Chapter 2

Huoren felt he was an idiot for coming here.

He opened his mouth. His back still hurt from what happened half an hour ago.

A man nearby said impatiently, “You want to be a star but have stage fright. If you can’t do it, we’re leaving.”

The examiner began recording his information: “Name?”

“Huoren”

“Age?”

“Fifteen”

“Height?”

“1.75 meters”

The woman next to him began to whisper, “It doesn’t matter. His puberty has just started developing. He can grow up to 1.80 meters later on.”

“Okay. Let’s get started.” Pei Ruye turned his fountain pen around and said, “Are you going to sing first?”

Huoren did not hesitate, and soon started to sing the song that brought Mei Heng to fame, “It is better not to forget.”

His voice was clean and clear, and he was perfectly in sync with the melody.

Ten years ago, this song was known all across the country, and even the auntie who cleans the school bathroom sings it.

“You’re not too bad,” said the examiner sitting on the left, who finally took an interest in him. “Have you ever learned musical scales?”

“Mn” Music book teaching materials, his teacher would also talk about.

The examiner got up and walked to the piano. She reached out and pressed two notes, “Which ones are these?”

“MI and SOL”

She pressed three more notes. “What about these?”

“DO, FA, SI”.

“And these?”

The examiner pressed a string of notes, all at once, sounding as if the piano was being abused.

“SOL, SI, RE.”

“He has a good ear.”

She tried four more times and asked other questions before scoring him. Huoren stood there and answered them one by one. He could not understand some of the questions, so he replied that he didn’t know.

After the examiner finished grading him, it was the main examiner’s turn again.

“We’re short on time, so you will do the dance and physical condition tests simultaneously.” He indicated: “Dance a little. You can insert the USB with the song”.

Huoren’s voice sounded hoarse, “I don’t know how to dance.”

A staff member from behind snorted, “Look at you, you don’t even look like someone who has enough money to dance.”

Pei Ruye ignored whoever said it. He looked at him and said, “Why don’t you do radio calisthenics?” [1]

Huoren did what he was told to. He stretched out his arms and seriously did an entire set of “Dance Youth” in front of these people.

The four masters really watched him jump around from start to finish, none of them playing with their cell phone mid-performance..

“Fine,” Pei Ruye wrote down his rating and said in a strictly professional manner, “last question.”

“Why did you come here to do the interview?”

This question was asked to everyone. Previous candidates gave a wide variety of responses, some saying it was to fulfill their dream while they cried with snot and tears, telling them how hard it was for their family to send them to study music. To be honest, the teachers were getting tired of hearing the same thing.

Huoren thought that if he eventually joined the company, he would have to tell them sooner or later.

“My father owes a loan shark, and the debt collector went to school to keep me from going for three years. I have nowhere to go.”

The examiner next to him frowned: “Then you should call the police, not come here.”

“Obviously, there are some situations where one doesn’t have a choice.” The person on the other side chimed in: “Is there any other reason besides not being able to continue your studies?”

Houren unexpectedly said frankly, “You give a basic salary, plus the training is closed, so those people wouldn’t be able to find me.”

Pei Ruye raised a hand to support his forehead and smiled for a moment.

“You haven’t thought about being popular? If you’re popular, you can pay off your debts, right, little student?”

Huoren took a deep breath and spoke again.

Being physically weak, his voice was husky, but his pronunciation was steady.

“I saw the recruitment announcement.”

“You have an elimination system. If you do it right, you can stay, otherwise you must go.”

“If you have the ability to stay until the end, you will debut.”

Pei Ruye looked at him, and finally stopped turning his pen around.

“Do you think you have the ability?”

“I’ll do my best.”

My best.

“Okay, I’ll give it to you.” The examiner said unexpectedly, and put a stamp on the registration form.

The teacher next to him refused, waving his hand, while the other two also stamped.

“Boy, you are very handsome, you will look great when you grow up.” The teacher said seriously, “You must take care of your face.”

“Come tomorrow to report In the first round, the company only takes care of the food, only later in the second round will you receive a salary, understood?”

“Understood, thank you teacher.” Huoren took the registration form and bowed, then turned and walked away.

He let out a sigh of relief and went downstairs with a sudden sense of absurdity.

In fact, at this point, he should have thought about which prestigious school to go to.

However, after the third grade, education was no longer compulsory. Not only must school fees be paid, but also Aunt Lu’s medical expenses.

The amount of a scholarship was not enough.

When Huoren returned to Mrs. Chen’s house, he smelled the strong flavor of the bone soup coming from downstairs.

Mr. Chen also returned, chatting about the office, and the family of three laughed warmly.

He paused on the first floor for a moment, quietly went and knocked on the door, first holding the backpack full of junk, and then bowed, thanking the three of them.

“Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Why are you so polite? We watched you grow,” Mr. Chen frowned, “If it weren’t for your mother’s early death-”

Chen Yan pushed him, “Dad, stop.”

“Where are you going? Don’t run around .” Mrs. Chen was a little nervous: “If something happens to you, we wouldn’t know where to find you.”

“Auntie, I got a job. I have to go to work tonight.”

“Ah? Aren’t you going to high school?” Mrs. Chen blocked the door to prevent him from leaving, “We will help you find a method for your family. We will help you find someone. Sit down and eat!”

Huoren was very calm: “Aunt Chen, my family owes a 800,000 yuan debt, and the court has no way of handling the accounts.”

“The scholarship can’t save me, those people are still going after my house.”

He opened his backpack and took out the real-estate certificate.

“Aunt Chen, I hope you can take care of this for a few years, I brought it along just in case.”

The woman covered her mouth and reached out to hug him for a long time without saying anything.

“I know everything, I know,” she said without pause, “If you don’t go to high school, Aunt Chen’s heart would hurt.”

“Why don’t you eat before you go?” Chen Yan also rubbed his eyes: “My mom cooked a bone and seaweed soup that is very good.”

Huoren said nothing, and when he was let go of, he bowed to the family of three again.

He was so poor that he couldn’t give a decent thanks, and he could only express his gratitude this way.

“I’ll keep in touch, don’t worry.” The teenager squeezed the handle of the backpack: “I’m leaving, goodbye.”

The family accompanied him on the way out of the neighborhood and returned the greeting when he was already walking away.

Huoren walked in a safe direction with his backpack on his back, knowing that he couldn’t go home.

He went to the hospital, placed the bank card under Aunt Lu’s pillow, and texted her after thinking about it.

The woman slept soundly and breathed weakly with an oxygen mask.

It was already seven o’clock in the evening, and he didn’t even know where to spend the night.

It was already dark, and the people in the neighborhood had already eaten until they burst, taking their children’s puppies for a leisurely walk.

Huoren stood for a long time under the lamp post and began rummaging through his own pockets.

A registration form, a ten yuan bill, and two coins.

The familiar feeling of hunger was gone, and his stomach was not in the mood to protest further.

He looked at the SPF address for a few seconds and decided to go there.

By the time he walked through the block, it was already nine o’clock in the evening.

There were almost no pedestrians anymore, and there were only cars with the lights on.

Huoren didn’t have a work permit and couldn’t get in today, so he followed the signs to the parking lot and found a corner to curl up and rest.

He actually grows very fast, but the nutrition (in his body) can’t keep up, and his bones start to hurt when they support his body.

Hunger re-emerged, but after a while it reluctantly disappeared.

Although the cars were moving around, no one noticed the small black shadow in the corner.

Huoren fell asleep without realizing.

He didn’t know how long after, but someone suddenly hit him on the head.

“Why are you sleeping here?”

Huoren raised his head and subconsciously said with shame that he would leave.

When his vision cleared, he found Pei Ruye standing next to him.

He was the main examiner who gave him a pass during the day.

He changed his clothes and had a pair of silver chains around his neck, like he had just come from a party.

“Have you eaten?” Pei Ruye touched his chin: “If I hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have seen you.”

“Come on, I have instant noodles in the office.”

Huoren said unconsciously, “There is no need for me to disturb the teacher.”

“It’s alright, God has made you sleep in front of my license plate. I can’t do more than that.” The man picked him up and led him to the elevator door not far away.

The elevator was unlocked using fingerprints, and the feminine mechanical voice broadcasts the weather and floors. Everything looked very upscale.

Huoren was behind Pei Ruye, hiding all the confusion and anxiety in his heart.

Pei Ruye’s office was on the 17th floor. Not only did it have a bathroom with a shower, but also a private gym, it was like he had a house in here.

Huoren initially thought he was a teacher of the entertainment company, but now he thinks he is like the head of the company.

“Fortunately, I have some promotional T-shirts from the company here, so you can just wear those.” The man pulled out the unopened toiletries and tucked them into his arms. He pointed to the open kettle and noodles beside him: “My secretary will come and open the door at 7 in the morning. Sleep well. See you. ”

When he finished, he was ready to go out.

“Wait a minute,” Huoren said without thinking, “Aren’t you afraid that I will ruin your office?”

Would most people leave an unknown stray in their office at night?

“I’m not afraid,” said the man slowly, “You look like a good boy.”

“Take a shower. I’m leaving.”

Huoren held his arms tightly and stubbornly said, “I have no way to return this favor.”

“You can return it to me.” Pei Ruye waved his hand: “I bet with Master Shang that you will be a good idol.”

“So, can you prove it to me?”

[1]. Radio calisthenics are warm-up calisthenics performed to music and guidance from radio broadcasts. They are popular in Japan and parts of China and Taiwan.