Chapter 28: Held It In, But Still Couldn't Hold It

Lian Baozhi's stage outfit had a very girl group style.

She wore a pleated skirt popular at the time, hanging many decorations that looked familiar but couldn't be named, and wore a pink navel-baring short sleeve on her upper body.

She wore smoky makeup, with a small heart drawn on the corner of her right eye, and the eyeshadow was dried rose color, mixed with sequins.

Not to mention how the stage would be next, just this outfit, Jin Li gave full marks, which could be considered as playing to her strengths and avoiding weaknesses, showing her advantages in appearance and body shape.

The music started, Lian Baozhi danced while singing, full of star power.

Jin Li pressed her earpiece with one hand, listening carefully, nodding from time to time following the rhythm of the drum beats. Not knowing what she heard, a faint smile suddenly crossed the corners of her mouth.

Jin Li held it in.

In the end, she still couldn't hold it, and immediately lowered her head to cover the corners of her mouth that were splitting open.

A few seconds later, she raised her head again, her expression already as usual, without waves.

There was a camera turned to Jin Li's side. Jin Li opened her eyes slightly, cooperated and waved to the camera, made a small wink, and her fingers also made a heart shape, before looking at the stage again.

As the song ended, the atmosphere on the field was still enthusiastic.

The trainees screamed as much as they could, striving for more shots for themselves.

Jin Li also nodded lightly at this time, occasionally lowering her head to look at her prompt card. At least from her expression, no abnormalities could be found.

The captain of the March Sky boy band, Yan Xingdong, stood up, temporarily guest-starring as the host, raised the microphone and asked the trainees under the stage:

"Is Teacher Lian Baozhi's stage explosive?"

He put his hand by his ear, making a listening gesture.

"Explosive!!!"

"Is Teacher Lian Baozhi's stage good?"

"Good!!!"

All of this was the program's arranged flow; the mentor's questioning and the trainees' answers had been rehearsed in advance.

Jin Li heard the trainees' answers and couldn't help but smile again, hurriedly lowering her head.

After raising her head again, her expression returned to normal, smiling and applauding very cooperatively.

Before long, Lian Baozhi returned to the mentor seat and saw Jin Li. The smiling expression instantly became completely calm.

Neither of them spoke.

Unless necessary communication and interaction during the program recording, the other time was completely doing their own things, drawing a distinct dividing line between the two sides.

Soon, an hour passed, and it was five o'clock in the afternoon.

The program team didn't delay time. Even if there were trainees performing on stage, they immediately called a stop, letting everyone hurry to rest and eat.

After all, in another hour, they had to return to record, and restoring spirit was more important.

Lian Baozhi stood up and was about to leave. Jin Li only then opened her mouth slowly: "Teacher Lian Baozhi, you sing quite well. Although your vocal conditions are thin, the song you chose is very suitable for you."

Lian Baozhi paused and looked at her suspiciously: "Are you praising me?"

Jin Li smiled brilliantly at her, "Yes, I really admire you."

Lian Baozhi frowned, feeling very uncomfortable, and ignored Jin Li, walking away hurriedly.

After she left, Ji Qinglian, who was waiting for Jin Li to leave together, said with deep meaning: "You heard it too, right? She sang a lyric completely out of tune, but she didn't know it, and even sang out of tune twice."

Jin Li shrugged: "I heard it. It was out of tune very naturally, and she could connect back to the original rhythm in the next sentence. This song is quite interesting."

Ji Qinglian raised her eyebrows, "I suddenly thought of a more interesting one."

Jin Li looked over.

Ji Qinglian: "Although this song is good, it's a bit niche. Unless it's a tuner who is very familiar with this song, I'm afraid they wouldn't know to correct that part. After all, Lian Baozhi sang it too naturally."

Jin Li thought of that scene and burst into laughter.

That's right. Even the singer didn't know she sang it wrong; it was indeed very misleading.

If it were another song, she wouldn't necessarily be able to hear it, but Lian Baozhi chose this one—"Quiet After the Rain."

The Pink Girls group basically sang their own original songs as soon as they debuted and rarely covered other people's songs. Only a few were covered by them.

And "Quiet After the Rain" was one of the few cover songs they had, for which they had even specifically choreographed a dance and picked apart the music note by note.

So Jin Li knew this song had a trap; it was fine when following the sheet music, but once the music was gone, there was a line of lyrics that almost everyone would sing out of tune.

They went through repeated corrections and training to form muscle memory, ensuring that no matter how they sang, they wouldn't make mistakes, before going on stage to perform.

Don't know if Lian Baozhi happened to choose this song, or chose this song deliberately.

Whether it was the former or the latter, it could only be said that she calculated wrong and was a bit unlucky.

Sui Lingfang was waiting for Jin Li at the door.

Seeing her appear with Ji Qinglian, she nodded to Ji Qinglian and greeted her.

Jin Li took Ji Qinglian's arm in one hand and her manager's in the other, walking to the canteen together, chatting with them about her feelings about the stage.

In the canteen, it was noisy.

Mentors and trainees shared a canteen, but the place to eat was different. Mentors went to the second floor to eat.

The second floor was a private ordering mode, stir-fried on the spot.

Jin Li came to the soup noodle area. Gu Cheng was also queuing here, and the two greeted each other.

Gu Cheng was much taller than Jin Li. His height was considered quite high among male celebrities.

The two stood together, making Jin Li, who was not short, look a bit petite.

After Gu Cheng finished ordering, he didn't leave immediately, but took out his phone and looked at it. Someone sent him a message.

Before long, Jin Li's soup noodles were also done. Just as she was about to pick them up, a hand with distinct knuckles reached out and took Jin Li's soup noodles together.

Gu Cheng said concisely: "A bit hot, quite heavy. I'll help you carry it over together."

Jin Li was stunned for a moment and immediately said thank you.

She walked while joking: "Do I look particularly weak? Do you treat me as some kind of endangered protected animal?"

Gu Cheng glanced at her, "When I saw the senior, it was a bit like looking at a little cat."

Jin Li muttered in her heart, she is a koi fish, but cats are her nemesis.

"Don't help me carry it next time. I'm not as weak as you imagine. My body is just not good, not that I don't have strength."

Gu Cheng "um"ed, "Okay, this time it's a thank you gift for the senior letting me use the gym before."

Jin Li complained: "What kind of thanks is this? Didn't you have no time to go?"

A smile also appeared in Gu Cheng's eyes, "Yeah, no time to go. Coincidentally, we both didn't have time. Why didn't I think that you were also a peer at that time? Obviously, our dress and makeup were so similar at that time."

Thinking back now, Jin Li also felt it was wonderful. It was indeed never thought of in that direction.

Maybe people's fate is like this—missing each other at the right time, and recognizing each other at the wrong time.

Thinking of the awkward situation when they first recognized each other, Jin Li couldn't help but laugh.

Ji Qinglian and Sui Lingfang just happened to come back from ordering food and were looking for a seat to sit down. Seeing Gu Cheng helping Jin Li carry soup noodles, both were quite grateful.

Don't say, they were also a bit worried about Jin Li, feeling that she couldn't carry such a large bowl of soup noodles.

Ji Qinglian simply said: "No need to run back and forth. Let's sit with your March Sky together."

In the entertainment industry, more connections equal more retreats.

Under suitable circumstances, celebrities don't exclude becoming friends with peers. How can there be so many enemies who have to fight to the death as soon as they meet. ===== CHAPTER 29 =====