A band, or a battleground?

Jiang Yi also stood up, but lowered her face, too embarrassed to look at him.

Since I was old enough to understand things, was that the first time you'd ever properly held hands with a boy? Although, it was in a very strange situation...

Qi Yuan asked, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Yi could only make up an excuse: "I'm thinking about the song you gave me, how to write the lyrics."

Qi Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Seriously? Writing lyrics at a time like this? You can't possibly write about Zhao Xukun's affair in a song, can you?"

"Of course not!"

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.

075's most anticipated band

Standing in the president's office of Jufeng Music, Sun Man felt as if she were a small boat, helplessly drifting on the deep sea, enduring the giant waves that made the world change color.

The company's president is named Lin Xin. He is a young and energetic man who wears a suit and a luxury watch. However, on his arm, which is exposed by rolling up his shirt, there are tattoos left from when he played in a band.

President Lin has always boasted that he understands both bands and business, and never makes a mistake in either area. And this year's hottest band-themed show is undoubtedly "Tomorrow's Band." But four episodes have aired, so what's the situation with Jufeng?

"...Data analysis from the first three episodes shows that the most popular band is Haruhi Kage. What about the fourth episode? Let's take a look. It's only been online for less than a day, and it already has over 20 million views, which is quite good for the production team. What do you think?"

Sun Man knew perfectly well where the problem lay, but dared not utter a sound and could only lower her head in silence.

President Lin slammed his fist on the table and roared, "The popularity bar is showing a single peak! The majority of viewers are watching Haruhi Kage's song! That part alone has a 400% replay rate! Two of the top ten trending topics are in support of Haruhi Kage! Tell me the hell, what's going on here?!"

Sun Man had to speak up for herself: "I did tell the assistant director to try to reduce Chunriying's screen time, but I didn't expect them to go so far and be so obvious..."

President Lin: "Then why didn't you sign Chunriying? Aren't they an independent band? Don't they have no company signing them yet?"

Sun Man said helplessly, "I've already put the contract in front of them, but they won't agree! Especially Qi Yuan, he said the contract is too restrictive, the term is too long, and there's too little freedom. Besides, he doesn't want to give up his original copyright."

President Lin said coldly, "How old are you? How many years have you been in the workplace? Negotiation is about talking first, compromising, and pulling things along. Do I need to teach you this?"

Sun Man took a deep breath, but forced herself to suppress her anger.

However, in her heart, Sun Man was already cursing President Lin's ancestors for eighteen generations—are you kidding me? The template contract was clearly set by you, the big boss. Who else in the company would dare to touch the contract besides you? Without a million fans, you're just an ordinary band. Ordinary bands have to sign a harsh template contract until they prove they have the right to negotiate with the company. Isn't this the rule you set yourself?

She could only defend herself from a different angle: "When I contacted them, they didn't have 'A Thousand Years Later'. I never expected them to come up with a song like this..."

"Excuses!" President Lin pointed at her nose and cursed, "I hate people who make excuses the most, so childish!"

Sun Man lowered her head and obediently endured the spraying, appearing quite docile.

The atmosphere in the luxurious office with its crystal chandelier was deathly silent.

After a long silence, President Lin said coldly, "Go find Chunriying again and get a new contract. I'll give you the contract later. I don't need to teach you how to talk to people, do I?"

Sun Man said, "I understand, I know how to tell them!"

"Alright, go and make arrangements with them first. Don't mess this up again. My original plan was to take both first and second place in Tomorrow's Band. To put it another way, second place is fine, but the champion must be one of ours, understand?"

"understand!"

"Then go ahead, don't force me to do it myself."

Sun Man bowed and stepped back, gradually leaving the office.

After closing the door, she straightened up, let out a long breath, and looked exhausted.

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.

The draw for the fourth round of the competition has begun.

All twelve bands that made it to this round stood on the stage, making the large stage seem somewhat crowded. And standing in front of them was, of course, the host, He Dong.

The audience was still packed.

Logically, since there was no formal performance during the draw ceremony, the musicians could only stand there, and there was nothing to see besides the draw results. But the audience seats were still packed.

Viewers who watched the previous episode are eagerly anticipating the results of this draw, especially one particular band.

Jiang Yi quietly hid behind Qiu Mengxue and muttered softly, "Why does it feel like everyone is watching us?"

Ning Qianyu, standing beside her, also lowered her voice, but her tone was anything but timid: "We got over four hundred votes, while the second place got less than one hundred. Five hundred people, two votes each, that's a total of one thousand votes, but the total doesn't add up. What does that mean?"

Jiang Yi: "What does that mean?"

Ning Qianyu: "This shows that many viewers could have cast two votes, but only cast one, and that vote was cast for us!"

Jiang Yi: "That's true..."

Ning Qianyu: "This is the power of hair as white as snow, do you understand?"

At this point, the drawing ceremony had already begun. The first band called out by the host, He Dong, was Titans.

A chorus of boos erupted from the audience.

Clearly, these viewers are not uninformed; they have seen the trending topics and comments online. Even without reading those online reviews, just watching the fourth episode of "Tomorrow's Band" reveals the stark contrast between Titan Band and Spring Shadow Band, and how dark that segment was.

Zhao Xukun's face was tense, his hands and feet stiff, as he pulled out a celebrity's name from the box.

"In the next round of the competition, the Queen of Stand-up Comedy, Lin Jianqi, will be collaborating with the Titans!"

Host He Dong was aware of the controversy Titans were currently facing, so he didn't say much about them and instead had the next band draw lots.

Zhao Xukun walked back to his original position expressionlessly.

Qi Yuan turned around and asked in a low voice, "Can this Lin Jianqi sing?"

Qiu Mengxue curled her lips: "If the production team wants to stir things up, they can't possibly find celebrities who have sung on public stages. However, the pressure in this round of the competition isn't actually that great."

Qi Yuan: "Is it because the number of eliminations is very small?"

Qiu Mengxue: "Yes, in the first two episodes, more than half of the bands were eliminated at any time. Now it's better, there are only twelve left, so we can take our time."

Qi Yuan: "After this round, it'll be the semi-finals, right? How many bands will be in the semi-finals?"

Qiu Mengxue: "It seems to be ten."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "In this round of collaborations with celebrities, only two bands were eliminated. Such a low elimination rate shows that the production team knows that these crossover celebrities are too easy to ruin the stage."

Qiu Mengxue frowned and nodded: "I just don't know which celebrity we'll be working with..."

The two were whispering to each other when they were interrupted by a remark from the host, He Dong:

"Next, please let the Kasuga Shadow Band draw lots!"

Not only the four members of the band, but also the other contestants on stage and the five hundred audience members below the stage, all perked up.

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.

076 has really been set up this time.

The bandmates were nervous, the audience was nervous, and even the rival bands on stage couldn't help but widen their eyes.

But Qi Yuan was the only one who wasn't very nervous.

With nearly a week until the next round of the competition, it means that if he puts out a song today, Zhou Taishan can quickly help him compose the music, and the three girls in the band can rehearse until they are ready to perform on stage.

No matter which celebrity he draws, even if their singing is terrible, he has a way to cover for them.

Even if you can't sing, you can still shout out a few lines of "Seaweed, seaweed, swaying with the waves," right?

Qi Yuan took out the paper and unfolded it.

"It's Shen Yihan!" He Dong looked at the big screen above, his voice clearly excited. "This top female star has actually joined Tomorrow's Band. It's hard to imagine what a spectacle it will be when the next round of the competition airs!"

But after a brief silence, an audience member roared, "It's rigged again!"

"Shadow!"

"How many times has the Spring Cinema been here!"

"A cover-up! A cover-up!"

Qi Yuan turned around and saw that the other band members all had rather subtle expressions. His teammates, even more so…

Qiu Mengxue lowered her head and covered her face with one hand.

Jiang Yi covered her face with both hands.

Ning Qianyu's mouth was slightly open, her eyes were glazed over, and she seemed to have lost her composure.

Seeing everyone's reactions, Qi Yuan was a little confused.

Isn't Shen Yihan a top-tier female celebrity? Drawing a celebrity like that should be a good thing, so why...?

Qi Yuan tried to find clues in the original owner's memories, but all he knew about the name Shen Yihan was that she was a fairly famous young actress who was quite beautiful, and that was all he knew.

At this point, host He Dong asked, "What are your thoughts on drawing this guest partner?"

Qi Yuan looked at the microphone handed to him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Nothing special, I just hope we can collaborate on a song."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the host's lips twitch slightly, as if he was about to lose his composure.

No, what's going on?

Next, several bands drew their respective celebrity partners, and before announcing the end of the ceremony, host He Dong made an additional announcement:

"Because the number of contestants has been greatly reduced, starting tonight, the production team has booked new dormitories for each band. The crossover guests who collaborated with you will also be waiting for you in the dormitories!"

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.

After the lottery ceremony ended, Qi Yuan finally understood why everyone reacted that way.

Because Qiu Mengxue shared a popular video with him.

The video shows the stage of the Cool Station New Year's Eve Gala, where Shen Yihan is singing a popular song. The song is very easy, and the highest note in the chorus isn't very high either; it's easy for ordinary people to sing and catchy—but she still turned it into a train wreck.

Listening to the catchy tune and seeing the screen full of hilarious comments, Qi Yuan couldn't help but laugh.

Qiu Mengxue exclaimed in surprise, "You're still laughing? No, we're supposed to collaborate with her, but she can't even sing nursery rhymes in tune. How can we collaborate like this?"

"It's reasonable to assume this is a setup orchestrated by capital!"

Qi Yuan, Qiu Mengxue, and Jiang Yi turned around and saw Ning Qianyu wearing that detective hat again. Although he wasn't smoking a pipe, he still looked quite dashing with one hand supporting his chin.

Jiang Yi: "...When did you put on that hat?"

Ning Qianyu narrowed her eyes slightly: "I had already guessed that something like this would happen today. I believe that ballot box was layered!"

Qi Yuan: "Layered?"

Ning Qianyu explained her reasoning: "If you reach in, you can feel a lot of slips of paper, but if you pull out several at the same time and open them up, you might find that they all have Shen Yihan's name on them. And if the other contestants' draws are also manipulated, then the layer they touch will also be specially made."

Qi Yuan pondered: "Because the paper strip is very thin and the box is quite large, even if it has ten layers inside, it might not be noticeable from the outside. As long as the top layer that the contestants can touch is controlled in real time, they can arrange it however they want."

Qiu Mengxue also said, "Someone is definitely pulling strings. I don't know about other celebrities, but Shen Yihan is someone who trended on social media because she sang so badly off-key. And among these celebrities, she has the biggest fan base, so many viewers will definitely come for her."

Jiang Yi shuddered and said, "When the time comes, her haters will laugh at her, but her real fans will blame us. She has so many fans... Wow, we won't be eliminated, will we?"

Qiu Mengxue shook her head, but still looked troubled: "This round is also a live audience vote. Because of the previous songs, we are currently quite popular with the audience, and with the twelve-to-ten competition format, even if we mess up the next song, others might mess up even more. However, the online support won't be as overwhelming as it is now; there might be a lot of controversy."

Seeing Qiu Mengxue and Jiang Yi's troubled expressions, Qi Yuan smiled nonchalantly: "What if we didn't smash it?"

"Didn't smash it?" Jiang Yi said incredulously. "Shen Yihan's singing was already like that, what are you going to do? The production team said that they would let her just sit on the side with a triangle and a wooden fish, but that won't do."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "I have a brilliant plan."

At this moment, Ms. Su Wan walked over, holding a stack of room cards in her hand.

She said with a smile, "No matter what happens in the next round of performances, I'm already very surprised that you've come this far. Do you know how many people online are talking about you and your songs right now?"

Qiu Mengxue simply nodded habitually when facing her mother, while Ning Qianyu was much more lively.

The petite girl bounced around and said, "Of course we know! We all saw it; there were two trending topics about us last night."

Teacher Su Wan nodded: "You should register an official band account. Many fans want to follow you on blog platforms, but they don't know where to find you."

Ning Qianyu's attention, however, was drawn to the stack of room cards in the teacher's hand: "What kind of dormitories did the production team arrange for us? It shouldn't be one of those shared rooms like in school..."

Su Wan laughed and said, "Of course not. In the days leading up to the next round, not only you, but Shen Yihan will also be staying there."

Jiang Yi added, "Besides, many bands have both men and women, so it's impossible for the whole band to live in one room."

Ning Qianyu asked, "Teacher, you haven't been there either?"

"Yeah, I've never been there either. The crew just gave me the room key and said they'd take us there after we unpacked. Okay, kids, go back and unpack now!"

As Su Wan said this, she distributed the room cards to everyone, leaving two in her own hand.

Qiu Mengxue's expression was somewhat solemn: "The remaining two are for you and Shen Yihan..."