CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol

Chapter 220 - 213: Unable to Decide

Lv Fangxin’s classroom

"Do you all have any ideas?" Hu Binbin asked, sitting in front of the piano.

"Yes, we want to write a song with a traditional style," Lu Peiqin unexpectedly spoke up first.

The reason for this was that Lu Peiqin herself was adept at composing and writing lyrics.

This time, she had been recruited by Lv Fangxin, and later joined her creative team, giving her the feeling of "divine intervention."

So she was very proactive, though she forgot that she was merely an auditor.

However, her suggestion was immediately rejected by Hu Binbin: "If you choose traditional style, you’ll be overlapping with Yuwei’s team."

"No problem! We’re not afraid of that. It’ll just be a matter of whose song is better," Ge Xiaohui said confidently.

Both Liu Feiyu and Chen Yinghan showed thoughtful expressions at Hu Binbin’s remarks.

"Their team already has a clear direction," Hu Binbin said, his smile fading.

"Honestly, from my perspective, I don’t want both groups presenting ’Huaxia-inspired’ pieces, as that would make the styles too redundant," Hu Binbin explained, making his stance quite clear.

In reality, the production team wouldn’t allow two groups to present identical styles since it would detract from the show’s diversity.

But, of course, Hu Binbin couldn’t openly admit this; instead, he attributed the reasoning to personal preference.

The girls fell into an awkward silence. They had deliberated on style for quite some time, and finally arrived at a decision.

At the moment, the group was too blindsided to catch the underlying message in his words.

"Earlier, I listened carefully to the songs composed by Chen Yihan, Meimei, Liu Feiyu, Lu Xiaoman, and Lu Peiqin that they submitted to the production team."

Hu Binbin’s words instantly energized the girls.

After forming the creative team, the production group had asked whether they had any original works to showcase.

Those like Chen Yinghan, adept at composing, submitted their pieces—though they hadn’t expected that Hu Binbin would actually pay attention to them.

"What stood out to me the most was Liu Feiyu’s ’Restless Girl.’"

"I made you an accompaniment for it."

Hu Binbin’s acknowledgment filled Liu Feiyu with delight; receiving praise from one of the cornerstones of contemporary Chinese music was rare indeed.

In contrast, Yuwei’s team also included submissions from Ge Xiaohui and Lu Bingbing.

Ge Xiaohui’s composition was of high quality, showcasing her undeniable talent.

Yet the production team chose not to highlight Ge Xiaohui’s original, instead selecting Liu Feiyu’s standout piece to emphasize Lv Fangxin’s team.

There was a calculated strategy at play.

Broadcasting the deliberation over song choices could potentially lead knowledgeable viewers to conclude that Yuwei’s team lacked skill.

After all, Yuwei’s team’s accompaniment was produced by Hu Binbin, whereas elements of Fangxin’s team’s accompaniment were derived from their own original work.

When the accompaniment arranged by Hu Binbin was played, it was apparent that the members weren’t particularly enthusiastic—especially Lu Xiaoman, whose expression suggested dissatisfaction.

Lu Xiaoman, as a prominent creator of traditional-style music adaptations, naturally held steadfast confidence in her abilities.

"Xiaoman, share your thoughts if you have any," Hu Binbin observed her discontent and encouraged her to speak.

"Skipping the traditional style is unfortunate. I honestly think we could outperform them," Lu Xiaoman said, and the group fell silent.

Those with compositional skills agreed with her sentiment.

They wished to create an entirely new song representative of their collective effort instead of modifying Liu Feiyu’s piece, which felt exclusively hers.

"Anyone else have ideas?" Instead of looking at team leader Lv Fangxin, Hu Binbin turned to Liu Feiyu.

He hoped that Liu Feiyu might confidently advocate for her piece, though his frustration grew as she lowered her head, choosing silence.

This was her creation, yet any insistence on her part might be misconstrued as self-serving, an attempt to overshadow others. She had witnessed the devastating effects of online harassment firsthand.

Although she knew that, with her insistence, Hu Binbin would support her and his authority would ensure group compliance...

...this would also give them precious rehearsal time with choreographers, collaboration with stage musicians, and overall better stagecraft.

But still, she opted for silence; her ambition wasn’t to debut, so it wasn’t worth jeopardizing her image at this critical juncture.

Seeing their collective avoidance, Hu Binbin refrained from pushing further.

After all, he was merely a mentor—program rules dictated they had to create music independently.

"Alright then! If nobody’s interested, you may proceed with creating something new."

Lv Fangxin understood the depth of Hu Binbin’s intentions, though her limitations prevented her from advocating for his viewpoint.

If she sided with Hu Binbin at this moment, the others might label her selfish.

They might even accuse her of exploiting her position as the leader simply for the sake of completing a stage performance.

Her popularity wasn’t built on musical talent; rather, it stemmed from her curated persona.

Thus, whether or not the song was original mattered little; what truly resonated was refining the stage’s impact to garner more fan support.

Even Chen Yinghan couldn’t intercede, as everyone knew of her close ties to Lv Fangxin.

Once Hu Binbin left, the group resumed discussions.

After hours of back-and-forth deliberations, they ultimately decided that each of the six members would compose individual melodies, later combining them.

Lv Fangxin, lacking compositional skills, would write the lyrics.

The other five, proficient composers, began racking their brains for original tunes.

Meanwhile, Yuwei’s team had nearly finalized their creation.

Writing lyrics posed little difficulty for them, especially with the expertise of conservatory alumna Ge Xiaohui. Provided she wasn’t overly ambitious, her skills were undeniable.

"Yang Ni, come over and join us to review these lyrics instead of sitting alone," Yuwei called out.

From the start, Yang Ni had refrained from getting too close to the others.

After her previous incident, her company had issued warnings, and she also feared public backlash as well as group resentment.

Yuwei’s inclusion moved her—clearly, the team leader hadn’t ostracized her.

"Yang Ni, sit beside me!" Lu Bingbing offered with a friendly smile.

But Yang Ni opted to sit beside Yuwei, harboring suspicions about Lu Bingbing and preferring not to be manipulated again, leaving Bingbing visibly embarrassed.

Time ticked away steadily.

Lv Fangxin felt increasingly helpless, struggling to pen lyrics in a traditional style.

Her mind felt blank, as though it needed squeezing through a juicer to extract even the slightest inspiration.

Witnessing her friend’s predicament, Chen Yinghan fretted alongside her, channeling energy into composing with full dedication.

Meanwhile, the dance and vocal teams, under their respective teacher’s leadership, hustled through rehearsals.

Their progress was remarkable; those who remained were undeniably skilled.

Duan Yuxin’s team had already completed melody rehearsals.

Each member could sing the full song, and now, under Tian Jiaxuan’s guidance, they were working on polishing finer details.

Xu Qianhua’s emotional expression wrapped up a phrase beautifully, garnering applause from her team.

"Fantastic! This part could use some harmonies to add depth. Can those who are good at harmonizing come in here?" Tian Jiaxuan said with seriousness.

Lai Ruoxuan was skilled in harmonization, having sung in her high school chorus.

The other vocal team made similarly rapid strides.

Zhang Wei was relatively pleased with the students’ performances overall.

However, Natasha still struggled; her singing lacked emotional resonance.