Rebirth 2010, the best

Chapter 312 Bodyguard
"Hello, senior."

Seeing Zhang Mengxi greet him, Lu Yao smiled and nodded:
Hello, good morning.

"Hey, good morning."

The girl gave him a bright smile.

Meanwhile, Young Master Xu asked:

"You're pretty fast! Where did you come from?"

"your home."

Upon hearing this, Young Master Xu rolled his eyes:
"You're very brave, young man!"

"Haha, are you all done?"

"Hmm, I've practiced enough."

"Okay, I'll warm up my voice. Where's the class monitor?"

Seeing that the village girls were nodding in agreement, Lu Yao had just finished speaking when Wei Qianqian, Wu Mengqi, and Chen Pu walked in together.

"Hey, here he is."

After seeing Lu Yao, Wei Qianqian finished speaking, and Chen Pu nodded:

"Well, that's perfect, everyone's here. I have something to say."

He looked at Lu Yao:

"Do you remember Director Lin, whom I met at the last music festival?"

"remember."

Lu Yao nodded:
"Lin Xueming, Brother Chen, is your classmate."

"Correct."

Amidst the curious gazes of the others, Chen Pu continued:
"I ran into Lu Yao with my classmate at a music festival before. You guys weren't there at the time, so we caught him and talked to him alone. There's a program on Jiangsu and Zhejiang TV this year called 'The Voice,' which is a licensed version of the very popular foreign program 'The Voice of the Netherlands.' Have you guys seen that program?"

"I've seen it."

Everyone else looked puzzled, but Zhang Mengxi said:
"It's where a few judges sit in chairs with their backs to the singers performing on stage, just listening to the songs and not looking at the singers. If they think a song is good, they turn around, and that singer advances, right?"

"Correct."

Chen Pu nodded, while Young Master Xu asked in bewilderment:

"Turning away from the singer?... Advancing? Is this a talent show?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's so interesting. It's completely based on the music. If they don't turn around, they can't see the singer. It's like... impression points. Some singers are handsome or beautiful, so you'd definitely give them extra points, right? But this show completely eliminates that. They just listen to the song, and if the song is good, they turn around..."

"Oh~"

After hearing his girlfriend's explanation, not only Xu Gongzi, but also the others understood the situation of the program.

"It's still quite new."

After the village girl finished speaking, Chen Pu continued:

“Yes, it’s a very new format. Then I introduced Lu Yao to my classmate, and coincidentally, he’s one of the directors of this show. After watching our performance, he liked it quite a bit and invited us to be on the show. But the reason I didn’t tell you last year was because the show had just been bought, and all the application and other procedures hadn’t been completed yet, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. But now they’re planning to start auditions in April, and they called me yesterday specifically to talk about it, which is when I remembered…”

His words sounded both true and false to Lu Yao.

But he understood the meaning.

To put it bluntly, if I'm going to sing, it's all by myself... my teammates can't join in.

This situation needs to be clarified.

Otherwise, people might overthink things.

So he didn't interrupt, and Chen Pu continued, as everyone seemed to understand but not quite:

"This program has both good news and bad news for us."

"I'll hear the bad one first!"

The village girl quickly raised her hand.

"Uh……"

Chen Pu paused, seemingly speechless. He glanced at Lu Yao, and seeing that he didn't react, he continued:
"The bad news is that although they allow singing groups to perform, it has to be the singers who take the lead. That means if we go, only Lu Yao or Qian Qian can perform... no, it's that Lu Yao and Qian Qian can only choose one to perform, or both of them can perform, but they will definitely be competing against each other in the end."

Xu Ruochen asked subconsciously:
"Shouldn't we go?"

"It's not that we don't need to, it's that we can't perform. Although we're in the same band, they handle all the accompaniment and background music themselves; the singers just need to sing. Even the harmonies are their own, so..."

Before Chen Pu finished speaking, everyone already understood what he meant.

The village girl glanced at Lu Yao and continued to ask:

"What about the good news?"

"The good news is that if Lu Yao or Qian Qian participates, they won't need to go through the open auditions."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone was speechless...

I thought to myself, "So this is the good news after all this time?"

As a "professional" band that has released albums and performed in numerous commercial shows, how could they possibly fail to get past the audition?

It's just that it will be a bit troublesome.

After Chen Pu finished speaking, he added:
"They will start auditions next month. It'll be up to you whether you want to participate."

When he said this, Wei Qianqian did not show any surprise, obviously she already knew the news.

In band matters, the minority always submits to the majority.

Therefore, even if she and Lu Yao knew the news in advance, whether or not they wanted to participate was up to everyone to decide.

So, after Chen Pu finished speaking, Wei Qianqian said:

"Everyone, please vote. But let me make this clear first, if anyone's going to be featured, it'll be Lu Yao, not me. I only have one song... so you don't need to worry about me, just watch him."

Lu Yao rolled her eyes.

Are you going to go?

Hearing what Young Master Xu said, he shrugged:

"I don't care. As for neutral votes, unless it's a 2-2 tie, I'll definitely tank."

"I am neutral as well."

Wei Qianqian also raised her hand:

"The pressure is on you."

"I don't care."

The village girl tried to shrug like Lu Yao, but before she could even open her mouth, Zhao Hang rolled his eyes.

"Three votes don't matter, so how do we calculate it? Hurry up... I have no objection. If Lu Yao advances and becomes famous, it will help us too. My opinion is that Lu Yao should go."

"Ah, then I agree."

Hearing Zhao Hang's words, Young Master Xu said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry:
"If you two agree, doesn't that mean the minority submits to the majority? Why are you asking me?"

"Go ahead and say it. After you've said it, you can choose the other two that don't matter. Hurry up, we need to focus on the important things."

After the village girl finished speaking, Xu Ruochen glanced at Lu Yao:
"Brother, you can't go solo!"

"Don't worry, even if I go solo, I'll take you with me."

"Then you need to practice more, buddy. I weigh over 100 pounds."

His words were tantamount to an agreement.

Seeing this, Chen Pu said directly:
"Alright, then I'll sign Lu Yao up. But it's not like everyone can't play. After his blind auditions, there will be group matches, and then rounds of elimination matches. We can all play together then..."

Young Master Xu waved his hand:

"We'll see when the time comes. Come on, let's get started. I'm sick of singing the same few songs every day, let's get something new..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yao immediately put his mouth full of water, tilted his head back, and began to sing, making a "glug glug" sound.

At the same time, there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

The Voice of China...

He truly never imagined that one day he would be able to stand on this stage.

Back in the first season, my whole family were die-hard fans of the show.

Unfortunately... it got worse and worse as it went on.

Tsk tsk.

"Let's get started."

At this moment, Wu Mengqi spoke.

……

The first song we rehearsed today was "Lugu Lake".

The song that Lu Yao copied and gave to his senior.

The original author was Ma Yuan, and that guy's voice... was actually quite distinctive.

To be honest, his personal voice is quite distinctive, but Lu Yao himself believed he could handle it better than him.

Today's first round was a group performance, where everyone played and sang together. We went through it roughly once, and then corrected the problems one by one.

This was Zhang Mengxi's first time seeing everyone perform live, and her eyes were filled with a sense of novelty.

But the others didn't seem nervous at all; they were just full of excitement.

It's been a very, very long time since we last recorded a song.

And finally, the band started working on their new song, which felt absolutely amazing. Their excitement was palpable from the very first listen.

Zhao Hang played the drums with tremendous force.

Very fierce.

It didn't quite fit the mood of the song, but no one interrupted. The first take was mainly for getting used to it, and we could adjust it gradually later.

Soon, the chorus of "Lugu Lake" echoed in the recording studio: "The lights are bright~ the lights are dazzling~ but I want darkness..."

……

"Hey, have you ever seen those DJ videos from overseas? You know, those live electronic music festival videos. I think you could do this: when you're about to sing a song, set up a mixing console on stage, and you, like those DJs, get the crowd going..."

Lunch was a working lunch.

During the meal, Xu Gongzi seemed to really like the song "THE NIGHTS," as his mind was filled with the exact same actions he had taken as Pink Hair.

That's what she wanted to do back then.

Lu Yao sang in front, and she stood behind, leading the audience in the atmosphere at the DJ booth.

According to her, it must have been an incredibly exciting experience.

Before Lu Yao could even speak to what Young Master Xu had said, the phone rang.

"Well……"

After glancing at the caller ID, he immediately showed the screen to Young Master Xu.

Upon seeing the name "Zheng Xiaofan," Young Master Xu paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Lu Yao then stood up and walked straight out of the recording studio:

"Hey, Brother Fan."

"Come to my place this afternoon."

"...Something wrong? I was driving my Range Rover today."

His Land Rover has been fitted with a GPS tracker, so we need to be careful.

"Where are you now?"

"I'm recording with the band in the studio, and I just had dinner. Are you in a hurry? When would be a good time for me to come over?"

"...You guys eat so late?"

Zheng Xiaofan glanced at the time; it was already past 1 a.m.

But instead of dwelling on it, he said directly:

"Your security list is ready. Come and pick out the people you like and who are suitable."

"Uh... bodyguard?"

"Yes, you could understand it that way. After all, your chip project is about to be launched, and once it starts, you'll need someone by your side."

"Oh, I see... Okay, I'll head over after I finish eating?"

"Yes, this is quite important. You should talk to the band. The song can be recorded anytime, but you need to raise your personal security level as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yao frowned slightly:

"Brother Fan, am I in danger?"

"Not really, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Zheng Xiaofan didn't elaborate on the fact that he was now being followed.

No need.

No matter how talented someone is, they're not a professional in this field. If they know too much, they'll easily reveal their weaknesses.

"Okay, I'll go over after I finish eating."

"Ah."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Ruochen didn't ask any further questions after Lu Yao returned home.

It was Lu Yao who brought it up:

"I'll leave after I finish eating. They need to talk to me about something."

The teammates didn't say much, but Lu Yao asked Xu Ruochen:
Where are you going later?

"Go back to school."

"Then you drive my car, and I'll drive yours. I'll come find you at school when I'm done with my work."

"……it is good."

And so, everyone returned to the topic of music. After finishing their meal, they packed up and prepared to disperse.

The demo was completed in one morning; the next step is to refine it, which is not something that can be done in a day.

As everyone walked towards school, the village girl looked at Lu Yao's big Land Rover with a surprised expression:
Wow! Land Rover! Lu Yao, you've struck it rich!

Lu Yao nodded with a smile:
"Yes, I won the lottery, I won 100 million."

"Everyone gets a share. I want an apartment!"

"You want my ass!"

Zhao Hang rolled his eyes at her, annoyed.
"Hurry up, we have class this afternoon."

Then, Young Master Xu walked over, handed Lu Yao the keys to his Golf, and asked:

"What does Brother Fan want with you?"

"You need to provide me with bodyguards."

"!"

Young Master Xu was taken aback, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

So they've already hired bodyguards?
"...Is that chip really that important?"

He asked a question that even he himself thought was idiotic.

Lu Yao smiled, shrugged, took the keys, and said:
"My car has a GPS tracker, so it's inconvenient for me to drive it to find Brother Fan. Just so you know."

"Was it faked by Brother Fan?"

"No, I'll tell you the details after this is over. I'm leaving now. They're going to bring up my topic soon, so be careful. I don't know if there are any listening devices in there."

"Okay, I'll send them a message now and say that Zhang Mengxi is here, so don't talk about anything related to you, she can't listen."

"OK."

Lu Yao nodded, handed the car over to Xu Gongzi with peace of mind, and drove his Golf towards Zheng Xiaofan's workplace.

As he walked, he pondered the matter...

How did they manage to assemble bodyguards so quickly?
Although I mentioned it before... it still feels a bit strange.

While pondering this, he drove to the National Security Bureau branch. After registering, Zheng Xiaofan was already waiting for him at the entrance of the office building.

"Did you come in Xiao Chen's car?"

"Hmm, my bodyguards have arrived?"

"Not yet, but the information has been sent over for you to choose from."

"...Do I still have a choice?"

"Logically speaking, no. But as I told you, I have a classmate over there, so I said hello to him. After all, he'll be with you every day, so he has to be agreeable to you, right? And personality is also quite important."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yao couldn't help but ask:

"Is he following me around the clock? For example, what if Hu Li comes back and I have a date with her? Where will he stay? Will he stay at my place?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking of telling you. From now on, if you want to go back to sleep, you can only go back to the Shengshi Garden area. We've temporarily rented the apartment across from yours as your temporary accommodation."

"..."

Lu Yao's lips twitched...

"Hu Li, does that mean I can't go?"

“Wealth Garden is also an option, but you don’t usually go there. Besides…”

While the two were talking, they had already arrived at Zheng Xiaofan's office.

He grabbed a document from the table, handed it to him, and said:
"To be honest, we've pretty much figured them out. If all goes well, we'll be closing in on them in the next few months. Once we start closing in, your security level will drop a notch, and you'll be much freer. There won't be this 24-hour protection anymore."

"Is it time to close the net?"

Lu Yao was greatly encouraged:
"Has everything been investigated?"

"Ah."

All the behind-the-scenes maneuvering and intrigue that Zheng Xiaofan had orchestrated was reduced to a simple "yes" in his words.
"It's basically 90% done. We're still missing two big fish... but you don't need to know the specifics. We'll handle it. Let's look at the data and select the people."

"Ah."

Lu Yao nodded and opened the document notebook.

A thick stack of personal information came into view.

However, they are not complete; they only contain photos and names, nothing else.

His lips twitched...

"what is this?"

"Personnel information".

"...I know it's personnel information, just names and photos...what else?"

Hearing Lu Yao's words, Zheng Xiaofan rolled her eyes and said:
"Want to see it? Do you think that's possible?"

"Uh……"

After careful consideration, Lu Yao realized that this seemed to make sense.

"Just choose two that you think are about the same."

"both?"

"Yes, two people will take turns. Until we close the net."

"……it is good."

Looking at these materials, Lu Yao sat down on the sofa and slowly began to select them.

As for the qualifications of these people who only have names and photos, just as Zheng Xiaofan said, he couldn't possibly know, nor would he let him know.

All he had to do was choose two people who seemed to be compatible.

(End of this chapter)