Chapter 517 - Special Reward
“In the mutual evaluation, TQ ranked fifth with a score of 9.2. Therefore, it’s a competition between No. 1 and No. 5,” Director Cheng Xu announced.
Hearing Cheng Xu’s words, everyone became excited.
“TQ is going to compete with the most prospective singer in this show, let’s wait and see.”
“I’m afraid TQ will be eliminated. All the mentors are wondering whether ‘I’m Cute’ is Hanyang, which proves that he is powerful enough to eliminate any rivals.”
“I’m so lucky that he didn’t choose me.”
“...”
Zuo Dong and Da Hua were smiling. Though TQ’s resurrection was not justified, he really had the ability to be one of the top singers in the preparation room, and everyone was looking forward to their competition.
While all the singers were discussing, Cheng Xu asked Zhang Han and TQ if they wanted to say something.
The others again fell into silence.
While swaying his body rhythmically, TQ picked up the microphone, took a glance at Zhang Han and the other singers, and said, “Thank all the mentors for giving me another chance, I’ll seize it and prove my ability with my best song. I, TQ, am still the best singer, and I don’t care about any dark horse... no, no, no.”
Many singers cheered at his words.
At least TQ was good at talking big.
Then everyone turned their gazes to Zhang Han.
Even Cheng Xu was expecting him to say something cheerful.
To their disappointment, Zhang Han just calmly shook his hand and said nothing.
He stood emotionless as he heard TQ’s words.
The others couldn’t help sighing with emotion.
Only such a strong person had the confidence to ignore TQ.
Obviously, Zhang Han chose TQ in order to eliminate him once again.
TQ also knew it. But he could do nothing to change Zhang Han’s mind.
He felt angry and helpless under great pressure.
He felt both excited and nervous.
“Okay, you two can have a rest now. Let’s welcome the No. 2 singer, Tong Jiajia!”
“Wow!”
Many singers and audience members were surprised.
They had never expected this girl to rank second.
Her performance and her sweet voice left a good impression on the others.
Even Tong Jiajia felt a little surprised.
She came on stage a little nervously, scanned the crowd carefully, and then chose a normal singer.
“Ah Yang ranked third in the mutual evaluation, and he was only 0.1 point less than Tong Jiajia...”
The following 23 singers began selecting their opponents one after another according to their own plans. Though Ah Yan wanted to compete with Lu Ze, he finally chose another idol in the top 20, who was relatively weaker than him, to make sure he could win the next round.
On the contrary, some singers chose an opponent well-matched in strength with them to attract more attention.
At 3:30 p.m., the show was over.
All singers and mentors were going to be interviewed after the competition.
But Zhang Han ignored all the reporters.
After taking a look at Zi Yan, Zhang Han checked his watch and told Cheng Xu, “I have something to do and I must go now.”
“Don’t you want to be interviewed? More audience members will know you.” Cheng Xu was surprised.
Zhang Han shook his head slightly and left the hall.
Many people felt sorry for him.
“As the most prospective dark horse in the show, he refused to be interviewed after the competition. So he comes here not for fame or wealth.”
“Yes.”
“According to the brand of the clothes he wears, he must be very rich. So he just comes here to enjoy the show? Or is he here to pursue the beauty?”
All the singers and audience members turned their gazes to Zi Yan in confusion.
After Zhang Han went out for a minute, Zi Yan pursed her lips and said, “Director, I also have something to do, an important interview after the competition. Can I supplement today’s recording the day after tomorrow?”
“Well... Okay, I planned to invite you all out for dinner tonight.” Cheng Xu smiled.
“Maybe next time.” Zi Yan smiled, picked up her purse, and left with Zhou Fei.
Looking at the back of Zhang Han and Zi Yan, Zuo Dong smiled meaningfully.
“Zi Yan was in a hurry to leave after I’m Cute left the hall, but she insisted that she doesn’t know him. Can I trust her?”
“I’m also questioning his identity.” Da Hua shook his head.
They felt that the man was likely to be Hanyang, or at least a professional musician and one of Zi Yan’s friends.
A professional musician... He thought that man was the most likely to be Hanyang
Taking a glance at Cheng Xu, he sighed and smiled, “I wonder if he was arranged by the program team as a surprise.”
“I think so.”
Gu Fan nodded to agree with him. “I’ve seen the recording of his performance twice, and he had perfect control over rhythm and singing skills. Both him and his song were impeccable, so... I dare not guess anymore.”
Most of the singers and audience members were stunned by the three mentors.
“Really? Could he be Hanyang?”
“Dammit. How could such an amazing musician come here to compete with us?”
“Is it true? We’d better surrender as early as possible. We can’t be the champion.”
“...”
Sun Donghuan couldn’t hold back a suppressed giggle.
“I know the truth, but I won’t tell you.”
Lu Ze also remained calm, but he was actually talking to himself. “Yes, he is Hanyang, and you’ll recognize him within several days. And your championship hopes will be dashed by him.”
Everyone wanted to be the champion, but first they had to go through all kinds of tests of their skills.
Tong Jiajia was also confused.
“Oh my gosh. I’m Cute is likely to be Hanyang? I’ve chatted with him for such a long time.”
Gradually...
All the people remaining in the hall turned their gaze to Director Cheng Xu.
They wondered if he could give them a convincing explanation.
However, Chang Xu shook his head helplessly.
“I don’t know, either. But...”
His eyes lit up as he said, “I’ll send someone to make some investigations.”
“Okay, let’s start the post-match interviews, and you can go back to the hotel by yourself afterward. Tomorrow we will have a day off, and you can go around Shenzhen. Remember to bring your cell phone with you, or we will lose touch with you.”
Cheng Xu notified the singers before the post-match interviews.
At the same time...
Zhang Han and Zi Yan were in the helicopter going back to Hong Kong.
“Wow, brother-in-law, you are amazing!”
“Though I am a layman, I was intoxicated by your songs.”
“In fact, you are here to show off how sweet your love is, right?”
Hearing the girls’ words, Zhao Feng nodded seriously.
“I did smell the sweetness in the air.”
Zi Yan was amused by them.
Then she gave Zhang Han a meaningful glance.
“Well done. I’ll reward you when we go back home tonight.”
Zhang Han replied with his eyes: “Got it!”
After returning to their company, Zhang Han and Zi Yan drove to Saint Kindergarten to pick up Mengmeng.
Zi Yan didn’t speak too much on the way... She spent most of the time browsing the news on her cell phone.
Except for some sensational news, most of the news was about showbiz.
Suddenly, Zi Yan blinked her eyes quickly, took a secret glance at Zhang Han, and then type in the search bar: “How can a girl reward her boyfriend?”
While most of the search results were about sending gifts, Zi Yan found some dirty jokes that she didn’t understand.
“What do they mean? Lollipop, isn’t it a kind of candy?”
Thinking for a while, Zi Yan typed some new words in the search bar.
This time, the search results were totally different.
She began to read, one by one, what she had never read before.
It was complicated.
She saw someone on the Internet saying: “How many times a week?” Relevant replies included: “once”, “twice”, “once in half a month”, “once in a month”, etc. Of course, she didn’t believe the reply “13 times a night”.
“It’s nonsense.
“He needs an hour at the fastest time, and how many hours a night?”
She forgot that different people had different durations.
In this way, as she browsed more and more content, the browser gave her more and more intelligent promotion messages, and she finally found something she had never known before.
“What’s the meaning of ‘Crystal Love’?
“Oh my gosh.
“What’s this?
“How could they do this?
“...”
Looking at the news in the browser, Zi Yan’s heart beat faster and her face blushed.
“There are so many things I don’t know.”
She was a little shy and uneasy, but at the same time, she expected to surprise Zhang Han and make him feel comfortable in a different way.
“Can I reward him in this way?
“Hmph, he doesn’t deserve it.”
Zi Yan was in a dilemma.
Thanks to the development of the Internet, Zi Yan got to know a lot of things she hadn’t known before.
The search results were...
Well...
All-inclusive.
“Is it hot today?”
Zhang Han looked at Zi Yan in confusion.
“Why is she blushing?”
“No!”
Zi Yan felt guilty under Zhang Han’s gaze and hurried to shake her head.
“It’s not hot!
“Hmph!
“It’s not hot at all!
“Concentrate on your driving.”
Finally... Zi Yan grumbled coyly.
Zi Yan’s conduct was a mystery to Zhang Han.
“What is going on?”
Zhang Han stopped thinking about it since they had arrived at the kindergarten.
They waited for a few minutes outside, and then entered the school to pick up Mengmeng.
As soon as the little girl got in the car, she squished into Zi Yan’s arms and began chirping.
They passed by New Moon Bay on the way back to Hanxian Pavilion.
“Honey, stop there. We should reward her with some snacks for her good behavior at school,” Zi Yan said when he saw the supermarket not far away.
“Great.”
Mengmeng was overjoyed.
After parking the car, Zi Yan put on her cap and sunglasses, and then the family of three entered the supermarket.
“A small bag of tomato chips, a small bag of this kind of candy, and this... No, you can’t have this jelly.”
Zi Yan glanced over the goods on the shelves and suddenly stopped.
“Let’s try the Crystal Love jelly.”
“We have enough puffed food and delicious fruit, and there is no need to buy more.”
“Well, the task is done. Let’s go.”
The family of three went back to Hanxian Pavilion with a bag of snacks.
Zhang Han went to the orchard in the back mountain to pick some strawberries, cherries, and apples.
There were many kinds of fruits in the orchard, but at this time, only some common fruits were mature, and other high-quality fruit trees were still growing.
After dinner, Mengmeng fell asleep at 10 in the evening.
Zhang Han finally knew what Zi Yan’s reward was.
“Let’s go to the other bedroom.”
Zi Yan took the lead to invite him.
Zhang Han’s eyes lit up as he carried Zi Yan in his arms.
However, after they entered the other bedroom.
“Wait, I, I’m a little thirsty.”
Zi Yan gently pushed Zhang Han away, opened the jelly on the bedside table and ate one.
She opened another one, chewed it, and swallowed it.
In this way, the small bag of jelly was soon half-eaten.
“Well...” Zhang Han looked at Zi Yan in confusion.
“Hmph!” Then he heard Zi Yan mumbling, “I’ll reward you for your excellent performance today. Lie down.”
Zhang Han was surprised.
Then he turned his gaze to the jelly.
He realized what Zi Yan was going to do.
He was excited and lay down without hesitation.
“Hiss...”
After a while, the bed in the bedroom began to shake rhythmically.
At nine o’clock the next morning...
Zi Yan just woke up, but she was still in bed.
The whole program team had a day off today and she planned to stay at home.
Several minutes after she texted Zhang Han, Zhang Han went back to the bedroom.
He had just sent Mengmeng to school.
“Get up, lazybones! I’m going to make breakfast,” Zhang Han smiled and said.
“I’m not hungry, we can skip breakfast. Come and lie in my arms.” Zi Yan patted the bed beside her.
Zhang Han took off his coat, got into bed, and gave Zi Yan a hug.
“By the way, I want to ask you some questions.” Something suddenly occurred to Zhang Han.
“What’s that?” Zi Yan took a glance at Zhang Han.
“When I reach the climax of the song, I feel that my voice is a little strange. It’s too sharp and I want to make it a bit lower. I need a voice that’s close to the female voice, but completely different from it,” Zhang Han thought about it and replied.
“You want to learn a kind of falsetto close to the female voice, like that in Peking Opera? Men usually sing with abdominal breathing, while women sing with chest breathing. Your nasal resonance, chest resonance, and oral resonance are not bad, so you just need to change the way you breathe during the climax of the song,” Zi Yan said.
“Let me give it a try.” Zhang Han cleared his throat and made a voice similar to the female voice but sharper.
“Haha...” Zi Yan burst out laughing. “You’re really bad at controlling your breathing.”
After lying in bed and practicing for a while, Zhang Han went to make breakfast and Zi Yan got up to clean the room.
Zhang Han finished practicing the new skill at two o’clock in the afternoon.
“What kind of song requires falsetto?” Zi Yan asked.
“A special song, which will help me eliminate TQ.” Zhang Han chuckled.
“Well, he just sang me a song, and you are so jealous of him. You men are all narrow-minded.” Zi Yan teased Zhang Han.
“Well... Yes, I’m narrow-minded,” Zhang Han replied.
He took part in the competition to accompany Zi Yan, and he didn’t care about the result. But he was unwilling to be defeated by TQ.
He had prepared this song for the third round of competitions and planned to sing a normal song in the second round.
Therefore...
Someone was destined to experience a tragedy.
At 10 o’clock the next morning...
The hall was noisy at the beginning of the show.
The first competition today was between “I’m Cute”, the dark horse, and TQ, who was said to be strong but hadn’t shown his strength yet.
TQ came to the hall early, and it could be seen that he was very confident about today’s competition.
Ah Yan, in the crowd, was looking at them seriously.
He had just gotten the news that the music director of this show gave TQ a high-quality song, and it would be not easy for “I’m Cute” to beat him.
Obviously, the music director wanted to cultivate TQ at any cost. If TQ defeated Zhang Han, Ah Yan would be arranged to compete with him in the following round, which was not good for Ah Yan.
The show began.
Director Cheng Xu picked up the microphone and announced, “We’ve gone through online trials, auditions, and single challenges, and now there are only 50 singers left. In the next competition, you will compete in pairs, and the mentors will evaluate your performance and vote for the singers who can advance to the next round of competitions. The singers who win in this competition will be the top 25 singers on Chinese New Voice!”
The four mentors communicated with the singers after Cheng Xu finished speaking.
“Half of the singers will be eliminated today. What a fierce competition.”
“Both singers in the first group are powerful, and I wonder if they will surprise us.” Zuo Dong smiled at Zi Yan. “Zi Yan, what do you think about the first group?”
“Me?” Zi Yan replied with a smile, “I’m just thinking about it.”
The other three mentors were amused by her.
Then they heard the host’s voice.
“Next, according to the drawing sequence, the first group of singers is I’m Cute and TQ.”
Music signaled the entrance of the singers.
Zhang Han in casual clothes and TQ wearing a leather jacket stepped onto the stage.
“I’m Cute, I wonder if your new song will again surprise us,” Zuo Dong smiled and said.
“Maybe,” Zhang Han replied.
“TQ, are you nervous?” Zuo Dong asked.
“Not at all.” TQ was polite on the stage. “He is a strong singer and I feel so excited to compete with him.”
“I’m happy that you’re not nervous. Try your best to show us two wonderful songs.” Zuo Dong nodded at them.
“Come on,” Zi Yan said before the two singers started.
Everyone knew who she was encouraging.
TQ also knew it.
“According to the speed at which Zi Yan pressed her button the day before yesterday, it’s impossible for her to encourage me.”
TQ could say nothing but sigh to himself.
“Well, woman.”