Chapter 351: Just a Little Bit (Second Update is Here, Please Vote for Monthly Tickets!)

After a brief chat with Chen Ziyan, Lu Yan He went to take the final exam for one of his courses this semester, and everything went smoothly.

Once the exam was over, he shouldered his backpack and set off for the Icefield Video studio.

The recording of "Idol Era" is jointly handled by Jing TV and Icefield Video; since it is a weekly show, it has unusually adopted a "dual-team chief director" production model to ensure quality.

The episode Lu Yan He is participating in happens to be the one Icefield Video is responsible for recording.

Zou Dong and Wang Biao were waiting for him at the school gate.

Seeing him, Wang Biao immediately waved excitedly with a beaming smile, shouted "Brother Xiao Lu," and ran over holding a cup of iced latte.

"Brother Xiao Lu, how did you do on the exam?"

"Not bad," Lu Yan He replied with a smile.

There were fewer classes this semester, so his exam preparation pressure wasn't that high, and he had prepared very thoroughly.

Wang Biao said, "That's good. I was worried those voices online might affect your exam state."

"It's not that serious," Lu Yan He said. "It seems these kinds of doubts come around every few months."

"But this time, most of the trouble is being stirred up by Ma Zhiyuan's fans!" Wang Biao immediately said with great momentum. "It's all been dug up by some media outlets; the few people stirring up the most trouble online are all Ma Zhiyuan's fans."

Lu Yan He: "Is that so? It doesn't matter anyway; the truth will be revealed tonight."

"Aren't you even angry?" Wang Biao looked at Lu Yan He in shock, surprised by Lu Yan He's reaction.

Lu Yan He said, "I am angry, but not that angry. This is basically something I could foresee. From the very beginning, he was unwilling for Li Zhi and me to perform a combined stage together. Later, after their voting, our stage still had to be performed, so he must be unhappy. Now that a black spot has appeared on my side that gives him an opening, of course he will seize the opportunity."

Wang Biao: "Then we won't fight back?"

"Fight back against what?" Lu Yan He asked.

Wang Biao hesitated for a moment instead, stammering, thinking for a long time but not knowing what to say.

At a time like this, it seems fighting back against anything is useless.

The focus of their attack is saying that Lu Yan He wrote three songs at once, so the quality of the songs must not be high; therefore, at this moment, unless Lu Yan He releases the songs, saying more has no meaning.

Wang Biao finally understood why Lu Yan He had just said that "the truth will be revealed tonight."

Lu Yan He's group arrived at the recording site at eleven in the morning.

The waiting room was already prepared.

Xu Fanxing, the dedicated liaison assigned to him by the production team, had been waiting at the door early on, and she took Lu Yan He's group straight to the waiting room.

Lu Yan He asked, "Sister Fanxing, have Li Zhi and Yan Liang arrived yet?"

"Yan Liang has already arrived; Li Zhi hasn't yet, he's on the way," Xu Fanxing said. "However, Yan Liang is currently undergoing a pre-interview and is expected to finish in another half hour."

"It's fine; I don't have any urgent matters to find him for," Lu Yan He said.

Xu Fanxing had been quite worried about Lu Yan He's state, but seeing that since he entered, his state had been very good and he showed no signs of being affected by online public opinion, this made her breathe a sigh of relief.

She reminded him, saying, "Yan He, I heard that at three o'clock last night, Ma Zhiyuan suddenly contacted the director's team, wanting to make modifications to his stage."

"Hmm?" Lu Yan He heard this and was stunned for a moment.

Xu Fanxing said, "However, we don't know exactly what modifications were made; it's very confidential. Early this morning, they rehearsed again, the scene is very confidential, and no news has leaked out."

Lu Yan He came to his senses, nodded, and said, "Alright, I know. Sister Fanxing, it's fine."

He guessed it was just that Ma Zhiyuan had prepared some "secret weapon" for his show again, so he was being so mysterious about it.

Lu Yan He entered his own waiting room.

Xu Fanxing asked, "Should I bring your lunch box over now?"

"Sure," Lu Yan He nodded.

Xu Fanxing went off then.

Lu Yan He sat down on the sofa and took out his laptop.

Zou Dong and Wang Biao quietly sat aside.

Lu Yan He held his laptop, opened the document for "Wu Lin Wai Zhuan," and revised the script for the third episode.

About fifteen minutes later, the lunch box was delivered.

Although Lu Yan He didn't make any requests, the production team still arranged it very lavishly.

For the three of them on this side, seven dishes and one soup were delivered.

"So lavish!" Lu Yan He was somewhat surprised. "Thank you, Sister Fanxing."

Actually, it was indeed very lavish; this was all delivered from the Icefield Video company cafeteria, not takeout.

However, Xu Fanxing knew that the standard for Lu Yan He's side, compared to other artists, could only be described as very ordinary.

Lu Yan He was the only one whose team did not make any requests regarding the lunch box.

Of course, this doesn't mean making requests is excessive; like Yan Liang's request was very simple: no spicy food, and a soup is needed. That is a very normal request.

And some people's requests were so varied that the cafeteria chefs would curse.

Xu Fanxing said, "Yan He, then prepare yourself a bit; we have an interview here at half past one this afternoon, expected to last about thirty to forty-five minutes. The interview is live and will be shown to netizens simultaneously to warm up for tonight's live broadcast. This is the question outline; originally they were all routine questions, but because of the public opinion this morning, a few questions about this public opinion were temporarily added. You can take a look in advance. I have already sent these questions to Sister Ziyan to see, and Sister Ziyan said there's no problem."

Lu Yan He nodded and said okay, "Thank you."

Xu Fanxing then left.

Lu Yan He told Zou Dong and Wang Biao, "Let's hurry and eat a bit first. After Li Zhi and Yan Liang come over later, we need to rehearse the blocking one more time, rest for a while, then have the interview. After the interview ends, we have to do styling, and take promotional photos; there are many things to do."

"Mm-hmm," Wang Biao immediately said. "Brother Xiao Lu, I've already coordinated with Sister Fanxing; I will follow every step of the process."

Li Xiaobin had a final exam this afternoon.

It's already the end of June; after finishing the last few exams, summer vacation begins.

However, while for others summer vacation is a time to rest and go out and play, for Li Xiaobin, it is two months where he can go work and earn money.

He has already taken on three tutoring jobs, filling this summer vacation completely.

In this busy life, his only outlet is music.

And what he is most looking forward to today is the live broadcast of "Idol Era."

Before the exam, his mother called to ask if he was coming home for dinner tonight.

Li Xiaobin said he would go back because he wanted to watch "Idol Era".

If he watched in the dorm, roommates were playing games, watching matches... all sorts of noises, with no quiet environment at all.

As soon as his mother heard him say he was coming back, her tone immediately brightened with a few smiles, and she asked, "Then what do you want to eat? Mom will make it for you."

Li Xiaobin said he wanted to eat sweet and sour pork ribs.

This was a dish he had loved since childhood.

"Oh my, after all these years, your taste hasn't changed at all," his mother muttered, and happily hung up the phone.

Li Xiaobin then entered the exam hall.

He didn't expect to see Chen Siqi in this exam hall.

The school's celebrity student.

Lu Yan He's girlfriend.

The editor-in-chief of "Jump Up".

Chen Siqi sat by the window, wearing headphones, quietly reading and reviewing.

After Li Xiaobin sat down, he heard people around him whispering about something.

Listening closely, they were indeed talking about Chen Siqi and Lu Yan He.

Li Xiaobin couldn't help but find it somewhat ridiculous.

It seemed many people in the school were puzzled as to why Lu Yan He would be with Chen Siqi.

One was a huge star, the other just an ordinary, somewhat pretty female college student.

Everyone assumed her identity as the editor-in-chief of "Jump Up" was merely riding on Lu Yan He's coattails, having nothing to do with her own merits.

Although Li Xiaobin didn't know why Lu Yan He liked Chen Siqi, every time he saw her, she was either reading, discussing something with someone, or sitting in the library or a coffee shop typing on a keyboard.

He had never once seen game or movie/TV drama screens on Chen Siqi's laptop.

Just this fact alone made Li Xiaobin deeply admire her.

Suddenly, someone let out an exclamation of surprise, "Whoa!"

Li Xiaobin turned his head in surprise to look.

The girl sitting to his left said, "Ma Zhiyuan is being passive-aggressive towards Lu Yan He, right?"

Li Xiaobin was stunned.

He turned back to glance at Chen Siqi.

That girl turned on the speaker: "... My new song is one I specifically bought the rights to for a huge sum, hired teacher Park Hye-ran from South Korea to re-arrange the music, and also hired top choreography master San Shi to choreograph an incredibly awesome dance for us. Just the costs for the dancers accompanying us for rehearsal, not even counting the stage itself, already cost over a hundred thousand. Preparing a stage, especially one intended to bring a shocking impact to everyone, requires a very long preparation time; it cannot be done casually in just a week or two. I would never bring something like that to the stage of "Idol Era" for everyone to see; that would be too perfunctory. I would never do such a perfunctory thing to my fans."

After Ma Zhiyuan finished saying this in the classroom, everyone looked at each other in silence.

Li Xiaobin, being very familiar with "Idol Era", didn't even need to recall what Ma Zhiyuan had said earlier; he could clearly hear his passive-aggressive jab at Lu Yan He in this statement.

So many people had questioned Lu Yan He for writing songs too quickly, prioritizing speed over quality, just this morning, and now in the afternoon, Ma Zhiyuan was saying such things in an interview; it was hard not to make the connection.

"Lu Yan He's interview has already ended, what a pity; otherwise, maybe we could have seen Lu Yan He's response."

"What's there to respond to? A petty person like Ma Zhiyuan, besides taking cheap shots verbally, what else can he do? Lu Yan He left him behind by a hundred thousand miles long ago."

"Their tracks are different, okay? On the path of being an idol artist, Lu Yan He has never been Ma Zhiyuan's opponent." The person speaking was obviously a fan of Ma Zhiyuan.

The two started arguing.

Li Xiaobin looked in Chen Siqi's direction again.

She was wearing headphones, completely focused on her book, seemingly not hearing any of this commotion.

Even though he didn't know her, at this moment he strangely felt a wave of relief; it was truly good that she hadn't heard any of this right now.

Liu Zhiyin walked into the interview room.

She smiled and greeted everyone.

The host said, "Zhiyin, come say hello to everyone!"

"Hi everyone, I am Liu Zhiyin." She sat down in front of the host with practiced ease.

"Zhiyin hasn't started your styling for tonight's performance yet, right?"

"Not yet, because I have to come for the interview first," Liu Zhiyin said. "Tonight's styling must remain temporarily confidential and cannot be revealed."

The host nodded. "How long did you prepare for this stage, Zhiyin?"

Liu Zhiyin smiled and said, "Three weeks."

"Just three weeks to prepare?" the host asked. "You are known as a hardworking woman; I heard you often practice dancing until dawn."

"Yes, but preparing a stage for three weeks is already a long time," Liu Zhiyin said. "I have to prepare two stages a month; if it weren't the last stage of the first half of the year, I wouldn't even give this stage three weeks of preparation time. We are professional artists, not people who occasionally participate in a show; we must make reasonable use of time so that every stage has sufficient practice time."

"Is the stage you are performing this time a new song?"

"No, it is an adaptation of a song I really like, with new arrangements and choreography."

"Just now Ma Zhiyuan said that for a new stage, hiring the top arrangers and choreographers to design the stage cost him over a hundred thousand; what about you?"

"Me? I don't have that much money," Liu Zhiyin pretended to be helpless and stuck out her tongue. "I hired arrangers and choreographers I am very familiar with to polish this work. Although they are not as famous as the teachers Ma Zhiyuan collaborates with, they have worked with me for a long time and are very familiar with my strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, this time, within the scope of my abilities, I created the maximum possible creative highlights. I am already very eager to let everyone see it."

"Besides your own performance tonight, whose performance are you most looking forward to?"

"The performances of Li Zhi, Yan Liang, and Lu Yan He," Liu Zhiyin said without hesitation.

"Hmm? Why?"

"Because we are very close; we recorded two seasons of "Young Days" together, and we are about to record the third season together," Liu Zhiyin smiled and gave a preview. "Moreover, I have known them for so long, but I have basically never seen them perform together as a group; I am very curious."

The artists walked into the interview room one after another.

Everything they said was watched by millions of viewers; a single casual remark could be fermented into huge heat and spread across the internet.

Topics went viral on the trending searches one after another.

Ma Zhiyuan subtly brushed off the fans while Lu Yan He played along.

Liu Zhiyin mocked Ma Zhiyuan, saying the stage preparation time was absurdly long.

Li Zhibai let out a cold "Heh."

Yan Liang, expressionless, retorted: "Isn't 'Idol Era' about speaking through the stage? Since when does it rely on words?"

Before the show even aired, "Idol Era" had already flooded the entire internet.

This level of heat made industry insiders take notice, while also making everyone realize one thing: tonight's live broadcast might explode.

Ice Plain Video quickly found technical staff to ensure that if the viewer count became too high tonight, the live stream wouldn't crash.

After finishing his exam, Li Xiaobin left the examination hall.

Chen Siqi walked ahead of him.

She had already put her earphones back on, as if the entire world had nothing to do with her.

Almost everyone around Li Xiaobin was gossiping about "Idol Era"—many might not have watched the show, but given the heat of the day, especially after a final exam, everyone needed something to distract themselves.

Li Xiaobin hurried away, showing not a shred of attachment to their chatter, boarded a bus, and prepared to go home.

When choosing a university, he had picked Jiangguang University without the slightest hesitation.

In fact, with his scores, he could have attended a better university.

But Li Xiaobin felt that if it was only a little better, he might as well stay in his own city, closer to his mother.

Back home, the moment he opened the door, he smelled the familiar scent of sweet and sour pork ribs.

"Mom, I'm back! It smells so good!"

"Hungry, right? Come on, wash your hands; dinner will be ready soon." His mother's voice came from the kitchen.

Li Xiaobin smiled, replied with a sound, went to the bathroom, passed through the living room, and saw a family photo he had taken as a child on the shelf beside the television.

Back then, he was only three or four years old, holding hands with his father and mother, standing in front of an artificial rockery in a park.

His mother wore fashionable big waves in her hair and a pink suit set—back then, she worked at a foreign trade company and was one of the rare female white-collar workers of that era.

His father wore a dark green suit, sported a two-eight-part hairstyle, looked handsome, and wore a smile on his face.

Li Xiaobin could barely remember those times; fortunately, this photo reminded him of the happy childhood he once had.

His mother always said he looked very much like his father when he was young.

Now, looking at himself in the mirror and then at his father in the photo, he could faintly see the resemblance.

Li Xiaobin again recalled, amidst memories like a broken dream, his father driving the car, singing along to the radio, while he sat in the back; the melody was thus carved into his memory.

What song was it?

Over these years, he had searched for a long time but never found it.

"What are you staring at? Have you washed your hands? Time to eat!" His mother came out of the kitchen carrying dishes, saw him zoning out, and immediately said.

Li Xiaobin snapped back to reality, made an "Oh" sound, and hurried to the bathroom.

The foolish, guilty smile on his face made his mother pause for a moment.

The sunset spilled in through the window.

In that instant, it was as if the person from twenty years ago had traversed the long corridor of time and returned before her.

She felt a moment of daze, then shook herself back to her senses.

What was she thinking? So many years had passed.

But this child really looks more and more like his father.

His mother put down the dish, walked into the kitchen, turned her back, raised the back of her hand, and wiped her eyes.

The hazy sunset enveloped her from outside the window, outlining her silhouette with a slight stoop.

She knew she wasn't actually crying.

So many years had passed; the tears that should have been shed had long since run dry.

She was merely a little moist at the corners of her eyes.

Just a little.