Driving at night isn’t safe, and the crew didn’t plan to return to the city overnight, so they found a few places in this scenic villa to use as rehearsal rooms.
The rooms have decent soundproofing, and the only people around here are from their crew, so there’s no worry about disturbing others.
With time and a place, and a dance instructor, everyone changed clothes and then rushed to the rehearsal room to practice without a moment to lose.
Mu Qiu was experiencing this kind of process for the first time, and it felt like taking a class at a dance academy, very fresh and new.
The first rehearsals were for two fixed performances, a four-person dance and an eight-person dance, with the two teams in different rehearsal rooms.
Everyone put on comfortable cotton T-shirts and patiently stood in a line, waiting for the dance instructor’s directions.
Mu Qiu put her hand behind her back, moved a bit to the right, and hooked her fingers around those of Cheng Zhirang beside her.
Cheng Zhirang didn’t react much, just loosely held her hand with his palm.
As if silently communicating "don’t be nervous," his stable attitude and the gentle voice he often used to soothe her seemed to be conveyed through this gesture, inexplicably putting her at ease.
The dry, warm palm wrapped around her hand, but soon let go. She moved back to her previous position, rejuvenated and ready to carefully listen to the dance instructor.
Once the positions were roughly determined, the choreography began.
Honestly speaking, Mu Qiu found choreography to be incredibly exhausting. It took many repetitions to get a movement right, and she had to keep up with the rhythm and cooperate with her teammates. Even when tired and wanting to take a break, she had to simultaneously find time to practice singing.
Within a couple of hours, she was drenched in sweat, with her ponytail sticking to her neck uncomfortably from the sweat running down her forehead.
But there wasn’t much time, so after a quick sip of water and a wipe of sweat, she had to get back to learning.
She didn’t complain about being tired or uncomfortable, but as the rehearsal dragged on without a reduction in mistakes, the smile on her face entirely vanished.
Expressionlessly repeating the same set of movements in front of the large mirror felt very stifling.
The music from the other rehearsal room had stopped; apparently, someone was throwing a tantrum, and the dance instructor was harshly scolding people. When the music here stopped, the scolding from over there was clearly audible.
It was harsh and unyielding, directly calling out Shu Ran and Chuchu by name.
The atmosphere became a bit tense.
Cheng Zhirang took the initiative and turned off the music.
He was also drenched in sweat, trying hard to suppress the sound of his heavy breathing, and said to their dance instructor:
"Teacher, why not call it a night today? Everyone’s exhausted, and it’s quite late. We could go back, reflect on what we’ve learned, and continue first thing tomorrow morning, would that be alright?"
The dance instructor, understanding their fatigue, nodded in agreement:
"Alright then, take a break. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask me. You’ve worked hard. It’s truly challenging to learn this dance in such a short time while also preparing for other performances.
But remember, tomorrow there will be 8,000 people in the audience, watching every move, with cameras focusing even on your expressions, lip-syncing, and movements. If mistakes are too frequent or if you lose sync with the others, the audience will easily notice.
You’re quite known in the industry, and the outcome if the audience catches onto mistakes, I think is clear to everyone. Therefore, I hope not to see anyone forget the parts practiced today."
Everyone nodded, took a deep breath, and grabbed their towels and water bottles to head out.
They coincidentally came across Guan Yu and the others from the opposite room.
The two groups almost collided, with each person looking utterly drained and dejected.
Guan Yu sighed, "It’s so hard, my legs are about to twist up."
Shu Ran looked even worse, "I just want to go wash up and sleep, I can’t stand anymore."
"We still need to practice the other one," Mu Qiu tilted her head back, guzzling down water, her parched state meeting half a bottle of water was pure bliss, "or we won’t have time."
Cheng Zhirang realized she was already exhausted, hearing her insistence on more practice, he inquired softly, "Do you really want to continue?"
"It’s not about wanting, it’s about having to."
The other dance wasn’t extremely difficult but was very eye-catching, making it a sure focus for the audience.
Moreover, she had to practice overcoming her sense of embarrassment.
After a brief rest, the music in the rehearsal room started up again.
Familiar whistle sounds and snapping fingers rhythmically filled the place, along with sensual moans in the intro, immediately tingling to the ears.
Mu Qiu sat on the floor, intently watching the original dance video for this song.
Halfway through she couldn’t help but unscrew her water bottle to drink.
This was way too sexy, leaving her feeling parched just watching it.
"This... seems even more sensual than I remembered," she remarked to Cheng Zhirang ahead, "Is it really okay to dance like this? Won’t your fans have an issue?"
Wishing they could swap places with her instantly to that extent.
Cheng Zhirang’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, feeling a bit warm, his voice tight.
"They won’t. Dance instructor, please remove the suggestive moves during rehearsal."
The actions of male dancers touching female dancers’ hips and sensitive areas could make the women uncomfortable.
The female dance instructor laughed, "You guys are a real couple, why fear these things?"
"Even real couples don’t perform for others," he said with a gentle smile.
Mu Qiu paused hearing this, lightly pinched her ear, and coughed.
The male dance instructor played a video breaking down the moves, saying, "There can be fewer suggestive moves, but this song is inherently sensual and ambiguous, you can’t remove all the sexy movements, especially not the classic ones."
Pausing for a moment, he added, "You need to learn to let go. Especially Mu Qiu, your dress will be quite seductive. May I quickly ask, in your relationship, who makes most decisions?"
What was the meaning behind this question?
Mu Qiu looked at Cheng Zhirang, who gestured, "She does."
The two dance instructors exchanged subtle glances, "So it’s like that. Then for this dance, Mu Qiu, you’re in the lead position, remember, 80% of the time you need to face the camera. And Brother Cheng will always be looking at you."
"...Uh, okay."
"Alright, Mu Qiu, put on high heels and a pencil skirt. Tomorrow’s dress is similar to this; you can get used to it first."
She changed into a pencil skirt, put on high heels, and stood facing Cheng Zhirang, one on each side.
She then took a couple of deep, calming breaths.
...
"Knock knock—"
This was already the fourth door Guan Yu had knocked on. The person inside opened the door, and without her explaining her purpose, they automatically stepped out into the hallway.
"Let’s go."
Guan Yu: "...Wait, I haven’t even told you what I came for."
Shi Yuhuai glanced at her and the three people behind her, "Judging from your sly expressions, it’s pretty obvious."
Guan Yu: "???"
Is this polite? Huh?! Is this polite to such a delicate flower like her?!