Studio Superstar: Chapter 63

The moment the gentle final note came out, Xue Xiao’s heart seemed to have been grabbed hard by a hand before suddenly releasing. The throbbing in that moment was so strong that his chest was trembling.

…He didn’t understand.

Or… he didn’t know what Shen Tingyan meant by the words. Was it what he thought…?

Shen Tingyan saw his dumbfounded look and smiled like it was expected. This playful look was a bit like before.

Suddenly, a staff member came outside the door and called, “Teacher Shen, please come out.”

Shen Tingyan stood up, rubbed Xue Xiao’s head, and walked out.

…Just leave like that?!

Xue Xiao opened his mouth slightly and stared blankly in the direction where Shen Tingyan’s back disappeared. Wait, was it what he thought?

Then in an instant, he hesitated again.

It shouldn’t be? Was he overthinking it?

But…

The hands hanging by his side instinctively grasped his trouser legs. His exposed skin had completely turned red, and his breathing was out of rhythm.

…Would anyone say such a thing to an ordinary friend?

—

In the next few days, Xue Xiao felt extremely flustered.

During the break in rehearsals, he couldn’t help peeking at Shen Tingyan. Once the latter noticed his gaze and turned his head, he hurriedly looked away.

Xue Xiao was very depressed.

The little thoughts in his heart weren’t like acting problems that could be taken to the man to straightforwardly ask for a solution.

Alas.

The competition had entered the final stage. In addition to rehearsing the play, the participants still had a lot to do.

One of them was to invite relatives and friends to record encouragement videos. Yes, this was a traditional part of similar shows.

Most of the participants looked for their parents, but Xue Xiao was a bit hesitant when he called his mother, who was far away in his hometown.

The sky gradually darkened. The big clouds were stained an orange-pink, as beautiful as an oil painting.

Xue Xiao sat down on the balcony. Once the call was connected and he mentioned the matter, his mother raised her voice and shouted into the distance, “Old Xue, your son said that the show’s staff asked the family to record a video to be shown on TV. Will you record it?”

A voice came from the other end without hesitation. “I won’t record.”

Xue Xiao sighed softly in his heart.

His mother said apologetically, “Your father is too embarrassed to be on camera. In fact, I am also a bit… do we have to record this video?”

Xue Xiao had already guessed that this would be the case. His parents had always been low-key and didn’t like to do anything that attracted attention. Apart from teaching students, they would blush when speaking in groups of over five people.

It was a bit difficult for the two of them to record for the show.

It was just that there was this task and he had to ask, lest his parents see it on the show one day and blame him for not mentioning it.

He said, “It’s okay. If you don’t want to record it, then don’t record it. I’ll ask Xingxing.”

“Okay… if it really doesn’t work, just tell me. I don’t want everyone else to have a video while you don’t have one.”

Xue Xiao said with a smile, “No, if it doesn’t work, I’ll let Master record it for me. I can always find someone.”

As a result, his mother seemed upset when she heard this. She started to ask, “Who did your classmates go to for the recording? If it is all recorded by their parents, then why don’t you father and I go to Xiao Yang next door to help shoot it?”

Xue Xiao immediately knew that his mother must feel uncomfortable to see him looking for people like this.

He coaxed her. “It’s okay. There are always parents who don’t like to be on a show like you. I won’t be the most pitiful child on the show even without your video!”

His mother immediately laughed. “You child, what nonsense are you saying?”

Xue Xiao also laughed.

Regarding acting, his parents might not have been particularly supportive so far, but Xue Xiao was already very happy to achieve such a harmonious state.

He suddenly thought, ‘How long has it been since I went home?’

The last time he went home was during last year’s National Day. He wanted to go back during the new year, but the whole film and television studio was very busy during that time. In the end, he couldn’t go back.

Once this show was over, it was time for him to take a break and go home.

Xue Xiao was thinking about this matter in his head when he suddenly heard his mother saying, “By the way, your father wants to grab some tickets for the finals, but he doesn’t know where to go. Send your dad the website link.”

Xue Xiao was stunned for a moment before asking in surprise, “…You are coming to the finals?”

His mother said, “Of course, we are coming!”

Xue Xiao sat up straight. “…Are you planning to take the plane or high-speed rail?”

His mother told him, “You also know that your father can’t bear to take a high-speed train for over four hours. We must take the plane.”

“…But isn’t Dad afraid to fly?”

“No matter how afraid, he still has to sit once. If he is so cowardly that he can’t attend the finals of his son, I will look down on him!”

Old Xue’s unconvinced shout came from the background. “Who are you talking about?!”

Xue Xiao’s eyes suddenly became sore. He said hoarsely, “…Then you might not necessarily make it to the finals!”

His mother said, “Bah bah bah. This is what we said. We will definitely make it!”

Xue Xiao’s tears were about to come out. Then he heard this and burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry about it. Your parents will take care of this matter. Just send the ticket-grabbing website to your father,” his mother said simply. After saying this, she started to ask him, “How are you doing lately? Have you been eating and sleeping well? I saw that you lost weight during the second round!”

Xue Xiao sniffed and said, “I was thin on purpose at that time. Now I have gained weight…”

The phone call ended up taking more than half an hour.

Xue Xiao still couldn’t believe that his parents planned to come to watch the finals.

The two elders didn’t like running around. They lived at home for most of their lives and hadn’t even left the province.

It was even more so because they were willing to come and watch the finals…

Xue Xiao thought that verbal encouragement was already the limit that his parents could do when they strongly disliked acting. He was already very satisfied with this…

His mother finally said, “Xiao Xiao, ever since you were young, you have been determined to succeed in whatever you do. Your father and I initially opposed your acting because we knew that once you decided to change careers, you would definitely change it. But being an actor causes too many verbal disputes, and there will be so many people pointing fingers at you. Even though they know nothing about you, they still want to judge you.”

“Being an actor is so tiring. How many times can you go home throughout the year? In just over a year, your father has talked about you so many times. It is just that he is thin-skinned and is too embarrassed to say it.”

Xue Xiao’s eyes were sore again.

“But Mom is telling you this not to sway you and make you come home. I want to tell you that your parents don’t really hate the things you like. In the end, we just can’t let go of you and feel sorry for you.”

“You are so happy, and you are enjoying yourself on the show now. We have all seen it. Your dad and I are completely relieved. From now on, you can do what you want. As long as you take good care of yourself, your parents will be happy and will support you!”

Xue Xiao choked up. “Hmm!”

“Come on, stop talking. I am going to cook. Remember to send the ticket grabbing website to your father later!”

“…I had better ask the director if he can give you two tickets directly!” Xue Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

After making this phone call, Xue Xiao’s mood became very good, so good that everyone could feel it!

In the end, he asked Ye Xingxing to record the family and friends video.

This guy’s fortunes had turned around recently. He received an invitation from a music festival and was preparing to fly to the venue with his bandmates.

He deliberately lengthened his hair for this purpose and dyed it silver. In the video, he made rock and roll gestures and shouted excitedly, “Hey, Bro! Let’s~ climb~ to~ the~ top~ of~ the~ Internet~ together!”

This style shocked Old Gao. He said in disbelief, “You actually have a brother who takes this route…”

Xue Xiao couldn’t help laughing.

Who would’ve thought that in the past, Ye Xingxing would be drinking and crying on the side of the road after being bullied by his agent. Now when he encountered the same thing, this guy would write it into a song and scold the person until they were red-faced.

On the way to their dreams, each of them was constantly changing and releasing themselves.

This ‘true self’ was sometimes a bit exaggerated and a bit strange, but Xue Xiao liked it very much. He liked himself as he was now. He also liked Ye Xingxing as he was now!

After Shen Tingyan found out that the relatives and friends video was a short recording, he seemed to ask casually during a conversation after a rehearsal, “What is your parents’ attitude toward your acting now?”

Xue Xiao told him what his mother had said.

In this family, his father was someone who cared about reputation and wasn’t good at expressing himself. His mother usually didn’t like to sensationalize things. Meanwhile, he was very cautious about this topic due to the quarrel back then and didn’t dare mention it any longer.

However, speaking out was actually a very simple thing. Just like now, everything suddenly became clear!

Shen Tingyan saw that he was happy and also let go of his heart.

He arranged the things in his hands and said, “You can let your parents feel at ease in the future>”

Xue Xiao blinked.

Shen Tingyan said, “I will take care of you.”

Xue Xiao was stunned.

Shen Tingyan put the things away and Xu Shi in the next classroom called to him. It seemed that he had encountered a problem during the rehearsal and wanted Shen Tingyan to come over to take a look.

Shen Tingyan stood up and smiled slightly when he saw Xue Xiao looking dumbfounded.

He was Xue Xiao’s boss now. Of course, he would take good care of Xue Xiao.

Of course, these words were naturally somewhat selfish, but so what?

Even if he directly said, ‘I like you’ one day, this little light bulb would probably be stupid and unable to understand anything.

Thus, Shen Tingyan’s lips curved up and said without any psychological burden, “I’ll go over there and take a look. You should go back to your bedroom and rest early.”

After that, he walked away casually.

Xue Xiao: “………”

He stared at Shen Tingyan’s back, his ears hot.

What…

Why was it that this person had been talking so ambiguously lately…?

But the attitude was so frank…

Was there something wrong with him as the listener, or was there something wrong with the person who said this?

—

On the penultimate day before the public performances of the fourth round, Old Gao called them to a small studio.

It was time to officially announce the rules for all the upcoming rounds.

16 participants were sitting below with serious expressions. Old Gao came up and said, “Relax, relax. Don’t be so nervous. You are making me nervous.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Old Gao held up the microphone and said, “Your mentors must’ve mentioned to you how the next two rounds of the competition will roughly be conducted. The fifth round is the finals. Only four participants can advance to this final round. Most of you can only stop at the day after tomorrow.”

Everyone stopped laughing and felt a bit sad when they heard Old Gao sigh, “I can’t bear to leave you, but there is always a time when the competition will end. It is impossible to keep competing. It is too much for everyone and I will be tired to death…”

The participants immediately cried out.

“Old Gao, eat more good food to replenish your body. Let’s fight for another hundred years!”

Old Gao said, “Who wants to fight? It has nothing to do with me!”

“Hahahaha!”

Old Gao opened his mouth. “This is how the fourth round of the competition will proceed. You will draw lots for the order of performances. There are no mentor cards for this round. We will invite 2,000 spectators to watch on-site. It is just like the last round.”

“However, the live audience won’t vote this time. It is the entire Internet audience that will decide which of the four of you can advance to the finals.”

Everyone was surprised.

“In other words, after the fourth round of performances, we will open the online voting channel.”

Since the Internet was going to be linked, it was necessary to wait until the show finished editing the fourth round of the competition and aired it online, so that the audience could see this round of performances.

Therefore, when the fourth round of the competition ended the day after tomorrow, the show’s staff would give them a short holiday.

Participants could leave the camp, but they couldn’t go too far because they might be called back at any time to record some materials.

Around two weeks later, the audience’s progress would be officially synchronized with theirs, and the show would open the voting channel.

The voting time was 48 hours. After the channel was closed, the show’s staff would conduct internal statistics to determine the four participants with the highest votes.

Then they would open a special voting channel again. This time, it would be voting for the final combination of the participants and mentors.

The audience could vote according to their own preferences and the combinations they were looking forward to.

After 24 hours of voting, the show’s staff would decide the combination based on the number of votes.

Support that among two mentors, student A had the highest number of votes. Then they would select the mentor with the higher number of votes to combine with student A. The remaining mentor would be paired with the student with the second highest number of votes, and so on.

The participants listened and discussed it.

Xue Xiao hadn’t expected the show’s staff to play it this way. In this way, the fate of the four participants in the finals was left in the hands of the audience.

It was just a question about whether the combination that the audience was most looking forward to would actually be the most compatible.

“The finals are no longer a live performance. The four mentors will take you out of the camp and go outside to film. It is proper filming.” At this point, Old Gao raised his chin at some of the amateur participants. “This might be the first time for some of you.”

“Don’t mention it. It is still a question about whether we will get a turn or not!” One participant sighed.

Old Gao said, “Can you have some confidence in yourself?”

Everyone laughed again.

“In any case, the process is roughly like this. You will be given ten days to film. At that time, the editing and soundtrack will be the responsibility of the mentor. Once you have finished filming, just wait for the mentor to submit the film. The finals will be streamed live online. After the four videos are played and the professional judges have finished commenting, the Internet will vote to determine the champion, runner up and third runner-up.

“We will invite other participants not in the finals, including those who have been eliminated, to come back. Then everyone will watch the award ceremony together.”

Old Gao put down the documents and said, “After the competition is over, we will book a hotel’s banquet hall to hold a celebration party that night. Everyone should attend.”

Everyone replied, “We will definitely go!”

Old Gao finished explaining the rules of the competition and asked someone to give each of them a stack of envelopes. “Finally, let’s make some small souvenirs. If you have anything to say or any gifts to give, you can put them in the envelopes. You can even make your own gift bag if you want.”

“You can give it to the participants or mentors. If you want to give it to yourself, then you can give it to yourself. If you are embarrassed to give it to yourself, just prepare the things and give them to us. Then we will give them to you.”

Xue Xiao got a stack of thick envelopes.

The envelopes were obviously custom-made by the show’s staff. They had the logo of ‘Studio Superstar’ on them and a lovely hand-painted picture on the back. It depicted the huge stage, the four mentor seats with shining lights, and the audience seats on both sides of it.

Old Gao said, “Your four mentors have also prepared gifts for you. I will wait until the celebration party to give them to you.”

Jiang Lianlian and Chang Yun came over. “What do you think? Do you want to send something to the mentors?”

Dou Mingjian replied, “It is okay to write a few words of thanks.”

Jin Xiaochen added, “I plan to write four letters of thanks and also attach my mobile number, my QQ number, and my WX number!”

Zhao Dong burst out laughing. “What? Do you want the mentors to remember to contact you when they are free?”

Jin Xiaochen puffed up his chest. “That’s right. We should seize every opportunity to make our presence felt!”

Everyone laughed.

Gu Ling listened from the side and had nothing to say as usual.

He instinctively glanced at Xue Xiao in the corner.

Xue Xiao was thinking hard… what should he give?

Maybe…

His eyes twitched.

If he wanted until the end of the competition to give it away, there seemed to be nothing to fear.

In any case, there were some things Xue Xiao was determined to say, even if Shen Tingyan became his boss.

At that time, they no longer needed to meet in the camp every day. Being an actor didn’t require him to run to the company every day. If it was really embarrassing, they could completely avoid each other and just be a boss and employee.

It was true that provoking his boss wasn’t a wise decision, but Xue Xiao felt that Shen Tingyan wasn’t the type of person who would affect his work due to personal affairs.

…Was he being too selfish about Shen Tingyan?

Xue Xiao sighed.

But he still wanted to make it clear.

Let’s take this opportunity… to be selfish for once.

White Lily

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