Chapter 14: Higher

As the song ended, Jiang Ningxi, sitting in the mentor's chair, took a simple deep breath to calm the long-dormant stirrings of her youth.

"It must be because the scene is being recreated," Jiang Ningxi thought to herself.

Shen Yinuo, sitting beside her, stretched out a devilish hand under the table and gently kneaded the flesh on Jiang Ningxi's thigh, fully enjoying the silkiness and elasticity.

This wealthy young lady made no effort to hide her fondness for this piece.

This gesture made Jiang Ningxi dream back to middle school.

Back at the school anniversary, the female classmate sitting next to her would also tap her with a lovestruck look after Luo Mo finished his performance.

Every time this happened, if she had a tail, it would surely be wagging.

——That's my boyfriend!

However, her face always remained cool and composed, showing no emotion.

This woman is inconsistent in her words and actions.

Since the production team hadn't turned on the microphones for the five mentors yet, Shen Yinuo spoke without restraint.

She leaned over to Jiang Ningxi and said, "Jiang Jiang, you're so cold. Don't you think this piece is amazing?"

Jiang Ningxi pulled away the arm that Shen Yinuo had been clutching.

As a "Little Red Riding Hood" girl, she looked at Shen Yinuo and felt a bit dizzy.

"It's alright," Jiang Ningxi commented, though in reality, she liked it very much.

However, she couldn't really find a sense of personal connection to the piece; even though it was called "Confession Night" and she and Luo Mo had once had a puppy-love romance, don't forget, she was the one who had taken the initiative to confess.

Thinking of this, after calming down, a thought emerged in the depths of her heart: "What was his creative motivation?"

This piece, perhaps... was it written for some woman? Was it written about some heartbreak of his own?

After all, the two hadn't been in much contact for many years, and she knew absolutely nothing about Luo Mo's emotional experiences over these years.

Shen Yinuo looked at the somewhat distracted Jiang Ningxi and scoffed, "Tch, hypocrite."

She knew very well that when the proud Jiang Ningxi said "it's alright," it meant it was actually quite good!

This woman was stingy with praise and rarely even liked posts on social media.

Precisely because of this, when Jiang Ningxi had previously praised "Gentle," Shen Yinuo became even more determined to sign this Luo Mo to their company!

She just loved watching Jiang Jiang be coy when praising people; the more she watched, the more refreshing she found it.

"I'm still the one with a broad mind, never stingy with praise, hee hee," the well-endowed Shen Yinuo thought to herself.

Once the program turned on the microphones for the five mentors, they entered the critique segment.

This time, Xu Chujing, sitting in the main seat, didn't say a single word of nonsense; she picked up the microphone directly and said, "For this battle, I choose Luo Mo."

After speaking, she put down the microphone.

Get off the stage, this man needs to get off the stage quickly.

With nightmares lingering in her heart, Xu Chujing was tired.

While watching Luo Mo's performance, her ears were listening to the music, while her eyes were fixed on the hand he used to play the violin.

That large hand, just like in her dreams, fair and slender, with distinct knuckles.

Invisibly, she felt as if she were being touched again.

However, she had to admit that the young man on stage was indeed very talented.

Wei Ran and the others didn't expect Xu Chujing to state her position so directly.

After exchanging a glance with Li Ge, he picked up the microphone and said, "Meng Yangguang, your performance was very good, and the arrangement was also excellent."

Meng Yangguang bowed in thanks and said, "Thank you, Teacher Wei."

After praising Meng Yangguang, Wei Ran's gaze lingered on Luo Mo, and he said, "This 'Confession Night' is a piece that doesn't exist in the music library, right?"

Luo Mo nodded.

The entire audience gasped.

"Original! It's original again!"

"This guy has real talent!"

Wei Ran put down the microphone without saying anything further, signaling for the other mentors to make their decisions first.

How could Li Ge not understand his good buddy's meaning? They were like an old married couple who knew to change positions with just a pat on the butt. He followed up, "Although I have a great relationship with Brother Wei, and you, Meng Yangguang, performed Brother Wei's song, I must cast my vote for Luo Mo!"

Wei Ran smiled; he knew this damn critic had grasped his deeper meaning.

The two female group members exchanged a glance at this moment, and Shen Yinuo spoke up: "This piece is called 'Confession Night,' but I heard a bit of sadness in it. I want to ask, is my perception wrong?"

Jiang Ningxi nodded, but didn't ask further, nor did she add anything.

As an ex-girlfriend, she wasn't about to ask more.

What creative background? What emotional experience? I don't care at all!

Hmph, I'll just keep my composure; I won't ask!

After Luo Mo returned the violin to the staff, he took the microphone handed to him.

Before his mouth even neared the microphone, Jiang Ningxi changed her posture and pricked up her ears.

"The meaning of this piece is: a confession is a farewell," Luo Mo said these exact words.

As soon as this was said, everyone immediately wore an "as expected" expression.

See, good music is like this; people can understand it.

And after understanding it, they feel very clever themselves.

Then, carrying this sense of self-satisfaction, they like the piece even more.

Shen Yinuo was a typical example of this.

She immediately couldn't help but ask, "Then what drove you to compose this piece?"

After saying it, she felt a bit of regret.

This is an Idol boy group audition show, and for an Idol, a romantic relationship is a major taboo!

As a mentor, she shouldn't be prying into such questions.

What's more, she had her own little schemes in mind, as she still wanted to sign Luo Mo.

"Damn it, Shen Yinuo, are you a pig? You're shooting yourself in the foot!"

Thinking of this, she hurriedly laughed it off and said, "Haha, actually this isn't very important, right? Haha, hahahahaha!"

Although Jiang Ningxi felt like a Cat was scratching at her heart and had a hundred thousand whys, she knew the gravity of the situation and stepped in to smooth things over: "Yinuo, let's vote first; everyone is still waiting for the results. As for my own vote, I cast it for Luo Mo."

Shen Yinuo chuckled at Jiang Ningxi, then hurriedly raised her slightly fleshy, fair arm and said, "I prefer 'Confession Night'."

After everyone finished voting, Wei Ran saw that the outcome was set and said slowly, "I vote for Meng Yangguang; you must keep working hard."

This was clearly an encouragement vote.

A particularly sunny smile appeared on Meng Yangguang's face again, but this time, the smile was not as perfect as before; it was slightly stiff.

What awaited him was entering F Class, falling straight from the clouds into the mud.

He would have to squeeze into the worst dormitory with everyone else in F Class, which made him feel exceptionally irritable just thinking about it, given his affluent family background.

Before participating in the show's recording, he was very clear about how much effort his company had spent and how many connections they had pulled to ensure they were the last batch of trainees to perform.

As for participating in the one-on-one battle segment, that was even more extra screen time and extra opportunity.

The company's senior management had spoken with them, earnestly telling them that they must perform well during the first episode's recording and show their best side.

The reason was simple: with a big company backing you, once the first episode of the show airs, the company will start operating at full capacity, buying press releases, buying Hot Search spots, and buying promotions from marketing accounts...

In an audition variety show, if you can start a snowball effect and continuously amplify your advantages, the road ahead will be much easier to walk.

So-called Idols earn money from fans; fans are their bread and butter.

Therefore, the route taken by Idol variety shows is the "National Producer" voting route.

It is precisely because of this that Xu Chujing was given the title of 【National Producer Representative】, because the true producers of this show are actually every single viewer.

You have the opportunity to vote for free, and you also have the opportunity to spend money to vote; this is the competition format of an Idol audition!

Only the nine people with the highest vote counts can form a group and debut.

It's a competition of popularity, a competition of real money!

And it is precisely for this reason that Meng Yangguang became increasingly annoyed.

Because from now on, every cent the company spends on his promotion will be making wedding clothes for Luo Mo.

Just because Luo Mo won the battle, he is the winner.

When you promote a loser, how could people not think of the winner?

He raised his head and looked at Luo Mo. Then he discovered that Luo Mo was looking down at something.

This man wearing a white short-sleeved shirt was, just like before, looking at the pair of high-soled Martin boots Meng Yangguang was wearing, which contained height-increasing insoles.

First you wanted to use me as a tool, and now you want to knock me off my horse.

It's a pity, now not only am I taller than you, but I'm also standing higher than you.

(End of this chapter)