As soon as Sister Na opened her email, she spotted the lyrics and sheet music sent over by Qin Tian. She immediately began to hum along softly, using the first pass to familiarize herself with the melody, and by the second pass, she was already singing it quite adeptly. Once she finished the tune, she instantly fell into deep thought.
She had assumed her estimation of Qin Tian was already high enough, but she had still underestimated him. This song definitely had the potential to become one of the signature pieces of her career, with a quality that could be described as top-tier. After pondering for a bit, Sister Na ultimately decided to pay Qin Tian one hundred thousand for the song, matching Brother Kun and Harlem without making any special exceptions. This wasn't because she was tight with her money; after all, some things simply couldn't be measured by cash.
Sister Na intended to treat Qin Tian like a younger brother of her own, and then support him well in other areas, such as introducing him to her network and connecting him with resources. These were treasures that couldn't be bought with any amount of money—they were the accumulated fruits of Sister Na dominating the music scene for two or three decades! In other words, Qin Tian had really struck it big this time.
Although Qin Tian was already famous, the subsequent competition still had to go on, and life had to continue as usual. Qin Tian acted as if nothing had happened, continuing his daily practice of "The Young China Speaks" and honing his vocal techniques.
The following week, the second episode was set to broadcast. Right before the competition began at the start of the show, viewers glued themselves to their television sets, eager to see who Qin Tian would ultimately choose. Even though Sister Na hadn't yet acquired her internet-infamous "dark" reputation at that point, who could blame Huan Ge for being so strong? Just when everyone thought Qin Tian would choose Huan Ge, he chose Sister Na instead.
After the second episode aired, the number one trending search topic was actually Qin Tian choosing Sister Na! The time slot with the highest ratings was precisely the moment when Qin Tian announced his choice of mentor, leaving all the other singers feeling utterly awkward.
The production team grew even more convinced of the narrative that Qin Tian was a guarantee for high ratings.
With only a few days left before the second round of competition, Qin Tian suddenly received a call from the production team stating that the song "The Young China Speaks" required a children's chorus at the beginning for a better effect, an element they had somehow overlooked earlier. Bringing children to the live stage, however, would be unfair to the other contestants. Therefore, the production team hoped Qin Tian could change his song.
When Qin Tian heard this, he was dumbfounded. Was this supposed to be a negotiation? It sounded purely like an order! Besides, he had received the accompaniment long ago and had been practicing for days, only for them to remember to notify him now. If he hadn't already signed his contract, he would have suspected the production team of rigging things against him.
Episodes aired one after another. In the subsequent weeks, although the ratings climbed higher and higher, neither public praise nor overall impact managed to surpass the premiere. It truly felt a bit like a strong start followed by a weak finish! When it came to generating real impact, they were still missing Qin Tian.
Qin Tian was also at his wits' end, still unable to decide what to sing. Time was running extremely short, so he definitely couldn't pick a song with high difficulty—there was no time to practice, and the arrangement might not turn out well either. After giving it some thought, he decided to go with folk music! Both "Chengdu" and "I Remember" were solid choices. However, "Chengdu" was more popular, but since Qin Tian had never been to Chengdu, it would be hard to explain. On the other hand, "I Remember" was written about maternal love, which would work. Ultimately, Qin Tian decided to sing "When You Are Old".
That being said, "When You Are Old" was actually a poem written in 1893 by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, dedicated to his friend Maud Gonne. Through rich imagery and emotion, the poem expressed the poet's deep love and unreachable regret for Maud Gonne. But Qin Tian didn't care about any of that; he planned to tweak the lyrics and arrange the music directly. The original singer, Liu Zhuo, seemed to have been involved in the arrangement, so he reached out to communicate with him this time. With the original version as a reference, there wasn't really much of a problem.
Just a few days after getting everything ready, preparations began for recording the second round of the audition PK matches. Sister Na's team was known as Little Class Two.The members of Little Class Two each possessed unique skills:
Zhang Yuxia, a member from the second episode, was renowned for her unique voice and singing style;
Huang He was also a member of Little Class Two; Zhao Lu also participated in Little Class Two;
Huang Yong, a member from the third episode, was nicknamed the Squad Leader;
Zhang Wei, a member from the fourth episode, was celebrated for his soaring vocals and exceptional stage performance;
Duo Liang performed a rock version of "Little love song", which received widespread acclaim;
Zhuo Yifang (though replaced this time by a certain someone named Qin) was known for his deep voice and high-note techniques, having previously performed Chang Yu-sheng's "I Look Forward";
Liang Bo ultimately won the crown of the 2012 "Voice of China" Annual Good Voice, performing "Changan Changan";
Li Min, a member from the fifth episode, was noted for her fresh, sweet voice and outstanding vocal skills, performing "Words of Love";
Wang Yuling possessed multilingual abilities and a unique voice, performing Faye Wong's "Stubborn";
Ge Yusen joined Little Class Two as a singer-songwriter, performing Na Ying's "Conquest";
Hou Zuxin, a member from the sixth episode, performed "Love Me Tender", successfully joining Little Class Two; Wang Qiwei and Zhang Hexuan were also members of Little Class Two.
Of course, Qin Tian of Little Class Two this time was not only a member from the premiere but also stood out brilliantly with his original songs!
The grand curtain of recording was about to rise. To be honest, in this second round of Little Class Two, anyone who crossed paths with Qin Tian gave him a wide berth; this guy was quite literally the apple of the production team's eye, and his nickname "The Favoritized Qin" was well-earned.
In the duet segment, that kid Ge Yusen was actually drawn to sing the song "Three Days and Three Nights" alongside Qin Tian.
"Three days and three nights in the dead of night, don't stop dancing; three days and three nights in the dead of night, floating on music alone; three days and three nights in the dead of night, leaving only sweat all over; three days and three nights in the dead of night, BaBaBa... absolutely no limits!"
Hey, this guy actually pushed his vocals several octaves higher than the original singer, instantly igniting the venue like an exploding pot. Once the song concluded, Hua Shao's iconic voice rang out once again: "Authentic good herbal tea, authentic good voice, exclusively sponsored and broadcast by JDB... Next, let's invite Huan Ge to offer his comments!"
Huan Ge began: "That kid Ge Yusen has improved quite a bit compared to the preliminary rounds. Based on improvement, I choose Ge Yusen!"
"Teacher Harlem, what is your opinion?" Hua Shao continued to guide the flow.
Teacher Harlem smiled slightly: "Last time Qin Tian's original song 'Wukong' amazed everyone, and I didn't expect him to be just as amazing with a completely different song this time. His voice is still just as soaring—this round, I choose Qin Tian!"
Hua Shao turned to look at Brother Kun: "Brother Kun, what is your choice?"
Brother Kun was straightforward: "I choose Qin Tian. In my view, this guy is an all-around hexagonal warrior with no obvious weaknesses!"
Finally, Hua Shao shifted his gaze to Sister Na: "Sister Na, what is your final decision?"
Sister Na was equally direct: "For this match, I choose Qin Tian!"
Just like that, little Linzi Qin Tian won without a single suspense. Why wasn't Sister Na torn? Her strength was right there for everyone to see! Originally, Sister Na had even invited Teacher Wang Toutiao to suggest that the two of them sing Qin Tian's new song together. But Qin Tian himself felt it would be a bit like bullying; after all, having gone through systematic training with professional teachers, he was no longer an amateur, and his vocal skills were rock-solid, allowing him to easily crush Ge Yusen—not to mention he was also a talented songwriter! Sing a new song? There was no need!
The seven winners of the PK matches were Zhang Wei, Liang Bo, Qin Tian, Zhang Hexuan, Duo Liang, Hou Zuxin, and Zhang Yuxia. Among them, Zhang Hexuan advanced directly, while Qin Tian drew Duo Liang in the PK round.
Duo Liang sang "Love Makes Everyone Heartbroken", while Qin Tian appeared as the grand finale act.
In truth, this was all deliberately arranged by the production team: putting the first PK contestants at the beginning and the final eliminated ones at the end was meant to guarantee overall viewership ratings. Furthermore, the guaranteed advancement slots had been given to others precisely so that Qin Tian could perform an original song, which served as a foolproof guarantee for ratings! The production team played by these rules with absolute clarity.
To make things look fair, the production team even let Duo Liang sing a more complete version, whereas normally contestants were only allowed to sing a single section. That way, Qin Tian could sing a bit more afterward, making it look much fairer. (How did that statement manage to sound so entirely unfair!)
After Duo Liang finished singing, Hua Shao spoke up once again: "Calling upon the singers to swap positions!"
The moment Duo Liang saw that his opponent was Qin Tian, his heart skipped a beat, and he knew he was in grave danger this time. Whether in terms of vocal skill or overall impact, he was no match for Qin Tian, and he had already resigned himself to his fate. "I really want to expose the production team for rigging this behind the scenes!" Duo Liang muttered secretly to himself.