“It’s Nan Xiao?”
“It’s really him. Why would he come here? I remembered he had debuted five to six years ago, right?”
“Can it be said that the times have changed? Nan Xiao actually came to compete with us in 《Infinite Youth》… ah, I actually feel a little sad.”1Tears of an era were actually used instead of times have changed. It means that something has changed along with time, and everything disappears with time which shows the insignificance of human beings
The trainees around him were all whispering and discussing it. Qin Lu looked at the person standing in the middle of the stage. He indeed looked more mature than most of the trainees here who were, on average, 20 years old. He also has a strong aura and didn’t look uncomfortable/uneasy/unnatural in front of the lens.
He fits all the beauty standards and at this moment, he had on a face full of delicate makeup, his sharp features showing a trace of softness.2His features are strong and are more towards western styles, like Dilireba or Song Weilong
Even as the senior of many trainees present at the scene and having debuted for many years, Nan Xiao still earnestly did a standard 90-degree bow to the four mentors after going on stage.
“Hello teachers, I’m Nan Xiao.”
It was very obvious that his face was a familiar one to the mentors. The straightforward rap mentor Yin Suli spoke in a surprised tone. “You’re the… imperial guard with the sword? From the 《Secrets of the Palace》 that is one of the hottest airing dramas right now?”.
Generally speaking, most people would reveal even a slight smile if they heard Yin Suli cueing the role they played. They should at least be able to catch on to the topic that the other had thrown out, whether it was intentional or unintentional. However, Nan Xiao was not like ordinary people.
They only see the other party keeping a serious look on, and his eyebrows didn’t even move the slightest bit. “That’s me.”
It was evident that Yin Suli was an avid watcher of the drama and wanted to lure him into giving a spoiler away. “So, did you find the female lead in the next episode? Was she saved by the second male lead?”.
Nan Xiao was as firm as a rock, “It’ll be released at 6 o’clock on the dot tomorrow.”
Yin Suli: “You’re pretty principled, huh?”
Nan Xiao nodded, “Thank you, it’s what I should be doing.”
Yin Suli: “…”
Alright, he has his own unique way of thinking.
She turned and looked at the dance mentor Yao Chen, “Do you know him?”
“Mn.” Yao Chen had seen Nan Xiao’s information early on and his heart was filled with regrets. He looked at Nan Xiao. “Actually, you’re still considered my senior. I met you at the Entertainment Awards Ceremony before.”
At that time, Nan Xiao had just turned 20 and had debuted not long ago. He was still in the period where there were great expectations for his rising popularity. When Yao Chen saw him, he was still an ignorant half-grown child, but he had thought Nan Xiao was an amazing senior.
In the blink of an eye, five to six years have passed. The boy group Yao Chen was in which was called 1 billion became more and more popular. His popularity couldn’t be compared to that of the past while instead, Nan Xiao had become a trainee that needed to accept his junior’s assessment.
Life is unpredictable.
Nan Xiao’s path to fame had been very bumpy.
He made his debut in a boy band when he was 19 and while they had made a splash in the beginning, they didn’t have any more schedules after. As time passed, their group only existed in name and all the members went their own ways.
For a period of time, Nan Xiao couldn’t get any work. It seemed like only yesterday that his schedule was packed. But now, before he knew it, there was no longer any work for him to do.
The people in his team couldn’t afford to breach the contract. He could either just dawdle and leave it lying around or go to all kinds of unknown variety shows and plays and act as an extra.
Just like that, four years have passed. Nan Xiao slowly climbed up, going from acting as an unknown character to the third male lead, from being the male lead of a web drama to the second male lead of a large-scale drama with a good character design. It seems that his efforts weren’t in vain.
But in these four years, Nan Xiao didn’t go on stage. The other members couldn’t afford to pay the penalty for the breach in their contracts, so they were just there to pass time, but Nan Xiao was unwilling to give up. What he truly loved, and still loves, is going on stage to sing and dance.
In all honesty, his thoughts were really simple. Humans only live once, so whatever they want to do, they should work hard and go for it. This way, they won’t have any regrets. Even if he spends his life acting, getting good reviews and comments from every household, it couldn’t be compared to the hard work and sweat he had put in for the stage, and the happiness it will give him even if he was just at the edge of it.
Even if there wasn’t anyone in the audience who remembered his name, even if there wasn’t a single LED display that was lit up for him.
No matter what, he still wants to try one more time.
“I didn’t think that teacher would still remember me.” Nan Xiao’s eyes were bright, but he still looked emotionless, his face as unchanging as a rock.
When Nan Xiao was talking to Yin Suli early on, Yao Chen already felt a little strange. Because in his memories, Nan Xiao didn’t seem to have such a serious personality. “Are you nervous? I remember you were the mood-maker in your group, and you loved smiling. Don’t worry, as long as you are good enough…”
“Ah, that’s not it.” Nan Xiao said, his face still seemingly paralyzed. He raised the microphone and explained, “I originally thought that in terms of age, I was relatively older and so, I got a shot before coming to maintain a better state.”
Yao Chen seemed to have come to a realization.
Nan Xiao finished the second half of his sentence expressionlessly. “——Hence, I can’t move my face anymore.”
Yao Chen: “…”
As a cool female rapper who was well known for her vicious tongue, Yin Suli’s expression remained unchanged but in fact, she quietly took a deep breath without anyone noticing, in case she accidentally laughed.
He was so honest. Yin Suli really likes this type of people, the type to say whatever they want as long as it’s the truth.
The trainees were all stunned speechless by Nan Xiao’s frankness and honesty. That was especially true for Lu Zhi, who had been very proactive in giving reactions to every trainee.
From then on, Nan Xiao was someone who had left a deep impression on all the trainees present and was referred to as the ‘stone face’. He became the program’s extremely humorous ‘poker-faced’ comedian.
The song he performed for his initial evaluation was his group’s debut song. Nan Xiao wanted to use this stage as a commemoration of the start of his journey and to signify that he’s starting over again, from having nothing to setting out again.
Despite not having any chance to perform on stage for the past few years, Nan Xiao hadn’t abandoned the vocal and dance foundation he had exchanged half of his youth for. Not only did his strength not regress, but he also became better than before.
But maybe because he placed so much importance on this that it made him nervous in return, causing him to make a mistake during the ending pose.
Nan Xiao was originally guaranteed to get an A as he was fully deserving of it. But under the careful consideration of all aspects from the mentors, he received a B.
Nan Xiao wiped the sweat off his face and didn’t raise any objection towards this result. He simply stated in a serious manner that he would practice even harder and not make any more mistakes in the future.
His dance received high praise from mentor Yao Chen.
“I hope that you can seize this chance well. Good luck.” As someone who also treated the stage as his lifelong dream, Yao Chen truly hoped that Nan Xiao would be able to make his dream come true through this program and return to the stage.
The young mentor showed an encouraging gesture, “Ge, you must make your debut.”
Nan Xiao bowed deeply.
Despite trying his best to resist, Nan Xiao, who had persevered until now, couldn’t help but feel like crying in the end. He nodded and put two fingers at the corners of his mouth to pull it up, revealing a big smile. The stone face which finally smiled, albeit by external forces, had nothing to do with being good-looking. However, it was a little cute.
“I will!”
The trainee sitting beside Qin Lu had kept silent all along. Right as Nan Xiao was exiting the stage, he suddenly stretched his hands out and clapped for him.
The current environment was noisier than usual. After all, there were more than a hundred people in the studio, so only those that were sitting around him could hear it.
Qin Lu looked to his side. The boy with light blonde hair had calm eyes and looked a little cold. From when he had sat down to just now, he practically didn’t move at all and was like a machine whose mechanism had spoiled. Other people would show some emotions at the very least when they were watching other performances, but this person was like a still image, until just now when he had clapped for Nan Xiao.
He was kind of like a sloth that wouldn’t move unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Hello, teachers! I’m Fengyu Culture’s Su Qinglan. I’m 17 this year. What I like is vocal, and what I’m good at is also vocal.”
The trainee who went on stage just now looked very young and he didn’t give off an idol or athletic vibe like the ones before him. He wore a cute cartoon sweater and had fluffy brown curly hair. He walked in a hurried manner; his steps full of energy as he quickly toddled over onto the stage.
“He’s very energetic.”
They have been recording continuously without stopping for several hours. It wasn’t just the trainees who had been stretched to their limits, but the mentors themselves found it hard to hide their fatigue. They’ve just been working hard to maintain their condition out of professionalism. After watching many destructive or noise-polluting performances, the mentors couldn’t help but brighten up after seeing a trainee with a different style.
Whenever he speaks, he will reveal his canine teeth, probably owing to his young age. Even though he looked very skinny, he had chubby cheeks and when he smiled, it was as if cat whiskers formed on his cheeks.
Little curly ball bowed to the mentors, giving them an anxious 180 degrees bow that was almost going straight to the floor. He opened his mouth, showing them a bright smile, “The song that I’ll be performing is—”
“Wait, wait. We still have to chat with you before you proceed with your performance to get to know more about you. There’s no rush, don’t rush.” Producer Cui Zhihao couldn’t help but feel like laughing.
“Where are you rushing off to? You originally could’ve had 10 minutes of screen time, but you decided to cut it short and now, the director will just cut half of your time during editing.”
Little curly ball looked muddled, but he seemed to have understood that the other party was looking out for him. Hence, he hurriedly gave the judges a passionate bow. “Thank you, teachers! Let’s chat, I’m not in a hurry!”.3Thomas Flair is mentioned here, but it is generally used to describe something that was done extremely explosively or in an exaggerated manner
Su Qinglan was extremely happy, “Actually, I’m very nervous. I told my mum that I was going to see celebrities before coming here, but she didn’t believe me.”
Yin Suli felt like the program would finally put an end to the rumors of her looking at others with contempt today.
She composed herself and flipped through the information.
She looked through it and said coldly, “…First in the Campus Singing Competition?”
Su Qingfeng nodded, his eyes bright and shiny. Yin Suli could almost see a line of big shimmering letters written all over his face: Ain’t I amazing?
Yin Suli glanced at the information that recorded Su Qingfeng’s accomplishments a few more times, before closing the document with a snap.
She looked up, “Do you know how to rap?”
Yin Suli, the king of dirty looks, is about to find out what ‘life is full of suffering’ truly means.
