A band, or a battleground?

Li Qiye reluctantly shut his mouth.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

049 Investments that yield huge profits without any initial investment

The performance by the Spring Shadow Band has ended.

As soon as the host, He Dong, stepped onto the stage, he heard applause from the audience. Compared to the performances of the other bands, Chunriying received particularly enthusiastic applause this time, but strangely, there were no jeers or whistles, and no one shouted anything.

He Dong thought about it for a moment and quickly figured out the reason.

The four young men and women on stage were complete strangers to anyone in the band scene. So there were no familiar faces to create a lively atmosphere. But the quality of the song they just performed compelled everyone to applaud.

Aside from clapping, the band members didn't know what else to say.

He Dong walked over to the lead singer, glanced down at his cue card to confirm the boy's name, and then said, "As far as I know, all four members of the Spring Shadow Band are high school students, right, Qi Yuan?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "Yes, I'll graduate from the first year of high school and start the second year in two months."

The audience erupted in uproar.

"They're not even adults yet?"

"I noticed it a long time ago; their faces are all so small."

"No way, an original song? That's something a first-year high school student could write?"

"That's terrifying..."

He Dong then looked towards the mentors' seats and asked, "What comments would the three mentors like to make?"

The three of them looked at each other and remained silent for several seconds.

The three girls on the stage looked nervous, but Qi Yuan, who was standing in front of them, looked relaxed.

Then Liang Fei spoke first: "I think it's great. This song has a particularly transcendent feeling. I'm very curious, you're only a teenager, how could you write a song like this?"

Qi Yuan held the microphone to his mouth: "Reading can broaden one's horizons, and thinking can deepen one's experience. Moreover, we have indeed experienced quite a lot in life."

Liang Fei followed up by asking, "Is it related to music?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "Yes, because we are students. Although we love music, the prerequisite for pursuing music is to convince our elders with our grades. It's quite difficult to compose, rehearse, and maintain our academic performance at the same time."

Liang Fei: "Are your grades very good?"

Qi Yuan pointed to the girls behind him: "The drummer and guitarist are both in the top ten of their grade."

Liang Fei immediately clapped her hands: "That's really amazing. When I was in school, I could only look up to academic superstars like you."

At this point, host He Dong interjected, "So, this original song we just heard wasn't just about technique and melody; we also heard some very philosophical lyrics. Was this song a collaborative creation between you two?"

Before Qi Yuan could answer, Qiu Mengxue stepped forward, grabbed the microphone, and said, "No, it was written by our lead singer Qi Yuan alone. He wrote both the lyrics and the music. Moreover, we have several other original works, which were also written by him."

Liang Fei said with a smile, "That's really amazing, to be able to write such a song at such a young age..."

He Dong: "What are the opinions of the other two mentors?"

“I noticed that the song’s expression is quite traditional, somewhat like the style of Zhou Laoda’s back in the day,” Chen Jiashu pointed to the oldest judge on the other side. “I believe Zhou Laoda would find it very touching.”

Zhou Taishan picked up the conversation and smiled, "It is indeed very good. But I must say, even back in my day, I couldn't have written a song like this so easily."

He Dong asked with a smile, "What if you were a teenager, in high school?"

Zhou Taishan laughed even harder: "When I was in high school, I didn't even know what chords were, let alone write songs? Hahahaha..."

After a brief pause, He Dong said, "According to the program rules, Spring Shadow Band, you still don't know the result. But I believe the feedback from the mentors is quite positive, right?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "Thank you for your evaluation, mentors. It's very important to us."

"Alright, now it's the next band's turn. Please wait a moment." As He Dong spoke, the curtain slowly closed again.

Qi Yuan turned around and saw two staff members quickly approaching, carrying Ning Qianyu's drum set onto a trolley, and pushing it away. Another staff member led the four members of the band towards the waiting area.

There was also a photographer taking pictures of them.

Just as they left the stage, they saw Su Muluo, dressed in a sequined performance outfit, coming towards them.

Su Muluo opened her arms wide, beaming with enthusiasm: "Your original single is amazing!"

Qi Yuan didn't hug him back; instead, he extended his right hand to shake his and asked, "Why aren't you in the audience?"

Su Muluo laughed and said, "I came all this way just to find you! Hey, seriously, did you really write this song?"

Qi Yuan nodded.

Su Muluo then asked, "Will I have the opportunity to sing your songs in the future?"

Seeing the handsome man's smiling face, Qi Yuan smiled too.

You think you can get a song of "Blue Lotus" quality just by saying a few nice words? Dream on.

He simply replied, "Maybe there will be an opportunity in the future; who knows what the future holds?"

Su Muluo added, "You'll definitely pass the first round, and all three mentors will want you. Have you decided which mentor you'd like to choose?"

Qi Yuan raised his hand and pointed to the three girls behind him: "This is not something I can decide on my own. I need to discuss it with my teammates."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Although they had just received applause from the entire audience, when the Kasuga Shadow Band returned to their seats in the last corner, they still didn't attract much attention.

I only glanced at the people in the front row and the band next to me a couple of times.

After sitting down, Qiu Mengxue said, "I don't really like Su Muluo. I think his smile is a bit fake."

Ning Qianyu: "This world has never lacked peacocks who like to adorn themselves."

Jiang Yi: "Qian Yu... is still a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur).

Ning Qianyu shrugged: "Didn't Brother Gun already say that we shouldn't care too much about what other people think, and we should just be ourselves?"

Qi Yuan: "That's right, the Exploding Fallen Angel."

Ning Qianyu's composure vanished instantly, and she glared angrily.

Qiu Mengxue added, "However, the question he raised is indeed very crucial. Which mentor should we choose?"

Just then, the four of them heard Su Wan's voice: "From the perspective of music development, my suggestion is Chen Jiashu."

Qiu Mengxue quickly turned her head and realized that her mother had silently sat down next to her.

"Mom, what brings you here?"

Teacher Su Wan smiled and said, "This is your first time on such a big stage, of course I have to be here to witness it. Besides, I recorded the whole process, so if the production team edits it wrong, I will have evidence."

Qi Yuan said admiringly, "Teacher, you are truly farsighted."

Qiu Mengxue asked, "Then why did you suggest we choose Chen Jiashu as our mentor?"

Su Wan hesitated for a moment and said, "If you want to become famous, then choosing him is definitely the right choice. He dared to say he would be the champion at the beginning. Do you think he was just joking?"

Ning Qianyu frowned: "Is there something fishy going on?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Teacher 050 really teaches a lot!

"I need to give you guys a crash course. Talent shows, no matter what they're selecting—singers, actors, bands, rappers… it's like a cake, some big, some small. Every production team has two goals: first, to make the cake bigger, and second, to divide the cake. And often, these two goals complement each other."

Teacher Su Wan paused for a moment after saying this.

Qiu Mengxue immediately asked, "Mom, you've never been in the entertainment industry either, how do you know?"

Su Wan smiled, but there was a hint of melancholy in her smile: "Back then, I wasn't exactly in the entertainment industry, but I was still in the band circle, and I knew quite a few people who had participated in talent shows. The more you talked and learned about them, the more inside stories you could hear."

Qi Yuan said, "Teacher, please continue. I'm listening."

Su Wan nodded and continued, "Why do I say they complement each other? Because to make the pie bigger, you need the combined efforts of many parties. You need people to create momentum. We used to be a TV station, now we're an online platform, but essentially it's the same—we're all run by people. With people come connections, and the more connections you have, the more resources you'll get. So, to make the pie bigger, you need to cultivate as many connections as possible. So, how do you cultivate them?"

Qi Yuan understood immediately and replied, "Draw a pie in the sky and divide the profits."

Jiang Yi hadn't quite grasped it yet: "What benefits?"

Qi Yuan casually explained, "It's the ranking in talent shows. The champion definitely gets the biggest slice of the pie, followed by the runner-up, and then the rest of the rankings. The higher the ranking, the easier it is to attract fans. The more fans a celebrity has, the more money they make. So what about the companies that have signed contracts with celebrities?"

Qiu Mengxue suddenly realized, "So the company needs to sign contracts with talent show stars..."

Qi Yuan: "And it has to be a contract with a huge cut, where the celebrity himself might only get a small portion, because he's really being promoted by the company."

“You’re really smart,” Su Wan said with a smile, pointing at him. “So we can say that whichever company has the strongest connections, can get the best platforms, and can attract the most viewers will have the most say in the show.”

Qi Yuan: "The one with the most say can naturally decide the champion beforehand, or at least push it to the finals."

Su Wan: "Of course, there will be many exceptions in actual operation. A certain contestant or a certain band may not perform well on the spot, or may not attract fans and make money. But the company with the strongest connections can sign more of them. That way, when it comes to dividing the pie in the end, we can always be guaranteed to make a profit."

Qi Yuan thought for a moment and brought the topic back: "So, teacher, the reason you suggested that we choose Chen Jiashu is because he has the highest commercial value, the highest popularity, and is the most likely to be the champion mentor among the three mentors."

Su Wan affirmed, "That's right. Capital doesn't dare to bet on a particular band because there are too many variables and too much chance. But they can bet on the mentors and, through editing and arrangement, give that mentor the most screen time. The best bands in that mentor's group are more likely to win in the final vote."

Upon hearing this, Ning Qianyu suddenly sighed: "That's why I've never liked talent shows."

Qi Yuan said, "Indeed, there are too many interests and calculations involved, but this is also our shortcut. Otherwise, if we just rely on performing in small squares and posting videos online to slowly build up our audience, when will we ever be able to perform in livehouses?"

Qiu Mengxue nodded and said, "Now that we have passed the auditions and group competitions for Tomorrow Band, we already have a little bit of fame, which should be enough to receive invitations from many small livehouses."

Ning Qianyu sighed again, but didn't say anything more.

Qiu Mengxue looked at her companions and asked, "So, do you agree that we should choose Chen Jiashu as our mentor?"

Ning Qianyu nodded weakly.

Jiang Yi hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "But Teacher Liang Fei... never mind, it's fine, I think it's fine, you guys decide."

Qiu Mengxue's gaze fell on Qi Yuan's face, her expression unusually serious. Among her bandmates, this was the boy she trusted the most.

Two months ago, she would never have believed this.

Qi Yuan thought for a moment and then agreed, "I also think it makes sense. Liang Fei praised us a lot, but that doesn't really mean much. Since Chen Jiashu's group is the easiest to win the championship, let's choose him."

Qiu Mengxue stared intently at him and asked again, "But doesn't this also mean that the competition in Chen Jiashu's group will be even fiercer?"

Qi Yuan smiled slightly: "Are we afraid of competition in our music?"

Looking at that confident face, Qiu Mengxue even forgot to breathe for a moment, feeling her heart skip a beat.

At this moment, Teacher Su Wan clapped her hands and concluded, "Then it's decided. After the second song, when you form groups, you should choose Chen Jiashu first."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Among the one hundred bands in the main competition, Kasuga Kage was the third to last to perform. So, only a dozen minutes after they took the stage, all one hundred bands had finished performing.

Next, He Dong went on stage again and announced the sixty bands that had advanced.

The Kasuga Kage Band is, of course, among them.

However, the bands that have advanced are more noteworthy than those that have signed with major record labels, such as Titan and Star Element.

The second song followed immediately. The bands that advanced performed one by one, and then were divided into groups to determine their mentors.

Around 5 p.m., it was finally the turn of the Spring Shadow Band.

This time, standing behind the curtain, Qi Yuan noticed that everyone seemed less nervous. Even Jiang Yi appeared quite natural, seemingly no different from when she was standing in the small square.

However, Ning Qianyu suddenly picked up the drumsticks and tapped Jiang Yi on the back.

Jiang Yi turned around in surprise: "What are you doing?"

Ning Qianyu said with a mischievous grin, "Aren't you nervous now?"

Jiang Yi blinked, and instead of being nervous, her peach blossom eyes blazed with anger.

"Qianyu!"

"I meant well... Hey, no!"

Jiang Yi's bass guitar had straps hanging on her body, so she freed up her hands to tickle Ning Qianyu's waist.

Qiu Mengxue sighed: "The opening is about to start, you two need to be more nervous. Qi Yuan, what do you say to them?"

Qi Yuan cleared his throat: "Be serious, there's a performance here."

Jiang Yi then released Ning Qianyu, letting her return to the back of the drum set.

In the studio, the voice of host He Dong echoed: "Next up is the high school band that surprised us with 'Blue Lotus.' Their second song is also an original. Please welcome the Spring Shadow Band with their 'Those Flowers'!"