Chapter 48: Deadly Group

It already did not matter if Qin Baobao went ahead with the lucky draw as there was only one plastic ball left in the box—number three.

She was going to battle with Huang Yuteng.

As Li Rongxing heaved a sigh of relief, he started teasing. “Talking about one’s morals saving them, I’m not at Teacher Huang’s standard. He’s the real lucky one.”

Huang Yuteng nodded towards Qin Baobao and faced the camera. “Actually, I’m even more anxious. I have a certain level of understanding towards the few guests present, but I don’t know Qin Baobao at all. She knows me, but I don’t know her. I hope she won’t pull a stunt out of nowhere and flip the boat.”

The guests laughed loudly as they could all tell that he was being humble.

Qin Baobao maintained her polite smile. “Everyone’s characters are strong; only mine is lacing.”

The live comments were also pretty crowded. Many netizens expressed their opinions. “Okay, Qin Baobao is eliminated. The program ends.”

“I have already seen the ending.”

“Qin Baobao only came up for show and to get eliminated. It’s that simple.”

“There’s nothing mysterious about this season. I suddenly felt that it’s not worth watching.”

The scene finally cut to the stage, and under the dazzling spotlights, the emcee—Yin Jia, in her evening gown—said delightedly, “Dear audience, I’m glad that I’m able to meet with you again. Now, let’s invite our first singer up on stage. He’s the legend who had shocked the musical world twenty years ago. Everyone knew his name, and everyone sang his voice. Now, let’s welcome our singer.”

The crowd present applauded enthusiastically. Hong Jingyao walked through the dazzling lights and past the long corridor to appear on stage in front of the hundreds of audience.

“Hello, everyone, I’m Hong Jingyao.”

The audience’s cheers and applause replied to him, and the camera pointed towards the audience, capturing their emotional state.

The lights became gentler, and they shone on Hong Jingyao’s figure. At this point, the music started playing.

Hong Jingyao held the microphone tightly and started singing emotionally.

“Under the light gray sky, in the coffee house at the corner of the streets.

“I walked past it again after many years. Suddenly, I saw your past figure.

“At that moment, memories of the past overwhelmed my heart. At that moment, tears fell like rain.

“At least I had never cried in ten years.”

The moment he opened his mouth, the crowd went crazy; and their screams and shouts almost flipped the roof.

The scene was too hot with the waves and screams.

Li Rongxing exclaimed, “Devoted till my Death!”

Chen Xiaotong blinked. “This is a classic song.”

Huang Yuteng applauded. “Too classic, too classic.”

Li Zongde made a bitter face. “Forever ‘Devoted till my Death’. Why am I paired with Teacher Hong? I’m too pitiful, aren’t I?”

Chen Xiaotong comforted. “It’s okay, you can be revived in the resurrection round.”

All the singers knew clearly in their hearts that the person eliminated this round would most likely be Qin Baobao.

In the camera, some of the audience started singing along.

This song was too classic—an extremely famous song back in the days. People born in the nineties and eighties could hum a few sentences; this was that generation’s memory and even their childhood. When Wang Zijin heard the familiar tune, she started following the rhythm and hummed uncontrollably.

Qin Ze said, “He’s too shameless. How can he sing a famous song? How can others compete with him?”

“Would famous songs definitely be good?” Qin Baobao turned her head and spat at him. “Firstly, the songs sung live definitely could not be compared to the recording studio’s editing. That would just be shooting himself in the foot. Besides, for a singer like Huang Yuteng, his signature songs had been heard so many times until people were sick of it. If he sang it again live, no matter how good it sounded, they would be tired of it.

“At this time—if the other singers sang a classic remake, would the audience still vote for you? One could only use these classic songs to rely on the past and allow the audience to reminisce about the past. In musical variety shows, very few singers would sing classic songs. Most of them would only do remakes of infamous songs.”

Qin Ze thought for a while. “That’s true.”

The second singer—Li Zongde—went up the stage. He had also picked number one and was set to battle against Hong Jingyao.

“Time always passes by in a hurry without logic and without right or wrong.

“I have never rejected your love.

“Even if time passes quickly, I will still love you.

“Even if you have never liked me.”

Li Zongde was singing a Cantonese song. He was from Hong Kong, and it would be hard for him to sing Mandarin songs. The song’s name was ‘Speechless When we Meet Again’, and it was not too famous, at least Qin Ze had never heard it before. However, the audience was sold and cheered generously as Li Zongde’s vocals were good and his singing skills were up to scratch; he had completely mastered the song.

In the backstage, the few guests discussed, “Xiao De’s singing is so good.”

“His singing skills are incredible.”

“It’s so nice. So nice.”

When Li Zongde was done singing, he bowed towards the audience before leaving the stage.

Yin Jia squealed, “Thank you to the two singers—Teacher Hong and Xiao De—for showing off their vocals. Now, let’s enter our next segment. Dear audience, I believe everyone has their own opinions. Pick up the voting device in your hands and vote for our singers.”

Voting began.

In the big screen behind Yin Jia, the votes for the two singers kept rising.

There were a total of five hundred people in the audience, which equated to five hundred judges and five hundred votes.

The crowd, singers, and emcee were all nervously and emotionally watching the vote count.

Finally, the numbers stopped.

Hong Jingyao: 302 votes

Li Zongde: 190 votes

Some votes were voided and not counted.

Yin Jia laughed, “Now, I’ll announce that the first singer to advance is Hong Jingyao. Congratulations, Teacher Hong.”

In the backstage, Hong Jingyao bowed. “Thank you, everyone. Thank you, everyone.”

Li Zongde clapped and laughed as he spread his hands. “It’s within my expectations. It’s not that my singing isn’t good; it’s just that my opponent is too strong.”

Live comments, ” ‘Devoted till Death’ is unforgettable. I really miss it.”

“Xiao De, don’t cry. Stand up and scold them.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. There’s still a chance. There will be no problems in the resurrection round.”

“Anyway, Qin Baobao is destined to be eliminated.”

“Just look at Xiao De’s composed appearance. He’s not scared at all, which proves that Qin Baobao is the candidate to be eliminated in this season.”

“Hehe, let me tell you a secret. The one who is going to be eliminated this season is Xiao De.”

“I’ll also tell you a secret. The one who is going to be eliminated this season is Huang Yuteng.”

“I’ll also tell you a secret. The one who is going to be eliminated this season is the emcee—Yin Jia.”

“Scram!”

“Stop playing around.”

“Yin Jia doesn’t know how to sing. There’s nothing wrong if she’s eliminated.

“Ha-ha-ha!”

The second group of singers was Chen Xiaotong against Li Rongxing.

Li Rongxing, “My beloved, did you hear my cry?

“In the world without you, everything is black and white.

“When you hug him under the sunlight, have you ever heard me? The me at the corner of the streets when my heart stopped beating…”

Chen Xiaotong, “I fell in love with someone I shouldn’t have.

“Her excellence makes me inferior.

“His devotion makes me hopeless.

“My love has ended.

“My heart is buried.”

The voting results were released—with a ten-point advantage, Li Rongxing had successfully advanced while the once Queen of Hong Kong would enter the resurrection round. The results were unexpected but acceptable. The once Queen was after all in the past. Her number one reputation had dropped and could not be compared to the current popular singer—Li Rongxing. Secondly, her singing had deteriorated, and it was not as stable as before. One was as thin as day behind the mountains while the other was like the sun in mid-day; the audience’s eyes were crystal clear.

Yin Jia smiled. “Now, let’s invite our last group of singers up on stage. I believe everyone has waited for very long. Since his debut, he had lots of nicknames: King of Love Songs, King of High Notes… Emotional Talent. That’s right, he’s our beloved Huang Yuteng.”

As she spoke, Huang Yuteng walked onto the stage.

Below the stage, the cheers were like thunder as if the earth had shattered.

Huang Yuteng’s popularity was just secondary to the king and queen.

He wore a flashy dance outfit and was wearing high boots. He was in his thirties and was very handsome and charismatic.

The live comments were also full of life and had almost filled half the screen.

“Finally, the main character is coming out.”

“Huang Yuteng, I love you.”

“Yuteng is the best. None of this season’s guests can beat him.”

“I want to hear your ‘Sound of the Wind’.”

“King of Love Songs!”

“I foresee the future. He’ll advance with five hundred votes. Some newcomer will hand in a blank script.”

“I have watched it on television. Qin Baobao is awesome. She wasn’t eliminated.”

“Spoiler alert: Qin Baobao is super good. Her singing shouldn’t be that nice.”

“Get lost. The entire family of those who spoil the show shall die.”

“I have also watched the television. Huang Yuteng was eliminated by Qin Baobao.”

Quite a few people started giving spoilers on the live comments, and some of them were also purely joining in the fun, saying whatever they wanted. Hence, no one believed those who said the truth.”

In the backstage, Chen Xiaotong sighed. “He’s so popular.”

Li Rongxing, “Teacher Xiaotong, you were also this popular back then. You don’t have to envy him.”

Chen Xiaotong, “Since when? Teacher Hong’s popularity back then was the highest.”

While the guests were talking and laughing, Qin Baobao sat at the side and smiled. She could not chip in as they were not part of the same circle and had no common topics. Li Rongxing actually wanted to flirt with girls, but in this program, he could not intentionally hit Qin Baobao up. The camera only swept across Qin Baobao, showing that they did not forget about her but definitely did not stay on her for too long.

On the stage—after the opening music sounded, the crowd was silenced. In the camera, the audience held their breaths in and listened closely. Some even closed their eyes; before the music started, they were already engrossed.

Huang Yuteng’s thick and magnetic voice boomed throughout the venue. He already sang at a high note at the opening scene.

“I wandered back and forth in the long street.

“The sky started to rain.

“Can you have a good dream tonight?

“Or perhaps, you’re silently watching the rain in another man’s arms.

“This pitiful autumn rain…

“Many years ago, we met in the autumn rain.

“Looking back, it was just like a dream.”

This song was an old song from many years ago and was a love song laden with sorrow. The original singer was a female. Huang Yuteng had remade the song and had changed the love song of the girl spilling out her heart to a love song with high notes in his own style. He had also changed the lyrics like ‘in another man’s arms’; the original version was ‘in another woman’s arms’.

After the song was finished, applause, cheers, and screams reverberated throughout the venue as if it was a grand concert.

Li Rongxing clapped. “I’m convinced. I’m convinced.”

Li Zongde, “He’s really the most popular singer. His vocals… my god, I would definitely not be able to sing that.”

Chen Xiaotong nodded. “His remake is very good. He’s really an emotional talent. His reputation is not a lie.”

Hong Jingyao, “Incredible. It’s really very good. This song was from my generation, but I guarantee that it’s better than the original.”

When Hong Jingyao came onto the stage, Qin Ze had closed the live comments as it was too overwhelming and would affect his viewing. This time, he opened it again.

“Leader Huang sang until my blood rushed throughout my body.”

“Hey, this is a love song. What do you mean by blood rushing?”

“Originally, I didn’t like this song, but Leader Huang sang it so beautifully. I dare guarantee that this song will go viral.”

“He’s so handsome and was very engrossed in singing the song. Other people thoroughly enjoyed the song he sang. It’s a hearty visual feast.”

“Huang Yuteng can fit into every style. He’s a King that lacks a good lyricist and composer.”

“Hey, I heard that the newbie—Qin Baobao—is singing an original.”

“Qin Baobao should forget about it. If she wants to release an original, she should do it on the Internet. Why come to the stage? There were so many original songs, but how many of them had become classics? How many of them were actually nice to listen to? It doesn’t mean that you’re incredible just because you compose your own songs. Your work needs to be good.”

The emcee—Yin Jia—went up the stage in the applause that could not be silenced. She laughed, “Thank you, Leader Huang, for the song.” She paused for a while and revealed a frustrated expression. “What’s the matter? It was clearly a sad song, but when I was engrossed in it. My blood started rushing, and I couldn’t help but dance to the beat.”

The crowd laughed out loud in relation.

“I think this proves our Leader Huang’s charisma.” After Yin Jia finished her sentence, she shouted, “Has everyone calmed down yet?”

“No!” The audience screamed.

“Then, let’s ask the newbie today to wait for everyone’s feelings to calm down before she sings, okay?”

“Okay.”

When Qin Ze saw this, he turned his head to look at his sister’s face.

“What?” Qin Baobao said in frustration.

Qin Ze did not say anything but extended his hand and ruffled her hair.

Qin Baobao back then, who had seen all of this backstage, must have felt angered and bitterness in her heart. He understood his sister’s personality: competitive, stubborn, and would not let things slide.

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