Chapter 352: Scoring

Chen Ling fell silent.

He stood in the silent corridor, draped in his bright red opera robe, his expression unreadable behind the black veil.

With his empathy suppressed, he didn't actually feel much about this scene, and he wouldn't meddle in other people's business—after all, that was their own choice... If someone were to jump out with a sense of justice and righteousness to stop it now, it might actually ruin the girl's life. For Chen Ling, being a "spectator" was enough.

Chen Ling walked along the corridor. After descending to the first floor, people were clearly busy.

"The preliminary audition has started. Are all the judges here?"

"Not yet. Supervisor Sun and Supervisor Zhou haven't arrived, and several people participating in the audition haven't arrived either..."

"...Don't worry about it. After things are done, the two supervisors will come over. Let them take their numbers and start performing first. There are more people participating in the audition this year, so if we don't hurry, we won't finish by the morning."

"Alright."

Chen Ling followed the flow of people and arrived at the troupe's performance venue.

This venue was not large, with seats only enough to accommodate three or four hundred people. The stage specifications were also ordinary, and compared to the Shangjing Theater where Chen Ling had worked before, it was as crude as a product of the last century.

At this moment, the red curtain on the stage was pulled up, and seven tables were placed in front of the curtain. Five people had already taken their seats, seemingly the judges for this preliminary audition.

As the judges called out numbers, people took turns going on stage to perform. Other applicants were warming up their voices at the entrance, reviewing dance moves in the corners, or sitting nervously in the audience, their palms full of sweat.

Although the preliminary audition didn't require specific costumes or appearance, many people were dressed up as meticulously as Li Qingshan. Among them were several wearing opera costumes, and Chen Ling's bright red opera robe was not particularly conspicuous among the many applicants.

"This is the performance venue..." Chen Ling stood at the entrance, his gaze carefully sweeping over every corner of the place, thoughtful.

As a professional director, one must fully consider the layout of the performance stage. This was Chen Ling's first time at such a troupe's performance venue, and he had to familiarize himself with the structure first, otherwise, even if he already had an outline in his mind, it would be difficult to adapt to the circumstances.

After scanning the place, Chen Ling turned and walked out the door, heading toward the backstage area.

Because it was only a preliminary audition and not an official performance, the backstage was empty, and no one was near it. Chen Ling wandered around inside, his gaze falling on a cart full of props in the corner, and his eyes lit up slightly.

He already had an idea of how to perform this play.

……

After being busy for more than ten minutes, Chen Ling returned to the performance venue.

"Brother Lin!" Li Qingshan, who had just finished warming up his voice, saw Chen Ling and walked quickly to his side. His cyan gown fluttered with every step, and his expression under the heavy makeup was still a bit nervous. "Are you done with your business?"

"Done." Chen Ling nodded slightly. "And you?"

"Luck is good, I'm number 22."

Li Qingshan took out a sign with a number on it and looked toward the stage. "They're already at number 15, it'll be my turn in a few more..."

Chen Ling saw Li Qingshan swallow nervously.

On the stage at this moment stood a young man of similar age to Li Qingshan, singing a pop song with a slow rhythm. Although Chen Ling didn't understand music, he could tell whether it was good or bad. This person's tone was quite good, and his breath control was extremely steady. It seemed he had been practicing since he was a child.

Chen Ling hadn't heard this song before; it should be a product of this era. Under the rendering of his singing, other applicants in the audience were humming along to his melody involuntarily, as if already intoxicated by it.

The performance ended, the lingering sound of the song echoing in the room. The five judges below the stage lowered their heads and scored expressionlessly. The young man on stage gripped his clothes tightly, looking extremely nervous.

Just then, a bloated figure ran over hurriedly from afar.

"Old Zhou, why are you so slow?" a judge asked.

"Hehe." Supervisor Zhou licked his lips, his expression a bit lewd. "I was busy just now."

The other judges looked at him playfully and didn't ask any more questions.

Supervisor Zhou sat in his seat, didn't even look at the young man on stage, and asked in a low voice: "What number are we at?"

“15。”

"Alright."

Supervisor Zhou filled in the scores on the scorecard one by one, writing down all the scores for the first fifteen contestants in one go, only pausing for a moment on one or two of the contestants' names, and the scores he filled in were correspondingly higher.

Several judges exchanged a few words, as if discussing the contestant's ability in a low voice. A moment later, one of them said calmly:

"Comprehensive score 5. Sorry, you didn't pass. Try again next year."

This light sentence made the young man on stage turn pale instantly. He stood stiffly for a long time before nodding silently and walking off the stage, his eyes a bit red.

"What a pity." Li Qingshan sighed. "Even with that kind of strength, he didn't pass... It seems the competition is very fierce this year."

Chen Ling looked at the stage and remained silent.

The next one to go on stage was the woman with the proud figure whom Chen Ling had seen at the office door earlier. She swept her gaze across the judges with a smile and began to dance on the stage...

But rather than dancing, it was more appropriate to call it flirting. From time to time, she would flick her hair with her fingertips, and her hand would touch from her ankle to her chest, showing off her elegant curves. Her aura and eye-catching ability were sufficient, but there was no artistry in her dance at all.

This scene made other participants in the audience unable to help but swallow, while only Li Qingshan and a few others frowned, seemingly finding it awkward no matter how they looked at it.

"Comprehensive score 7. Congratulations on passing." Four of the six judges gave an eight, while only the two female judges gave a five.

She looked at the crowd below the stage proudly and walked off the stage slowly in her high heels.

Chen Ling naturally knew what was going on. He turned to look at Li Qingshan. "Do you really believe that the judging rules here are fair?"

"Appearance and physique are also very important bonus items for the preliminary audition. After all, who doesn't like good-looking people?" Li Qingshan sighed. "For someone like me with an ordinary appearance, I can only work harder than others and win with strength and skill."

Chen Ling looked at him deeply and didn't say anything more.

At the same time, Chen Ling's peripheral vision fell on the entrance, where a girl was walking in from outside with her head lowered and stumbling steps.