Reborn as a Substitute

Before the staff member had time to get angry, the backstage door opened and a group of contestants rushed in.

As they approached, they joked and laughed, but soon someone noticed that the atmosphere was not right. They gradually stopped talking and peeped over.

Under their eyes, the staff member’s face darkened to the point of turning blue.

Naturally, he couldn’t attack in front of so many people; he gave Ji Sheng and Xie Xuanming a fierce look, turned around and left.

The crowd became lively again; Ji Sheng grabbed Xie Xuanming and pulled him away: “Go to the dorm to change clothes, and then let’s go to choose a song, what are you doing here?”

Pulled by him, Xie Xuanming tilted his head and in a daze realized that he needed to look down at Ji Sheng.

“You shouldn’t have clashed with him.” Xie Xuanming said, “He’s from inside and could start targeting you.”

“Call me brother, boy.” Ji Sheng gently knocked him on the forehead, “After three years you don’t recognise your brother Ji anymore?”

Xie Xuanming was stunned for a second and said, “Brother Ji.”

Xiao Xie was still the good Xiao Xie; Ji Sheng rubbed his face twice with satisfaction: “Why didn’t you contact us?”

“…” Xie Xuanming paused a little and said, “I changed my mobile phone and  couldn’t find the contact information.”

“Oh.” There were loopholes in this excuse, but Ji Sheng accepted it, “Then remember to add it when you go back, lest I can’t find you next time I look for you.” 

“Has Brother Ji looked for me?”

“Uh-huh.” Ji Sheng hung on him and swayed. “The lead singer ran away, the band can not be formed, ah. Didn’t you see our performance, Lao Sheng was forced to sing?”

“I didn’t see.”

“Good guy.” Ji Sheng rubbed his hair two or three times and said with a smile, “You are sitting on the show and openly ignoring it. You’ve grown up really disobedient. Your brothers are on stage and you don’t even watch the performances seriously!”

“It’s not that I didn’t watch it seriously.” Xie Xuanming said, “I was so focused on you that I didn’t pay attention to the others.”

Ji Sheng was stunned for two seconds, then laughed: “Xiao Xie, where did you learn those corny love words hahahahaha, it’s so fun.”

He laughed for a while before he stopped, slapping Xie Xuanming: “But it still sounds very sultry, matching your beautiful face, be sure of that! “

Xie Xuanming’s expression didn’t change: “Then are you touched?”

“En en.” Ji Sheng couldn’t hold back and poked his face again, “Xiao Xie is really cute.” 

Xie Xuanming turned his head silently.

That means no.

He was past the age of cute.

Although Ji Sheng’s score was very high, it was neutralised by Xie Xuanming’s low score and the total score of the two was immediately pushed below the scores of other teams. Ji Sheng watched all his favourite styles being selected, finally left with an unfamiliar style, standing dumbfounded.

“I have never tried folk songs.” Ji Sheng listened to that demo over and over again, feeling unlucky and troubled.

Xie Xuanming said, “This is the first time for me…”

“That’s great news.” Ji Sheng muttered, “Why are you here on the show?”

Xie Xuanming couldn’t immediately adapt to such a leap of logic. He paused to  look at the red dot of the camera and said, “The school said that this will be an increase in grade points, and I am a few tenths short of full grades.”

Ji Sheng whistled and said with a smile: “This is a world that a poor student like me who hugs the teacher’s knees to get a passing grade cannot understand.”

“You are a top student here.” Xie Xuanming said, “Top student, we are going to try a new style.”

“Come on then.” Ji Sheng said lazily, “Folk songs are in the blind spot of my knowledge, we’ll need to think of the adaptation method. You sing or I sing?”

“You sing.” Xie Xuanming said, “Your voice is in good condition.”

Ji Sheng said, “Forget it, my voice is okay for rock but the gentle style of folk songs… it’s really beyond my imagination.”

“You can sing.” Xie Xuanming insisted, “I want to hear you sing, you sing very well.”

The staff stepped in as a voice-over: “Can Ji Sheng sing?”

“En.” Xie Xuanming was the first to reply, “He sings very well. He was the lead singer before.”

“You kid…” Ji Sheng glanced at him and muttered helplessly, “Don’t lift my old bottom, ah.”

“Then why didn’t you sing during the first stage?” The staff continued to ask, “If I remember correctly, your partner was Sheng Kongzhi and he was responsible for guitar and singing at the same time, right?”

“Well, that’s right.” Ji Sheng said, “Isn’t the combination of vocals and guitar a classic? Lao Sheng, that is Sheng Kongzhi, was more suitable for that track than me. After discussing it, we decided that he would sing.”

“So…” The staff said, “Then I’ll look forward to you showing your singing skills in the first performance.”

“Why are you looking forward to it?” Ji Sheng smiled dumbfounded, “Maybe I won’t sing, Xiao Xie sings much better than me.”

Xie Xuanming, who had been silent since Sheng Kongzhi was mentioned, suddenly said, “Brother Ji, let’s go.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Go to the bathroom.”

The staff was just going to complain that this contestant was so clingy that he had to be accompanied when he went to the bathroom. However, Ji Sheng got up happily and took Xie Xuanming away, looking like a mother chicken taking the chickens across the street.

It was Ji Sheng who pulled Xie Xuanming at first but as soon as they walked around the corner, Xie Xuanming suddenly stopped and dragged Ji Sheng somewhere forcefully.

Ji Sheng didn’t expect to be pulled into a narrow niche. Xie Xuanming quickly reached out and padded the back of his head with his hand to prevent him from hitting the wall.

Ji Sheng instinctively stretched out his hand to support himself. The space was too small and his palm landed directly onto Xie Xuanming’s body; what he touched was not the softness of the flesh, but something pressing against his palm.

However, this supple feeling was not bad.

Ji Sheng didn’t realized what he touched, so he poked Xie Xuanming twice in the lower abdomen and then his wrist was grabbed.

The hand holding him tightly had long and thin fingers wrapping around his wrist with ease.

Did the kid have such big hands before?

Ji Sheng lowered his head and stared at Xie Xuanming’s sharp protruding wrist bone for a second.

“What are you pulling me here for?” He finally asked looking up.

“There are no cameras here.” Xie Xuanming expertly covered Ji Sheng’s mic with his free hand; he took off his own mic long before he went out.

“Oh.” Ji Sheng was taken aback for a moment, “You know a lot.”

“…There are some things I want to say, it’s best not to do it in front of the camera.”

“En?”

Xie Xuanming looked serious.

“It’s a variety show. It says it’s for musicians, but it’s actually based on popularity, a variation on the old talent show.” He paused and asked in a low voice, “Do you want to make your debut in a band here?” 

“Sure.” Ji Sheng smiled, “If I didn’t, why would I come here?”

“Then pay attention.” Xie Xuanming said, “The camera, the script, human interactions are all very important. Don’t lift others and give away all the highlights, it’s not good.”

“Oh.” Ji Sheng was silent for two seconds, then suddenly raised his head and sighed, “When did you grow so tall?”

When he looked up, his neck felt a little sore.

Xie Xuanming was caught off guard by the suddenly changed topic and paused a little before he answered: “These two years.”

“So tall.” Ji Sheng said, “It’s a bit difficult for me to rub your head.”

Hearing this, Xie Xuanming squatted down silently and leaned his head over.

Ji Sheng froze for a moment and burst out laughing, “It’s just an example, I’m not really going to rub it.”

He held Xie Xuanming’s face with both hands and rubbed it twice: “Xiao Xie, why are you growing in size but not in mind, you are so good and cute.”

Xie Xuanming, with his cheeks pinched, insisted vaguely: “Do you remember what I just said?”

“En en.” Ji Sheng said, “I remember, thank you, Xiao Xie.”

He smiled again: “At any rate, I am two years older than you. Trust my judgement a little bit!”

“Okay.” Xie Xuanming obediently endured him rubbing his face for a while, then straightened up, “Let’s go.”

During the preparation for the first performance, the first issue of “Music First” was broadcast.

Since the emergence of talent shows in the market, they were occupying a lasting hotspot. “Music First” took on the theme of bands, but the direction was still the same as that of a talent show, with the exception of the new element of a “band”.

Fans who smelled the talent show quickly gathered around and filled up the comments section.

KUZI changed the script, gave up the little white flower drummer and instead promoted Ji Sheng’s the “Great Devil” persona. From the soundtrack during his appearance to the editing of the contestants’ reactions, they spared no effort to create the image of “this player is very strong but too arrogant”.

The biggest role of editing was to lead the public opinion.

Judging from the comments, KUZI’s editing was very successful.

[Damn, that drummer is too crazy, right?]

[He has the power to be crazy. Dog Head】

[To be honest, he pushes my buttons. A willful and assertive beauty that is not to be messed with. 】

[Stop that, the drummer is a purebred idiot, nothing but a face, useless, are you blind to like him? 】

[But there’s a face, huh? Many people don’t even have a face…】

[Upstairs is right, haha, upstairs upstairs must be too ugly, that’s why they’re spraying acid]

【……】

Probably because Ji Sheng chose Xie Xuanming as his partner, KUZI also released Xie Xuanming’s first stage performance  for the sake of the integrity of the show. However, they didn’t expose the fake playing section, only let the mentor dub a few sentences later, forcibly editing the cut to look “normal”.

Even so, the audience still saw Xie Xuanming’s rebellious and sharp personality as he listened to the comments with his eyes downcast and his expression disdainful. 

[Does no one like that player? Aren’t ascetic rebellious young men good? 】

[He’s a bit touching, but his temper doesn’t look good, so I guess he’ll be cut off by KUZI in a couple of issues.]

[Already offended, right?…]

[I also think so… listening to the evaluation of the mentor so unhappily, too shameless. 】

[But I feel that the cp between him and the drummer will be very good…]

【Very good +1】

The first issue of “Music First” received a warm response. The team took the opportunity to launch the registration for the first public performance, and many show fans immediately rushed to come and see the show.

For their first public performance, KUZI went to great lengths to get a cooperation with a major magazine ILS, and the group that got the highest score was going to have a photo shoot for the pictorial.

Although the prize was generous, Xie Xuanming and Ji Sheng not only did not get the style they were good at, but they even had worse luck than others as they had drawn number one in the order of appearances.

Since the performances would only be voted on after all performances were over, this order of appearances was obviously detrimental to the result of the competition.

The audience had already entered, and the staff was conducting the final inspection. In the dressing room, Ji Sheng was sitting in front of the mirror, dressed in a light blue shirt. His long hair was tied low by a light-colored hair rope and pressed under a white straw hat. The crown of the hat was wrapped with a dark green ribbon, its long ends hanging down to his sides, giving him a bit of an old style youth look.

Behind him, Xie Xuanming was dressed in a plain white robe with a thin strip of cyan lace tied around his waist. When he walked, his clothes fluttered, making him look almost unearthly, like a kind of an immortal.

But at this moment, the cold immortal was quite preoccupied with earthly business. He stood behind Ji Sheng, his eyes chasing the dark green ribbon that kept swaying.

Ji Sheng noticed Xie Xuanming’s wandering gaze, raised his eyes to look at him in the mirror, and joked: “When did you turn into a cat, you can’t look away when you see something moving.”

Xie Xuanming kept staring: “Can I touch it?”

“Touch, touch. Your brother is not a rare animal, it’s not illegal to touch me,” Ji Sheng said with a smile.

With that said, he picked up the ribbon and pushed it into Xie Xuanming’s hand. Who knew that Xie Xuanming’s outstretched hand would bypass the ribbon and continue to go down… until it stroked a strand of inky hair.

That strand was a fish that missed the net when Ji Sheng’s hair was tied, or maybe it was an imperfection that the stylist deliberately allowed.

But no matter what it was, that soft strand was now squeezed in Xie Xuanming’s palm and he couldn’t help but play with it.

Xie Xuanming carefully spread his fingers and tangled the soft strand around them.

Ji Sheng did not say a word and let him do so, his docilely lowered eyelashes stirring a long-forgotten impulse in Xie Xuanming’s heart.

“Long hair looks good.” Xie Xuanming stared intently at the hair wrapped around his fingers and dared to cross the line lightly, “Brother Ji, will you keep your hair long for me?”

The author has something to say：

Some people call other people “brother” on the surface, but in reality they secretly call them “wife”