Top And Crown Chapter 5

The final result of three rounds of screening was that there were only 40 people left in venue B.

Ethan Huo was soon called to the office by his assistant, where a pile of contracts was placed in front of him.

There are life safety insurance, training program notices, and dozens of pages in total.

"You're only fifteen years old..." The assistant frowned and said, "Fortunately it's not a labor contract, otherwise your parents would have to come over to sign it."

"We'll give you a nutritional allowance of 1,500 yuan per month, but if you make it to the final 20, you'll have to sign a long-term agency contract with us. Will you be 16 in September?"

"full."

"Oh, that's good." The assistant, who had obviously seen too many difficult parents, breathed a sigh of relief: "Come on, you've caught up with the right time."

He soon moved to a new dormitory and was assigned a new general affairs management position. After receiving the discipline manual and training manual, he had to go to the next building to help get teaching materials and tapes.

There is no TV in the dormitory, but there is a tape recorder for public use, which can also be used to listen to the radio.

Ethan Huo received his ID card and sat alone in the dormitory, flipping through the thick notice and contract again.

No matter how well he does in school, he is still just a child.

But after signing these documents, I seemed to be suddenly treated as an equal adult, and I felt an inexplicable sense of respect in my heart.

Ethan Huo carefully locked up all his personal belongings, went to the balcony and called Aunt Lu and Mother Chen respectively, comforted them for a while and then explained his situation in general.

At seven o'clock the next morning, everyone gathered in conference room C603 on time.

There were more than 130 trainees in total, and Grace and five other teachers appeared at the door.

They did not come in immediately. Instead, they bowed in unison to the uncle coming over from the other side. After that man walked into the meeting room, they lined up and walked in.

Many trainees who often read entertainment news stared with wide eyes. They leaned up to see more clearly, then sat back in a panic and pretended to be calm.

The uncle looked to be at least fifty years old, with a thin body, dyed hair, and eyes as sharp as a hawk.

He stood at the door and glanced at everyone, then turned sideways and asked, "Is that all?"

Grace said respectfully, "Yes."

"I haven't seen many outstanding ones yet." The uncle sneered: "Let's have a meeting first."

Two teachers walked onto the stage, greeted the trainees, and the LCD screens behind them began to show slides synchronously.

"First of all, congratulations! You have passed the initial screening and have equal opportunities to compete."

"Our FPS is a top entertainment company in the industry, and the gentleman next to you is Uncle James, a veteran agent who has helped many superstars become famous."

The young men could not suppress their excitement and shouted, "Hello, Uncle James!"

This is the closest they have ever been to the entertainment industry.

Being able to see Uncle James in person is equivalent to meeting all the most important stars in the entertainment industry.

It’s worth it. It’s totally worth it.

Ethan Huo turned the pen and felt that it seemed a bit redundant to bring a notebook with him.

"Generally speaking, agents rarely come in person at this stage," the teacher obviously hadn't met Uncle James many times, and his tone was a little uncontrollable: "It is precisely because our plan is special enough that we have such treatment."

She pressed the electronic pen and the screen turned pages.

A logo quietly appears on the pure black background.

Minimalist golden lines form an abstract pattern, with six letters written in a flamboyant style in the lower row.

『corona』

It means crown in Latin.

Suddenly, some trainees in the field began to cheer and applaud, as if they had known something for a long time.

"Uncle James took a break for several years and finally started the group development plan. Our company has been preparing for this plan for four years, waiting for the best opportunity." The teacher continued to explain: "Therefore, the company also provided the best teaching staff, including us assistant teachers, who are also at the level of national competition champions."

The trainee next to Ethan Huo gasped and secretly took out his phone to take pictures of the teachers, his face full of excitement that he couldn't hide.

The teaching assistant smiled at them and said slowly, "Corona has only six letters."

"So we only need six members."

"Six unique and exceptional members."

Uncle James nodded approvingly.

The atmosphere that was full of excitement just now suddenly dropped.

The electronic pen flashed again, and the elimination system was released.

"It is now July. We will give you fair and unified training and screening over a four-month period."

"The 30 people with the lowest average scores each month will be eliminated directly and will lose the qualification to compete for these six positions." The teacher said gently: "According to the document we signed yesterday, the eliminated people can continue to practice in the company, but they have to wait for other opportunities to form a group. It is difficult to say when they will debut."

The trainees who had cheered first shook their heads in unison and began to exchange glances from a distance across the others.

Ethan Huo frowned, feeling something was wrong.

He knew that look.

These people obviously knew some information that the teacher did not say, and it was very secretive.

The leaders are senior and capable enough, the teaching assistants and facilities are all top-notch, and the winners will have full access to powerful resources - what other secrets could there be in this project?

"During these four months, you will train together and strive for a place through your abilities and efforts." The teacher seemed unaware of the little movements in the audience and continued, "And among the 20 people who remain, we will make the final decision based on the overall situation."

"Even if they are not selected to join Corona, the top 20 have higher priority resource allocation."

She looked at the young men on the stage, raised her eyes and smiled, her voice clear and fluent.

"Hopefully I'll see you guys again in December when everything settles down."

After the morning meeting, the trainees were divided into four groups for another meeting, which was a bit like a high school class teacher’s speech.

After I finished talking about the disciplines for classes, bedtime, and meals, I finally got to the point.

"There are three main courses: vocal music, dance and live performance." Bob is a male teacher with a crew cut and black-framed glasses. He speaks very quickly: "These three courses are compulsory. Each course lasts for one and a half hours every day. There will be homework and random exams, all of which will be counted into the average score."

"In addition to the required courses, you will also need to choose two elective courses, which will also be counted towards the end-of-month assessment."

He took a marker and wrote quickly on the whiteboard, his handwriting was very sloppy.

【Composition, choreography, rap, singing, lyrics writing...】

The trainees began to whisper to each other as they selected courses and commented on the different rankings.

"Quiet." Bob tapped the whiteboard and said, "All the introductory information is in this booklet. Submit the registration form to me before 6pm today."

"There are no classes today. You can freely observe between the fourth and eighth floors. Don't disturb other trainees. Do you hear me?"

Everyone responded, and only after the teacher walked away did they huddle together and whisper to each other.

Ethan Huo saw that Long Ji was surrounded by several people and was being talked to. After thinking for a while, he decided to go out for a walk.

He finished reading the course introduction before waiting for Bob to enter the classroom, and also reviewed the company's development history and past achievements.

The fourth and fifth floors are classrooms, the sixth floor is a conference hall, the seventh floor is a functional training room, and the eighth floor has large and small dance rooms.

He didn't know how long his photographic memory could help him, but leaving the safe zone was imminent.

The young man wandered around the fourth and fifth floors, and went up to the seventh floor through the emergency passage. When he saw the scene on the other side of the glass wall, he was stunned and his steps began to slow down involuntarily.

Next to the safety passage are rows of piano rooms and musical instrument rooms.

The largest one is decorated in a Rococo palace style, with guitars, violins, clarinets, flutes, and a cream-white grand piano on display.

These things were too far away from him - he couldn't even afford a harmonica when he was in primary school and could only watch other children play with it.

Ethan Huo stood at the door for a long time but didn't see anyone else coming. Even the people practicing in the nearby piano room didn't come. It seemed as if he was the only one on this floor.

He approached the grand piano cautiously and pressed a key tentatively.

The pleasant sound is like a spring.

The boy showed a delighted expression, found doremi again, and pressed the keys one by one with the same finger.

The sound of the piano was pure and beautiful, like singing in his ears.

He took a deep breath, sat down bravely, and placed his hands on the keys according to the illustrations in the music book.

Then he continued to tap the little stars with one finger, clumsily but happily.

"That's not how it's played." A voice suddenly said from a distance.

Ethan Huo stood up reflexively and saw clearly the other person standing at the door.

When he saw the waist-length hair, he almost thought he was a girl.

The man looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a handsome face.

"Sit down." The long-haired boy came over and motioned him to sit a little further to the side.

"Well... the first thing you should learn is posture." The man helped him correct his sitting posture and arm position. Although he was still a teenager, his tone was as familiar as that of an old performer: "Keep your wrists flexible, your shoulders loose, and use your brain when reading the score."

He sat on the right side of the piano, his hands floating about as if stroking a cat's fur, and smooth, continuous piano sounds poured out immediately, light, agile and flawless.

Ethan Huo subconsciously asked: "Have you passed the tenth level?"

"Well, performance level." The boy brushed his long hair behind his ears and said calmly: "You want to learn to play the piano?"

"...I want to learn." Ethan Huo said uncertainly, "But I have absolutely no foundation."

If he rashly chooses this elective course, he may be at a great disadvantage in the assessment.

"You might as well learn from me." The boy played a selection of Bach. The grand piano was like a docile nightingale under his fingertips. "Trust me, I teach better than the teacher downstairs. They can't."

Ethan Huo suddenly became interested in this conceited stranger.

"Why do you think they can't?"

"It's very simple." The young man swayed his body to the melodious piano music, like a proud black swan.

"I'm the world champion, but they're not."