Chapter 216 – Dream Chaser
Although Jiangcheng Media University claims to be a comprehensive university, its true ace1was still its many art colleges. Therefore, its freshmen party also attracted many non-freshmen and even teachers and students from outside the university to watch.
After all, when it comes to the freshmen in the film academy, they were already shining stars, while others, there were even some that one might not have known about. Perhaps in a program one had watched, there was a future superstar playing the role of a tree…
The venue for the freshmen’ party was the outdoor sports stadium at Jiangchuan Media University. It was said that the stands of the stadium, which can accommodate thousands of people, had been set up with tens of thousands of small chairs today. Several cameras were even installed, operated by professional photographers. These programs would all be recorded and produced into exquisite programs to be broadcast on the campus’s internal TV station.
Under the guidance of Ding Xiang, Yang Yi quickly arrived at the scene and verified their admission ticket. They smoothly entered the venue, while onlookers without admission tickets could only watch from the edge seats of the outdoor stadium.
“Papa, my feet are uncomfortable” the little girl stepped on the grass in the inner field. The hard grass blades pricked her bare legs a few times, and her delicate skin couldn’t bear it.
“Come on, Papa will carry you!” Yang Yi bent down to pick up Xixi and gently rubbed her calves.
Under the guidance of the on-site staff, Yang Yi and Ding Xiang found their seats, but the place where they sat was a bit off to the side. After all, they were not freshmen and they had invitation tickets. But fortunately, the students at the venue were well-behaved and almost all sat steadily on their small chairs. With Yang Yi’s height, it wasn’t a big problem to see the stage clearly.
The only problem was that Yang Yi’s legs were a bit long, so sitting wasn’t very comfortable…
“When will Uncle Guo perform?” Xixi asked eagerly before the party began.
“His program is scheduled to be the 16th, probably in the middle to later part, it should be around 9 o’clock when it’s his turn.” Ding Xiang has a program schedule in her hand.
“Let me see.” Yang Yi was interested and reached out to take a look.
“Oh!” With the bright light shining from the stage, Yang Yi saw a familiar name. “Thousand Miles Chuan-Shu2, aren’t they old students? Why are they still performing on stage?”
Ding Xiang didn’t care about gossip. She didn’t even know who Thousand Miles Chuan-Shu were, let alone answer Yang Yi’s question.
On the other hand, Xixi eagerly poked her little head over and said, “Let me see, Papa, let me see too.”
“Can you understand it?” Yang Yi smiled and handed it to her.
The little girl looked at it for a while, but sure enough, she couldn’t understand it. She only pointed out the surname of one of the students and said, “This one is the same as Xixi!”
……
The freshman party finally started, the host team was all very luxurious, with four men and four women in crisp suits and gorgeous evening gowns. They looked almost as good as those in the New Year’s Eve Gala on television.
In fact, it was really similar to the New Year’s Eve Gala. The opening dance was choreographed by the freshmen from the Dance Academy, and the girls danced beautifully. The second program was a compact medley of songs, with performers appearing on stage one after another, singing half a song after another, which was almost overwhelming to watch.
Subsequently, the two hosts came out to do a transition and announced the name of the next program.
It was still singing, but this time it was a solo, and they could sing the whole song uninterrupted.
Before the performer even came out, there were bursts of cheers from the audience, mostly from girls.
“Tang Kaitai!” Ding Xiang couldn’t help but whisper his name.
Yang Yi saw a handsome young man walking onto the stage holding a microphone. Wearing a white suit, he was like prince charming, attracting the attention of almost all the girls.
“Who is he?” Yang Yi asked Ding Xiang curiously.
“He is a freshman from the Film Academy. I’ve seen him before during the freshman orientation. I heard that he started acting in movies at a very young age.” Ding Xiang said to Yang Yi. Her memory was pretty good, but she still couldn’t distinguish the difference between movies and TV dramas.3
Tang Kaitai sang a fast song and danced a cha-cha with his female partner, causing waves of excitement and cheers from the audience.
However, Yang Yi shook his head slightly after listening.
The singing was really mediocre, with a clear voice and some discernment, and there was some singing technique, but the sense of strain was heavy, and the breath was not long enough. After dancing the cha-cha, he was almost out of breath and sang terribly!
Perhaps even Yang Yi before expanding his vocal range with internal strength could easily outshine this guy who relied on his fame and good looks to win applause?
At this time, Du Yuanlei, the chief director of the party, sitting in the front row, also furrowed her brows. She regretted letting Tang Kaitai perform in this program. He already had average singing skills, but he added some gimmicks, which made his singing worse and worse…
“Haa…” Du Yuanlei sighed somewhat depressed.
She also knew that regret was useless. The school has instructed her to take care of Tang Kaitai, and this Tang Kaitai was skilled in social relationships. As soon as they met, he called her “senior sister” … Even if she didn’t like Tang Kaitai’s performance, she didn’t have the right to reject it.
“If I were an independent producer, wouldn’t I be free from these constraints?” Du Yuanlei envied some big directors, such as renowned director Feng, and respected director Chen Fengchen.
But these thoughts were better left as just thoughts. Those big directors who call the shots, who hasn’t gone through a long period of hardship before making a name for themselves? What kind of qualifications did she have now to receive the same treatment as those big directors?
Du Yuanlei continued to gaze toward the stage, but her attention was focused on the reaction of the audience below.
The following program alternated between singing and dancing performances, with occasional interludes of comedic acts. After all, not every student was a professional performer, and the programs selected from various schools and majors were of varying quality. Du Yuanlei could only try to arrange them as best as possible. After 12 mediocre programs, there would surely be an exciting professional performance.
The reaction from the audience below the stage also confirmed her idea. The occasional surprises kept them from falling into boredom, and a period of buffer after a high point allowed them to shout even more vigorously in the next round.
Unconsciously, the party had already halfway through. The host who came up on stage was passionately introducing a duo: “…They are the representatives of the student group, the best example of ordinary enthusiasts who have embarked on the path of dreams. Thousand Miles Chuan-Shu, a folk singer duo composed of Lu Xiaoshu from the School of Architecture and Miao Chuan from the School of Electronic Engineering, was discovered by talent scouts after a street performance and has recently been signed by Xiangnan Ronghuada Management Agency. After the news came out, they have become campus idols of the new generation of Jiangchuan Media!”
Du Yuanlei watched with interest as the two people next to the stage prepared to perform. This duo could be said to be the hottest news topic in Jiangchuan Media this month, and the series of labels mentioned by the host just now were the reasons why they were closely watched by students.
Although Du Yuanlei wasn’t very optimistic about the talent agency that Thousand Miles Chuan-Shu signed with, as she had some knowledge that the company leaned towards the film and television industry and had limited resources for singers, she was still happy for these two younger students. After all, they were both chasing their dreams. 4
“Come on! Thousand Miles Chuan-Shu!”