novelslam Chapter 522 A Man's Choice
Chapter 522 A Man's Choice
Soft lighting evenly illuminated every corner of the living room, making the faces of everyone staring at the television screen appear very clear.
Old Lin nestled comfortably in the soft sofa, casually picking up a handful of sunflower seeds with his right hand, leisurely cracking them open.
On the television screen, the rehearsal footage of the Yuquan duo had just ended when a surge of exciting and powerful music suddenly erupted like a tidal wave.
Clips of the seven singers performing flashed rapidly across the screen like a carousel.
At the same time, a large, eye-catching banner appeared prominently on the screen—
'The match is about to begin'
At this moment, Lin Yourong gracefully walked out of the kitchen, carrying a thermos of hot water, and poured tea for everyone in turn.
Old Lin turned to look at his daughter, who was finally behaving well and sensible in his eyes. A warm smile appeared on his face as he asked curiously, "You Rong, which number are you when you appear?"
“Hmm…” Lin Yourong hesitated for a moment, then walked to Yu Huan’s side and bent down slightly.
Boiled water flowed gently from the spout, filling Yu Huan's cup.
She calmly replied to her father, "Dad, we'll find out soon anyway, so just stay calm and wait patiently."
Upon hearing this, the crow's feet at the corners of Old Lin's eyes became even more pronounced. He laughed heartily and said, "You're still keeping me in suspense. Fine, I'll find out soon enough. I'll just wait patiently."
"Your dad means that after watching your performance, he should go back and rest as soon as possible." The mother-in-law smiled and knew her husband best. She gently patted Lao Lin's shoulder and then added, "Your dad's holiday is over tomorrow, and he has to go back to work this weekend. There's a lot of work waiting for him at the newspaper."
Old Lin nodded affirmatively, and then said, "That's right, the program airs way too late, it doesn't start until 10 o'clock."
Hearing their conversation, Zhang Ye turned his curious gaze to Yu Huan and asked with interest, "Little Yu, you work at the same company as your father-in-law, so you should be going to work tomorrow, right?"
"I have to go to work," Yu Huan replied with a smile and a light tone.
Compared to the big boss, Lao Lin, this small boss felt much more relaxed and leisurely after delegating most of his affairs to Chen Yaoyao.
Previously, Lao Lin had noticed him constantly looking at his phone and probably assumed he was busy with work as the resumption of work was approaching.
That's not the case. He was just bored and casually scrolling through his phone to kill time.
Zhang Ye chuckled lightly, saying with a hint of teasing, "So it seems I'm the only one with nothing to do!?"
The mother-in-law's gaze remained fixed on the television screen. Upon hearing this, she gently shook her head and smiled as she continued, "That's not true. I still have two days of vacation left. I don't officially start work until next Monday."
Zhang Ye's eyes lit up slightly, and he quickly said, "My mother originally wanted to stay in Xingcheng for a few more days, but I've been worried about having nothing to do and I find it quite boring. Since you have plenty of time, I might as well stay a few more days and go back to Yanjing later."
"That's wonderful!" The mother-in-law understood what she meant, smiled, and replied warmly, "I happen to have some free time, so I'll accompany you to stroll around and see how Xingcheng has changed in the past few years."
Zhang Ye beamed with a bright smile and readily agreed, "No problem!"
Just as Zhang Ye and his mother-in-law were chatting and laughing, Lin Zhixuan and his agent Shen Ling were sitting side by side on the TV screen in the living room.
Suddenly, a crisp "ding-a-ling" sound rang out, and a striking slogan quickly appeared in the lower left corner:
'The draw for the starting lineup is about to begin.'
Shen Ling held the paper up to his eyes with one hand, while gesturing rapidly in the air with the other, his expression grave as he analyzed, "These five groups of singers won't hold back at all..."
"Is the order out yet?" A hint of doubt flashed in Lin Zhixuan's eyes as he took the paper from Shen Ling's hand and examined it carefully.
“We only have numbers 1 and 7 to choose from,” Shen Ling explained.
As soon as the words were spoken, a slogan appeared above the subtitles:
Two new singers
'They are number 1 and number 7 respectively'
As Shen Ling spoke, he seemed to suddenly remember some confidential matter.
He covered his mouth with his hand, lowered his voice with a hint of slyness, and continued to Lin Zhixuan, "I secretly heard the director say that as long as it's not next to Huang Qishan, it's a good number... really!"
After listening, Lin Zhixuan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile, and his eyes sparkled with confidence.
Watching this segment on TV, and recalling Lin You Rong's earlier remarks, Old Lin couldn't help but chuckle: "Judging from this situation, You Rong should be the first to appear... That's good, after watching her performance, we can sit a little longer."
Zhang Ye slumped on the sofa with his arms crossed, a thoughtful expression on his face, and slowly began to speak:
"Although I had heard You Rong say that she got second place this time, I really didn't expect her to be the first to go on stage. Although she can get into the zone quickly and doesn't have to wait for a long time, the competition system of 'I Am a Singer' is a final unified scoring system, which is really disadvantageous for the first singer to go on stage. What's more, she chose a slow song with a soothing rhythm like 'Time Thief,' which is easy for the audience to forget in the end."
"Sister Zhang, this just proves that Rongrong sang amazingly. Throughout the entire performance, the audience's attention and ears were firmly captivated by her; they didn't forget her easily, and she even received a high score," Yu Huan said with a smile.
"Exactly! So what if she goes first? So what if she chose a plain ballad? Rongrong is strong enough, she'll still get a good ranking!" Ji Meng said excitedly, her eyebrows dancing. With a "click," she skillfully pried open a macadamia nut.
After she finished speaking, she put the milky white nut into her mouth and chewed it rhythmically with her cheeks.
Since the show started airing, Ji Meng's mouth has been like a wound-up toy, never stopping for a moment.
Yu Huan's gaze never left the television screen. He pondered for a moment, then raised his hand to scratch the hair at his temple before speaking slowly and deliberately.
"Actually, neither of these two performance orders is ideal. Although performing last can be the grand finale, the audience is almost numb after so many singers have performed round after round. In comparison, I think that as long as the skills are strong enough, performing first is better."
"Xiao Yu, what you said makes sense!" Old Lin nodded in agreement after listening.
The television emitted a soft glow.
Lin Zhixuan and Shen Ling walked steadily along the brightly lit corridor.
The latter suddenly darted forward and pushed open a door.
The camera then pans into the room, where Lin Yourong and Shen Mengchen are standing side by side, both with smiles on their faces.
The two sides met here and politely greeted each other with "hello." At the same time, a striking slogan instantly appeared above the subtitles:
'Two new singers meet for the first time'
Next came the draw, where the agents drew lots to determine the order of appearance.
On the table in the center of the lounge, a large, transparent, bowl-shaped container stands out, resembling a crystal bowl.
Inside the container, tennis ball-sized lottery balls were neatly stacked.
On the surface, the white ball is used to confuse the eye, while the two blue balls, symbolizing the key order of appearance, are placed at the very bottom.
The two agents stood beside the container, looking eager to get started.
Lin Yourong and Lin Zhixuan lagged behind, smiling and quietly observing the drawing process.
Shen Ling looked up at Lin Zhixuan and said with a smile, "Ladies first, let's be gentlemen."
As soon as he said this, Shen Mengchen didn't say anything more and reached out without hesitation, quickly digging into the container.
Her hand twirled among the lottery balls a few times before abruptly stopping, and she pulled a blue ball from the bottom. Seeing this, Lin Zhixuan calmly took a step back, leisurely sat down on the sofa, and smiled teasingly: "Always creating suspense..."
Shen Mengchen carefully opened the lottery ball.
The moment her gaze fell upon the numbers inside the sphere, she let out a high-decibel gasp, then quickly closed it again.
Shen Mengchen's Adam's apple bobbed noticeably as she swallowed nervously. She turned to face Lin Yourong, who was diagonally behind her, and asked, "What do you think is the difference between going on stage last and going on stage first?"
After a moment's thought, Lin Su smiled and replied, "The pressure will be greatest at the end."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Mengchen suddenly opened the lottery ball, showed the number to Lin Yourong, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Number 1!"
Almost at the same moment, Shen Ling also opened the draw ball in his hand.
A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, and he raised his voice, saying, "Ours is number seven!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Mengchen turned to look at Lin Zhixuan sitting on the sofa and asked, "How is Brother Xuan's mental fortitude?"
"No problem!" Lin Zhixuan smiled, giving a firm and confident look.
The camera suddenly shifts.
“The two experts are going to team up,” Shen Ling said aggressively, holding the lottery ball in one hand and gesturing to his neck with the other. “First, we’ll put them in a chokehold! Then we’ll follow up with a sweeping leg kick! It’ll be a coordinated attack from start to finish!”
The slogan appeared at the appropriate time above the subtitles:
Two new singers
'Alliance Battle'
Shen Ling's exaggerated gestures made Shen Mengchen immediately put her hands on the table and burst into laughter.
Lin Zhixuan couldn't help but chuckle. He stood up, took two steps forward, and stood between the two of them, interjecting with a smile, "It means 'to sandwich' them."
“Yes!” Shen Mengchen and Shen Ling responded in unison.
Shen Mengchen clapped repeatedly and uttered two words with conviction: "Brilliant!"
Before the laughter had completely subsided, the scene shifted swiftly to Huang Qishan's dressing room.
"The new guy said he's going to attack us from both ends..."
As Huang Qishan spoke, she gestured with her hand on the notice board.
The names of the singers, their songs, and their styles are clearly displayed on the notice board.
However, the bottom two columns are shrouded in mystery, with the singer's name marked only as 'A' and 'B', and the song title replaced by a question mark.
"So this time, we don't have 1 and 7 in the draw!"
The camera quickly shifts.
Huang Qishan turned her head and said to Du Haitao, "Let Mom draw a lot," and then eagerly reached into the crystal basin and pulled out a blue lottery ball.
She brought the ball to her eyes, deftly opened it, and flashed a confident smile: "Who cares how many..."
in front of the TV.
Yu Huan was holding a piece of red pomelo in her hand and was putting it into her mouth.
Seeing the two of them playing role-playing games, Huang Qishan, who was called "Huang Ma" by Du Haitao, actually started calling herself "Mom" quite openly...
This scene almost made him spit out his drink.
Under Lin Yourong's concerned gaze, he subconsciously raised his hand to cover his mouth, coughed a few times, and swallowed the red pomelo while enduring the discomfort, letting out a long breath.
"Have a drink of water," Lin Yourong gently reminded him.
Upon hearing this, Yu Huan reached for the water glass on the coffee table and nodded in agreement, "Okay."
The mother-in-law glanced around, observing the way the two of them were interacting, and a smile spread across her face.
at the same time.
On the television screen, Huang Qishan showed the number from the lottery ball to the camera, accompanied by a "ding" sound, and a slogan appeared:
Huang Qishan drew number 4.
The scene changes rapidly.
In the footage, Sha Baoliang quickly grabbed a blue ball from the lottery container.
Upon seeing this, the female manager, Yoyo, immediately protested coquettishly, "Why didn't you let me smoke! You just smoked it directly!"
“Today I’m going to sing ‘A Woman’s Choice’,” Sha Baoliang said with a very serious expression. “But when we draw lots, I still hope it will be a man’s choice.”
The moment he finished speaking, the camera panned to him.
The two sat side by side on the small sofa.
Sha Baoliang picked up a piece of toilet paper, as if the lottery ball in his hand were an incomparably precious treasure, and began to wipe it.
"Clean the ball up." Sha Baoliang said in a serious tone.
The people in the living room couldn't help but burst into laughter.
On the TV screen, Yoyo suppressed a laugh and asked, "Numbers 2 through 6, what's your number?"
Sha Baoliang did not answer when he heard this. Instead, he stood up and showed the camera the opened lottery ball, on which the number '6' was clearly visible.
Immediately after, the scene quickly switched several times, and a brief clip of the remaining singers drawing lots flashed by.
As the audience's anticipation reached its peak, accompanied by rousing background music, an advertisement suddenly popped up on the screen, marking the start of commercial break...
Yu Huan noticed that her father-in-law was holding a handful of sunflower seed shells. He straightened up and quickly and considerately picked up the trash can and reached out to him.
Seeing this, Lao Lin dumped all the sunflower seed shells into the basket.
He clapped his hands lightly, brushed away the remaining sunflower seed crumbs between his fingers, and said with a smile, "I didn't think much of it before, but now I really think this show is really tantalizing. The pre-competition hype is really long. Just when it's about to start, they start showing commercials again."
"It's all because You Rong is there. You're so eager to see her perform, you can't wait to see her sing on stage, so of course you're feeling apprehensive," the mother-in-law said with a smile.
Ji Meng cracked sunflower seeds and turned to Lin Yourong beside her, asking, "Rongrong, you were the first one to go on stage. Were you nervous?"
"I was a little nervous at first, but as soon as I heard the intro to 'Time Thief,' I immediately felt relaxed," Lin Yourong replied with a smile. (End of Chapter)