Chapter 27

Huoren’s brain went blank when he heard that sentence.

He jumped up and hugged Pei Ruye, hanging on him.

“I was chosen?!”

Pei Ruye didn’t expect that he had such a side. He stretched out his hand and stroke his hair twice: “Your hair is still very soft.”

Huoren felt the pat on his head and remembered that he was being very impolite. He hurried down from Pei Ruye: “I… I got too excited.”

Pei Ruye smiled and took him to the 17th floor: “I’ll go up and take you to get your fingerprints. You can choose the dormitory to live in first. Now everyone is celebrating the new year and will gather on the fourth day of the new year. You can buy your meal cards at will.” Pei Ruye took a few steps and suddenly turned to look at Huoren.

The boy covered his mouth and smiled with his eyes squinted, relieved.

“I wanted to talk to you more, but I’m going to the New Year’s Eve party later. There’s a car waiting downstairs.” Pei Ruye said faintly: “Little one, you rest alone in the dormitory for three days. If something happens that you need to contact the internal management, you can call me in case of an emergency.”

“Got it, thank you, Teacher Pei!”

It turned out that the ten floors above were all fingerprints driving elevators.

The original meal card could have an unlimited quota.

Huoren ran up and down the empty building in the central area of SPF. First, he called Aunt Lu and the Chen family to tell them the good news. Listening to the earnest and gratifying words of the two elders, his tight shoulders relaxed a lot.

Then, he called Longjia, who helped him carry the only thing he had up to the 17th floor.

Longjia just received the news and almost choked with a dumpling.

“My mother will take me to a spa in the North District. I’ll see you on the fourth day of the new year, Huo!”

“Mn!”

He seemed to feel the pleasure of being admitted to a famous university in advance.

The energy didn’t disappear after two hours. He jumped while walking up and down the stairs.

It was getting dark and the whole building was trapped in the night.

It came from outside the thundering sound of firecrackers and fireworks, and there was only silence in the room.

Huoren hadn’t been at ease during the New Year for so long.

Guarded by SPF, he would never be splashed with paint during the New Year or worry about the collectors chopping the door with a kitchen knife. Huoren felt a happiness he had never had before.

He carried his luggage and arranged his dormitory bed. Ignoring dinner, he went to see the whole 17th floor.

The block g office building was wide and spacious. A whole floor was used to accommodate a single dormitory, which had a very luxurious level.

There were six dormitories in total. The walls were made with soundproof layers and sound insulation layers. Practicing piano and dancing at night wouldn’t disturb others.

There were two halls in the central area, which could hold temporary meetings and discussions, or practice meetings separately.

In addition, there were a series of facilities such as a study room, gym, recording room and audio-visual room, which were so complete that there would be no need to go downstairs anymore.

At first, Huoren didn’t find that the shell silver decoration on the wall was the switch of the lamp. He was startled when he accidentally touched it. He just turned on the exterior light of the sightseeing corridor, and the bright orange light lit up the night outside the glass corridor.

It was a clear blue floating pool without edges.

The boy held his breath and walked slowly along the corridor, staring at the world outside the window.

On one side there was a swimming pool and on the other side there was a courtyard.

When he moved into the company in July, he was still living with more than 100 trainees. He only saw a cold high-rise building outside the window, and not the garden, but there were large areas of forest green trees here, which were still green in late winter.

Training outdoors made you enjoy the gorgeous night scenery of the whole city. There was a pond of lotus in the courtyard and swings.

He had never thought that something like this could become his home.

It felt so good to be valued and cherished.

Huoren wandered the 17th floor again, but there was still some unfinished business. Before going downstairs, he suddenly remembered that he hadn’t gone to the south to have a look.

Each dormitory had its own bathroom, but there was a wide public bathroom in the south of the living room, which was divided into a toilet and hand washing area.

The dark gold decoration was luxurious. The water platform was designed as a shallow bright moon. The water would slide down the moon track and fall into the translucent starry sky.

Huoren thought that he felt like a commoner. When no one was here, he could probably play with the faucet all afternoon.

The moment he turned off the water, he suddenly heard the sound of quick breathing.

There was someone in the bathroom.

Huoren wasn’t afraid of ghosts. He could guess who it was by intuition, but he felt a little amazed.

Those who could enter the 17th floor freely, in addition to the tutor’s internal management and team assistant, were the six members of Corona.

Today was New Year’s Eve. The other four members had gone home and talked to him on the phone before.

Mei Shengyao was the only one who stayed there quietly.

Huoren walked lightly and approached the bathroom in the dark. He heard the same breath again.

Mei Shengyao was crying.

What Huoren had heard was a rapid breath of silent tears.

Huoren stopped and frowned. He didn’t know what to do.

He was too familiar with the sound of that breathing.

The really weak cry was like a distress signal, with more sobs to attract others to come for help and protection.

The cry of repressing and forbearing to the extreme, even the only remaining breath sound would want to be subconsciously covered up, leaving only intermittent sudden pumping.

They were only separated by a wall. At that moment, they had noticed each other at the same time.

Huoren took the lead in breaking the silence.

“Do you… need tissues?”

The sound of the toilet flushing came from the compartment.

The blonde boy opened the door, his tears had been wiped clean, and his face was calm and stubborn.

“… Hello.” He said as a dry greeting and went straight around Huoren to wash his face.

Huoren looked at him sideways and suddenly understood something.

He had seen Mei Shengyao on the screen of the New Year’s Eve party before, and he always felt uncomfortable.

The answer was that the other person was only 12 years old, but his eyes and behavior are no longer like children.

Huoren wasn’t old, but he was three years older than him.

Twelve should be the first year of junior high school. Most of their peers were still childish and childlike.

But the self isolation Mei Sheng had was the same situation Huoren had been in.

Now he looked at him washing his face by the washstand and felt like he was looking at himself in a mirror.

After washing his face, Mei Shengyao grabbed a paper towel and wiped his hands. He said goodbye and turned back to his bedroom.

Huoren didn’t rush to follow him and was still thinking about it in situ. He used his reason quickly.

Mei Shengyao’s father was a well-known singer. He would probably perform on CCTV this year.

His mother was a queen of acting. Huoren didn’t know if she had a play appointment in the near future.

…Maybe it’s because of the family that he was in such a bad mood.

Huoren found skimmed milk powder and a bag of biscuits in the kitchen, made a cup of hot milk for the boy, put the two things together on the shelf next to his door, knocked twice and left.

When Huoren returned to the 17th floor, Huoren looked over like feeding a stray cat and found that the biscuits were still there, but the milk cup was empty.

They spent the first day of the new year together in silence.

Everyone in the company was almost gone. There were only two cooks in the canteen on the first floor of the basement. Early in the morning, he smiled and asked Huoren what he wanted to eat at noon.

Mei Shengyao shut himself in his room and didn’t come out until lunch. He was expressionless and refused to make eye contact with him.

Bo Jue and Xie Lianyun were very kind, and this child was very cold.

Huoren didn’t want to disturb him. He comfortably made up for a long sleep. After eating calcium tablets, he routinely went to make pressure on his tendons and practiced dancing for three hours, and then read until the evening. Occasionally, when he was tired, he looked at the serial fireworks close to the window, and had the illusion that he would become a rich young master.

On the second day of the lunar new year, one of the only two cooks took a temporary leave and said that his wife was going to have a baby.

The remaining cook had no authority to open the door of the central kitchen and asked the internal affairs to send them a text message to ask if it was alright to eat in the staff canteen on the third floor.

Huoren agreed very readily.

He was still reading the music theory book given to him by Teacher Mige. He unknowingly stopped at 7:30 p.m., when he remembered to eat on time.

The internal affairs called him: “Huohuo, Mei Mei didn’t eat either. Can you bring him down with you?”

The trainee was familiar with the third floor and wouldn’ be dizzy by a pile of corners and lanes, but Mei Shengyao may not be able to find the place.

Huoren answered quickly and took his things to knock on Mei Shengyao’s door.

The door was unlocked. It was pitch black inside.

…The child had left?

How long had it been?

Huoren had a bad omen, so he quickly got off the elevator and rushed to the third floor.

No one in the restaurant saw Mei Shengyao. He was obviously lost.

The third floor was temporarily renovated last year. There were several functional areas. There were many forked corridors in the middle, and the signs were not clear at all.

Huoren himself stayed there for half a year and sometimes got lost on the third floor. It was Mei Shengyao’s first time to come here, which would be obviously more difficult.

He ran very fast, scanning roads and rooms for fear that something might have happened to the child.

After running in the outer ring, he began to look for several branches in the inner ring.

Finally, he heard faint footsteps.

The boy was just outside the two roads, with a look of confusion and panic.

“Mei Shengyao-” Huoren subconsciously shouted, “come with me and I’ll take you to have dinner!”

The curly haired boy immediately looked at Huoren and rushed over without hesitation.

He turned around three times and couldn’t get out. His eyes were red and he refused to call for help.

“Sorry, I should have brought you down. I didn’t do it.” Huoren was also embarrassed to hold his hand and took Mei Sheng to the restaurant.

The boy was very insecure and took hold of his clothes. His movements were very light.

Huoren suddenly understood Pei Ruye’s mood at the beginning as it was like having a pet.

Has teacher Pei always treated me as a stray animal cub?

Don’t think so…

-2-

In order to compensate them, the chef cooked three dishes and one soup with two snacks for dinner.

Mei Shengyao was really hungry and ate fast.

Huoren simply filled his stomach and sat beside him, waiting to lead him back to the 17th floor safe and sound.

He had a troubled feeling for the boy.

As he didn’t celebrate the New Year, he was here. It should be really lonely for him.

Mei Shengyao noticed his sight and the speed of eating slowed down a little.

Huoren turned to play with his mobile phone and pretended not to see anything.

It was said that in order to stabilize communication and information security, the company asked the internal affairs department to send him an iPhone 3GS.

His original mobile phone was a ‘brick’, a Nokia, and the white words on the buttons had long been blurred.

The new phone had no buttons at all: it was a magical touch-screen control. It could be unlocked with one tap.

Huoren hoped to get familiar with the various functions of the new mobile phone. At this moment, he remembered that he didn’t read the QQ group.

【Corona】

You’re welcome: it’s boring at home. What are y’all doing?

Longjia: Feeding a monkey next to the spa. Look at the monkey’s ass!

Longjia: [picture]

Longjia: [picture]

Longjia: [picture]

Longjia: [picture]

Bo Jue: Do you really need to send so many butts?

You’re welcome: what about Xiao Chi? He hasn’t spoken in the group these two days.

Chi Ji: …I’m practicing my singing. I’m so sleepy and want to sleep.

Huoren: I found Mei Shengyao

The group was silent for a few seconds. Xie Lianyun replied to him first, in a very excited tone.

You’re welcome: is Mei Shengyao in the company? He’s already in the dormitory? I won’t arrive until I get my ticket tomorrow!

Huoren explained the cause and effect clearly in two or three sentences in the group. He was still a little curious.

Huoren: Are you in a hurry to see him?

You’re welcome: Can’t even finish a song, so I’m waiting to be saved. Uncle Jiang said that all my outsourced work must be completed before the fifth day of the new year – how the frick am I going to do that.

Chi Ji: You picked up way too many.

Huoren turned and looked at Mei Shengyao.

He was so powerful to be able to arrange and mix music at such a young age.

Xie Lianyun’s main advantage was in writing lyrics and songs, which was similar to the preparation of raw materials before cooking.

Good songs should not only have characteristic melodies, but also be processed in the later stage.

The combination of music and human voice, as well as the speed control of the instrumental—

Although it could be learned, it’s more like testing one’s sense of music and creativity.

Mei Shengyao thought he was eating too slowly. He quickly put back the dinner plate, wiped his mouth with a paper towel and came to me like a little pet.

“We couldn’t contact you before. This is a new chat group.” Huoren handed him the mobile phone to let him see the screen and said gently, “you can add yourself.”

“Oh, thank you.” Mei Shengyao looked like a child when he was full. He touched his head and said, “I forgot to answer after reading it.”

“Mn, let’s go back together.”

They got on the elevator one after another. Mei stared at the elevator door for a long time and whispered, “Huoren ge.”

“What’s up?”

“Can we go to the workshop later?” He held the corner of his clothes: “I’m afraid of the dark and don’t like being alone.”

“Of course,” Huoren comforted him. “In the future, the six of us will live together. The 17th floor will be very lively.”

“Yes, I heard we’re going to live together for several years.” Mei Shengyao raised his head and smiled: “That’s nice.”

The elevator door opened with a ding, and the lights in the corridor turned on along our steps.

“Yaoyao, did you always live alone?”

“Yes, since I was six.” Mei Shengyao hesitated for a long time, but still quietly answered Huoren’s question. He had no sense of security in the strange environment: “The servants were like ghosts. They didn’t talk to me at all.”

If Huoren wanted to write his music theory homework, he had to go back to his room to get books, drafts, paper and music scores.

Mei Shengyao followed him wherever he went, with bright eyes.

The little boy didn’t have that kind of soft air, more like as he had to be tough and independent for too long it was hard for him to relax.

Like Huoren, he instinctively felt that the other person could trust and be close to the same kind.

Before the holiday, Teacher Mige gave him a set of books and CDs to roughly introduce the importance of this set of teaching materials.

It was a rating examination of the Joint Committee of the Royal Conservatory of music. The examination content included four sections: performance, listening, reading and music theory, which were divided into eight levels.

This test had a worldwide effectiveness and a good reputation in the Amateur Music Grading Test. With the grade test results, you could also get different degrees of extra points when applying to many universities in Europe and America.

When Huoren finished studying two books in the Conservatory, he was able to do it easily. When he was in level 5, he began to work harder and harder.

Memory could no longer help him solve most of his problems.

Mei Shengyao spent 40 minutes helping Xie Lianyun write a composition and revising his ideas. When he finished sending the email, he saw Huoren still thinking and silent, and quietly pulled the stool closer to him.

“What are you looking at?”

“Doing the sixth question.” Huoren pushed the draft paper to him and frowned slightly: “I feel it’s wrong, but I can’t find the problem.”

Mei Sheng looked up at him: “Ren-ge, can I sit next to you?”

“Hmm? Sure.”

The boy relaxed and laid down next to his arm, writing a string of notes in one hand, holding a red pen and pencil in the other hand, and rotating to mark different elements.

“First, determine the mode and final style.”

The handwriting was beautiful and smooth, accompanied by some humming.

“These two pieces of music are positive and strong. They are in major.” Mei Sheng’s voice was clear: “When imitating a creation, it’s best not to jump. Try to use long tones at the half end and the end of the chord, which can highlight the emotional color.”

Huoren almost didn’t keep up with his ideas and tried his best to mobilize all his attention and analytical ability to watch him improvise a long imitation melody.

“There is one way to do it like I do now. The second way is to take apart, knead and use a new style, but retain the original motivation and main chord.”

Mei Shengyao took over the electronic keyboard next to him, put on his headphones and improvised again.

The retro minor with oriental style was very different from his staff. The long tone stress was broken and reversed. It could be played with the same effect.

Mei Shengyao was neither quick nor slow, his voice was low, and there was a kind of calm that Huoren couldn’t describe.

Huoren concentrated on rewriting the paragraph and handed it to him.

“What about this?”

“It’s much better than before. The strength must be clearly marked,” Mei Shengyao wrote gently with a red pen at the end. “Remember to write this later, just like a full stop in a composition.”

Huoren smiled and nodded, “Thank you, Teacher Xiao Mei.”

Mei Shengyao had never been called like that by someone older. He smiled with his head down, which was very cute.

On the fourth day of the lunar new year, when everyone came back and gathered one after another, Chi Ji immediately found that his Huohuo had been stolen.

The child hung around his neck on the sofa and looked cool when he raised his head and said: “Yo.”

Xie Lianyun rushed to fill him with gifts and coughed twice: “Thank you for your help. I’ll look after you next time.”

“You probably won’t have time for outsourcing in the future. Uncle Jiang is very strict.”

Chi Ji tried to save Huoren from his arm: “Stop hugging him.”

“No, hold it for a while,” the child told him. “I’m craving skinship.”

Chi Ji snorted, “I want a hug, too.”

Huoren laughed: “I’m not a teddy bear.”

Longjia took his luggage to pick up the dormitory and said, “Teacher Bo, I live at the opposite door to you.”

The other party threw a pillow directly into his face.

The empty dormitory floor was filled with noise and happiness.

The internal affairs pressed the bell at the door to urge them: “There’s a meeting on the conference floor on the 15th floor in ten minutes. Uncle Jiang is waiting for you.”

“Coming, coming-“

“Longjia, help me find out where my data line is…”

“Right away! Wait!”

Six people yelled and changed their clothes together and got off the elevator. When they saw Uncle Jiang at the door of the elevator, they kept silent at the same time.

“You’re three minutes late,” said uncle Jiang with an expressionless face

He turned and walked away. The six people looked at each other and followed him.

The conference hall was not only equipped with a row of resident teachers and teaching assistants, but also equipped with cameras and lights.

The opening was a routine introduction to each other, which was familiar from members to tutors.

“In the first year, you are still not qualified to make an album.” Uncle Jiang’s old smoky voice said: “There are three assessment opportunities in the second year. Everyone must get at least three A’s in the main course.”

This statement was so firm that no one could go against it.

Bo Jue didn’t understand this aspect before, and was surprised: “Won’t we debut this year?”

Uncle Jiang gave him a cold look as if his eyes were knives.

“What do you think Corona is? A group with just young and good-looking guys who have two or three albums, sing, dance, and disband on the spot after you win some money?”

He took a step forward and even his coat, lifted because of the wind, was sharp.

“We want to have the world’s top boygroup. To the extent that no one can copy and imitate it. Don’t say you want to debut this year. You don’t have enough ability nor training. It’s very possible to delay it for five years.”

The casual atmosphere was suddenly extinguished.

The teachers looked serious, as if they were going to be craftsmen carving statues.

“Corona won’t be in the trend of fast food culture. It will take time to get the most popular and fashionable style from the album to stage performance.”

Uncle Jiang’s words were very heavy, and every word hit them harshly.

“You’d better understand why you should maintain low from the beginning and respect us. Not only your manager, but also the company. It took ten years to coordinate the reserved lineup. Respect yourselves who will become a myth.”

He didn’t give the children time to think about aftertaste and went on talking about ppt.

“There are five main classes three times a week, including dance, vocal, performance, rap and creation, with a minimum score of no less than C. I’ll check up on you regularly.”

The ppt pages passed quickly, showing the first year training table that had already been planned.

“Physique class, voice correction class, image management class, two sessions a week. The score cannot be lower than B.”

Xie Lianyun said in surprise, “Voice correction class?”

The pronunciation teacher nearby said calmly, “You have a southern accent.”

Xie Lianyun immediately covered his mouth: “do I?!”

Huoren listened and wondered. He didn’t expect this.

“Xiao Chi’s British accent needs to be corrected. The northern accent is too obvious when Longjia speaks consonants.” The teacher had already seen the interview video of all of them: “Bo Jue prolongs the endings for too long during the on-site interview, Huoren… Barely enough.”

Barely. Enough.

The dislike of these two words shouldn’t be too obvious.

Huoren suddenly regained consciousness at the meeting, subconsciously grabbed the edge of the table and didn’t speak.

He realized that all six of them would be packaged into extremely perfect goods.

Then, they would take shape and they would be qualified to debut.

Nothing had been settled. This was just the beginning.

“The following paragraph I want to say will be recorded with the help of a photographer and will be played back to you every new year in the future.”

Uncle Jiang took the speech from the secretary with eyes like hawks.

“These are the ten commandments I wrote.”

“One, dating is not allowed either inside or outside the team.”

He stared at the boys and said sternly, “But if you have a problem in this area, we will be taking care of it. You better not do it, though”.

“Two, as long as you leave the dorm, even if you’re in the office, when you’re with another person, he or she must be checked to see if there’s a wiretap or a hidden camera.”

“Even when you’re on vacation abroad, you can’t miss begging drifters on the streets of America.Be careful not to reveal any dangerous details.”

“Anytime, anywhere, no exception.”

“Third, from the moment you decide to become an idol, your hair, your stomach, your muscles. They all become part of the product.”

“Any food other than the list written by the nutritionist should be eaten only three times a year.”