Another program was “The Voice of China”, which was a collaboration with Province Z TV. It would be a mentor and mentee system where they would blindly select contestants from a group of musicians with ambition and talent, then form their own teams and compete against each other.
Shen Tang thought “The Voice of China” was most suited for her because she was an amateur singer. Participating in the talent show would also allow her to get guidance from old-timers in the music industry. Hence, Shen Tang wanted to participate in this program.
The other show, “Immortal Songs”, was also another collaboration with a TV station. Every week, they would invite one top singer in the world as a guest, and other singers would have to perform a cover of one of their hit songs in their own style. The competition will be knockout rounds until one winner is selected to compete again with the next top singer. The last one standing after a few more rounds would be the champion.
The requirements of this program were sky-high and Shen Tang did not receive any professional training, so how could she compete with these famous singers?
“Sister, what you need now is a big win to shoot yourself into fame.” Shen Xi made this decision after much deliberation. “Think about it, how cool will it be if you compete against so many famous singers and become the champion in the end?”
It was like those characters in video games who skipped levels to fight the final villain. Shen Xi believed in Shen Tang’s strength and capability.
“Do you have so much faith in me?” Shen Tang was a little hesitant.
Shen Tang was not afraid to participate in the program, but rather afraid if she was good enough. Otherwise, she would not be able to be the last one standing in the competition. Then, the company would be discredited and Shen Xi would be implicated.
“I believe in you.” Shen Xi looked at her with a smile and said, “Sister, you don’t need to question your own ability. You’ll be the best debut singer and will always be a diva.”
“But what if I were to lose and that costs the company?” Shen Tang knew she could sing well and that she had a good voice. She had no qualms about taking it step by step and slowly improving herself, but Shen Xi wanted her to catapult to the top. Shen Tang was an anxious person, so she was worried about this leapfrog method.
“You don’t need to worry about this. The show doesn’t start until July, so there are still three months left. It’s more than enough time for you to improve systematically,” Shen Xi said. “The program begins recording in July. The first season of the program will end at the end of September, so we’ll strike while the iron is hot and release your album by the end of the year!”
“Will Master Xixi write the main song for me?” Shen Tang did not know that Shen Xi was the legendary music composer Xixi, recognized by all the big shots in the music industry.
Shen Tang did not doubt the level and quality of the company’s album production. This could be seen with Qi Xiu’s album, which took less than two months to achieve the highest standard of solo albums in the past two decades in China.
Shen Xi nodded. “Of course! Xixi is our company’s exclusive music composer. He’ll write the main songs for our company’s singers.”
Shen Tang nodded with excitement. “That’ll be great if I can meet Master Xixi.”
Shen Xi was calm and knew that Shen Tang was a huge fan of the music composer, Xixi. When Qi Xiu’s album was first released, Shen Tang called to ask about this composer.
However, Shen Xi kept her act well at that time and did not expose her identity as Xixi the music composer. She did not want to reveal this identity at the moment, so it was better if fewer people knew about it.
Even Shen Xi’s parents did not know about it. The people who knew about her identity were Yuan Yu, Qi Xiu, and Li Yuan.
“By the way, I met someone at the office lobby today who asked me about Master Xixi.” Shen Tang thought the person was kinda weird.
“Male or female?” Shen Xi suddenly became alert. ‘Could it be that Fu Junqiu took the opportunity to return after being taken back by Fu Qingli?’
“Male.” Shen Tang was certain. She thought for a moment and continued, “That person gave me a very bad feeling.”
Shen Xi frowned. To ensure Shen Tang’s safety, she made a call to Yuan Yu and talked to him about it, asking him to pay attention to the strange people wandering in front of their office.
When Yuan Yu heard this, he laughed and said, “Strange person? Do you know who that person was?”
Shen Xi heard him laugh with a rare arrogance and smugness that was also tinged with pleasure, so she thought of a name. “Su Muyan?”
“How did you guess accurately? Recently, he has asked his subordinates to wait for XIxi. Since there was no news, he probably got anxious and came over in person.” Yuan Yu was still laughing. “I was in the office today and spotted him at a glance.”
Shen Xi asked, “You let him off so easily?”
“Who are you kidding?” Yuan Yu was laughing sneakily, like a child who pranked someone and had not been discovered. “I went to the third floor with a bucket of water and poured it over him.”
“You’re so childish,” Shen Xi snorted and looked down on him. “If it were me, I would’ve thrown rotten eggs and knives from the top floor.”
Yuan Yu’s voice was tinged with laughter. “Are you sure that you can hit him?”
Shen Xi said, “Still… You shouldn’t have splashed water.”
Yuan Yu asked, “Then what should I splash?”
Shen Xi said, “Splash fecal water!”
Yuan Yu was speechless.
A few moments later, Yuan Yu yelled, “Where can I get fecal water?!”
He would have loved to, but at the time, the cleaning lady’s dirty mop water was the best he could think of.
Shen Xi hung up and thought, ‘Looks like Su Muyan’s still zealous thinking that he can find Xixi to write his main song and rely on that to make a big comeback. Come to think of it, if I were him, I’d be quite depressed if a newcomer defeated me… He must be out for revenge!’
**
Shen Xi was utterly busy recently running between school and the office. She needed to discuss with Yuan Yu about her appearance in the recording of the upcoming “National Idol”.
The final decision was that Shen Xi’s time would be flexible. The program team did not need to create any script or include Shen Xi in the rehearsals because she would speak impromptu.
Yuan Yu was not the least bit worried about Shen Xi’s impromptu appearance. Otherwise, he would not have been so bold as to give her this option.
“National Idol” had been building momentum since a month ago and was now in full swing. Since Cosmos Entertainment had the copyright and was the sole investor, the publicity was naturally done by them on their main front, Cosmos Short Vid.
Capital No. 4 High School became lively because one of the music mentors of “National Idol” was Su Muyan. Moreover, Su Ruowan was also participating in the talent show.
The students in the Top Class were smug because they thought Su Ruowan could make her debut once Su Muyan was the mentor of “National Idol”.
