Chapter Thirty-Six: The Assessment Begins

Zhou Miao, seated among the judges, had been lost in thought, pondering a single question. If things followed the usual pattern of time-travel novels, he ought to be standing below the stage, undergoing his evaluation, then dazzling everyone with his extraordinary dance and singing skills, leaving the judges and trainees awestruck. Yet, somehow, he found himself in the judges’ seat—albeit as an observer, without the privilege of scoring.

His unexpected presence had caught the trainees off guard, but they quickly realized this was their chance to leave an impression. Each of them gave their all, determined to be noticed. One female trainee, with a striking figure, strutted toward Zhou Miao on nimble cat-like steps, moving to the rhythm and performing flirtatious gestures right in front of him—enough to make any young man lose composure.

Unfortunately, Zhou Miao was so lost in his own thoughts, his gaze unfocused, that all her seductive glances were thrown at someone who might as well have been blind. Frustrated, she even missed several beats in her routine.

The morning’s evaluations focused mainly on dance and appearance, while the afternoon was reserved for vocal performance. It was only then that Zhou Miao seemed to perk up. When Zuo Qiu had signed these trainees, it was clear she put great emphasis on looks—the room was full of handsome men and beautiful women, and Zhou Miao hadn’t seen a single unattractive face.

But aside from their appearance, their other qualities were fairly mediocre. Just earlier, a young man had come up with a guitar, intending to sing and play, which Zhou Miao had been looking forward to. Yet the performance was disastrous, worse even than when Zhou Miao himself had just begun learning guitar.

Next up were Li Qin and Zhao Li. Ever since they’d decided to debut as a duo, they always appeared together. The music began, and to Zhou Miao’s surprise, they performed a rap song—and did rather well. Compared to a month ago, they had made remarkable progress; their breath control and vocal technique were much improved, and their sense of rhythm in the rap sections was impressive.

Once on the proper stage, their presence was clearly superior to the others—Zuo Qiu’s decision to launch them as a duo was well-founded. Below the stage, Zuo Qiu nudged Zhou Miao quietly. “What do you think?”

Zhou Miao looked at the two girls radiating charm and smiled lightly. “Not bad.”

When the song finished and the girls saw Zhou Miao’s faint smile, they were instantly encouraged. They had been practicing relentlessly, researching vocal techniques whenever they had a moment to spare.

Li Qin had even developed tonsillitis from over-practicing, spending several days at the hospital getting IV drips. But their hard work had paid off; though the rap song wasn’t particularly difficult, it was still challenging for beginners. Their performance had set off a wave of screams from the audience.

“How about letting them sing that song?” Zuo Qiu pressed, sensing Zhou Miao’s softening stance. “After hearing so many auditions lately, I still feel they’re the most suitable.”

Zhou Miao considered for a moment. “Let’s listen to the rest first. If there’s really no better candidate, then it’ll be them.”

The evaluation lasted until past ten in the evening. Exhausted, Li Qin and Zhao Li staggered back to their dormitory, collapsing onto their beds, unwilling to move. Many people only see the glamour of stars on stage, but not the countless others who never even make it to the spotlight, nor the immense effort those who do put in behind the scenes.

Yet this was the path they had chosen. Even if they had to crawl, they would see it through.

“Ding!” The phone chimed.

Li Qin checked her phone and instantly sobered, overjoyed as she slapped Zhao Li’s hip. “Look! Look!”

Zhao Li’s heart began to pound—could it be…?

She snatched the phone and saw a message from Cumin: “Congratulations! Zhou Miao has agreed to let you continue recording. Rest well, and come to the production department tomorrow morning.”

In their dormitory, the two girls hugged each other, jumping up and down and screaming, tears streaming down their faces. They had waited so long for this day. Their emotions had been a roller coaster lately, with their chance at debut swinging back and forth, but at last, it had come through.

Putting down her phone, Cumin smiled. “Those two girls must be absolutely ecstatic right now.”

After the evaluation, Zuo Qiu dragged Zhou Miao and Cumin to a barbecue shop by the roadside to eat and discuss business.

“Zhou Miao, when do you plan to officially record ‘Fragrant Rice’?” Zuo Qiu asked.

There had been countless demands online for this, but Zhou Miao had been busy with art college entrance exams and wasn’t debuting anytime soon, so it had been postponed.

Now, in Beijing, aside from attending classes every other day, he had little else to do. Zhou Miao thought it over and agreed to record.

“Anytime. I happen to be free these days.”

Both Zuo Qiu and Cumin were delighted. Cumin had long looked forward to Zhou Miao’s official recording of “Fragrant Rice”—it was already beautiful with just guitar accompaniment, so the fully arranged version would be an auditory feast.

Zuo Qiu’s plan was to ride the wave of Zhou Miao’s release and promote his new work, simultaneously launching Li Qin and Zhao Li, ensuring plenty of attention.

“By the way, what’s the name of Li Qin and Zhao Li’s duo?” Zhou Miao suddenly remembered.

“Summer Foam. What do you think? Isn’t it great?” Zuo Qiu said proudly—she had spent a month coming up with the name.

Zhou Miao’s expression was a bit odd; the name sounded strangely familiar.

“Our plan,” Cumin explained, “is to release an album for them every summer, making them the most famous summer-exclusive group.”

Zhou Miao was speechless. “Summer-exclusive? So they won’t release anything in other seasons? Why not have one for each season, that way you’ll be busy all year?”

His casual quip made Zuo Qiu thoughtfully stroke her chin. “That actually makes sense. Using the seasons as a selling point has potential!”

Zhou Miao shook his head in resignation. This woman was hopeless—why did she have such a vendetta against the seasons?

In the following days, apart from attending classes and doing homework, Zhou Miao spent all his time in the recording studio, working on songs for Summer Foam and arranging and recording “Fragrant Rice.”

No matter what, this song would be his debut, and he was determined to make it perfect.

Zuo Qiu wanted to shoot a music video for “Fragrant Rice,” but Zhou Miao insisted on postponing it. There would be an MV, but not now—he planned to save it for his official album release, when he could properly film it. There simply wasn’t enough time at present.

He had already decided: when the time came, he would shoot in Buffalo Village, where “Transformation Project” was filmed. The endless fields of rice were so beautiful—it would be a shame not to capture them in the music video.