Chapter 51: Rehearsal and Preparations for Interviews

Fang Xing acted bravely and caught a thief, but in the process, he accidentally damaged a girl’s violin. Moreover, that violin was rather expensive. Even after he returned to the training camp, Fang Xing dreamt about the violin that night, and the image of the girl with tears in her eyes lingered in his mind.

Although the girl hadn’t asked for compensation, seeing her weep like that, Fang Xing suspected that the violin must have meant a lot to her. And the price of such an instrument wasn’t trivial, even for a well-off family. Violins are like that—anything under a thousand yuan is basically a toy. Those costing one or two thousand can only just produce a sound. Students majoring in orchestral music who truly want to practice properly need at least a handmade violin, and even an entry-level handmade instrument can easily cost over ten thousand. Beyond that, tens or even hundreds of thousands are not unusual, and there’s really no upper limit.

The next day was Friday. The production crew began rehearsals for the third performance. Fang Xing had no choice but to set aside last night’s events and focus on the rehearsal, planning to wait until after this round of performances ended before asking around about which class the girl was in to see if he could help her. She had come out of the east gate of the conservatory, so she was probably a student there, and since she carried a violin, she was likely in the orchestral department. Rehearsal time was tight, so he had no choice but to put the matter aside for now.

It was Friday, and at eight o’clock that evening, the fifth episode of “Tomorrow’s Star” would be released. The content of the fifth episode focused on group selection and song choice. Although there was no performance stage in this episode, it was still a hot topic, because Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen—two popular contestants—had teamed up, and all five members of Chaoyin Culture appeared together. That alone was enough to send fans into a frenzy. The mere fact that Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen were working together was enough to excite both fanbases to the core.

So, as soon as the fifth episode aired, the topic “Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen Team Up” shot to the top of the trending list. However, this topic was only of interest to fans—casual viewers and the general audience weren’t particularly interested. Who cared about two guys teaming up, after all? But the next segment, where contestants chose their songs, was something ordinary viewers did care about.

Both Fang Xing and Wu Junchen chose to “customize” their performances, putting them in direct competition. Since they had been on the same team during the first performance, and had even had some disagreements during rehearsals, their rivalry was well known. During the second round of song selection, Fang Xing had even snatched Shao Yu from Wu Junchen’s team, intensifying the competition. But all of this was just surface-level drama for the viewers and fans; the real conflict was the strategic battle between Chaoyin Culture and Fang Xing.

At the same time this episode aired, Chaoyin Culture released a teaser for their new single: Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen’s new song would debut on the stage of the third performance. With this announcement, their fans grew even more frenzied, promoting their idols everywhere. Their comments began to flood other variety shows, dramas, and even anime, with messages like: “Junchen, forever a legend!” and “Yichen, love you the most!” These fan comments annoyed many ordinary viewers—no one wants to see unrelated spam while watching a show.

When it came to managing their fanbase, Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen’s management was extremely strict. Fan group administrators required all fans to use the same idol photo as their Weibo avatar and organized efforts to control public opinion on all major platforms. With Fang Xing and Wu Junchen now rivals in the third round, many fans dug up their past conflicts and started to disparage Fang Xing. After the comments were filtered, most became: “Fang Xing is overestimating himself, daring to challenge Junchen,” or, “Fang Xing is doomed to lose; our idol’s new single is produced by a top Korean team—it’s bound to be amazing,” and, “There’s no way our idol will lose after working so hard.” If ordinary viewers tried to defend Fang Xing, their comments would be mass-reported by fans. Only a few neutral remarks could survive, usually focusing on the show itself: “This round’s theme is ‘Youth’—what song will they sing? I’m curious.” Under such comments, fans would immediately start promoting: “Junchen and Yichen’s new single will debut at the third performance—please look forward to it!” and, “You can’t hear the new single yet, but Junchen’s previous song ‘Don’t Bow Your Head’ is excellent.” Still, plenty of trolls slipped in: “That’s right, he’s just a singer who doesn’t even understand music—how could he win?” and, “Trash him! Trash him! Trash him forever!”

Fans could report comments from ordinary users, but when music critics or influencers posted on Weibo, there was nothing fans could do except send private insults. Many respected music critics weighed in on the song selections for the third performance.

Ni Hongdan wrote: “With all five members of Chaoyin united, this is Fang Xing’s greatest challenge yet; plus, with a new single produced by a top Korean team, the third performance will be a must-see, and the outcome is impossible to predict. Still, if Fang Xing’s song matches the quality of ‘Nocturne’ or ‘Lovers Under Heaven,’ he stands a chance.”

The renowned Weibo music critic Jefferson commented: “I had the privilege of seeing the rehearsal for the new single by the Chaoyin Five; the production team is formidable, and the new single is truly world-class.” Under Jefferson’s post, fans rushed to thank him and shared his message: “Even the famously sharp-tongued Jefferson says Junchen’s new single is top-tier—now you know just how powerful the Chaoyin Five are together!”

With all this heated debate online, Fang Xing remained unbothered, calmly practicing and rehearsing his music. After Friday’s rehearsal, the entire team of five was called into the interview room by the director for a pre-performance interview.

The director asked, “The third performance is just around the corner. Are you nervous?” Guo Keda replied, “Of course! The song for the performance has long stretches of high notes. I feel like the team leader is deliberately making things hard for me.” The director continued, “Are you confident about the third performance? Your opponents are very strong this time. According to the rules, if you lose, three members will be eliminated. If you lose again in the PK round, you’ll lose another member. If you lose both rounds, there might only be one of you left.” Guo Keda slapped his thigh and said, “Isn’t that just what you want? The production team must have been annoyed by something the team leader said and set up these rules to get rid of us. Right?” The director replied, “Not at all! Those are just the rules. Besides, if you win both rounds, you’ll all make it to the fourth stage.”

Since Guo Keda was such a chatterbox and kept answering every question, the director quickly turned to the others. “Fang Xing, I heard from the chief director that you considered quitting the show. Is that true?” When Chaoyin Culture threatened him with elimination to force a contract, Fang Xing had indeed considered withdrawing. He saw no reason to avoid the question and answered frankly, “Yes. If the competition loses its fairness, or if sponsors interfere with the show, I would choose to quit.” The director asked, “So why did you stay? Did the chief director persuade you?” Fang Xing replied, “Sort of. The chief director told me that quitting would be a breach of contract and said I couldn’t afford the penalty fee. I laughed—he thought I couldn’t afford it? So I picked up my phone and checked my bank account… Well, turns out I really couldn’t afford it, so I had no choice but to stay.”

Everyone present—the director, cameraman, and staff—struggled to stifle their laughter. Even Shao Yu and Lu Ming covered their mouths to keep from laughing. Looking at this group of people trying so hard not to laugh, Fang Xing said, “Are your standards for humor really that low? I was just telling a stand-up joke.” The director composed himself and turned to the rest of the team, “If your team leader quit, what would you do?” Guo Keda slapped his thigh again, “What else? Either quit or get eliminated! What other options are there?” Lu Ming thought for a moment and said, “Without our leader, I doubt I’d make it to the finals.”

The director asked one last question: “Fang Xing, are you confident you can defeat your opponents in the third performance?” “Of course,” Fang Xing replied. “But the PK round will be judged by professionals. What if they don’t vote for you?” the director pressed. Fang Xing smiled, “Once I sing this PK song, anyone brave enough not to vote for me is a true hero.”

At that answer, the director felt a sense of foreboding. The last time Fang Xing had used the word “hero,” it had inspired a nationwide cover of “The Song That’s Hard to Sing.” In this world, there’s a shortage of everything—except heroes.