Are you trying to force me to become a star?

Chapter 43 Fellow Taoist

At midnight, Tian Xiwei returned to her rented room, washed up, and lay down on the bed.

She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought: "Sigh, the entertainment industry is really tough."

She showed exceptional talent in the arts from a young age and naturally gained admission to the Performance Department of Southwest University for Nationalities. However, she did not give up her naturally gifted voice and planned to pursue both careers.

In her senior year, she, a performing arts student, overcame numerous challenges and finally won a ticket to the finals of "Heavenly Voices".

Unfortunately, the competition format changed this year. Why did it have to be original? Couldn't it have been the same as in previous years? She felt that with her talent, she could have won the championship in previous years.

Sure enough, she didn't have much original talent, and her performance in the semi-finals was mediocre.

However, things took an unexpected turn when she heard the song "Anhe Bridge" backstage and burst into tears.

As a result, the finals received tremendous attention and traffic. She suddenly realized that what she wanted was not a championship, since there are champions every year. What she wanted was a bigger stage to showcase her musical talent.

So she made a crucial decision: to choose to cover a song on the final stage that encouraged originality. The appearance of "Huo Yuanjia" made that stage even more popular, and she was favored by the four major companies. Based solely on her voice and singing skills, she signed with a top company like Canglan Entertainment.

Therefore, she has always been grateful to Xu Jinyan.

However, perhaps even God felt that her life was going too smoothly, so He arranged a calamity for her.

When Tian Xiwei first met the music producer in charge of her at the company, she only felt that he was a serious, meticulous teacher.

After the audition in the recording studio, Teacher Wang first affirmed her vocal potential and singing skills, but then proceeded to criticize her:

"Your singing lacks soul. You don't understand the art of music. There are many people with good singing skills, but not everyone can make an audience remember them, do you understand?"

Tian Xiwei gave a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Wang Fan continued, "Don't think that just because you've signed with Canglan, you'll definitely make a name for yourself. Canglan has to eliminate countless people like you every year."

Sensing the condescending tone in Wang Fan's voice, Tian Xiwei could barely maintain her smile.

Who was your vocal coach at the Folk Art Academy?

"...I studied acting in college."

Wang Fan asked in a bewildered tone, "Study acting?"

Of course he knew this; it was all written in the company's materials. But how could he not give the newcomers a good talking-to? Just like that Xu Jinyan, who came to the company and didn't even know how to greet his seniors; he had no sense of etiquette at all.

"The country has such a good environment for art education, which is to cultivate professional talents, not to cultivate stars."

Subsequently, Wang Fan resumed his strict teacher mode, correcting her singing over and over again, and her emotional expression during the performance was always inadequate.

"That's how it is for people who haven't taken professional courses. Don't think that your timbre is so beautiful or special. Singing requires emotion, not showing off your skills."

"What's the point of your brain? Do I have to repeat something so simple several times?"

"With that kind of comprehension, go home! Fine! You can't handle this job!"

I practiced like this over and over again, sometimes for half a day at a time. Then my voice became hoarse, and I had to take a few days off.

Even today, Wang Fan invited her to a dinner party, saying he wanted to introduce her to some senior figures in the industry so they could chat about their musical journeys and see if he could offer her some inspiration.

When Tian Xiwei arrived at the private room, she recognized several singers from the company, as well as various other figures from the entertainment industry.

"Phew," Tian Xiwei exhaled a breath of stale air as she lay on the bed, quietly recalling the dinner party today.

"If we're talking about the top music producers in Canglan, then it has to be Director Chen. And then there's Teacher Wang. Xiao Tian, ​​you have great potential. With Teacher Wang tailoring a project for you, your future in the music industry is limitless."

"The path of a singer is not easy. Outsiders see it as glamorous, but deep down you know that the real decision-makers are the music producers. They are the people you absolutely cannot offend. Even though I'm a second-tier singer now, I still have to respectfully call any producer 'teacher'."

"Yes, especially for female singers. They can't afford to waste time. If they're lucky, they can find a good song and become famous overnight, which makes it much easier to get gigs and variety shows later. The key is that most people don't have that kind of luck to find good music."

"Look at all these promising talents over the years, each one of them has amazing singing skills. But the country is paying more and more attention to copyright. Only those who can create will have a place. Music producers are the real big shots. The champion of 'Heavenly Voice' is utterly useless. There are champions every year, but how many do you even remember now?"

"Only this year did one Xu... cough, go count the previous ones and see who became popular."

"..."

She was inevitably toasted repeatedly. It was the first time she had ever drunk so much alcohol that she threw up. And to make matters worse, she ran into Teacher Shen Nan at such an embarrassing time.

Speaking of which, Teacher Shen is also from Canglan. I heard that he and Xu Jinyan have a very good relationship.

Xu Jinyan is really amazing. He already has three number-one singles. How can he write such good music?

Indeed, if God bestowed upon me a superb voice, then He must have also bestowed upon him superb talent.

She had his WeChat, but never thought of contacting him first. Although she had heard that he had a conflict with Wang Fan, he had already benefited from such a great deal and had such a high starting point, so he shouldn't do anything annoying.

It's a pity, I was still dreaming of having a showdown at the top with my talent for my voice.

She slowly closed her eyes, forcing a wide grin: "This is the entertainment industry, huh? I've heard about it before. Looks like my talent isn't enough to smooth things over..." She took a deep breath, calming her rapidly rising and falling chest, and murmured to herself, "Being an actress first is the same, isn't it?"

"Sleep well, and the future will be bright!"

……

……

The next morning, Tian Xiwei arrived at the company's artist department and met her agent, Ling Tong.

She was thinking about how to ask if she could take on a film role first and postpone her plans to be a singer, even though that would be the most advantageous option.

However, before she could say anything, Ling Tong hurriedly pulled her to a meeting room on the tenth floor and then left alone.

Tian Xiwei sat there, wondering what was going on. Had Wang Fan notified her?

As she was lost in thought, the conference room door opened.

Then she saw Xu Jinyan walk in.

She stared blankly as Xu Jinyan closed the door, then walked over and sat down opposite her.

Why is he here?

After realizing what was happening, she quickly stood up: "Hello, Teacher Xu..."

Looking at this somewhat hesitant young girl, Xu Jinyan felt a pang of emotion. Back then, she had been so poised and confident when greeting people after the competition.

He laughed and said, "Teacher Xu? Who was it that said we debuted around the same time, so we should address each other as fellow Daoist?"

Tian Xiwei was amused and clearly remembered what had happened back then.

Seeing that she was still somewhat reserved, Xu Jinyan said solemnly, "I have invited Fellow Daoist Tian here today because I have important matters to discuss with you."

Seeing Xu Jinyan's feigned serious expression, Tian Xiwei gradually shed her recent depression and regained her energetic self, smiling and saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu, please speak."

Seeing that she had relaxed a bit, Xu Jinyan slowly said, "In May, we sat and discussed the Dao on the shore of Zhonghai. After a round of sparring, we each had our own victories and defeats. After that, we went our separate ways, each choosing our own place to cultivate, and from then on, we were separated by vast distances."

"We two have settled in the Canglan Sect, while that fellow Daoist surnamed Hua has gone to the harsh northwest beacon tower. I am not entirely sure about the whereabouts of the other two fellow Daoists. Does Fellow Daoist Tian know?"

Watching Xu Jinyan spout nonsense with a straight face, Tian Xiwei suppressed a laugh and said, word by word, "Those two fellow cultivators should still be rogue cultivators at present."

"A rogue cultivator?" Xu Jinyan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Tian Xiwei also burst into laughter and nodded repeatedly.

Once the two had finished laughing, the difference in their social status seemed to disappear.

Xu Jin said in a relaxed tone, "Fellow Daoist Tian, ​​did you see the interview when Hua Chenyu won the championship?"

"I saw it; it mentioned the semi-finals, and there's been some controversy about it online."

Xu Jinyan nodded and said, "That's right. Because there's no evidence, many people think I'm suppressing my fellow contestants. While I was fretting about this..."

"I thought of you," he said, seeing Tian Xiwei listening intently with her lips pursed. He then handed her a sheet of music and smiled.

"I hope you can do me a favor and sing this song yourself. To be honest, I'm a little jealous of your vocal talent. The key is that you majored in acting in college. It's like God was feeding you a gift."

He watched as Tian Xiwei took the sheet music and lowered her head, seemingly studying it intently, before continuing:

"I hope you can help me this time, firstly to prove my magnanimity, and secondly so that people will discover that there were three surprises in the Chinese music scene this year;"

"Secondly, only you have the ability to sing this song 'Big Fish' well; I myself cannot sing this song."

"As for Teacher Wang Fan, he's my best friend, you don't need to worry about him."