After taking advice, I became a top male idol.

The next day at 10 a.m.

The 20th floor of Xinghe Building.

The five members of Ye Lan's team gathered together for the first time.

Aside from Gu Qingzhou, Song Zixuan, Chen Xi, and Li Bowen, who had met each other before, Lin Zhixing was the last to arrive.

Although it was the first time they had officially met, it was clear that the other four had different attitudes toward their teammate who became famous for "singing children's songs".

Chen Xi and Song Zixuan, the two girls, were quite friendly and took the initiative to greet Lin Zhixing: "Hello, Brother Lin, I'm Chen Xi."

"I am Song Zixuan, and I really like your song 'The Lone Warrior'."

"Thank you," Lin Zhixing replied politely.

Li Bowen nodded politely.

Gu Qingzhou, however, sat on the sofa without looking at Lin Zhixing or greeting him.

The conference room door was pushed open, and Ye Lan and Zhao Yu walked in.

Everyone immediately fell silent and sat up straight.

Ye Lan was dressed in a smart white suit today, her hair was piled up high, revealing her slender swan neck. She glanced around at everyone and went straight to the point in introducing the rules of the competition.

"Let's get straight to the competition format without further ado."

"The second round is a team battle, based on total points. We will be facing Han Xuening's team."

"Each round is judged by 500 audience judges and 50 media judges, with a maximum score of 550 points. After five rounds, the team with the highest cumulative score wins and all its members advance."

"I will personally eliminate two people from the losing team."

"hiss--"

Although they were mentally prepared, everyone still gasped when they heard the words "personally eliminated".

"Also, the theme this time is—[Chinese style/tradition]."

Ye Lan observed everyone's reactions and said, "Moreover, as far as I know, the other side has Li Ziming and a professional folk music ensemble performing. You should be prepared."

"A folk music ensemble?!" Chen Xi's face turned pale.

"How are we supposed to fight this..." Li Bowen also looked troubled.

"Alright, don't give up before the game even starts." Ye Lan tapped the table. "Go back and think carefully about your song selections. The song selection meeting will be held tomorrow morning at 10:00, right here. I don't want to see anyone mess up."

Meeting adjourned.

......

Back in his rented room, Lin Zhixing didn't rush to write songs.

He opened Weibo and posted a new update.

[Lin Zhixing V]:

"I drew the [Traditional Chinese Style] theme, and the opposing team has a top-tier folk music ensemble. Brothers, how do we break through this high-level match? I need help urgently! [Frustrated]"

Since it's a "persuasion-listening system," then you absolutely have to listen to advice!

Within minutes, the comments section became lively.

"Hahaha, here we go again, trying to make a scene! Did you offend the director again, streamer?"

"Holy crap? Traditional Chinese style? This is way beyond the scope of this question! How can someone who sings children's songs be doing traditional Chinese style?"

"Li Ziming? He's a top influencer in the traditional Chinese style music scene! How are we supposed to compete against him?"

"The other side has a folk music ensemble? What's the point of fighting then? Just surrender and we've already lost half the battle."

"I suggest surrendering directly; losing to the national team isn't shameful."

"Brother Lin, don't chicken out! If all else fails, play a suona to send them off! With a suona, who can compete?"

"Stop struggling, just lose and come back to live-streaming sales, I'll definitely buy one."

Just as everyone was offering bad advice, one comment suddenly stood out and was liked, becoming the top comment.

[ID: Veteran Peking Opera Fan]: "Traditional Chinese style? It has to be traditional opera! Modern songs with a 'traditional Chinese style' feel are all just empty sentimentality. For true traditional Chinese style, you have to look to the works of our ancestors!"

Numerous comments followed:

"The old man is right!"

"Holy crap! That's an amazing idea!"

"Traditional opera? Does Brother Lin know it?"

"Don't forget how well Brother Lin plays the suona; he should be able to sing a few lines of traditional opera too, right?"

Just then, a system notification sound appeared.

[Ding! High-profile suggestion detected: To defend traditional opera, sing a song that incorporates challenging traditional opera elements.]

[Mission Level: B]

[Task Requirements: In the second round of the "The Voice of China" competition, perform a song that incorporates elements of traditional Chinese opera and achieve the highest score of the entire competition.]

[Success Rewards: 1 random purple skill blind box, 10000 reputation points, and 30000 yuan in cash]

[Failure Penalty: 5 attribute points will be randomly deducted]

"drama......"

"Isn't that a coincidence?"

......

Two days later.

The preparation room for Ye Lan's team on the 20th floor of Xinghe Building.

The five trainees regrouped.

After two days of preparation, everyone had different expressions.

Ye Lan sat in the main seat, holding a pen in her hand. "Let's begin. Everyone, please tell us about your song selection."

Gu Qingzhou was the first to raise her hand, appearing confident.

"Sister Lan, I'd like to sing your song 'The Swallow Returns.' It's a classic Chinese-style song with a high level of popularity. I plan to add some R&B elements to the arrangement to make it more youthful."

Zhao Yu nodded. "The song 'Swallow Returns' is a solid choice, and adapting it into R&B is also a good idea. It aligns with current trends. Okay."

Ye Lan didn't object. "Okay, let's decide on this one first. Next."

Chen Xi was a little nervous. "I want to sing Teacher Shen Ming's 'Blue and White Rain,' and I'll add a fan dance."

Li Bowen chose a recently popular ancient-style online song, while Song Zixuan chose a folk-style ancient-style song.

Most of them are conventional choices, prioritizing stability.

Zhao Yu nodded as he took notes. Although there weren't many surprises, at least there wouldn't be any mistakes.

After listening, Ye Lan frowned slightly, offering no comment on whether it was good or bad, but instead looked at Lin Zhixing, who had remained silent.

"And you, Lin Zhixing, what are you going to sing?"

All eyes turned to Lin Zhixing.

Lin Zhixing looked up. "I want to write one myself."

"ah?!"

"Another original work?"

Everyone was shocked.

"Written by yourself? Original?" Gu Qingzhou exclaimed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Dude, this is a competition, not your backyard! The other side is a master of traditional Chinese style music, and you're going to compete with a song you just wrote? Are you trying to make us lose even faster?"

Even Zhao Yu felt it was inappropriate, saying, "Zhixing, creating original works is too risky. Moreover, traditional Chinese style songs have extremely high requirements for lyrics and music. If you're not careful, it will become a fake traditional Chinese style song, and you'll be criticized to death by music critics."

"This is the song I'm going to sing."

Lin Zhixing directly presented the lyrics to Zhao Yu and Ye Lan.

Zhao Yu picked up the lyrics and initially glanced at them casually, but as he looked at them, his brows furrowed more and more.

As a professional music director, he keenly noticed the structural problems in the song.

"Wait, this part..." Zhao Yu pointed to the chorus, his voice rising several octaves, "This part has a very wide vocal range, and it's marked... Peking opera style? You're going to sing it like a Peking opera singer?"

"Yes." Lin Zhixing nodded.

"Nonsense!"

Zhao Yu slammed the lyrics on the table. "Are you crazy? Traditional opera has a very small audience! And combining traditional opera with pop music is extremely difficult; if not handled properly, it will look incongruous and strange! You're playing with the team's fate!"

Everyone looked at Ye Lan, waiting for her to make the final decision.

Everyone thought Ye Lan would definitely reject the song.

Ye Lan held the lyrics in her hand, remaining silent for a long time.

Her gaze lingered on those few lines of lyrics, her slender fingers gently stroking the paper.

She is currently preparing a film set in the Republican era, which happens to be about Peking Opera, and she has been lacking a theme song that can truly command attention.

We've looked at so many top-notch songwriters, but none of them have satisfied us.

And this song...

"Zhao Yu," Ye Lan suddenly spoke.

"Sister Lan, you also think it won't work, right? I'll have him change it right now..."

"I think it's great."

Ye Lan interrupted him, looked up at Lin Zhixing, and said, "Try this song."

"what?"

Everyone was stunned.

"But Sister Lan..." Zhao Yu still wanted to try.

"What's wrong with opera elements?" Ye Lan stood up, exuding confidence. "Who says traditional Chinese style can only consist of the guzheng and pipa? Opera is our root! If he can sing it well, it'll be a game-changer!"

She looked at Lin Zhixing, "Are you confident?"

Lin Zhixing nodded: "Yes."

"Okay," Ye Lan decided, "This one will do."

She glanced at the time and said to Zhao Yu, "Zhao Yu, take Gu Qingzhou and the others to rehearsal. Make the most of the time."

Gu Qingzhou was secretly pleased; it seemed that Sister Lan was still going to focus on them.

However, Ye Lan's next words immediately froze the smile on his face.

"Lin Zhixing, come with me."

Ye Lan pointed to the private recording studio inside that belonged only to her, "This afternoon, I'll personally help you revise this song."

Modify it yourself?

This treatment...

Gu Qingzhou watched as Lin Zhixing followed Ye Lan through the door that only top singers could enter, her eyes reddening with jealousy.

Why should I?!