Chapter 83: One-Sided Domination!
With a total score of one thousand points, Liu Ying didn’t even reach the passing mark of six hundred! Even though they weren’t Liu Ying, they could still see their own fate reflected in her situation. None of them had thought of a song that could properly address both the themes of a sorrowful love song and a wedding. So it was very likely that Liu Ying’s ending would also become theirs.
“Damn it, this is so unfair! Just because someone can’t sing the right song, they get such a low score? This is completely unjust!”
“Exactly! We came here to compete for a debut, not to be someone’s amusement. This scoring system shows no respect for us!”
“Heh, it’s all certain people’s fault. They had to show off and annoy the mentors, and now look at the mess! Now everyone has to pay for their stupidity. What a stroke of bad luck!”
“That’s right!”
...
Su Chen sat in his seat, listening to the murmuring complaints around him, unable to suppress a wry smile. Humans really are strange creatures—rather than question the mentors or the showrunners, they chose to blame him instead. It was truly absurd.
He paid them no mind and simply closed his eyes, choosing peace in darkness.
At the mentors’ table, Zhou Zhiqian and Han Hong both frowned. They found this method of scoring far too narrow and, in fact, not conducive to picking the strongest contestants from the group. But since they hadn’t spoken up when the rules changed, they were even less likely to speak now.
Yan Mi’s expression was even uglier. The zero that Zheng Huayu had just given wasn’t only for Liu Ying—it was a warning to all the remaining contestants. As long as their songs didn’t meet the standard, Zheng Huayu would only give zeros.
What’s more, his perfectly legal zeros would suppress the other mentors’ scores. With zeros in the mix, any nonzero scores from the other mentors would invite doubt from the audience!
Zheng Huayu’s tactic was downright nauseating!
Yan Mi glanced at Zheng Huayu out of the corner of her eye, noticing that, out of the camera’s view, he was grinning so hard his face was twitching.
Absolutely revolting!
Unlike the mentors and contestants, the audience in the studio and watching online were highly entertained, finding the rules endlessly amusing. In the age of entertainment, the troublemakers only wished for more chaos.
Onstage, after Liu Shao announced the scores, the competition continued.
“Let’s welcome our second contestant to the stage. He comes from Zheng Huayu’s team...”
As Liu Shao finished speaking, a fair-skinned young man from Zheng Huayu’s team walked confidently onto the stage. Wearing a face full of self-assurance, he approached the band leader to announce the song he would perform.
When the prelude began, the boy sang with heartfelt emotion.
“...We promised to marry at twenty, but you left me at eighteen. I searched in vain, unable to find you...”
Watching his team member on stage, Zheng Huayu’s lips curled in satisfaction.
He had learned the content of today’s competition yesterday, so his team had effectively been given an open-book test. Zheng Huayu’s goal was for all eight of the top sixteen spots to go to his own contestants!
He wanted everyone to know that he was the king of the entertainment world—those who follow him thrive, those who oppose him perish!
In the end, this boy, singing with the answer in hand, scored over seven hundred points—almost double Liu Ying’s score.
Zheng Huayu was thoroughly pleased with the result.
As the show progressed, the members of Yan Mi’s team realized that since Zheng Huayu’s contestants had already performed songs that met both the sorrowful love and wedding themes, as long as they used the same songs, they could at least pass. However, Yan Mi’s contestants only learned the answer on the spot, unlike Zheng Huayu’s, who had a whole day to prepare.
Thus, for the same song, the two sides’ interpretations were entirely different. In fact, the performances by Zheng Huayu’s team were a one-sided showcase.
As Yan Mi’s expression grew darker, fourteen contestants had already performed.
Seven members of Yan Mi’s team had been thoroughly crushed by their Zheng Huayu counterparts.
At this rate, it looked like none of Yan Mi’s contestants would make it into the top sixteen!
Only Meng Xiaotian from Zheng Huayu’s team and Su Chen from Yan Mi’s team had yet to perform.
After the last member of Yan Mi’s team left the stage dejectedly, Liu Shao returned to the spotlight.
“After all this time, we’ve finally reached our last pair of contestants: Meng Xiaotian from Zheng Huayu’s team and Su Chen from Yan Mi’s team!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!!”
The audience erupted in cheers. These two were the trump cards of their respective teams—everyone had been waiting for this showdown.
This time, Liu Shao didn’t prolong the suspense. He announced directly, “Next, let’s welcome Su Chen from Yan Mi’s team—”
Before Liu Shao could finish, Zheng Huayu interrupted with a smile: “Liu Shao, why not let Meng Xiaotian perform first? Give our Su Chen a little more time. After all, he’s planning to sing an original song!”
“Besides, since Mentor Yan Mi’s team hasn’t won anything yet, as a gentleman, shouldn’t I yield to the lady?”
Zheng Huayu smiled slightly, glancing at Yan Mi.
Her face stiffened, but under the camera’s gaze, she forced a smile.
“Since Mentor Zheng Huayu insists, I’ll thank you on Su Chen’s behalf.”
Inside, Yan Mi was a thousand times unwilling, but for Su Chen’s sake, to buy him a little more time, she had no choice but to play along.
Seeing that neither mentor objected, Liu Shao announced, “Since both mentors have agreed, let’s invite Meng Xiaotian to the stage!”
“Whoa! Xiaotian, you’re so handsome!”
“Tianbao, I love you! Ahh! I want to marry you!”
“Tianbao! Debut now!”
...
Listening to the audience’s cries, the other contestants felt a twinge of envy. Such popularity was something most could only dream of.
Meng Xiaotian basked in the cheers like a triumphant general returning from war as he strode onto the stage. He didn’t even glance at the band, instead picking up the microphone and announcing, “Next, I will perform an old song—‘White Wedding.’”
Hearing this, Zhou Zhiqian raised an eyebrow.
Han Hong noticed the change in his expression and asked, “Looks like you’re surprised by this choice, Lao Zhou?”
Zhou Zhiqian nodded.
“If I were in their shoes, facing the dual challenge of a sorrowful love song and a wedding, my top pick would also be ‘White Wedding.’”
“In terms of song selection alone, Meng Xiaotian is already a cut above the other contestants.”
“As for Su Chen... it’s going to be tough!”
Hearing Zhou Zhiqian’s words, Yan Mi’s already unpleasant expression darkened further.