The online discussions continued like wildfire. Offline, Tang Feng continued his everyday life. The second episode of True Star Training Class mainly focused on horse riding and music lessons. Today was the students’ first vocal music class. At the same time, it was also Ge Chen’s first official day of training class. It had already been clearly stated that all students must live in the same apartment building, but off the record, Ge Chen did not move into the apartments like everyone else. Even though the previous “Tang Feng” had clearly debuted in the same idol group as Ge Chen, Tang Feng knew there was a reason why they ended up walking on different paths. Compared to the majority of people, Ge Chen knew how to conduct himself in public much better. He had personally apologized to the production team and explained why he couldn’t live in the apartments. As he was still in the middle of filming and discussion for a few movies, it would be inconvenient for him to travel to and fro from the apartments every day. Thinking that Ge Chen must be very busy, the production team did not force him to move into the apartments. On his first day of training class, Ge Chen generously greeted everyone. His assistant, who had cursed at Tang Feng before, passed around drinks for the trainees with a smile and handed out cups of coffee to the staff members. Ge Chen was dressed all in white again. Paired with his slightly pale face, Ge Chen’s appearance always gave Tang Feng the misconception that he was going to fall ill at any moment. The sickly beauty image might be a popular one and it might win over the public’s concern, but the doctrine of life was to flourish and thrive healthily. From the perspective of a senior in the industry, Tang Feng felt that Ge Chen would need to change his image if he wanted to further his career. A sickly and weak pretty boy would never become a mainstream celebrity accepted by the public. At most, Ge Chen could thrive off of the popularity that came with his numerous fans for a few years. Once he was past thirty, however, it would be difficult for him to continue this way. People who became fans due to an idol’s outward appearance or projected image could easily shift their love and affection at the appearance of a newer and more outstanding idol. What celebrities had always fought for were never the number of fans, but rather for the public’s acceptance. The teacher for the music class was an American called Sting. Tang Feng had known many musicians in his past life, but despite having heard his friends mention Sting, he had never met the musician personally. Sting was a well-known music producer in the U.S. and had produced numerous successful albums in his career. Connections in the entertainment industry were as tangled and complicated as a spiderweb. Normally, one would never think that two people who worked in completely different fields would be very good friends privately.
In reality, the relationship between the acting, music, and fashion worlds were extremely intimate.
Translators had been assigned to today’s music class. Most of the trainees had studied English before, but it was barely enough for them to understand these foreign teachers’ classes. Luckily, most of the teachers didn’t spend too much time lecturing; they often directly pulled people up to the front to demonstrate. “As a celebrity, it would be rather embarrassing if you can’t play an instrument. I’m not saying that you have to especially learn an instrument, but you should at least learn to feel the music and be willing to explore its boundaries. Music is like little angels that can take you for a trip around the world. With music, you can see and experience things that are more elegant or novel than what you’re used to. If you plan to pursue a career in singing, then I’d say this is a compulsory course for you. If you plan to pursue acting, my dears, music can make you classier.” Sting explained the importance of learning music in a succinct manner. “Why don’t you all pick out one or several instruments and learn to love them? It’s alright if you can’t play the instruments you’ve chosen, but you must learn to appreciate them.” Afterwards, Sting had a few students share their favourite type of music and instruments. He even invited them to come up and perform. They could choose to sing and play at the same time, or to only sing or play an instrument. More than half of the trainees had never officially stepped foot into the entertainment industry, so they didn’t have much experience performing in front of others. As a result, they were somewhat awkward and tense to be performing in front of the class. This was the moment when someone needed to step up and set an example. “I’ve heard that the two of you had debuted in the same idol group. Why don’t you two go first?” Having read the student profiles beforehand, Sting pointed with his hands, his left at Ge Chen and his right at Tang Feng. Ge Chen and Tang Feng had debuted in a talented idol group that was skilled in singing and dancing. They had even won the Best Rookie award for music in the past. Unfortunately, they disbanded not a few years later. Everybody knew what happened afterwards.