Quiet

"Hello, please show your registration card."

Lin Mu pushed the door open. It was a rather large room, about fifty to sixty square meters, with over ten dressing tables lining the walls. It was usually the dressing room for the actors at the Jiangrong Drama Center.

Now, it was temporarily being used as a contestant waiting area.

A table was set up by the entrance, with two young ladies sitting behind it. Seeing someone enter, one of them stood up and said to Lin Mu.

The young lady's tone was mechanical, and her expression was vacant. Clearly, she had repeated this phrase many times. However, upon seeing Lin Mu's face, she subconsciously let out a small gasp.

"So handsome!"

This exclamation startled the others in the room. The contestants waiting to go on stage all turned to look, their gazes unfriendly.

There were only twenty spots to advance to the main competition in this region. Everyone in this room was a competitor. The sudden appearance of such a handsome young man created an unspoken pressure.

"Heh, this is singing, not a beauty pageant."

"Yeah, the judges can't see your face anyway, so being handsome is useless."

A few people snickered and whispered amongst themselves, but the room was quiet, and their words clearly reached Lin Mu's ears.

Lin Mu ignored them and handed his contestant card to the staff member.

The young lady took the contestant card, her fingers brushing against Lin Mu's hand intentionally or unintentionally.

"Zhang Hen. Wow, little handsome guy, your name is so strong."

After registering, the young lady returned the contestant card to Lin Mu and gave him a charming smile.

"Thanks." Lin Mu gave a perfunctory smile back and walked to a secluded corner to sit down.

He was used to this kind of thing and wasn't surprised.

All he wanted now was to low-key take the S Card for the Jiangsu Province region and then go back to work at the company.

As for his contestant name, he naturally couldn't use his real name. Yesterday, when Fat Tiger registered, he used A Hen's name and personal information.

"Hello, my name is Wang Lu, I'm number 25. What's your number?"

However, some people, even when sitting in a corner, couldn't hide their passive aura. As soon as Lin Mu sat down, a girl walked over and sat next to him.

Lin Mu replied, "I'm number 36."

The girl exclaimed in surprise, "What a coincidence!"

"How is it a coincidence?"

"Your number is exactly 11 more than mine, isn't that a coincidence?"

Lin Mu: "..."

What kind of awkward pickup line was this?

"What a coincidence, I'm number 47, and my number is also exactly 11 more than yours!"

A man walked over and sat down next to Wang Lu.

Lin Mu sighed softly in exasperation. He just wanted to find a quiet corner, but now it had become the liveliest spot in the entire room.

Wang Lu nudged Lin Mu with her elbow, "Zhang Hen, what song are you singing?"

The man beside her chimed in, "I'm singing Feng Bingbing's You Don't Know I Love You."

Everyone else looked at him in surprise.

The man said nonchalantly, "A man singing a woman's song is more difficult. If sung well, it'll leave a stronger impression on the judges."

Hearing this, some people pondered, seemingly hesitating whether to switch to a female singer's song as well.

Wang Lu said, "I'm a woman singing a man's song, Chen An's Secret Love Is Not a Crime."

The others immediately exclaimed:

"You two didn't plan this, did you? It's said that Chen An wrote this song specifically for Feng Bingbing!"

"Chen An is so talented, he and Feng Bingbing are actually quite a good match."

"Yeah, I even thought the person Feng Bingbing confessed to yesterday was Chen An. What a pity!"

"Singing a man's song as a woman, and a woman's song as a man, it does make some sense. Maybe I should change my song last minute?"

The previously peaceful and harmonious room suddenly became noisy. Lin Mu rolled his eyes, regretting not bringing a mask.

Damn it, being handsome is too much trouble!

"Zhang Hen, what song are you singing?"

Lin Mu said expressionlessly, "Quiet."

The lively room instantly fell silent. Wang Lu was a bit embarrassed. The man beside her pointed at Lin Mu angrily and said, "Brother, you're going too far. We were just chatting. If you don't want to talk, go sit somewhere else. Why are you telling us to be quiet?"

Others also chimed in, "Even if we're competitors, there's no need to be so malicious! You look decent, but your heart is so petty!"

At this moment, the assistant director pushed the door open and called out, "Number 10, Wang Lu, you're up."

"Okay, teacher, coming right up!"

Wang Lu cheerfully stood up and walked to the assistant director, a cute yet respectful smile on her face.

"?" Everyone else was stunned. Didn't this pretty young girl just say she was number 25?

"What's the name of the song you're singing?" The assistant director looked down at the record in his hand and asked for confirmation.

"You Don't Know I Love You," Wang Lu replied immediately.

The others were stunned again.

Didn't she just say she was singing Chen An's Secret Love Is Not a Crime?

Wang Lu gave a sweet smile to the people in the room: "Everyone, keep up the good work."

With that, she skipped out.

Those who had been angrily accusing Lin Mu fell silent. Several people who had planned to change their songs at the last minute looked utterly dazed.

They found that their well-prepared mindset had been completely thrown off by this interruption, leaving them feeling a bit flustered.

About ten minutes later, the on-site director pushed the door open again and called out:

"Number 11, Hao Jian, take the stage."

The man who had spoken to Wang Lu earlier, claiming to be number 47 and saying he would sing a female song as a male, immediately stood up.

"Coming."

Everyone watched him in silence.

The on-site director asked, "What song are you singing?"

Hao Jian replied, "Secret Love Is Not a Crime."

Everyone: "."

Hao Jian turned and gave a wicked smile to his competitors in the room before walking out of the waiting room.

Now, there was truly no one speaking in the room. Everyone felt like they had swallowed a dead fly.

The contestants tried hard to adjust their moods, striving to recover the mindset that had been ruined by Wang Lu and Hao Jian.

A few more people took the stage successively. Around eleven in the morning, the on-site director pushed the door open:

"Number 16, Zhang Hen."

"Coming."

Lin Mu stood up and walked to the door.

"What song are you singing?"

The cautious assistant director asked for confirmation as usual.

"Quiet."

Lin Mu replied.

Those who had accused Lin Mu earlier looked at him in surprise.

The assistant director asked an extra question: "Is it original?"

Lin Mu nodded.

"Okay, follow me. I'll take you to the original section. There are instruments there. What instrument will you use?"

The assistant director asked.

"Piano."

"Alright, let's go."

After Lin Mu left, discussions finally erupted in the room again:

"So that guy was talking about the song title just now! We misunderstood him!"

"Quiet? The song title sounds pretty ordinary."

"Original songs don't have much of an advantage in Pure Voice, unless your song is truly outstanding."

"Huh? Didn't that guy say he was number 36 earlier?"

"...What the hell! Can there be any sincerity in this world anymore?"

Thanks to book friend "Lost Mengjing" for the 1500-point reward and book friend "Rong Bai" for the 100-point reward!