry, sorry!”
Mo Xun frowned: "It's okay, it's not serious."
When Xu Baichuan turned around and saw this scene, his heart suddenly sank.
Bleeding...blood disaster?
Many people in the entertainment industry talk about these metaphysical things. Getting injured and bleeding at the New Year’s Eve party is not a good sign. His right eyelid started twitching again.
Xu Baichuan took a deep breath and said calmly: "Take Mo Xun to the lounge first, I'll let the doctor take care of it."
The agent went to see the doctor.
The three guests in the lounge also went out at this moment. Some went to change clothes and prepare, while others had finished the performance and returned to the hotel early.
Fang Yinnian took Mo Xun to his seat and asked nervously, "How is the wound? Does it hurt?"
Mo Xun calmed down and said, "It's okay, it's just a scratch."
The prop just now looked very strange, with a sharp thin piece on the edge. Mo Xun got scratched on the arm when he dodged sideways.
But it wasn't a knife after all, and the wound wasn't deep.
Xu Baichuan called a doctor to the lounge, who disinfected and bandaged the wound, and the bleeding stopped quickly.
"The wound is not deep. Go back and take anti-inflammatory drugs for two days, disinfect it on time, and don't let it come into contact with water." The doctor gave Mo Xun a box of anti-inflammatory drugs, left half a roll of gauze, and turned away.
Only then did Fang Yinnian feel relieved.
Fu Fei suddenly said loudly: "Ah, Brother Nian and Brother Mo's clothes are dirty and stained with blood!"
Fang Yinnian was so anxious to check on Mo Xun's wound that he didn't care whether his clothes would get dirty.
The two of them looked down and saw that their costumes were indeed stained with blood, especially Fang Yinnian's white clothes, where the blood was particularly obvious.
what to do? You can't go on stage and perform with blood all over your body, right?
Fang Yinnian looked at his agent nervously.
Xu Baichuan said, "It's okay. I asked my assistant to bring some spare clothes. There's one more set. You two can change into them quickly."
The five of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.
Fortunately, the agent was experienced and brought spare performance costumes.
The two returned to the locker room and quickly changed their clothes.
Mo Xun looked down at the gauze on his arm, frowned and said, "This white gauze is too obvious, we have to find a way to cover it up."
Fang Yinnian thought about it, picked up the clothes that Mo Xun had just changed out of, found a pair of small scissors, and cut a piece of cloth from the edge of the cloak.
He said, "I'll cover it for you, you sit here."
Mo Xun sat on the stool obediently.
Fang Yinnian pulled up Mo Xun's arm, and his slender fingers flexibly passed the strip of cloth under his arm, wrapped it around the gauze several times, carefully covered the gauze, and then tied a beautiful knot.
The color of Mo Xun's cloak is a checkered pattern, and there is a checkered bow tied around his shoulder, which looks like a special style.
Mo Xun sat there without moving, allowing Fang Yinnian to toss his arm back and forth like a magic trick.
The originally dazzling white gauze was quickly covered up and turned into beautiful straps and bow decorations.
Fang Yinnian's slender fingers gently brushed across the arm muscles, bringing a slightly numbing sensation.
The locker room was very quiet. The moment Mo Xun looked up, he met Fang Yinnian's smiling eyes.
We were so close that we could almost feel each other's breath. When their eyes met, Mo Xun's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Gentle fingers brushed across his arm, and the numbing feeling from the skin contact spread gently in his heart. Mo Xun's brain inexplicably crashed at this moment.
Fang Yinnian carefully arranged the bow shape, then took his hand back and said with a smile: "Okay, I tied it very tightly, so it can't be seen."
Mo Xun regained consciousness and whispered, "Thank you." He gently touched the bow on his arm, a warm current surged in his heart, and the smile on the corner of his lips couldn't help but expand: "You still have a way."
Fang Yinnian joked, "Isn't this look pretty good?"
Mo Xun nodded: "Yeah, very cool."
He pointed to the bow on his arm and said jokingly, "You tied it for me yourself, and I suddenly can't bear to take it off."
Fang Yinnian's ears warmed up: "Don't joke, we need to disinfect and change the gauze when we get back." He paused and reminded, "Be careful when you dance later, don't use too much force and break the wound."
Mo Xun said, "It's okay, don't worry."
Xu Baichuan's voice came from outside the door: "Are you guys done?"
Mo Xun stood up: "Okay."
When the two walked out of the locker room, Xu Baichuan immediately saw the bow tied with checkered cloth on Mo Xun's shoulder.
Not to mention, this exquisite embellishment, matched with the cloak behind him, actually adds a touch of vitality to Mo Xun's performance costume.
Xu Baichuan said: "It looks pretty good if it's handled this way."
Mo Xun said with pride: "Yin Nian tied it for me."
Xu Baichuan looked at Fang Yinnian, who smiled and said, "It's better to cover it up so as to avoid the trouble of explaining."
Being scratched by props backstage and then dancing on stage with gauze wrapped around his neck is easy to explain and you can also play up the sympathy at the same time.
But Mo Xun didn't want their New Year's Eve performance to deviate from the main point.
If they go through the trouble of explaining the process of the bleeding arm, the fans and passers-by will focus on how serious Mo Xun's arm injury is, and they will ignore the performance they have carefully prepared.
It's just a superficial wound and it will heal in two days. He's a grown man and he shouldn't feel any pain. There's no need for him to act so hypocritically.
Besides, if you go on stage dancing with a roll of white gauze on, it won’t look good in the video recorded by the photographer.
It’s best to cover it up so no one will know.
The two walked side by side towards the locker room, and their teammates gave thumbs up when they saw the bow tie.
Fu Fei said excitedly: "Brother Nian still has a way!"
Tan Junwen squinted his eyes and looked at it for a moment, then said, "This knot is tied very skillfully. It's not like those cute, round bows. The edge of the cloth strip is triangular in shape. It looks pretty good. Yinnian is really skillful."
Fang Yinnian said, "It's fine as long as you can get away with it."
Tang Che carefully looked at Mo Xun for a moment and said, "It's really good. You can't tell that his arm is injured. I just think it's a stage costume."
Mo Xun looked at himself in the mirror and breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Mian, who had just gone out to change clothes, came back.
As expected, he didn't notice that Mo Xun was injured, and even praised him, "The decoration on your shoulder is very unique."
The five of them looked at each other and laughed.
Mo Xun said, "It looks good, doesn't it? Yin Nian tied it for me personally."
There was a hint of bragging in his tone.
The usher knocked on the door and said, "Teacher Chen Mian, please get ready."
Seeing Chen Mian's face turn pale with nervousness, Fang Yinnian took the initiative to step forward and said, "Come on, Brother Mian, you've sung very well in these rehearsals."
Chen Mian smiled and said, "Well, you guys should do your best too."
Less than 3 minutes after he left, the staff member knocked on the door again: "FTM, get ready!"
The five people from FTM immediately followed.
At this time, senior singer Ji Ying was performing a series of singing programs on the big stage. She was also singing and dancing with the microphone on, and her stage presence was super stable.
This singer is already 50 years old. Fang Yinnian had heard her songs when she was in kindergarten. Veteran singers are really amazing. She sang four songs in a row with the microphone on. Even though she was very tired, she managed to sing them all smoothly.
"Please welcome Chen Mian to perform "Miss You Everyday"!"
23:25, Chen Mian comes on stage, and the next one is FTM.
They were waiting in the waiting area two shows in advance, and the staff had already given them earphone monitors and microphones.
Xu Baichuan whispered, "Check it carefully."
The five people carefully checked the equipment and confirmed that there were no problems.
Xu Baichuan said: "Don't be nervous later. There are a total of 40 programs tonight, and only 10 of them will be performed with the microphone open. It's amazing that you have the courage to sing with the microphone open. It doesn't matter how you sing, just sing freely."
Mo Xun suddenly said, "Yin said something to me in the hotel the other day, and I think it's really good."
He looked at Fang Yinnian and repeated with a smile: "In today's exam, many people were copying answers, but we did the questions seriously on the spot. So, no matter what the results are, we can have a clear conscience."
This sentence instantly motivated several teammates.
Yes, there are so many people who are just copying answers, showing off, acting, and it seems more and more fake the more you watch.
They at least had the courage to open the mic and sing.
As a newcomer, he dares to sing and dance with the microphone on at the New Year's Eve party. That's already pretty awesome!
Mo Xun stretched out his hand: "Come on, brothers."
Everyone quickly put their hands together.
All five of them shouted in unison: “FTM, come on!”
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