A band, or a battleground?

Qiu Mengxue asked with a smile, "Qianyu, Yiyi, do you have confidence?"

Ning Qianyu complained, "You don't expect me to obediently say 'yes' like a primary school student, do you?"

Jiang Yi whispered, "Anyway, you should be able to wear elementary school clothes too."

Ning Qianyu: "Yi Yi!"

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.

064 definitely got paid.

Xie Jinpeng never imagined that one day he would be watching a talent show on TV.

Having not watched TV for several years, he wasn't really sure how to operate the TV at home. Fortunately, he invited three friends to watch with him this time, and after discussing and fiddling around for a while, they finally figured out how to watch online variety shows on the TV.

I inexplicably spent over a hundred yuan.

"Finally, I can watch it! Is Yuan Ge in this episode?"

"Absolutely! Didn't you hear what the host said? Everyone who advances has to sing two songs, and the second song is used for group assignments. Yuan Ge sings so well, he'll definitely advance."

"I wonder which group Yuan will be assigned to. I think Zhou Taishan is pretty good. I've even heard his songs."

Hearing his buddies discussing this, Xie Jinpeng scoffed, "You obviously don't know anything. If you're going to choose, you should definitely choose Chen Jiashu's group. Zhou Taishan is an old fogey from so many years ago... Sigh, what kind of singing is this? It's boring, fast forward!"

Since it was an online variety show, not a TV program, he picked up the remote and pressed fast forward.

Fast forward until Qi Yuan sings "Those Flowers".

Xie Jinpeng exclaimed excitedly, "He sang this song in music class!"

"I thought it sounded great back then, awesome, Yuan Ge!"

"I told you guys in that class that I thought Brother Yuan would become famous. See, I was right, wasn't I?"

"What the hell are you so great about? It's Brother Yuan who's great, not you..."

Xie Jinpeng frowned and said, "Shut up and listen to Brother Yuan sing quietly!"

After they finished listening to the song, just as they were about to say something, the judges began their comments.

Then the four boys were stunned.

"...However, this is a band audition program, and the instrumental parts of this song are a bit too simple. From an arrangement perspective, the bass and drums aren't very prominent; only the guitar and vocals are relatively important. So I think the arrangement has some issues. What do you guys think?" This was Chen Jiashu's comment.

"If this were a talent show for original singers, I would definitely give you full marks. But in a band show, emphasizing vocal performance does create a bit of an imbalance. Your style leans more towards folk, which will be a disadvantage on this stage." This was Liang Fei's comment.

Xie Jinpeng's eyes widened: "Are you two idiots?! You could praise those songs that sounded like funeral dirges, but this one is so good, how can you find fault with it?"

"What the hell are these judges doing?!"

However, no matter how much you curse in front of the TV, it's useless.

Chen Jiashu and Liang Fei both rejected Chunriying, so Chunriying had no choice but to join Zhou Taishan's group.

Then the four of them lost interest in watching the rest of the show; in their opinion, those bands were just so-so. So they picked up their phones and went to a blogging platform…

"People online are already criticizing Chen Jiashu, saying he's a bad judge."

"Really? There are still Chen Jiashu's fans babbling on and on, talking nonsense about some objective fact."

"That bastard Chen Jiashu wasn't just randomly appointed as a judge; he was completely taken for money."

As Xie Jinpeng said this, he also took out his phone and opened the blog platform, and then saw a post from someone with the username 'Yan Qi Yu Lin':

[On the experience of the Spring Shadow Band on the show "Tomorrow's Band" and the powerful influence of capital]

This post starts with the ecosystem of talent shows, then discusses the cooperation between capital and the production team, and naturally touches on the biggest dilemma of Chunriying – as a grassroots student band, without a record company or capital backing them up, they are most likely to become victims of compromises between various capital groups.

Chen Jiashu is the most popular and receives the most attention among the three mentors, followed by Liang Fei. It seems that getting into their groups definitely requires some financial resources or connections.

The entire post was several thousand words long, written vividly and fluently. However, Xie Jinpeng struggles even with a simple Chinese reading comprehension exercise; how could he possibly have the patience to read through several thousand words?

He read half of it and then declared definitively, "I knew it! Chen Jiashu definitely took money from that coin!"

Then Xie Jinpeng replied to that post: 【Dude, you're right!】

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.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Lin Yan was called into the conference room by her supervisor and forced to listen to his impassioned speech...

Suddenly, she felt the machine in her hand vibrate again.

I hid my phone under the table and secretly checked; sure enough, it was a reply to that post.

Having spent so many years online, she has not only posted articles but also short videos, all of which have received very few likes and even fewer comments.

Two hours ago, she was slacking off at her workstation when she opened the third episode of "Tomorrow's Band". When she got to the part where Chunri Ying was on stage, she shrunk the video window and hid it in the lower left corner of her desktop, secretly watching that part.

Then, out of righteous indignation, Lin Yan wrote "On the Spring Shadow Band's Experience on the Tomorrow Band Program and the Power of Capital", posted it online, and surprisingly attracted a lot of likes and comments.

Looking at it now, only a little over an hour has passed, and she already has several hundred likes and dozens of comments. Even the account she posted on has gained nearly a hundred followers.

This was truly a first for Lin Yan!

What made them able to achieve such a small success? Of course, it's because of the Kasuga Kage Band!

Lin Yan suddenly remembered something, opened Coolz.com, and then Dida.com to take a look. On both video platforms, the big data algorithm was pushing videos of the Spring Shadow Band performing in the small square to her, and the username of the uploader was also "Spring Shadow Band".

The videos were uploaded almost two months ago. Although Lin Yan hadn't asked the people involved, she was willing to bet that the operators of these two video accounts were members of the band. However, aside from the initial performance videos, there hadn't been any updates.

Perhaps due to their infrequent updates, the band only has a couple hundred followers on both platforms. In contrast, the official accounts of other participating bands in "Tomorrow's Band" have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of followers, and even those eliminated in the first round have at least several thousand.

"That won't do. If we want to go against capital, just having a good song isn't enough..."

Lin Yan murmured almost silently, then posted another message on her phone, informing everyone that the Spring Shadow Band had accounts on both video platforms.

The title of this new post is: "Without financial support and professional management, can their music career continue?"

Lin Yan had no prior experience in fan management within the entertainment industry. However, having seen so much of it, she instinctively learned how to portray the plight of a grassroots student band, helping Qi Yuan and his group to sympathize with others.

Playing the victim has always been one of the killer moves to attract fans.

After Lin Yan finished writing and proofread it, she sent it out. Even though no one was paying her for this task, she was much more motivated to do it than for her regular job.

Then she realized that she had forgotten to check the latest replies to the previous post.

But after glancing at her, he couldn't help but mutter, "What buddy, didn't you see I'm female... Oh, I didn't set the gender on this account."

Leader: "Do you have any comments on this plan?"

Lin Yan: "Ah? No, no, leader is wise!"

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.

065 is pushing its luck!

"Little Qianyu, you guys are famous now!"

The girl answered the phone from her mother and heard this excited voice.

Although she was proud, Ning Qianyu felt that it was precisely in times like these that she should appear calm and composed.

So she said in a calm but slightly helpless tone, "Mom, I'm a high school student now. Just call me Qianyu. There's no need to add 'Xiao' to my name. Besides, I'm still a long way from being famous. We've only gone through two rounds of competition."

"Two rounds? I saw this show has aired three episodes. Oh right, you only sang two songs."

Hearing her mother say this, Ning Qianyu was truly helpless: "The first three episodes were all the first round, the group competition! Our second round is over, but the show hasn't aired yet, so you won't be able to see it."

"Oh, I see. So you passed the second round too? That's great! Are you really going to debut as a star now?"

"He's not exactly a celebrity, he's just..."

"If your uncle hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you guys had made such a big splash! I thought you and your classmates went to the capital under the guise of making music for a vacation. But all I see you doing is playing the drums, don't you sing?"

Ning Qianyu held her phone in one hand and pressed her temple with the other: "I don't sing. Our band has a clear division of labor. I'm only in charge of the drums!"

"Why? Don't you sing well?"

"I……"

"Yeah, when you were in elementary school, your homeroom teacher thought you were cute and wanted you to be the lead singer in the class choir, but after you led it once, she removed you from the position."

"Mom!" Ning Qianyu gritted her teeth. "I just like playing drums, that's all, okay? What else do you want to say?"

"It's nothing, just asking when you're coming home. Your sister really wants to talk to you, so why don't you let her chat with you?"

Before Ning Qianyu could agree, the phone had already been handed to her younger sister.

Her parents have two daughters, the younger one about to enter sixth grade, a mischievous age. Moreover, Ning Qianyu always felt that this younger sister was even more naughty than she had been at that age.

Sure enough, the first thing the younger sister said after getting the phone was, "Sis, can you get me an autograph? I think Brother Qi Yuan and Sister Meng Xue are so handsome, much more handsome than you!"

Ning Qianyu: "..."

"Could you please get my autograph? Give me a definite answer!"

No, they're professional musicians on TV now. I need to stay calm and not argue with this little brat like before—Ning Qianyu told herself this, then said in a calm tone:

"An autograph is nothing. I can also take you out to eat and hang out with them. Don't you want to?"

"Yes!" the little girl agreed readily, but then added, "Do you want to come too?"

"What are you talking about? How could I possibly not be there when I made the appointment?"

"Sister, you should probably leave for a bit. I can play with Brother Qi Yuan and Sister Meng Xue. With you around, I feel a little awkward and restrained."

"Get lost!" Ning Qianyu finally couldn't hold back anymore. "Dream on, you disrespectful brat. Going out to play? I think you just don't have enough homework. Just wait, I'll talk to Mom and Dad later and sign you up for two more tutoring classes."

"Sister, I was wrong, sister..."

Before the younger sister could finish speaking, the phone was already in her father's hands.

The father coughed twice, then said in a serious tone, "Qianyu, there are a lot of messy news in the entertainment industry. You're still young, so you need to be careful. And don't be too outspoken and offend people."

Ning Qianyu said, "Dad, don't worry, I understand. Besides, our band always works together, so I won't be bothered by any messy things."

"That's good. Um, I see your mentor is Zhou Taishan, that..."

"Dad, what do you want to say?"

"I've bought Zhou Taishan's album before, and I used to like it quite a bit. Could you ask him to sign it for me?"

Ning Qianyu rubbed her forehead and said, "Okay, send it over. I'll send you this address later."

The father's voice suddenly became more cheerful: "That's good. I'll find all six albums and send them to you later."

The girl was stunned: "Six sheets, all of them need to be signed? Dad, you're pushing your luck!"

"What do you mean by pushing your luck? Aren't we loyal fans too?"

"Fine, fine, you send it. I'll swallow my pride and go ask Teacher Zhou to sign it."

"If you could get him to sign it, and write a message of blessing for me, and oh yes, write my name on it..."

Ning Qianyu was a little angry: "Dad!"

However, his father's next words were: "If you can do that, I'll double whatever amount of lucky money you receive during the New Year!"

"Alright, Father, it's settled then."

Ning Qianyu had just finished a call with her family when Jiang Yi opened the door and came in to urge her.

"Are you still on the phone? Come on, Qi Yuan and Meng Xue are waiting for you outside."

"The game's over. Uh, where do we go now?"

Jiang Yi explained, "Buying clothes. Qi Yuan said that since we're going to perform a song in the ancient style this time, our costumes should also have an ancient style feel."

"Wearing traditional Chinese clothing?" Ning Qianyu's expression was a little subtle. "Wearing wide robes and long sleeves, playing the drums, guitar, and bass on stage?"

Jiang Yi: "Then you'll have to ask Qi Yuan and Meng Xue..."

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.

On the way there, Teacher Su drove a rented car.

Qi Yuan, sitting in the passenger seat, turned to explain to the girls, "We're not buying traditional Hanfu, but clothes with Han elements. Like the female characters in ancient-style games, they don't wear traditional clothes, but they still have an ancient feel."

Ning Qianyu: "Aren't the female characters in ancient-style games very revealing?"

Upon hearing this, not only Qi Yuan, but also Qiu Mengxue and Jiang Yi couldn't help but stare at her.

Qi Yuan asked, "What game are you playing?"