Chapter 108: Rehearsal

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Mother Yu looked at her son, puzzled. "What’s so secretive about this?"

Yu Zhile replied, "Actually, I’ve joined that show too!"

Mother Yu was neither surprised nor pleased, only responding with a somewhat speechless tone, "Then why didn’t you go to rehearsal with them?"

Yu Zhile cleared his throat. "Your daughter-in-law doesn’t know I’m on the show yet! So, Mom, you have to keep this a secret for me!"

Mother Yu scoffed, "What’s there to keep secret? If you want to be on a TV show, just go! It’s not like you’re doing something shameful!"

"Mom, hear me out first," Yu Zhile said earnestly. "The show we joined is called 'Masked Singer.' Simply put, every singer has to wear a mask! So if you don’t know, even your own mother wouldn’t recognize you on stage!"

Hearing this, Mother Yu couldn’t help but quip, "If even your own mother wouldn’t recognize you, why bother telling me and making me keep your secret? Are you out of your mind?"

Yu Zhile sighed, exhausted. "Mom, can you just stop with the comments for a second? I’m not done yet!"

"Go on, then," she replied indifferently.

Yu Zhile continued, "Your daughter-in-law doesn’t know I’m in the show, so I want to use this opportunity to surprise her!"

"Oh, I see!" said Mother Yu. "You mean you want me to keep it from Haiyu, so she won’t know you sneaked off to join her on the show?"

"Exactly!" Yu Zhile answered.

Mother Yu teased, "That’s something you could explain in one or two sentences, but you have to make such a fuss! Alright, I get it. If Haiyu gets suspicious, I’ll just say you’ve been home the whole time!"

"Ha, that’s my mom!" Yu Zhile gave her a thumbs-up. With his mother’s help inside and out, his secret participation in 'Masked Singer' was secure!

Mother Yu asked, "So why aren’t you going to rehearsal now?"

Yu Zhile replied, "As long as the others rehearse, that’s enough. I’m not going to rehearse. After all, my persona in this show is a super busy, super aloof superstar!"

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Mother Yu gave her son a meaningful smile. "Heh..."

...

East TV Station.

On the way there, Qin Haiyu had already put on the mask and earpiece prepared by the production team as required.

Even Xu Ling, after parking the car, put on a similar rose-embroidered headpiece mask according to the show’s tradition. Looking in the mirror, she complained, "This mask looks so silly!"

Qin Haiyu replied, "What’s silly about it? It’s obviously cool!"

Xu Ling grumbled, "It just doesn’t look good! I’d rather wear a mascot costume, like your lazy fish at home did last year for the New Year’s Eve show!"

Qin Haiyu said, "That’d be way too stuffy! The recording lasts several hours. This kind of head mask is much more convenient!"

"True, mascot suits are too stuffy. Let’s go in and see if we can recognize any of the other singers!"

Xu Ling was a little excited. Since the gym opened after New Year, she’d kept up her workouts and finally lost over thirty pounds, dropping from 160 to 130.

Having shed so much weight, it was now hard for anyone to recognize her when she walked into the TV station with Qin Haiyu.

After all, who would have guessed that Qin Haiyu’s increasingly plump assistant had slimmed down so much?

Inside the studio, Qin Haiyu saw a singer rehearsing on stage.

It was a tall, slender man wearing a "Wolf" mask. His singing was both familiar and unfamiliar. Qin Haiyu couldn’t help but say, "This show is going to drive people crazy! How are we supposed to guess who’s singing?"

Xu Ling couldn’t recognize the voice either. "I bet when this airs, lots of viewers with OCD will be driven mad! Every singer’s head is covered so tightly—unless the voice is super distinctive, there’s no way to tell who’s who!"

Qin Haiyu glanced around. Her voice, filtered through the voice changer mic provided by the show, came out as a sharp, girlish tone: "Even the production staff are wearing masks. Suddenly it feels like I’ve infiltrated as an undercover agent. So nervous!"

On site, Director Zhang, forced to wear a heavy iron mask, turned to Yang Bing and asked, "What’s going on? That singer called Starfish couldn’t make it to rehearsal?"

Yang Bing nodded, "As long as the other singers rehearse, it’s fine. For him, rehearsal doesn’t matter much. The band just needs to practice his song."

"Hmm," Director Zhang murmured, still troubled, and pressed further, "Who exactly is Starfish? You won’t even tell me!"

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Yang Bing replied, "Director Zhang, don’t be so curious! You can know the other singers’ identities, but I absolutely have to keep this one secret. He’s my trump card! In case you accidentally let it slip!"

Director Zhang snapped, "Get lost! Am I the kind who can’t keep a secret?"

"Better safe than sorry! Anyway, you’ll find out who Starfish is soon enough. For now, our top priority is to rehearse, so everyone can get used to it and we’ll be ready for tomorrow’s recording."

Seeing Yang Bing’s firm refusal to reveal "Starfish’s" identity, Director Zhang didn’t press further. After all, once the show recorded tomorrow and Starfish arrived, he’d just need to make contact and would probably guess who it was!

In the studio, the six masked singers for the first episode of "I Am a Singer" were: Lone Wolf, Singing Old Boy, White Swan, Polar Bear, Starfish, and Red Rose.

"Red Rose" was Qin Haiyu. With the exception of "Starfish," the other five masked singers were all present.

Because they all wore masks or headpieces, and their microphones had built-in voice changers, the singers were truly set free!

[Lone Wolf] suddenly said, "I’m Teacher Wu, who are all of you?"

[Old Boy] laughed, "I don’t believe you! Teacher Wu never sings as badly as you!"

Qin Haiyu chimed in, "The rules say we can’t reveal our identities, or the production team will force us off the show!"

[White Swan], in a loli voice, suddenly piped up, "Wow! There’s even a big sister here! So fun!"

Qin Haiyu smiled; to avoid giving herself away, she decided not to chat too much with these mysterious singers.

At that moment, the masked singer called [Polar Bear] asked, "Aren’t there supposed to be six singers in the lineup? Where’s the last one?"

The director explained, "Teacher Starfish couldn’t make it to rehearsal today, so as long as you five finish, it’s fine. If you have any issues during the process, just speak up."

[Polar Bear] mused, "So Starfish must be a super big shot with a packed schedule! I wonder if they’re a male or female singer?"

As everyone wondered, the rehearsal for "Masked Singer" on the eve of recording unfolded in a tense and exciting atmosphere!

Everyone began to look forward to whether tomorrow’s recording would, like "I Am a Singer," be a true battle of the gods each round!