"Oh... my cousin..." Gu Nan thought highly of Shen Xunye as her brother-in-law, so she didn't hide it. "After his mother divorced and remarried quickly, she wanted to leave him with relatives, so he stayed at our house for a short time..."
After Chi Li finished singing, Su Yuan was already in her place beside her.
The vocal coach pointed to the marked lyrics page and began assigning lyrics to the two singers. " Su Yuan's voice has a lot of texture, suitable for the opening..."
After a thorough analysis and explanation, the vocal coach quickly divided the lyrics of the song.
"Here's my opinion. If you have any questions, don't ask. Just sing it for me once."
The two exchanged a glance without saying a word, Su Yuan spoke first.
After listening to their singing, the vocal coach started revising the part assignments on paper again.
Su Yuan spoke up, "Teacher, I think Chi Li sang very well in every part, this part..." He highlighted the entire climax, "Let him handle it all."
"This part is for your chorus." The vocal coach was genuinely puzzled. "You want him to sing it solo? Why?"
He'd seen people give up parts before, but this was the first time he'd seen it done so thoroughly.
"I want to support the newcomers." Su Yuan smiled gently, looking every bit the part of someone who cares for their juniors. "I know this stage is hard-won for newcomers."
"No need." Chi Li refused without even thinking. "Just standing next to me is considered 'supporting'... Actually, 'supporting' isn't quite accurate. To be precise, just standing next to me means you're destined to be stepped on by me to rise to the top."
Vocal teacher. "..."
Previously in class, Chi Li was well-behaved, humble, and polite... Now she can actually say such aggressive things...
"Step on me to get to the top?" Su Yuan maintain her smile, her lips twitching slightly before she continued, "That's one way to put it... but without someone protecting you, you probably wouldn't be able to stand firm even if you did, and you're destined to fall from the top."
Chi Li smiled and tilted her head, "Then I'll kick you down and then step on you, wouldn't that make it stable?"
"You—" Su Yuan's eyes widened in anger at his words. "Sharp-tongued."
"Besides your assistant secretly filming, there are no other cameras here. You don't need to keep pretending, do you?" Chi Li turned her face to look at Su Yuan's assistant, who was standing obediently in the same spot and hadn't moved an inch.
Upon hearing this, the sensible Gu Nan immediately called Shen Xunye to surround Su Yuan's assistant.
The female assistant, surrounded by two tall men, couldn't help but tremble a few times, then cast a pleading look at Su Yuan.
"Teacher." Su Yuan walked behind the vocal coach and pushed his back to lead him out. "You can go out first. We'll handle the part allocation."
The vocal coach had no choice but to reluctantly leave the scene.
After seeing the person out, Su Yuan locked the door from the inside.
" Xiao Wu, delete the video you took." Su Yuan returned to the center of the room and spoke casually.
Upon hearing the order, the assistant almost impatiently pulled out his phone, which was hidden in his chest with only the camera showing, and deleted all the videos he had just recorded under the death stares of Gu Nan and Shen Xunye.
"If you weren't a girl, I would have snatched it from you myself." Gu Nan snorted heavily.
He raised his chin, walked to Chi Li's side, and looked down at Su Yuan with disdain.
Shen Xunye tried to imitate him, but he found that if he raised his chin, he could only see the ceiling, so he gave up.
"How did you find out?" Su Yuan showed no guilt at being discovered; she just wanted to figure out where her mistake lay.
"It's very simple." Chi Li was happy to explain, "She was always standing in your direction. If she accidentally moved even slightly, she would immediately turn back nervously. Even a fool could see that."
Gu Nan, that idiot, gave a heavy "hmm" from behind.
"Let me guess, what are you planning to do with that video?" Chi Li continued. "Promoting the newcomer is your lie; your real purpose is to create the illusion that you're being bullied and oppressed by a slightly more popular newcomer, isn't it?"
"Whether I agree to sing it the way you say it or not, you'll still make me sing it that way once. If this version gets leaked, along with some fabricated captions, who knows how many righteous people will come and criticize me for getting arrogant as soon as I become famous."
"... That's too insidious!" Gu Nan was completely dumbfounded.
However, 'disrespecting seniors' and 'acting like a big shot' are indeed the most common pitfalls for many newcomers. If handled improperly, they may be attacked by the masses and their public image will plummet.
"But..." Gu Nan had another question, "What was that all about when he gave Brother Shen an autographed photo?"
Shen Xunye quickly added, "I didn't answer."
Chi Li understood after a moment's thought. "If I accept, it means Shen Xunye is indeed after me as a celebrity, which will not only hurt me but also the fans of the Night Ashes Dawn CP. If I don't accept, it means these two are birds of a feather, both arrogant and bullying their seniors."
"... That's amazing!" Su Yuan couldn't help but clap her hands a few times. "How did you guess so accurately?"
He thought all his actions were natural, but he never expected that Chi Li could see through and guess his every move.
"Your malice towards me is practically overflowing, do I even need to guess?" Chi Li chuckled lightly, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Do you think I'm that stupid, that easy to bully?"
He clashed with Xie Weishui so many times in the Raising House; it wasn't for nothing.
"Alright, I admit I'm not as skilled." Su Yuan conceded defeat, extending his right hand to Chi Li. "I hope we can put aside our past grievances and become the best partners."
"... I've never seen anyone with such thick skin." Gu Nan felt he still knew too little about the entertainment industry. "How could he even say something like that?"
Ignoring his sarcasm, Su Yuan extended her hand forward a little more. "Is that alright?"
"Okay." Chi Li placed her hand on it expressionlessly. "I will definitely share the good news of you and me becoming good partners with Jiang Yue."
"You..." Su Yuan's pupils trembled, and she tightened her grip on Chi Li's hand.
"Good partner, you pinched me too hard." Chi Li pulled her hand away and shook it off a couple of times, expressionless. "What's wrong? You don't seem too happy that I'm sharing this good news?"
Su Yuan clenched her fist and calmed her breathing. "You don't need to threaten me. Jiang Yue hasn't cared what kind of person I am for a long time."
"He doesn't care, and neither do you?" Chi Li countered.
If you really don't care, why react so strongly?
It's just self-deception.
"Tell me, what do you want?" Su Yuan willing to answer this question. "I'm willing to make amends for what happened today."
He truly lost completely today, he admits it. He's not someone who can't accept defeat.