"Xia Zhi, right? Seventeen years old, just started college?" The oldest and most experienced middle-aged man in the middle of the judges' seat glanced at Xia Zhi's application form, raised his head and asked, "Are you from City A?"
"No, I'm from Y city and I came here to go to college." Xia Zhi answered with his hands behind his back, smiling with narrowed eyes, looking very well-behaved.
Xia Zhi was tall, pretty, and fair-skinned. She was the kind of child that elders liked. She looked even more obedient when she smiled, and even many of her peers couldn't resist. So after Xia Zhi answered the questions with a smile, the three middle-aged judges in the judges' booth, who had originally looked frostbitten, suddenly melted into spring water, and looked so loving as if they were looking at a neighbor's child.
One of the female judges even started chatting with him.
"Where do you study?"
"A University."
"Oh, you're really capable." The three judges looked at him with a gentler look, and there was a touch of admiration in their love. After all, no middle-aged parent could reject a good-looking and excellent boy.
"Then why did you come to our company to audition for trainees?" the female judge asked, "Do you want to be a star?"
"Actually, being a star isn't that bad," Xia Zhi scratched his face and explained a little embarrassedly, "Actually, I came here to accompany my roommate. He wants to be a star."
The familiar scene of accompanying a friend to participate in the event made the three judges burst into laughter. Of course, the people who were watching the video also laughed.
Xiao Han held his face with his hands, his eyes sparkling: "Xia Xia was really cute at that time."
"So you came here with your roommate," Cheng Yunan asked curiously, "So was your friend selected?"
"No." Xia Zhi looked at her silly self in the past and curled her toes in embarrassment. She couldn't help but suggest to Fang Yuan, "Can we skip this part?"
"No skipping!" Before Fang Yuan could answer, he was decisively rejected by his teammates.
"Why skip it?" Xiao Han said, "These are your youth, very precious memories."
Cheng Yunan also said: "This is the first time we watch this video too. It's quite interesting. Don't skip it."
"Isn't this pretty good?" Sang Luo stared at the TV screen and smiled until his teeth were exposed. "The image is very positive, and it can't be considered a black history at all."
"…" If it's not a dark history, why did you take a photo with your phone? Xia Zhi held his forehead in silence and could only pin all his hopes on Jiang Zhixia.
However, considering Jiang Zhixia as the last hope was obviously the most wrong decision, because he was the one watching the show the most seriously at the moment. If there were no other people at the scene, they would probably just lie on their chest and watch it from the screen.
Xia Zhi: “…”
"It's okay." Fang Yuan smiled and comforted him, "It's not just yours, there are a lot of others too."
The expressions of the four people who were watching the excitement froze. However, Xia Zhi suddenly felt at ease and did not express any more opinions. The dark history of one person is terrible, but if it is the dark history of a group of people, it doesn't matter.
Xia Zhi thought desperately: I'm already socially dead anyway, so I might as well drag a few more people to join me in social death.
Even though he had let it go, he still wanted to smother himself with a pillow when he saw the dark history still being played on TV.
How could I have been so stupid before! So stupid that I couldn't bear to look at it!
Jiang Zhixia lifted the pillow a little, leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "It's actually quite cute."
Xia Zhi looked at him speechlessly, and mentally collapsed and retorted: Cute as hell! They are exactly the same as the students he is teaching now! There is clear stupidity in their eyes!
The resentment on her face made Jiang Zhixia smile even more happily. She took advantage of the pillow to quickly kiss him on the lips and whispered, "I like it very much."
The moment he stepped out, his expressionless face returned to that state.
Fang Yuan was just replying to a WeChat message with his head down, so he didn't see the two people whispering behind the pillow. As for the other three, they were already used to it, and when they saw Jiang Zhixia moving in and out from behind the pillow, they didn't even look at him.
Xia Zhi was still savoring the kiss behind the pillow, pursing her lips gently, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up. Because of Jiang Zhixia's words "I like it very much", all the resentment and shame in her heart disappeared in an instant.
In the video, the judges have ended their small talk and started the talent show segment.
The female judge asked Xia Zhi: "What talent have you prepared?"
"It's singing." Xia Zhi said hesitantly.
"Okay," the female judge nodded and said with a smile, "You can start your performance now."
"Oh." Xia Zhi cleared his throat and lowered his head, as if he was gathering his emotions. The judges did not rush him and waited patiently.
Xiao Han asked Xia Zhi curiously: "Xia Xia, what song were you singing at that time?"
"..." By this time, Xia Zhi had completely remembered the scene of that day. He had gradually let it go with Jiang Zhixia's comfort, but when he thought of the embarrassing appearance when singing later, he had the urge to suffocate himself.
This is so fucking embarrassing! Xia Zhi desperately covered his face with a pillow and decided to play dead from now on.
Xia Zhi spent a full minute preparing for the performance. Perhaps because they had a good impression of him, the judges did not urge him during the performance, but were more and more curious about his next performance. What kind of song did he prepare? It took so long just to prepare for the performance.
Finally, under everyone's expectation, Xia Zhi opened his mouth.
"Ahem!" Xia Zhi cleared his throat again, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and sang heroically with a fearless attitude.
"The sun sets in the west and the clouds turn red. Soldiers return to camp after target practice! Return to camp!
The red flower on my chest reflects the colorful clouds/happy songs fill the sky
mi so la mi so/la so mi do re
Happy songs filled the sky! "
Judges: “…”
Everyone in the living room: "..."
Xia Zhi: “…”
Her toes curled up in embarrassment, and Xia Zhi blushed and covered her face tightly with the pillow - it was so embarrassing! I wanted to die QAQ!
The judges had complicated expressions. They really wanted to laugh, but they were worried that it would disturb Xia Zhi who was still performing hard, so they could only try their best to hold it back, and their faces were almost cramped.
The people watching the video did not have this concern, so they all laughed as Xia Zhi sang passionately and seriously.
Xiao Han and Cheng Yunan were the most exaggerated, they had already fallen to the ground, laughing so hard that tears came out. Sang Luo and Fang Yuan were more concerned about their image, so they still sat on the sofa, but they couldn't stop laughing even though they were holding their stomachs.
Jiang Zhixia was probably the calmest among all the people. But it wasn't that he didn't want to laugh, it was just that there was a pair of eyes staring at him closely. With that fierce look, he was afraid that if the corner of his mouth curled up one centimeter, he would pounce on him and bite him, so he wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.
But then again, he wanted to laugh not because he thought Xia Zhi’s singing was funny, but because he thought it was very cute and he liked it no matter how he looked at it.
“Happy songs filled the air!
one two three four-"
Xia Zhi became more and more involved, and when he sang the last line of the training slogan, he used full momentum. So the judges on the scene couldn't help laughing.
When Xia Zhi heard the judges' laughter, he quickly stopped singing and resumed his obedient standing posture with his hands behind his back. However, his cheeks and neck were all red, and it was obvious that he had endured great shame while singing.
The judges couldn't stop laughing for a while, but fortunately the laughter was not harsh. They were not making fun of him, they probably just found it a little funny.
"Can you tell us why you chose this song?" the female judge asked with a smile and a gentle look.
Xia Zhi scratched his head awkwardly and answered the female judge in a low voice: "I don't know many songs, but this is the one I know best."
"Why is this song the most familiar to you?" the female judge continued to ask patiently.
Xia Zhi lowered his head and answered in a lower voice: "Because I just finished military training."
"puff-"
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha”
Laughter broke out both inside and outside the TV.
I might as well just suffocate myself to death, Xia Zhisheng thought helplessly.
But the next second, the pillow on his face was forcibly pulled away.
"Give it back." Xia Zhi reached out to grab it, but he caught a glimpse of his silly self on TV. He became even more desperate and said to Jiang Zhixia in a serious tone, "Let me die!"
"Don't make a fuss, you actually sang quite well." Jiang Zhixia touched his head comfortingly, but failed to control the corners of her mouth and let a smile sneak out.
Xia Zhicheng became furious and raised his voice to try to save face: "I was dragged here by my roommate temporarily. I didn't know I had to perform a talent show until I got to the venue. I was called in after filling out the registration form!" So he didn't have any time to prepare songs in advance!
He originally wanted to perform a poetry recitation for the judges, but after entering the venue, he suddenly had an idea and thought of the military song "Returning from Target Practice" that he had practiced every day during military training. He thought that singing this song would be better than reciting a poem, so he sang it anyway.
However, this explanation did not restore any dignity for him, but instead provided new jokes for his teammates.
"Xia Xia, you are awesome! You are the first singer in history to become an idol by singing military songs!" Cheng Yunan gave a thumbs up in admiration.
"It's really amazing that he even made it through like this." Xiao Han still felt a little unbalanced. He had prepared for three days to pass the audition, and on the day of the audition he was asked to sing two songs in a row before he finally got the pass card.
Of course, all of this was Xiao Han's idea. At that time, he entered the venue with a guitar on his back, and without saying a word, he showed off his amazing guitar skills to the judges. In fact, the judges were ready to give him a pass. As for letting him sing two songs in a row, it was purely because he sang so well that the judges were still not satisfied.
Sang Luo pinched his chin and looked at Xia Zhi, and after a long while he sighed: "It turns out that being good-looking is an advantage."
Xia Zhi calmly snatched the pillow and continued to bury his face.
He couldn't refute Sang Luo's words, because he was selected because of his good looks. At that time, he couldn't sing or dance. Although his parents sent him to learn piano when he was a child, he gave up after a few years because he was not interested in it.
The advertisement for the Star Selection Trainee was very big, attracting many young people to participate, most of whom have some talents. If it is just a talent competition, Xia Zhi can be said to have no advantage, but in the end he successfully passed the selection, and he did so after defeating many talented competitors. The reason is self-evident.
"After all, we are selecting an idol. It won't do if he/she looks too ugly." Fang Yuan helped Xia Zhi explain.
After all, skills can be practiced, but bad looks are irreversible. A girl from Korea once said that if an idol can't sing well, it will only be uncomfortable for a few minutes on stage, but if the idol is ugly, it will be uncomfortable for 24 hours.
It was obvious that the three judges in charge of the selection at that time also followed this philosophy, so although Xia Zhi's talent show was not satisfactory, they still picked out several advantages.
“It sounds good.”
“The pitch is pretty good.”
“It’s a good rhythm.”
Each of the three judges gave a little praise and then successfully sent out the pass card.
Xia Zhi didn't expect that he could get a promotion card after singing like this, so he looked confused when he stepped forward to take the card.
The female judge handed him the promotion card, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Keep up the good work."
Xia Zhi felt that the judges' implicit meaning was for him to go back and practice singing well, but at the moment he was still in a half-conscious and half-awake state. He nodded and hummed in confusion, and finally politely said thank you, teacher, before leaving the room with the promotion card in his hand.
Xia Zhi’s audition video ends here.
Outside the video, Xia Zhi finally took the pillow off his face and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
In fact, this segment was only five minutes long, but Xia Zhi felt that these five minutes were longer than fifty years, and every second was torture. Fortunately, everyone had laughed enough, so they didn't tease him this time, and continued to watch the second person's audition video.
The second one was Cheng Yunan. Cheng Yunan was just 20 years old at that time. He had the image of a typical underground rapper, with a short haircut, broken eyebrows, tattooed arms, a denim vest, hip-hop pants, and a silver chain as thick as a finger around his neck. His personality was also cool and crazy.
Although Cheng Yunan thought he was very handsome at that time, the 35-year-old Cheng Yunan just wanted to travel back in time and strangle that idiot. So after Xia Zhi used his toes to scratch the Disney Castle, he also started to use his toes to scratch Universal Studios.
Cheng Yunan always thought he was quite thick-skinned, but at this moment he felt so embarrassed that he wanted to crawl on the ground. He finally understood Xia Zhi's mood just now.
Xia Zhi considerately handed him the pillow. Cheng Yunan placed the pillow on the coffee table and started to bang his head against it, saying to Fang Yuan: "Don't show this video to my wife and daughter!" Otherwise, his mature, considerate, gentle and kind image would be completely ruined!
Sang Luo patted his shoulder and said calmly: "Don't worry, I have already sent it to Feifei."
!!!
Cheng Yunan suddenly stopped. Sang Luo smiled and slowly turned over his phone. On the screen was a WeChat conversation between him and Cheng Yunan's wife. Originally, he thought he would just send a photo at most, but he didn't expect that he would directly record a 15-second video.
The wife replied almost immediately, but only with a string of ellipsis marks, obviously she was also quite frightened.
Cheng Yunan felt his forehead throbbing: "Can you move faster?"
"There shouldn't be any secrets between husband and wife." Sang Luo said in a high-sounding manner, "I am clearly helping you to resolve the trust problem."
Cheng Yunan gritted his teeth and said, "Just wait, when it's your turn, I'll broadcast the whole process live to your man!"
"Whatever you want," Sang Luo raised his chin and said narcissistically, "I'm perfect and I don't have any black history at all."
"Heh." Cheng Yunan chuckled disdainfully.
Although Cheng Yunan's image was a bit over the top, there was nothing to mock about his talent show. After all, he had been rapping for several years at that time and his level was very good. In addition, he had a good appearance, so he got the promotion card very easily.
The third one is Xiao Han. Xiao Han has even less to complain about than the previous two. He is handsome and has a soft personality. The judges' reactions to him are similar to those to Xia Zhi. However, Xiao Han is more promising than Xia Zhi. In addition to his appearance that impressed the judges, his talent show was also amazing.
Xia Zhi couldn't help but sigh when he saw this. He was indeed the most embarrassing one.
After Xiao Han comes Sang Luo.
A few people had talked about how they got into Chuanxing before. Sang Luo said that he was drinking with friends at a bar near the audition site, and he lost a game and had to accept the punishment of a dare. His friends heard that there was an agency nearby that was auditioning trainees, so they asked him to participate in the audition. Sang Luo was also a person who was willing to accept defeat, so he readily agreed and actually went to the site to sign up.
Sang Luo went directly from the bar to the audition site, so he was dressed rather flashily, and was wearing designer clothes from head to toe, which made him stand out from the crowd of young male college students around him. After he entered the interview room, one of the judges was sharp-eyed and discerning, and saw at a glance that he was wearing high-end goods. The watch on his wrist alone cost hundreds of thousands, and he didn't look like someone who came to participate in the trainee selection, so he asked cautiously, "Are you here to participate in the idol trainee selection?"
Sang Luo smiled and nodded: "Yes."
Only after confirming that Sang Luo did not take the wrong road did the judges begin the further conversation.
Sang Luo, like Xia Zhi, was persuaded by his friends to participate, so he did not prepare in advance. However, Sang Luo was different from Xia Zhi. As a rich young man who grew up in the upper class, he was required to learn various talents since he was a child. Piano and violin can be said to be the necessary skills of every rich young man, so he performed a violin piece directly for the judges.
After watching Sang Luo's performance, Xia Zhi sighed deeply and said that no one would be more embarrassed than him...
Cheng Yunan was also very disappointed. It really wasn't a dark history...
But everyone is not completely disappointed yet, because Jiang Zhixia's story has not been released yet. Maybe his dark history is not inferior to Xia Zhi's? Then we can laugh at him again!
With this in mind, everyone watched on with great anticipation. However, after waiting for a long time, Jiang Zhixia's audition video did not appear. Instead, the show only showed five people training in the practice room.
"Where is Chiang Kai-shek's? Why is his not there?" Cheng Yun'an asked Fang Yuan in confusion.
"There is no Zhixia." Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head.
"Brother Yuan, you can't do this," Xiao Han protested, "You can't treat Lao Jiang differently just because he's a big star now. We've let all our dark histories go, you can't let him off alone!"
"I didn't mean to not release it, I really didn't." Fang Yuan explained patiently, "Zhixia was discovered by a scout outside and signed a contract with the company directly. She didn't participate in the audition."
“…” The four people who had worked so hard to participate in the audition suddenly felt unbalanced and all rolled their eyes at him.
Jiang Zhixia crossed her arms and watched the video calmly, but she was actually secretly happy in her heart - fortunately she didn't participate in the audition...
(End of this chapter)