As soon as the performance order was announced, Quentin instantly became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Xue Mingzhu, sitting next to him, wasn’t faring much better, but he didn’t care about the stares. Instead, he frowned and looked at Quentin with hesitation: “You… are you okay?”
After speaking, he added in a low voice: “It’s okay even if you drop to Class F. Next time we form teams, I’ll definitely invite you. Just relax, don’t be nervous…”
Xue Mingzhu’s voice trailed off as he made eye contact with Quentin. He couldn’t detect any nervousness or anxiety in those green eyes; it seemed Quentin was even more carefree than he was.
‘This guy! …Tch, I worried for nothing.’ This person clearly didn’t look like someone who would get nervous.
“Quentin…..Go for it!”
An unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out. It was slightly loud, standing out amidst the whispers and discussions of others.
A boy wearing thin-rimmed glasses stood up from the center of the Class A seating area, smiling and waving at Quentin: “I believe in you!”
Xue Mingzhu looked back and forth between the two with a baffled expression. ‘What the hell? What’s this guy’s name again? Does Quentin know a trainee from BKL?’
By now, Quentin had already stood up and walked out of the seating area, stepping down two levels of the steps. But upon hearing Zhong Qu call his name, he still turned back.
The boy standing in the crowd wore a smile full of encouragement, his eyes bright, seemingly wholeheartedly concerned for his friend. No one could tell he had only exchanged two sentences with Quentin.
…But, this was just an initial stage performance, not a battlefield, so it wasn’t necessary.
Quentin raised his left hand and made a downward-pressing gesture.
His fingers were well-proportioned and slender, and they were inexplicably eye-catching when they stopped in mid air. His slender wrist bones emerged from his sleeves, white and glowing.
Although he didn’t say a single word and his expression was indifferent, he gave a sense of calm and ease of “small scene, no need”.
It was just very cool.
Not the coolness of a B-king, but a naturally exuded fearless kind of handsome.
**“B-king” is for “the king of pretending to be cool,” someone who deliberately shows off or acts aloof. The “B” is from “装逼” (zhuāngbī), meaning to act pretentiously.
The group of trainees were all captivated by his action of turning back and raising his hand. Whistles and cheers of “woww” rose and fell, mixed with exclamations like “fuck”, “does he have to be so good at posing?”, “So cool”.
“Ah!” The system: “Host! The No. 1 progress bar increased again! This time by 1.2%!”
If Zhong Qu’s petty schemes weren’t so obvious in Quentin’s eyes, he might have really believed the other party was Main Character No. 1.
Just any interaction could make the progress bar shoot up. Even the real main character probably didn’t get this kind of treatment.
Quentin didn’t answer the system. Instead, he strode down the steps decisively, took the microphone from a staff member, and without pause, stepped onto the center of the stage.
The four mentors had not missed the scene of everyone cheering just now. Chen Shiyu and Lin Qifeng’s expressions were still relatively normal, but Yang Xu and Vinki were having a hard time holding back their laughter.
Compared to the other two mentors, these two idol seniors who came from boy groups had much more lively personalities. In just a few seconds, they had exchanged several rounds of communication with their eyes.
Vinki was the first to pick up his microphone: “Well then, Quentin, please briefly introduce yourself first.”
The boy on stage politely nodded towards the judges’ table: “Hello, teachers. I am Quentin. The piece I am bringing today is my original song, ‘La liberté.'”
A string of strange pronunciations suddenly came from his mouth. The trainees hadn’t reacted yet, but two mentors simultaneously raised their microphones.
Vinki looked at Chen Shiyu, who had also raised her microphone on the other side, and quickly said: “Teacher Chen, you go first.”
Chen Shiyu smiled, looked up and made eye contact with Quentin, sighing lightly with emotion: “Ah…Quentin, your voice….has anyone ever told you your voice is very special?”
Quentin nodded: “Yes, some have.”
“It’s really very special. It’s particularly pleasant to listen to, and especially distinctive.” Chen Shiyu emphasized, “This kind of distinctiveness is even rarer than simply sounding good. Teacher Lin, you understand what I mean, right?”
Lin Qifeng smiled helplessly: “I understand, I understand.”
Everyone in the music industry knew that if you wanted to seek a collaboration or song from Lin Qifeng, the most essential thing was a good voice that could pique his interest and creative desire.
Otherwise, no matter how famous the singer, how powerful their backing company, or how high the price offered by their studio, they would only be met with a closed door from the willful and eccentric Teacher Lin, who relied on his talent.
This top original musician who pioneered domestic R&B was an incurable voice-con. He possessed extremely sharp and picky ears. Many renowned singers had been turned away by him, and Chen Shiyu herself almost became one of the countless politely rejected ones in her early years.
Chen Shiyu looked at Quentin with great interest: “We four mentors specifically discussed you earlier because the personal resume you registered with the program team was very empty, containing nothing except your date of birth and educational background. Are you studying vocal music, or dance, or are you a rapper? We know nothing.”
“Now, could you enlighten us?”
Quentin never intended to hide anything. He directly applied his experiences from his previous life, telling the truth: “I started coming into contact with vocal music over ten years ago, and learned intermittently from professional teachers during that time… I started learning dance systematically about four years ago, mainly hip-hop with a teacher for about half a year. I usually practice by myself at dance studios, and if needed, I occasionally take lessons with teachers.”
“As for rap, I haven’t studied it specifically. I generally practice on my own, but I occasionally exchange experiences with some seniors.”
After he finished speaking, not only the trainees, but the expressions of the four mentors showed some surprise.
Those present with slightly more well-informed news knew Quentin was the 101st trainee who joined the program on short notice. With the title of “mixed-race divine beauty” placed here, almost everyone assumed he was a pure amateur who entered the survival show based on his looks, a vase who knew nothing about singing, dancing, or rap.
Now he suddenly said he had been learning vocal music for over ten years, dance for four years, and had even exchanged and learned from veteran rappers?!
Could it be… .that he’s not a vase?
Everyone thought in unison.
Chen Shiyu nodded in approval: “Hmm, then your foundation should be quite solid. I look forward to your performance. Teacher Vinki, what did you want to ask earlier?”
“Ahem.” Vinki cleared his throat, “Quentin, I saw in your profile that you are of Chinese and American descent, but the song you’re performing today is an original French song. Learning French is one thing; writing a song in French is another. Why did you choose a French song as your initial stage performance piece?”
In his previous life, Quentin had answered questions about the creative ideas behind “La liberté” in many interview programs. But in this world, he didn’t plan to share the details with others.
Because the people and things related to this song were no longer here. Although, for those people, the one who was no longer here was probably Quentin himself.
He looked at the young man wearing a backwards baseball cap not far away, curved his eyes into a slight smile, and said: “Because, this song is very meaningful to me?”
Vinki: “……Alright, I can see that… you… just go ahead and prepare your performance!”
He watched out of the corner of his eye as Quentin took the standing microphone stand from a staff member, turned his head and whispered to Yang Xu: “This kid looks like two different people when he smiles and when he doesn’t. What do you think his skills are like? It would be such a pity if he couldn’t debut.”
This kind of person was born to debut as an idol!
Yang Xu was a boy group leader for many years. After terminating his contract, he immediately established his own company and became a boss. He was the only former BKL signed artist who fought his way out of a barrage of black material and counter-attacked his former company.
Unlike Vinki, he was very accurate in judging people and particularly sensitive to other peoples’ auras. The first time he saw Quentin walk onto the stage, he felt that the boy was very unusual.
Sometimes, just standing still and silent could reveal a lot of information about a person.
For example, Liao Fei, an introverted and well-behaved kid. Facing such a pure and innocent kid, the four mentors couldn’t bring themselves to speak harshly.
Another example was Quentin before him…he was too steady, steady to the point that he was completely unlike a 17-year-old trainee. Instead, it gave Yang Xu a sense of meeting a popular star.
Just like netizens like to say, “success nourishes a person”. Extremely popular stars carried a natural aura of confidence, magnanimity, ambition, and fearlessness.
In Yang Xu’s eyes, Quentin possessed such qualities, and he was even more composed and self-assured than most overnight stars.
Not overly joyful due to external gains, not overly sad due to losses…this kind of aura was something Yang Xu had only seen on those A-line stars who had remained popular for over a decade.
He shook his head at Vinki and answered in a low voice: “Let’s wait and see. This young man is probably not simple.”
The initial stage performance rating on “Next Stage” had no lighting effects, but the trainees could use some necessary props.
Things like Liao Fei’s guitar, and the standing microphone stand Quentin requested, were within the allowed range.
Quentin stood in front of the standing microphone, casually resting his left hand on the mic, turned his head and nodded towards the director’s team, indicating he was ready.
The venue quieted down.
A tinkling piano sound came from afar, like a strand of wind from the wilderness, carrying the lightness and cold of drifting snow, echoing within the silent studio.
The melodious, languid prelude grasped the hearts of everyone present within 5 seconds.
Immediately afterwards, a slightly hoarse, textured low hum traveled along the metal of the microphone, spreading to every corner.
“…”
He hadn’t even sung a single lyric yet, but he already made people feel the charm of an ultimate vocal tone, like velvet teasing the ears strand by strand, making them tingle.
The 17-year-old boy had already passed his voice change. Quentin’s voice was a standard young adult’s voice. When humming, he intentionally retained the breathy sound, like gravel wrapped in velvet, possessing a natural sense of storytelling and narrative quality.
As soon as he opened his mouth, the listeners’ ears could no longer accommodate any other sound.
When the unfamiliar, hard-to-pronounce language smoothly integrated into the music along with the interwoven cymbal and drum sounds, the vast and lonely snowfield seemed to suddenly become warm.
This warmth wasn’t the red dawn breaking and ice melting, but a crackling bonfire, burning strongly and vigorously against the cool wind, gradually breaking through the surging cold current amidst the sound of crackling wood.
The rising flames and black smoke blurred people’s vision, but it also made other senses more sensitive and heightened.
Quentin’s enunciation was very captivating, each syllable held between his lips and teeth, turned over and then spit out.
The emotional infectiousness of his singing was too strong. Even if one couldn’t understand the lyrics, it didn’t hinder the transmission of emotion at all. Instead, it made people experience the allure of the music more immersively.
This vast and tranquil emotion gradually progressed along with the verse and chorus, and the arrangement also began to incorporate increasingly rich instruments and sampled natural sounds.
After the avalanche, the world returned to tranquility. A lonely person sat by the fire, breathing lightly and heavily, gazing at the boundless snowfield and rolling mountains. Countless creatures of nature circled overhead, and humans became a part of this nature.
As the chorus ended, a silky saxophone smoothly slid in, and the interlude cascaded down like flowing water from a cliff, transforming into a gushing waterfall.
The boy standing in front of the microphone stand released the mic, took a step back, deftly unbuttoned his suit with his fingers, smoothed his tie, and followed the accompaniment by tilting his head back and twisting his neck.
Two slender, beautiful hands slid down from the suit lapels to his waist, then moved behind him…
A peregrine falcon dove down from the cliff, the sound of its wings smooth as it broke through the rushing water, its feathers drawing clear water lines in mid-air.
“Fuck…”
Someone unconsciously widened their eyes, whispering softly with a breathy voice: “Such an amazing arrangement, such amazing choreography.”
“Oh my God… forget about the singing, how does he even dance so well?”
“Dad, I’m impressed. This is a complete dimensionality reduction attack. Is he here for the survival show? Did he come to the wrong place……”
“Just now, I didn’t dare to speak when he was singing. Look at my arms, and my neck, they’re covered in goosebumps……”
Yang Xu stared unblinkingly, his shoulders and neck unconsciously moving to the rhythm of the interlude, his brain already subconsciously memorizing Quentin’s dance moves.
The boy on stage had an impeccable waist and long legs, and the lightweight silk shirt outlined his lean body curves.
His arm span was long enough; every limb extension, freeze frame, and even the timing of his fingertip movements were a visual feast.
The hem of his suit jacket fluttered, and the swaying of his tie hit the drum beats.
The choreography closely followed the emotion of the interlude, like a river breaking free from frozen ice, also like a new sprout breaking through the soil.
The double-layered roses on his shirt seemed to struggle out from thorns, blooming brilliantly on the boy’s chest.
‘……This must be the work of a world-class choreography master.’ Yang Xu thought.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!…. look at his eyes, quick!”
A trainee excitedly patted his companion’s shoulder: “That look, mom!”
What kind of look was it?
As cold, stern, and fierce as a beast’s, but when he lifted his eyes, his distinct eyelashes trembled, an intense, aggressive green seeping from his pupils.
He stared straight at you, yet didn’t approach, like a cunning black panther perched on a tree, its tail swinging back and forth.
‘…..Is he seducing me?’
Such a question would arise in the heart of every viewer facing a close-up shot.
Ahhh, come seduce me Quentin!!
( ˶ ❛ ꁞ ❛ ˶ )
