IHTIAP Chapter 5

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Chapter 5: The roses are beautiful

Day by day, time passed quickly.

Yu Nian didn’t know whether it was because of his attitude, or whether Meng Yuan said something in private, but no one came to stop him after that day; but he also couldn’t make any friends. Sometimes he ran into people who used the practice room next to him, but they just looked at him and walked away in a hurry.

An Cheng threw a white towel at Yu Nian, leaned against the door frame, unscrewed the drink, and took a sip. He pointed to the person who was about to disappear around the corner, “Are you feeling bad? It’s clear that you’re being targeted and sidelined.”

Yu Nian took the towel and wiped the sweat on his neck. Hearing An Cheng’s question, he shook his head and replied with a smile, “I know what I want and what I should do now.”

An Cheng stood up straight, “You are quite clear-headed.” He had been a dance teacher at Xingyao for seven or eight years and had taught many artists, some hot and some cool, everyone had different experiences. But he had to say, Yu Nian’s mentality was absolutely top-notch.

He stretched out his arm and patted Yu Nian’s shoulder, “Everyone is different and have different ways of doing things. So don’t spend your time and energy on these messy things. Study hard and practice well, and you will soar to the sky.” Pointing at the corner of his eye with his finger, An Cheng firmly said, “Your Teacher An’s vision is very good.”

Yu Nian squeezed the slightly damp white towel with a small smile in his eyes, “Well then, I’d like to borrow your auspicious words.”

After the class ended at noon, Shi Rou came in and said that Meng Yuan asked Yu Nian to come to his office.

“It should be a small meeting. Brother Meng ordered a takeaway from the hotel for lunch.”

Yu Nian nodded, carrying the unfinished beverage bottle in his hand, and took the elevator to Meng Yuan’s office on the 42nd floor.

As soon as the office door opened, he was assaulted by the smell of food. Yu Nian was not polite, he said hello and sat down to eat. After practising all morning, he was really hungry.

Meng Yuan was quite happy that Yu Nian wasn’t polite to him. He turned the phone in his hand and went straight to the point, “Today I mainly want to talk about your external image.”

When Yu Nian spoke, he would habitually put down his chopsticks, “Is it already decided?” He heard Meng Yuan mention it two days ago, that he was working on formulating his external image.

“That’s right.” Meng Yuan looked up and down at Yu Nian. After practising dance for more than half a month, the physique that had attracted people’s attention more than once was even more eye-catching. He was wearing a pure white cotton T-shirt as if the next moment he would stop in front of the lights and start shooting photos.

Meng Yuan asked casually, “How much is your T-shirt?”

Yu Nian tugged at his clothes, “This one? I bought it for 19 yuan. It was a special price. I bought a dozen T-shirts to wear.”

Meng Yuan: “…..”

The last time Yu Nian asked him to advance his salary, Meng Yuan knew that Yu Nian was not well-off, but he did not expect it to be so bad!

While knocking on the desk with the corner of the phone, Meng Yuan began to doubt whether his decision on Yu Nian’s image was right.

However, after taking a second look at Yu Nian’s appearance and temperament, he no longer hesitated, “We decided to show the image of a ‘Nobel Prince’ to the outside world.”

Yu Nian listened carefully.

“It’s not that there has been no one in this direction in the past two years, but it has not been successful. In my opinion, as long as the character of the ‘Nobel Prince’ is portrayed well, it would be very beneficial. Whether it is the speed of attracting fans or the level of endorsement in the future, it will be qualitatively different.”

Meng Yuan stared at the small details of Yu Nian’s eating and drinking habits, and the more he looked, the more confident he became. “This is also what I decided based on your situation. You can do it very well, and this character design will definitely be successful!”

Yu Nian put down the spoon in his hand, the handle of the spoon touched the edge of the bowl, but there was no sound. He nodded, “I believe Brother Meng’s decision, so what do I need to do in the future?”

Meng Yuan waved his hand, “Just keep your current state, and you can easily trick people.” He sighed, “Let’s talk about the T-shirt on your body; look at it, it looks at least 999 yuan.”

Yu Nian’s eyes flashed with a smile, “At that time, I bought a dozen T-shirts, a total of twelve pieces, and the boss even gave a discount. After calculating, one piece is only cost 16 yuan. With 999 yuan, I can buy more than sixty pieces.”

At this moment, Meng Yuan began to doubt again, whether this person was right for this or not.

Which noble boy wears a T-shirt that costs 16 yuan?

Once the route was set, the direction was clear. The recording of ‘Sound of Nature’ was about to began. Meng Yuan pulled the team to start planning on how to launch Yu Nian. On the contrary, Yu Nian had nothing to do, so he still followed the previous schedule and went to class on time every day.

Soon August arrived.

Yu Nian arrived at the entrance of the studio at the appointed time and was led in by He Qiubai’s assistant. He Qiubai was wearing a crumpled plaid shirt and holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand. Seeing Yu Nian and Meng Yuan coming over, he said a few words to the people next to him.

The three of them went to the backstage lounge, closed the door. After cutting off the noisy sound, and the room became quiet.

He Qiubai sat on the sofa regardless of his image, his voice was hoarse, “I haven’t slept well for three f*cking days, I want to scold anyone I see!”

Meng Yuan took Yu Nian to the sofa and raised his eyebrows, “So angry? Come and talk to Dad?”

He Qiubai smashed the paper from the side to Meng Yuan and scolded with a smile, “Don’t act like a fool, you want to become my dad, aren’t you afraid of losing your life?” After scolding Meng Yuan like that, he fell quite relaxed. He sat up straight and looked at Yu Nian with a smile. After a while, he asked, “How much do you know about the ‘Sound of Nature’?”

Yu Nian replied quickly, “A total of eight episodes will be recorded. The first seven episodes are elimination rounds, and the last one was for those who stayed in the finals to determine the ranking. In the first round, five people came on stage, and the person who got the lowest score from the audience and jury will be eliminated. The remaining four will enter the next round together with the new recruits, and continue the same format.”

He Qiubai unscrewed the mineral water bottle in his hand and took a sip, “Well, the highlight of the ‘Sound of Nature’ is that the contestants are all singers who have not debuted for a long time, or pure newcomers like you, which will be very refreshing. The second is to eliminate one person in every round. The rotation is very fast, and there are always new faces. But those who have stayed from the beginning will definitely be remembered by the audiences.”

He put the half-filled mineral water on the table and watched Yu Nian, “Are you confident to stay until the end?”

Yu Nian was not humble, his expression was firm, and his eyes seem to be filled with light, “Yes.”

He Qiubai rubbed his palms and laughed, “Okay! It’s good to have ambition! Lao Meng and I saw you right!”

The official recording will start the next day. After walking around and getting familiar with the studio, Meng Yuan was afraid that Yu Nian would be nervous, so he invited him for a meal.

The car drove to the west of the city, and the sky gradually became dark. After driving on a narrow stone road, the street lights on both sides were dim, and Meng Yuan slowed down.

Seeing Yu Nian looking out of the car window, Meng Yuan followed his line of sight and glanced outside, “You didn’t come here very often, right? We are on Qingxi Road, and we just passed by ‘Si Ning Mansion’, an old mansion. It seems that there are still people living there now. It is said that the owner of the house seems to be from—”

“The Yu Family of Qing Shan.”

“Yes, that’s it. It’s quite a coincidence, they have the same last name as you.” Meng Yuan looked at the dark road ahead carefully and commented, “It’s quiet here, and there are not many cars, but it takes an hour to go to the city centre, which is quite strenuous.

“Yes, it’s quite inconvenient.” Yu Nian added in his heart that if there was a traffic jam during the rush hour, it would take almost two hours on the road, so he had to get up early to go out.

The road became narrower and narrower, and after several minutes, Meng Yuan stopped.

“It’s here. Today, your brother Meng invites you to eat in a private restaurant to cheer you up!”

Yu Nian got out of the car, stood on the bluestone floor tiles, moved his hands and feet, and looked around. The private restaurant Meng Yuan mentioned was an old-fashioned renovated house. Entering through the gate, there was a small arch bridge, and a few water lilies floating on the water.

Meng Yuan walked in the front and led the way, “This restaurant’s food tastes very good, but it’s too far away, so it’s hard to find, and it doesn’t advertise, so it all depends on word of mouth.”

The further you go, the more prosperous the flowers and trees became. When the path turned a corner, Yu Nian lowered his head and passed by a cluster of roses. Suddenly he felt that a line of sight fell on him behind him. He stopped, turned around, and saw Xie You standing not far away, looking at himself intently.

Yu Nian subconsciously laughed and said, “Xie You?”

Xie You stood there for a few more seconds as if hesitating for something. Then, he walked to Yu Nian with his long legs, pursed his lips, and said in a low voice, “Don’t move.”

Yu Nian stopped moving and looked up at him.

Xie You raised his hand and took off two pale pink rose petals from Yu Nian’s hair. He subconsciously twisted his fingers — the hair was so soft.

Yu Nian saw pale pink petals between his fingers and smiled, “Thank you.” Then he asked, “Are you here to eat too?”

Xie You squeezed the petals and put his hands in his pockets, “Yes, with friends.”

“Me too, came over to have dinner with my agent.” Yu Nian took a small step back and said briskly, “Then I won’t disturb you for now, I wish you and your friends a happy meal.”

Xie You looked down at Yu Nian and replied softly, “Okay.”

Yu Nian felt that the other party seemed to be suddenly… unhappy? But seeing that Xie You’s expression did not change, maybe it was his misconception? 

After Yu Nian’s back disappeared, Xie You still stood there and didn’t move. Not long after, Qu Xiaoran’s voice came over, “The last parking space at the door is occupied, so I parked the car all the way, are you waiting——” The voice got stuck in his throat. He looked at Xie You in shock, “You, you… are you smiling?”

Xie You retracted the unconscious smile from the corner of his mouth, and returned to his usual indifferent expression, “You saw it wrong.”

Qu Xiaoran was still in a trance, “I also think I saw it wrong, I must have seen it wrong!” He tilted his head to observe Xie You’s expression carefully, and affirmed, “But you seem to be in a good mood. I definitely didn’t see this wrong! Didn’t I just stop the car, what good things happened?”

Xie You’s eyes fell on the bluestone road where rose petals fell on the ground, and after a few seconds, he answered, “The roses are very beautiful.”

Qu Xiaoran looked up at the racks of roses on the side of the road, wondering, “Pink and white, it doesn’t look that good…”

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