Chapter 051: Is This Title Right?

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Old Wang really did have a loose tongue.

“I never meant to sign up. He knelt down and begged me to go, and even said he’d divorce his wife if I refused.”

“He was bluffing, right? What did you say?”

“That getting divorced would be fine by me.”

“Stop fooling around. Teacher Wang says you sing really well. The auditions are tonight. I’m in the Arts Department, after all—do me a favor, will you?”

Li Yingying was a member of the Arts Department of the college student union, mainly responsible for matters within their own college.

“Let me think about it.”

“Don’t think about it. I heard you sing during military training. You were pretty good.”

“That was just those military-training singing battles. It’s not the same as proper singing.”

“You were better than the others, too.”

“Fine. I’ll give you a real stinker when the time comes.”

“That’s exactly what I was waiting to hear.”

Clearly, Li Yingying had no idea what he meant by “give you a real stinker.”

“What are the rules?”

“There are fourteen colleges in the university. Each one selects five contestants, making seventy contestants at the university level. Then it’s seventy down to thirty, thirty down to fifteen, and the remaining fifteen compete in the auditorium. After that, the university’s Top Ten Singers are chosen.”

“Are there many people from our college signing up?”

“Not many. There are fourteen right now, and with you that makes fifteen. The odds of advancing are pretty good.”

Chen Yuan nodded. He was still leaving himself a way out: if he embarrassed himself at the college level, that would be the end of it.

“The competition’s tonight?”

“Yep. Everyone just sings a song, and then five people are selected. What kind of backing track do you need? I can find one for you.”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll find one myself.”

“Okay.”

Li Yingying made an OK sign and turned back to class.

As for what to sing, Chen Yuan really had not decided. He would have to search through his repertoire.

He barely paid attention during the second advanced-mathematics class that morning or the first advanced-physics class that afternoon. After searching for quite a while, he finally found a suitable song.

During evening self-study, Li Yingying came to fetch him.

“Have you decided what to sing? Did you find the backing track?”

“It’s all taken care of. I’ll definitely sing it properly for you.”

“If you make the top five, I’ll buy you a Nayuki drink and add a little cake.”

“Xuenai would be fine. Nayuki, though, you can forget it.”

“Xuenai? Is that a new brand? Does it taste good?”

“It’s all right. Not too sweet, and most importantly, it’s nutritious.”

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“Fine. As long as you make the top five, I’ll buy you one.”

The two of them went to Room 201 in Teaching Building One. It was a tiered lecture hall, and the Information College Student Union had commandeered it for the evening.

At the same time, Fang Youning and another girl walked out of the restroom.

The girl was named Fan Siyu. She was a member of the university student union’s Arts Department, could play the guzheng, and was a computer-science student in the Information College.

Across the entire student union, the departments that required genuine skill were the Arts Department and the Publicity Department. Applicants needed some artistic talent or a solid foundation in the visual arts to get in.

The other departments were rather like administrative positions in a workplace; they did not demand much in the way of special talents.

“Youning, what are you looking at?” Fan Siyu asked.

“I saw someone I know.”

Looking at Chen Yuan’s back, Fang Youning felt certain she was not mistaken. It should be him.

“You mean Chen Yuan?”

“You know him?” Fang Youning asked, somewhat surprised.

“I don’t know him personally, but he’s from our college. He’s pretty handsome, and he can play basketball, too. He’s very popular with the girls here.”

Watching the direction in which the two had gone, Fan Siyu muttered to herself,

“Why are they going to Room 201?”

“What’s wrong with Room 201?”

“The Top Ten Singers auditions have started, haven’t they? The Information College Arts Department is holding its selection here tonight. Could he have signed up, too?”

Fan Siyu was beginning to swoon a little. “He can play basketball and sing? How did all the good qualities end up concentrated in one person? Why don’t we go take a look and hear what he sounds like?”

“That wouldn’t be very appropriate, would it? Neither of us is from the Information College Arts Department, and we have things to take care of.”

Fang Youning did want to go. She was curious about Chen Yuan and thought he was remarkable. He had overturned her understanding of men, and she wanted another chance to thank him.

“Then let’s take care of the important business first. We can talk about it when we get back.”

“Okay.”

Meanwhile, Chen Yuan and Li Yingying had already arrived at Room 201.

There were more than a dozen people inside, most of them familiar faces. After all, they were all from the same college and had gone through military training together. They saw one another constantly—though Chen Yuan had seen most of them without knowing their names.

Chen Yuan’s arrival attracted quite a bit of attention.

The boys knew him because some of them had played basketball with him. He was never stingy with assists or easy baskets, and they were all happy to play with him.

The girls were much simpler about it: they cared more about looks.

Chen Yuan was one of the few genuinely handsome men in the Information College. Those taller than him were not as good-looking; those more handsome than him were not as tall. Taken together, very few could compare with him.

Now that he had appeared here, naturally everyone took notice.

“Brother Yuan, what brings you here?”

The speaker was Li Baichuan, a computer-science student who had played basketball with Chen Yuan. They were close enough to treat each other to drinks.

“If you’re here, why wouldn’t it be normal for me to come too?”

“If you can sing as well, what chance does anyone else have?”

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“I’m just here for the fun of it. With so many contestants, if you lot still manage to break through, it’ll make you look even more impressive.”

“Heh. If that’s how you put it, I won’t guard you next time. I’ll even let you drive past me twice.”

“Get lost. I could fake you out so badly your own mother wouldn’t recognize you.”

While the two were talking, Li Yingying went over to the two department heads.

“Brother Long, Sister Chen, everyone’s here. We can begin now.”

The two heads of the college student union were Liu Jinlong and Qi Chen. Both were singers, especially Qi Chen, who already had more than forty thousand followers on TikTok.

“Then let’s begin. I see Chen Yuan is here too. Why not let him start?” Qi Chen suggested.

Li Yingying turned to Chen Yuan and mouthed,

“You first?”

Chen Yuan waved his hand in refusal. He intended to observe the situation first.

“Sister Chen, I practically dragged him here. It might be a little difficult to have him go on first,” Li Yingying said quietly.

“Then let’s follow the order.”

“That works too.”

The auditions began, with the contestants taking the stage one by one.

Chen Yuan did not really understand how to judge singing. He could only assess them according to his own subjective standards.

All he could say was that everyone who had dared to sign up had some ability. They all sang quite well.

“Is Li Baichuan here?” Li Yingying called.

“Here.”

“It’s your turn.”

This stage was essentially an open audition and was fairly informal. Whoever’s turn it was simply got called by name.

“Sing well. Don’t be nervous,” Chen Yuan said.

“It’s time for you to witness my true strength.”

“What strength do you have?”

“The Music Emperor marches forth, and not a blade of grass survives!”

Chen Yuan: ???

Was that even the right title?

…

Thanks to the reader “Heavy Rain Tonight” for the book coins.

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