213 The So-Called Sisterly Love
On the second day after arriving in the Imperial Capital, the rehearsal began.
Early in the morning, the program team’s car was waiting downstairs at the hotel, picked up Pei Ningle, Han Yixuan, and Wang Heng, and arrived at the recording studio.
This was a large building. As soon as they entered the main entrance, several staff members led the way, taking the three of them to the preparation room behind the stage. According to the procedure, Pei Ningle took her own sheet music and the recorded version of the song to discuss with the deputy director responsible for live accompaniment.
As for Wang Heng and Han Yixuan…
“During the recording of the program, the reactions of the family and friends group will be recorded and may be broadcast officially. May I ask if you two agree to appear on TV?” The staff member asked in a Beijing accent.
Han Yixuan nodded and was about to speak, but Wang Heng beat her to it.
He said, “I’ll pass. She can.”
Han Yixuan glanced at Wang Heng in surprise, but before she could ask why he was unwilling, the staff member stuffed a piece of paper into her hand:
“Then please sign this consent form. We will record your most authentic reactions.”
While Han Yixuan lowered her head to sign, Wang Heng said, “Can you arrange a seat for me on the spot? I want to sit in the audience and watch.”
The staff member replied readily, “No problem, this is easy to arrange.”
Soon, Han Yixuan finished signing the consent form and handed it to the staff member. Then the two were led to the audience seats by this staff member.
The rehearsal would take a lot of time, and it might not be finished until dinner time. As a family and friends group, Han Yixuan and Wang Heng naturally couldn’t stand and wait. Finding a place to sit and spy on the performance of other competitors at any time was just right.
Looking around, the audience seats seemed quite empty. A place that could accommodate hundreds of people only had thirty or forty people sitting—these people were obviously the family and friends groups of other contestants.
Wang Heng and Han Yixuan found a place in the front row and sat side by side.
“Look, that must be the mentor seats, right?” Han Yixuan pointed to the four spacious high chairs facing the stage and asked with great interest.
Wang Heng: “Should be.”
Han Yixuan guessed again, “This time it doesn’t seem to be the mode of turning around after listening to the song with their backs to the stage. The mentor seats are facing the stage, and they don’t seem to turn. But there is a big screen in front of each of them. What is that for? To block their view?”
Wang Heng: “Should be.”
Han Yixuan: “So this time the mentors still can’t see the singer. If they think it sounds good, they press a button or something to lower the thing blocking their view so they can see the singer?”
Wang Heng had watched this show during the first timeline, so of course he knew that Han Yixuan’s guess at this moment was basically the fact.
So he answered, “Should be.”
The girl suddenly felt a little melancholic. “Can you change your line?”
Wang Heng pointed to the stage and said, “Look over there, someone has already come out for rehearsal.”
He saw a young man with long hair tied in a braid walk onto the stage, discuss with the band teachers, and pick up the microphone.
“Is this a contestant?” Han Yixuan commented, “Long curly hair, the same hairstyle as a girl, looks really effeminate!”
Wang Heng: “…”
He knew this contestant. Not only did he know him, but Wang Heng also knew his future development trajectory. After all, this singer named Zhuo Zun was a leader among the new generation of singers in the country in the trajectory of the first timeline. It seemed he was also the champion of this season of ‘Sing My Song’?
An intro with a rather ancient style sounded, and the young man held the microphone and sang with great charm.
“Engrave every eyebrow and heart…”
Han Yixuan, who was just complaining about the other person’s styling being too effeminate, immediately sat up straight.
Wang Heng whispered, “We have to keep an eye on this. Whichever mentor this person chooses, we must remind Pei Ningle not to choose the same one.”
Han Yixuan: “To avoid competition? But this is only the first song I’ve heard. Will there be even more amazing ones later?”
Wang Heng shook his head. “Hardly. Whether she can avoid this person is definitely the key point to surviving to the end in the show.”
**
The three arrived in the morning, but it wasn’t until after four in the afternoon that it was Pei Ningle’s turn to rehearse. Before this, Wang Heng and Han Yixuan went out to find a small restaurant for lunch, then returned to their seats in the audience for a nap. After waking up and playing on their phones for a while, they finally waited until this moment.
Pei Ningle briefly discussed with a few musicians, then picked up the microphone and walked to the center of the stage—regarding the form of accompaniment, she had already discussed it with a deputy director and these musicians, so there was no need to say more at this time.
In short, just start singing.
Against the light, she couldn’t see clearly if the two familiar faces were among the people in the audience seats, only vaguely feeling that a few gazes seemed to be watching her.
Compared to the welcome party at the University of Electronic Science and Technology, the audience at this moment was of course negligible. But thinking about the significance of this stage, thinking that there might be an astronomical number of viewers watching this program, seeing her performance, hearing the song she wrote… the girl found it somewhat difficult to suppress her emotions.
The accompaniment started, and Pei Ningle opened her mouth:
“I want to let go of every—uh, sorry band teacher, I was off-key.”
The band teacher was stunned. “You went off-key too fast!”
Pei Ningle bowed to them. “I’m really sorry. I want to start over, is that okay?”
“It’s okay, but you… anyway, reminding you, you can start over in rehearsal, but during the official recording, even if you go off-key, you can only continue singing.”
“Understood, I understand.”
After bowing, the girl gripped the microphone in her hand even tighter.
And offstage, Han Yixuan couldn’t help covering her face and groaning, “Why did Little Le drop the ball at a time like this…”
But Wang Heng was still very calm. “It’s okay. It’s understandable to be a little nervous stepping on this kind of stage for the first time.”
Han Yixuan: “She’s nervous now, so what about during the official recording? At that time, the audience seats will definitely be full, won’t she be even more nervous!”
Wang Heng shook his head. “Have a little confidence in her. Listen, she’s singing very smoothly now.”
The accompaniment started again, and this time Pei Ningle sang smoothly, never going off-key or getting stuck again, only her voice still felt a little stiff and tense.
Han Yixuan wiped the sweat from her palm, thought about it, and suddenly felt a little puzzled—logically speaking, Little Le was a love rival, she should hope to see her make a fool of herself, why this reaction now?
And Wang Heng secretly observed Han Yixuan’s expression and laughed inwardly—looking at this sisterly love, even if the battlefield of love escalates in the future, they won’t have conflicts anymore, right?
