Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Preparations Before the Live Stream

This time, it wasn’t just Qi Yu whose expression was dark; everyone else’s was too.

The neighboring Four Seas Entertainment and Star Entertainment were ticketed as well.

The other races weren’t staying at this hotel, so Jiang Qin didn’t know if this rule was aimed only at the Federation.

’But surely that couldn’t be the case?’

In any case, it ended with a large group of people, all dressed in luxurious formalwear, arriving at the banquet hall in driverless Flying Cars.

Judging by the expressions on the others’ faces, they were probably quite upset.

After all, this kind of behavior was indeed a bit beneath them.

There were no issues when they entered.

Many reporters were filming at the entrance, and dozens of expensive luxury cars were parked there.

They even garnered surprised looks when they were seen stepping out of the small, driverless Flying Cars.

’They’ve probably never seen such a frugal mode of transport.’

If this were in the Federation, their Flying Car would have been swarmed by fans before they even got out.

By now, Xini couldn’t even be bothered to scowl at Jiang Qin, because he was too busy scowling at the entire world.

His face was pulled into a long frown, and he hadn’t smiled once.

After entering the banquet hall, an attendant came to receive them. The three department heads were led elsewhere, probably to greet the directors and other important figures.

The other composers and singers also split off to talk with their acquaintances.

Only the newcomers were left, knowing no one and awkwardly finding a place to stand.

Bodyguards and assistants had been stopped outside, so now that Jiang Qin was by herself, she simply found a corner to sit in.

It was also a good chance to observe the other races among the Myriad Races.

For instance, the Tree-man Clan. They had human faces and bodies, but their arms were vines and their feet were roots…

Then there was the Mechanical Clan, who were akin to cyborgs. They mostly had buzz cuts, and their bodies had a robotic exterior.

The Elf Clan, the Sea Clan… the Blood Clan.

“Beautiful lady, may I have this dance?”

She hadn’t noticed when, but a handsome man had appeared before her.

His fiery red hair was particularly dazzling.

Judging by its sheen, Jiang Qin guessed he was from the Empire.

Although he was very handsome, she still refused his invitation. “Sorry, I don’t know how to dance.”

The man seemed a little surprised, and his expression turned sour for a moment, but he quickly moved on to invite someone else.

Jiang Qin saw that he seemed to be heading for a female singer from Four Seas Entertainment.

With the way Imperial people discriminated against Federation people, she had a bad feeling about it, so she had refused just to be on the safe side.

Sure enough, soon after that singer entered the dance floor with the man, she started stumbling repeatedly.

The women nearby began to jeer openly. “Where did this country bumpkin come from? Can’t even dance, yet she’s out here making a fool of herself.”

“Probably from the Federation. Only their gowns are that shabby. Is that an IU design from two years ago?”

“Of course. Someone of her status could never borrow a new design from IU.”

Many major brands didn’t sell their high-end gowns; they only loaned them out.

Because they were one-of-a-kind.

And IU was currently the third-ranked Interstellar brand, started by the Elf Clan.

Their gowns were all themed around nature.

In truth, for this queen-level singer from Four Seas Entertainment, being able to borrow a two-year-old design was already quite an accomplishment.

Unfortunately, the gowns worn by the women mocking her were even more expensive.

Now Jiang Qin understood why that man had invited a woman from the Federation to dance.

If she had been mesmerized by the man’s looks and gone up to dance, she would probably be the one being mocked right now.

’Tsk, tsk. What a crude sense of humor.’

***

Jiang Qin didn’t want to get involved in these conflicts, so she stayed in her corner.

Wary of any mishaps, she didn’t eat anything and didn’t even take a sip of water.

An hour dragged by in boredom, yet the banquet showed no signs of ending.

“You’ve found a good spot.” A deep, resonant voice spoke.

Jiang Qin looked up and saw it was a stranger. She raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m a singer. My name is Emerson.”

’Emerson?’

He was one of the people Xie Lili had mentioned to her. He was the Empire’s newly-crowned Heavenly King from last year and was very likely to be participating in the show this year.

“Jiang Qin.”

Emerson chuckled. “I know you. I really like the song ’Burning.’ I hope I’ll have the chance to sing one of your compositions someday.”

With that, he walked away, just missing Qi Yu, who was heading toward her.

“Did Emerson give you any trouble?”

Jiang Qin shook her head. “No, he just said a few words to me and left.”

“Mm. Stay away from him.”

“Okay.”

Qi Yu was a little taken aback, apparently not expecting her to be so compliant and agree without asking any questions.

Looking at the stunning young woman before him, his expression softened slightly. However, he still didn’t explain why he wanted her to stay away from Emerson.

He just nodded and said, “Then you can keep waiting here. I’ll come get you when the banquet is over.

If you need anything, come find me over there.”

Jiang Qin once again obediently agreed.

After that, no one else came to her corner, and she quietly observed the crowd.

She was bored all the way until the end, when she finally returned to the hotel with everyone else.

***

The next morning, they arrived at the show’s filming location.

It was a large auditorium.

The live broadcast hadn’t started yet; they were just there to rehearse their blocking and the like.

Qi Yu said, “Tonight’s live broadcast isn’t the official start. The three composers just need to prepare one song each for their debut performance.

You can have one of the singers we brought perform it, or you can sing it yourselves.”

Lan Yuyan had mentioned this before, so Jiang Qin was already prepared.

Since she didn’t know any of the singers from Tianwen Entertainment beforehand and couldn’t get to the Main Star too far in advance, she had chosen to sing it herself.

“Have your own backing tracks, costumes, makeup, and styling ready in advance. We don’t want any slip-ups tonight.”

This didn’t really need a reminder; no one was counting on the show’s makeup artists anyway.

“The live broadcast starts at 6 PM. We need to be here by 5 PM, so manage your time well.”

After familiarizing themselves with the venue, it was time for lunch. After eating, they had to return to the hotel to do their makeup.

The song Jiang Qin prepared was “Blue and White Porcelain,” so her makeup and styling for the day were quite intricate.

Xie Lili was learning makeup from her, but she hadn’t “graduated” yet. Even braiding hair was a bit of a challenge for her, as she had never seen traditional hairstyles before.

So she had to do her makeup and styling herself.

The outfit, at least, was ready. She could just take it out and put it on without needing to iron it.

After a busy afternoon, it was finally 5 PM, and everyone was waiting backstage at the venue.

The major live-streaming platforms had also started their warm-up hype, just waiting for 6 PM to go live.

A host with a microphone was backstage conducting interviews, probably to be edited into behind-the-scenes footage.

The questions were the usual ones: “Are you nervous?” “What kind of song have you prepared for today?” “What place do you think you’ll get in the end?” and so on.

One Heavenly King and one Queen-level singer sent by Tianwen would soon be performing songs from the two veteran composers.

Only the rookie singer would not have a chance to perform on stage tonight.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep