Chapter 244: Chapter 241 At the same time! They received an invitation to the New Year's Eve party, regarding the choice of songs...

The thirty-second countdown on the stage was underway, and everyone was staring at the screen intently. Pei Muchan was especially silent, looking up at the screen, her gaze somewhat scattered.

Before going on stage, she had been full of bold and lofty aspirations, insisting on rushing to Jianye. Determined to win a championship before withdrawing from the competition, she was determined to take back what she had lost with the songs she had written.

But reality is so cruel, without a shred of logic.

There had been no manipulation of votes in the previous episode, and such a situation had never occurred in the previous ones. Who knew that as soon as she performed, the show’s production team would shamelessly manipulate the voting.

All hope was crushed, and although she was not a rookie one year into her debut, she was well aware that variety shows were not transparent, yet she still harbored the vain hope that the production team would not rig the game so soon.

Or she gambled that the production team didn’t think she could get a high number of votes and lowered their guard, or she took a gamble on luck.

Clearly, she lost.

The production team had been prepared, arbitrarily altering her final score. The thought of winning a championship before retiring now seemed so naïve.

Seven hundred and forty votes, she couldn’t get them, though Lin Wanzhou might be able to…

“Is there seven hundred and forty?” Pei Muchan said, seemingly addressing Xu Qingyan beside her, and it also sounded like she was talking to herself, “Could there be seven hundred and forty votes?”

No matter whether there were or not, it no longer had anything to do with her in the end.

“There should be,” Xu Qingyan said.

The last ten seconds!

A gasp suddenly arose from the audience, the vote count jumped from seven hundred and thirty-five to seven hundred and thirty-nine! Just one vote short! The last vote! It could break the record set by the production team.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes wide open, staring at the big screen, seven seconds… six seconds, five seconds! In the final seconds, the number of votes on the screen suddenly increased.

Seven hundred and forty-one votes! In the last two seconds, the audience cast two votes!

Votes cast in the last two seconds could rule out the possibility of backstage vote manipulation. The production team had no need to gild the lily, as she was already in first place—seven hundred and thirty-nine votes had already set a record.

And the result! Seven hundred and forty-one votes!

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“Zhouzhou’s final score is seven hundred—forty-one votes!” the female host shouted, “Let’s congratulate Lin Wanzhou for having the highest total votes tonight!”

“Thank you, Zhouzhou, for bringing us such a wonderful performance. Is there anything you would like to say to the audience in front of the screen?”

“I… really like this song, and I want to thank…”

She paused at the start of her sentence, but the female host smiled. Taking over the conversation very naturally, she said with a smile, “I know, it must be Teacher Xu, right?”

The female host Zhong Yexin, in her thirties, was dignified and graceful.

“Is Teacher Xu here today?”

After a three-second silence, Lin Wanzhou nodded and said.

“He is.”

At this moment, the other six singers had all returned to the stage, including Pei Muchan. Her spirits weren’t high, but she didn’t have a cold expression, just an ordinary look.

The production team had eliminated her, completely shattering her last bit of fortune. Yet she wasn’t too distraught, nor even angry, but she felt somewhat sorry for Xu Qingyan.

She should never have come in the first place, but fortunately, at least Lin Wanzhou’s song was saved.

She had achieved seven hundred and forty votes.

If the situation had been completely fair, could she herself have achieved a good result of seven hundred and forty votes? She didn’t know, even while standing on the stage, her mind was a bit muddled.

Pei Muchan pursed her lips, listening to the female host’s voice, her eyes drooping slightly. She didn’t know how to face Xu Qingyan when she went back, but that blue Fluorescent Sea was truly beautiful.

She could have stayed in her comfortable little circle, releasing songs and resting on schedule every day. She had to step out and see this world full of thorns.

Walking too cleanly, without backing, even being the little queen was just that. Not to mention not being famous, even a real queen, who had already achieved fame and success, had to stand on the stage and cooperate.

Zhang Yuqi seemed much more composed, with a smile on her face throughout the event.

Lin Wanzhou’s gaze was tightly fixed in one direction, as if looking for something. Unbeknownst to her, the staff brought a person onto the stage.

Pei Muchan was lost in thought when someone suddenly shouted.

“Teacher Xu, over here!”

“Hm? Did Teacher Xu really come on stage?”

On the stage, a female host, seven singers. Now there was an addition of Xu Qingyan, making a group of eight, with the camera capturing from behind the stage.

Xu Qingyan came on stage, showing up live for the first time in the fifth season of “I Am the King of Songs.”

All eyes were almost entirely on him, while he appeared calm and collected. He stood between Pei Muchan and Lin Wanzhou, perfectly centered.

A month after the reality dating show, the trio was framed together again.

A month before, Xu Qingyan was a disliked nobody, Pei Muchan was a has-been pop princess, Lin Wanzhou at that time was extremely popular, one of the pillar figures of the music department at Cloud Wing Entertainment.

Time had only advanced a month and a half, yet it gave the feeling of many years having passed.

The has-been pop princess, Pei Muchan, regained her reputation with “Qing Tian” and stabilized her fan base with “Always Quiet.” Singing “Late Marriage” on the stage of “King of Songs,” her popularity was visibly on the rise once again.

The new pop princess, Lin Wanzhou, left the company, faced bankruptcy due to huge compensation, and now had to start over. Yet there was no sign of decline, her edge undiminished.

Everything was related to Xu Qingyan, who stood in the middle without any preparation. Dressed in ordinary casual clothes, he did not seem out of place standing next to the two female stars.

As for the fans of the on-screen couple, just standing together was enough to fantasize about a novel of five hundred thousand words.

In the crowd of eight hundred live audience members, there were also fans of “Love Hunter.” Some had even watched both the live stream and the edited version, and couldn’t help but feel emotional seeing the current situation.

Xu Qingyan’s current identity was that of a songwriter, a hit-maker with every single release. At this moment, all the labels of universal disdain seemed to have left him.

Standing as a behind-the-scenes creator between two pop princesses, the so-called demeaning nickname of ’water boy’ no longer existed, everything felt justified.

As it turned out, the reality dating show was not about female competition, but about business competition.

A nobody who turned into a ruthless lyricist in less than two months, the seemingly mindless scrambling now seemed like a far-sighted investment.

A quick scan gave the subtle feeling they had never left the setting of the reality dating show. Even though the ending was known, it now seemed even more enjoyable to watch.

The reality dating show hadn’t ended; they had simply shed the labels of the show’s production. Just like their current state, there was no pause, it was just a fresh start.

But after all, this was not the stage of the dating show, but “I Am the King of Songs.”

Xu Qingyan took the microphone, coughed lightly, and with a smile on his face, greeted the audience in front of the camera, and then introduced himself.

Next was exchanges with the singers. He first smiled at Lin Wanzhou and Pei Muchan as a greeting, and then shook hands with Hou Xueheng.@@novelbin@@

“Teacher Hou, I’ve looked forward to meeting you for a long time.”

He then greeted the other singers, from Jiang Jingsheng to Zhang Yuqi to Wang Yu.

“I’ve looked forward to meeting you for a long time.”

He kept repeating the phrase “I’ve looked forward to this,” but with full enthusiasm. When it was time to greet Wen Shuanghua, this foreign friend did not follow the usual route.

Instead of shaking hands with Xu Qingyan, she lightly hugged him for a moment.

Almost at the same instant, Pei Muchan and Lin Wanzhou turned their heads simultaneously, forming the famed Mars Triangle, looking puzzled and slightly stunned.

“Teacher Xu, you remember me, right? We just met.” Mrs. Wen said, “I really enjoy the songs you write, Teacher Xu, and hope we have the chance to collaborate in the future.”

“Oh, thank you.” Xu Qingyan himself seemed a bit stunned. Can a married woman really be so forward?

Pei Muchan’s mouth turned slightly downwards, and Lin Wanzhou’s deep gaze reluctantly moved away. It seemed that even securing first place, she still wasn’t pleased.

It wasn’t until after the greetings that Xu Qingyan had the opportunity to talk about serious matters. When the female host asked how he felt, he let out a light sigh, his gaze slightly intense, and said.

“I wrote both of these songs, but there’s a significant difference in the number of votes. I’m curious if there was any issue with the system when voting for ’Riding a White Horse’?”

“There shouldn’t be any issues, there would have been a notification if there were.” The female host felt a bit embarrassed, not expecting him to mention such a blunt question so directly.