A contestant who came for the audition immediately spotted him and exaggeratedly shouted his name.
"Wow, it's Xie Wang! He's so cool, I came to the right competition."
"Isn't Teacher Xie Wang still filming recently? He's so handsome!"
Among the people sent by various companies, there were people of all genders.
But the most enthusiastic were a few omegas calling out in the front row.
"Teacher, I'm your fan, I've been watching your works," said an omega girl in a white muslin dress.
"Me too!" said a boy omega with a gentle voice. "Teacher, you're currently filming Hidden Blade, right? I saw the opening ceremony photos, and the styling is so cool."
Xie Wang took off his sunglasses, nodded slightly, and put his hands in his pockets without responding.
Enthusiastic little O.
But inside, he felt... nothing at all.
Under the eaves not far away, Lin Jianlu was wearing headphones, his gaze fixed elsewhere, not giving him a single glance.
Xie Wang looked over and saw a small bird perched on a bush.
What's so interesting about such a tiny bird? And he's still staring at it.
He gave a soft scoff.
Lin Jianlu was always like this—liking cool tones like black and silver, always distant from the crowd and noise, like a ray of moonlight falling on snowflakes and ice crystals.
Hey, so serious, even listening to music before the audition.
Ah, good students also cram at the last minute.
"Teacher Xie Wang, this way please," a staff member from the program team came over to guide him. "Let me explain the audition process."
"Sure," Xie Wang replied.
In Lin Jianlu's headphones was the "Sexy Alpha Low Panting Collection" edited for him by Wei Lan.
The editing was pretty good.
But there was nothing he particularly liked in today's clips.
He understood music, so he was picky about voices as well.
Anything lacking tactile quality wouldn't do, and anything too sensational was out of the question. It seemed that no voice could fully satisfy him.
"I don't understand; it's not my area of expertise. Have them ask my team directly," a voice brushed past him.
Xie Wang seemed to have just come from the set. He wore a black hat over his brown hair, a loose white T-shirt layered with a black tactical vest, and a mask that revealed only a pair of sharp, arrogant eyes. A silver chain hung around his neck.
As Xie Wang walked by, a small breeze was stirred, brushing past Lin Jianlu's cheek, causing the messy black strands of hair on his forehead to flutter slightly.
Nice voice.
His omega must be quite happy.
Lin Jianlu thought.
"Contestants, please come and collect your number tags," a staff member from the show called out.
Lin Jianlu took off his headphones and walked over.
"Everyone, listen up! In today's audition, ten people will be eliminated right off the bat, and the assigned mentors have the power to eliminate directly," the staff member briefly explained the rules and then urged them to go get their contestant ID photos taken.
Lin Jianlu put his headphones back on and followed the crowd into the venue.
"Is it necessary to wear a white top?" Lin Jianlu asked the photographer.
"Yes, brother, there was a last-minute notice yesterday. Maybe your manager forgot to tell you?" The photographer turned around, his eyes flashing with admiration. He pointed to the end of the corridor in a good temper, "There are spare white shirts in the changing room. You can change into one."
Lin Jianlu thanked him and walked toward the end of the corridor.
The changing room was easy to find, and there were indeed spare white shirts inside.
However, it seemed that they had all been used by others recently.
The mix of pheromones in the air was overwhelming. His estrus was approaching, so he couldn't risk being exposed to any alpha pheromones.
The only shirt he could wear was badly wrinkled, and it would definitely look bad in photos.
Forget it. I'll just ask a staff member if there's a clean one available.
"Don't touch that land in Xihai." Xie Wang stood at the end of the corridor, on the phone with a friend, "If your brain is only the size of a mung bean, just pretend I didn't say anything."
"What? No, I'm not drinking. My wi... my dad won't allow it," Xie Wang continued.
His friend guffawed, scolding him, "Xie Doggy, when did you become so timid?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Xie Wang noticed a slender figure.
Lin Jianlu was talking to a staff member, standing a bit too close.
What are they discussing?
Lonely A and friendless O. "What's going on?" Xie Wang asked.
"Contestant number 21 doesn't have a white shirt for the photo," the staff member explained.
Oh, this thing.
Xie Wang remembered it.
Lin Jianlu had worn a black shirt for his ID photo on "Seeking Sound."
At that time, he had even been criticized by some for being unsociable.
"I happen to have one. Come with me," Xie Wang said.
A few days ago, Sun Lei had arranged a luxury clothing brand endorsement for him.
The brand had sent over several outfits for the photoshoot.
Among the clothes, a small-sized white shirt had been mistakenly sent, which should fit Lin Jianlu.
The invited guests of the show all had their own independent dressing room and changing room.
Lin Jianlu sat on the sofa and waited, his posture perfect.
"Thank you," he said to Xie Wang. "What's there to thank? No need to be so polite," Xie Wang waved it off. "We're..."
We're family.
My ass.
He just didn’t want to see Lin Jianlu talking to alphas all over the place.
Any alpha would have this kind of possessiveness over their own omega.
This is normal.
The assistant quickly brought the shirt.
"Go ahead and change," Xie Wang said as he gently pushed Lin Jianlu into the changing room.
Polite and measured, enthusiastic but not overly enthusiastic.
Just an ordinary good Samaritan.
Lin Jianlu held the white shirt and watched him coldly. His amber eyes seemed to contain ice, their indifference reaching an extreme.
What's wrong?
Is the white shirt not white enough?
As Xie Wang puzzled over it, he heard Lin Jianlu say—
"I'm going to change, please leave."
Xie Wang: "..."
Xie Wang: "…………"
Fuck.
He's not Xie Foolish, he's Xie Forget.
[Xie Wang is 谢妄 with 妄 meaning "foolish/absurd/rash." Since he keeps forgetting he's single now, he thinks he's 谢忘, where 忘 means "to forget/overlook/neglect."]
He'd gotten used to it.
Before his rebirth, after they got married, Lin Jianlu never avoided him when changing clothes.
The omega's body was very beautiful—slender but not overly thin, with a clear and graceful back curve, as if favored by light, with smooth, fine skin.
Xie Wang silently cursed himself a few times and left in a rush.
Just before the door closed, Lin Jianlu caught a glimpse of the alpha's ears suddenly flushing red.
Blushing already? How interesting.
It's a bit strange.
How can confidence and awkwardness appear on the same person at the same time?
But—
Lin Jianlu looked down at the white shirt in his hands.
This was clearly not Xie Wang's size.
Was it his omega wife's?
No matter how interesting he is, he belongs to someone else.
Lin Jianlu unbuttoned his black shirt, one button at a time, and changed into the new one.
I shouldn't have borrowed it.
Fortunately, the shirt did not carry any pheromone scent; it was new.
It would be best if he could pay Xie Wang for it.
After changing, he pushed the door open and stepped out. The guest lounge was empty; Xie Wang had already left.
Xie Wang was nowhere to be seen in the corridor either.
"Number 21, come for your photo. We're just waiting on you," the photographer's assistant called out to him.
"Mm," Lin Jianlu responded.
Next up was the so-called audition.
The immediate elimination of ten contestants was because the number of artists crammed in by various companies had exceeded the limit, and the production team wanted to reduce the numbers.
No one wanted to be one of those unlucky ten.
When Lin Jianlu entered the room, he realized that the mentor he had been assigned to based on his contestant number was Xie Wang.
"Hello, Teacher," he said.
So cold, I just met him not long ago.
Looking at it now, his pre-rebirth self was actually quite lucky.
By comparison, Lin Jianlu's attitude towards him at the time was positively friendly.
He was so clueless about how good he had it...
Bah!
Why on earth was he envying his married self.
The songs to be performed were chosen by the production team, and each contestant only got thirty seconds to sing. Xie Wang had just dismissed someone for being out of tune.
Even he could hear that it was off-key.
It could be buried.
There was another option: singing an original song.
Lin Jianlu chose to perform an original.
Xie Wang had heard Lin Jianlu sing a cappella many times before.
This time, though, it was a little different—his youthful voice had a bit of innocence, like biting into a chilled fresh strawberry on a sweltering summer day, with just the right balance of tartness and sweetness.
Xie Wang put on enough airs as a mentor and lowered his head to give the score.
The production team stipulated that the mentors should ask a few questions according to the situation.
Questions like whether they can write original songs, what genre they specialize in, or if they're a singing-and-dancing type of artist—Xie Wang had already asked those of the previous contestants.
When it was Lin Jianlu's turn, he had nothing left to ask.
Was it even necessary?
He had seen every part of Lin Jianlu's body inside and out. Was there any secret he didn't already know?
Seeing that he didn't speak, but just raised his chin slightly, Lin Jianlu's gaze dropped.
Did he sing badly just now?
"Teacher Xie," Lin Jianlu asked, "don't you have any questions for me?"
Xie Wang was snapped out of his absentmindedness.
Lin Jianlu, who was trying hard to seize the opportunity, seemed a bit cute.
"Do you dislike me?" Xie Wang asked.
Otherwise, after his rebirth, why did Lin Jianlu become colder the closer he got to him?
Lin Jianlu paused noticeably.
"Please stick to questions related to the show," he replied.
Xie Wang: "..."
Sigh; okay.
***
Contestant waiting area.
Contestant 20 was a chatterbox, pulling Lin Jianlu to chat.
No. 20: "Is Xie Wang handsome?"
Lin Jianlu: "."
No. 20: "Did he ask you about your vocal range and music style?"
Lin Jianlu: "No."
No. 20 gave him a sympathetic look: "Then you're done for. You're toast."
Lin Jianlu thought so too.
As he stood up to leave, a staff member informing the results passed by: "Number 20, you've been eliminated. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard work, it's bad luck." Contestant No. 20 left in tears.
Lin Jianlu sat back down in the chair, confused for half a second.
His response earlier had been less than polite, yet Xie Wang had still passed him fairly and justly.
I'd better apologize next time I get a chance.
***
As soon as Xie Wang returned to the guest lounge, he found Lin Jianlu's phone on his sofa.
So, this bad habit of losing his phone—Lin Jianlu already had it at this stage.
The phone still had earphones plugged in.
The song that Lin Jianlu sang just now is really fucking beautiful.
Lin Jianlu's original works weren't available on the market yet.
If he was cramming at the last minute, the song playing on his phone was probably the same one, right?
I want to hear it again.
Just once.
Xie Wang put on the earphones—
Dozens of sexy alphas softly gasped in his ears at the same time.
--------------------
Xie Dog (righteously): Why can't I watch my wife change clothes? I used to watch every day.
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