Reborn as a Substitute

Ji Sheng let go of the dead-faced little grey flower and walked to the front of the stage.

The director decided to change the script. The mentors figured out what was going on, so they were not going to make things difficult. What’s more, Ji Sheng’s performance was perfect. Compared with the little white flower, it could be said to be impeccable. Anyone with ears could hear who was good and who was bad. No matter how brazenly he talked, there was no way to turn black into white and vice versa.

So the mentors took a 180-degree turn in their attitude, praised Ji Sheng with a pleasant expression and asked him to go down the stage.

Ji Sheng jumped off the stage lightly and returned to his seat.

The little white flower’s band was severely criticised by the mentors for a long time and withdrew dejectedly.

The lights were slightly dimmed, and the next group of players was ready to play.

As soon as the performance began, the audience’s attention was focused on the stage again. Ji Sheng was about to look up but was stopped by Sheng Kongzhi and had to turn to him.

“You are too impulsive.” Sheng Kongzhi frowned and said disapprovingly, “You almost…”

“Didn’t my mic suddenly bomb…” Ji Sheng said in a small, defensive voice.

Before coming here, Sheng Kongzhi grabbed Ji Sheng and nagged about KUZI’s malicious editing for so long that Jo Sheng finally just nodded like a garlic pounder, almost vowing that he would never even squeak not to give KUZI any material for editing.

Who knew that just after arriving, there would be an accident; after stretching out his head, Ji Sheng could only bite the bullet.

Sheng Kongzhi looked at him aggrieved, but then comforted him with a gentle expression: “I just watched the director. His expression was very good. It shouldn’t be a problem… But don’t be so impulsive in the future.”

“Okay.” Ji Sheng agreed.

They were talking in low voices when suddenly something happened on the stage.

The two-person group performing on the stage had just started playing when they were stared at by the vocal teacher.

The vocal teacher leaned forward, frowned and squinted, focusing on the performers on stage.

“What’s the matter?” Wang Juan noticed something wrong and asked in a low voice.

The vocal teacher didn’t answer, but his expression became more serious.

“Stop!” He finally couldn’t help it and shouted loudly.

The backstage staff quickly turned off the audio equipment and the music paused.

“What’s the matter?”

“Why did it stop…”

“Stage accident…”

There was a lot of discussion among the contestants in the audience; the lead singer held the microphone stand, at a loss, looking at the teachers.

But the vocal teacher didn’t pay attention to him.

“The one in the back, the keyboard player!” The vocal teacher frowned and shouted.

The keyboard player straightened up and came slightly closer to the mic.

The microphone was turned off, but judging by the player’s face, he should have answered something in a low voice.

The studio fell silent.

The vocal teacher looked at the tall figure in front of him and asked, “Can you tell me why? Your hands were floating above the keys, but the sound was coming out normally.”

Fake bomb!

The stern words of the vocal teacher seemed to sink like a torpedo into the sea, causing an uproar in the studio.

Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi also noticed something was wrong, stopped talking, and looked at the stage.

When his eyes fell on the contestant, Ji Sheng was stunned.

The keyboard player was standing so far back that the voice teacher squinted for a long time before he dared to confirm that he was faking his playing.

Now the entire studio with hundreds of people strained their necks but could not see the contestant’s face in the shadows.

Finally the vocal teacher said, “Go forward and come to the front to speak.”

The contestant left the keyboard and walked out from behind.

The stage light illuminated his inky hair, swept over the tall bridge of his nose and outlined his thin lips…

The contestant stood still in the front of the stage and raised his head, showing his cold face.

“Xiao Xie?!” Ji Sheng blurted out in amazement.

He didn’t control the volume of his voice well, which caused several players in the front row to turn their heads.

“Sorry…” Ji Sheng apologised with a smile, turned his head and lowered his voice, hurriedly asking Sheng Kongzhi, “Why is Xiao Xie here?”

Sheng Kongzhi was also confused: “I don’t know.”

Before Li Tan wanted to resurrect Qingchu, it was not that Ji Sheng didn’t try to contact Xie Xuanming, but both the messages sent and the calls made came to nothing and there was no response.

Ji Sheng was also worried because he was afraid that Xie Xuanming would make some extreme choices. In order to ban the bad thoughts in his mind, he took a taxi to Xie Xuanming’s high school one afternoon and found Xie Xuanming’s photo in the row of outstanding graduates. 

Xiao Xie was admitted to a good university.

Ji Sheng breathed a sigh of relief，

Everything should be fine.

After rejoicing, a vague sourness emerged from Ji Sheng’s heart a little.

He walked out of the school gate, glanced back, and then lowered his head to kick a stone.

Xiao Xie was living a good life; Xiao Xie had cut off his relationship with Qingchu.

Two unrelated things were linked together, making it somewhat uncomfortable to think about.

Ji Sheng went to a small shop across the road to buy a lollipop, unwrapped it, squatted down against the wall holding the lollipop stick in his hand, and looked ahead in a daze.

After some time, someone suddenly appeared on the school wall. A boy in the school uniform climbed up the wall with difficulty, jumped down, and ran away.

Ji Sheng was a little surprised after watching the whole process.

He fantasised that Xie Xuanming, wearing a school uniform, climbed over the school wall lightly like a cat, patted the dust on his body after landing, and walked away briskly.

Even the quiet Xiao Xie would show a relaxed expression when he escaped the shackles.

Ji Sheng lowered his head and smiled silently.

He stood up, rubbed his numb legs, chewed most of the remaining lollipop and walked away with the empty stick.

Ji Sheng didn’t expect to see Xie Xuanming again, especially on such an incredible occasion as a variety show.

On the stage, Xie Xuanming stood with his eyes downcast, silent and indifferent, in a posture that was hardly flattering.

The vocal teacher frowned and asked, “From your finger positions and gestures, one can tell that you know how to do it. Why didn’t you play?”

There were faint whispers in the audience; Xie Xuanming picked up the mic.

He raised his eyes, his calm gaze showing a bit of sarcasm.

“They said I don’t need to make a sound, so I didn’t bother to play.”

The microphone spread his cold and clear words all over the studio.

The audience was silent for a moment.

Everyone knew that there were players who didn’t perform live, but revealing these secret things in such a straightforward manner…

Really daring.

Wang Juan was stunned for a moment, then turned her head to see the director’s face behind the camera.

Also looking very stupid.

Wang Juan shook her head and lowered her eyes.

This segment would probably be cut out.

Along with the footage of this contestant, it would not appear in front of the audience.

Listening to Xie Xuanming’s words, the vocal teacher was also taken aback.

There was actually no need to say anything at this point, this part would never be broadcast.

He commented perfunctorily, gave Xie Xuanming a low score, and sent him off.

Xie Xuanming stepped down and sat down in the corner seat. The surrounding players avoided him, fearing that the editor’s knife would harm innocent people.

Ji Sheng turned his head sideways to look at Xie Xuanming’s back. His hair was longer than a few years ago, a few strands hanging over his nape, making his neck look fair and thin.

Ji Sheng stared for a while, until Sheng Kongzhi stretched out his hand to pat him.

“It’s almost our turn, let’s get ready.”

“Okay.”

Ji Sheng withdrew his gaze, got up and followed Sheng Kongzhi to the backstage.

Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi’s performance was outstanding, and when you looked at the entire recording process, it was one of the few shows that stood out.

With their strengths and the director’s intention to focus the script on them, the mentors went along and gave them two quite a few compliments.

In the end, Ji Sheng got the highest score among the contestants, and Sheng Kongzhi was 0.5 points lower than him, ranking second.

The rule of “Music First” was that those with high initial stage scores were eligible to choose a partner for the next performance.

When the selection was made, Ji Sheng was the first one to walk onto the stage and take the mic. He looked around and everywhere he glanced, the players demonstrated gestures of goodwill.

Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to follow a big guy with a strong story line and rub off some camera attention?

Many olive branches were stretched out, but Ji Sheng glanced around perfunctorily, and his gaze fell to the corner seat: “I choose Xie Xuanming.”

The decision shocked everyone; even the mentors were taken aback, turning their heads to follow Ji Sheng’s gaze and look at the silent young man in the corner.

As he suddenly became the centre of attention, Xie Xuanming’s expression did not change much. He raised his cold face and looked at Ji Sheng, as if nothing mattered except the person who chose him.

And nothing really mattered.

Wang Juan coughed and picked up the host job again: “It’s a very special choice, can we ask why?”

“Because he’s good looking.” Ji Sheng stood with one leg slightly bent as he replied lazily and unreliably, “I like kids who are good looking and have personality.”

“Oh…” Wang Juan was taken aback when she heard this, and couldn’t help but glance at the director again.

The player chosen to be given a story line was teamed up with the player destined to be cut out.

What to do, to cut or not to cut?

The director didn’t give a hint.

Do you plan to push the boat with the current to enrich the design of the characters?

Wang Juan withdrew her eyes.

These two players didn’t seem to be easy to manipulate and they really weren’t afraid to have their way.

She raised her hand and said, “Good, then contestant Ji Sheng and contestant Xie Xuanming will form a successful team, and the subsequent song selection will be made in the order of the sum of the team scores.”

After the recording, as soon as Xie Xuanming walked out of the studio, he was hurriedly stopped by a staff member.

Xie Xuanming had met him before; he was the one who came to his school and selected him to compete, and he was the one who informed him that he would not switch on his mic before he went on stage.

The staff member’s face was distorted with anger: “What are you doing? If you are dissatisfied with something, you can discuss it backstage. What’s the deal with running in front of the camera and making it hard for everyone?”

“I said I didn’t agree, turn the mic on.” Xie Xuanming said coldly, “Has anyone discussed it with me?”

“Then you can’t——” the staff member was furious, “You could have been the main star, but now you’ve offended the crew, and I’ve been scolded as well!”

The more he said, the angrier he became, reaching out to grab Xie Xuanming’s shoulder: “Go, go find the director.”

Xie Xuanming dodged: “What are you doing?”

“Apologise and let him give you another chance!” The staff frowned angrily, “You caused so much trouble in the late stage of the recording, don’t you need to apologise?”

The staff member tried to reach out and drag him again but was avoided.

“I’m not going.” Xie Xuanming said clearly.

Seeing him being so stubborn, the staff was completely mad: “What’s wrong with you? Do you think you’re good enough to be a contestant? I’m telling you, with that kind of attitude, you won’t even get a shot until the last episode. If you don’t want to record, get lost and don’t be an eyesore here.”

Xie Xuanming’s eyes were downcast as he didn’t answer, but then his shoulders were suddenly grabbed by someone and his weight shifted back, making  him fall into a bony embrace.

Ji Sheng appeared from who knows where, stood on tiptoe and hung on Xie Xuanming.

“You are here, I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

He finished his words coquettishly, raised his eyes to look at the staff member who was panting like a bull in front of them, and turned away coldly.

“Xiao Xie, follow me, let’s take some funny pictures. Don’t bother.

“People outside the camera should focus on their work outside the camera and cut off the pushy rantings that affect the contestants’ form.”