Chapter 456: Chapter 454: The First Round Ends

The next to perform was Tang Wanqing.

She was also the contestant many in the audience were most looking forward to. After all, her performance during the selection rounds had been truly excellent.

And her look today, from her costume to her makeup and headpiece, was all done by Jiang Qin.

After all, in the Interstellar era, things like opera costumes only existed in museums.

Ever since Tang Wanqing had put on this yellow embroidered opera costume, she had been both excited and extremely careful.

She was terrified of damaging the outfit, which would cost more than her entire family could afford to replace.

Standing on the stage now, her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

"Ever since I was small, Mom and Dad told me

Huangmei Opera isn’t easy to sing

I’d imitate the adults’ postures and looks 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

And fulfilled my childhood wish..."

The moment she opened her mouth, an aura that seemed to have stepped right out of an ancient painting filled the air.

When she reached the operatic part, her voice became even more melodious and sorrowful:

"To save my love, Li Lang, I left my home

Who would have thought I’d win first place in the imperial exam

As the top scholar, I wore the red robe

With palace flowers in my hat, oh what a sight..."

Among the countless viewers, her family was huddled together excitedly, gathered around their home’s only old, battered Light Computer, watching her moment in the spotlight on the holographic projection.

"Qingqing, Qingqing did it..."

"Qingqing sings so beautifully."

The most emotional of all were her mother and maternal grandmother.

Tang Wanqing already had a foundation in opera because her maternal grandmother’s ancestors had been opera singers.

Back in the ancient-modern era, they were even inheritors of intangible cultural heritage.

Unfortunately, during the Great Cataclysm, most of her grandmother’s ancestors died on their home planet. The younger generations who survived had only learned the basics, forced by their elders.

’Perhaps it’s only when you lose something that you realize how precious it was.’

They passed down what little they knew, relying on word of mouth from one generation to the next.

In truth, with technology having advanced to its current state, Tang Wanqing’s grandmother and her mother had mostly lost interest in an ancient culture like opera.

After all, learning it brought them no benefits, and even if they did learn, there were no librettos for them to sing.

So they only persisted in teaching it generation after generation because of an ancestor’s dying wish that it must be passed down.

But in this generation, a new descendant appeared: Tang Wanqing.

A Tang Wanqing who was madly obsessed with the operatic style of singing.

She sang the one practice piece that had been passed down from the age of six to eighteen.

It wasn’t until Jiang Qin appeared that she finally had new pieces to practice.

But in truth, what Tang Wanqing most wanted to sing wasn’t this fusion of operatic and pop music. She wanted to sing a true, complete opera.

Unfortunately, she had neither the opportunity nor the means to access it.

So, becoming famous had been her dream since she was a little girl.

For the Tang family, who lived on a second-rate planet and were ordinary in every way—even bordering on poor—her dream seemed like a wild fantasy.

After all, when it came to looks, the streets were full of beautiful females. And in terms of education, she couldn’t compare to those who had graduated from formal conservatories.

There weren’t even enough opportunities for the citizens of high-Level planets to fight over, so how could it ever be their turn?

And since Tang Wanqing herself was a finance major, her chances seemed truly slim.

But who would have thought that opportunity really does favor the prepared.

If you think something is impossible and don’t even try, then it truly will be impossible forever.

The brightly shining Tang Wanqing on stage at this moment was the best example of this.

She won without any surprises.

Her opponent gave a standard performance, while she had delivered an extraordinary one.

When you sing a song you truly love, your performance is on a whole other level.

...

Match Seven: Sun Dongling (Josh’s team) vs. Huang Qianliu (Ophina’s team)

The final winner was Sun Dongling.

The song Huang Qianliu sang was quite similar to those of her teammates, like three sister songs.

Although her sweet style attracted some male fans, she didn’t win over as many as Sun Dongling did.

With that, the seven winners were decided.

The next event was the revival round, also in three days. Those who lost their matchups today could challenge any of the seven winners.

The challenger who won would take the winner’s place; the loser would be eliminated from the competition for good.

***

After the show ended, all the contestants finally let their tense emotions relax.

Jiang Qin told her three contestants to go relax and have fun for the day; they would talk about tomorrow’s business tomorrow.

She paid special attention to Xiong Yuanyuan. "Remember what I told you. There needs to be a balance between work and rest.

You were amazing today, so give yourself the night off. Go eat something delicious, do some shopping, that sort of thing."

"Okay." Xiong Yuanyuan fiddled with her fingers shyly.

She was just so scared—scared that if she relaxed for even a moment, she would be left completely behind.

That was why, for the past few days, if Jiang Qin hadn’t forced her to get at least six hours of rest, she probably would have spent every single minute practicing.

After seeing to her three trainees, Jiang Qin returned to the hotel where Yun Xie and the others were temporarily staying.

"Zhaozhao baby, Mommy’s home~"

The little baby, who was growing more delicate and beautiful by the day, gurgled twice as if in response.

She had been leaving early and coming home late for the past two days, and Zhaozhao was always fast asleep, so the little baby hadn’t seen her in two days.

"Let’s go. We should go out for a walk too. Let’s enjoy the night breeze, so our Zhaozhao and the daddies don’t get stir-crazy."

Hearing they were going out, Yun Xie immediately went to get a long coat and a thick baby blanket.

Meanwhile, Long Hao went to prepare some formula and grab a sippy cup and other necessities.

Jiang Qin put on the coat and headed out, holding the bundled-up Zhaozhao in her arms.

...

She wasn’t surprised at all when she arrived at seven the next morning to find her three trainees already waiting in the classroom.

She then took out three new songs she had just redeemed.

"You might not get challenged, but we should still prepare a new song just in case.

If you don’t end up using it in the revival round in three days, we can save it for a later matchup."

After receiving the sheet music, the three of them immediately began to practice diligently.

Just as Jiang Qin started to coach them, there was a knock on the classroom door.

Qi Huaixuan hurried to open it.

"Hi, everyone! We’re the camera crew from the show. Would it be okay if we came in to do a short livestream?"

Qi Huaixuan looked at Jiang Qin, who nodded, and only then did the camera crew enter.

The male leading the crew wasn’t carrying a camera but was wearing a lapel microphone. He asked with a smile, "Are you all practicing a new song?"

"Yes," Jiang Qin replied.

"Wow, Miss Jiang Qin, you’re just incredible! It’s only the first morning, and you’ve already produced three new songs."

In reality, the show didn’t require mentors to compose on the spot; any unreleased new song would do.

In other words, even if a mentor secretly hired a ghostwriter, the production team would turn a blind eye.

In any case, there was only one requirement: a new song!

So, the male host in charge of the shoot was really just making polite conversation.

"Mentor Jiang Qin, many viewers in our livestream have some questions for your three trainees. Would you mind if we took up a little of your practice time?"

"Not a problem. Go ahead," Jiang Qin said with a smile, stepping aside to wait.