Peninsula: My mentor Kim Tae-yeon

Chapter 95 Determination Under Traditional Skills (7k)

"Anyone who's heard this song is probably already in their grave by now, right?"

After Su Xia read the first comment aloud, everyone couldn't hold back anymore.

"What do you mean by 'those who've heard of us are practically dead'? We've only been around for three years." Kim Chae-won looked at the ID with Nakamura Ichiyo's picture in absurdity, then turned to look at Nakamura Ichiyo.

Nakamura Ichiyo looked completely innocent. Can't the idol take the blame for the fans' mistakes?

Oh, it seems that's really the rule?

"The cherry blossoms are so beautiful!"

Upon hearing this, Sakura immediately smiled, but before she could smile for long, the next comment made their smiles freeze instantly.

"Stop trying to bring back '80's spirit. Hybe even had her staff fabricate evidence to prove she wasn't '80,' and it still didn't work. The company has already done everything it could. Can't you just get lost, you 'soul-summoning dog's"?

"Is it possible that... Cheol Tae-yeon >>> (and a million more >>) Kim Ga-ram?"

"You're insulting Attorney Su. What's your intention in putting an 80s-born nobody like Attorney Su together?"

When it comes to sharp tongues, you have to look to fan groups; they've produced countless outrageous comments.

Su Xia sensed something was off, but ignored it and continued reading the comments.

Their main selling point is a dish that includes both meat and vegetables.

"generally."

"I have an idea. If we choose Kim Chae-won as the leader, and select Miyawaki Sakura, Heo Yoon-jin, Nakamura Ichiyo, and Hong Eun-chae, and then bring Lawyer Su as a member, and form a group, I think it might become a hit!"

"This group could be called LESSERAFIM."

"How about we call it 'snail rice noodles'?"

"Damn it!"

"arts!"

"Cui!"

Su Xia's eye twitched.

Wu Chi obviously didn't understand this joke, but he did.

The people behind him remained silent, probably still savoring the lingering warmth of Jin Jialan's actions.

"By the way, I didn't know Attorney Su could dance. I thought he could only sing."

"Are you kidding me? He started out doing flips and jumps."

Fun fact: Lawyer Su is the national champion of this year's China-Korea cultural exchange K-pop dance cover competition, and also has seven super cover videos with over 100 million views on the global Internet.

"So, when can our child start school?"

"Isn't that difficult? Yuqi signed a domestic business contract. Haven't you noticed that Attorney Su has never worked with any domestic celebrities or internet influencers?"

"After chestnut pastry and snowflake pastry, have no new pastries been created? It's been 100 days since I started missing chestnuts."

"Chi's dancing skills are pretty good, but his singing... Coachella really comes to mind."

"It's no wonder that Su Lu only collaborated with Yao on two songs. Only Yao has the ability to do this. Artists like IIVE and LESSERAFIM can only do cover dances."

"Win a big prize first before trying to scam Fu, you flop!"

"So here's the question: between Zhang Yuanying and Liu Zhimin, who is the fifth-ranked female contestant?"

Fishing with a straight hook is not advisable.

But it turns out that you can catch fish with a straight hook.

After reading the comment, Su Xia saw the more than three thousand replies below, which she was already used to.

No matter which group he collaborates with, there are always these bait replies under the video, and the key is that he always manages to fool a large number of people.

That's absolutely outrageous!

It's really hard to give a rating.

"Attorney Su, are our singing skills really that bad?" Xu Yunzhen hesitated for a moment before asking.

They listened to Su Xia Nian's comments and saw plenty of questions from netizens.

"Not so good." Su Xia glanced at Xu Yunzhen. "Your singing is alright, but I wonder if you've been hanging out with these little fish for too long and you've turned into one too."

Sakura and the other two twitched slightly at the corners of their eyes. "A few small fish"—clearly referring to the three of them.

"The source extraction is a little stronger, but really just a tiny bit stronger." Su Xia made a gesture of pointing to the universe.

Jin Caiyuan chuckled awkwardly; she had thought she would receive a good evaluation.

"Attorney Su is really frank," Sakura said with a forced smile.

"I never use lies to comfort people. Rather than giving you unnecessary misconceptions, it's better to face the problem directly." Su Xia glanced at Sakura. "NMIXX's skills are much stronger than yours, but their singing ability wasn't innate. During the collaboration on 'Under the Flying Clouds,' Xueyun and Lily couldn't hit the cross-high notes in the second chorus no matter what they did. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, they tried their best to solve the problem."

"While the weak are wondering why they are so bad, the strong are already figuring out how to become even stronger."

Su Xia turned around and looked at the three people in front of her and Jin Caiyuan and the other two on either side.

"You're not newcomers anymore. Coachella's situation isn't all bad for you; at least it showed you what it's like to be in a slump."

"Some people have a smooth life, but most people experience both lows and highs."

"Your slump came quickly and frequently. Kim Ga-ram's departure was a blow, but you recovered."

.

"Coachella's blow was far worse than Kim Ga-ram's, but will you choose to give up and accept the fact that you can't sing, or will you, like NMIXX, try your best to solve the problem and break through this slump?"

Su Xia stood up from the floor.

The girls, their minds in turmoil, forgot basic etiquette and didn't stand up.

Fortunately, Su Xia didn't care about this.

"You guys take your time thinking about it. I'm going out for a walk." Su Xia stretched on the spot. "This phase of work is over, time to relax."

"I'll leave you with one last piece of advice."

"Both reaching the summit and falling into the valley can be very beneficial."

After saying that, Su Xia leisurely walked away, leaving the girls in silence.

"Have you ever heard of 'talking too much to someone you don't know well'?" Kim Tae-yeon, who was sitting on Su Xia's head, said as soon as they stepped out the door.

"I don't care." Su Xia chuckled and walked down the corridor of the dance studio. "They've only known me for less than a week, but I've known them for half a year."

"It's hard to bear seeing them still so discouraged by the criticism."

"You could express it more tactfully."

"If I could say something like that, I wouldn't have gone for a master's degree; I would have taken the civil service exam after graduating with my bachelor's degree."

Kim Tae-yeon was speechless.

In 22, as a law student with a bar exam certificate (Level A), I had to ask classmates to help me register for the exam to make up the number of participants, otherwise the one-to-three ratio for the exam couldn't even be achieved.

The reason Su Xia didn't go was because he knew his own limitations.

With that foul mouth of his, if he went into the system, he'd be guaranteed to get bullied by his shrewd bosses and colleagues every day.

Then Kim Tae-yeon laughed and fell off Su Xia's head.

"If it weren't for your foul mouth, I wouldn't have taught you this."

97

"What do you mean?" Su Xia looked at Kim Tae-yeon blankly. "Isn't it true that those who speak well can learn more?"

"Because people who are sharp-tongued may not be pleasant to hear, but they are generally not bad at heart."

Su Xia: "?"

What does that mean?

Why does it sound like you're subtly implying that he's brainless?

Kim Tae-yeon, oblivious to Su Xia's gaze, continued speaking to herself: "Those people who speak sweetly, saying one thing to one person and another to another, you can never guess what they're thinking. How can I trust someone like that to confide in?"

"So, your sharp tongue can be a virtue in some ways."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Su Xia said, pursing her lips.

He actually wanted to be the kind of person who could get along with everyone and had excellent interpersonal skills, but unfortunately, his mouth and brain just couldn't keep up. So he simply started to speak his mind and said whatever came to mind.

"So, you've finally decided to talk to me?" Su Xia asked with a smile.

"Ha." Kim Tae-yeon sneered, "Idiot."

Then, the figure disappeared.

A question mark appeared on Su Xia's forehead.

what?

The following day, LESSERAFIM ended his trip a day early to prepare to return to Seoul.

Before leaving, Su Xia also took the time to come and see LESSERAFIM off, after all, they were the first group to come to Xuzhou to record.

LESSERAFIM and his team bid farewell to Su Xia and the others who came to see them off in front of the bus.

Before leaving, Sakura took out an envelope with the LESSERAFIM logo from the bag she had knitted herself, ran up to Su Xia, and handed it to her with both hands.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to look at them.

"What's this? A love letter?" Su Xia joked with a smile.

"Ani." Sakura smiled as well. "These are some things that the members and I wanted to say after our conversation yesterday. We hope you can accept them."

"It's not a love letter," Su Xia shook her head, feigning regret. "I don't want to accept it if it's not a love letter."

"This is a love letter," Sakura said cooperatively.

"Haha, just kidding." Su Xia reached out and put the envelope away. "Be careful on the road, I'll read it."

Since Sakura has already used his traditional little skills, he naturally has to read it carefully.

"Well then, goodbye."

The members of LESSERAFIM bowed to Su Xia to say goodbye.

Su Xia waved to them and watched as everyone boarded the bus, which then drove off into the distance.

"I'm leaving," Su Xia said, getting straight into the car.

Sitting in the car, I opened the envelope in my hand.

Kim Tae-yeon leaned closer, wanting to see what Sakura's traditional skills would be written on the script.

Dear Attorney Su:

Your words in the practice room yesterday were both sobering and unsettling, yet they also gave us unwavering strength.

After you left, we didn't disperse immediately. The five of us sat together, offering no further comfort, only your words echoing repeatedly in our minds.

"Instead of having unwarranted illusions, it's better to face the problem head-on." This statement is like a beam of clear light, piercing through our long-standing reluctance to acknowledge our escapism.

The Coachella stage was the heaviest lesson we've ever learned since our debut. We received so much criticism; the labels "Buffalo Band" and "Can't Sing" weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like stones. At first, we complained about the soundstage of the outdoor venue, the difficulty of the band's arrangement, and indulged in excuses like "unfavorable outdoor conditions" and "too difficult to arrange," even secretly avoiding watching the stage replays and reading comments from netizens.

But your mention of NMIXX's Xueyun and Lily repeatedly refining their cross-high notes made us suddenly realize: only the weak dwell on "why they can't do it," while the strong have already broken down the problems and overcome them one by one. It turns out that what we've always been afraid of isn't "not being able to do it," but rather our inability to face our own shortcomings.

We started rewatching Coachella's stage recordings, no longer avoiding the unsteady chorus or the occasional off-key key changes, but instead each noting down every detail that needed improvement, such as Chae-won's breathing rhythm, Il-yeol's pitch control, Soo-jin's high-pitched penetration, Eun-chae's vocal stability, and my own long-standing burden of singing.

Yesterday, we watched Coachella's entire recording for the first time, without any hesitation or avoidance.

You said our low points came quickly and frequently, a statement so accurate it left us speechless, yet it also showed us that there were people watching us as we grew.

When Jin Jialan left the team, we encouraged each other in the practice room late at night. From being scattered to having tacit understanding, from being confused to being determined, the cohesion of the five-person group was forged in that low point.

Coachella's controversy was far more impactful than her departure from the group. The labels of "Buffalo" and "can't sing" made us question whether we were truly suited to stand on a bigger stage.

But you said, "The scenery in the trough is also worth seeing." We understand that the trough is never the end, but an opportunity for us to see our shortcomings and reflect on ourselves. The so-called "inability to sing" is never an innate conclusion, but rather a reflection of our efforts not yet matching our ambitions.

We want to start anew with the utmost humility. You said, "Both reaching the summit and falling into the valley can be very beneficial," and now we want to truly understand the profound meaning of that.

We are no longer afraid to expose our shortcomings, because every correction is a step towards becoming "stronger".

Attorney Su, thank you for always guiding us in the most direct way. Your words may be blunt, but they hit the nail on the head, freeing us from the shackles of self-comfort.

We are no longer newcomers who need protection. Coachella's experience has taught us that the confidence of idols has never come from popularity and luck, but from solid strength and unwavering resilience.

In the days to come, we will dedicate all our energy to our work and the stage. From vocals to dance, from details to the overall composition, we will give our all in every aspect.

We will face all doubts squarely, respond to expectations with consistent live performances, and break down labels with continuous progress.

We dare not call it "success" lightly, but we can promise you that the next LESSERAFIM you see will be more mature, more determined, and more powerful!

Thank you again for your guidance. We will remember this kindness and prove it with our actions.

Please give us a little more time to witness a group of girls who are gathering strength in the trough and will eventually rise towards the sun.

Respectfully submitted by Miyawaki Sakura on behalf of all members of LESSERAFIM.

"I kind of understand why she's been plagued by scandals, yet her fan base hasn't been affected at all," Kim Tae-yeon remarked.

"No doubt about it." Su Xia clicked her tongue. "Anyone who reads this will see it as a heartfelt and sincere thank-you letter. I just don't know if they can actually keep it."

Setting goals, making vows, or even making grand aspirations are not difficult. Look at the two brothers, Zhunti and Jieyin, in the prehistoric novels. They made a grand vow to change the barren western land, and then what?

They owe the Heavenly Dao a huge debt, which they still haven't paid off.

Just take the goals and vows you made before as a joke and enjoy them.

"Maybe they can do it?" Kim Tae-yeon said with a smile.

"You think highly of them?" Su Xia raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Kim Tae-yeon.

"I have high hopes for every junior who is willing to work hard," Kim Tae-yeon said cheerfully.

"Why don't you teach them a few skills? You've already taught Li Zi and Yao."

Both Liz and NMIXX received guidance from Kim Tae-yeon through Su Xia.

"There's no need." Kim Tae-yeon shook her head. "Liz's problem is improving her singing skills. NMIXX's path is very similar to mine at that time. I can give them targeted advice."

"But LESSERAFIM is different. They are a representative group of fifth-generation girl groups. They have their own path to follow, and I have nothing to say about it. Just like you now, forging your own path is the direction to take next."

Hearing this, Su Xia felt a little embarrassed.

That's what they say, but figuring out how to forge one's own path is a big problem.

Su Xia has absolutely no idea what to do right now.

He started out as an imitator, and he doesn't know anything else besides imitating. Even his singing skills, which are now praised by fans, are a copy of Kim Tae-yeon.

"Take your time." Kim Tae-yeon didn't force it. Su Xia would figure it out sooner or later, when she couldn't be there to guide her all the time.

Actually, she could shut up completely now and not offer Su Xia any help whatsoever, but she couldn't help but help him when she saw him in trouble.

Ugh, what a mess this is.

LESSERAFIM's departure did not affect the online discussion about this collaboration; in fact, the level of discussion surrounding it was even more intense than with previous collaborations.

Aside from "Under the Flying Clouds".

After this video went viral, people outside the circle came in to participate in the discussion, and in terms of popularity, it far surpassed any of Su Xia's videos.

The reason why "fearless," a collaboration with Chi, has generated so much discussion is ultimately due to the choice of music and Chi himself.

Coachella and Kim Ga-ram, who have been in the industry for less than three years, have only had these two negative incidents generate a lot of buzz, and this one video has brought them all back into the spotlight.

Su Xia's dance to Jin Jialan's part brought up Jin Jialan's issue again.

Su Xia and Chi collaborated to revive the almost forgotten memories of Coachella Ranch.

Chi's fans, haters, Kim Ga-ram's fans, and bystanders who just wanted to watch the show all flocked over.

Of course, there are also plenty of Liu Yuan fans who tirelessly argue under each video about who is the rightful female lead among the five.

-

The main point is that you won't come for nothing, and no one will come for nothing.

Despite being at the center of public opinion, Su Xia received little criticism; instead, people focused on attacking the artists and their fans.

There are also quite a few marketing accounts that follow Su Xia around trying to freeload off him. This time, they got a big freeload, enjoyed it immensely, and got a lot of freeload too.

Amidst the domestic K-pop craze, Su Xia also embarked on a new round of work.

It's really busy, but seeing the settlement amount at the beginning of each month gives me the motivation to work for the whole month.

Especially after seeing the commission rates for October's live-streaming sales in early November, Su Xia almost couldn't resist and asked Park Hee-min to schedule him to live-stream sales every day.

So delicious!

However, Kim Tae-yeon grabbed him because—

Rehearsals for Bilibili's New Year's Eve Gala have begun.

Rehearsals in November, official recording in December.

The rehearsal is used to practice the program and go through the process briefly. The official recording will begin in early December.

The rehearsal period is said to be one month, but in reality, the rehearsal time varies for each artist.

Su Xia was performing with others, so he had to coordinate his and his second brother's schedules.

Ultimately, the first rehearsal was scheduled for November 9th, while Su Xia's live-streaming sales event in November was scheduled for the 7th, so the dates were just right.

Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, Guali Cultural and Sports Center Gymnasium.

"Thanks!"

Amidst applause, Su Xia and Wang Leehom bowed to each other, each bowing deeper than the last. The fact that a superstar singer would take the initiative to bow startled Su Xia.

Even someone with low emotional intelligence knows they can't let him bow.

The two of them politely deferred to each other for quite a while before finally ending the rehearsal.

"Second Brother is such a nice guy," Su Xia said to Kim Tae-yeon, her face still showing excitement from her first collaboration with Wang Leehom.

"This is the first time I've ever seen such a humble senior singer." Kim Tae-yeon was a little surprised. How could a super, super, super senior bow to a junior?

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

"How was my performance just now?" Su Xia asked.

"There's still room for improvement. There's another rehearsal later, right? Please make some changes—" Kim Tae-yeon explained some issues with Su Xia's performance from the audience's perspective.

Some problems are not noticeable while singing and can only be discovered during post-performance review, or it's better to have a singer of the same or even higher level pointing them out on the spot, like we are now.

Su Xia was listening when the assistant director in charge of the rehearsal process came over with a document.

"Attorney Su."

"Director Sun." Su Xia and Kim Tae-yeon stopped and looked at the assistant director.

"I just discussed the next rehearsal schedule with Leehom. He's available on the 23rd and 24th. Do you think you can spare the time on those two days?"

Don't be fooled by the fact that a month of rehearsal time seems like a long time. Considering that the New Year's Eve gala has more than one program and performers, each person may need to rehearse for half a day or a day, so a month may not be enough.

The fact that we got two rehearsal opportunities was only because Wang Leehom is the biggest star singer this year.

Su Xia was simply taking advantage of her second brother's influence.

"Number 23————" Su Xia paused. Wasn't that the date of Kim Tae-yeon's Seoul fan signing event?

Although he didn't really want to go to the autograph session, after spending so much time with Kim Tae-yeon, he was actually a little reluctant to see this old man leave.

But if you can't bear to part with her and force her to stay, wouldn't that be too selfish?

Just as Su Xia was about to tell the director the number 24, she heard Kim Tae-yeon's voice.

"Let's do it on the 23rd. Rehearsals are important, don't keep Wang Leehom waiting."

Su Xia didn't want Kim Tae-yeon to leave so soon, so when she heard her say that, she immediately spoke up.

"I'm free on the 23rd, so how about the 23rd?"

"Okay, it's settled then." The assistant director smiled. It seemed there was no need to bother with coordination. That was great.

Watching the assistant director's departing figure, Su Xia turned to Kim Tae-yeon and asked.

"Don't you miss home? You've missed another opportunity."

"I've waited two years, what's a few more days?" Kim Tae-yeon snorted. "You rebellious disciple haven't even fully graduated yet. What if I leave you here ruining my reputation?"

"I can be corrupt now too," Su Xia said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm?" Kim Tae-yeon looked at Su Xia with a half-smile. Even though she didn't say it, Su Xia knew what the trump card was.

Su Xia: "————"

"Before I leave, I want to make you even more famous, so you'll be more careful with your words and actions, and thus avoid ruining my reputation," Kim Tae-yeon said, tilting her head back.

Su Xia was silent for a moment, then laughed.

"Okay, I understand."

Kim Tae-yeon glanced at Su Xia.

This guy isn't very emotionally intelligent, but his IQ is—not low at all.

He guessed it, but he didn't say anything, and that was enough.

"Let's continue with the questions from the rehearsal."

"7

"it is good."

"It feels different." After the second rehearsal, Wang Leehom looked at Su Xia in surprise. He had actually noticed some problems with Su Xia's singing the first time, but they were minor issues, and they weren't very familiar with each other, so there was no need to point them out.

But to his surprise, after resting for just over ten minutes, Su Xia had already discovered these problems herself and even corrected some of them.

What kind of self-learning ability is this?

Are all the younger generation this amazing now?

Wang Leehom did specifically learn about this popular internet celebrity who had communicated with Bilibili and wanted to collaborate with him.

Strictly speaking, the other party is not from the Chinese music scene, or even the domestic entertainment industry. If you really want to talk about it, they are from the K-pop group, part of the Korean entertainment industry.

He wasn't particularly familiar with Korean entertainment, and his knowledge of Su Xia before the collaboration was limited to his videos.

The musical interpretation in the video was indeed very good, and the singer definitely deserves to be called a powerful singer. However, the video is one thing, but he had never heard a real live performance, so he still had some doubts about Su Xia's level.

She even considered that if Su Xia's abilities didn't match what was shown in the video, she could accommodate him. After all, he had changed his original solo performance into a collaboration song in order to work with her, which made him seem like a fan. She could just consider it a way of taking care of her fans.

When they met during the actual rehearsal, Wang Leehom discovered that Su Xia's abilities did not match those shown in the videos, but this discrepancy was positive.

Compared to her interpretation of "Under the Flying Clouds," Su Xia presented a slightly different listening experience, but it was essentially the same singing style. However, the actual difficulty of the interpretation was exactly the same.

Furthermore, Su Xia's ability to adjust himself midway through the process is the most astonishing thing; even he couldn't do that.

That's pretty impressive.

"This is our first time working together, so I want to do my best," Su Xia said with a smile.

Wang Leehom also laughed, but his smile was tinged with mixed feelings.

I never expected that after such a low period, and just after my official comeback on the big screen, I would still encounter such a sincere fan as Su Xia.

Thinking of this, Wang Leehom's smile revealed a hint of sincerity.

The peak breeds false support, twilight witnesses devout believers.

When you're at the peak of your career, you're surrounded by smiles.

When you're in trouble and in dire straits, the only person you can rely on is yourself.

At this crucial juncture of his impending comeback, Wang Leehom felt somewhat uneasy, but Su Xia's attitude offered him some comfort.

At least----

There are still some fans who are willing to wait for his comeback.

"Attorney Su," Wang Leehom suddenly called out to Su Xia.

"Hmm?" Su Xia looked at her second brother.

"Let's record a song, the one that's not allowed on the New Year's Eve gala." The second brother smiled slightly, then spoke, "!!!"

Su Xia's eyes widened immediately.