IDEI Ch13

Qi Yanning no longer wanted to waste any more energy on this makeup artist, who had clearly become obsessed. He nodded at Director Lin, signaling that the situation was now entirely in his hands.

“Qi Yanning! Admit it, you’re not as good as that master! Oh, I forgot, you also came out of that show. You must have met that master…” Lin He had completely given up, his bloodshot eyes glaring intently at Qi Yanning.

Lin He was truly jealous. Qi Yanning, a young idol with very poor singing and dancing skills, had somehow been parachuted into the production team to become the de facto leader of the makeup group.

If Qi Yanning’s abilities had not matched his achievements, Lin He might have been able to suppress his jealousy. But Qi Yanning possessed skills that even amazed him.

How was this possible? Lin He had been in the industry for seven or eight years, and yet he was being outdone by someone who was essentially a novice with little to no makeup experience?

But at this moment, Lin He laughed, filled with malice and schadenfreude. “Since you’ve met him, have you realized the vast difference between the two of you?”

Hearing this, Qi Yanning’s narrow eyes swept over Lin He’s flushed, enraged face with interest. He casually tugged at a lock of hair by his cheek before turning to look at Director Lin.

A character this insignificant wouldn’t have warranted the attention of the head of the Imperial Wardrobe in the past.

Director Lin lightly coughed, his expression looking extremely unpleasant.

He was just about to speak when a woman’s voice suddenly interrupted.

“But…” The voice, filled with anger and confusion, said, “The makeup you’re talking about, the one for Pei Huan at the second public performance—Qi Yanning did that too, didn’t he?”

The entire room fell into a deep silence.

The other makeup artists and their assistants, who had no idea about this, stared at Qi Yanning in shock, while Director Lin’s expression shifted from anger to joy.

Even Li Qing raised his head in surprise to look at Qi Yanning.

The person who struggled the most to accept this was Lin He.

His eyes were wide with disbelief. “Impossible!”

How could it be possible? The makeup, which had been so stunning that he’d studied it for a long time, had been done by Qi Yanning as well?

He didn’t want to believe it, but the overwhelming sense of unease flooded him.

His mind raced back: Pei Huan’s breakthrough makeup had been done during the second public performance, the day before the production team officially announced Qi Yanning’s exit from the show. Since Qi Yanning had left, although Pei Huan’s makeup had continued in a similar style, it had never been as striking as that first time.

Lin He had even privately lamented this fact…

His hands raked through his hair, messing up what had once been meticulously styled into a bird’s nest.

“Lin He, you should leave as well,” Director Lin said.

Lin He flinched, looking up at Qi Yanning. The jealousy and defiance in his eyes were gone, replaced by sheer despair.

He cautiously began, “Qi Yanning—no, Master—could you…?”

But his voice trailed off under Qi Yanning’s faintly amused expression.

What had he done? If he hadn’t let jealousy cloud his judgment, he would have had a chance to learn from Qi Yanning.

Over the past few weeks of observation, he had noticed that Qi Yanning generously shared his knowledge with the makeup assistants and never hesitated to answer questions from the other makeup artists.

Such a great opportunity…

He had cut off a path to success with his own hands and chosen the difficult, winding road instead.

Lin He crouched down, tears of despair streaming from his eyes.

After a long while, he raised his head and looked at Qi Yanning again, his eyes even redder. “Qi Yanning, Qi Yanning, please give me one more chance! I’m begging you, Qi Yanning…”

In his desperation, he even tried to lunge forward to hug Qi Yanning.

Seeing this, Li Qing, who had been standing by the door, flushed with anger. He quickly rushed over, grabbed Lin He, and sternly reprimanded him, “What are you doing? Have some dignity!”

After speaking, he nodded at Director Lin and Qi Yanning, then dragged the still-struggling Lin He out.

The room’s atmosphere finally returned to normal, and the other makeup artists curiously gathered around.

“Qi Yanning, was Pei Huan’s makeup really done by you?”

Qi Yanning shook his head.

The others were a little surprised.

“The overall makeup was done by the show’s makeup artist. I just added a few details, like the blush and ribbons,” Qi Yanning replied calmly.

The group exchanged glances, their understanding of Qi Yanning’s skill deepening.

Everyone knew that modifying makeup was much harder than applying it from scratch. For Qi Yanning to be able to completely transform Pei Huan’s aura with just a few simple details was undeniably impressive.

Their attitudes toward Qi Yanning grew even more enthusiastic.

Qi Yanning keenly sensed the shift in atmosphere, but he only smiled slightly and said nothing.

After dealing with the makeup artist issue, Director Lin left the makeup room. As the show’s director, he had a lot to handle. That he had taken the time to deal with the makeup team was partly because Xiao Yingyi’s injury had caused quite a stir, but also…

He looked over at Qi Yanning, who remained sitting calmly, listening to the assistants excitedly discuss their insights from the fashion show.

Sensing Director Lin’s gaze, Qi Yanning slightly turned his head to meet his eyes.

Qi Yanning’s gaze was full of calm and an air of complete control, which instantly soothed Director Lin’s previously agitated mood.

Director Lin smiled warmly at Qi Yanning before striding away.

Qi Yanning lightly curled the corners of his mouth. Then, he raised his hand and tapped Wu Jianming’s forehead with his knuckle.

“What are you daydreaming about? You didn’t even notice you made a mistake here?”

Under Qi Yanning’s calm yet overwhelmingly intimidating gaze, Wu Jianming swallowed hard.

He no longer dared to space out and continued speaking.

＊

A legendary makeup artist had joined the program team!

This news spread like wildfire among the trainees.

In fact, ever since they saw the makeup on others the previous day, they had realized this. Or rather, they had noticed it since the reshooting of the theme song MV when the makeup level had noticeably improved.

At the time, they thought the entire makeup team had been upgraded, but during the first public performance’s costume rehearsal, they discovered that only one person’s skills had improved!

This makeup artist had chosen the outfits for the theme song and created the breakthrough looks for Xiao Yingyi, Pang Nong, and others. Later, during the first public performance, the makeup for Dark Age was highly impressive, and he even discovered the perfect makeup style for Wei Mingzhe.

Such a god-like figure became someone all the trainees admired.

“I wonder if I’ll get the chance to have Teacher Qi Yanning do my makeup next time. I’m really looking forward to it!”

“Yeah, yeah, Teacher Qi Yanning is just too amazing.”

“Do you think he’s so skilled, why did he still become a trainee and join a talent show?”

“Maybe he wanted to experience the idol industry up close? Or maybe he simply likes being a trainee. You know, talented people always have all kinds of eccentricities.”

In the practice room, two trainees whispered to each other.

It had been a day since the first public performance ended, and they had just completed the song selection for the second performance.

The second public performance focused on position evaluation, where the trainees chose to join the vocal, dance, or rap groups based on their strengths or aspirations, collaborating to complete the stage.

In the practice room of the dance group for Lost in Your Eyes, after a round of practice, the trainees sat in a circle, drenched in sweat. They had just finished learning the choreography, and their group leader, Feng Qingyi—a dance expert and major contestant on the show—was explaining the finer details of the dance to them.

Lost in Your Eyes is a jazz-style song, with a mature and sensual feel. There are many dramatic poses and moves that challenge the body’s rhythm and control, especially the wave movements, making the dance technically challenging despite not being particularly intense.

More importantly, not everyone is skilled at sexy-style dances.

“Stop chatting, you two!” Feng Qingyi turned toward the two trainees who were whispering. Seeing them fall silent, he shifted his gaze to Mo Jinghai, “Ah Hai! What are you daydreaming about this time?”

Mo Jinghai snapped back to attention and softly muttered, “Sorry.”

Feng Qingyi looked at his sincere expression, hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.

He quickly went over the key points of the dance, then clapped his hands, “Alright, that’s it for today. We’ll continue practicing tomorrow morning!”

The trainees, who had been up early, could barely hold on and, feeling as if they’d been pardoned, got up to leave one after another.

—Except for Mo Jinghai.

“Ah Hai, aren’t you going to rest?” Feng Qingyi asked, seeing that Mo Jinghai hadn’t moved.

“I’ll practice a little more,” Mo Jinghai replied softly. “You should go rest. Put on your jacket—it’s windy at night, and you just worked up a sweat. Don’t catch a cold.”

Feng Qingyi looked at his nagging behavior and sighed again.

Ah Hai was the kindest, softest person he had ever met. He always thought of others first, but as for himself…

“Ah Hai,” Feng Qingyi suddenly said, “Don’t worry. There will always be a way forward.”

Mo Jinghai was a bit surprised and glanced at Feng Qingyi before smiling slightly, without further comment. “You should rest. You’re already not in the best health.”

Feng Qingyi gave him a deep look but could only walk away helplessly.

Mo Jinghai sat there for a while longer in silence before slowly getting up. He grabbed a nearby baseball cap and put it on, adjusting the music to a volume just loud enough for him to hear. He then began practicing in front of the mirror, repeating the moves over and over.

His movements were full of effort. His fitted t-shirt revealed a well-toned physique, and the cap covered his medium-length hair, leaving only his sharp, defined facial features exposed.

He danced tirelessly, letting the emotions welling up inside him flow out through the movements.

Who knew how long the music had been playing? It wasn’t until he slipped and fell hard in a puddle of his own sweat that he was forced to stop.

His sweaty arm covered his eyes as he lay there, his breath heavy, and faint sounds of stifled sobs could be heard in the otherwise silent practice room.

Feng Qingyi said there would always be a way forward, but Mo Jinghai was reaching his limit.

He and Feng Qingyi had both been seen as troublemakers by the company because they couldn’t stand the shady practices behind the scenes. Despite their immense talent, they had been cast aside.

At that time, they were used as disposable “accompaniers” to help the company’s chosen heir prepare for an audition on this show. But the heir failed, while the two of them, with their exceptional skills, ended up as contestants.

In a fit of rage, the heir had lashed out, saying, “You better hope you last more than two rounds. If you come back, you’ll pay for this!”

Mo Jinghai knew full well what awaited him if he returned to the company. It would be just like before: being held back, not allowed to gain exposure, scraping by on the pitiful trainee salary. And due to the harsh contract he signed, he couldn’t even terminate it, wasting his precious youth.

This was the path he chose, and he was willing to face all the consequences.

But…

Recently, his grandmother had fallen gravely ill, and as her most cherished grandson, he couldn’t even come up with a single penny for her medical expenses.

During this time, guilt had constantly gnawed at his heart.

But he had hidden it well, until today, when his inability to find the right dance style finally shattered the last bit of his emotional defenses.

Maybe… it’s time to give up.

He had a trainee friend who had been persistently inviting him to teach at his dance studio. The monthly salary there was several times higher than what he earned as a trainee.

But previously, he had been unwilling to settle and had never accepted the offer.

Maybe… it was time to let go of his unrealistic dreams.

“Why aren’t you resting yet?”

A somewhat lazy voice rang out.

Hearing it, Mo Jinghai lowered the arm covering his eyes and squinted toward the doorway—

A tall figure appeared at the entrance. The lights in the hallway were bright, obscuring the person’s face, leaving only their slender shadow cast into the dimly lit practice room.

It was as if a hand was reaching out to Mo Jinghai, who was shrouded in darkness.