Chapter 34: The Theme Song of the Cartoon With the Pink Pigs
The noisy contestants only fell silent when Song Qi walked in.
"Before we hand you your tasks for the day, we will first randomly assign you into groups."
The word "random" caused a wave of loud reactions from the contestants.
"Random?"
"If I end up with a freeloader…"
"Be more optimistic. What if they're a powerhouse?"
Even Jiang Xuxu was muttering about the announcement. "Whatever the task is, do not split us up."
Tong Luo subconsciously leaned in closer to Qi Wu.
She did not want to team up with anyone else.
No matter how loudly the contestant discussed, the production team already had their tub of balls set up on the stage.
"Those with the same number will be on the same team."
Song Qi then moved to stand behind the tub.
The contestants all glanced at each other before lining up to grab a ball from the tub.
Soon, the stadium was filled with contestants calling out number after number in search of their partners.
Jiang Xuxu drew a ball with the number "26". As soon as she knew her number, she immediately turned to anxiously stare at Qi Wu who had also just returned from grabbing a ball.
"Is yours 26, sweetie?"
Jiang Xuxu eagerly watched as Qi Wu turned her ball around to reveal a… "9".
She promptly withered.
Then, she heard a very familiar voice calling out from behind her, "Who's 26?".
Jiang Xuxu was visibly bewildered.
She turned around in disbelief to find Qiu Yan shouting as she held up a ball that had the same number as Jiang Xuxu's ball written on it.
The two women soon locked eyes.
Qiu Yan seemed to be able to read the number on Jiang Xuxu's ball.
A deadly silence soon fell over them.
Qi Wu looked at the two of them and silently retreated from the area.
Soon after that, the air was filled with shouts as Jiang Xuxu and Qiu Yan started arguing.
"Why is it you?" They both shrieked at the same time.
"What bad luck!" Jiang Xuxu huffed.
"I should be saying that," Qiu Yan retorted.
However, that was the only retort Qiu Yan had in her as she soon fell silent. Compared to how she would constantly provoke Jiang Xuxu in the past, her behavior was decidedly strange.
"You…"
Jiang Xuxu frowned. She had only said one word before Qiu Yan walked away.
"Weirdo," Jiang Xuxu muttered.
Tong Luo and Ke Lu had better luck as they were assigned to the same team.
The only one of them without a teammate was now Qi Wu.
She held onto her ball with the number "9" and silently stood still.
Suddenly, she heard a man's gentle voice call out to her, "What a coincidence, Qi Wu."
Qi Wu turned around to find Tan Song smiling at her with a ball in his hand that had the same number as hers.
"Hello," she blandly replied.
Three minutes later, all contestants had found their teammates.
As the contestants had abruptly been resorted into new teams, some of the contestants did not even know who their new teammates were. Hence, an awkward silence filled the air.
Song Qi did not care, however.
"Your task for the morning is simple. 'Guess the song' is a simple game, right? After we play a snippet of a song and show you the lyrics, you have to tell us the name of the song and the singer. If either of them is wrong, you don't get a point."
It was evident that the game was easier for those who wanted to be singers and idols.
However, what he said next had everyone worried once more.
"The difficulty is in the range of music we have included. There will be decades of classics included in the list."
Most of the contestants were youngsters who rarely bothered to listen to the old classics.
"You now have three minutes to get to know your teammate. After that, you will battle each other in groups of five teams. The order will be random as well."
The contestants could not be bothered whining about the rules. As soon as Song Qi finished speaking, they hurriedly got to know their new partners.
After all, this task needed them to work together to win.
Qi Wu turned to Tan Song.
"I'm sorry."
Her abrupt apology stunned Tan Song.
"W-Why?"
"I don't know anything," Qi Wu bluntly admitted.
The only song she knew was the theme song of the cartoon with the pink pigs.
"Huh?"
Tan Song had assumed Qi Wu was being humble, so he merely shook his head with a smile. "It's fine. As long as you participate."
He did not care too much about points.
As Song Qi said, might makes right.
"I'll do my best to answer the questions. It's fine as long as we're not in last place."
Tan Song even started joking around.
Qi Wu tilted her head at him and slowly blinked. "Good luck."
*
Tan Song only realized that Qi Wu was being absolutely honest when it was their turn to play the game.
As soon as a song started playing, Qi Wu would silently stand there and zone out as though she was not part of the game at all.
An outsider might assume she was just being a freeloader, but Tan Song knew it was because she really did not know any of the songs at all.
Hence, Qi Wu's "good luck" was a heavy weight on his shoulders.
For some reason, Tan Song felt his sense of responsibility intensify as he became the flag bearer for their team.
As everyone pondered on what the new song was with frowns on their faces, Tan Song hurriedly pressed his team's button, lighting it up.
"The song is 'Refinement' by Tang Liuhua."
As soon as he said that, the word "correct" appeared on the LED screen. He was instantly the focus of attention.
"Really? Tang Liuhua sang that?" one of the contestants exclaimed.
"I'm her fan yet I don't even know that song exists…"
"Tan Song sounds familiar."
"I remember now! He's the student that Ms. Tang had high hopes for during that one time she acted as a judge. Unfortunately, there has been no news of him since."
"It has been a few years since his debut, right? Why is he here?"
Tan Song felt cold sweat appearing on his hands as the contestants gossiped about him.
It was… the same old feeling again.
Everyone was staring at him. It felt like he was trapped on the edge of a cliff. One tiny mistake would lead to him shattering into tiny pieces.
Just as Tan Song was lost in his fear, Qi Wu looked at him and said with a tilt of her head, "You're amazing."
Her calm voice pierced through the heavy fog and dragged him back to reality.
He stared at Qi Wu with weirded-out eyes.
She did not say anything about him zoning out and merely stated, "You know this song as well."
For some reason, when Tan Song read the lyrics displayed on the screen, he was answering the question before he could even think about it. "It's 'A Tranquil Path' by Hong Luan."
Tan Song had correctly guessed another song that had stumped even the greatest classical song lover among the contestants.
Respect now shimmered in the eyes of every contestant as they stared at him.
A faint smile spread across Qi Wu's lips. "See? You can do it."