Chapter 26 Blocking the Chief Director in the Elevator

"Tomorrow's Star" Training Camp.

Because when the vocal coach went around to guide each group, a lot of production staff would follow, and there was always a flow of people coming in and out, the door to the rehearsal room was left open.

A trainee from Hashim's team came running over to gather information, peeking in at the doorway.

But he didn't watch for long before hurrying back to report: "It's over. Fang Xing's group finished their vocal lesson filming."

"So fast? It's only been half an hour." Hashim was a bit surprised.

"Yeah, Chen Chaonan went in, listened for a bit, then left," the informant replied with a shrug.

"What did Chen Chaonan say?" Hashim pressed.

"He said Fang Xing's group didn't need the vocal teacher, and that Fang Xing had studied his craft well and hadn't wasted his time at school," the trainee reported in detail.

Hashim's expression soured as he continued, "Anything else? How was their song? How's their level?"

The trainee hesitated before answering, "I was listening from outside the door, and there were a lot of people from the crew talking, so I couldn't hear clearly. But Chen Chaonan praised them for singing very well. Captain, at this rate, are we going to lose at the performance?"

Hashim sneered, pulling at the corner of his mouth. "They're not good enough to beat me. The big stage props I asked the production to build should be delivered today. For the second performance, our stage will be the most explosive."

...

That afternoon.

Fang Xing, along with Shao Yu and Lu Ming, rehearsed their harmonies.

For this song, Fang Xing had rewritten it as a three-part harmony.

So the harmonies were the key to the entire piece.

Whether the harmonies could complement each other, blending perfectly, would determine the song's upper limit.

So, they needed to rehearse the harmonies repeatedly, until they were etched into their minds.

"Shao Yu, your part—lower the volume a bit, and use more chest resonance. We want to support Lu Ming's high notes, not drown them out," Fang Xing corrected.

Shao Yu gave an OK gesture. "Sure, no problem."

"Let's go again. Skip the intro, jump straight into the verse after two bars," Fang Xing said, pressing the black and white keys of the piano to resume practice.

By five in the afternoon, their harmonies were already excellent.

Fang Xing was about to let them go rest, deciding not to schedule extra rehearsal that night.

At that moment—

Wang Huajun and Guo Keda came back from outside, their faces not looking good.

"What happened, you two?" Shao Yu noticed their mood and asked proactively.

Guo Keda, who was quick-tempered, pointed at the neighboring rehearsal room and cursed, "The production built a giant stage prop for Hashim's group, and it's already been delivered."

"I barely got a look at it before Hashim's people chased me off."

"It's obvious the production is favoring Hashim. Wang Huajun and I went to discuss using a wire for aerial stunts, but the crew refused, saying it was too expensive."

Fang Xing frowned, "Did you see the executive director?"

Guo Keda shook his head. "No, we spoke to the segment director. She said she'd discuss it with the director team. When we followed up, we were told the stage budget was too high and it was rejected."

Wang Huajun added, "Actually, flying on wires isn't that costly, and I can use the simplest rig."

Guo Keda grumbled, "No point arguing, the show's just biased towards Hashim. I even heard Hashim's stage prop was commissioned last week, which means they started before he was even brought back into the competition. That's just bullying. They're playing us!"

In fact, Fang Xing wasn't overly concerned with stage design. After all, once the song was performed, it would overshadow everything else—no matter how the opponents struggled, the result would be the same.

Still, the blatant favoritism toward Hashim was infuriating.

"Let's go! We're going to block the executive director. Bring the Bluetooth speakers," Fang Xing said, pointing at the pair of mini Bluetooth speakers on the table, then led the whole team out of the rehearsal room.

It was already five-thirty, and the director, Tong Fei, was about to leave for the day.

She and a few segment directors had just entered the elevator when Fang Xing and his crew rushed in, blocking the way with a fierce determination.

Tong Fei smiled, "Aren't you supposed to be rehearsing? What are you all up to?"

"We want the director to listen to a song," Fang Xing replied, waving for Shao Yu to turn the Bluetooth speakers up to maximum volume.

Tong Fei looked at the young men with interest, not at all annoyed, and pointed at the numbers on the elevator display: "It's only twenty seconds from the eighteenth floor to the basement. Is that enough?"

Twenty seconds wasn't even enough for the intro.

Fang Xing flashed a mischievous smile, then turned and pressed every floor button between eighteen and the basement with rapid-fire precision.

"Now it's enough."

The Bluetooth speaker played the melody crafted on a digital audio workstation. The intro ended, and the first verse began, sung as a duet by Lu Ming and Shao Yu.

Their voices blended flawlessly—Shao Yu's rich, resonant tone highlighting the clarity and brightness of Lu Ming's high notes.

Tong Fei and the other segment directors beside her lit up the moment they heard the demo.

After producing music talent shows for over a decade, their ability to judge a song was sharp.

It was immediately clear this song had the potential to be a hit.

When the Bluetooth speaker finished the verse and was just about to launch into the soaring chorus, Fang Xing pressed pause on his phone.

The music stopped abruptly.

Tong Fei was momentarily stunned, having been drawn in by the song and eager to hear more.

One of the segment directors urged, "Why'd you stop? Play the rest!"

"The full version, please come hear it live at the second performance," Fang Xing refused outright.

Tong Fei, her curiosity thoroughly piqued, felt like grabbing this rascal by the ear for a lesson.

But she held back and asked, "Alright, what do you want?"

Fang Xing glanced at Wang Huajun, motioning for him to speak.

Wang Huajun, in a formal tone, said, "I hope we can use aerial wires for the second performance. I want to perform an airborne flower dance."

Tong Fei was surprised, "That's your only request?"

Fang Xing nodded, confirming, "That's all."

"You just need to talk to the director team about this—you didn't have to ambush me in the elevator," Tong Fei said, feeling it was unnecessary.

"The segment director in charge said the budget was too high and rejected it," Wang Huajun replied.

Tong Fei immediately understood.

She hadn't heard a word from her staff about Wang Huajun's request for aerial wires.

Clearly, the request had never reached her and had been dismissed out of hand.

Tong Fei said, "Alright, I get it now. Go talk to the segment director again—I'll approve an increased stage budget and assign you a wire team."

"Thank you, Director!" Wang Huajun was overjoyed at getting what he wanted and quickly expressed his gratitude.

At that moment, the elevator finally lurched to the basement. Tong Fei stepped out and turned back to say, "Send me the full demo."

Fang Xing shrugged off the request: "If you hear it now, there'll be no surprise. See you at the live show."

"Hey!" Tong Fei was so exasperated by this guy, but couldn't really get angry with him.