Chapter 511 The Audition in Full Swing
As their relations.h.i.+p intensified, the life of Zi Yan and Zhang Han had gotten more and more interesting.
What is love?
It is said that after entering the period of pa.s.sionate love, both men and women begin to know each other deeply in their long-term company, so that after three to five months, they would not be as curious or very dependent on each other as before. Love has a shelf life, and it can’t be fresh forever.
It is said that all one’s life is devoted to love, and the key lies in how both men and women adjust their pa.s.sion.
It is said that no matter how long or short the period of pa.s.sionate love is, we don’t need to care about it, because learning to enjoy the dull period is the most important thing.
But Zhang Han felt that their love was long term, no matter whether they were in the period of pa.s.sionate love or not, and now it was just beginning.
Although he had a heavy burden on himself, his life att.i.tude was still optimistic and upward. Even if the small world was coming, all he could do was face it, because worrying too much was not in line with his character. Therefore, in the remaining half year, although Zhang Han would not miss any remains worth exploring, he also planned to accompany Zi Yan and Mengmeng as much as possible.
In addition, Zhang Han didn’t slack off on the road of cultivation.
Still greater efforts were needed before he could attain his goal.
As soon as his soul sense recovered, he began stretching the clouds above his sense sea.
Twice, the third time, the fourth time…
Gradually, by the fifth time, Zhang Han could hold on for 20 seconds.
He got the same kind of feeling as when Zhao Feng was learning the Big Dark Devil Shadow.
He kept on cultivating and persisting.
Although he felt a little uncomfortable, the growth of the clouds was considerable.
Seeing that the dark clouds had been connected into a large area, he knew that there would be thunder and lightning soon.
Zhang Han knew that when he advanced to the Innateness stage and totally changed his soul sense, it would be time to get the harvest.
Two days pa.s.sed in a flash.
In the past two days, the news about Chinese New Voice had been widely known.
The show was set for December 5th.
Among the four mentors, Zuo Dong, a rapper, and Da Hua, a Chinese singer, once again formed a team.
The first group was tutored by Gu Fan, who was now very popular, while the third group was tutored by Zi Yan, the beautiful G.o.ddess with a lot of fans and topics.
In order to attract more attention, the program team even released news that Zi Yan and Hanyang had a good relations.h.i.+p.
Although Hanyang had never appeared in public, he had more than 70 million Weibo fans, and had caused a public opinion war among major fan groups, which had left a deep impression on everyone.
What’s more, Hanyang was the symbol of high-quality songs, so if they joined Zi Yan’s team, maybe they would get a chance.
But they didn’t know that Hanyang was Zi Yan’s husband, let alone that he could come to the show in person in such a complex environment.
Even so, the hype of Chinese New Voice had produced the desired effect of the program team.
Even on the last day of the online primary audition, many famous entertainers in the entertainment circle were still signing up to join the show.
Time flew.
Today was Monday the 15th.
At about seven o’clock in the morning, Zi Yan and Mengmeng got up to wash up.
“Honey, honey.”
After was.h.i.+ng, both the mother and girl put on their formal clothes and went into the corridor. Zi Yan called Zhang Han as she walked to the kitchen on the right.
“I’m here. The food will be ready soon.” Zhang Han’s voice came from the kitchen.
His wife and daughter went into the kitchen happily.
Zhang Han was making the last dish. The kitchen was relatively large, so it would not be crowded even if more people were here.
“It smells good.” Mengmeng sniffed the air.
“Well, let’s have breakfast.” Zhang Han put the last dish on the plate, then walked to the side restaurant with two dishes and rice.
“We’re ready.” Zi Yan helped to serve some dishes.
Now, they had a nutritious breakfast in front of them.
Three kinds of vegetables, milk, boiled eggs, eight-treasured rice porridge, and milk-flavored steamed buns that Mengmeng liked.
Since Zi Qiang made milk-flavored steamed buns for Mengmeng, Zhang Han had learned about all kinds of relevant ingredients and managed to make better steamed buns and get Mengmeng’s praise.
“Let’s have breakfast.” Mengmeng cheered, climbed onto a large chair, and sat down.
Mengmeng was unable to eat much, just a few bites of each one were almost enough.
“It’s half-past seven. Let’s eat quickly. I’ll dress you up after eating,” Zi Yan looked at Zhang Han and said.
“Huh? MaMa, how do you dress PaPa?” Mengmeng asked in confusion.
“PaPa is very handsome, is it necessary to dress him up?”
“I’ll arrange a set of clothes for your PaPa,” Zi Yan replied with a smile.
“Great, great. PaPa, please eat it quickly.” Mengmeng’s big, clear eyes lit up with excitement.
It was like she was going to dress up her PaPa.
“Okay, I’m full.”
Zhang Han put down his chopsticks and waited for Mengmeng to finish the last bite before he said, “PaPa will clean up the table first.”
Zhang Han put the tableware in the tray, took it to the kitchen, and then walked to the fitting room with his wife and daughter.
Zhang Han’s fingers moved slightly as he walked toward the room.
The faucet in the kitchen turned on automatically, and the small waterfall-like water doused all the tableware that has just been used, making them very clean. Then the kitchen cupboard opened and the cutlery flew back under Zhang Han’s control.
Generally speaking, when he was free, Zhang Han would clean up the dishes by himself. For him, to enjoy life was to enjoy every step of life.
But they were in a hurry today, so he chose this fast method.
The family of three entered the fitting room.
To be exact, it was Zhang Han’s fitting room.
Since they had moved into the castle, the fitting room had been on the third floor.
There were three fitting rooms in total—belonging to Zi Yan, Zhang Han, and Mengmeng.
Because of Zi Yan’s efforts, every fitting room was full of clothes. Such a large-scale purchase made her happy yet sorry for her lost money.
The effect of such a shopping spree was the rich and colorful fitting rooms, each of which was divided into a coat area, pants area, and a whole wall area of shoes, not to mention the matching mirrors and chairs.
Though Zi Yan already had a lot of clothes, she didn’t mind buying more. At this time, she was wearing a white sweater, dark-red trendy jeans, and a pair of white shoes.
Zhang Han was wearing casual clothes. He would go to the audition later, and Zi Yan would definitely design his appearance herself.
“You’d better go in hip-hop style.”
Zi Yan paced back and forth in Zhang Han’s fitting room.
“Would you like to wear a hoodie? Let’s choose from these white ones. How about this one? As for pants, how about this red one? Dislike it? This one, or that one…”
It seemed to be hard for them to pick out satisfactory clothes in a short time.
Fortunately, Zi Yan was good at matching clothes, and it only took her two minutes to make the final decision.
“Wear this dark blue one, this pair of red and white shoes, this white cap, a belt, and a pair of socks. Well, go and change.”
After the selection, Zi Yan put a whole set of clothes on the sofa.
“Come on, PaPa, change your clothes,” urged Mengmeng, who kept following Zi Yan like a happy bird.
Zhang Han changed into the suit and put on his cap.
“You look nice and fas.h.i.+onable.” Zi Yan looked Zhang Han up and down, and then nodded with satisfaction. “My husband has a standard model build and looks handsome in everything.”
“Yes, PaPa, you look as handsome and fas.h.i.+onable as a model. So good-looking.” As a little fan of her PaPa, Mengmeng looked at Zhang Han adoringly.
“Hahaha…”
Looking at the stylish young man in the mirror, Zhang Han found himself not in his familiar casual or formal style. He looked more like a cool and sparky big boy.
“Oh! You need a pair of sungla.s.ses. Try these.” Zi Yan picked out a black pair from more than 40 pairs of sungla.s.ses after a 10-second selection on the nearby sungla.s.ses shelf.
Zhang Han looked even cooler with the sungla.s.ses. Although his face was half-covered by the cap and sungla.s.ses, the lower half of his face was still attractive.
“OK, let’s go,” Zi Yan said contentedly.
The family of three went downstairs, got in the panda car, and took Mengmeng to school.
At about nine o’clock in the morning, Zhang Han and Zi Yan went back to the company in New Moon Bay, boarded the helicopter at the rear ap.r.o.n, and flew to the shooting site in Shenzhen.
Zhou Fei and Leng Yue also accompanied Zhang Han and Zi Yan to Shenzhen.
Zhao Feng had already arrived in Shenzhen by helicopter and rented a villa near the shooting site for a month, which would be the temporary residence of Zhang Han and Zi Yan during the show.
Because part of the show would be recorded at night, Zi Yan had to go home late after the shooting was finished, and Zhang Han would go back earlier to pick up Mengmeng.
“Among these mentors, Gu Fan, the coldest, was originally a member of an idol group, who has been questioned by many people about his qualification to be a mentor, so he will certainly be stricter on the show. While Zuo Dong is an easy-going rapper, it’s said that mentor Da Hua used to be very strict. The arrangement of the program team is very scientific, for Da Hua, Zuo Dong, Gu Fan, and Sister Yan all have their own advantages, and there won’t be a one-sided situation when the students are grouped.”
After the brief a.n.a.lysis, Zhou Fei couldn’t help laughing. Then she turned to look at Zhang Han and said, “But they didn’t expect that you, brother-in-law, a famous lyricist, would come. If the students knew your ident.i.ty, I’m afraid they would all choose Sister Yan.”
“That’s why I gave him a stage name and dressed him up like this. He won’t be recognized at the beginning of the show.” Zi Yan smiled.
She did not know that she underestimated the imagination of others.
“What’s his stage name?” Zhou Fei asked curiously.
“It is… I won’t tell you now. It will be revealed when the time is right.” Zi Yan covered her mouth and laughed.
Zhang Han shook his head helplessly.
He wanted to laugh actually, because Zi Yan was really not good at naming.
“Come on, Sister Yan. Don’t keep me guessing, or I’ll die from curiosity, you know.” Zhou Fei was not willing to give up.
“OK, I’ll tell you,” Zi Yan pursed her lips and said with a smile, “I’m Cute.”
“What do you mean?” Zhou Fei was confused, “Sister Yang, you are cute?”
“No! His stage name is ‘I’m Cute’!”
“Pfft… Hahahaha…”
Zi Yan successfully amused Zhou Fei, who laughed until tears came.
Zhang Han smiled helplessly for a second time.
One minute later, Zhou Fei stopped laughing and said, “Sister Yan, you’re a genius. What a… a wonderful name! It suits my brother-in-law well.”
“Anyway, he’ll be recognized after two or three rounds of compet.i.tions, and his stage name will be of no use then,” Zi Yan shook her head and said.
Later that day, Zi Yan thought about it carefully, and discussed it with Zhang Han, telling him that if he was unwilling to take part in this show, he didn’t have to go. Because as long as Zhang Han sang several songs, it would be easy for the audience to recognize him as “Hanyang”, and Zi Yan didn’t know if Zhang Han wanted to become the focus of the public.
To be honest, Zi Yan had been looking forward to this show for many days, and she would feel a little disappointed if Zhang Han missed it. To her delight, Zhang Han promised to accompany her without hesitation, which greatly moved her.
The helicopter soon reached the tarmac of the villa, where Zhao Feng was already waiting for them with two prepared cars.
“I’ll test you later. Hmm, come on.”
Zi Yan kissed Zhang Han on the cheek and got in the car.
Leng Yue drove her and Zhou Fei to the program team.
Zhao Feng and Zhang Han drove slowly behind them.
“Master, if the martial arts world knew that you were coming to an entertainment show, all the martial artists would be surprised,” Zhao Feng said with a smile.
“Maybe,” Zhang Han replied.
“Master, out of every man I’ve met, you’re the one who loves his children and wife the most. As my idol, you are an example to me, cough…” Zhao Feng said while looking carefully at Zhang Han’s expression.
Zhang Han was amused and took a glance at Zhao Feng. “Stop fawning over me. Do you have any requests?”
“Hehe, master, your eyes are indeed s.h.i.+ning,” Zhao Feng grinned and said, “Remember the batch of elixirs you gave me last time? 60% of them was given to the security team, 20% was given to the w.a.n.g family, and the remaining 20% was given to the Wolf Head detachment. While I’m going to advance to the Heaven Stage, Instructor Liu, Xu Yong, Elder Meng, and Ah Hu have all advanced to the Earth Stage and are close to the Heaven Stage now. However, we can’t go any further now, for the Big Dark Devil Shadow is too profound for us to understand.”
“It’s because you’re just beginning to take the path of cultivation.” Zhang Han shook his head and said, “Spend more time cultivating every night, and your skill will catch up with your cultivation in two or three months.”
“Oh, I’m relieved to hear that it’s normal.” Zhao Feng sighed in relief.
“Just like studying, cultivating is like sailing against the current; either you keep forging ahead or you keep falling behind. Though the natural rule seems simple, you still have to go a long way to get close to the truth. All these principles need to be understood slowly. Although I have led you to find the direction, you need to rely on yourself to move forward and find your ultimate goal.” Zhang Han nodded.
“I’ll keep it in mind, Master,” Zhao Feng replied seriously.
They soon arrived at the recording site of the show. After getting out, Zhao Feng got a pa.s.s and was ready to be an audience member.
According to Zhang Han’s number plate, he was performer No. 188 today.
There were a thousand people who took part in the audition, so the mentors of each team would enjoy the performances of 330 people.
The advantage of Zuo Dong and Da Hua was that their audition speed was relatively fast, so they could use the rest of their time to communicate with their top-seeded contestants and persuade them to choose their team in the official compet.i.tion.
The recording site was a large factory building, in front of which there was a large square, and the sign of Chinese New Voice had been hung on the gate.
The old factory building, which had been renovated in a few days, now looked very magnificent.
After all, the show was well-funded.
There were a lot of people at the entrance. While Zhao Feng entered through the staff pa.s.sage, Zhang Han began to line up with the other compet.i.tors.
There were many seats around the square, making it more like a football field. 70 to 80 people were standing in the center of the square, who were in the first round of auditions, while the compet.i.tors who got a number for the second round were waiting on the platform around the field.
There were many people here, which made the venue noisy. Some of them seemed to be familiar with each other, and they soon gathered together to discuss the compet.i.tion.
Zhang Han, wearing sungla.s.ses and sitting alone, had attracted many people’s attention.
He was a little confused.
“Do they recognize me? Why are they looking at me?”
Soon after, at 10 o’clock, nearly a thousand people had gathered in the meeting place.
The actual number of people present was not the official 1,000, because there were dozens of people unable to attend for various reasons.
“Welcome to the show of the first season of Chinese New Voice. I’m Cheng Xu, the chief director. First of all, let’s welcome the four-star mentors!”
On the small stage to the right, Cheng Xu finished his opening speech with the microphone, and more than 20 pieces of video recording equipment began to operate.
At the same time, several lenses were aimed at the baffle at the back of Cheng Xu.
The four-star mentors entered the arena one after another.
“Let’s welcome Zuo Dong, the rap star, Da Hua, the famous singer, Gu Fan, the new star, and Zi Yan, the pop diva! Welcome these four-star mentors!”
Cheng Xu spoke in a low voice.
“Woo!”
“Wow!”
“Clatter, clatter!”
As the performers entered, the whole venue seemed to be lit up.
Screams, shouts, and exclamations were all over the place.
Zhang Han even heard a lot of girls’ screams.
“Wow, Gu Fan is so handsome! He is the best-looking man!”
But Zhang Han heard more of the men’s exclamations.
“Oh, Zi Yan is pretty. She looks more beautiful than in the pictures.”
“She is a real G.o.ddess.”
“Oh, I fell in love with her!”
“…”
“Cough!
“Stop!
“She is my wife!”
Zhang Han pushed his gla.s.ses up with his fingers.
Turning to look at Zi Yan, he smiled slightly yet happily.
Zi Yan’s dress was very fas.h.i.+onable today. She curled up her hair, leaving only a few strands of hair scattered on her forehead, showing a messy beauty. Her long neck and beautiful face were really eye-catching.
“Next, let’s start the second round of auditions directly. The four mentors will a.s.sess the performers in the square and present the golden chain to the winners, which is the same as the chain I’m holding now.”
Cheng Xu announced as he held up the chain, which looked like a necklace pendant and was engraved with the Chinese characters for “Chinese New Voice”.
“I want to emphasize that there are only a hundred golden chains! That is to say, only 100 of the nearly 1,000 people present can advance to the next level of compet.i.tion. While Gu Fan and Zi Yan both have 33 golden chains in their hands, Zuo Dong and Da Hua have 34 respectively. Well, the second round of auditions begins!”
With the voice of Cheng Xu, the discussion in the venue gradually stopped.
Everyone realized that today’s audition would be very difficult, because only one out of 10 people could get through.
So the four mentors began to a.s.sess the performers.
The performers sang, rapped, or danced while singing to show their talents as much as possible.
But there were still very few people who could pa.s.s the examination.
Gu Fan kept calm all the time and listened carefully to the contestants’ singing.
Suddenly, as he began to examine a man, he heard some shrieks from the audience.
“Fen Zheng is sure to pa.s.s the a.s.sessment and advance to the next round.”
“Yes, his last single had 30 million hits a year. He’s very popular.”
“He is a strong singer, and I think he will be one of the candidates for the champions.h.i.+p.”
“…”
Many contestants began to talk about it, which was recorded clearly by the camera.
But the truth was more interesting.
Facing Gu Fan, Fen Zheng couldn’t help swallowing nervously.
He felt nervous.
So nervous.
Therefore, when he started singing, he went out of tune.
Gu Fan frowned, shook his head slightly, and went to the next contestant.
“Sorry, I’m so nervous. May I have another chance?” Fen Zheng’s face was pale.
His mistakes caused many sighs and discussions.
“It would be unfair to the others if I gave you another chance. Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared.” Gu Fan stopped and said calmly, “Obviously, you are not prepared for it.”
Then he went forward, leaving Fen Zheng in regret.
The rest of the contestants were shocked and became more nervous.
“Gu Fan is really strict.”
“As long as I make a mistake, I will never have another chance. I’ll try my best later. Perhaps I should close my eyes while singing!”
“But we can’t help feeling nervous when getting so close to them, who are often seen on TV. It’s so stressful!”
If they made mistakes, they would be eliminated like Fen Zheng.
In the first round of selections, there were a lot of performers who were expected to advance to the next stage, but they were so nervous that they made mistakes frequently in their performance and were eliminated.
After all, some people were only suitable for singing in the studio, not for live performance.
About an hour later…
At the end of the first round of selections, the results of the contestants were not satisfactory.
Zi Yan sent out three golden chains, Zuo Dong and Da Hua sent out five in total, and Gu Fan sent only one.
“Now, let’s welcome the second group of performers, from No. 90 to No. 190.”
Hearing the host’s words, Zhang Han stood up and went to the center of the venue.
As he walked, he again attracted many audience member’s attention.
At the beginning of the a.s.sessment, Zi Yan specially chose the direction of Zhang Han’s side to a.s.sess from the edge.
She soon approached Zhang Han.
All of a sudden, Zhang Han heard a faint voice.
“h.e.l.lo, handsome boy. You seem to be rich, aren’t you?”
Zhang Han turned around and found a 1.6-meter-tall girl with a round face, who was a little nervous.
Zhang Han was surprised to see her.
He knew the girl, Tong Jiajia, who had become a famous singer in the world of his previous life.
“Why did you say that?” Zhang Han replied casually.
“Well, all your clothes are expensive. OFF-WHITE top, AJ1 THE10 limited shoes, Dior sungla.s.ses and pants, Gucci cap… The total price of your clothes is at least over 100,000 yuan. Even the mentors’ clothes are not as expensive as yours,” Tong Jiajia said shyly.
“Huh? I see.” Zhang Han was surprised and then smiled.
“Are you nervous?” Looking at Zi Yan, who was approaching them, Tong Jiajia gulped anxiously and then comforted Zhang Han. “Don’t worry, just try your best when it’s your turn. I found that as long as you can perform normally, you are likely to pa.s.s the examination.”
“Haha…”
Zhang Han took a glance at the girl and couldn’t help laughing. Obviously, the girl was more nervous, and she was actually comforting herself with what she had told Zhang Han.
Thinking for a while, Zhang Han said, “Your voice is very good, and I’m sure you can show your real strength.”
“Really?” Tong Jiajia’s eyes lit up.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, I feel better now after hearing your words. May you have good luck, too. You are handsome, and I heard that a good appearance will win you more favor from the mentors.” As an outgoing girl, Tong Jiajia approached Zhang Han and compared her height with his.
“By the way, you are taller than 1.8 meters, right? A tall handsome boy will get even more favor.”
Zhang Han smiled and nodded at the girl.
When he turned around, he found Zi Yan glaring at him with anger in her eyes.
“It seems that she is going to kill me.
“All right.
“A handsome boy will gain more favor.
“But I’m afraid I’m dead now, young sister.”