Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The judge was here?
Li Nianwei turned around in surprise. She suddenly saw that all four judges for the regional finals were here!
“Hello.” Li Nianwei curtsied politely. “Li Nianwei is honored to meet the four judges. Please take care of me.”
“Aiya.” Franklin inhaled deeply as if he was a wind box. “It wasn’t so obvious looking at the holographic projection on stage. Now that I see you in real life, you are so beautiful.” To be honest, Franklin had been in the industry for so many years. He had seen plenty of pretty guys and girls. However, this was his first time seeing someone so elegant, beautiful and full of charisma.
Her beauty had exceeded the limits of race. Franklin was certain that anyone who saw Li Nianwei would compliment her greatly.
“I didn’t believe that there was a perfect singer in the world. Now I do.” The woman who said this looked twenty-seven or -eight. She possessed intricate facial features and a willowy body. Her ample bosom, petite waistline, and curvy behind made her look like an intoxicating stalk of peach blossom. She was Brianna, one of the four judges. Brianna paced around Li Nianwei for three whole rounds before stopping and saying, “What a good seedling. If packaged well, there’s no doubt she’ll enter the semi-finals!”
“Thank you for your compliments.” Li Nianwei graciously bowed. She was still very calm.
“Nianwei,” composer Lake, on the other hand, was anxious and asked, “Can you introduce me to the songwriter and lyricist of the song you sang? The tune possessed slight melancholy, yet the lyrics painted a tragically beautiful scene. Good tunes, good lyrics! They made my heart itch. I must meet him!”
Sadness emerged on Li Nianwei’s again as she heard that. Hong Dali’s smile appeared in her mind. She wondered how he was doing…
Li Nianwei shook her head slightly and said, “I’m so sorry Mr. Lake. He… can’t make it for now. If he does show up one day, I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”
“He’s not here?” Lake looked deeply disappointed. He sighed and decided not to talk anymore.
At this time, Kristel slowly said, “Miss Nianwei, the four of us came here today intentionally. In fact, we just wanted to ask if you will be interested in working with us? Well, it’s very simple, the conditions are very loose. To put it simply, you will be groomed under our names and become our student. Of course, we have nothing much to mentor you regarding your talent in music. However, we can provide you with a full range of packaging, such as modeling, song production, the formation of dance troupes, the arrangement of symphony orchestras, and the creation of professional fan groups, etc.. This way, you will definitely come out ahead in the later rounds of the competition! You might even make it to the finals and place amongst the very top candidates. There is hope!”
He was actually not bluffing.
Who was Kristel? He was like an evergreen tree in the music industry. In the show business, Kristel’s reputation was highly valuable. There were no troubles or complications he could not resolve simply by opening his mouth. Hence, the benefits that he was offering today were indeed valuable.
Yet, Li Nianwei was still Li Nianwei. As long as the Young Master was alive, how could she possibly sign a contract with anyone else?
“I’m really sorry.” Li Nianwei smiled and shook her head. She said, “I’m waiting for someone.”
I’m waiting for someone.
Four simple words expressed all that Li Nianwei was thinking now.
I’m waiting for someone.
It was that simple.
“Waiting for someone?” Only Li Nianwei herself understood what she meant by that. The others were confused. “Waiting for who? Becoming our student wouldn’t hinder you from waiting for someone, right?”
Li Nianwei replied, “No, I… I must wait for him to come back. Before he comes back, I will not make any decisions. I’m so sorry.”
She just rejected it like that?
Franklin was shocked. “Miss Nianwei, are you sure you don’t want to consider it? As long as you agree, all of our resources in the music industry will be used on you.” The other three judges could not understand. It was just a namesake. In the future, who would dare not to give her some face if she mentioned that she was their apprentice?
Of course, this was only their thoughts. To Li Nianwei, even the greatest reputation in the universe could not compare to a single finger on Hong Dali.
“Thank you for your kind invitation.” Li Nianwei lightly smiled. She was elegant and polite. “I already have my own pursuits. Please don’t force that on me. Thank you very much.”
That was a direct rejection from her. No matter how much the four judges wanted it, there was no other way.
“What a shame.” Kristel shook his head dejectedly. He then took out a name card and handed it to Li Nianwei. “How about this? This is my name card. Miss Nianwei, if you have ever need any help with anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. My old bones can still function for a few years without trouble.”
“Thank you, sir.” Li Nianwei took the name card and kept it carefully.
In the distance, Heloise had been spying on the movements of the group. When she saw that Kristel offered his name card to Li Nianwei, she gritted her teeth and stormed off angrily.
The four judges had huge influences on the music industry. Heloise previously tried to contact the four of them through her connections to no avail. Now the evergreen of the music industry, Kristel, had taken the initiative to give his name card to Li Nianwei. How could that not drive Heloise crazy with jealousy?
…
Shenluo City, inside the luxurious Wales Family Manor.
The moment Heloise took off her holographic helmet, she instantly smashed everything inside her room into pieces with a vengeance.
“Damn it! Damn it!” Heloise cursed and yelled, “This Li Nianwei, what did she do to deserve such a wonderful voice! Why! Even the four old fogies went to find her! Why? What did she do to deserve that?!”
Heloise was indeed depressed.
She felt like she had just mocked a poor girl dressed in plain clothes and gloated in front of her, only to realize later that the poor girl had flown away in a billion-dollar starcraft, while her own ship was only worth a couple hundred thousand. That feeling would tear someone apart.
Heloise was in that state now. She originally thought that she was a sure lock to win the competition. Once the results were revealed, she was ready to mock Li Nianwei. Yet, before she could even get the chance to mock her, she had already been slapped in the face a few times. What was even more infuriating was that she could not even return the slap…
“I don’t believe it, I don’t believe that I can’t beat her!” Heloise yelled for her butler at the top of her lungs. “Contact the publicity team now! I will make her understand that she can never defeat me. She will never win against me!”
“OK.” The butler looked at all the broken items in the room and said in a low voice, “Understood, Miss.”
…
On the other side, inside the St. Homburg Grand Hotel.
“Oh yeah!” Everyone was cheering. Ling Xiaoyi said loudly, “To celebrate Sister Nianwei’s first victory, let’s cheers!”
“Cheers!” Everyone yelled in unison and finished their drinks in one go.
Li Yang was filled with excitement and said, “Sister Nianwei, your singing was so amazing. Haha! You could not see them, but I saw the audience around me break into tears. Their tears simply could not be stopped!”
“It was alright.” Li Nianwei took a small sip of her wine and exhaled deeply. She said, “My mood was pretty good after the performance today. However, what happens next won’t be easy!”
“Yeah.” Ling Xiaoyi smiled and said, “Sister Nianwei is serious about her emotions. Now everything will become complicated. Hee hee!”
“Stop it!” Li Nianwei smiled and playfully slapped Ling Xiaoyi. She then said slowly, “What I meant was how we can help the Young Master.”
“Huh? Help the Young Master?” Li Yang’s eyes widened. He was confused and said, “Isn’t the Heartbreaker doing enough by losing money?” He touched his chin after he said that and nodded. “Yea, Heartbreaker is a little too smart for his current job. It’s difficult to ask him to lose money. He did not lose much after all these days. Sister Nianwei, are you saying that we have to find other ways to help the Young Master squander?”
“That’s right.” Li Nianwei said slowly, “Singing well is only my secondary objective for attending Sing! Milky Way. My true priority is to create opportunities for us to squander.”
Aye? Create opportunities to squander? Is it even necessary to create opportunities to squander?
Li Nianwei’s words had raised the interests of everyone. Ling Xiaoyi asked, “Sister Nianwei, what kind of opportunities to squander? Why don’t you tell us?”
“En.” Li Nianwei nodded and said slowly, “According to our estimates, after my performance, we will spend money on a publicity company to boost my status, build a fan club, and raise my popularity, right?”
“Yea, that’s right.” What Li Nianwei mentioned was the result of everyone’s previous discussions. Ling Xiaoyi asked, “Why? Is that not feasible?”
“I thought about it for a while previously. My conclusion is that it will not work.” Li Nianwei took a deep breath and said, “There’s no way it will work. It will not be helpful to the Young Master.”
Everyone was stunned by what Li Nianwei said.
So it turned out that the plan everyone had discussed, was not going to work?
“Sister Nianwei, hurry and tell us, why won’t it work?” Ling Xiaoyi panicked. “The Young Master told us to come back and squander. This is our top priority. We must accomplish that.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Their main objective in returning to this place was to help the Young Master squander. All other tasks could be put on hold. Only this mission must be accomplished with full focus.
“Spending money on a publicity company for popularity is something all normal artists will do.” Li Nianwei explained to everyone. “Hence, this will not be considered as squandering. What we need to do is entire and utter squandering. Only then will the Young Master receive our assistance. Therefore, I was thinking that we can still look for a publicity company, but we focus on my opponent, Heloise, instead of me. Only then will it be considered squandering!”
