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Sister Chen called and asked how Jasmine's practice was going.

Despite being in a warm indoor environment, Jasmine felt a cold wind blowing through her heart, feeling chilly. Sadly, she told her agent sister, "I don't feel very good."

She sounded low in spirits, truly worrying, and Sister Chen asked, "Where are you?"

"In Shanghai, The East Blossoming."

Sister Chen had been there before, it was Jasmine's home in Shanghai. The drama "Girls" was filmed in Shanghai, but at that time, due to laziness in handling accommodation arrangements, Jasmine didn't go home every day, now that she had some free time, she went back to stay for a few days.

It's good in Shanghai, with many celebrities.

Sister Chen asked her to wait, then contacted another agent friend and arranged for Jasmine to go to her studio.

Jasmine went there, and on the way, she searched the WIKI of the kind-hearted person, familiarizing herself with the well-known singer she was about to meet.

Seems like this person has classic works, won many awards, not exactly current pop, but a renowned powerful female singer.

With her guidance, maybe Jasmine would improve a bit...?

With this expectation, Jasmine met the other person.

After sitting down and chatting for a few minutes, getting to know each other, the singer sister who came to help Jasmine said, "You should be able to sing this song, right? Otherwise, I'll play the accompaniment for you to go over it, I'll see where the problem is, we'll find out the issue and practice it specifically, we still have time, we can make it."

Jasmine nodded.

Then, one played the accompaniment, the other stood by and sang from the score.

Just as she started singing, the powerful female singer's hand trembled, and the music notes faltered.

She belatedly realized she had taken on a challenging task that day, took a deep breath, and solemnly told the young actress standing beside her, "Don't use theatrical tones, just sing normally, start over."

She started playing from the beginning again, as Jasmine opened her mouth, she sounded like she was listening to Peking Opera...

The lyrics were the same, but when she sang it, there was no longer the feeling of "Bestie", it turned into "Peking Opera: Two Women's Pleas".

The female singer agreed to help, partly because she had time, and also wanted to get to know this year's rising star, not expecting this turn of events.

Although But, with a sense of curiosity, and a hint of "I want to see how far you can sing," she continued playing the accompaniment.

Jasmine didn't disappoint her, the more she sang, the more enthusiastic she became, her expression and finger movements were amazing!

When Jasmine finished the last sentence, applause and cheers came from the door. The female singer turned around in despair... it was her team, they had no idea of the situation, enthusiastically asking who had done this adaptation? Can pop music be sung in a traditional opera style? Is it to surprise the audience?

The female singer said, "...Can't you recognize this girl?"

"She does look familiar."

"Jasmine?"

"Wow, how did Jasmine end up here?"

The female singer told her friends, "She's supposed to perform this song with Bai Man at the event, but she didn't practice well, so she came to me to learn how to sing it. You all heard the song, what should we do?"

Her old buddies thought about it and said that this singing style was too advanced, it wouldn't fit for a collaboration stage. Bai Man wasn't a professional singer, could she keep up with this style?

"So, that's why I'm asking you all what to do!"

Those few still didn't understand, scratching their heads, saying, "Just sing it normally without the operatic style, since it's a collaboration, some sacrifices have to be made for the stage effect."

Jasmine, who had been silent since finishing singing, finally spoke, "I can't do it."

"?"

"?"

"???"

She looked sincerely at these professional musicians, reiterating, "I can't sing it normally."

"How is that possible?!"

"You'll see once you try."

The female singer stepped aside and let the most skilled pianist from her team take over. He played many well-known songs that every Chinese person would recognize.

Maybe just now she sang a version of "Bestie" adapted into "Peking Opera: Two Women's Plea," Jasmine felt in her element. No matter what he played, from campus songs to military songs to folk songs, she could handle them all, with precise finger work and versatile vocal styles. The most exciting part was when she performed a duet love song all by herself, playing both roles.

Everyone in the actress's music studio was left speechless....

"Who is this genius in Peking Opera?"

"Stop playing, let's all think about how to proceed now."

After some discussion among the musicians, one representative said, "Actually, from an artistic aesthetic perspective, this performance is quite advanced."

"Yes, Miss Lee sings very well."

"I didn't hear any issues at all. You just go like this. If the studio says otherwise, you make them figure it out. They have a stage director and a music director!"

With these musicians praising her, Jasmine's confidence soared, and she even treated them to a meal as a thank you for helping her rebuild her confidence.

After the meal, the two groups bid farewell and went their separate ways.

As soon as Jasmine left, the group burst into laughter on the street.

"Which TV station is so bold? Inviting Gu Pan and Wen Jia to sing 'Bestie' together! I'm a fan of Gu Pan and I only want to hear her sing You're Not Worthy, but this setup is great, invisibly showing you're not worthy."

"How can someone sing Peking Opera with just piano accompaniment??? Is she from a family of traditional opera performers? Even if she is, it's still far-fetched."

"Hahaha, I just want to see how Bai Man picks up this tune."

"Is she going to Blue Stage? Who's the music director at Blue Stage?"

"Liao Xiaofeng."

"Well, then it's fine. He's almost fifty and a mature music director. He should be able to handle this calmly."

...

If Liao Xiaofeng knew that this group not only didn't help but also instilled extraordinary confidence in Jasmine, he might be so angry he would spit blood.

Unfortunately, he didn't know.

All he knew was that Jasmine and Bai Man were confirmed to perform at their event, neither of whom were professional singers, not even close.

Bai Man had only sung the theme song for a web series she starred in, and Jasmine was even more extreme, having no prior musical works.

The thought of it was quite frustrating, but nowadays, there are plenty of people who sing live without any training. Liao Xiaofeng thought the immediate task was to have the two sing together to see how it felt, so he had someone contact them and arranged a rehearsal specifically for their performance.

The two actresses arrived at the TV station at the agreed time, listened to how the stage was set up and where to stand, and then followed the pre-assigned lyrics for their first rehearsal.

Bai Man, with experience, set the tone first.

When it was Jasmine's turn to sing, "Peking Opera: Two Women's Plea" resurfaced.

The music director and the stage art director watching the rehearsal together: ......

"Pause, this isn't right, sing normally."

Jasmine, who was dumbfounded by Bai Man's sudden forgetfulness and inability to sing, innocently told Teacher Liao Xiaofeng, "I am singing normally."

"Don't use operatic singing, sing like you normally do."

Jasmine told him, "This is how I normally sing."

If it were someone else, they might have been scolded. Thinking that Miss Lee seemed to have some background, the music director tried to remain composed and communicate with her calmly. Jasmine insisted that this was her normal way of singing, and Teacher Liao didn't believe her. Just like before in the studio, they tested it out. Regardless of what was played, whether pop, rock, or even rap, she could turn it into Peking Opera, naturally matching different operatic styles with a variety of vivid expressions.

Before today, Liao Xiaofeng never imagined that his biggest career challenge would be here!

Jasmine seems to really not know how to sing properly; she only knows how to sing opera.

"Let's take a ten-minute break for the whole stage, let me think about it."

Liao Xiaofeng squatted nearby, pondered for a while, and finally came up with a solution. He walked back to Jasmine and asked, "Can you play any musical instruments? Or maybe we can skip the duet. You can play the piano while Bai Man sings alone. Both of you are actors, just act out the feeling of being best friends."

Jasmine: ...

"I can play a little bit of an instrument, but it's not the piano."

"Is it violin? That works too."

"No, it's also not violin."

"... Cello? Guitar? Guzheng? Flute? It can't be the erhu!"

Luckily, when he mentioned the erhu, Jasmine firmly denied it, shaking her head.

Liao Xiaofeng thought as long as it's not the erhu, it's fine. "Which instrument do you play? Just tell me, and I'll find it for you to try out."

Jasmine shyly smiled and said, "I can play the suona horn."

One staff member couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Liao Xiaofeng couldn't laugh.

Suona horn?

It might be better to play the erhu...

Just the thought of the New Year's Eve party, where Gu Pan confidently took the suona horn to send off Wen Jia... made Liao Xiaofeng feel like he was also nearing the end.

What kind of plastic best friends were these?

The difficulties they were facing now couldn't be solved by him alone as the music director. Liao Xiaofeng gathered the show director and others to brainstorm. The director proposed lip-syncing as a solution.

"Then I won't go on stage. I won't do anything fake."

With no other option, they brought in a musician to see if they could change the song. Bai Man would sing the main part, while Jasmine would showcase her vocal skills during the chorus, promoting traditional culture.

It was a bit more work, but it was a solution.

Jasmine didn't protest further and waited for the arranger to revise the song. Just adding a vocal flourish, it wasn't difficult for a professional. The song was smoothly revised, after practicing again, the two met again for rehearsal.

This time, Jasmine did exceptionally well. When she performed that segment, the drama enthusiasts in the audience all cheered. Bai Man was not willing to give up. She went to find the music director, Teacher Liao, saying that she was at a disadvantage now, even if she appeared on the show, she would be overshadowed.

This collaboration was not beneficial for her. The music director thought it was a talent to select these two incompatible best friends as the lead actresses.

"What should we do?"

"Just as we agreed from the beginning, sing normally. That way, no one loses, right?"

"But it has to be achievable. Otherwise, you go and teach her how to sing normally."

Bai Man really went and after teaching for half an hour, she forgot the tune of the song "Bestie", with Jasmine's "Pleading of the Two Women in Beijing Opera" stuck in her head. That was a disaster.

*

When Sister Chen heard that the collaboration for the New Year's Eve party had fallen through, she was completely puzzled.

"Just sing a few lines, how hard can it be?"

Jasmine shrugged, "Bai Man is sick, she can't make it."

Upon hearing this explanation, Sister Chen believed her, after all, the Blue TV's New Year's Eve party always had good ratings. If Bai Man was a top-tier celebrity, it would be fine, but she wasn't, how could she refuse to perform?

Little did she know that not even a day had passed before someone claiming to be an insider from the TV station came out to gossip, saying that Jasmine and Bai Man made everyone burst into laughter.

They were supposed to collaborate, but one could only sing normally while the other couldn't sing normally at all.

After discussing with the director and the music director, they agreed that one would sing while the other would play the piano.

The sister who couldn't sing normally said, "Playing the piano is impossible for me. I am a master of the suona horn, do they want that instead?"

-- Everyone keeps asking me who wanted to play the suona horn?

Who else she can be? It's your sister Jasmine, I can see that she is hoping Wenjia's leave. I can see that's what she wants."

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