Chapter 21

The recording of the new round of the advancement competition proceeded as scheduled. After two rounds of PK, the band waiting room visibly emptied.

Today, the stylist gave Qin Qingzhuo a slight trim of his hair layers and styled it with slightly curled and casually messy ends. The reason was that she felt Qin Qingzhuo “particularly suited for this lazy and casual look.”

Coming out of the dressing room, Qin Qingzhuo saw the three members of the Asperatus Band walking towards him.

Jiang Ji, carrying the guitar, walked at the forefront, with Peng Keshi and Zhong Yang following him half a step behind.

Approaching, Peng Keshi and Zhong Yang both waved to Qin Qingzhuo, greeting him as “Brother Qingzhuo,” while Jiang Ji nodded to him.

Qin Qingzhuo stopped walking: “Have you rehearsed?”

“Mmh.” Jiang Ji responded.

“How was it? Smooth?”

Zhong Yang was not modest at all. “Super awesome. Just wait to see us rock the stage today.”

Qin Qingzhuo raised an eyebrow slightly: “Really? Then I’ll have to look forward to it.”

“Brother Qingzhuo,” Peng Keshi looked at Qin Qingzhuo and said, “you look especially handsome today.”

She said this with no expression on her face, but it seemed very sincere. Qin Qingzhuo smiled: “Thank you, Miss Bass is also very beautiful.”

“Wow, did you guys join some praise group?” Zhong Yang came over to join the fun. “I want to join too!”

Qin Qingzhuo was amused, his eyes curved with laughter. After laughing, he remembered something and said to Peng Keshi, “Keshi, come with me for a moment.” He then looked at the other two and said, “You two go to the waiting room first.”

After Jiang Ji and Zhong Yang left, Qin Qingzhuo looked at Peng Keshi and said, “I suddenly thought of a style that suits you very well, so I want to find someone to do your makeup. Are you willing?”

“Sure.” Peng Keshi responded quite decisively.

“Then wait for me in the dressing room for a while.” Qin Qingzhuo said, “I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t know where he went. A few minutes later, he pushed open the door and walked into the dressing room, holding a velvet little black dress in his hand for Peng Keshi to change into.

When Peng Keshi walked out of the changing room after changing her clothes, the stylist Tian Xu exclaimed, “Gothic style, amazing! Qingzhuo, you not only look beautiful, but you also have great taste.”

“Thank you, Teacher Tian,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled, “Every time I come here, I seem to lose my sense of direction when I leave.”

As he spoke, he looked at Peng Keshi. Peng Keshi was tall, over 1.7 meters tall, with a princess cut hairstyle. When she didn’t smile, she looked cold and aloof, which indeed matched well with this gothic-style dress.

“I was right, it’s quite suitable.” Qin Qingzhuo smiled, then turned to Tian Xu and said, “Teacher Tian, please give her suitable makeup. I’ll treat you to a drink later.”

“In that case, I’ll have to do her makeup well,” Tian Xu also smiled and beckoned Peng Keshi, “Come here.”

In the waiting room, Zhong Yang was trying to strike up a conversation with Jiang Ji, “Hey, haven’t you noticed that Qin Qingzhuo doesn’t seem so annoying after all?”

Jiang Ji had earphones in his ears and clearly didn’t want to engage with him, “Who said I find him annoying.”

“You were so against him in the last round, I thought you really disliked him.” Zhong Yang added.

Jiang Ji remained silent.

He recalled the expression that flashed across Qin Qingzhuo’s face when he sat in the mentor’s seat that day, a slightly wounded look.

Why did he feel so annoyed every time he thought about this?

Clearly, he had become numb to everything over the years.

If he had known, perhaps he shouldn’t have been so confrontational with Qin Qingzhuo that day.

“Since you don’t dislike him, I think you should apologize to him,” Zhong Yang continued persuasively, “Look, you’ve been so confrontational with him, and he didn’t even show much anger, which means he probably still has feelings for you…”

“What?” Jiang Ji frowned.

“I mean,” realizing that Jiang Ji didn’t want anyone to know about this, Zhong Yang quickly changed his tune, “we are all in his team, he is our mentor, he wouldn’t cut you off completely just because of this small mistake.”

Being able to turn “raccoon dog on a hill” into “camel on a hill,” Jiang Ji didn’t care much about Zhong Yang’s “unfinished business.”

*一丘之貉(raccoon dog on a hill) vs 一丘之骆(camel on a hill) – it’s a play on the last word, 貉. I’m not sure about this play on words so if anyone can explain it please do so in the comments.

“So, if you apologize, he’ll definitely forgive you. Just listen to me, don’t let the relationship become too strained…” Zhong Yang was interrupted halfway when he saw Peng Keshi entering the room and exclaimed, “Sister Shi, you look stunning!”

All eyes in the room instantly focused on Peng Keshi. With Tian Xu’s styling and the little black dress chosen by Qin Qingzhuo, Peng Keshi’s gothic-inspired outfit was indeed striking.

Ignoring the attention, Peng Keshi walked over with her bass, and Zhong Yang stood up to offer her a seat, “Sister Shi, sit here.”

“Did Qin Qingzhuo arrange this for you?” Zhong Yang praised incessantly, “It’s really great, it matches our song so well, especially beautiful Sister Shi, and it’s not tacky at all… can he arrange for someone to do my makeup too?”

“Alright, that’s enough Zhong Yang,” Peng Keshi couldn’t help but laugh, “you talk too much.”

This competition was an inter-group PK—Qin Qingzhuo’s group against Ren Yu’s group, and Shen Cha’s group against Yang Jingwen’s group. The opponents for the PK were chosen by drawing lots by the bands themselves.

During the drawing lots, Zhong Yang volunteered to represent Asperatus. He ran excitedly to the drawing lots table, but a few minutes later, he returned with a disgruntled expression, “Damn it, we drew Midnight Temperature!”

“Midnight Temperature?” Peng Keshi recalled the performance of Midnight Temperature in the previous episodes, “They seem pretty strong.”

“They’re not just strong, they’re freaking awesome,” Zhong Yang gritted his teeth and looked at Jiang Ji, “Jiang Ji, do you remember what I told you on the phone last time? The guitarist from Midnight Temperature admitted that they had already signed a contract with the program’s management company early on. With rigged players like them, what’s the point of us even competing ah…”

“They even told you about this?” Peng Keshi couldn’t believe it, “Are they stupid?”

“Even if we’ve been arranged, let’s perform normally,” Jiang Ji responded calmly, with no particular reaction. “Do you really want to win the championship?”

“Not winning the championship is one thing, but we can’t let them get away with manipulation!” Zhong Yang ground his teeth with hatred. “Just wait, if we really get eliminated in this round, I’ll expose the program’s manipulation online.”

In the studio, Qin Qingzhuo, who had just taken his seat, received the drawing lots results for the band from Chen Jia. He quickly glanced over the situation of his own team, his gaze lingering on the line “Midnight Temperature VS Asperatus.”

In his mind flashed the list that Shi Yao handed him before the first round of the competition. He remembered it clearly, and Midnight Temperature was indeed on that list, protected and favored.

In the previous two rounds of the competition, Qin Qingzhuo hadn’t really felt the presence of the program’s manipulation. But perhaps because as more and more bands were eliminated, the concentration of those “pre-selected” bands among those remaining became higher and higher, he could foresee that the presence of this manipulation would become increasingly obvious in the upcoming matches.

He knew deep down that in a variety show focused on entertainment and capital, the concept of fairness was almost insignificant. Being too serious about it would seem overly idealistic. However, he couldn’t suppress the discomfort that arose within him.

This discomfort persisted until the PK between Asperatus and Midnight Temperature began.

The order of performances was decided by a live guessing on stage, and this time Zhong Yang represented Asperatus as usual.

“Rock, paper, scissors—” the host stood behind them and announced.

Both of them stretched out their hands, Zhong Yang showed scissors, and the opponent showed rock.

“F*ck!” Zhong Yang blurted out a curse instantly, quite loudly, which elicited laughter from the audience below.

“Jiang Ji,” he looked towards the backstage area, “we deserve this for not having you here!”

The laughter from the audience below grew even louder.

“Don’t get too excited, don’t get too excited,” because the director mentioned before the match that they should pay more attention to Jiang Ji, the host took the opportunity to ask with a smile, “So, was the initial plan for Jiang Ji to play rock-paper-scissors? Jiang Ji, why did you refuse?”

The director cut to the waiting area, where the lights were dim, and Jiang Ji’s profile was outlined as a silhouette.

From the brow bone to the bridge of the nose, from the jawline to the Adam’s apple, from the arm to the fingers, the contours were smooth and distinct.

Just standing there casually, but exuding a wild and vibrant allure.

“I don’t mind,” he spoke without a microphone, his voice neither loud nor soft.

Some audience members in the front row started screaming.

“Do you all scream no matter what he says?” the host chuckled, looking at the audience, “Ladies, can you be a little reserved? Watch out for your boyfriends getting jealous.”

“No way!” a male voice shouted.

The audience burst into laughter. Even the mentor seats were filled with laughter.

Shen Cha leaned towards Qin Qingzhuo with a smile, “Don’t say anything else, the lead singer of your team is indeed quite attractive.”

“Mmh,” Qin Qingzhuo also smiled, “He’s the face of our team.”

After the laughter subsided, the host continued looking at Jiang Ji, saying, “Feeling indifferent must mean you’re very confident about today’s performance, right?”

“It’s okay,” Jiang Ji said, “We’ll see how it goes.”

“Alright, then let’s hope you can perform at your best, and show us a performance level that’s no less than the last time you staged a big comeback,” the host raised his voice, “Now, let’s welcome Asperatus band to the stage—”

Holding his guitar, Jiang Ji walked onto the stage, adjusting the microphone height. Behind him, Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi also took their positions.

“‘Daylight Roar’,” Jiang Ji spoke into the microphone, “Hope you all enjoy it.”