Qi Wu stopped walking.
She turned to stare at Tan Song in confusion.
"I'm not good enough to teach you."
She spoke with a calm face. There was no attempt to be humble. She was actually speaking the truth. After all, she had never properly studied music.
Tan Song was stunned. He had known he might be rejected, but he did not think that would be the reason for the rejection.
When he saw that Qi Wu was going to walk away, he could not help but frantically call out, "That's not what I mean. Your voice has inspired me. I… If it's possible, can we collaborate?"
"Not at all."
Qi Wu then gently continued, "I will not be in the Musician category."
Her answer seemed to have completely caught him by surprise as Tan Song just stared at her in shock until she walked away from the seasoning area.
He only snapped back to his senses after she disappeared from his view.
Disappointment and regret flashed in his eyes.
While the song she sang was childish and simple and, from a professional perspective, extremely flawed, Tan Song liked the hypnotic quality of her voice.
The most precious and rare commodity in music was the ability to evoke emotions in the audience, to resonate with their emotions.
This was what Tan Song had been pursuing his entire career but… he had never once found it.
*
When Qi Wu returned with an armful of seasonings, she looked so sweet and obedient that Jiang Xuxu could not stop a motherly grin from spreading across her face.
As she stroked Qi Wu's head, she cheerfully said, "Oh, sweetie, you got everything I needed! You're amazing!"
Qi Wu was not surprised by Jiang Xuxu abruptly stroking her head. In fact, she even stopped walking so that Jiang Xuxu could continue stroking her head.
However, Jiang Xuxu's behavior had Tong Luo and Ke Lu looking up to stare at her with deep, dark eyes.
As Jiang Xuxu had her back to them, she naturally did not notice their stares.
After grabbing the seasonings from Qi Wu, she hurriedly grabbed a folding chair, unfolded it, and placed it somewhere nearby.
"Sit here, sweetie. The smoke won't reach you here."
Once Qi Wu was settled in, Jiang Xuxu swiftly walked over to help Tong Luo and Ke Lu with the cooking.
As they all disliked crowds, they had chosen the grill that was located at the edge of the site.
Sitting by the lake, Qi Wu enjoyed the quiet night while the other three women worked hard to feed her. This entire scene was captured by Gray's camera and projected on Song Qi's laptop.
As for Song Qi himself, he was silently staring at the laptop screen.
When Qu Man finally got back from her meeting and found Song Qi watching the camera assigned to Qi Wu, she chuckled. "Didn't you say you won't pay attention to her?"
Song Qi turned around and, shockingly enough, did not shoot back a retort. Instead, he just asked with a conflicted look in his eyes, "How did Qi Wu fool these three into adoring her?"
"Fool?"
Qu Man huffed. "Song, it's time you change that old-school mindset of yours. Qi Wu touched their hearts with her sincerity."
As she put down her stack of documents, she placed one arm on the table and used it to support herself while she leaned in to look down at Song Qi. "Perhaps you should try talking to her."
What was that alluring about Qi Wu? Her face was the biggest lure, but past her beauty, what attracted the women to her was her genuine sincerity.
She was just like an empty page that was so blank that everyone wanted to write on it.
Song Qi waved his hands at her.
"Executive directors do not interact with contestants in private. I'm also one of the mentors…"
His voice suddenly drifted off as he said that.
Qu Man winked. "Yes, you are a mentor on the show."
She then walked away.
With how obvious she had been, Song Qi deserved what would happen if he did not get over himself.
She was certain that this show was only the start.
Qi Wu would eventually stand in front of the entire world.
At that thought, Qu Man felt a rush of excitement. Which category would Qi Wu select when it was time to choose?
As for Song Qi who had been led to a breakthrough by Qu Man, he silently stared into the distance before looking down at the documents Qu Man brought over.
*
Naturally, Qi Wu was not someone who would just sit in her chair and daydream.
With her elbows on her knees and her chin on her palms, she silently watched as the three women bustled about. Perhaps it was out of nerves. Perhaps it was because of something else. Whatever it was, they were working much faster than before.
Curiosity and thirst lurked within Qi Wu's eyes.
She wanted to be part of this world, to see what she had never seen before in her past life.
When she was living in the temple, not only would that just be a hope, but it would also be considered a hallucination.
When Tan Song spotted Qi Wu after relentless searching, he found her silently sitting in her chair.
She was all alone and quiet.
That was what Tan Song sensed radiating from her. However, he also felt a surge of vitality radiating from her.
He could not help but walk over to politely call out to her, "Hello."
Qi Wu turned around and stared at him with confused eyes. "I've already said no."
Despite how calm she sounded, Tan Song still felt embarrassed about being called out for that.
"I don't mean to pester you," he clumsily said and handed over the manuscript he was holding to her before launching into his explanation.
"This is what I got when you inspired me. If possible, I would love for you to look at it."
Tan Song seemed unused to communicating with other people as he kept stumbling over his own words.
However, his eyes shone brightly with genuine eagerness.
With that gaze trained on her, Qi Wu accepted the manuscript offered to her.
The writing on the paper was rather messy, like a first draft composition, but Qi Wu and her discerning eyes could tell that the person who wrote had been filled with heartfelt excitement and longing.
As Qi Wu solemnly read through the paper in her hand, Tan Song eagerly introduced himself. "My name is Tan Song. I'm a classical musician."
When he finished speaking, he found Qi Wu gazing up at him with confusion and pity. Her gaze made his voice die in his throat.
At that very moment, he felt as if he had met an adoring god with pity in his heart for humanity.
Qi Wu was audibly bewildered as she asked, "Why would you build a cage to trap yourself in it?"
For her whole life, she had been trapped in the temple. That was her fate.
However, the man standing before her had willingly trapped himself in a cage.
Tan Song stared back in visible shock. He seemed to not have registered what she said as he dazedly asked, "What?"
Qi Wu handed the manuscript back to him. "There may be limits to music, but there are none to your imagination."
She continued staring at him until he scrambled away in a manner akin to running away from something with his manuscript in hand.
Just then, Tong Luo who had been silently watching them interact spoke up. "Qi Wu, when did you meet Tan Song?"
"I met him at the seasoning area just now. He helped me."
Upon hearing that, Jiang Xuxu leaned over. "What is it? Is Tan Song part of the entertainment industry? I've never heard of him before now."
"Tan Song has been in the industry for a few years, but he has never really been popular due to his stubborn nature. Honestly speaking, he's quite talented. He just can't gather enough popularity," Tong Luo explained.