A band, or a battleground?

Zhou Taishan sneered, "I don't think this is a first draft, but rather bait."

Qi Yuan: "Whose bait is this?"

Zhou Taishan waved his hand dismissively: "Alright, alright, stop playing dumb with me. Anyway, I have time, so I'll arrange the music for this song for you too, okay?"

Qi Yuan laughed and said, "Of course that's perfect!"

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 saying goodbye to his mentor Zhou Taishan, Qi Yuan got into the car back to the villa area.

As soon as he sat in the passenger seat, he discovered that the car's audio system was quite remarkable.

The show playing now is actually episode 6 of "The Coming One"!

This episode just aired this afternoon, and I didn't expect to see it in a ride-hailing car already. I don't know whether to say it's due to good promotion or just that I happened to run into a loyal viewer.

The driver was driving, so of course he couldn't watch the video, and the audio version was played instead.

"Fallen blossoms fall from the trees, sword shadows flicker, who in this mortal world listens to this long song..."

This is "A Long Song Under the Moon" by the band Star Elements.

The driver was busy driving and had to keep an eye on the road ahead and the side mirrors, so he didn't have time to carefully observe the passengers. Moreover, the driver was listening to an audio version, so Qi Yuan suspected that the driver probably hadn't even seen his face much.

He suddenly said, "Young man, could you fast forward a bit for me?"

Qi Yuan was slightly taken aback: "You're not going to listen to this one?"

The driver scoffed, "What's so great about this lousy song? Let me tell you, most of the songs on this show are boring. Only a few bands are worth listening to."

Qi Yuan asked with great interest, "Which bands?"

Without hesitation, the driver replied, "Spring Shadows! I don't usually listen to these shows, but my daughter recommended them, saying her favorite band is on them, so I gave it a try, and wow, it's actually pretty interesting. Nettles and Katz are good too, but it's just the same old rock stuff, nothing new..."

Qi Yuan: "Which band in the show does your daughter like the most?"

Driver: "That one called Titan."

Qi Yuan: "..."

It seems a bit unexpected, but upon closer inspection, it's not surprising. The Titans were already somewhat famous before appearing on this show.

The driver laughed and said, "Then Titan angered everyone. My daughter was posting a lot online during that time to defend them, scolding Chunri Ying, especially Qi Yuan, saying that the kid was too scheming."

Qi Yuan: "Hehe..."

The driver shook his head: "Sigh, then the Titans scandal broke, and my daughter locked herself in her room for two days. When she opened the door again, guess what? She had torn down all the Titans posters on the wall herself."

Qi Yuan laughed and said, "It's really painful for fans when their idol's image collapses. Does your daughter still criticize that kid Qi Yuan?"

The driver slapped the steering wheel: "What's with all the cursing? She's too embarrassed to even curse anymore. Then I told her, 'Don't be prejudiced, just listen to Haruhi Kage's songs and you'll understand...' Hey, young man, can you fast forward a bit for me?"

As they chatted, the performance by the Star Elements group ended, followed by the mentors' critique of their performance.

Qi Yuan laughed and said, "There's no need to fast forward, it's about to be Haruhi Kage's song."

"How did you know..."

The driver was muttering to himself when he heard the voice of host He Dong coming from the speakers:

"Thank you to Star Elements for the wonderful opening. Next, please welcome the second team to enter the ancient style track. They are a young band composed entirely of high school students who brought us an amazing original song in the last round. Today, they have once again chosen to take on the challenge with an original song..."

The driver couldn't help but ask, "Looks like you watch this show too? Have you already seen this episode?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "Yes, I've already seen it."

The driver then asked, "Has Kasuga Kage advanced again?"

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "Of course."

The driver wanted to say something more, but the music had already started. The gentle piano prelude silenced him, and he listened quietly to the music.

After a while, once the first verse and chorus were finished, the driver couldn't help but exclaim, "This is what music is all about!"

Qi Yuan smiled and nodded: "Yes."

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.

104 You're acting strange today.

Rehearsals began in earnest.

In the villa's large living room, the four members of Chunriying first practiced their instrumental parts according to the sheet music, and then played them together several times. After they were all comfortable with playing the instruments together, Qi Yuan began to practice singing.

"Who knows where we should go?"

Who understands what life has become?

"Should I find an excuse to continue living a wretched life?"

The pitch of the word "continue" was exceptionally high, but in pursuit of stage effect, Qi Yuan chose the original pitch, resulting in an almost screaming sound, and he barely managed to reach the high note.

Then he stopped, waved his hand, and picked up his phone which was lying to the side.

I recorded the audio on my phone every time I practiced.

Qi Yuan listened to the recording, especially the highest pitch, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

She managed to sing it, but the tone of her voice was far from pleasant; however, she expressed her anger perfectly.

"I was so close to cracking my voice..." he sighed.

Just then, a glass of water was handed to me.

Qi Yuan looked up and saw Qiu Mengxue holding a water glass, her eyes full of concern. He could understand that look on Jiang Yi's face, but Qiu Mengxue?

The girl smiled and said, "Don't just stand there, have some water. You need to protect your throat, it can't get too dry."

"Oh, okay, thank you."

Qi Yuan took the water glass; it was warm to the touch. The smooth, warm sensation instantly relaxed his slightly tight throat.

Not only did she bring water, but she also brought lukewarm water?

Qi Yuan shook his head, clearing his mind of the extraneous thoughts, and continued to consider the song.

Then he said, "This won't work. If we continue singing like this, it's easy to crack your voice when you're nervous on stage. Even if you don't crack your voice, the effect won't be very good."

Qiu Mengxue asked, "Should we lower the pitch?"

Qi Yuan shook his head again: "No, I'd rather add harmony to the high notes. Mengxue, you should be able to reach this pitch, right?"

Qiu Mengxue nodded and said, "I can do it."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "Then you sing it next time too. Start from the chorus and sing along with me. Let's record it again and see."

Then the band rehearsed the entire thing again.

This time, it was indeed much better. After the rehearsal, Qi Yuan listened to the recording on his phone and nodded frequently.

He explained, “My voice was a bit rough in the high notes, but that was just right; it conveyed a sense of anger. Mengxue’s voice provided support, which made it sound better.”

However, Qiu Mengxue turned around and walked towards the kitchen.

Qi Yuan turned to the other two and asked, "What is she going to do?"

Ning Qianyu: "Who knows..."

Less than a minute later, Qiu Mengxue returned to Qi Yuan and handed him another glass of warm water. But unlike before, this time the water in the glass was light amber in color.

Qi Yuan took it and asked, "What is this?"

Qiu Mengxue: "The water boiled with dendrobium is used to protect your voice and help you sing high notes. We still need to rehearse many times, because your voice will get very tired when you sing high notes."

Qi Yuan took a sip.

Upon tasting, it feels noticeably thicker and richer than plain water. After swallowing, there's an even more lubricating sensation deep in the throat, like a thin protective film covering the vocal cords.

Moreover, this protective film has a light, refreshing sweetness that is not cloying at all and is very pleasant.

"Is this the secret of professionals? That's really impressive..."

As he spoke, Qi Yuan glanced at the pale amber color in his cup, then looked at the girl in front of him.

Those bright almond-shaped eyes were also looking at him. In those eyes was a tenderness he had never seen before.

Qi Yuan asked in surprise, "Aren't you acting a little strange today?"

Ning Qianyu, standing next to her, pursed her lips and said sourly, "This is probably what motherly love is."

Qi Yuan was even more astonished: "Motherly love?"

Qiu Mengxue felt a little embarrassed. She couldn't help but turn and glare at Ning Qianyu, about to say something, but was startled by the look in Jiang Yi's eyes.

Jiang Yi was staring intently at her.

Just as the four band members were in a brief moment of awkward silence, the doorbell rang, breaking the silence.

Qi Yuan went to open the door and saw Liu Weiting.

The slightly plump woman walked into the living room with him and said with a smile, "The company has arranged for me to temporarily serve as your manager. It just so happens that I've been in charge of the Tomorrow Band recently, but the band I was managing before was eliminated, so I can focus on serving you without any distractions."

Qi Yuan: "You're too kind. It's not a service; we're just cooperating."

Liu Weiting nodded: "Okay, we'll cooperate. So there's one thing I must make clear now, which is that our band needs to open an official account."

Qiu Mengxue said, "We have accounts on Dida and Kuznet."

“But those two accounts haven’t been updated at all recently, have they?” Liu Weiting held up an index finger. “And there’s another important platform for gaining followers: the blog platform. The trending topics that everyone cares about are updated there every day, and hundreds of millions of netizens are on that platform. In the future, if you want to promote anything, such as a new album, a new song, or a performance, you will need this channel.”

Qi Yuan nodded and said, "No problem, shall we go register now?"

Liu Weiting said, "I have already discussed it with the platform. After you complete the registration, we will give you the official certification mark. And you will find that the five characters of Chunriying Band and the three characters of Chunriying have already been registered by others. But that's okay. After you complete the registration, the platform can use its permissions to return your names to you."

Qi Yuan: "Sure, so what about the account management in the future?"

Liu Weiting: "We can provide professional operations staff, or of course, you can operate it yourself if you wish. But do you usually like to go online?"

Qi Yuan slowly shook his head. He was indeed a heavy internet user in his previous life, but not now. After all, his life was so fulfilling; he had to write songs, practice singing, and was often invited to freeload meals by big shots like Zhou Taishan.

Qiu Mengxue said, "I don't usually go online much."

Jiang Yi also shook her head.

Ning Qianyu, however, volunteered to raise her hand: "I'm an experienced surfer, let me do it!"

Seeing that her teammates had no objections, Liu Weiting said, "Then it's up to you, Qianyu. Keep up with the frequency of updating KuZhan and Dida twice a week, and it's best to update the blog platform at least once a day. Our staff will provide processed video and image materials; you just need to choose what you think is suitable and upload it."

Ning Qianyu: "Is it that easy?"

“After all, you’re all celebrities. The less demanding things you do outside of your regular work, the better…” Liu Weiting thought for a moment and then added, “Oh, and one more thing, try not to reply to netizens’ comments, whether they’re positive or negative. If you want to reply, my suggestion is to consult with our public opinion experts first.”

Ning Qianyu blinked: "Really? I was actually thinking of doing a special episode dedicated to reading comments."

Liu Weiting was stunned: "Reading comments? What do you want to do?"

Ning Qianyu: "Let's play!"

Liu Weiting paused for a moment, looked at Qi Yuan, and asked, "Can Jiang Yi be in charge of the account operation? I think she is more mature."

Ning Qianyu banged on the war drum and shouted, "No way! I'm very composed!"

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.

105 feathers of ingenuity

The news that the Spring Shadow Band officially launched their blog account also became a trending topic thanks to Tianhua Entertainment's efforts. Within two days of its launch, the account had already amassed over a million followers.

This made the other band contestants on the show quite envious, but unfortunately, there was no use in envying them.

As for the accounts on the original Cool Site and Dida platforms, they had reached hundreds of thousands of followers by this time—considering that both accounts only posted one video and then went silent, this number of followers was quite remarkable.

The first blog post by the Spring Shadow Band was announcing that the band would be doing a live stream on the Dida short video platform. The live stream would involve reading comments from their blog.

As a result, tens of thousands of comments flooded the comments section of this blog post within just two hours.

In response, Liu Weiting said, "Anyway, you guys interact with your fans very little. Reading comments and doing a live stream to get closer to them is good. But I need to be there in person, otherwise I'll really feel uneasy."

Qi Yuan understood her concerns and agreed.

So at 7 p.m. that evening, during the usual dinner time after get off work, the live stream started.

The four band members sat in the study of the villa, facing a computer and a webcam. Liu Weiting, however, sat in a corner out of the camera's view, also watching the live stream on her phone, constantly monitoring the data and viewer messages.