My Sister is a Superstar

Chapter 46: Newbie Qin Baobao

The show started, as did the music. After the fifteen-second effects introduction, an immaculate woman appeared on the screen. She had a microphone in one hand and a cue card on the other. “Hello everyone, welcome to ‘I am a Singer’ sponsored by ‘Shengji’ cosmetics. I’m the host, Yin Jia.”

There were cheers and applause from the audience.

At the same time, the live comments came to live.

“First!”

“My children, tell me, what number am I?”

“He’s number one.”

“Prepare yourself; I’m so excited to sit and watch.”

“Yin Jia is so pretty; I wanna sleep with her.”

“You’re a little late. She was in my bed last night.”

“I heard that there are a lot of big names this season in the promo video. Is that true?”

“I know Xiao Ze, Ma Li, Cang Jing, Wuteng…”

“The person who mentioned Xiao Ze, don’t go.”

“D*mn it, closing the comments saves my IQ.”

Yin Jia didn’t appear on the stage but backstage. She had a sweet smile on her face. “Now, everyone, follow me! Let’s meet our first contestant.”

The camera followed Yin Jia to a room. She knocked on the door and feigned confusion, “Is anyone there?”

The door opened, and a young and handsome face appeared.

“Ahh… it’s Li Rongxing.”

“My hubby is here.”

“I love you, hubby.”

“That’s great, that’s great.”

“Oh, my gosh, they actually managed to invite Li Rongxing! That’s posh.”

“The show has a lot of funds; how much does that cost? But I like it.”

“What’s with Li Rongxing? He’s not even as good-looking as me.”

The live comments exploded.

Out of caution, ‘I am a Singer’ did not get any big-name singers last season. However, to their surprise, the show exploded in fame and received tons of sponsorship. With the funds, of course, they couldn’t invite nobodies. Li Rongxing was a popular male singer. He only debuted a few years ago so he was young. However, he was a good singer and was good-looking and popular with the girls. He had a lot of female fans.

Qin Ze turned to his sister when he heard the cheers. “I’ve always been curious. Is that from the live audience? Or is it added in at a later date?”

He had such questions when he watched variety shows.

“Of course, it’s added on later. The audience can see the backstage through the big screen. The cheers are real, but they were added in through editing later,” Qin Baobao explained.

Qin Ze nodded and continued watching the show.

“Teacher Li, hello.”

“Hello, hello.”

Li Rongxing opened the door to invite Yin Jia in.

“It’s my honor to inform you that you’re the first singer to appear. Before you head up, I would like to conduct a brief interview with you.” Yin Jia paused then smiled. “I’m sure you’ve watched our show before. Please talk about your thoughts.”

“First of all, I would like to thank ‘I am a Singer’ for the invitation. I was actually quite hesitant when I first received the invite. It’s a little strange for a famed singer to be here for the battle. Once you lose, your reputation will be destroyed.”

“Don’t you have faith in yourself?”

” ‘I am a Singer’ is a great show. Even though the guests from the last season were not famous, their singing was impeccable. I imagine that it will not be any different this season. So I’m a little stressed.”

“But you still decided to come in the end, didn’t you?”

“That because of the money you offered.”

Li Rongxing’s joke attracted a lot of positive comments.

Yin Jia knocked on the second door. A middle-aged man opened the door. He had a broad face and his roots were white, but he looked very spirited. Once could still tell his good looks from his features. He was a popular singer that only faded from the circle in recent years.

“It’s Hong Jingyao…”

“I grew up listening to his songs.”

“Devoted and unchanging is a classic.”

“I’m his fan. When he released an album back then, I stole my dad’s money to buy it.”

“I’m going to go get my dad. He’s a huge fan of Hong Jingyao.”

“Is the legend making a comeback to the singing circle?”

“I’m looking forward to the other guests now.”

Even as someone who did not pay attention to the entertainment scene, Qin Ze knew Hong Jingyao. The latter was already famous when he was a child. His devoted and unchanging music was known nationwide, and he was the idol of his times. However, as times changed and the younger generation came along, Hong Jingyao had not appeared on screen for several years.

In the big room, Li Rongxing slapped his thighs excitedly when he saw Hong Jingyao on the live-stream. “Teacher Hong is my idol. He was one of my favorite singers back then. I can’t believe that I’ll have the chance to spar with my idol. Oh, my gosh.”

After a quick interview, Hong Jingyao opened the door and met up with Li Rongxing.

The latter knew his way around things and immediately greeted his idol. “Idol, please have my respects.”

“Hello, hello.” Hong Jingyao held Li Rongxing up, and the two shook their hands.

“I can’t believe that you’re here. I’m nervous but excited.”

“You’re sweet.” Hong Jingyao laughed out. “It’s the young people’s kingdom now.”

“No, no, no, I’m nothing in comparison.”

“Who do you think the next singer is?”

“I can’t say. It doesn’t bother me since it can’t be big shots.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

The two of them went on and on as if they were doing a talk show.

Despite their age gap, the two of them had a lot to talk about, and that was the effect that variety shows were after. No one would believe it if they said it was not scripted.

“This has been rehearsed, right?” Qin Ze asked.

“Probably.” Qin Baobao stammered.

“What do you mean probably?”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“Ah?”

“I was just here to test things out. The company’s not counting on me to become an overnight sensation. So we just went through the motion of a rehearsal. I haven’t even met these singers. I only saw them in the competition.”

“Explain yourself.”

“Our company only has one slot. However, it was not mine. That singer had a clash of dates so they asked me, the best of the trainees, to go up and sound things out. That’s all.”

“No wonder. I was wondering how a rookie like you can battle with famed singers.” Qin Ze finally understood it.

The door opened.

It was an exquisitely made-up woman. Her ordinary looks were not particularly outstanding, but everyone knew her.”

“D*mn, Chen Xiaotong.”

“How can it be here? This is insane.”

“She’s a queen, oh my.”

“Didn’t you quit to marry a rich husband? Why is she here? Is she trying to make money again?”

“Yeah, she hasn’t sung in a long time. She probably isn’t as good as she was before. There’s nothing to look forward to.”

“Scram, when Chen Xiaotong was reigning the music industry, you were probably still a baby.”

“At her peak, her album was in the top three of two years straight.”

“Definitely an A-lister.”

Chen Xiaotong was from Hong Kong. To call her a queen was a little much since everyone knew that the artists were a little experienced when they were labeled kings and queens. However, Chen Xiaotong was really popular. Even though she had retired for a few years, she still enjoyed fame. Everyone knew her.

The fourth singer appeared.

“Huang Yuteng?”

The show must be insane. They invited another A-lister? Oh, my goodness.”

“My mom asked me why I was kneeling while watching the show. I told her Huang Yuteng was on there, and she joined me.”

“Wow!”

“Idol, please leave… the show is running out of funds, please leave.”

“Leader Huang is here. There’s no suspense there; he’s the champion.”

“That might not be true. In terms of singing, the other singers aren’t bad.”

“My foot. Take a look at the billboard. Three of the top ten songs are his. With such skill, I’ll live-stream myself eating feces if he doesn’t wipe everyone else out.”

“I took a screenshot. I’m waiting for the live-stream.”

Huang Yuteng’s appearance ignited the audience’s enthusiasm. The live comments exploded with activity. Even though everyone knew that the singers this season were really famous, they did not expect Huang Yuteng to be in it.

He was on the same level as Chen Xiaotong and Hong Jingyao, but the two were past their prime while he was right in it.

The fifth singer opened his door.

“Li Zongde.”

“Xiao De’s here, too.”

“As expected, there was news on the internet.”

“Xiao De’s not bad. He’s quite famous in Hong Kong, but I personally don’t like Cantonese songs.”

Li Zongde was a new singer from Hong Kong. He wasn’t particularly famous on the mainland. When he walked into the big room to meet everyone, he was respectful and shook everyone’s hand. Everyone was natural and chatting and unrestrained.

Huang Yuteng looked around. “Eh, are we short of one person?”

Chen Xiaotong nodded. “The last person is not here yet.”

Li Rongxing laughed out loud. “In Brother Huang’s eyes, he was the best and the last.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Li Zongde laughed along too before he pointed at the screen. “The host is knocking at the door. Who’s the last contestant?”

At this point, they went into commercials.

“D*mn it, a cliffhanger.” The live comments were flooded with angry comments.

“Who’s the last one? Are they the star?”

“Xu Kai?”

“Zhang Qian?”

“Ye Mingsheng?”

“That can’t be. How can they have two A-listers? Hong Jingyao is the most experienced, Hong Jingyao is the most popular. We can’t have high hopes for the last one.”

“I think it’s a rookie. I looked at the official Weibo of ‘I am a Singer’.”

“Right, right, right. It was mentioned in the promo video too.”

“Newbie? What’s a newbie doing here?”

“What newbie?”

“Who in the world would know a newbie? Silly.”

At this point, the video cut to Yin Jia; and she smiled. “Everyone, this is our last guest. Who is she? Spoiler: she’s talented. She’s here with an original, and every song she sings on this stage will be an original. I’ll open the door for everyone now.”