Chapter 188: Test Your Skills

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Shenzhen’s largest stadium had been preparing for the 11/11 gala since November began. This wasn’t the first time this stadium was the main host for the 11/11 gala so preparations generally went pretty smooth. On the fifth, after the gala’s director arrived, the singers and celebrities would start coming in for rehearsal.

On the afternoon of the 8th was Bai Zhi’s first rehearsal. Her duet partner was a first-tier male actor, and the two had just finished collaborating in a TV show. It had great ratings, and the male actor had been growing in popularity over the last couple of years as well.

This actor had also participated in a cross-border singing show not long ago. Although he didn’t win, his voice still drew quite a number of new fans. He was pretty good at singing.

Taking advantage of these two waves of popularity, he formed a partnership with Bai Zhi and stepped onto the stage of the 11/11 evening gala.

The rehearsal had gone smoothly, and the director was evidently very pleased. Bai Zhi was adequate, while the actor seemed a bit obnoxious and kept trying to act out. This was understandable, as people tend to act cool and make excessive movements to compensate for their lack of singing skills. It was able to attract the screams of the audience, but… a deputy director in the director’s group that was responsible for the vocal rehearsals was not very satisfied and felt the performance lacked meaning.

“Take a break.”

They practiced it several times, but the director’s group couldn’t be too harsh.

The next rehearsal was Su Qing Cen’s. It wasn’t a coincidence. It was because Su Qing Cen arrived in Shenzhen together with Bai Zhi and booked their rehearsal times together.

The actor of course had to be compliant. It had nothing to do with being a gentleman but more a matter of who was a bigger deal.

Su Qing Cen’s rehearsal ended shortly since her stage performance had no problems. Everything was okay after just going over it once. All that’s left now was to wait for the dress rehearsal in two days.

Of course, Su Qing Cen could have come two days late and attended the dress rehearsal with the regular rehearsal in one day, but she just happened to have plans in Shenzhen. Hence, she arrived a day early with Bai Zhi to rehearse.

After the rehearsal, she didn’t leave and waited for Bai Zhi to go over it again before they left together.

When another group of celebrities arrived, Su Qing Cen went to the side and waited for Bai Zhi. She waved at the actor and happily left with Bai Zhi as they chatted.

Buzz buzz.

At the same time, the two of them received a WeChat message from Meng Fan. They were of the same video. Their phones began to play the music of their performance for the evening, and a sand painting performance.

“Huh?”

They finished watching at the same time as their eyes lit up.

The sand painting performance they witnessed was very suitable to play in the background during their performances and was beautiful and creative enough to even be cut into a music video!

“Did Meng Fan send you yours too?”

They asked together. They then exchanged phones and watched it again.

“What’s going on?”

The two were curious, so Bai Zhi called Meng Fan.

Meng Fan briefly spoke of his intention to Bai Zhi, even boasting a little, making himself seem kind of arrogant. He told them that he was inspired and created sand paintings for their songs and even laughed as he said it would be even better if they wanted to use it for their concert. They always took care of him so much, and this was an act of gratitude.

As for being their art… accompaniment at the gala, Meng Fan didn’t get the chance to mention it when Bai Zhi hung up the phone after asking him to hang on.

She hung up and immediately approached the director and his crew, showing him the video. Then, she spoke to the associate director in charge of the vocal performances. “Director Sun, what do you think about adding a sand painting show to this group of performances?”

“Sand art mixed with singing?”

Director Sun was no stranger to this, as this kind of performance had been done before several times. The effect was pretty good, and it was definitely doable. Then again, this was the 11/11 gala. Any form of performance could be done if they wanted to.

He thought about it carefully. “We could, since the songs from your group are pretty suitable for sand art, only…” Director Sun paused for a moment then asked Bai Zhi. “Is the performer your friend or a family member?”

Bai Zhi nodded.

Director Sun thought about it again then said, “Then, why don’t you call him over to perform and see how it looks during rehearsal. Of course, the final result will still be decided by the head director.”

Director Sun had seen his fair share of sand painting and singing performances. The video Bai Zhi sent over was only average from a spectator’s perspective; there was nothing special about it.

Of course, this was only relative to all the other sand art performances he had seen. Of these, most performances were top in the industry!

At this time, Su Qing Cen handed her phone over as well.

“Huh? There’s more?”

Director Sun was a bit puzzled. After watching it, he could tell the style was similar, confirming it was by the same person after asking.

“Then try this too. But let’s settle this first. This sand art performance can only be done with one song. No matter how suitable it is, we can’t have both songs be accompanied by sand art.”

“We know that.”

Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen both nodded. As for who gets the sand art, it would have to depend on the results of the rehearsal. Neither was desperate to have it.

Bai Zhi gave Meng Fan a call again.

Su Qing Cen murmured under her breath, “This kid’s trying to get into this gala, isn’t he?”

He refused her offer to appear at her concert, but why was he so ecstatic now?

Could it be… For the stream!

After thinking it through, she felt even more strange. Why was this guy so obsessed with streaming? Could it be that he really only had streaming experience and got nervous otherwise?

Who was he trying to fool?!

Su Qing Cen was no child. She wouldn’t be fooled that easily.

Yes!

Meng Fan answered Bai Zhi’s call and chuckled before running off to find Wen Wan.

“You want a good sand painting table, the kind that can be attached to a projector? For what?”

“To perform.”

“Perform? Where?”

“The 11/11 gala. But right now, they just want me to rehearse. I might not actually make an appearance.”

“11/11 Gala?”

After hearing this, Wen Wan began to doubt humanity.

It had only been a few days. How was he able to find such a big gig?

Maybe she misheard what Meng Fan said?

Or was the 11/11 gala’s planning committee crazy?!

“You wait… Come, come!”

Wen Wan dragged Meng Fan to the studio and pointed to the table. “Let me see your skills! How did you get into the 11/11 gala?!”

Five minutes later, Wen Wan wanted to commit violence.

“You…You’re almost at my level! What the hell are you?!”

Meng Fan’s learning ability completely subverted Wen Wan’s expectations. She felt like her last ten years of sand art education was wasted on a dog. If she wasn’t backed up by her years of experience, Meng Fan would have reached her dozen or so years of skill after just three days!

It wasn’t just his drawing skill either but storytelling as well.

Using Sand art to paint and tell a story that could be understood by the masses wasn’t something that could be done in a moment’s time!

“Wait, wait, you wait!”

Wen Wan was still trying to compose her emotions and her words. She glared at Meng Fan. “You better not tell me you wanted to learn sand art just for this 11/11 gala?!”

If this was the case, it was too horrifying.

His ability to learn wasn’t the scariest trait. The most terrifying thing was that he could predict how strong his learning ability was and even made sure he could reach the level of such a grand performance before the date of the gala!

Was he even human?

Meng Fan scratched his nose. “Then I’ll just not… tell you?”