After a simple rebirth

The preliminary round of the program was held on Wednesday night in the newly built lecture hall. Fu Ying and Chen Lu took leave in advance and went there in their school uniforms.

The lecture hall is not big, a bit like a university classroom, with a tiered structure, and can accommodate about 200 people, but the seats are sofa-shaped, so it is not so uncomfortable to sit in. In front of the seats is a large screen and stage, and Fu Ying and Chen Lu will go up there later.

Now the people waiting to arrive sign in, and then draw lots to decide who will go on stage. Chen Lu was the representative and drew lots to be the third to go on stage, which was relatively early. Fu Ying thought it was good, as she could go on stage earlier and finish earlier.

The class also signed up for another program at the end, and the order of the draw was the last one to appear. I heard it was a dance by four girls, but I didn't know what they were dancing, so Fu Ying didn't ask too much.

After the draw was over, the host welcomed the referee and the competition officially began.

The first program was a female solo chorus. She sang "Aiya Aiya". Maybe because she was too nervous, she sang dryly in front of a group of people in the audience. Her voice was tense. Maybe because she rarely performed on stage, she was not used to holding a microphone. The microphone was far away, so the sound was not consistent. In addition, she forgot the lyrics at the end, so she ended the performance early.

The second one was dance, the boys' favorite robotic dance. The boy who performed it did have some talent. His movements looked powerful. Fu Ying felt that his program was secure. If there were no similar performances and their level was higher than his, he would basically get in.

When the first show started, Fu Ying and Chen Lu just waited by the side, waiting in advance without having to wait for anyone to call them.

After the host finished speaking, two people went up.

Fu Ying's singing skills are not as good as Chen Lu's, so she can only try her best to put in her movements and emotions to try not to be a drag. Without costumes and props, the two of them designed some movements to coordinate, which made it less dry.

When they really went on stage, time actually passed very quickly. Both of them performed perfectly and sang the entire song.

After they left the stage, Chen Lu wanted to watch the performances of others and wait for the final results. The scores of the programs will be announced after the next program is performed, but the rankings will not be announced. The top ten will be announced after all the competitions are completed, which is the list of participants in the school celebration.

Fu Ying didn't want to wait, not because she didn't care about her classmates' performances, but because she cared more about studying. If she got in, she would prepare more, but if she didn't, forget it. She didn't want to wait there all night and feel the baptism of the current non-mainstream culture.

Chen Lu came back when the evening self-study class was almost over. The other four people who went to perform with her also came back. Fu Ying saw that she was very happy, but the other people did not look happy. Fu Ying asked Chen Lu in surprise,

"No way, judging by your expression, we're still in the top ten?"

"Yeah, we're ninth, which means we're going to perform at the school celebration!"

Compared to Chen Lu's happiness, Fu Ying was shocked and conflicted. She was shocked because she really didn't expect to be in the top ten, after all, there must be many people singing. She was conflicted because although they also prepared carefully, they would definitely have to invest more time and energy in the school anniversary celebration. They probably had to cooperate with the school to rehearse several times, and finally perform in front of so many people!

Fu Ying wanted to shout for help!

"What are they performing? What shows are they in? Tell me about it."

Although Fu Ying had some guesses, she still wanted to verify it.

"The first one was a dance by an unknown class in the first grade, with more than a dozen people. Then there was the street dance in front of us, our chorus, a class performing a skit, and another one that also sang, but it was by one person, and it was an English song that sounded really good.

As for the others, I don’t remember them very well. As you said, the ones with more people are more likely to be selected.”

Chen Lu counted the ones she remembered and agreed with what Fu Ying said.

"Of course. After all, the purpose of the school celebration is to perform in front of the whole school. How can it be just one person singing? That would turn it into a singing competition.

I think we should choose one from each category. If there are too many of one category, we should choose the better one. This way the effect of the program is guaranteed.”

Hearing Fu Ying say this, Chen Lu nodded, but then she thought of a program.

"Oh, yeah, you mean that. There was a boy who sang really well, but he didn't make the cut."

"What song is he singing?" Fu Ying asked puzzledly.

“‘Qingming Rain’, I feel like it has a lot of Xu Song’s flavor.”

"But we are performing at the school celebration, so something happy and festive is definitely better. Although 'Qingming Yushan' is not unlucky, its lyrics and music are both sad, so it is not suitable for the school celebration. If he had sang 'Good Days', maybe he would have been accepted."

Chen Lu was amused by Fu Ying and thought it made a lot of sense, so she continued to discuss it with her.

"Then why did you choose 'Suzhou River'? This song isn't considered festive, is it?"

Fu Ying patiently explained: "Although Suzhou River also has a slow tempo, it focuses more on the Jiangnan style and has cultural characteristics. In addition, I sang the Cantonese version, which is a shortcut. With the benefit of multiple languages, it seems different.

Finally, let’s talk about our stage design. The movements and positioning are enough to show that our program is relatively mature and stable, and there won’t be any major problems. The teachers are naturally relieved. ”

"Wow, Fu Ying, you are so knowledgeable! Have you ever participated in such a competition?

If it weren’t for you, I might have just picked a song I liked and wouldn’t have made it to the finals.”

“I have never participated in this kind of performance competition, but I have participated in some other competitions.

I guessed right this time just by luck, don't think too much, you are so talented and sing so beautifully, you will definitely make it to the finals even without me."

Fu Ying had never performed like this on a big stage. She had only participated in skill competitions, which were not such a big scene, so she was a little nervous.

Chen Lu continued to talk.

"I know myself, no need to comfort me. By the way, I have to go to a meeting after school tomorrow afternoon. The teacher wants to talk about the school anniversary performance."

Fu Ying nodded.

"Okay, let's go together tomorrow afternoon. I think the teacher should talk about the clothing requirements and rehearsal time."

"I think so too. There's only a week left, so time is running out!"

On the way home from school, Fu Ying was thinking about the costumes. At first, Fu Ying's idea was a collision of two people, red and white roses, she was the passionate red rose, and Chen Lu was the cold white rose. But this picture didn't really match the song title and lyrics, so she had to give up.

Think about the song title again, Suzhou River, Jiangnan scenery, the Jiangnan region is the most gentle, with the beauty of green mountains and ink painting, so the clothing is either cheongsam or ancient style.

But I don’t think it’s available in the county town. I think it should be available online, but I’m afraid the courier won’t be able to deliver it in time. Currently, the things Fu Yu buys take about a week to arrive, and she has to go to the county town to pick them up. If they are not suitable, she can’t wait to exchange them.

I can only put it aside for now and ask Chen Lu for her opinion.

At the meeting the next day, the teacher in charge talked about the things to note for the school anniversary. We had to rehearse every afternoon and bring our own costumes, but they had to be in line with our student status.

After listening to this, Chen Lu also asked about Fu Ying.

"Fu Ying, what do you think we should choose for our costumes?"

"At first I wanted to choose cheongsam and ancient costumes. Our songs have an ancient flavor, which is more appropriate. But cheongsam is okay, maybe I can find someone who can use a sewing machine to make it for me, but ancient costumes are hard to buy, let alone find the right ones.

Do you think it’s better to have one for each person or to have both of them equally?”

Fu Ying was actually also struggling.

"Cheongsam and ancient costumes sound very attractive. I want to wear them too."

When Chen Lu heard this, her eyes sparkled.

Fu Ying interrupted her fantasy.

"But the school anniversary performance is on New Year's Day. It's okay to wear ancient costumes, but it's easy to catch a cold if you wear cheongsam. The bigger problem is that there is nowhere to buy these two kinds of clothing. As far as I know, there is definitely no place to buy them in the county town. I don't know about the city because I have never been to the city."

Chen Lu thought about it carefully and frowned.

"It seems there isn't any in the city. I grew up there and often went out to play. There are shops that make custom cheongsams, but there really aren't any shops that sell ancient costumes."

"If ancient costumes are not an option, then both of them can wear cheongsams, just different colors for each person."

"If there's nothing in the city, let's go to the provincial capital, Chuncheng. There must be something in Chuncheng!" Chen Lu made another suggestion.

Fu Ying was shocked!

"Ah? Chuncheng! It's very difficult for us to get there. Think about it. We have to take a bus to the county first. We don't know if there is a direct bus to Chuncheng in the county. If not, we have to go to the city. That means we have to go at least three times. Two days on the weekend may not be enough time to go back and forth, right?"

"It's too troublesome not to take the bus. I can ask my dad to come back tomorrow and take us to Chuncheng to buy ancient costumes on Saturday. We can just have some fun."

Chen Lu felt that it didn't need to be so troublesome.

Fu Ying looked at Chen Zhen's eldest lady Lu. No way, your father is so free, and he even sent us there! She still had to persuade him.

"That's not good. It's troublesome for your father to come back specially for this matter."

"It's okay, I can just give him a call. He's not that busy on weekends." Chen Lu disagreed.

"Ah, why don't you think about it again?" Fu Ying persuaded again. This was really not a good idea!

"Don't worry, my dad is a very good person. It just so happens that he will share the money for the clothes."

Fu Ying, you are really filial to her. Her father must be a daughter slave!

"I'm not asking who will pay for the clothes. I just feel bad for bothering your dad to come back and drive us so long. Why don't you ask your parents first and see what they say? If they don't have time, don't worry about it. There are many solutions."

"Don't worry, it's not difficult. My dad will be happy about it." Chen Lu insisted.

Fu Ying could only accept it reluctantly, but made other suggestions.

"How about this, you ask your dad if he has any friends in Chuncheng, and ask him if there are any ancient costumes like this in Chuncheng. If not, I suddenly thought that Rongcheng should have some, and we are actually closer to Rongcheng.

There are many ancient streets in Rongcheng. Kuanzhai Alley is a tourist area. There must be clothes for sale in such ancient streets. I just don’t know if the price will be too expensive. We will see when the time comes.”

"Okay, I'll ask my dad and give you an answer tomorrow."

After saying goodbye to Chen Lu and on the way home, Fu Ying realized something was wrong. She didn't want to go. The trip back and forth might take two days. She originally wanted Chen Lu to go shopping on her behalf, and if that didn't work out, they could just wear anything. How did it become necessary for them to go together?

But it’s not a good idea to reject her rashly now, and it’s not easy to just leave it to her when there are two of them performing. I’ll just have to wait for the result of Chen Lu’s question.