CH 3

Chapter 3: That’s the voice

After resting at home for a day, Yu Nian cooked a meal to treat himself and arrived at Xingyao Building at six in the morning.

Meng Yuan held a printed timetable in his hand and said as he walked.

“Classes start at 8:00 in the morning every day, end at 6:00 in the evening, and there is a two-hour break at noon. The dance class is in the morning, the vocal class in the afternoon, and you can do anything in the evening. Can you do it?”

Yu Nian had already memorized the timetable. When he heard the words, he replied, “No problem, I can do it.”

Meng Yuan held the timetable and sighed, “Even if you can’t, you have to do it. We didn’t have much time. Five days later, He Qiubai from ‘Sound of Nature’ will come to see you. My connection with him is there, but whether you’ll be selected or not, is still up to you.”

Seeing that Yu Nian understood the importance, he didn’t say more and pointed at the paper, “The rooms from 30th floor to the 35th floor are all practice rooms, 307 and 337 are under my name, don’t run around these days, just follow the teachers and learn.”

You Nian nodded in agreement. He guessed that there should be a reason why Meng Yuan specifically told him “don’t run around”. But Meng Yuan didn’t say much, and he didn’t ask too much. The most important thing at the moment was to do well in the classes.

As they were talking, the two had already reached the 33rd floor. Meng Yuan raised the timetable in his hand and said, “The teachers are inside. I have a meeting to attend, see you at noon!”

When Yu Nian entered the dance studio, the voices of the conversation inside stopped instantly as if someone had pressed the pause button. He seemed to have vaguely heard his name, which meant someone should be talking about him.

As if he didn’t hear anything, Yu Nian stood there and bowed, “Hello teachers, I’m Yu Nian, and I’ll work hard with both of you for the next few days. ”

Seeing Yu Nian’s smiling face, An Cheng also laughed, “No wonder Brother Meng urged us to pay attention. Based on the appearance alone, it can be said that he really found a treasure this time.”

An Cheng was in his 30s and was well-maintained. He raised his hand and said, “Hello, I’m An Cheng, happy cooperation!”

Yu Nian raised his hand to hold An Cheng’s and said politely, “Hello, Teacher An.”

Huo Xing, who was standing next to An Cheng, didn’t show much interest. There were slight wrinkles between his eyebrows, and he looked serious and unapproachable, “Huo Xing.”

Yu Nian still greeted with a smile, “Hello, Teacher Huo.”

An Cheng hugged his arms and winked at Yu Nian, “Your Teacher Huo’s personality is like this. If you are lazy and slack off during practice, he will kill you.”

Yu Nian folded his arms and blinked, “If I slack off during practice, Teacher Huo should really kill me.”

An Cheng laughed and patted Yu Nian on the shoulder, “This kid is not bad, let’s go!”

However, in the morning, Yu Nian didn’t get the chance to be scolded. When Meng Yuan came over at 11:30 a.m. to see the situation, Huo Xing was carrying a black kettle. He looked at Yu Nian who was following An Cheng’s actions from a distance, and briefly commented, “Very good.”

Meng Yuan raised his eyebrows and said proudly, “The person I chose is good for sure!” He was a little surprised, “However, he was able to get this evaluation from the stingy Teacher Huo, what did Yu Nian do?”

Huo Xing glanced at Meng Yuan, “Willing to endure hardship, not crying, serious, intelligent, respectful of teachers, patience and persistence, and in good physical condition.”

Meng Yuan repeated “tsk” several times, and joked, “How much benefit did Yu Nian give you for you to praise him so much?”

Seeing that Huo Xing was concentrating on drinking water and not answering, Meng Yuan was serious, “It’s only five days, do you think Yu Nian can do it?”

He wanted to hear Huo Xing’s opinion on this issue.

“Before seeing him, I thought you were dreaming, but after seeing him…,” Huo Xing didn’t say absolutely, “you can try.”

“I feel at ease with your words.” Meng Yuan watched as Yu Nian fell on the floor, got up, stood up again, and continued to learn the movements. He made a “hiss” from his teeth, “This ‘bang’ hurts when I hear it.”

Huo Xing snorted coldly, “Where’s the pain in learning to dance?”

At noon, the music stopped, An Cheng turned around, threw a white towel at Yu Nian, raised his eyebrows, and said, “You worked hard and learned well.”

Yu Nian folded the towel twice and wiped the sweat off his face and neck. His skin was very white, and because of the heat, a layer of healthy pink appeared on it. His black hair was wet with sweat, sticking to his forehead.

He was still panting, and the arm holding the towel was shaking involuntarily.

Huo Xing walked over and said directly, “The last movement just now was not stable, and you didn’t raise your leg high enough.”

An Cheng spoke for Yu Nian, “The practice is too intense, and he just started learning. In the end, his legs will lose strength. It’s not bad to still be able to lift them, right?”

Huo Xing has a serious temperament. He frowned and said, “The movements must be standard, otherwise the practice will be in vain. He doesn’t have much time, so he must hurry every second.”

Yu Nian interjected at the right time with a smile on his face, “Thank you, Teacher Huo, I really couldn’t lift my legs at that time. Next time I will definitely meet the standards.”

Huo Xing looked at him for more than two seconds, then said “um”.

An Cheng turned to face Yu Nian, pointed his finger at Huo Xing quietly, and rolled his eyes.

Yu Nian pursed his lips and held back a smile.

After having lunch with Meng Yuan at noon, Yu Nian went back to the dance studio to find a mat to lie down with sore hands and feet. But after lying down for only two minutes, he stood up again and practiced the movement that Huo Xing said before. After confirming that the goal was met, he breathed a sigh of relief.

After lying down this time, Yu Nian really didn’t want to move, and his hands and feet didn’t look like his own. He didn’t know when he fell asleep. When the alarm clock rang, he realized that it was already 1:40.

He sat up, moved his limbs, and took the elevator downstairs.

When he arrived at the practice room of the vocal class, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Yu Nian thought about it and started to practice by himself. After finishing it, he found a person standing at the door. Yu Nian quickly stood up, “Hello Teacher Zhao, I’m Yu Nian.”

Zhao Xi was in her 40s. She was wearing a long black dress, had a good temperament, and spoke softly, “Sit down, I looked at your class schedule, are you practicing dance in the morning?” Seeing Yu Nian nod, she smiled and said, “Dance practice is really hard, were you doing opening exercises just now?”

“Well, yes, I don’t know if I’m doing it right.”

“It’s fine.” Zhao Xi asked while putting down the books in her hand, “Can you read the score?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Well,” Zhao Xi opened the book and handed it to Yu Nian, “Sing this song for me to listen to.”

Yu Nian read the score and sang it accurately while knocking the beat.

Zhao Xi nodded in satisfaction, pondered for a few seconds, and asked, “Have you learned the basics of vocal music before?”

Yu Nian didn’t hide it, “My grandmother can sing very well. When I was a child, I sang along, and my grandmother would teach me a little bit.”

Zhao Xi carefully analyzed, “Your vocalization position is relatively forward. After the sound is emitted from the throat, it hits the hard palate. For breathing, you use the combined chest-abdominal breathing method. This way of vocalization is not bad, but you can do better. In addition, your pitch, timbre, and range are all very good, and you can be said to be the type that God likes the most.” She took out a piece of white manuscript paper, “Okay, let’s go to class.”

In the next five days, Yu Nian basically shuttled between these two training rooms. After dinner, he would practice for two more hours in the dance studio.

When Huo Xing found that he deliberately stayed to practice dancing, he scolded him, “Why are you so desperate?”

Seeing that Yu Nian just laughed and didn’t argue. Huo Xing didn’t say anything else, but he worked overtime for free every day and stayed there to guide Yu Nian.

On the morning of the 11th, as soon as Yu Nian arrived at Meng Yuan’s office, he was stuffed with a glass of milk and pulled into the elevator in a hurry.

Meng Yuan was more nervous than Yu Nian, “Are you confident?”

Yu Nian took a sip of milk and got some milk foam on his lips, and he became annoyed because of it. After hearing Meng Yuan’s words, he nodded, “Confident.”

Meng Yuan put his hands together and raised them above his head, “Tathagata Buddha, Lord Laojun is the supreme!” After that, he muttered something for a while, but Yu Nian couldn’t hear it clearly. He took the milk and sipped it, his eyes full of smiles.

When he got to the recording studio, Meng Yuan regained the calmness that an ace agent should have.

“After a while, you can go in to find the feeling and to open your voice. He Qiubai should be there in twenty minutes. You can do your best then, I believe you!”

Yu Nian and Meng Yuan faced each other, “Well, I also believe in myself!”

At the entrance of the Xingyao Building Qu Xiaoran sat in the passenger seat, yawned three times in a row, and smiled, “Thank you for sending me to work!”

Yesterday, he went to Xie house for dinner, drank wine in the evening, and simply stayed there. In the morning, ignoring Xie You’s cold face, he got into his car shamelessly.

Xie You’s face was covered with a layer of frost, “You can get lost.”

“Thank you for dropping me off at the office,” Qu Xiaoran was not afraid at all, and still rambled, “Speaking of the last time you came to see me, didn’t you mention whether we are recruiting new people recently? I thought about it, and I asked someone to check. After asking, I found that there is really a newcomer.”

Xie You moved his fingers on his knees.

“…He was signed in by Meng Yuan. He is called Yu Nian, only 21 years old.”

“Yu Nian?”

“Well, Yu for abundance and Nian for the year that Yu Nian. I looked at his photos, and I heard that his voice is very good. Meng Yuan is planning to put him on the second season of “Sound of Nature”. Someone from the program team will come to see him today.”

Having said that, Qu Xiaoran forcefully invited, “Do you want to come and take a look, President Xie?”

Qu Xiaoran has always been worried that Xie You would be suffocated from being busy with work every day. So he would drag Xie You for any kind of fun and delicious food. But in every ten invitations, almost all of them were rejected.

“Okay.”

“Hahaha, I know you have a bunch of meetings to do—” Qu Xiaoran got stuck, “Hey, what did you just say?”

Xie You didn’t bother to pay attention to him, he opened the door and got out of the car. Seeing that Qu Xiaoran was still in a daze, he frowned impatiently, “Are you going or not?”

“Fuck you, of course, I’m going! Xie You, you are definitely not the Xie You I know!”

When the two entered the recording studio, there were already several people standing inside. Meng Yuan was the first to discover Qu Xiaoran, and his heart skipped a beat. He took two steps forward with a smile, “President Qu, why are you here?”

Qu Xiaoran made a “shh” and said in a low voice with a smile, “Don’t be alarmed. We are just here to watch the fun, you are busy with your own business, don’t worry about us.”

When he turned his eyes, his eyes fell on Xie You’s astonishing face, “Hello, President Xie! you are here too?”

After he finished speaking, he stood quietly.

Xie You was standing behind Qu Xiaoran, looking at Yu Nian through the glass who was standing in front of the microphone, his expression unmoved. A middle-aged man in a plaid shirt gestured inside, and Yu Nian returned the gesture. Three seconds later, a very clear voice came from the device.

Everyone held their breath, Qu Xiaoran raised his eyebrows in surprise and was about to turn around to ask Xie You’s thoughts, but found that the other party seemed to be… in a daze?

Xie You’s body relaxed unconsciously. He stood against the wall, not too obviously, with his eyes fixed in the glass room. Seeing Yu Nian, who had lowered his eyelashes and was concentrating on singing, his heartbeat sped up.

Yes, that’s the voice, there is no mistake.

When he heard this voice for the first time in the elevator, he wasn’t quite sure, until now when he heard Yu Nian singing, he was sure that it was this voice.

In the heart-warming voice, time seems to be passing by a lot faster. Yu Nian stopped after singing the last sentence, and He Qiubai, who was standing at the front, applauded.

With the glass barrier, Yu Nian couldn’t hear the sound outside. But he could see Meng Yuan’s thumbs up and He Qiubai’s applause. He took off his earphones, exhaled, and smiled.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a back figure, and Yu Nian’s movements paused — the back figure by the door just now seemed a little familiar?

But he didn’t have time to think about it. When he walked out of the glass room, Meng Yuan greeted him, “Come on, let me introduce you to Qu—” When Meng Yuan turned around, he found that Qu Xiaoran and Xie You were gone.

Yu Nian reacted and reminded in a low voice, “When I took off the earphones, I saw the door move.”

Meng Yuan responded, thinking that this was really just to see the fun. Then he smile again, “This is the He Qiubai I mentioned to you a few times.”

Yu Nian bowed slightly and said with a smile, “Hello Mr. He.”

He Qiubai and Meng Yuan have been old friends for many years. Yu Nian is also pleasing to the eye, so he kindly said, “The little boy sang very well. Lao Meng showed me your dancing video. It was also very good. I look forward to working together!”

Yu Nian patted his heart and smiled, “After hearing your compliment, my heartbeat finally stabilized.”

He Qiubai laughed heartily.

The deal was finalized. In the afternoon, someone from the show crew would come to discuss the contract. He Qiubai couldn’t stay much longer, so after saying a few words, he left.

When the recording studio was empty, Meng Yuan handed another cup of honey water to Yu Nian, and said comfortably, “You are really good at it. Lao He is very picky, and you actually caught his eye in one breath, not bad.”

Yu Nian drank the glass of water in a few sips, and his forehead was sweating a little. He wiped it off and said, “I didn’t expect this when I practiced. I was mentally prepared for the worst.” He put down the cup and hesitated for a few a while, a little embarrassed, “Brother Meng, can I… get the salary in advance?”

Meng Yuan reacted, “Are you short of money? Yes, the money in the contract has not been transferred to the financial side. I will talk to them in a while. As for the salary, it is only five or six thousand, so you can take it in advance.”

“Sorry for the trouble, Brother Meng.” Yu Nian breathed a sigh of relief — no one would believe him if he said that he only had twenty yuan left in his bag.

It wasn’t too late, and the morning class was still on. Yu Nian took the elevator to the 33rd floor by himself, recalling the content of yesterday’s dance class as he walked. When he passed by a corner, he was stopped by two people.

The author has something to say: 

President Xie: Mr. President is very busy and has no time to watch the fun and listen to music!