Chapter 60: Dividing into Groups and Assigning Topics

“Mentor Ruolin isn’t that petty,” Qiao Qiao said, scooting over to give Lin Feng a hug before beaming and introducing herself. “My name’s Chen Qiao, but everyone calls me Qiao Qiao. I’m one of your biggest fans!”

“Hello, Qiao Qiao.” Lin Feng returned her smile and greeted the others as well.

Perhaps it was due to his status as a football star, but everyone was exceedingly warm toward him—everyone except for one, a young man named Sun Hao, whose attitude remained cool. Lin Feng didn’t mind; after all, you can’t expect everyone to be enthusiastic.

The team consisted of twelve pairs. With Lin Feng's arrival, they now had eight pairs present—ten people in all, six men and four women. Among the eight pairs, two were duos: one male pair called the Haier Brothers, and a mixed pair called the Phoenix Legend.

Hearing these names, Lin Feng nearly burst out laughing. Phoenix Legend was acceptable, but the moment he heard Haier Brothers, the image of two little boys in shorts from a cartoon surfaced in his mind unbidden.

Yet the Haier Brothers sitting before him were two unshaven, burly men. Lin Feng simply couldn’t reconcile them with the cartoon figures in his memory.

Through introductions, Lin Feng learned that the Haier Brothers were named Liu Dahai and Yang Er. Hence their duo’s name. Of course, to them, the name meant nothing unusual—after all, in this world, there was no such cartoon, nor was there a Haier Corporation.

Chen Fan arranged for Lin Feng to take his seat. Only then did Lin Feng notice that the entire restaurant had been reserved. Besides the crew, only members of the Spring Waters Team were present.

In the main dining hall on the first floor, all the smaller tables had been cleared away, replaced by a massive round table that could seat more than twenty people.

“Lin Feng, this is a rule Quaner and I came up with: for the last six pairs to arrive, the later you arrive, the more glasses of wine you have to down. The seventh to arrive drinks one cup; you, being the eighth, must drink two. Go ahead!”

Once everyone was settled, Chen Fan addressed Lin Feng.

“No problem. That’s what I get for being late.” Lin Feng smiled, reaching for the bottle, but Chen Qiao, seated beside him, stopped him.

“Wait, wait! Let me pour it for you…” Chen Qiao offered eagerly.

“No need, I can do it myself,” Lin Feng replied, thinking she was just being polite.

“No way, let me do it.” Chen Qiao grinned mischievously and produced a large tea mug from somewhere—the kind you’d see a school security guard using. She picked up the beer and filled the mug to the brim.

“Drink up, that’s your first cup…” Chen Qiao smiled, eyes twinkling.

Lin Feng was speechless—the mug easily held more than half a bottle.

“So, Qiao Qiao, didn’t you say you were my fan when I walked in?” Lin Feng put on a pained expression.

“Of course!” Chen Qiao shrugged and grinned. “I’m a true fan, you know. I even contributed to your crowdfunding.”

“Alright, you really are dedicated!” Lin Feng saw that she was joking, so he picked up the mug and drained it in one go.

“Well done!”

“Beautifully handled!” Chen Fan and Hu Jiangquan immediately led the cheers.

“Not bad at all. Now for the second cup.” Chen Qiao opened another beer and once again filled the massive mug.

“Qiao Qiao, where are you from, anyway?” Lin Feng eyed the second mug, feigning nonchalance.

“I’m from Jiangzhou,” she replied.

“Alright. I’m going to post on social media later—telling fans from your city to stop loving me. My liver can’t take it…” Lin Feng joked, but he still finished the second mug in a single draught.

In this country, there’s no feast without drink. As soon as the alcohol began to flow, the atmosphere grew much livelier—perhaps this was exactly why Chen Fan and Hu Jiangquan had chosen to gather the team at a restaurant.

Lin Feng’s two penalty drinks were nothing compared to what came next. The four pairs who arrived after him had it much worse. Especially the last guy—after downing six mugs, he ended up hiding in the restroom…

After a bout of laughter and merriment, the team members became much better acquainted.

Sensing the timing was right, Chen Fan cleared his throat and grew serious. “Now that we’ve had our fill of food and wine, let’s talk business. Quaner and I called everyone here mainly so you could relax and not feel pressured by the competition. Personally, I’ve always felt that ‘Original Song Showcase’ isn’t a competition so much as a platform to discover talented songwriters. Still, even if I don’t see it as a contest, the structure remains. You all know that the next stage is the in-group duel. Of the twelve pairs, only three will go on to represent our team in the final round. The in-group duel has two rounds: the first is a themed challenge, the second is a freestyle. Now we’ll draw lots for the first round. Each of you will draw an envelope to determine your opponent. Let’s begin.”

As Chen Fan spoke, Hu Jiangquan produced twelve envelopes from under the table. “Who wants to go first? It’s time to find out whom you’ll face in the first round.”

“I’ll go!” Chen Qiao volunteered.

“Come on up,” Hu Jiangquan beckoned. “Inside these twelve envelopes are six sets of identical themes. Those who draw the same theme will be paired against each other, and that will be the theme for your first-round composition.”

“Hope I don’t get the same theme as Lin Feng…” Chen Qiao muttered before drawing.

“This one!” After a moment’s hesitation, she chose an envelope and opened it. Inside was a single word: “Snow.”

“Chen Qiao’s theme is ‘snow.’ Who’s next?” Hu Jiangquan announced the result.

“I’ll go,” said a thin young man with glasses. Lin Feng vaguely remembered his name was Lu Chen, a student at Beijing Music Academy, about the same age as himself.

Lu Chen drew the theme “cloud”—not a particularly difficult one.

Next was Sun Hao, who drew “dream.”

Three pairs, three different themes so far.

The fourth to draw were the Phoenix Legend duo. Their theme matched Lu Chen’s: “cloud.” So, the first match-up was set—Lu Chen versus Phoenix Legend, composing to the theme of “cloud.”

Three more pairs drew in turn. Among them, the Haier Brothers drew “snow” and were paired with Chen Qiao.

“I’ll go.” Not wanting to be left with the last envelope by default, Lin Feng stepped up eighth.

“Anyone you especially hope to be paired with?” Hu Jiangquan asked.

“Anyone’s fine,” Lin Feng replied, glancing at the five remaining envelopes. Just as he was about to pick one, Sun Hao, who had drawn “dream,” spoke up.

“Quaner, I have a suggestion.”

“Oh? What is it?” Hu Jiangquan looked at Sun Hao in surprise.

“I want to be paired with Lin Feng.” Sun Hao shot Lin Feng a glance. “I heard his song in the show’s trailer—it was impressive. So, I want to face him.”

“This…” Hu Jiangquan hesitated; this wasn’t part of the rules.

“What do you think, Lin Feng?” Chen Fan asked.

“I’m fine with it.” Lin Feng shrugged and smiled. He didn’t know why Sun Hao was so insistent, but since the gauntlet was thrown, he wasn’t about to back down.

“Alright, then you’ll be paired with Sun Hao. The theme will be his—‘dream.’ Is that okay?” Chen Fan confirmed.

“Sure, no problem.” Lin Feng nodded in agreement.

…