Xu Baichuan’s right eyelid twitched several times today. They say “left eye twitch means wealth, right eye twitch means disaster,” and a twitching right eye is not a good sign.
But it may not apply to FTM; maybe he himself will encounter some trouble? Besides, this kind of folk superstition has no theoretical basis and could be due to a bad night’s sleep.
Xu Baichuan rubbed his temples, ignoring the unease in his heart.
After dinner with the five, he had them rinse their mouths, touch up their makeup, and then return backstage through the staff passage.
Three other stars shared the same dressing room with FTM. They didn’t know each other, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Chen Mian, who was resting, caught Fang Yinnian’s gaze and greeted him with a dry smile: “Hi, you’re back.”
Although Chen Mian wasn’t very popular, he was still a senior in the industry.
Fang Yinnian took the initiative to walk over and chat: “Brother Mian, I happened to follow the season of ‘Soul Singer’ you participated in.”
Chen Mian was flattered: “Really?”
Fang Yinnian said: “Yes, I really like your voice and even voted for you in the competition.”
Chen Mian scratched his head shyly: “Haha, that was five years ago. Not many people remember now.”
Five years ago was the first season of “Soul Singer,” a hugely popular music variety show and the most popular season ever. Besides Chen Mian, there was another contestant—now top star Tao Yizhou.
At that time, Fang Yinnian was still in junior high, and the first thing he did every weekend after going home was to watch “Soul Singer” live on Nanxing Satellite TV.
Chen Mian was one of his favorite contestants, with a unique smoky voice and sincere emotional expression when singing.
Unfortunately, in the top 7 to 4 competition, he was drawn to compete against Tao Yizhou and was defeated.
Tao Yizhou already had a large fan base then.
Tao Yizhou’s marketing team was very powerful—of course, Fang Yinnian didn’t understand entertainment marketing tactics in junior high and simply thought Tao Yizhou won because he sang better.
Now it seems Tao Yizhou’s championship was backed by a strong team, while Chen Mian, an independent without a marketing company, naturally became a scapegoat.
Now that Fang Yinnian himself has entered the entertainment industry, he sees many things clearly. This industry isn’t really fair.
To succeed, you either need a powerful marketing team or strong personal ability.
Besides singing skills, a key factor for singers is songwriting.
Without songwriting ability, relying on others to write songs and not finding good producers, it’s hard to present good works.
For example, Chen Mian, who got fifth place, had good singing and tone but lacked good resources and only released one song.
He is a typical singer whose follow-up works couldn’t keep up and gradually faded away. Now when people talk about “Soul Singer,” they only remember Tao Yizhou, and few remember the fifth place.
But when they competed, their abilities were comparable, yet their subsequent development was vastly different.
FTM is relatively lucky, with manager Xu Baichuan’s connections and Teacher Yu Ziluo tailoring songs for them.
But what if one day Teacher Yu doesn’t have the energy to write songs for them?
Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself. Fang Yinnian has always believed this. He can’t always depend on his master.
He has been learning songwriting recently.
He must write songs himself. Only by improving his own ability can he go further in the future.
Everyone in the dressing room is quite unknown and unpretentious, and they quickly became familiar. Fang Yinnian and Chen Mian even added each other as friends.
The dressing room was harmonious.
Xu Baichuan had something to do and left, saying he would be back at 10. Fang Yinnian guessed the manager might be negotiating.
At 7:30 PM, the New Year’s Eve gala live broadcast officially began.
Each dressing room backstage had a screen to watch the live broadcast in real time. Everyone sat down to watch the gala.
The opening program was very festive, with many people singing a song together, quickly bringing the lively New Year’s atmosphere.
The program proceeded in an orderly manner.
Around 9 PM, Tan Junwen suddenly said, “I want to go to the bathroom. Anyone else?”
The backstage passages were complicated, and Tan Junwen would definitely get lost if he went alone. Fang Yinnian stood up and said, “I’ll go too.”
There were many stars tonight, and there were dozens of dressing rooms. Their dressing room was marked as area B.
The two walked about ten meters following the bathroom signs.
After turning a corner, Fang Yinnian saw a door on the right labeled “Sonic dressing room,” and further ahead was “Tao Yizhou dressing room.”
This gala gave Fang Yinnian a lot of insight—those with lower status had to share dressing rooms at big events.
Those with higher status, like top star Tao Yizhou, had dressing rooms twice as large, with their own changing rooms, and could even bring makeup artists and stylists.
They, as unknowns, had to share changing rooms with locks, separated by gender.
The entertainment industry has always been like this—everything is based on status, and you have to follow the rules.
The two entered the bathroom.
Fang Yinnian saw a boy washing his hands at the sink. He had very fair skin, a cold expression, and wore a red and gold performance outfit.
The boy had red accents on his eyeshadow matching his outfit, a row of diamonds on his ear cartilage, neatly combed hair, exquisite styling, and makeup that was quite aggressively glamorous.
Fang Yinnian didn’t recognize him but felt he looked familiar.
He walked past him into the bathroom and suddenly heard a cold voice behind him: “What a coincidence, Fang Yinnian.”
Fang Yinnian stopped.
The boy smiled and turned to look at him, his gaze unabashedly scanning him up and down.
Fang Yinnian felt uncomfortable being looked at and politely asked, “Who are you?”
The boy smiled and extended his hand: “Hello, I’m Qu Yan.”
Fang Yinnian: “…”
It was actually Qu Yan, the C-position of Sonic boy band. He had seen this person’s photos online before, so no wonder he looked familiar.
Up close, Qu Yan’s face was even more exquisite than in photos.
He had a unique temperament. When he smiled, he looked gentle and harmless, but when his expression was cold, he had a strange aggressiveness, like a beast quietly lurking in the dark, ready to tear someone apart.
No wonder he was the face of Sonic boy band, a popular idol with millions of fans. His looks were indeed impressive.
He took the initiative to extend his hand, and Fang Yinnian, out of politeness, shook it—the temperature from his fingertips was icy cold, possibly because he had just washed his hands with cold water.
Fang Yinnian quietly withdrew his hand.
At that moment, another boy came out from inside. He had wine-red dyed hair, a prominent wing-shaped tattoo on his shoulder, red eyeshadow extending to his temples, and somewhat exaggerated makeup.
He met Fang Yinnian’s gaze and teasingly raised his eyebrows: “Yo, isn’t this the legendary Fang Yinnian?”
Legendary? Was he famous?
Fang Yinnian politely nodded: “Hello.”
The boy said with a half-smile: “Your Magic Cube CP has been really popular lately, always topping the charts. You and Mo Xun are really good at marketing. You’ve become an industry model, and even our managers are learning from you.”
Saying this to his face was actually quite rude.
Fang Yinnian also heard the sarcasm in his words, which translated to: Your little unknown group is shamelessly hyping your CP.
Fang Yinnian finally recognized who was in front of him—Jin Yiyang, the leader of Sonic boy band, who was also paired with Qu Yan for CP marketing.
His manager had mentioned this before, saying that stimulated by Magic Cube CP’s chart-topping, other boy bands had been hyping CPs more and more aggressively.
Fang Yinnian was too busy practicing dance to pay attention to these things.
Sonic was also at Yuntu Satellite TV for the New Year’s Eve gala, and he didn’t expect to meet them backstage.
He didn’t expect the other party to openly mock them.
Maybe Jin Yiyang thought FTM was just a small unknown group, and since private conversations wouldn’t be leaked online, it was okay to mock them.
Fang Yinnian was displeased but remained polite, smiling with curved eyes: “Thank you for the compliment. Mo Xun and I are also learning how to market ourselves and will continue to work hard.”
Jin Yiyang: “…”
Tan Junwen almost laughed out loud.
Fang Yinnian deftly deflected the mockery, which fell flat, and Jin Yiyang indeed walked away with a sour face.
Qu Yan, standing at the sink, chuckled and looked at Fang Yinnian: “Are you all singing live tonight?”
Fang Yinnian: “Yes.”
Qu Yan said meaningfully: “That’s quite brave. Good luck.”
He turned and left the bathroom.
Fang Yinnian looked at his back, feeling that his gaze and temperature were like an animal—cold as a snake?
Whether staring or shaking hands, it made people uncomfortable.
Fang Yinnian didn’t think much of it and followed Tan Junwen back to the dressing room.
Tan Junwen whispered to Mo Xun: “Mo Xun, guess who we just met in the bathroom?”
Mo Xun asked curiously: “Who?”
Tan Junwen lowered his voice mysteriously: “Qu Yan, the most popular ACE and face of Sonic boy band, and their leader Jin Yiyang.”
Mo Xun understood: “Oh, their group is also at Yuntu Satellite TV’s New Year’s Eve gala. It’s normal to run into them… Nothing happened, right?”
Tan Junwen continued: “Jin Yiyang mocked Yinnian, saying Magic Cube CP is really popular and you two are really good at marketing.”
Mo Xun frowned in displeasure: “He said that to your face?”
Tan Junwen: “Yes, and Yinnian said he’ll keep working hard.”
Mo Xun: “…”
He was initially worried that Yinnian had been bullied and was about to get angry, but this response made Mo Xun laugh out loud.
That’s Fang Yinnian for you. Not wanting to suffer losses but also not wanting direct confrontation, he easily deflected with Tai Chi, leaving others with no way to handle him.
Emotionally stable and very smart response.
Mo Xun walked over to Fang Yinnian and whispered, “That Jin Yiyang’s sarcasm toward you shows he really cares about CP popularity, right?”
Fang Yinnian nodded and leaned close to Mo Xun’s ear to whisper his complaint: “If he hadn’t mentioned CP, I would have remembered that Sonic also has a CP pair. With his makeup looking like that, I almost didn’t recognize him.”
Mo Xun: “…”
If Jin Yiyang heard this, he’d probably be furious.
The CP popularity he cares most about is exactly what Yinnian cares least about.
***
At 21:30, Sonic’s performance officially began.
Sonic was a survival show limited group. The survival show process involved intense competition and cruel elimination, so those who remained had real skills. After forming the group, they had also practiced together for a while, dancing very synchronously.
As for their singing…
Well, it was lip-syncing, but it sounded pretty good.
Their performance this time was called “Vermillion Bird Fire,” a Chinese-style electronic song. All members wore gorgeous red-based outfits with gold accents, and their makeup and tattoos matched the song’s theme.
During the song’s interlude, Qu Yan and Jin Yiyang performed a duet dance.
Jin Yiyang wrapped his arms around Qu Yan’s waist. Qu Yan was very flexible, being half-carried as they spun and jumped, bending backward effortlessly. The two coordinated well, occasionally pressing their bodies together and gazing deeply at each other.
The song was well-written with a strong Chinese style.
But Fang Yinnian didn’t know how to evaluate Sonic’s interpretation.
Whether it was the exaggerated makeup or the design of two people dancing pressed together like acrobatics, it overshadowed the main focus—what should have been passionate Chinese-style music became a greasy cake for selling CP marketing.
It reminded Fang Yinnian of those seductive men dancing on poles in bars.
Wasn’t this a bit much? CP fans might love it, but casual viewers would just think it was a bunch of demons dancing wildly.
As a limited group destined to disband in two years, Sonic had few people invested in group spirit. The light sticks fans brought were for individual support.
Qu Yan’s support color was dark purple, Jin Yiyang’s was bright gold, and the audience showed many purple and gold light sticks.
These two were very popular with many CP fans, but their solo fans often fought fiercely, thinking the other wasn’t worthy.
The song quickly ended. During the ending pose, Jin Yiyang directly lifted Qu Yan and had him stand on his legs, while Qu Yan put one hand around Jin Yiyang’s neck and stretched the other wide…
Deafening screams came from the venue.
Fu Fei and Tan Junwen were stunned, Tang Che had a “subway grandpa looking at phone.jpg” expression, and Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun both fell silent.
Imagining himself and Mo Xun doing this move, Fang Yinnian would get goosebumps all over.
Has CP marketing become this intense now?
Fang Yinnian looked at Mo Xun and whispered, “They’re really good at it.”
Mo Xun shook his head: “We can’t learn that.”
The two smiled at each other and quickly dismissed the matter.
Having them press their bodies together in passionate dance—they’d probably break character laughing countless times… better forget it.
At 21:30, Tao Yizhou appeared amid deafening screams.
From the live broadcast screen, Tao Yizhou’s starship entrance effect was indeed very cool. The entire venue’s lights dimmed, with only the floating starship hovering above the stadium.
He sang emotionally to the camera, with breathing and gasping sounds quite obvious in the microphone.
Of course, it was a pre-recorded track.
After watching the program, Fang Yinnian searched online and indeed found many fans and media praising him: “Tao Yizhou is super stable live!” “Sounds as good as swallowing a CD.” “Who understands singing this well with a fully open mic!”
Fang Yinnian: “…”
No wonder he always sings in the air—the top singer is as fake as a castle in the air.
Chen Mian, who debuted from the same program, had complex emotions in his eyes—clearly singers from the same show, yet the other had become a top star with countless fans while he became increasingly unknown.
The gap between people in different situations only grows wider.
At 22:30, Xu Baichuan came to the backstage dressing room and waved: “Let’s go, time to change into performance outfits.”
FTM would appear at 23:30, still an hour away.
The five went to the changing room to put on their performance outfits.
This outfit design was overall black and white. Fang Yinnian wore all white performance clothes, with the hem falling to his knees—when dancing, the flowing hem would look very ethereal.
Tang Che’s outfit had fringe details on the shoulders, Junwen wore an elegant gentleman’s formal wear, Xiao Fei had an energetic hooded top.
Mo Xun’s outfit was the coolest—a black vest tucked into his waist, showing his beautifully lined arm muscles, with gold accents on the clothes and belt, a cape behind, and black leather boots.
After everyone changed, they headed back to the dressing room.
Walking near the lift platform, they suddenly heard staff voices: “Please make way ahead, moving props, thank you!”
Several people immediately stepped aside.
The props were large, on a cart below.
Mo Xun was walking last and stepped aside to let the prop team pass.
Fang Yinnian heard a light “tearing” sound. When he looked back, he found Mo Xun suddenly frowning. Looking closer—his left arm was actually bleeding!
The shocking blood startled Fang Yinnian, his voice involuntarily tightening: “Mo Xun, what happened to your arm?”
This made all teammates look over.
Fu Fei’s eyes widened: “Damn, so much blood!”
Tan Junwen also ran over: “Was Brother Mo cut?”
Tang Che looked at the staff ahead and said coldly: “Don’t you take protective measures when moving things?”
The staff quickly ran over: “Sorry, sorry!”
Mo Xun frowned: “It’s fine, not serious.”
Xu Baichuan turned back to see this scene, his heart suddenly turning cold.
Bleeding… a bloody disaster?
Many people in the entertainment industry believe in such superstitions. Getting injured and bleeding at a New Year’s Eve gala wasn’t a good omen. His right eyelid started twitching again.
Xu Baichuan took a deep breath and said calmly: “Take Mo Xun to the dressing room first. I’ll get a doctor to treat it.”
The manager went to find a doctor.
The three guests in the dressing room had also left—some to change clothes and prepare, others had finished performing and returned to the hotel early.
Fang Yinnian brought Mo Xun to sit down and asked nervously: “How’s the wound? Does it hurt?”
Mo Xun calmed down: “It’s fine, just broke the skin.”
That prop had a strange shape with a sharp thin edge. When Mo Xun stepped aside, he was cut by it.
But it wasn’t a knife after all, so the wound wasn’t deep.
Xu Baichuan called a doctor to the dressing room to disinfect and bandage the wound. The bleeding quickly stopped.
“The wound isn’t deep. Take anti-inflammatory medicine for two days when you get back, disinfect on schedule, and don’t get it wet.” The doctor gave Mo Xun a box of anti-inflammatory medicine, left half a roll of gauze, and left.
Only then did Fang Yinnian feel relieved.
Fu Fei suddenly said loudly: “Ah, Brother Nian and Brother Mo’s clothes are dirty, stained with blood!”
Fang Yinnian had been anxiously checking Mo Xun’s wound earlier and completely ignored whether the clothes would get dirty.
Looking down, their performance outfits were indeed stained with blood, especially Fang Yinnian’s—the blood was particularly obvious on white clothes.
What to do? They couldn’t go on stage with bloody clothes, right?
Fang Yinnian looked nervously at their manager.
Xu Baichuan said: “No problem, I had the assistant bring backup outfits. There’s another set. You two hurry and change.”
All five sighed in relief hearing this.
Fortunately, their experienced manager had brought backup performance outfits.
The two quickly returned to the changing room and changed clothes.
Mo Xun looked down at the gauze on his arm and frowned: “This white gauze is too obvious. We need to cover it somehow.”
Fang Yinnian thought for a moment, picked up the outfit Mo Xun had just changed out of, found small scissors, and cut a strip of fabric from the cape’s edge.
He said: “I’ll help you cover it. Sit here.”
Mo Xun obediently sat on the stool.
Fang Yinnian lifted Mo Xun’s arm, his slender fingers skillfully threading the fabric strip under his arm, wrapping it several times around the gauze, carefully covering it, then tying a beautiful knot.
The cape Mo Xun wore had a checkered pattern, so with a checkered bow on his shoulder, it looked like special styling.
Mo Xun sat still, letting Fang Yinnian work magic on his arm.
The originally glaring white gauze was quickly hidden, becoming attractive bandage and bow decorations.
Fang Yinnian’s slender fingers lightly brushed against his arm muscles, bringing a slightly tingling sensation.
The changing room was very quiet. When Mo Xun looked up, he met Fang Yinnian’s smiling eyes.
At such close distance, they could almost feel each other’s breathing. Their eyes met, and Mo Xun’s heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.
Gentle fingers brushed his arm, the tingling sensation from skin contact spreading lightly in his heart. Mo Xun’s brain inexplicably froze at this moment.
Fang Yinnian carefully arranged the bow styling, then withdrew his hands and smiled: “Done. I tied it very securely, you can’t tell.”
Mo Xun came back to his senses and said quietly: “Thank you.” He gently touched the bow on his arm, warmth flowing in his heart, and his smile uncontrollably widened: “You always have solutions.”
Fang Yinnian joked: “This styling isn’t bad, right?”
Mo Xun nodded: “Mm, very cool.”
He pointed to the bow on his arm and teased: “You tied this for me personally. I suddenly don’t want to take it off.”
Fang Yinnian’s ears heated up: “Don’t joke around. You need to disinfect and change the gauze when we get back.” He paused and reminded: “Be careful when dancing later, don’t use too much force and tear the wound open.”
Mo Xun said: “It’s fine, don’t worry.”
Xu Baichuan’s voice came from outside the door: “Are you ready?”
Mo Xun stood up: “Ready.”
The two came out of the changing room. Xu Baichuan immediately noticed the bow tied with checkered fabric on Mo Xun’s shoulder.
Actually, this delicate accent, matching the cape behind, added a touch of vitality to Mo Xun’s performance outfit.
Xu Baichuan said: “Handling it this way actually looks quite good.”
Mo Xun said with pride: “Yinnian tied it for me.”
Xu Baichuan looked at Fang Yinnian, who smiled and said: “Better to cover it up, saves the trouble of explaining.”
Getting cut by props backstage and going on stage dancing with gauze wrapped around—it would be simple to explain and could even gain some sympathy.
But Mo Xun didn’t want their New Year’s Eve performance focus to go off track.
If they spent effort explaining the bleeding process, fans and casual viewers would focus on how Mo Xun’s arm injury was doing, thus overlooking their carefully prepared performance.
It was just a surface wound that would heal in two days. As a grown man, he didn’t even feel pain, so there was no need to be dramatic for sympathy.
Besides, going on stage to dance with a roll of white gauze wouldn’t look good on camera either.
Better to hide it so no one would know.
The two walked side by side toward the dressing room. Their teammates all gave thumbs up when they saw the bow.
Fu Fei said excitedly: “Brother Nian always has solutions!”
Tan Junwen squinted and examined it for a moment, saying: “This knot is tied very skillfully. It’s not like those cute, round bows—the fabric edges are triangular, quite nice looking. Yinnian has such clever hands.”
Fang Yinnian said: “As long as it can fool people.”
Tang Che carefully examined Mo Xun for a moment and said: “Indeed very good. You can’t tell the arm is injured—you’d just think it’s part of the performance outfit styling.”
Mo Xun looked in the mirror and also sighed in relief.
Chen Mian, who had gone out to change clothes, returned.
He indeed couldn’t tell Mo Xun was injured and even complimented: “That decoration on your shoulder is very distinctive.”
The five exchanged glances and smiled together.
Mo Xun said: “Nice, right? Yinnian tied it for me personally.”
His tone clearly carried some pride.
A staff member knocked on the door: “Teacher Chen Mian, prepare to wait backstage.”
Seeing Chen Mian’s face pale with nervousness, Fang Yinnian proactively stepped forward and said: “Brother Mian, fighting! You’ve sung very well in all the rehearsals.”
Chen Mian smiled: “Yes, you all fight too.”
Less than 3 minutes after he left, the staff knocked on the door again: “FTM prepare to wait backstage!”
The five FTM members immediately followed.
At this time, veteran singer Ji Ying’s medley performance was happening on the main stage. She was also singing and dancing with fully open mics, with incredibly stable stage presence.
This singer was already 50 years old. Fang Yinnian had heard her songs since kindergarten. Veteran singers were indeed amazing—four consecutive songs with fully open mics, and even though she was tired, she completed them smoothly.
“Please welcome Chen Mian with ‘Missing You Every Day’!”
At 23:25, Chen Mian appeared. FTM was next.
They waited in the staging area two acts early. Staff had already distributed earpieces and microphones to them.
Xu Baichuan whispered: “Check everything carefully.”
The five carefully checked their equipment, confirming no problems.
Xu Baichuan said: “Don’t be nervous later. Tonight there are 40 total acts, only 10 with fully open mics. Having the courage to use open mics is already remarkable. No matter how you sing, just let loose and sing.”
Mo Xun suddenly said: “Yinnian told me something at the hotel the day before yesterday that I thought was particularly good.”
He looked at Fang Yinnian and smiled as he repeated: “Today’s exam, many people are copying answers, but we’re seriously taking the test live. So no matter what the results, we can face ourselves with clear consciences.”
This statement instantly energized all the teammates.
Yes, so many people were slacking off and copying answers, performing and acting—the more you look, the faker it gets.
At least they had the courage to turn on their microphones and sing.
As newcomers, daring to sing and dance with fully open mics at a New Year’s Eve gala live—that was already pretty awesome!
Mo Xun extended his hand: “Come on, brothers.”
Everyone quickly stacked their hands on top.
The five shouted together: “FTM, fighting!”
##
