He was in college, but his songs were at the Grammys.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

June 29th was the day Jiang Yi started her summer vacation.

The campus was filled with students dragging their suitcases. Some hugged and said goodbye at the school gate, some lined up at the bus stop, and some took photos on the tree-lined path.

Laughter, shouts, and the sound of suitcase wheels rolling across the ground blended together, and the entire campus was immersed in the unique excitement of being on holiday.

In the boys' dormitory building, the door to one of the rooms was open.

Tang Yuan was packing things into his suitcase, muttering to himself, "Charger, power bank, change of clothes, local specialties my mom asked me to bring back..."

He was halfway through stuffing the food when he suddenly stopped and turned to look at the empty bed opposite him.

The bed was neatly made, the blankets were folded into perfect squares, and the desk was completely empty.

That's Chen Ming's bed.

Tang Yuan was silent for two seconds, then sighed.

"Is Ming really not coming back?"

Zhou Xu was packing his backpack when he heard this, and without even looking up, he said, "Nonsense, he's flying to Shanghai tomorrow to participate in 'China's Top Singers,' he doesn't have time to come back."

"I know, but..." Tang Yuan scratched his head, "It just feels weird. A semester has ended just like that. When I come back next semester, Ming-ge will probably be a big star."

Zhou Xu finally looked up and pushed up his glasses: "He's a big star now."

Tang Yuan thought for a moment and nodded: "That's true."

The two exchanged a glance.

Tang Yuan suddenly laughed: "How far do you think Ming-ge can go on 'China's Top Singers'?"

Zhou Xu didn't answer, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

The answer was written in that smile.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the school's conference room was much more formal.

Three people were sitting on one side of the long table.

Chen Ming, Fu Yun, Xia Die.

Opposite them were several leaders from the music academy, with Dean Li Jianping sitting in the very center.

Several cups of tea and a plate of cut fruit were on the table, but no one touched them.

Li Jianping looked at the three students in front of him, his gaze moving from Fu Yun's face to Xia Die's face, and finally landing on Chen Ming, lingering for a few seconds.

He smiled and asked, "Leaving tomorrow?"

Fu Yun nodded: "Yes, my flight is at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

Are you nervous?

Fu Yun and Xia Die exchanged a glance but remained silent.

Chen Ming, however, was quite frank: "It's alright."

Li Jianping smiled, a smile that carried the gentleness and wisdom unique to the elderly: "Don't be nervous, and don't put too much pressure on yourself."

His gaze swept over the three of them, and his tone softened:

"Now that you've come this far, just enjoy the game. Go as far as you can, and the school will always be proud of you."

Fu Yun and Xia Die nodded at the same time, their eyes inexplicably feeling hot.

Chen Ming nodded without saying anything, but his eyes were serious.

have to say.

Li Jianping is indeed a good teacher and a good elder.

Li Jianping stood up, walked to the three people, and extended his hand.

Fu Yun was the first to stand up and shake his hand.

"Do your best."

"Thank you, Dean."

Xia Die also stood up and shook hands.

Li Jianping smiled and said, "It's rare that Senior Xia can still bring honor to the school after graduation."

Xia Die laughed: "Dean, I'm embarrassed by what you said."

Finally, there's Chen Ming.

Li Jianping held his hand and did not let go immediately.

He looked into Chen Ming's eyes and said softly, "Child, go."

"Let more people see what our students at Jiangxi Arts University are like."

Chen Ming nodded.

"Yes."

June 30th, 7:00 AM.

A black minivan was parked in front of the Jiangxi Arts School.

Chen Ming, Fu Yun, and Xia Die stood beside the car, with their respective counselors behind them.

Xia Die's counselor was a female teacher in her thirties, who was holding her hand and giving her some instructions.

Fu Yun's counselor, a middle-aged man, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't be nervous."

Chen Ming's counselor, Huang Xing, stood in front of him, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said only one sentence: "Sing well."

Chen Ming smiled and said, "Okay."

Xia Die glanced back at the school gate.

In the morning light, the large characters "Jianghai International Art Academy" gleamed in the sunlight.

She suddenly sighed, "I don't know when I'll be able to come back again."

Chen Ming followed her gaze and smiled, "Come back whenever you want."

Xia Die shook her head helplessly and looked at him: "Junior, I'm not like you two young people."

She said with a hint of wistfulness, "You've already graduated! I don't know if you'll have time in the future."

Chen Ming thought for a moment and said seriously, "The gate is right here. It's not going to run away. You can come back whenever you want."

Xia Die paused for a moment, then smiled.

The smile was gentle, but genuine: "That's true."

She withdrew her gaze, took a deep breath, and clapped her hands: "Let's go! The three of us will dominate 'China's Top Singers'!"

Fu Yun chimed in from the side, "How do we kill them?"

Xia Die declared confidently, "Chen Ming will be in charge of the rampage! You and I will be in charge of the 'hahaha'!"

Fu Yun: "..."

Chen Ming couldn't help but laugh out loud.

In the morning light, the laughter of three young people drifted far away.

July 1st, Shanghai.

The recording site of "Chinese Singers".

The moment Chen Ming and the other two stepped out of the elevator and into the recording hall, Fu Yun was completely stunned.

"Holy crap..."

He instinctively let out a gasp of surprise.

It's magnificent.

Before me was a huge studio with a ceiling at least twenty meters high, and the dome was covered with a dense array of lighting equipment.

In the very center is a circular stage, several meters in diameter, surrounded by seating areas that could accommodate over a thousand people.

A huge circular screen hangs directly above the stage, currently playing the logo animation of "Chinese Singer".

As the lights swept across the hall, the entire space was enveloped in a pale golden halo.

Huge posters of several mentors were hung on the surrounding walls.

Wang Weizhou, Li Jinghua, Zhou Guoping, Zhao Yazhi, Xu Huaimin.

Every face represents a heavyweight figure in the Chinese music scene.

Fu Yun tilted her head back, turned around, and looked around like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, her eyes wide open in amazement:

"This...this is way too outrageous!"

Xia Die couldn't help but look around, her eyes sparkling slightly: "I've participated in some variety show recordings before, but compared to this, it's simply..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood what she meant.

Chen Ming stood between the two, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall.

He had seen many grand occasions in his previous life, but the scene before him still surprised him somewhat.

Is this the prestige of the national team?

They are definitely different.

It has that flavor.

Moreover, unlike those talent shows that pursue traffic and buzz, every detail here exudes a sense of depth.

From lighting and stage design to the lineup of mentors and the professionalism of the staff.

There are no fancy decorations, but the musical elements are plentiful!

It incorporates elements of youthful pop culture, as well as bel canto and folk music.

Pure music.

Pure strength.

"Let's go," he said softly. "Let's go to the players' rest area first."

The players' rest area is a huge room next to the studio.

Pushing open the door, I found that quite a few people had already come in.

In the center of the room was a small stage with soft lighting, presumably for the contestants to warm up.

Below the stage, seventy-two chairs were neatly arranged, with numbers on the backs, ranging from 001 to 072.

At this moment, twenty or thirty contestants had arrived, sitting in twos and threes. Some were looking down at their phones, some were chatting quietly, and some had their eyes closed as if they were singing silently.

Chen Ming and the other two went inside.

Chen Ming looked at the contestants present.

Unlike other talent shows, the contestants are all handsome men and beautiful women.

Chen Ming has noticed that some of the contestants are quite ordinary, which suggests that the show's producers are indeed selecting contestants based on talent.

Unlike other shows, this program doesn't just throw contestants in regardless of whether they can sing or dance, as long as they're good-looking.

Chen Ming was sizing them up, and the other contestants were naturally sizing up the three of them as well.

Whispers broke out.