81: Chapter 81 Tang Yingxue (SS+)

After Zhou Yutong and the others had walked a distance away, she grabbed Shen Nian's arm and lowered her voice, "Sister Nian, Sister Nian, was that Tang Yingxue?"

Jiang Fan pressed the elevator's up button.

"It's her."

The system had already given a prompt just now.

[Target: Tang Yingxue] [Beauty: 9.2] [Compatibility: SS+] It was one level higher than Su Yuyan.

Jiang Fan didn't dwell on this number and withdrew his gaze.

Zhou Yutong gasped. "That look she gave Sister Nian just now—"

"It was just a glance, what are you afraid of?" Jiang Fan walked into the elevator and pressed the floor button.

The elevator doors closed.

Shen Nian stood in the corner, her hat brim pulled very low, making it impossible to see her expression.

After two seconds, she spoke.

"I know her."

Jiang Fan turned his head.

"A year ago, Hua Xingyu took me to one of Tang Yingxue's private parties." Shen Nian's voice was very soft, "Hua Xingyu wasn't famous then, and Tang Yingxue could be considered her mentor."

The elevator arrived. The doors opened, and the three of them walked out.

Shen Nian walked in front, her pace a bit faster than before.

"So she must know about what happened between me and Hua Xingyu."

Jiang Fan swiped his key card to open the door and pushed the suitcase inside.

"So what if she knows? The copyright is yours, the apology video has been posted, and both the law and the facts are on your side. If she says anything on the show, that would be unprofessional."

Shen Nian stared at him for three or four seconds. Then she nodded. "Mm."

She turned and walked towards the room next door, with Zhou Yutong following behind to swipe the card and open the door.

Just as the door was about to close, Zhou Yutong turned back and whispered, "Brother Fan, what time are we eating?"

"Six o'clock."

At six in the evening, the three of them ate at the hotel restaurant on the first floor.

The dishes in Star City were on the spicy side, and Zhou Yutong was sweating profusely from eating.

Shen Nian had a few light side dishes in front of her, but she picked at them with her chopsticks a few times and then put them down.

Halfway through the meal, a few people entered the restaurant entrance.

The person in the lead was a man in his early forties, with a buzz cut, wearing a gray polo shirt. He was on the thin side but looked very energetic.

Behind him were two staff members carrying folders.

The man scanned the restaurant, and his gaze landed on Jiang Fan's table. He walked over.

"Jiang Fan?" He extended his hand, "I am Director Fang Yiming."

Jiang Fan stood up and shook his hand with a balanced grip. "Hello, Director Fang Yiming."

"Su Yuyan has mentioned you to me." Director Fang Yiming looked him over, "You're even younger than I imagined."

"Director Fang Yiming, you flatter me."

Director Fang Yiming's gaze shifted to Shen Nian. Shen Nian stood up and bowed slightly. "Hello, Director Fang Yiming."

Director Fang Yiming nodded without saying much else. "Prepare well." He dropped this sentence, patted Jiang Fan's shoulder, and led his people inside.

After Director Fang Yiming had walked away, Zhou Yutong poked at the chili peppers in her bowl with her chopsticks and whispered, "Director Fang Yiming seems quite easy to talk to."

Jiang Fan sat back down to continue eating without commenting.

Whether he is easy to talk to or not doesn't matter. This man has been making shows for twenty years, and the only thing he cares about is one thing—whether the show is entertaining.

Whether Shen Nian can give him an entertaining performance is the key.

On the way back to the rooms after the meal, they ran into people again in the elevator.

It was a girl of twenty-five or twenty-six, with short hair and headphones around her neck, standing next to an assistant holding a water cup.

When the girl saw Shen Nian, her eyes lit up. "Shen Nian?"

Shen Nian was stunned for a moment. "You are…"

"My name is Lin Ke, and I'm also participating in the show this time." The girl proactively extended her hand, "I've listened to your 'deep sea' many times; I really like it."

Shen Nian shook her hand. "Thank you."

Lin Ke smiled and turned her gaze to Jiang Fan. She froze for half a second.

"Wait—you are Jiang Fan?! The Jiang Fan who wrote 'nocturne' and 'blue and white porcelain'?!"

Her volume increased by an octave, and her assistant tugged at her, but couldn't hold her back.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, do you know that I put 'blue and white porcelain' on repeat every single day!"

Jiang Fan: "……Thank you for your support."

"Can I add you on WeChat? No, no, I mean—is there a chance for us to collaborate in the future? I work very hard at singing!"

The elevator arrived at her floor. The assistant pushed and pulled her out.

Lin Ke stood outside the elevator, waved at Shen Nian, bowed to Jiang Fan, and kept shouting, "Teacher Jiang, I'm really your fan!"

The doors closed. The laughter that Zhou Yutong had been holding in finally burst out.

"Brother Fan, are you really that influential in the singer circle?"

Jiang Fan ignored her. Shen Nian kept her head down, the corners of her mouth curled up, then pressed back down.

"I looked up this Lin Ke; she came out of a talent show last year, has good singing skills, and a solid fan base." Zhou Yutong stopped laughing and became serious, "She can be considered one of the popular contestants this time."

Jiang Fan gave an "Mm." Among the eight singers, he had previously asked Li Cheng to organize all their information.

Lin Ke is an above-average contestant. The ones to really watch out for are two others.

One is Chen Hao. A male singer, debuted three years ago, two albums, extremely strong live stability.

The thickness of his mid-to-low vocal range has almost no rival among singers of the same age.

The other is Zhang Yihan. Nominated for Best Newcomer at last year's Golden Melody Awards, highly recognizable voice, with Universal backing her.

Her resources are strong enough, and she is smart enough. And Tang Yingxue previously came out of Universal.

After her contract expired, she established a personal Studio, but she still has intricate ties with Universal.

In other words—Tang Yingxue and Zhang Yihan are naturally on the same side.

Returning to the room, Jiang Fan sent a message to Shen Nian: Sleep early, we leave at nine tomorrow.

The reply came very quickly. [Shen Nian: Okay.]

After a few seconds, another one came. [Shen Nian: Good night.]

Jiang Fan typed two characters and sent it back. [Jiang Fan: Good night.]

The next morning at eight-thirty. Jiang Fan knocked on the door next door.

Zhou Yutong opened the door; she was already packed, carrying a backpack that was bulging.

"Sister Nian is doing her makeup."

Jiang Fan glanced inside. Shen Nian was sitting in front of the vanity mirror, using an eyebrow pencil to draw her eyebrows.

He leaned against the doorframe to wait. Ten minutes later, Shen Nian stood up.

She had light makeup on, her hair was let down, and she was wearing a beige shirt dress—simple, clean, and very pleasing to the eye.

"Let's go." Jiang Fan said.

The three of them went downstairs, and the program team's car was already waiting at the entrance. Fifteen minutes later, the car stopped at the back door of the recording venue.

The venue was larger than imagined. The curved exterior was covered with huge posters of 'The Sound of Nature', several broadcast trucks were parked on the side, and cables were spread all over the ground.

Staff members led them in through the corridor. Other teams were already moving around in the corridor.

Some people were moving equipment, some were shouting into walkie-talkies, and makeup artists were jogging while carrying toolboxes.

It was not much different from a wet market, except everyone was wearing a work ID.

After walking through a long corridor and turning a corner, the makeup room area was ahead. Eight makeup rooms were lined up, with the singers' names posted on the doors.

Shen Nian's was the sixth room. Jiang Fan pushed the door open and took a look.

Sofa, mirror, clothes rack, mineral water; the row of lights on the vanity table was bright enough. The conditions were quite good.

"Wait here for now." Shen Nian walked in and sat on the sofa.

Zhou Yutong put down her backpack, unzipped it, took out a bag of cashews, and placed it on the coffee table.

Shen Nian's gaze landed in the vanity mirror; she stared for a while before reaching out to pick one up, chewed it twice, and swallowed.

"Jiang Fan." "Mm." "When drawing lots, what number do you hope I draw?"

Jiang Fan thought about it. "The later, the better."

Shen Nian looked up at him. "The finale position has the strongest memory point. After the people before have sung, the Audience Jury's ears will be tired. When you come out at this time, and smash them with 'the wind rises'—"

He paused. "Everyone's attention will be focused on you."

Shen Nian didn't speak, holding the cashew in her hand for a long time without putting it into her mouth.

Zhou Yutong next to her put her hands together, closed her eyes, and muttered, "Bless Sister Nian to draw the last one. Bless, bless, bless."

Shen Nian glanced at her, couldn't help it, and laughed.

Jiang Fan looked at Zhou Yutong. This girl is sometimes actually useful. At least Shen Nian isn't as nervous now.

Just as he was about to speak, footsteps were heard in the corridor. The door to the fifth makeup room next door was pushed open.

A woman walked in, followed by two assistants. The name posted on the door: Zhang Yihan.

Jiang Fan stood up, walked to the door, and looked outside.

At the end of the corridor, Tang Yingxue was walking over from the mentor's passage; when she passed Zhang Yihan's makeup room, her footsteps paused.

Through the half-open door, she smiled inside and raised her hand to shake her coffee cup.

Zhang Yihan's voice came from inside: "Good morning, Sister Xue."

"Morning, Yihan, perform well tomorrow."

Tang Yingxue continued to walk forward. When she passed the entrance of Shen Nian's makeup room, her peripheral vision swept inside. Her gaze collided with Jiang Fan's.