DISCLAIMER: We don’t own any of the stories published. We don’t know any Chinese language and this is our first time MTL-ing a novel, expect inaccuracies in the translations.

❌ NO SPOILERS. WE ARE MTL-ING THIS AT THE SAME TIME WE’RE READING IT ❌

Translated by: jiejie

Editor: Qiaone

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Chapter 22 – Unexpected Sneak Peek

The atmosphere was a little stiff for a moment. Although they didn’t know how the show would handle it later on, for now, Han Ming and Zhou Jinchen were indeed more than just ordinary friends.

After that, the recording went quite smoothly. In the evening, the two-day recording came to an end. The four hosts had to stay behind to shoot some more footage, so An Xumo and Zhou Jinchen left Sanya first.

Zhou Jinchen bought the ticket for the return trip but he had other things to do, so he didn’t travel with An Xumo. Back on the plane, Tang Tang was still in a daze, she grabbed An Xumo and asked twice, ‘Are we really done recording Sunny Weekend?’ before she started to work again.

The beginning of the day was a bit unexpected for An Xumo. He thought that his ultimate goal in the entertainment industry was to work with Zhou Jinchen, but by coincidence, the progress bar was pulled directly to the end. Before he had even officially debuted, An Xumo had been in contact with his brother for such a long time.

The achievement of the goal brings not the emptiness after the success, but the motivation to reach it next time. Not only did An Xumo not let go of his goal of working with his older brother, but he even put more effort into his next job.

It’s only been two weeks after returning to the company; An Xumo officially ushered in his busy debut activities. Due to the benefits of 《Sunny Weekend》, Tang Tang was able to secure more favorable resources for An Xumo. The original spot for dancers in Han Ming’s album was turned down by Tang Tang and replaced by a variety show theme dance competition.

The variety show is called 《Dance to the Top Show》 and the guests involved are already established artists who came across the border to train and compete in a dance competition. Tang Tang won the opportunity for An Xumo to be a backup dancer on the show. He’s going to finish the competition with the artists who came to compete.

The selling point of 《Dance to the Top Show》 is the fame of the artists themselves and the fun of crossing over. Naturally, there won’t be many scenes allocated to the backup dancers. However, for artists who have yet to debut, this resource is already much better than being a backup dancer in a music video, and An Xumo himself is fine with it.

For Tang Tang who knows An Xumo’s abilities, her expectations for this show are actually a bit higher than 《Sunny Weekend》. This kind of professional stage would definitely give An Xumo a chance to shine — something she hadn’t doubted since she picked up the person alone to sign the contract.

The final live format for 《Dance to the Top Show》 didn’t leave An Xumo much time to prepare. Unlike the crossover artists who needed to start from scratch in front of the camera, as backup dancers, they needed to practice beforehand. After bringing the prepared songs, An Xumo plunged into the dance studio. Although there would be a lot of adjustments during the recording of the show, a lot of things are needed to prepare in advance.

Since most of the artists participating in the competition didn’t have any dancing skills, the dance partners need to familiarize themselves with the choreography in advance and cooperate with the participating guests. The rating of 《Dance to the Top Show》 has always been high which has nothing to do with the dance effect in the program. For every song selected by the artists, there is a special choreographer behind the scenes.

In the first phase of preparation, An Xumo was assigned a total of five tracks. Whichever the guests picked the corresponding track, An Xumo would become their dance partner. As the elimination process progresses, the (backup) dancer whose five tracks have been eliminated will also be eliminated. Only the dance partner who retains the track will make it into the finals and receive a new dance piece.

The five choreographies are performed by the same team which means that there is one choreographer team for each backup dancer. In the initial process, An Xumo is involved in the whole process. In the beginning, he just watched and practiced by listening carefully. As time passed, An Xumo began to put forward some ideas of his own. At first, these established choreographers who had been working with the program for a long time were a little unimpressed, but An Xumo’s attitude was always very respectful, and the communication between them was much smoother.

Gradually, the choreographers began to ask for An Xumo’s opinion more and more frequently. At first, it was unintentional, but then it turned into a series of questioning of opinions. In the end, the first proposal had been changed beyond recognition but the result was so good that even several choreographers hadn’t expected it.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t choreographed such a smooth choreography before, but it was because An Xumo has integrated his opinions to the dance movements well. On one hand, his opinions were perfect for these tracks and directly improved the choreography of the dance moves. On the other hand, these opinions became a smooth oil^[1]Censored text. Hehehe that allowed him to personally show the charms perfectly of these movements without loss.

Like music, dance requires repetitive and boring practice and nearly rigorous maintenance conditions. In the same way, it relies heavily on the individual’s talent.

Throughout the three weeks of rehearsal, no one knows how many people had said to An Xumo: “You are heaven-sent.” However, those who had been with An Xumo for a long time gradually began to stop mentioning this compliment.

It was because An Xumo wasn’t only talented, but also because he had practiced each dance move hundreds of times in an empty studio, and was able to make the most effective and appropriate suggestions.

His calm shell is as thin as a cicada’s wing, but the pearl inside is silently containing an incomparably gorgeous luster.

After the preparations were over, An Xumo had gotten acquainted with the entire choreography team. The night before the program was recorded, An Xumo, who left the program group, returned to the company for extra training as usual. He greeted the security guard on duty and applied for the use of the training room for one hour.

The next day was the official recording. An Xumo didn’t dance those dances that he already knew by heart. He chose the slow songs he used to spend his rest time on. He thought about it and danced a few random moves he didn’t choreograph. During this time, dancing became the best way for him to relax.

After taking a simple shower after dancing, An Xumo walked down the stairs of Jin Dian, which is the same place where he had met Zhou Jinchen and Han Ming. However, compared to that day, there weren’t many people who come and goes in the middle of the night. An Xumo walked out from the side door alone, intending to take the shortcut back to his dormitory.

Tang Tang had mentioned before that she wanted to help him rent a new single room in a couple of days so that he could move out of the company dormitory; An Xumo’s attitude hadn’t been very positive. He had been recently busy recording the show, so the matter had been put on hold.

It was true that the conditions in the dormitory weren’t very good, but when he remembered the person living upstairs, An Xumo didn’t care much about anything else.

As a long-established entertainment company, there was tight security around Jin Dian, but outside the scope of security was the daily squatting of entertainment journalists. There were many artists coming and going here, which would naturally attract many shots.

As he reached the convenience store, the light disappeared at the end of the striped sign, and the next store was more than ten meters away. An Xumo took a few quick steps to get past this lightless area but he accidentally caught a glimpse of a glimmer of light.

With the experience he had gained over the past few days, An Xumo could only guess that it was the reflection of the camera. He frowned and looked around the area.

Unexpectedly, the first thing An Xumo noticed wasn’t the exposed paparazzi, but the two tall figures half-hidden behind the bushes.

The two variety shows An Xumo participated in were still in production, so he naturally didn’t have any fame yet. Those paparazzi who stay to guard are clearly for someone else.

The distance between them was a bit far. An Xumo only heard some vague words, but the point was not that. Although the surrounding light was dim, An Xumo still saw the close distance between the two.

Was it worth entertaining taking sneak shots and squat here, what kind of action would it be?

An Xumo didn’t have a penchant for gossip or stalking, but at this time, he seems to be completely unable to move away from his gaze. He stood in an unnoticed remote area and waited for a while before he saw one of the people leave the darkness and walk into the car on the street.

Even if he couldn’t recognize anyone in the dark, An Xumo had already seen the artist’s car.

That person was Han Ming.

And the remaining one, the tall and upright man…

An Xumo had to raise his hand to cover his mouth in order to barely restrain himself from making a sound.

The man was wearing sunglasses and had his mask pulled up, so he couldn’t see the outline of his face. But the figure of the man had already revealed his identity to An Xumo.

It was the one that An Xumo wouldn’t mistake for no matter what—

His brother.

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The author has something to say:

Make a note for my brother (pull out a small notebook)

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jiejie: Since our school works have been increasing, we won’t be having any fixed schedule for updating new chapters. We’ll update as soon as we’re free. Apologies~ (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ