A band, or a battleground?

"...Next up is the Kasuga Kage Band, who drew the 'science fiction' theme the day before yesterday. It's said they only spent two days... Please welcome the Kasuga Kage Band and their 'A Thousand Years Later'!"

Listening to the host He Dong's words, Shen Yihan became even more curious.

What kind of song can you write in two days?

And the key point is, it seems these bands will have to draw lots to determine which one they perform. The problem is, the 'science fiction' theme is inherently difficult to handle, isn't it?

The four members of this band all have pretty good looks.

The only male singer, standing in the middle without any instruments, was clearly the lead singer. While he might be considered handsome by ordinary standards, his looks wouldn't be considered particularly striking in the entertainment industry. However, he possessed a certain rebellious spirit, quite different from the mass-produced "pretty boy" idols and "puppy-like" young men churned out by various companies these days.

The three girls around him were even more beautiful and very young.

Shen Yihan secretly wondered if this band was a high school band.

However, the next moment, when the music started, she no longer had time to guess.

Once the boy started singing, he became completely absorbed in it.

Because, a thousand years from now.

"I am no longer a part of this world."

I cannot hold your hand tenderly.

"A light kiss on your forehead..."

After a long day of work, physical fatigue is inevitable, but mental exhaustion and irritability gradually dissipate in the gentle singing...

Before we knew it, the song had reached its final part, and the boy's singing became higher, and the emotional expression of the whole song became more and more affectionate.

Don't wait until a thousand years later.

"Everyone has forgotten me."

"Who could be there in the desert at that time, in the red twilight?"

"Untie the loneliness that has bound us for a thousand years..."

The accompaniment for the finale ended, followed by the mentors' comments.

Zhou Taishan: "This song, 'A Thousand Years Later,' is clearly not in the style of rock; it leans more towards pop."

Chen Jiashu: "I have to say, you really surprised me quite a bit. Although this song isn't as explosive as the last one, it still lets us hear a more unique power."

Then the review session ended.

Shen Yihan was taken aback: "That's it? Such a good song, and the mentor only said these few words?"

She saw that the comments section was also flooded with messages:

Zhou Taishan's words were definitely cut out.

[This is absolutely a cover-up!]

Where is Liang Fei?

[Didn't Liang Fei say anything?]

【what happened?】

[A conspiracy! A conspiracy!]

[Thank goodness they made it through, otherwise this lousy show wouldn't be worth watching at all.]

Shen Yihan took a deep breath and called her assistant, who had just left a few minutes earlier:

"Hey, Sister Zeng, didn't I receive a guest appearance invitation from Tomorrow Band? Okay, but I only want one band."

On the phone, Assistant Zeng paused for a moment before asking, "Did that band offend you?"

Shen Yihan slammed her fist on the bed sheet in anger: "That band was obviously sabotaged! I'm going to help them!"

Assistant Zeng cautiously asked, "The production team said that guest performers must perform with a band, which means they have to sing on stage... So, are you sure you're going to help out?"

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.

072 Don't treat others like fools

"We're famous! We're really famous!"

Ning Qianyu knocked on Qi Yuan's door, and the first thing she said was this, her little face full of excitement.

Qi Yuan, who opened the door for her, said helplessly, "It's already eleven o'clock, Qianyu, aren't you going to sleep?"

"I can't sleep! Come here, Mengxue is here too, we want to chat with you."

Ning Qianyu pushed her way in without saying a word. Behind her followed Qiu Mengxue, who looked apologetic.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan could only step aside.

After the two girls came in, Qi Yuan closed the door and turned his head to see that they were already sitting on the empty bed.

It was clearly his room, but the two of them acted like they were in an office.

Qi Yuan sat down on the other bed and asked, "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Didn't you see the trending topics? It's gone viral! We're going viral!"

Ning Qianyu turned on her phone screen and held it up in front of Qi Yuan.

On my phone, the trending topics on the blog platform were all political news, and the fourth one was surprisingly:

[#TheDisappearingSpringShadow]

Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow: "What does this mean?"

Qiu Mengxue said, "Didn't you watch the fourth episode of Tomorrow's Band that aired today? After Titans, it was our song 'A Thousand Years Later.' The contrast was particularly striking."

"A stark contrast?" Qi Yuan had already guessed. "They had more shots of us, right?"

Ning Qianyu exclaimed, "It's not just that they have more screen time than us, we barely get any! Apart from the performance on stage, we only get a few words from the mentors, and even those few words are cut out. We all remember that Liang Fei clearly spoke and even asked the staff to give the microphones to Mengxue and me, but those were all cut out too."

Qiu Mengxue muttered under her breath, "Liang Fei had someone give me the microphone, but you insisted on speaking..."

Ning Qianyu waved her hand: "Don't worry about such details. In short, our scenes were cut so much that we only had stage performance footage left, but what about Titans? Not only were their mentor comments complete, but they also had rehearsal footage, can you believe it? It's like a comic book, with the main characters even having flashback sequences when they make their moves."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "Then the audience should start criticizing."

Ning Qianyu: "Yeah, the live chat is full of insults, the comments under the show are also full of insults, and it's even trending on social media! Look, the fourth trending topic is 'The Disappearing Spring Shadow,' which is talking about us. And the ninth one is 'We were set up by capital,' which is also talking about us!"

Qi Yuan picked up his phone, opened the trending topics, and sure enough, it was true.

Then, opening the premiere platform for "The Tomorrow Band," the comment with the most likes, ranked first, is:

[I've never seen anything so disgusting. Director Erdoğan, are you deaf?! Can't you even tell which song is good?]

Scrolling down, several more posts share this style:

[Does the production team have any shame? They even give close-ups of the Titans taking a sip of water during rehearsal, but they completely cut out footage of the band leaving the stage, despite the amazing performance of Haruhi Kage? Their attempts to suppress the hype are utterly shameless!]

This episode was a perfect social lesson, showing us just how powerful capital can be and how ugly its true nature can be.

[I suggest renaming "Tomorrow's Band" to "Titans and Their Extras." Does not having a record label mean they don't deserve a storyline? Four high school students carrying the show entirely on their talent, and you've edited it into a completely uninterrupted, pure entertainment version!]

[Are you afraid that the audience will see the creative talent of these four kids and steal the spotlight from your Royal Band? If you're going to pull a fast one, at least try to cover it up a little.]

As he looked at his phone, Qi Yuan suddenly put it down and said, "Something doesn't feel right."

Ning Qianyu was taken aback: "What's wrong?"

Qi Yuan said in a deep voice, "The audience's reaction was very strong, but this was actually foreseeable. What level are our songs and what level are Titan's songs? Pushing them too hard will backfire. Even if the production team didn't think of that, do you think Jufeng Music didn't think of that either? Their company may be unscrupulous, but they should have professional qualities, otherwise they wouldn't have grown to such a large scale."

Qiu Mengxue also realized what was going on: "You mean, the water in here... is very deep?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "It's definitely deeper than everyone thinks. It's normal for Jufeng to want to sign us but failed, and then try to retaliate, but there's no need to drag Titan into it."

Ning Qianyu fell into deep thought. She rested her chin on her hand, striking a detective's pose. It was just a pity she wasn't wearing her detective hat and pipe.

Qi Yuan continued his analysis: "I think it's possible that someone is using us as a pawn to attack Jufeng. For example, if Jufeng's people make demands on the production team to reduce our screen time, and some people on the production team are unhappy with Jufeng's interference, what will they do?"

Qiu Mengxue's eyes widened: "Then do as Jufeng asks, but go even further, which will expose Jufeng's capital intervention!"

Qi Yuan smiled slightly: "The best way to oppose something is to double your efforts and implement it with 200% more force!"

Ning Qianyu gasped, "The waters run deep! But it might not just be people from the production team, or rather, it might not just be people from the production team. For example, Tianhua Entertainment is also a competitor of Jufeng..."

“Yes, so anything is possible,” Qi Yuan shrugged. “Unfortunately, our relationship is too weak and our information channels are too limited, so we have no way of knowing how deep the water is or what shape it is at the bottom. But in the end, we don’t need to think too much about it. As long as we make good music, we will have a solid foundation.”

Qiu Mengxue and Ning Qianyu exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

However, at this moment, Qi Yuan finally noticed a problem.

"You two came here to talk to me about this, but where's Jiang Yi? Why isn't she with you two?"

Ning Qianyu shared a room with the introverted bassist girl. She replied, "I asked her before I came, and she said she wanted to call her parents. Since the show has aired for four episodes, her parents have seen it, and they definitely have a lot to talk about with her."

Qi Yuan nodded without giving it much thought.

Just then, he felt his phone vibrate. He turned it on and saw a new message from Jiang Yi.

He clicked on it without making a sound.

Are you free right now? I have something I want to tell you.

Meanwhile, Qiu Mengxue chatted with Ning Qianyu about the reactions of their relatives and friends after the show aired, which happened to shift their attention away from Qi Yuan. This allowed him to have an online conversation with Jiang Yi.

Qi Yuan: [Should we say it over the phone?]

Jiang Yi: [...I'm alone in the rehearsal room.]

Qi Yuan: [You weren't in your room, you went straight to the rehearsal room?]

Jiang Yi: [Yeah, I was just thinking of practicing my bass, and I happen to have some musical questions I'd like to ask you.]

Qi Yuan: [I can't play bass at all, so what can I ask you for help?]

Jiang Yi: [It's not just the bass, it's the music...]

Qi Yuan: [Okay, then wait for me a moment.]

Then he looked up and said, "It's getting late, beautiful girls, go back and get some rest."

Qiu Mengxue raised her hand to comb the strands of hair behind her ear, pursed her lips, and softly hummed in agreement.

Ning Qianyu complained, "There's something weird about the word 'beautiful girl' you used."

Qi Yuan: "You can't stand hearing nice things, can you?"

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.

073 Moonlight

When Qi Yuan pushed open the door to the rehearsal room, he saw only darkness and a girl in the corner by the window.

Jiang Yi moved a chair to the window and sat down.

Just then, a ring of moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating her silhouette and making her delicate profile appear exceptionally serene and tranquil.

Qi Yuan then asked, "Why aren't the lights on?"

Jiang Yi turned to look at him: "I just noticed that the moon is very beautiful tonight, so I wanted to turn off the lights to take a look."

Qi Yuan also moved a chair and placed it next to her, then sat down.

Jiang Yi invited him over under the pretext of 'seeking advice on music,' but was this really the atmosphere for discussing music?

The girl looked up at the window again.

Qi Yuan followed her gaze and saw the bright moon hanging high in the sky, as if the whole world had fallen silent, shining only on the two people by the window.

After a long silence, Jiang Yi finally spoke, and the topic was indeed related to music:

"I still don't understand, how could you write a song like 'Hair Like Snow' if you've never been in love?"

Qi Yuan paused slightly, then replied, "Science fiction writers haven't been on a spaceship, and fantasy writers don't use magic. You don't necessarily have to experience something to write something. There are already enough novels and films to draw inspiration from."

The girl muttered softly, "I saw you wrote 'A Thousand Years Later' and 'Hair Like Snow,' two love songs in a row, and I thought you had changed your mind."

Qi Yuan: "Creating and living are two different things. Creating is to keep our band going and to perform on shows."

Jiang Yi asked again, "So you still...have no interest in that kind of thing?"

At this moment, both of them turned their gaze away from the moon and looked into each other's eyes.