Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love) Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Preliminary Round

Heavenly Voice was a talent show produced by Xing Yao Entertainment and A City TV Station. As long as a person was a citizen and at least 18 years old, any male or female could partic.i.p.ate.

Based on the large crowd that came to the casting auditions, Ding Meng a.s.sumed that the broadcasting building would be packed with people as well. However, when she arrived, she realized that even though the building had quite a few people busying about, there was nowhere near as many as she had imagined.

At the entrance, she filled out a form and received a number card from the staff. She was instructed to wear it and wait in the waiting area.

The waiting area already had quite a few people. All the seats were already occupied so Ding Meng was forced to find a spot by the wall to stand.

She had planned to imitate the people around her and plug in her earphones to listen to music, but someone tapped her arm just as she took out her phone. Ding Meng turned her head around and saw an unfamiliar, short-haired girl. She looked to be about twenty years old and had a pear flower perm.

T/N: Pear flower hair is a short hair cut with a lot of curls and volume near the tips, which curve inward to make a pear shape. The style was popularized by a j.a.panese model named Rinka, and Rinka written in kanji (梨花) means Pear Flower. More info if you’re interested here

The person smiled at her and appeared quite embarra.s.sed. “Excuse me, I’m a little nervous, and I was hoping I could find someone to chat with.”

Ding Meng paused for a moment and then smiled in return. “No problem, I’m actually a bit nervous myself.”

Hearing Ding Meng’s words caused the girl to relax a lot. She introduced herself quite naturally. “My name is Tang s.h.i.+ran. What about you?”

“I’m called Ding Meng. The Meng in Ning Meng”

T/N: Ning Meng means lemon

“Ding Meng, this name is quite pleasant. I’m a music student. Do you also study music?”

“No, I’m very amateur.”

Tang s.h.i.+ran’s eyes flickered, laughing, “You’re too modest! Anyone who is able to pa.s.s the casting audition must have a certain level of skill.”

“….Really?”

“Of course! Over ten thousand people tried out, but only about three hundred people ended up pa.s.sing the audition.”

Ding Meng, “…..”

Somehow she had unwittingly stood out for her talents among a pool of ten thousand people? She remembered that, at the time, she had just randomly sang out a couple lyrics…..

As the two were speaking, a young girl dashed out of the evaluation room crying. She rushed past Ding Meng, an air of despair trailing behind her.

Ding Meng, “….”

What happened there….? Even if she was eliminated, there was no reason to cry so pitifully.

“She must have been scolded into crying by Great Producer Qiao. He’s a man who has even berated Sima Xiaoxiao to tears.” Even though this was a fairly sad topic, Tang s.h.i.+ran’s tone of voice was clearly exuding excitement.

However, Ding Meng was too struck dumb by some else Tang s.h.i.+ran said. “Great Producer Qiao?” That couldn’t be her family’s great producer Qiao right?

“That’s right, he’s one of the judges. You didn’t know?” Just talking about this “Great Producer Qiao” clearly lifted Tang s.h.i.+ran’s mood. “The debut single of this compet.i.tion’s winner will be produced by him. A lot of people are partic.i.p.ating just because of that.”

Ding Meng wanted to ask for a bit more details, but just then a staff member came out from the room in the front. “Numbers 56 to 60, enter now.”

“Ah, I’m number 57.” Tang s.h.i.+ran pointed at the number card on her waist and waved her hands. “I’ll be going in first. Bye bye.”

“Bye bye, goodluck.” Ding Meng watched her enter the room. She wrinkled her brows as she became lost in thought. The Great Producer Qiao she spoke of couldn’t really be Qiao Yichen right? He berated Sima Xiaoxiao into tears? That pop music empress?

Ding Meng’s head was a mess.

“Number 61 to 65, come over here and get ready.” A staff member with an employee badge came over and organized the next group. Ding Meng just made the cutoff as number 65 so she followed the staff member to the designated area.

Not long after, Tang s.h.i.+ran exited the room with a face br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness. When she saw Ding Meng, Tang s.h.i.+ran wished her goodluck. Ding Meng knew she definitely pa.s.sed.

After the five contestants inside all came out, Ding Meng and her group walked in together in an orderly fas.h.i.+on. On her first glance, she saw Qiao Yichen sitting on the panel of judges.

….. This was simply too coincidental.

“Don’t just stand here. I need to close the door.” The staff member behind her nudged her forward with annoyance. Ding Meng immediately started walking inside.

At that moment, Qiao Yichen also saw her and his complexion froze before rapidly returning to normal.

Ding Meng felt like this was really the most awkward situation possible. Right now, all she wanted to do was quickly finis.h.i.+ng singing and leave. She didn’t even care if she was eliminated.

Number 61 soon began singing, but was cut off by Qiao Yichen after only a few lines. “That’s enough. No need to continue.”

Number 61 was a small girl. Hearing his words, she gave him a very wronged look. “Do I not sing well?”

Qiao Yichen: “Your singing is really quite special. Especially bad.”

The girl, “….”

Ding Meng, “….”

He’s actually spewing out such poison right off the bat!

The girl who got hit with the poison covered her face and ran out. Number 62 quickly began and was cut off by Qiao Yichen even sooner. “If the person who made this song heard your performance just now, he probably would have regretted ever creating it.”

Ding Meng, “….”

Was this really the Qiao Goudan she knew? She didn’t believe it!

Number 63 was a man. His hair was dyed in a way that…. to people of Ding Meng’s age was rather provoking. When he sang a rock ‘n’ roll song, he earned the following comment from Qiao Yichen, “You deserve praise for daring to sing Gu Xin’s breakout song. However, there are a lot of Gu Xin fans among our employees here. I hope you can walk out of this broadcast building alive.”

Ding Meng, “….”

Just now, didn’t Tang s.h.i.+ran say that they were picked out of over ten thousand people for their talents!

She suddenly didn’t want to sing anymore…..

After number 64’s performance earned from Qiao Yichen a “this song was pretty good before you sang it” remark, Ding Meng braced herself and walked up to the front. “Greeting the judges. I am number 65, Ding Meng.”

T/N: In Chinese, the judges are technically called evaluating instructors and sometimes just instructors/teachers. I’m gonna keep it consistent by calling them judges

The panel of judges had a total of three judges. It was just that Qiao Yichen’s presence was so overwhelming that the other two almost seemed to not exist. Ding Meng glanced across their crystal name plates, ending on a plate engraved “Emperor Rank Music Producer Qiao Yichen.”

“Pu.”

Ding Meng let out a m.u.f.fled laugh. Qiao Yichen lifted his eyes to look at her. “Is my name very funny?”

“No…….” It’s your t.i.tle that’s laughable.

Qiao Yichen picked up the contestant information sheet placed on the table and turned to Ding Meng saying, “You can begin to sing now.”

“Okay…. The song I will be performing is Fly Me to the Moon.” She cleared her throat and began to sing. “Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars, let me see what spring is like on, A-Jupiter and Mars……”

T/N: HAHA YES please keep singing English songs Ding Meng! Makes my life so easy (in the raws the lyrics were in Chinese. Here’s a female version of the song.

Qiao Yichen lifted his head up and looked at her. Ding Meng’s heart tightened, thinking that he was going to cut her off just like he did to all the other contestants. Yet, Qiao Yichen simply continued to watch her without saying a word.

It wasn’t until she finished her song that she relaxed.

One judge began to speak, “Your voice is really light and bright. It’s very unique.”

The other judge nodded, “Your emotions were strong and your vocal range was quite wide. You should be able to sing very high notes.”

Under any other conditions, Ding Meng would have been bursting with joy with these evaluations. However, at this moment, there was still an Emperor Rank Music Producer to go. She could only silently stare at him.

Qiao Yichen finished writing something on her contestant information sheet before finally speaking, “Your performance was devoid of technical skill and you acted as if you were singing karaoke. Additionally, your breathing was unsteady and you are lacking in explosive force. If it wasn’t for your voice, I would have cut you off after the first line.”

Ding Meng, “….”

She was suffered four knife stabs in a row. Suddenly a memory flashed before her eyes of a time where she pointed to Qiao Yichen’s 64% on a math exam and gave him a harsh scolding. “This problem and the example the teacher solved in cla.s.s are exactly the same. Only the numbers have changed. Looking at how you couldn’t solve it, you clearly don’t even listen during lecture! Also this problem. Somehow you actually managed to write the numbers incorrectly when copying down a problem. How stupid can you get!”

…. So this must be karma.

T/N: The actual phrase was way more poetic. Literally it’s something more like “….so that’s why they say ‘The heavens have never spared anyone”.

Ding Meng buried her head and didn’t make a sound. Qing Yichen made a checkmark next to her name and continued, “However, like the other two judges have said, your voice is really good and your emotions reach the audience. If you can go through standard training, you should be able to have big improvements.”

Ding Meng returned from death’s door. “Really?!”

Qiao Yichen spoke, “a.s.suming that you can pa.s.s the next round of eliminations.”

Ding Meng blinked. So this means… that she can advance?

“Thank you judges! I will definitely work hard!”

After leaving the broadcasting building, Ding Meng sat on the subway ride home in disbelief of what had happened.

It was just like yesterday that Qiao Yichen and she had sat in cla.s.s together. Now he was a successful member of the panel of judges.

Probably because her state of mind had been all over the place that afternoon, Ding Meng didn’t even think about cooking dinner. When Qiao Yichen came home from work, she was still laying dazed on the sofa.

Qiao Yichen lowered his head to look at her. Ding Meng unconsciously made eye contact with him and shot up from the couch in surprise.

Qiao Yichen laughed out loud and placed down his keys. He walked over and sat down on the sofa beside her. “How did you think of partic.i.p.ating in a singing compet.i.tion? You gave me quite the surprise.”

Ding Meng hugged a pillow and cautiously scooted over to the other edge before she replied, “I was the one who was given quite the surprise. I didn’t expect you to be that famous.”

Qiao Yichen ignored her small movements and raised his eyebrows at her. “Is it so strange that I’m famous? Gu Xin’s Wild Noise, Sima Xiaoxiao’s First Flowers of February, and even Mo Zhen’s Miss Specter. These all established record alb.u.m sales, and they were all produced by me.”

Ding Meng opened her eyes wide in astonishment. Then she confessed a truth. “I only knew the singers.”

Qiao Yichen, “…..”

He laughed at her and brought up a fact of his own, “Right now I am a judge on Heavenly Voice.”

Ding Meng, “…..”

She placed her pillow aside and gave him an idolizing look. “Oh Great One. You’re so impressive! Please accept my knee!”

T/N: Please accept my knee is internet slang. AKA “Please allow let me kneel down in front of you” to express reverence/admiration.

Qiao Yichen shot her a glance. “What would I do with your knee?”

“Then… the crown of my skull!”

T/N: I’m for a loss at what that means…. Maybe she’s just randomly offering up weird bone parts? Anyone who understands this, please let me know

Qiao Yichen, “…..”

He loosened the tie on his neck and appeared to think something over before speaking. “I have some things I wanted to ask you. I looked at your information sheet. On it you wrote that you used to work at a gaming company as customer service representative?”

Concerning Ding Meng’s work life, he had only asked about it the first time they had reconnected. At the time, she had changed the subject and avoided the topic so he hadn’t brought it up again. He thought that perhaps she was involved in a cla.s.sified project and wasn’t at liberty to discuss her work.

After all, in his heart, Ding Meng was a curve wrecker .

How could such a curve wrecker end up working at a gaming company as a customer service rep? Not only that, the university she graduated from was a very ordinary one. It wasn’t even tier one. He thought about this for a long time before deciding to ask her after all.

Ding Meng’s complexion changed a bit. Then she sighed and responded, “Yeah, I’ve been found out by you.” She had completely forgotten that she had written her occupation on the contestant form. “Actually it’s not much of a story.”