Chapter 203: Representative Work

The nanny van was driving on the roads of Hangzhou, passing by West Lake as usual.

Hangzhou is a city with excellent landscaping; it is now late autumn and winter is fast approaching, and the fallen leaves along the road possess a unique beauty.

Tao Jie gazed out the window at the yellowing Maple leaves, even taking out her phone to snap a few photos and posting a Weibo update: "In Hangzhou!"

In the past, given her popularity, she would likely have only garnered a few thousand likes.

But now, just over ten minutes after this post, the likes had already exceeded five thousand, and the comment count was high as well; the fans were extremely active.

"Ah, this is on the way to the grand finale, looking forward to the new song!"

"Go for it! Chen Shanqi, you're going to be a hit this year, go for it, did you hear that!"

"Perform well tonight, don't eat salad for dinner, reward yourself with some meat."

"Looking forward to the new song, looking forward to the new song!"

Seeing that everyone's comments were so enthusiastic, Chen Shanqi also left a message in her own comment section: "This post hides a mystery, oh."

As for what exactly was hidden, she certainly wouldn't say it explicitly, just whetting everyone's appetite to make them watch the grand finale.

The nanny van arrived at the venue's underground parking lot at two o'clock.

Luo Mo took his two great generals to the stage to do a brief rehearsal.

At three o'clock, Ding Xiaoyu arrived, and Luo Mo ran to the entrance himself to welcome his cheap apprentice.

"Let me see if our future Best Actress has grown any taller," Luo Mo said loudly as he watched her from afar.

Ding Xiaoyu hurriedly made a gesture to keep it down, looking at the surrounding staff members with a bit of embarrassment.

Although her acting skills were widely acclaimed, terms like "future Best Actress" still made her feel a bit shy.

Seeing that she couldn't take a joke, Luo Mo didn't say much more, only adding: "It's cold outside, walk faster."

"Oh," Ding Xiaoyu responded softly, then obediently quickened her pace, walking in quickly with her head lowered.

While leading her toward the rehearsal area, Luo Mo said: "You're going to the premiere of 'Cat Demon', right?"

"I am, are you going too?" Ding Xiaoyu asked.

She played the little Cat Demon and had quite a few scenes, counting as one of the leads, so she would definitely go. Luo Mo, however, was just a guest star, so it depended on whether the production team invited him.

"You should say: Master, are you going too?" Luo Mo feigned a tone of displeasure.

This was because Ding Xiaoyu and her mother called him Master in private, but when in front of him, she specifically preferred not to.

Seeing his serious expression, Ding Xiaoyu shrank her little head and said in a voice like a mosquito's hum: "Master, are you going too?"

"Guess," Luo Mo said, acting coy after getting his way.

Ding Xiaoyu was angered by him and ignored him, quickening her pace on her own.

Luo Mo chased after her from the side, saying: "Where are you walking to! Do you even know the way?"

The master and apprentice arrived at the rehearsal area in this relaxed atmosphere, with no sign of pre-final tension at all.

Walking onto the stage, Luo Mo pointed to the piano and said: "There, I know you are the Brand Spokesperson for this brand of piano, so I had the production team prepare it."

Celebrities are sometimes very troublesome; for example, if you are the Brand Spokesperson for a certain milk, you cannot drink other milk in public.

This is the professional standard required of a Brand Spokesperson.

Ding Xiaoyu glanced at the piano; she had been so immersed in the excitement of helping her master that she had forgotten about this.

The two sat in front of two pianos and rehearsed for a bit.

Since Ding Xiaoyu was a minor, Luo Mo didn't arrange any four-handed piano duets for men and women.

After trying a few times, both felt the compatibility was very high.

After playing five times, Luo Mo said: "OK, I don't think there are any big problems."

On the way to the lounge, Luo Mo added, as if coaxing a child: "Have you thought about what reward you want if you help your master win the championship?"

"Huh?" Ding Xiaoyu was slightly stunned.

In her concept, her mother Chen Ru most often said: "This is something you should have done well in the first place."

Doing things well is expected, and if you mess up, you get scolded; there is no such thing as a reward.

Seeing her looking a bit dazed, Luo Mo only said one sentence: "Then you can start thinking now."

Ding Xiaoyu's reaction was a beat slow; at first, she was truly thinking about the reward, but later she realized that in this sentence of her master's, there was a hidden confidence of certain victory, and she realized just how high-spirited he was when he said it.

………

………

Night fell, and in the late autumn Hangzhou, it got dark very early.

The Live Broadcast of the 'King of Love Songs' grand finale began soon after.

Since the grand finale was divided into two rounds and every Singer had to sing two songs, and Ding Xiaoyu was only responsible for playing the piano for the last song, she had to stay backstage for quite a long time.

Luo Mo specifically asked the driver, Liu Ge, to buy a pile of snacks to put in the lounge, saying to her: "Remember to eat them when you're free."

Ding Xiaoyu really wanted to say: "I'm already 16, I'm not a primary school student."

But for some reason, this meticulous care and the way he treated her like a child made her feel a bit elated.

When she was 6 years old, she was already someone with a job.

At eight o'clock in the evening sharp, the Live Broadcast officially began.

In the grand finale, Ke Ming specifically invited one of the most famous hosts in the country, Meng Xiaoguang, to host.

As soon as he appeared, screams and gasps erupted throughout the venue.

Some evergreen figures in the hosting world also possess super-high popularity.

Meng Xiaoguang first read the ad copy, mentioned the title sponsor, and then said: "Welcome everyone to the final night of 'King of Love Songs', I am Meng Xiaoguang."

His hosting always gave people a feeling of ease, and he looked exceptionally relaxed, with jokes from time to time.

"Next, let us welcome today's first competing Singer—Chen Shanqi!"

The stage passage opened at this moment, and Tao Jie, wearing a white skirt that reached below her knees, walked out, waving at the screaming audience below the stage.

Once she stood in the center of the stage, the song title began to appear on the big screen.

——"Encounter".

This song is one of the representative works of the "obscure Singer Sun Yanzi".

There is a quite famous meme on Earth called "I am standing in line, holding a numbered ticket for love," which comes from the lyrics of this song.

Judging from the melody, this song is actually quite suitable for warming up the crowd.

Chen Shanqi stood under the spotlight, the accompaniment began to play, and she started Singing quietly.

"【Hearing, the departure of winter,

I wake up in a certain year and a certain month.

I think, I wait, I expect,

Yet the future cannot be arranged because of this.】"

In the backstage lounge, Ding Xiaoyu listened to this song and thought to herself: "It sounds good!"

She glanced at the songwriter sitting beside her, unable to understand why her master could write so many good songs.

"What are you looking at?" Luo Mo turned his head and asked.

Ding Xiaoyu immediately turned her head away, then silently opened a bag of gummy candies, acting as if nothing had happened.

At this very moment, the song had already entered the chorus section.

"【Who will I encounter, and what kind of dialogue will there be.

The person I am waiting for, how far away in the future is he.

I hear the wind, coming from the subway and the sea of people.

I am standing in line, holding a numbered ticket for love.】"

Amidst the interlude, the barrage in the Live Broadcast began to surge.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"The song Luo Mo wrote for Chen Shanqi really magnified all her traits."

"How can there be a 24-year-old Music Director in this world who carries the company to success!?"

"Luo Mo truly never disappoints."

"I declare, this show is legendary!"

The song entered the B section at this time.

The emotional buildup of the entire song reached its peak when she sang the line, "【My encounter with you is the most beautiful accident】".

The professional judges in the audience thought the chorus section would Loop one more time.

Unexpectedly, with the line "【One day, my puzzle will be solved】", the song came to an abrupt end.

It was as if the words hadn't been finished, yet it gave people a lingering feeling.

They looked at each other, feeling that Luo Mo's songwriting really didn't follow common rules; one simply couldn't predict his patterns.

A genius is indeed a genius.

The barrage swept in.

"Wow, I've already started wanting to put this on Loop."

"Damn it, this is the first time I've listened to a song and complained that it was too short!"

"Chen Shanqi is Singing so well. I feel like ever since Luo Mo started writing songs for her, she has begun to transform."

"Yeah, even the breathy voice that used to make people feel a bit uncomfortable now feels like the essence."

"Very good, this song is temporarily number one in my heart today!"

"Listening to your words is like listening to your words."

Meng Xiaoguang walked onto the stage; Chen Shanqi had been on the show he hosted, so the two were quite familiar.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, it was time for the professional jury to score.

Because Luo Mo's status in the industry was rising and his works had become legendary several times over, the professional jury was no longer restrained when scoring, but instead became a bit unscrupulous.

"This is the grand finale, let's score heavily!" they thought.

After some comments, Chen Shanqi received a high score of 92.9.

She didn't actually care much about the score, because apart from the title of King of Love Songs, what place she got didn't have much meaning.

She only knew that her performance just now was good, and the audience response to this "Encounter" seemed very good as well.

"I might have another representative work!" she thought.

This feeling of having one or two more representative works every week is really comfortable.

Even until she walked backstage, she could faintly hear the audience calling her name.

This made her feel that after participating in the King of Love Songs, she might be able to prepare for a concert tour.

Her previous fan base could not support several ten-thousand-person concerts.

Concerts could be held, but they wouldn't be full. Only by going to those big cities could one sell tickets with relatively good results.

Singers who could sell out tickets like crazy even in small cities were few and far between in the entire music scene.

How many Singers have the dream of being able to hold a ten-thousand-person concert when they enter this industry.

Ten thousand people sitting in the venue, shouting your name, singing along to your songs...

Just thinking about it makes the blood boil and the heart race.

For some reason, Chen Shanqi suddenly remembered what Luo Mo said to her when they first met.

"Chen, you only want to aim for the first tier for now, right?"

After saying this, Luo Mo even showed a slightly troubled expression.

If it's just aiming for the first tier, with so many good songs... it's very hard for me to gauge the scale!

(PS: First update, requesting monthly votes.)

(End of chapter)