Chapter 43: Su Chen Takes the Stage
On stage.
After Wang Qi had embellished and revealed all the dirt he knew about Su Chen, he swaggered off the stage.
Zheng Huayu lounged in the mentor’s chair, quietly listening to the entire tale, his heart full of astonishment and irrepressible delight!
He recalled how, just a few days ago, that old woman Xu Fangyuan had come to him, harping on some trivial past incident, trying to persuade him to deal with a contestant named Su Chen.
Did Xu Fangyuan really think he was still the same person? Zheng Huayu was now a top-tier celebrity! No longer the rookie in the entertainment industry who needed her support.
Had it not been for Xu Fangyuan’s promise to grant him access to those Star Entertainment resources, Zheng Huayu wouldn’t have bothered with her at all!
But just as Zheng Huayu was pondering how to eliminate Su Chen, something unexpected happened—he wouldn’t even need to lift a finger. The current situation was already a dead end for Su Chen!
Even if Su Chen’s upcoming performance were moving enough, the irrational audience wouldn’t accept it. Without Zheng Huayu saying a word, those foolish spectators would pressure the show’s producers to force Su Chen to withdraw!
At this thought, the corners of Zheng Huayu’s lips kept twitching, rising and falling, as if Wang Qi’s explosive revelations had truly shocked him.
The show continued, and as the competition progressed, the number of contestants dwindled. Soon, only Wang Yilong and Su Chen remained.
Whether by design or coincidence, the two were set to go one after the other, occupying the last two spots in the order of a hundred contestants.
When the staff called Wang Yilong’s name, he stood up from beside Su Chen.
“Brother Chen, I’m on next.”
Su Chen nodded, saying, “Good luck!”
“Mm-hmm!” With that, Wang Yilong passed through the backstage corridor and walked toward the stage.
“Alright! Let’s welcome our second-to-last contestant to the stage!” Liu Shao announced, and as the stage lights dimmed, the pre-recorded VCR began to play on the big screen.
Taking the opportunity, Wang Yilong stepped onto the stage.
His performance was a singing-and-dancing number, energetic in rhythm, but his vocal skills were mediocre.
As expected, none of the mentors chose him.
But just before leaving the stage, Wang Yilong suddenly spoke.
“First of all, I’d like to thank the production team for giving me this opportunity. Next, I appreciate the mentors for their feedback. Finally, thank you to all the audience members who watched my performance. Thank you so much. And lastly, I want to say to the final contestant: good luck, I believe in you, you’re the best!” With those words, Wang Yilong handed the microphone back to Liu Shao and exited the stage.
From the audience came a wave of boos, and the live chat was quick to comment on Wang Yilong.
“The final contestant? Isn’t that Su Chen? How can anyone believe in a guy like that?”
“Birds of a feather flock together—look at what he sang, no wonder he hangs out with Su Chen.”
“This guy annoys me, and thinking about Su Chen being last makes me want to skip this segment if it wasn’t live!”
“+1. Boycott Su Chen. Boycott people like him!”
...
Watching this unfold, Su Chen’s expression finally changed, his brow furrowing.
“This fool, why did he have to speak up for me? In this situation, defending me only gets himself insulted too!”
Su Chen sighed, moved yet helpless at Wang Yilong’s eccentric gesture.
“I’ll be able to defend myself when I go on stage. Even if I clear my name, what you did won’t benefit you at all!”
As Su Chen fretted, a debate echoed from the mentor’s seats beside the stage.
“Liu Shao, are the auditions for this round of contestants over?” Zheng Huayu asked Liu Shao, who had just appeared.
“Uh... Mentor Huayu, we still have one contestant left who hasn’t performed yet.”
Hearing this, Zheng Huayu raised an eyebrow, “The last one is that Su Chen, right? With such a tainted record, I don’t think he should even be allowed on stage.”
As Zheng Huayu spoke, voices rose from the crowd below.
“That’s right! We don’t want to hear Su Chen sing!”
“Withdraw! The production team must make Su Chen withdraw!”
“Boycott Su Chen, starting with me!”
...
The audience was feverish, and Liu Shao was momentarily at a loss.
Fortunately, Yan Mi spoke up at that moment, “This isn’t fair, is it? Regardless of whether the rumors are true, he was invited by the production team and hasn’t done anything illegal. At least we should hear him sing before making any judgments.”
Yan Mi’s words were echoed by the other two mentors, who nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Zheng Huayu grew restless. He said, “Star Entertainment has already issued a statement—these are verified facts. What could possibly be appealing about a man like that singing?”
He openly brought up Star Entertainment, implying that if the mentors still allowed Su Chen on stage, they would be slapping the company in the face—a clever tactic.
But he hadn’t expected that Yan Mi now ran her own company and was immune to such pressure.
“I think we should stick to the facts. This is a competition, and regardless, the contestant should be allowed to perform... What do the other mentors think?”
Zhou Zhiqian suspected there was more to the story. Having weathered storms himself, he wanted to help others find shelter, so he gritted his teeth and spoke up.
Han Hong was even more carefree—being from the national team, she had no reason to care about Star Entertainment.
So both said, “I agree, we should at least hear Su Chen’s performance before making any decisions.”
With their responses, Zheng Huayu’s face darkened.
He couldn’t understand why these three always opposed him.
On stage, Liu Shao received a message through his earpiece from Wu Tong.
“Let him sing! Why not? This is ready-made publicity! As long as Su Chen performs, the ratings for our first episode will break new records for the network!”
Wu Tong’s excitement was palpable even through the earpiece, prompting Liu Shao to end the mentor dispute and decisively announce, “After a brief discussion, the production team has decided to let Su Chen perform. We can’t verify external rumors, but what’s certain is he was invited to compete, and we must let him sing.”
Liu Shao’s words silenced Zheng Huayu, who could only wait, his face grim, for Su Chen to take the stage.
He truly couldn’t believe anyone would dare to take Su Chen into their team now!
Backstage, the successful contestants looked on with expressions of amusement; Meng Xiaotian and Wang Qi wore cold sneers, while the live chat was already launching attacks on Su Chen.
Soon, the stage lights dimmed.
Su Chen stepped onto the stage!