novelraw The template for Chapter 91, "Female Drifter," has appeared.
The template for Chapter 91, "Female Drifter," has appeared.
On the day of recording the regular segment "New Music Classroom" of CTS's "Dragon and Tiger Variety King" studio.
People were coming and going in the backstage dressing room.
Zhou Jianhui, accompanied by his assistant, was personally communicating with Zhang Fei and Fei Yuqing, with producer Guo Jianhong standing nearby.
Li Shuo, a "parachute transfer student," sat in his seat, waiting for the teacher to put on makeup while curiously looking around.
The makeup artist held up a powder puff, looked at Li Shuo's face, and looked somewhat helpless.
This was the first time I'd encountered someone with such a flawless appearance and skin that I didn't know where to begin, so I simply applied a thin layer of powder for a quick touch-up.
Speaking of variety shows in Asia at that time, Taiwan was the only one that stood out.
Take this "New Music Classroom" recording we're about to do, for example; its style is undeniable.
Looking back at the "shadows" of the core of Peninsula variety shows, and even the format of the variety show "Knowing Bros" hosted by Kang Ho-dong...
You can feel how high the "quality" of variety shows on Taiwan is right now.
That day, Zhou Jianhui discussed his debut with Li Shuo, who then outlined the resources available for Taiwan's initial debut.
The "Five Lights Award" is too old-fashioned and is coming to an end.
The "21st Century Newcomer Singing Chart" mainly features singing old Hokkien songs and imitations.
Although Li Shuo said that singing in Hokkien was fine, the program's run was too long and it didn't support original works.
After much thought, Zhou Jianhui finally remembered "Dragon and Tiger Variety King," a program that had just been revamped and adapted from "Dragon Brothers and Tiger Brothers" and adapted for CTS's weekend primetime slot.
Hosted by Chang Fei, the "big brother" of variety shows from Taiwan.
Back when "Dragon Brothers" was airing, it was one of the "music venues" that Asian Chinese-speaking artists had to visit when releasing new songs, and film and television productions also had to come to pay their respects. This stage is perfect for that.
Moreover, the show has just been upgraded, and Warner Bros. can easily arrange it by spending some money and exchanging some resources.
So I cut in line.
At that moment, Li Shuo glanced at the other end of the dressing room.
The seat reserved for the main guest was occupied by a girl who had just greeted Zhang Fei and the others, surrounded by the director and assistants.
After seeing it clearly, Li Shuo exclaimed "Wow!" in his heart.
With a buzz cut and naturally beautiful, unadorned features, he had a striking appearance.
What I remember as originally cute now has a touch of cool elegance.
Fan Xiaoxuan, the "Ever-Changing Little Witch"!
This was the template I used to fantasize about as a "female drifter" when I was in elementary school; she was one of the top examples.
[A female celebrity who could potentially become a confidante has been identified; should a partnership be formed?]
Having already felt a lingering sense of injustice towards Li Shuo, and considering the current situation, he didn't hesitate and directly chose to confirm the formation of a karmic bond!
[The host will now begin targeting Fan Xiaoxuan. Any positive connections gained through helping her will be assessed by the system to determine the reward...]
Li Shuo recalled seeing her back then; she was adorable with her twin ponytails, holding a flute as she promoted her "Little Witch" album series on "Dragon Brothers and Tiger Brothers"—she was simply an energetic girl who had stepped out of a comic book.
But now...
She sat in a chair while someone touched up her makeup, and her "low mood" was quite obvious.
The assistant was whispering something beside her, but she just nodded without any expression.
Li Shuo recalled for a moment and remembered.
She just released her new album "Darling" in May, aiming to transform from the "children's songs" image her company had positioned her as into a singer-songwriter. She cut her hair short, wrote her own songs, and experimented with jazz and rock styles.
The song received positive reviews within the industry, but fans were not convinced. Many fans who came for the "Little Witch" theme song were lost, and the first attempt at a transformation resulted in dismal sales.
No wonder I'm so emo.
Zhou Jianhui walked over and patted Li Shuo on the shoulder: "Come on, let me introduce you to someone."
He led Li Shuo to Zhang Fei and Fei Yuqing first: "Brother Fei, Brother Qing, this is Li Shuo, the young man I mentioned to you. Please take care of him later."
Zhang Fei looked Li Shuo up and down kindly.
"Oh my, this young man is really a perfect match. He's handsome and has a great figure. He can have a lot of fans without even saying a word on the stage."
Fei Yu-ching, the "King of Dirty Porn," was also smiling and nodding gently beside him.
Zhou Jianhui then led Li Shuo to Fan Xiaoxuan's side: "Xiaoxuan, this is Li Shuo, our Warner Music's newcomer. He's here to record 'New Music Classroom' today. Please take good care of him later."
Fan Xiaoxuan had actually noticed Li Shuo earlier.
Looking at him up close now, he's really tall, even dwarfing the light fixtures next to him.
But he is truly handsome, not the "creamy" type, but rather angular and clean-cut.
Wearing a simple orange T-shirt and white jogger pants, it's simple and relaxed, but it looks comfortable.
Fan Xiaoxuan didn't even realize that her previous annoyed mood had suddenly become less bothered.
The required instrumental audition has begun.
Li Shuo walked to the electric piano on the side of the stage, where a middle-aged man wearing glasses was sitting and flipping through sheet music.
Teacher Kong Qiang, the keyboardist for Zhang Fei's variety shows, has been doing improvisational accompaniment for more than ten years, which is well known in the industry.
"Hello, Professor Kong Qiang." Li Shuo greeted him politely and sat down on the piano bench.
He thought about the girl he had just gotten involved with, and then he thought about the girl in Beijing who was his childhood friend... Heh!
Slender, long fingers landed on the piano keys.
A jazz intro flowed out, a languid, slightly provocative melody, yet with an indescribable deep affection.
Kong Qiang was looking down at the script when he heard this, and his attention was immediately drawn to it.
"Wow, not bad!"
As Li Shuo played and listened to the praise, he felt something was off.
Zhang Fei was going over the procedures with the staff when she heard the piano music. She stopped and turned to look this way.
"This piece..." Kong Qiang leaned closer, "Did the young man write it himself?"
Li Shuo nodded.
Kong Qiang was somewhat surprised: "Your jazz background is quite good."
As Li Shuo thanked her, he caught a glimpse of Fan Xiaoxuan out of the corner of his eye.
Standing beside me watching, I couldn't help but ask, "What kind of music is this?"
There was a hint of eager anticipation in her eyes.
"Yes, the inspiration for a song in my portfolio is tentatively titled 'I Want Us to Be Together'."
Fan Xiaoxuan was stunned for a moment.
This work... is very much to her liking.
Hearing Li Shuo say her name like that made her heart skip a beat.
Hmm... it must be because of this work... right?
The recording has officially begun.
As the opening music began, Kong Qiang played the rhythm, and several backup dancers led Li Shuo in a simple dance routine that they had learned on the spot before coming; the moves were not difficult.
But Li Shuo, who is skilled in dance, made it look better than others.
Chang Fei also gave him face by "carrying" the order, which he jokingly said.
"Come on, let me introduce our newest student to the 'New Music Classroom' today, Li Shuo!"
The audience applauded.
Especially those female students at Taiwan's Formosa University...
Zhang Fei looked at Li Shuo with a relieved expression.
"Let me tell you, from 'Dragon Brothers' to 'New Music Classroom' over the years, Li Shuo's opening warm-up dance moves are the most standard I've ever seen! I'm so gratified!"
Fei Yu-ching chimed in from the side, "So, Brother Fei means that all those previous ones weren't up to standard?"
Zhang Fei glared at him: "Stop trying to sow discord!"
The audience burst into laughter.
Kang Kang leaned closer, looking mysterious.
"Teacher, now that the new student has warmed up, let me, his senior, test him."
Chang Fei waved his hand: "What are you doing... sigh... alright then."
Kang Kang looked at Li Shuo with a sly grin.
How much does a star weigh?
He looked around at everyone smugly, thinking, "You can't answer this, can you?"
Um… Can you tell me about that famous lame joke segment? …I know that by heart.
Li Shuo answered instinctively.
"Eight grams! Because of Starbucks."
Kang Kang was surprised, "Oh, you've seen this joke before, right?"
Unconvinced, he asked again!
Why did the dog stop barking after crossing the log bridge?
"Because it's not like a dog! Hahaha."
Kang Kang looked a little anxious.
"We've met our match! Now things are getting tough! How do we keep the duck from flying away?"
Li Shuo gave a fake yawn.
"Give it a wing, because... it can't fly even with wings."
"Alright! That's enough!"
Zhang Fei, who is the "teacher" of the music class, pretended to be angry and rubbed his forehead.
"Stop! Stop! Don't you realize you're all about to freeze to death!"
Fei Yu-ching also pretended to be very cold.
The audience members, who had initially been somewhat indifferent, started laughing.
The already pleasing young man... has become even more lively now, making him even more likable.
Fan Xiaoxuan was amused by the two of them and burst out laughing.
Unexpectedly, this handsome young man has a strong sense of variety show humor.
Kang Kang, who had only recently debuted and was still gaining experience, originally just wanted to make a decent impression.
Unexpectedly, this young man not only enhanced the variety show's entertainment value by working with him, but also increased his effective screen time.
"Hey Li Shuo, you're the first person to catch my lame jokes in a Q&A session!"
Li Shuo smiled and waved his hand modestly, "Brother Kang, you're the real expert, you flatter me..."
Chang Fei shook his head from the side: "Alright, alright! Let's begin our 'new music classroom'!"