Fortunately, no one paid attention to him at the moment.

The director team was completely focused on the big issue of Jiang Ye's first absence from recording, they were so anxious that they almost scratched their scalps off.

"Is she taking a day off? No!"

"We need to finish recording all the team selection today, and we can edit it into at least three episodes for broadcast! She's taking a three-day leave!"

"We've been promoting with Jiang Ye from the start, what if the fans see that she's not in the first three episodes, what if they get angry, what about the show's initial popularity?"

Someone whispered, "It's not that bad, right? Isn't Mu Xing Chi there?"

The person next to them immediately glared back, "How can you compare them?"

Not to mention that Jiang Ye and Mu Xing Chi are now at completely different levels.

Even if they were at the same level, Mu Xing Chi has been on variety shows before, his fans wouldn't care about one or two episodes.

But Jiang Ye is different.

This is her first solo variety show since leaving the group, and the response will largely determine the direction of her solo variety show resources in the future.

So, her solo fans will definitely go all out to hype it up, so they can brag about their sister being the best in the world.

In other words, Jiang Ye is the biggest blood pack for this show.

The director team was filled with regret, why didn't they go to the temple to pray when choosing the recording date, why didn't they pick an auspicious day to start recording, they wouldn't have encountered this bad luck.

"Forget it."

Someone suggested, "Anyway, there's a time difference between recording and broadcasting, we can just have her do some post-recording interviews and reactions later."

Someone else simply decided to throw caution to the wind, "If the fans complain that there's not enough footage, they'll scold us, but that'll actually give us some reverse hype, we'll win either way!"

Everyone: "..."

Of course, the director team said these words while avoiding others.

So, the contestants only heard that Jiang Ye was taking a leave of absence because of her illness.

Many contestants expressed their regret.

"What's going on, I'm so disappointed!"

"What if I don't even make it past the first round, won't I get to see her?!"

"Are you guys that disappointed?"

"Of course, who wouldn't want to meet Jiang Ye in person, I can brag to my friends back home, I've met a top star."

Only He Zhou remained silent from beginning to end.

Someone couldn't help but poke him, "What are you thinking about?"

"..."

He Zhou was silent for a moment and then said, "If she chose to take a leave of absence."

"Doesn't that mean she's really sick?"

The person next to him: "???"

The person next to him was confused, "What are you talking about?"

Because in He Zhou's impression, Jiang Ye had a full-mic stage performance in March this year, and she was also sick at the time.

But during the whole performance, there was no sign of her illness, and it wasn't until she was sent to the hospital after getting off stage that fans knew she had acute gastritis and had forced herself to finish the performance.

So, based on Jiang Ye's personality, she wouldn't easily take a leave of absence.

... Is she okay?

He Zhou was still holding his guitar, but he had no mood to tune it anymore.

He looked towards the direction outside the venue, lost in thought.

•••

"Okay."

"I've already gotten you a leave of absence, and the program team has approved it."

At the hotel, Manager Yan Jie tucked a new blanket over Jiang Ye, "Now go to sleep."

"No!"

Jiang Ye immediately got out of bed, "Is it okay to miss the first episode?"

She looked serious, like a five-year-old, "They'll deduct my salary."

Yan Jie: "..."

Yan Jie: "It's our own show, why are you talking about deducting your salary, I'll go talk to them."

Jiang Ye immediately changed her tune, "Then it's even worse if I take the money but miss it, I can't do that."

Yan Jie: "..."

No matter what you say, she's always right, isn't she?

She's managed many artists, and she's seen her share of dedicated ones.

But she's never seen anyone like Jiang Ye.

You talk about feelings with her, she talks about money, you talk about money with her, she talks about responsibility and duty, it makes you angry but also makes you laugh.

"Do you think you're only recording one episode?"

Yan Jie said urgently, "This time, you're recording at least three episodes, that's eight or nine hours, how can your body handle it?!"

Jiang Ye just turned twenty this year.

But Yan Jie still saw her as the eighteen-year-old girl who just debuted, so she unconsciously adopted a motherly attitude.

She glanced at the clock, "It's too late for you to go now."

"I can make it."

Jiang Ye said, "As long as I want to make it, I can."

Missing an hour of recording is better than missing the whole recording.

"I told you, all the other mentors have assistants, how can I bear to leave Teacher Chen alone?"

Jiang Ye looked quite conflicted, "After all, Teacher Chen and I were teacher and student, I can't be so unfilial, right?"

Yan Jie: "..."

"Also, I heard from Brother Xu that our company sent someone this year, and he asked me to take care of the newcomer."

"But he wouldn't tell me the name, he wanted me to find out myself."

"He's deliberately teasing me."

"But there's no way around it."

Jiang Ye changed her shoes and sat in front of the vanity, "After all, being a senior means taking responsibility for taking care of juniors."

She finished joking and waved to the assistant, "Thermometer."

The assistant quickly handed her the thermometer.

Jiang Ye held it in her mouth for a while, and then started to look at the recording script.

Three minutes later, Jiang Ye glanced at the temperature.

She had just taken medicine and slept for a while, her fever had dropped to 37.7 degrees.

Jiang Ye held up the thermometer, like a victorious general, "Manager Yan, you said that if it dropped below 38 degrees, I could go record."

Yan Jie: "..."

What else can she do?

Her own artist, she'll have to spoil her.

Yan Jie sighed in her heart, went to get Jiang Ye's recording clothes, and said, "Then be careful, if you can't handle it, immediately ask for a break, the program team is all our own people, they won't blame you."

Jiang Ye nodded obediently and called over the makeup artist.

She thought for a moment and said, "Make it heavier, don't let anyone see that I'm sick."

Yan Jie sighed, "You're really hard on yourself."

Jiang Ye nodded with a smile, but she was actually thinking about something else.

Of course, she had to look her best for the recording, so that she could attract unsuspecting passersby with her looks.

But as for the fact that she was recording while sick, she could leak the news later, and that would have the best effect of making fans worry about her.

On the one hand, it would highlight how dedicated she was, and on the other hand, she could say that she was forcing herself to go for the fans.

This would improve her public image, and fans would love her even more.

So, she had to go to this recording.

•••

The recording process had already progressed halfway.

The mentors on this season were very strict in their judgment of the contestants.

Although each mentor's team had five spots, the first round was 30 to 20, the elimination rate wasn't that high.

But by the time they got to contestant number seventeen, the mentors were still very cautious about giving out spots.

"Contestant number eighteen."

"He Zhou."

He Zhou's order of appearance wasn't that early.

After all, Shengrui Entertainment sent him over just to get some exposure.

It would be great if he could go through a few more rounds, but it wouldn't be a pity if he was eliminated in the first round.

"This contestant, you."

Chen Yi Ming went through the process as usual, "Please introduce yourself."

"He Zhou."

"Twenty-two years old."

"..."

Chen Yi Ming waved his hand, signaling him to say more.

He Zhou thought for a moment and added, "Currently a student at the Central Conservatory of Music."

Everyone on the stage: "..."

Whether the footage would be cut out during the broadcast or not, at least the self-introduction was a key moment for everyone to show off.

Why doesn't this contestant know how to seize the opportunity?!

He was sent by Shengrui Entertainment, why doesn't he learn from his senior?

But the mentors also appreciated him for being like this.

After all, musicians, they're all a bit eccentric.

Compared to the contestant who talked about his tragic and tortuous experiences in music for half an hour before his performance, putting all the mentors to sleep, this kind of simple and straightforward person who just lets his work speak for itself, doesn't seem bad at all.

"Then start your performance."

He Zhou sat on stage, holding his guitar.

He looked up at the lights on the stage.

The spotlights that had once shone on Jiang Ye were now shining on him.

But even if they were all spotlights, they were still different in wattage.

Just like their positions.

The first round of the show was for each contestant to showcase their original work that they had prepared beforehand.

The song He Zhou prepared was written for Jiang Ye.

He had been working on this song for a while.

When he was studying for his postgraduate entrance exam, which was a long and difficult journey, many people advised him to give up, but he refused.

During that time, when it felt like there was no light, it was Jiang Ye and his determination to finish this song that accompanied him through the most difficult part of his journey.

Now that he had the opportunity to participate in this show, which Jiang Ye was on.

He wanted to use this opportunity to sing this song to her.

He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

He thought it was about to come true.

But now, He Zhou could only look at the empty assistant position next to Chen Yi Ming and sigh softly in his heart.

He lowered his eyes and started to strum his strings.

The music started playing on stage.

The path of original music in the Chinese entertainment industry is very difficult.

Many idols claim to have original music skills, but the quality of their work is not very good, and in the end, only their fans buy it.

Some musicians have written really good original songs, but they don't have enough traffic to promote them.

It's not that other musicians can't create good works, but it requires the right time, the right place, and the right people, and you can't be missing any of those three.

The original intention of this show was to find some talented young creators in China, to add new blood to the stagnant Chinese original music scene.

But the problem is that many music creators have a bit of a superiority complex.

They think they've written amazing works, they think they're hidden gems, that the world doesn't know how to appreciate them, but their actual work is just mediocre.

That's why the mentors were very cautious about giving out spots.

Because they were not really that impressive.

But when He Zhou's music started playing, many people who had been sleepy from recording suddenly woke up.

The song wasn't very energetic, but the melody of the intro was very catchy.

Even Chen Yi Ming sat up a little straighter and listened attentively to this young man.

•••

Jiang Ye was slightly out of breath, she ran through the corridor and rushed to the backstage.

The music from the stage slowly came through the wall.

"Loving you is a heart disease I was born with."

"It's also a habit I can't break."

Jiang Ye quickly put on her microphone, then looked up as if she felt something.

The assistant who was helping her adjust the microphone looked up, too, "What's wrong?"

"The style is pretty good."

Jiang Ye narrowed her eyes, "This show has some good taste in selecting people."

He Zhou's song had a sad main melody, but it didn't have any self-pity.

It even had a hint of longing at the end.

"Maybe one day, the distance will be erased."

"You'll suddenly appear in my world."

"So I don't have to chase after shadows anymore."

As he finished singing this line and put down his guitar, the door to the stage from the backstage suddenly opened.

The stage lights moved over.

He Zhou looked up.

Ten years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

As he looked up, a light, like ten years ago, shone into his world.

"Sorry, sorry."

Jiang Ye bowed slightly, greeting everyone on the stage with a look of apology, "I'm late."

"..."

He Zhou looked in her direction and suddenly smiled.

He had never thought.

He thought, the one who was late was actually him.

He was ten years late in catching up to her.

But fortunately.

He made it.