Chapter 1526 - Singing and Dancing

Wu Ciren watched their dance movements attentively. Though he came from a traffic police background, he had been an idol otaku in another timeline. His greatest pleasure on days off had been flying around the country—and occasionally abroad—to observe and interact with idol groups, maid cafés, and wotagei dance troupes. He knew the features, histories, and personal details of various groups inside out.

Founding my own idol group! This had been his greatest dream since crossing timelines, though after D-Day he had ended up back in his old line of work. During the grueling pioneering phase, anyone who proposed a proper arts group would be flamed by the Industrial Faction for wasting resources on sentimentality, so naturally he could not step forward. Besides, in this timeline there were no girls who fit his aesthetic. Still, the dream had never died—on the contrary, it had burned hotter in the silence. Over several years of lying low, he had gradually gathered like-minded companions. Now, as the First Five-Year Plan neared completion and the Yuan Elder Court's manpower, material resources, and finances had been transformed beyond recognition, his dream had finally surfaced.

The Plaid Skirt Club was less Yuan Ziguang's creation than the result of their maneuvering. What did Yuan Ziguang know about idols? He was just an ACG uniform fetishist. If not for the need to build a broader united front and conveniently gain access to female student selection, this impure element would never have been allowed to represent them.

For now, let him represent for a while. After all, another backer meant another source of funding, and running an arts group was an expensive business. If he had not become one of the Five Hundred in this timeline, he would never have dared play this game.

Now he surveyed the girls dressed in the uniforms he had designed, dancing with all their might. He savored the feeling of being Tsunku or Akimoto Yasushi.

The choreography for 21st Century Love Revolution was from Morning Musume's early songs. By 2010s standards, it was somewhat dated, but it remained a classic idol dance—strong rhythm, simple moves. Liu Shuixin had watched the Morning Musume Official Tutorial video files a few times and memorized it. For people without a professional dance background, it was relatively easy to pick up.

Even so, for most of them, memorizing a minute and a half of choreography in two days and staying in sync was no easy task. Even domestic wotagei troupes, cosplay teams, and supposedly professional groups often missed the beat. So Wu Ciren did not worry too much about that.

What he focused on was the force of their dancing. Wu Ciren knew that these girls, with at most some basic posture training, could not match the expressiveness and coordination of professional dancers. Keeping up with the rhythm was already an achievement. When they danced, they could only imitate mechanically—there was no expressiveness to speak of; transitions between moves were mostly choppy, with obvious hesitations. The biggest problem was that their dancing was too soft.

When dancing turned soft, the entire performance felt off. No matter how practiced the moves, the aesthetic was lacking.

Liu Shuixin might look delicate and frail, but when she danced, her physical movements were remarkably powerful. Of course, that was professional level. During the last workshop, she had already pointed this out to them. In Wu Ciren's view, as long as a candidate gave the impression of dancing with effort rather than going through the motions, she would pass the dance portion.

He noticed that most of the earlier groups had danced too softly; few girls conveyed real force. He carefully ticked the numbers of those who seemed satisfactory.

The minute-and-a-half dance ended quickly. Wu Ciren exchanged a few quiet words with Dongmen Chuiyu, then spoke with Liu Shuixin. He stood up:

"Now you will repeat this dance. This time, keep smiling. Even if you make a mistake, it's okay, but you must not let your facial expression drop. Please dance while smiling sincerely."

"Yes—"

The music started again. Since they had already danced once, the girls with weaker stamina began falling behind the beat. Wu Ciren did not hesitate to mark an X under her number.

The music stopped.

"Your expressiveness was much better this time, so smiles really are important." Wu Ciren commented. "When you dance, the first thing is to maintain a smile. But just maintaining a smile isn't enough—you have to convey your emotions to the audience. That means your eyes must be focused while dancing, understand? You can't have a vacant look. Just now, although you were all facing us, your gazes were wandering, completely without emotion."

Next came the singing segment. The chosen song was a Chinese pop tune with a simple rhythm and no period-specific references—basically a bubblegum song, very easy to learn. While they prepared, Liu Shuixin smiled at Wu Ciren. "I didn't expect you to know so much about performance."

"Just a few personal insights. Not professional." Wu Ciren felt a bit smug: After all, I've watched tens of thousands of video files and hundreds of idol selection shows. I know the basics.

"No wonder you're so keen on idol groups—you're a diehard enthusiast." Liu Shuixin brushed back a strand of slightly messy hair. "But in my opinion, these girls not only have weak fundamentals, their aptitude isn't much to speak of either. Even with significant training, they won't come close to those Dongfang picked..."

"Teacher Liu, you don't understand. For an idol group, you don't need to be too polished—looks aren't even the top priority. Being unrefined, having that 'green' quality—those are selling points. You could even say a sense of 'inferiority' is part of the appeal..."

Liu Shuixin burst out laughing. "You really are something..."

Her laughter was lovely—brows and eyes like a painting, a gentle flow of charm. Though already a wife and mother, she remained captivating. Wu Ciren felt his heart stir: Truly, a professional performer's expressiveness is the real deal.

He quickly assumed a serious expression. "So we really need you to train them well, Teacher Liu. While having that amateur, untrained feel creates intimacy and brings audiences closer, as a performing group there still needs to be a certain professional standard. Our club's only professional instructor to rely on is you."

"Don't worry. I'm dying to have something to do. My specialty was useless here; teaching posture classes to the maidservant students was child's play." Liu Shuixin, as the star of the Song and Dance Troupe, was accomplished in both singing and dancing. After following her husband here for several years, she had had almost no chance to use her professional skills. Fortunately, practicing had become habit, so her abilities had not deteriorated.

"You're already teaching at the College of Arts and Sciences, the Cultural Troupe, and our club—that's so much work." Wu Ciren hastened to flatter her; she was currently the only professional, and they had to keep her happy. "Our Plaid Skirt Club is investing in a few targeted fabric and material projects. Once we have results, you'll definitely be the first to try them."

"That's wonderful. The fabric selection here is too limited. For performance costumes, no amount of silk compares to the synthetic fabrics from the old timeline."

Just then, the singing was about to begin, so their chat paused.

Each singer was given a wooden dummy microphone. They faced the judges and sang one by one. The song was a Chinese pop tune—simple rhythm, lyrics with no period-specific references, a typical bubblegum song.

"Sing with your emotions," Liu Shuixin said. "Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Sing from the heart."

Singing was not an idol group's strong suit—it was not even particularly important. Live singing by idol groups, unless lip-synced or half-miked, often turned into train wrecks. But in this timeline, standards could not be lowered too far, because the necessary technical equipment was lacking. At best, they could provide a megaphone amplifier. For recorded releases, they could manage—they had semi-professional-grade recording equipment, and setting up a simple studio was feasible; they also had computer software for audio editing.

But for live performances, there was no professional stage sound equipment for audio input, output, effects, mixing, and the like. A few Yuanlao said that if they could access controlled resources, they could DIY something, but anything that could not be mass-produced was meaningless—it could at most equip a single theater and could not be widely deployed.

So this selection set fairly high standards for singing ability, to avoid embarrassment during live shows. In this timeline, with gramophones not yet widespread and the public's purchasing power very low, releasing records was pointless; the focus had to be on live performance.

After hearing each person sing, during the gap before the sixth group entered, Liu Shuixin asked Wu Ciren: "Have you considered voice training for them?"

"Voice training? Vocal exercises?"

"Yes, that's also voice training—but the traditional Chinese kind. Basic training for opera performers." Seeing his confusion, Liu Shuixin explained, "Can we manufacture wired microphones and speakers yet? If not, they'll need voice training. Otherwise, in a theater of more than a hundred seats, people in the back rows basically won't hear anything."

"I'm not entirely sure, but it should be possible." Wu Ciren sounded uncertain. "Small theater performances were always planned as our main format."

"Acoustic design can barely let the back row hear in a hundred-seat theater, but even then the performers need a certain level of skill. If you've ever seen an unplugged concert, you know it's not something just anyone can pull off. Given the foundation of the girls you've selected, it'll be quite challenging. Besides, this group will eventually have to perform at the grassroots level or in larger venues. In big auditoriums or open-air stages, even with solid fundamentals, without amplification equipment there's no way to guarantee performance quality."