Chapter 158: The First Singer Takes the Stage

That same day, as filming began downstairs, the post-production team for *The Singer* began moving in.

The post-production team was a well-known production company Chen Qi had hired from outside.

With time in short supply, and because it would be inconvenient to move all the footage and equipment after filming, Chen Qi had the company send its personnel directly to the television station to save time and trouble.

As long as they were paid enough, none of these requirements posed much of a problem. The post-production team also brought all its own equipment. Chen Qi only needed to provide them with a sufficiently large workspace, so there was no need for him to worry about much else.

After they arrived, Chen Qi handed all the venue arrangements over to Su Xiaoxiao, while he took Qi Qi and Zhang Yichi to negotiate with the post-production team.

Although the show had not yet begun filming, its opening and closing sequences still had to be produced in advance.

……

Two days later.

The audio equipment was the first to be installed and tested.

Once everything had been adjusted, Chen Qi immediately tested the results.

He was extremely satisfied.

Listening to music performed live at this level was pure enjoyment.

Then the bands arrived.

The musicians arrived as well.

Chen Qi paid no attention to the commotion around him, merely instructing them to familiarize themselves with the relevant sheet music as quickly as possible.

When he had signed the contracts with them, he had already handed over the sheet music for nearly a hundred songs whose copyrights he had purchased. Their task now was simply to practice harder and strive to perform at their very best.

With music accompanying them, the production crew became somewhat livelier. At last, they began to look like the crew of an actual music program.

One thing worth mentioning was that after the bands arrived, some television station employees came to the venue out of curiosity.

The sound quality at the venue left them deeply shaken.

After arranging the bands, Chen Qi gathered all the cameramen and explained in detail the effects he wanted and the filming techniques they would need to use.

“We need at least two cameras in this position at the front. I need to be able to switch to close-ups at any moment.”

“Put two camera cranes here!”

“We also need dedicated cameramen following the bands and individual musicians. I’ll need their footage during the recording.”

Chen Qi led them around the venue, explaining everything as they went.

He told them what kind of effect he wanted, then had them use their professional judgment to determine the best filming methods and camera positions.

Although the most experienced cameramen had already been selected for the production downstairs, and those who remained were not as seasoned, their fundamentals were solid. They all confidently assured Chen Qi that they could capture the effect he wanted.

After reviewing the sample footage they shot, Chen Qi was very pleased.

This was the effect he wanted, and this was the clarity he wanted.

……

Two more days passed.

All the equipment related to the program had been installed and tested!

At this point, preparations throughout the venue were complete. Only the lighting crew, who had been working around the clock, were still putting the finishing touches on their work.

Nine days remained before the show was due to take over the Friday time slot.

“All right, let’s run through the whole process once and improve our familiarity with it.” Chen Qi quickly set the entire team in motion.

After two trial runs had eliminated several minor issues, he personally called the relevant singers and notified them to prepare for rehearsal.

The lighting had not yet been fully adjusted, but that did not affect the rehearsal.

According to the terms of their contracts, the singers who had already signed on had arrived in the capital a week earlier to prepare for the program.

Those with their own teams had spent the past several days practicing diligently as well, hoping to secure the best ranking possible.

After all, getting eliminated was genuinely embarrassing, and they all wanted to remain onstage for as many episodes as possible. Besides, Chen Qi was paying their appearance fees by episode…

Naturally, all these preparations were being carried out in secret.

When signing the contracts, Chen Qi had repeatedly instructed them not to reveal any information to the outside world.

The day before the rehearsal, Chen Qi once again gathered the entire production crew.

This time, he had only one subject.

Confidentiality!

They could not reveal any information about the program to the outside world. They could not reveal any details about the recording.

The identities of the singers were one of the program’s biggest attractions, and Chen Qi did not want any related information leaked in advance.

“Does everyone understand?” Chen Qi asked.

“Understood!”

The crew answered with force and conviction.

Their eyes shone brightly, and every one of them was brimming with excitement.

After preparing for so long, they had finally reached the day of the rehearsal!

They were thrilled.

Chen Qi now held a lofty position in their hearts. Whatever he said, they did. However he instructed them to do it, that was how they did it.

But there is no such thing as a wall that keeps out every breeze.

They could maintain secrecy from the outside world, but keeping things secret within the television station was simply unrealistic.

News that *The Singer* was about to begin rehearsals soon spread throughout the station.

The station employees who had been secretly following this competition were all inexplicably excited when they heard the news.

The time for the two programs to clash head-on had finally arrived!

The program that had whetted everyone’s appetite was finally about to unveil its mysterious facade!

The moment the news spread, it was not only the station employees whose curiosity was aroused. Even the two deputy station directors, who had been openly competing while secretly battling one another, became intrigued. The crew of *Happier and Happier* downstairs also unconsciously turned their attention toward them.

This competition, seemingly peaceful on the surface but seething beneath it, had entered its final sprint.

The result would be decided within the next couple of days.

……

The next day.

The Capital Television Station was extremely lively.

Many employees arrived unusually early and arranged their work as quickly as possible. Then they quietly slipped out of their departments.

They wanted to watch the rehearsal of *The Singer*. They were afraid that if they arrived too late, there would be nowhere to stand.

They had become so curious about Chen Qi’s program that they could hardly wait to see what it would ultimately look like.

However, when they sneaked past their supervisors and reached the floor where *The Singer* was being filmed, they froze.

The entire floor had been heavily guarded by a group of men in black whom Chen Qi had somehow brought in from who knew where.

The men wore black suits and black sunglasses. They stood rigidly at every entrance and exit, guarding them.

Anyone without the proper credentials was barred from entering!

After making a few inquiries, the employees received news that left them rooted to the spot.

The first rehearsal of *The Singer* was closed to observers!

Closed to observers?

When they heard this, the employees stared in shock, mouths hanging open.

At that moment, they felt as though an army of furious alpacas had galloped through their hearts.

If anger could kill, Chen Qi would probably have died eight hundred thousand times over and it still would not have been enough.

Was this something a human being could do?

Was this how anyone handled confidentiality?

They had worked at the station for so many years, yet this was the first time they had seen a program that guarded itself even against its own colleagues!

Anyone who knew what was happening knew they were making a television program. Anyone who did not would probably think they were researching classified national secrets.

It was outrageous.

Utterly outrageous!

During the early stages, he had shouted all kinds of outrageous claims as though words cost nothing. Now that rehearsal day had finally arrived, he refused to let them watch?

What exactly was he trying to do to them?

This was going way too far!

They had to summon all their self-restraint to keep from cursing Chen Qi outright.

After confirming that they could not get inside, the dissatisfied employees began searching for other ways to sneak into the venue.

It was useless.

Every entrance and exit on the floor was guarded by men in black.

In the end, helpless, they could only make their way outside to the main entrance.

If they could not watch the rehearsal, then at least they could see which celebrities the program had invited.

But Chen Qi’s security arrangements were truly excessive.

Anything they could think of, he had thought of as well—and blocked in advance!

The guests entered through a specially approved VIP passage, which was likewise surrounded by layers of men in black who had appeared from who knew where.

Calling it completely sealed off would be a slight exaggeration, but anyone unrelated to the program could not get anywhere near it.

Looking at the sheer scale of the security operation, the employees were dumbfounded.

Where had Chen Qi obtained all these security guards? Had he bought them wholesale? Did they cost him nothing?

Even some of the station’s old hands could not help sighing. After working at Capital Television for so many years, this was the first time they had seen security handled to such an extreme.

Most people making a program could hardly wait to invite every major media outlet and take the opportunity to promote it. Chen Qi, on the other hand, was doing the exact opposite!

Just as they were about to unleash a torrent of abuse, a brown business van came slowly driving toward them from a distance.

“Wow, wow, wow!”

The crowd immediately grew excited when they realized a guest had arrived.

They craned their necks in anticipation, their eyes almost bulging out of their heads.

The business van stopped at the entrance to the VIP passage. From a distance, they saw several staff members, apparently including cameramen, enthusiastically approach it.

And then… nothing.

Before they could even get a proper glimpse of the guest’s figure, let alone see the person’s face, the guest had already entered the VIP passage.

In that instant, the employees cursed Chen Qi at least several hundred times in their hearts.

……

At the entrance.

Chen Qi waited patiently with a team of staff for the first guest to arrive.

The two cameramen, along with the sound crew and other staff members, were nervous but also filled with anticipation.

Behind them, many members of the production team had come out out of curiosity. Even the musicians could not resist peering toward the entrance.

By now, the entire station knew that this was a music program. They also knew it was a music competition in which famous singers would perform against one another. But no one knew the actual lineup of singers or the structure of the program.

It was precisely these unknown details that had whetted everyone’s appetite.

Everyone desperately wanted to know what caliber of singers Chen Qi had invited.

“Boss, the first guest has entered the station and will be at the entrance shortly.”

Su Xiaoxiao’s voice suddenly came through Chen Qi’s walkie-talkie.

He had entrusted her with the important task of coordinating the singers. At present, she was the only person he could trust completely.

“Received.”

Chen Qi responded and signaled to the two cameramen to get ready.

A dozen seconds later, the brown business van slowly entered their field of vision and came to a steady stop at the entrance to the VIP passage.

The vehicle had nothing to do with the advertisers. It was transportation Chen Qi had borrowed from the television station.

When the waiting employees saw the van stop at the entrance, their eyes lit up. Almost instinctively, they all stretched out their necks.

The two cameramen carrying their equipment approached from different angles.

The door opened, and a middle-aged singer who appeared to be under forty stepped out of the vehicle, looking somewhat nervous.