Chapter 168: If I Were Young and Promising and Not Insecure

Hangzhou, the recording set of *King of Love Songs*.

Luo Mo met with Sun Yi and Chen Shanqi here to conduct rehearsals today.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Jiang Ningxi and Shen Yinuo did not accompany them this time; they had to go film a commercial for a cosmetics brand.

These days, it is harder for female celebrities to land endorsements than it used to be, as many feminine products now also prefer to hire male stars as spokespeople.

If you look around, the spokespeople for a vast number of big-name cosmetics brands are male stars; some even hire male stars to endorse sanitary pads.

The advantage of Aurora Girls lies in their numbers, and since each member has her own unique beauty, they are quite suitable for cosmetics endorsements.

It is worth mentioning that starting from this episode, the flow of *King of Love Songs* will begin to change, and the entire on-site recording will start to lean toward a live broadcast format.

After all, starting from the fifth episode, it will switch to a live broadcast mode, so this episode serves as a good practice run.

"How are you two preparing? Your states should be pretty good, right?" Luo Mo said to Sun Yi and Chen Shanqi.

The two nodded, indicating they would give their all in this competition.

Sun Yi had such a strong sense of immersion in this song, *Young and Promising*, that even without the competition, he would still sing it with all his heart.

As for Chen Shanqi, she was a replacement Singer, and she automatically received the qualification to perform last in this round; however, starting from the next episode, she would need to wager 【King Power Points】, and if her ranking in this episode wasn't high, she wouldn't have any points to wager in the next.

"Director Luo, can you reveal anything about your song?" Chen Shanqi asked curiously.

She and Sun Yi had come in the same car, and the two had chatted on the road, both feeling extremely curious about the song Luo Mo himself was going to sing.

Luo Mo smiled and said, "Heavenly secrets cannot be leaked. I can only quietly tell you that this song will still feature Yueqi; this time, I will play a violin solo during the interlude."

"Ah? The violin!" Chen Shanqi immediately recalled the fear of being dominated by *Confession Night*.

Back when she wanted to climb the charts, she had calculated everything, but never expected that a piece of pure music would become her formidable rival!

The hottest piece of pure music this year was *Confession Night*, bar none!

Since then, Luo Mo had not played the violin, so the audience would surely find it incredibly surprising.

The entire rehearsal process went very smoothly; Luo Mo was holding back during the rehearsal and did not give his all.

The three songs he created for this episode were all meant to be heart-touching, and since the theme was 【Losing You】, they certainly had to be emotional.

Such songs require the infusion and release of emotions, and one must save the best emotional state for the official stage; if one exerts too much effort in daily life, that specific state might be lacking once on stage.

After the rehearsal ended, the General Director, Ke Ming, came to chat with Luo Mo again.

"Luo Mo, I saw Yuan Hewen's interview," Ke Ming said.

Luo Mo had seen it too; this veteran Great God of composition sounded proper on the surface, but in reality, every word had a hidden meaning.

With the nature of the media, even if you speak properly, they will write nonsense; if your words have hidden meanings, how could they not make a big deal out of it?

*Yuan Hewen: Luo Mo created Chinese Style by standing on my shoulders*—just this headline alone was sensational enough.

Luo Mo was not surprised by this.

In the entertainment industry, do you think everyone is a refined scholar?

Strictly speaking, if you look through history, the ones who criticize the most fiercely are actually the literati...

Masters of sarcasm have existed since ancient times; speaking in a snide, passive-aggressive manner is by no means an innovation that appeared on the modern internet. On the contrary, this group of people are the true old-timers.

The entertainment industry of the past certainly had strong talent, and there were many gifted people, but that doesn't mean it wasn't chaotic—it might have even been more chaotic.

Luo Mo even felt that this Yuan Hewen was being polite; after all, watching him critique other composers on a daily basis, he was much more direct.

It was as if he were the only true master in the field of ancient and Chinese styles in the whole country, and everyone else was just a stray cat or dog.

If Huang Xishan and Yuan Hewen were both people of Kindness, would their relationship have been so poor previously, to the point of refusing to appear on the same stage at an awards ceremony?

There is nothing unreasonable about this; on the contrary, if you read the news more, you will find that this is the norm of life.

Luo Mo looked at Ke Ming and said, "Shouldn't Director Ke be happy? This way, our show has even more to watch."

Ke Ming looked at him and thought to himself, "How can you just blurt out what's in my heart? Can one just say their inner thoughts out loud?"

Luo Mo actually guessed that Ke Ming coming to chat with him was because he hadn't given up on the idea of a Chinese Style song.

Luo Mo insisted on not singing Chinese Style songs on the stage of *King of Love Songs*, and Ke Ming still felt a bit disappointed about this, especially after *Loyal Heart* swept the National Day Gala.

Now, with Yuan Hewen personally stepping in to write a song for Zhao Xueqin for the fifth episode, it was bound to be an ancient-style song.

If Luo Mo were willing to pull out a Chinese Style song in the fifth episode, that would be truly spectacular!

But our Instructor Luo did not have this intention.

Ke Ming thought this way for the sake of the show's appeal.

But in reality, it didn't benefit Luo Mo much.

The words the other party put out were that Luo Mo was standing on the shoulders of a giant like him, and that he had been influenced by Yuan Hewen.

What would winning even matter? The other party could still shamelessly say, "The student has surpassed the master."

Let's not even get into the so-called Inheritance they might try to stir up.

Luo Mo simply wouldn't sing songs with a heavy ancient charm on this stage, giving that old man no opportunity to throw a tantrum.

The album *Red* is just sitting there anyway, and you are welcome to challenge it at any time.

At night, Luo Mo had a good sleep and even had a few dreams of being young and reckless.

After waking up, he practiced his Basic Skills for a while before heading to the recording set of *King of Love Songs*.

As a replacement Singer, Chen Shanqi would not appear in the front, so there were only six people sitting in the hall now.

The six people began to announce their 【King Power Points】, and as expected, Luo Mo only wrote down thirty points again.

This young man played his cards openly with the posture of a Great Demon King; whether you want to sing before me or after me, it's all the same.

Someone like Zhao Xueqin, who had a grudge against Luo Mo, was very distressed when writing down the points; writing too many would cost him the Face of a Heavenly King, as if he were afraid of him, but if he wrote too few... he was truly afraid.

Unlike Wei Ran, who wrote 31 points this time; he had a good relationship with Luo Mo anyway, which the netizens all knew, and he even said to Luo Mo, "I'm just watching you to see your points!"

No one would scold him for this; instead, they felt they were in a relationship of mutual love and killing.

Luo Mo immediately countered, "If there were still a chance to promote a song today, I would sing eight!"

Wei Ge's facial features twisted instantly.

The Heavenly King Zhao cast 35 points again, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.

"In this way, Wei Ran will be the one going on stage after Luo Mo, and I won't be stuck together with Luo Mo," he thought to himself.

If they were stuck together, the contrast would be the strongest.

A dignified Heavenly King, originally here to sweep the show, who could have imagined that every young person would be made so anxious and fearful of loss.

On the contrary, this young man doesn't even think when writing down his scores; he just sits there spinning his pen after finishing.

Damn it, he really showed off!

Conversely, once Sun Yi was no longer in danger of Elimination, his mindset improved.

He had decided in the previous episode to warm up the stage for his boss and be a model employee.

Therefore, his score would not exceed 30 points; he wrote down 20, and as a result, he had to go on stage first.

Regarding this, Sun Yi was not upset.

On the contrary, he just wanted to finish singing this song early so he could feel more at ease.

Ke Ming looked at the group of Singers and said, "Since the show will transition from recorded to Live Broadcast starting next episode, for this episode, the professional jury will not be sitting in private rooms, but will instead provide critiques on everyone's songs on-site and announce the final scores from the professional jury."

"Of course, their critiques and scoring will take place after the audience voting, and will not influence the audience's listening experience or aesthetic judgment."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran understood: "Wow, Director Ke, you are messing with our mental state!"

The total score is unknown because the audience score is not announced. But those who go on stage later can see the professional jury scores from those before them; if the scores are very high, there will naturally be pressure.

Moreover, with this format, the production team will definitely capture close-up shots of the audience. If the votes announced by the professional jury differ from the audience's expectations, their expressions will surely be spectacular.

"Where the hell did they hire this idiot from?" these words will be written directly on the audience's faces.

Ke Ming did not prepare Actors in the audience, because audiences with superb acting skills have been mocked by netizens for years; it's better to have higher authenticity so that everyone can have a stronger sense of immersion.

Ke Ming listened to Wei Ran's words, smiled slightly, and revealed a cunning smile to create a program effect.

Since the scores for the King's power had already been announced, it was time to start preparing.

Sun Yi took a deep breath and locked eyes with Luo Mo.

Luo Mo gave him a thumbs up and said, "You'll be OK."

This sentence caused everyone's gaze to converge on the two of them.

Sun Yi nodded; he had ten minutes to adjust his state, and then it would be time to go directly on stage.

At the venue, the audience and the jury were already prepared.

The host began to go through the process on stage and thank the sponsors.

After she finished reading the ad copy, the female host, stepping in thin high heels and showing off her long white legs, said: "The first Singer to take the stage next had a brilliant performance in the previous episode, pulling himself back from the edge of Elimination and causing the deeply emotional song he sang to spread through the streets and alleys in just two short weeks."

"Then, let's have a round of applause for Singer Sun Yi!"

In an instant, the venue erupted with thunderous applause.

It was just that most people were actually applauding for Luo Mo's new song.

This was also why Luo Mo felt that Sun Yi had to bring out a heartfelt song in the second episode, a song he could sing with emotion.

It was time for him to shine himself, rather than just being illuminated by me.

If the studio wants to develop, it must be a galaxy of stars, not a group of people who are all mirrors, only reflecting the light of Luo Mo alone.

He believed that Sun Yi could conquer the audience on-site with his own Singing and emotion.

Sun Yi, in a crisp suit, walked toward the stage.

Today, he was dressed very appropriately; he didn't look like he was here to compete, but rather more like he was here to receive an award.

Sun Yi looked like a successful person, wearing a famous watch on his wrist, and his entire suit was custom-made by a big brand.

He sat on a high stool in the center of the stage; the entire stage had no stage design, no special effects, only a single, simplest spotlight, and it wasn't even very bright.

The microphone was placed on the stand, and as the prelude sounded, Sun Yi began to sing in the quiet environment.

Only a few lines of text appeared on the big screen.

"Young and Promising".

Lyricist: Luo Mo.

Composer: Luo Mo.

Arranger: Luo Mo.

Singing: Sun Yi.

"【The TV keeps flashing,

The contact information hasn't been deleted yet.

The way you treated me well,

I ruined it by mistake.】"

The professional jury members looked at each other, all seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

Sun Yi instantly seemed like a different person!

"He didn't sing with this much emotion before!"

"I was actually drawn into it instantly."

"Has he improved this much? What did he go through these past few weeks?"

The song continued, with no flashy visuals appearing.

The entire stage was just this simple, as if this man, who had just turned thirty, was analyzing and confessing on stage after gradually maturing.

"【We also once thought together,

About having a place to sleep and eat,"

But how to endure, with days and nights turned upside down,

unable to even scrape together the down payment."】"

Off the stage, many male audience members felt as if their hearts had been pricked.

You have to know, for many men, their dream when they were young was definitely not buying a house.

However, if you truly fall in love with someone, you will want to give her a good life.

She might be sensible enough not to ask for it, but you cannot fail to provide it.

The emotion of the song kept building, and when it reached the chorus, there was no hoarse shouting.

The sense of languor in Sun Yi's voice remained, but listening to it now, it was no longer that feeling of laziness; on the contrary, it was a sense of powerlessness.

It was as if he were expressionlessly recounting his most painful story to you.

Hidden within his calmness were surging undercurrents.

This method of expression was, in fact, far more brilliant than the most direct approach.

"【If I had been Young and Promising and not felt inferior,

knowing what is precious,

those beautiful dreams, not giving them to you, I am ashamed for a lifetime.

If I had been Young and Promising and known how to advance or retreat,

I wouldn't have let you suffer for my sake,

at the wedding, drinking a few extra cups, with the one you are with now.】"

Sun Yi knew she might not even watch the show; she might be resistant to everything related to him.

She had said on the phone: "Don't mention the past; I don't really remember it, and I don't really like it."

But this was like a thorn in his life, a thorn that, no matter how successful he became in the future, he would never be able to pull out.

After being Xuezang, he had also hosted drinking parties, attempting to find a turning point.

At the drinking parties, they not only made things difficult for him but also made her drink.

The girl, who rarely drank, downed cup after cup, vomited I don't know how many times, and on the way back, still smiled and said to him: "Sorry, Yi, I used to scold you when you went to social events, but now I know that drinking is actually this tiring, hee hee."

When the song reached the final line, "【Wish me……. Young and Promising】", Sun Yi placed one hand on the mic stand and lowered his head slightly.

His hand was trembling; he felt that after singing this song, his body was a bit weak, dizzy, as if suffering from a hangover.

"This wine has quite a kick, haha."

(PS: Second update, still 4000 words, last day of double monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets!!!)

(End of chapter)