Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, feeling as though it had been stolen away.
During these past twenty days or so, Qin Tian had been frantically busy, recording three songs in a seamless sequence from arrangement to final production. Immediately following that, he shot a music video, spinning around like an endless top until he almost felt dizzy. As a result, for the remaining half month, Qin Tian could only stare at the ceiling and count down the days until the Peak Night.
Speaking of this Peak Night, the process was wonderfully complicated: three songs, four rounds of competition, plus a duet with Sister Na—the track was already chosen, which was "Love Needs You to Be Perfect". But that wasn't even enough; Qin Tian also had to prepare three solo songs. He felt like a little squirrel getting ready for winter, needing to stash away some provisions just to feel secure.
The guy had long since prepared three tracks for himself: "Bubble", "Dragon Scales of Heaven and Earth", and "Chiling". Qin Tian figured that if he could advance directly to the fourth round, two songs would do the trick; if he got eliminated right away, one song and he would be bowing out. But being a cautious sort who worried about every "what if," he prepared all three anyway—after all, it pays to be prepared for any eventuality!
As for Qin Tian himself, he never once imagined he would be saying goodbye in the first round. His confidence level was practically supercharged.
While Qin Tian was busy rehearsing his songs, Naza wasn't idling at home either. She had listened early on to the song Qin Tian had given her!
"Why are you still the way I saw you first?
Seeing you makes yearning impossible to contain.
I'll go with you anywhere,
Staying right by your side.
You are like a brand upon my heart,
Accompanying me as I grow old, journeying with me to heaven.
You appeared like an angel,
Easily satisfying every fantasy I had."
Hearing these words, Naza's eyes instantly brightened, her heart flooded with sweetness. She genuinely believed that Qin Tian had harbored a crush on her for several full years. Heh, these lyrics were practically a full confession of Qin Tian's innermost thoughts, matching his spoken words word for word, without the slightest discrepancy.
Right then, Naza's confidence in her own charm skyrocketed to explosive levels. After all, what pretty girl isn't full of confidence, believing herself to be the most dazzling star of all?
"Your eyes are like twinkling stars,
Bright and sparkling, falling into the trap at a single glance.
Don't worry, how lucky,
Perhaps it's destined by fate.
Gazing at you without blinking,
Only you make me partial, WU.
Your eyes are like wind chimes,
Jingle, jingle, the sound entering my mind.
How melodious, how pure,
Even dark clouds turn to clear skies.
Falling in love with you at first sight,
Just like a chemical reaction.
If fantasies can be forgiven by loneliness,
Then it must be your gentle gaze
Illuminating me, warming my heart,
Smoothing away all my scars."
As the chorus made its grand entrance, Naza muttered to herself that this feeling was sweeter than honey. She was thoroughly convinced that this little boy harbored deep, ocean-deep true love for her! She began plotting whether she should take the initiative and orchestrate a "chance encounter" to contact him.
Well, to be fair, such a talented guy was bound to have a golden, unimpeded path ahead in his future showbiz career.
"Ahem! I can't surrender so easily. I've got to make him take that first step and deliver some passionate confession. Then, I'll pretend to reluctantly chat with him about life and ideals, trying to step into his inner world."
Naza's little calculations clicked away rapidly. "At least he's a hundred times better than that scumbag from before; his looks and talent are both top-notch, at least."
Unfortunately, our classmate Qin Tian didn't cooperate with Naza's wishes. He started practicing his duet with Sister Na first, and their chemistry soared straight up, making them look like a match made in heaven. Meanwhile, the quarter-finals were bustlingly broadcasting on television, and the finals of Sister Na's team were simply spectacular.
As for the ratings, naturally they surged ahead all the way, skyrocketing. Any match featuring Qin Tian easily broke the 7% mark, and his popularity was through the roof! The most direct reflection of this was on PP Music, where the download counts for Qin Tian's original songs left everyone else far behind, standing in a league of their own. Offline, every major KTV and lobby was playing Qin Tian's "Wukong"—talk about a massive hit!
On Weibo, Qin Tian's follower count shot up rapidly, breaking the three-million mark in half a month. Keep in mind that Yao Chen, the reigning Queen of Weibo at the time, had just barely crossed ten million followers. For a talent show contestant to command such high popularity left industry insiders with their jaws nearly dropping to the floor. Already, quite a few record companies were growing restless, eager to poach him, and even willing to pay exorbitant penalty fees for contract termination.
Canxing hadn't expected Qin Tian to become this wildly popular either, and they were already considering bumping up his tier. But seeing how things stood now, they might need to raise it even higher, treating him under a top-tier singer's contract. They certainly didn't want a repeat of what happened at the rival station's "Happy Girls", where contestants terminated their contracts left and right the moment the competition ended.
That same viewer, Li Guang, said with an intoxicated expression, "A truly talented creator, living up to his reputation! These three songs are simply amazing!"
His wife chimed in from the side, "He's so handsome!"
Hearing that, Li Guang immediately grumbled, "Can you not be so superficial, always going on about how handsome he is? I appreciate his talent!"
His wife snapped right back, "I'm just asking you if he's handsome or not? Talented and handsome—now that's a true idol!"
Left speechless, Li Guang had no retort. This conversation simply could not continue.
The television station's executives watched the real-time ratings in a daze. When they saw the ratings break 8% while Qin Tian performed his third song, a new record was set. The executives were overjoyed—if only they had a few more contestants like Qin Tian, how wonderful that would be! They hurriedly communicated with the director, instructing that come September 30th, Qin Tian had to perform three songs and participate in all four rounds no matter what.
This was pure money! It looked like advertising rates were about to go up again!
At that very moment, Naza was also sitting in front of her TV, watching the program with rapt attention and developing an even deeper appreciation for Qin Tian's talent.
She pondered to herself, "Why hasn't this guy sent me a message yet? Is he that busy preparing for the finals? Still, he can't even squeeze out time to send a text? Oh well, forget it. Since you're so busy right now, I'll temporarily forgive you and give you one more chance!"
Qin Tian's confession had still stirred up a tiny ripple in Naza's heart after all—wasn't that just one of Qin Tian's little tricks?
Yet our classmate Qin Tian didn't have a single second to spare for such thoughts. He was pouring his heart and soul into the arrangements for Peak Night, practicing songs against the clock. After all, he couldn't drop the ball at such a crucial moment!
In the blink of an eye, Peak Night arrived in all its glory.
"Please welcome the contestants of The Voice of China, joining hands to present Zhejiang Television's brand-new 2012 station anthem, 'The Dreamy Sky is Extra Blue'!" As Hua Shao's magnetic voice rang out, the eleven contestants made a gorgeous entrance, kicking off the opening show.
Right from the start, the talented contestants took turns warming up the stage, driving the audience wild. The production team had spared no expense this time, trading up from minor league to major league by inviting not only the original artists to sing alongside the contestants, but also bringing in international superstar Adam to perform with Zhang Wei—it was wildly awesome!
The warm-up segment lasted for an hour before it was finally time for the main stars of the night to take the stage. First up was Brother Kun's team; Brother Kun led Jin Zhiwen in a passionate rendition of "Brothers" that set the arena on fire.
Immediately following that, all four mentors took the stage with their respective trainees. Harlem sang "Let Me Love You Once is Enough", Huan Ge brought "The Universe in My Heart", and Sister Na—as mentioned earlier—performed "Love Needs You to Be Perfect".
Then came the solo segment. Wu Mochou rocked the house with "Change Yourself", Jike touched hearts with "Deep Affection, Long Relationship", Jin Zhiwen poured out his heart in "I Want to Tell You Loudly", and our classmate Qin Tian delivered a deeply emotional performance of "Bubble".
As Qin Tian began to sing:
"The bubbles under the sunlight
Are colorful,
Just like the rejected me,
Who am I to call it happy?
Why trace right or wrong?
Your rejection
Stems from the fact that I still love you.
Beautiful bubbles,
Though just a fleeting spark,
All my promises,
Though far too fragile,
Yet love is like a bubble.
If one can see through it all,
What is there to grieve?"
The lyrics had been slightly tweaked by Qin Tian's own pen: the original bitterness of G.E.M.'s heartbreak was cleverly transformed into the subtle emotion of being rejected.
Qin Tian actually had a little scheme in mind; he was gambling that this competition would explode in popularity nationwide and that Naza would see this moment. And lo and behold, he won the bet!
Not only did Naza see it, but she was even present in person, watching with rapt interest from the audience. Having recently arrived in Shanghai and just signed her contract for the film *Police Story*, she heard that Peak Night was an unprecedented spectacle and on a whim, bought a ticket to sneak into the venue.
Naza found a very high-sounding excuse for herself: she was the female lead in Qin Tian's music video, so she had to come and see if he disgraced himself.
(Though truth be told, it was just an excuse to find an opportunity to make a girl look at you differently; stirring up her curiosity was only the first little trick.)
At that moment, Naza muttered inwardly, "Why has it become a bubble? Didn't I just gently reject you? Why does love have to shatter so easily? The guys I've rejected in the past are still chasing after me relentlessly; look at you, folding so easily under a little setback. You really should learn from them!"
"I should have known bubbles
Burst at a touch,
Just like a wounded heart
Unable to bear the torment.
Nor is it anyone's fault;
No matter how much I like you,
It stems from the fact that I still love you.
Beautiful bubbles,
Though just a fleeting spark,
All my promises,
Though far too fragile,
Love is inherently a bubble.
If one can see through it all,
What is there to grieve?"
Naza shouted inwardly, "Hey, aren't you going to feel sad? Why is sorrow written all over your face while you're still deceiving yourself? What a hopeless scumbag!"
If Qin Tian had heard that, he would surely have been completely bewildered, thinking, "How did I become a scumbag? Whose heart did I break? Zhazha, don't talk nonsense!"
Right then, inside the Shanghai Eight-Thousand-Seat Stadium, all eighty thousand spectators were wondering what play Qin Tian was putting on with this song.
"Did my big brother get his heart broken?" a young fan asked with puzzlement.
"Why is it so hopeless, like the end of the world?" another fan muttered.
"Did little Xiaotian get dumped too?" Upon hearing this, Harlem instantly transformed into a gossip hound, chasing after Sister Na with endless questions.
Sister Na spread her hands in helplessness and said, "I have no idea either! What is going on here?"