Chapter 87 Without Exception

The production team of "Tomorrow's Star" knew exactly what they were doing, cutting the camera to Zheng Huayu's face again and again. Zheng Huayu's temper was too much—despite being aware of the camera, he couldn't maintain a good expression. His rigid face all but screamed his displeasure.

Zheng Huayu simply couldn't understand how Su Chen, with such inexperience, could write a song, let alone one of such outstanding quality. Faced with everyone's curious gaze, Zheng Huayu had no choice but to speak. "Contestant Su Chen's song just now was indeed good. From a professional perspective, 'Guest' is a highly accomplished ballad of heartbreak, and Su Chen's performance is there for all to see."

No one was surprised by Zheng Huayu's comments, but then he continued, "…However, while 'Guest' is a song of heartbreak and superficially fits the wedding theme, the wedding itself has no real connection with the protagonist's perspective. So, from the standpoint of the theme, I think Su Chen's song is somewhat off the mark."

As soon as Zheng Huayu finished, a wave of boos erupted from the audience. And the live chat showed no mercy either.

"Off the mark? Since when do you get to rewrite the rules? Are you the judge of everything now?"

"If 'Guest' doesn't fit the wedding theme, what song possibly could?!"

"Who does Zheng Huayu think he is? Even Old Zhou admitted Su Chen's song was perfect. What right does he have to criticize?"

"Zheng Huayu is just a clown. He’s not even pretending anymore—just step down from the mentor seat already!"

The barrage of comments kept coming, and even some who had previously praised Meng Xiaotian were now Su Chen’s staunchest supporters after hearing "Guest." The live audience began murmuring, gesturing and pointing at Zheng Huayu.

Hearing the increasingly hostile shouts from the stands, Zheng Huayu's face turned ashen. He was about to argue back when Liu Shao hurried onto the stage to control the situation, interrupting him just in time.

"All four mentors have now given their comments. Let’s see what score Su Chen received!"

Liu Shao's words refocused everyone's attention on the giant screen. The faces of the four mentors appeared first, followed by a string of changing numbers behind each one.

"First, let's see what score Mentor Zhou Zhiqian gave Su Chen… 100 points!"

"My God, that's the second perfect score tonight, and it's from Mentor Zhou Zhiqian!"

No one was surprised—Zhou Zhiqian had praised Su Chen so highly that anything less than 100 would have been odd.

"Next is Mentor Han Hong! Let’s see…"

On the screen, the numbers behind Han Hong’s avatar stopped at 0 for the ones and the tens place—Han Hong also gave Su Chen 100 points!

"Unbelievable, two mentors have given perfect scores! That’s a first for tonight!"

"Now, onto Mentor Yan Mi… once again, 100 points!"

"Su Chen has now received a third perfect score in this round!"

Liu Shao’s excited voice echoed through the venue; the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Let’s see what score Mentor Zheng Huayu has given Su Chen!"

At Liu Shao’s words, everyone fixed their eyes on the score next to Zheng Huayu’s avatar. The numbers spun and finally stopped at 50.

"Ah… It seems Mentor Zheng Huayu has given Su Chen 40 points!" Liu Shao announced in surprise.

In the face of three perfect scores from the other mentors, Zheng Huayu’s 40 was jarringly out of place.

A smirk curled at Zheng Huayu’s lips. If not for the other mentors’ high marks, he would have given Su Chen a zero! But the scoring system had its rules. For a song like "Guest," 40 was the lowest he could reasonably give; any lower and Yan Mi would certainly challenge him.

So, 40 it was.

As the number appeared, another wave of boos swept over the audience, even louder than before—some were on the verge of openly cursing him.

This time Zheng Huayu didn’t hold back. He shot right back at the crowd.

"I’m a mentor. I stand by my scores. You people aren’t professionals—what do you know?! I believe Su Chen’s song is only worth 40 points!"

Zheng Huayu declared this smugly, ignoring the audience’s mounting outrage.

Sensing the situation was out of control, the staff quickly brought in a dozen security guards to firmly separate the audience from the mentors.

Meanwhile, the live chat exploded with furious comments. Even Zheng Huayu's own fans began to turn on him, denouncing his actions.

But that wasn’t even the most absurd part. The most shocking was that some of the paid commenters Zheng Huayu had hired switched sides midstream!

"I was hired by Zheng Huayu to post positive comments, but I can’t keep pretending! I can't lie for a few bucks!"

"Exactly! It's not worth the ten yuan. Here, take your dirty money back! You’re just blatantly lying!"

"Who does Zheng Huayu think he is? Has he ever released a single decent song? Every one of Su Chen’s songs is better than his!"

"Zheng Huayu, stop making a fool of yourself. Step down and let Su Chen take the mentor’s seat!"

Zheng Huayu had no idea about the chaos in the live chat. He was still feeling pleased with himself. With his 60 points missing, Su Chen could only score a maximum of 940. "Guest" might be a great song, but surely not every audience member would love it. Su Chen’s score would certainly be lower than Meng Xiaotian’s 940!

He might not be able to eliminate Su Chen this round, but he could make sure Su Chen didn’t take first place. The thought soothed some of Zheng Huayu’s burning anger. At the very least, first place would still go to him.

On stage, Liu Shao, though also disgusted by Zheng Huayu’s scoring, had to keep his composure as host and do his best to maintain order.

"Everyone, please calm down. Let’s see what score Su Chen receives from the audience!"

Liu Shao's words barely managed to draw the crowd’s attention back to the screen. They might despise Zheng Huayu’s score, but there was nothing to be done for now—they could only wait and see Su Chen’s final tally.

The numbers on the big screen rolled and then stopped at a figure that stunned everyone.

"Su Chen’s audience score… is 600 points!"

"Exactly 600 points!"

This time, Liu Shao’s voice was filled with genuine emotion, his face alight with astonishment.

Every single member of the audience—without exception—had given Su Chen their vote.