The host asked Ye Cang with a hint of sympathy, "How do you feel now that you've drawn such a difficult song?"
Ye Cang spoke frankly: "...It's fine."
His relaxed expression contrasted sharply with the solemn look on Li Zihang's face behind him.
Zheng Zhao didn't believe it at all, and mentally he was cursing: What a show-off! This ignorant bumpkin probably doesn't even know how difficult this song is!
The host seemed a little skeptical, and asked with a smile, "You seem quite familiar with this song?"
Ye Cang nodded and answered seriously, "We're quite familiar with each other."
Zheng Zhao's face was almost contorted with rage: Serves you right for showing off! Just wait until you get slapped in the face!
Chapter 7
After the competition, the production team held a short meeting with the contestants to finalize the filming schedule for the next few days. Each group would also need to record a short video during their rehearsals, which would be used as editing material for the broadcast. By the time these trivial matters were settled, it was already 2 a.m.
Shen Huai drove Ye Cang home, and somehow they started talking about "Summer Insects" on the way.
Lu Yang used to dislike giving interviews, so most of the background information about the creation of "Summer Insects" came from the imagination and fabrication of later generations. Shen Huai thought there was some inside story, so he considerately did not want to pry into other people's privacy.
Ye Cang spoke up, saying, "There's no inside story. My previous record company wouldn't let me talk about it."
Shen Huai immediately became curious.
Ye Cang coughed and said, "I was poor back then. The attic I lived in was small and dark, leaking rain and drafts. Especially in the summer, lots of bugs would crawl in and make the light bulbs wobble. It was really annoying. So I put some glue on the light bulbs, and those bugs still stupidly kept bumping into them and got stuck..."
Although Shen Huai knew Ye Cang well, he hadn't expected any story of perseverance and positive dreams, Ye Cang's words still made his eyelids twitch. He thought only elementary school students would do such childish things.
He interrupted Ye Cang: "And then?"
"Hmm." Ye Cang spread his hands. "Later, the light bulb blew up, and the whole building lost power. It wasn't fixed until midnight."
Shen Huai: "..."
He felt the record company was right; otherwise, with his public image so shattered, no amount of fan support would have helped.
Shen Huai remained silent, but Ye Cang's story was not yet finished: "That night, I lay on the rooftop, writing songs by the moonlight. I wrote all night long, and when I realized it, my legs were numb. I couldn't move, so I leaned against the railing. When I saw the sunrise, I suddenly felt that I was no different from those stupid insects—but what could I do? The light was there."
He said it as a matter of course, but Shen Huai was stunned and remained silent for a long time.
After Ye Cang finished speaking, he didn't hear Shen Huai's response and nonchalantly lowered his head to play with his phone.
Shen Huai listened to the game sound effects behind him, pursed his lips, but his eyes behind his glasses seemed to light up.
Back home, Shen Huai changed out of his suit, washed up, and changed into his pajamas. His soft hair fell over his forehead, shimmering with a light flaxen color under the light. At home, his expression softened. Compared to his elite persona outside, he seemed several years younger, like a college student fresh out of school.
He didn't go to sleep. Instead, he turned on his computer and searched for all the random tracks since the start of the "Rising Star" competition. Rows of song names flashed before his eyes, and the relevant information about these songs also appeared in his mind. This was the homework he had done as soon as he took over Ye Cang's responsibilities. Now he was just confirming it once again.
Everyone thought Ye Cang was unlucky to draw "Summer Insects," but only Shen Huai sensed something was wrong. However, he didn't make a fuss at the time. Now that he has read all the songs, he has confirmed that none of them are as difficult as "Summer Insects."
There are quite a few songs of similar difficulty to "Summer Insects," but with a total of 136 songs played since the start of the competition, it's impossible that Ye Cang was the only one who "just happened" to draw one.
Shen Huai's gaze gradually turned cold. He didn't want to interfere in the competition, but if someone sabotaged it behind the scenes...
Shen Huai thought for a moment, then wrote an email and sent it out.
-
Although the live broadcast of the "Rising Star" top 10 competition has ended, the discussion surrounding the show has only just begun. Netizens were extremely busy that night, first posting on their WeChat Moments to express their feelings, then mocking Xia Fei for his self-contradiction on Weibo, while also watching the jokes from various marketing accounts, and finally enthusiastically engaging in the fan-hat battles across different platforms.
Yusheng Forum is the largest entertainment gossip forum in China with a huge amount of traffic. As the hottest entertainment talent show recently, "The Rising Star" occupied half of the homepage. So when a related post came out, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.
—Holy crap, I'm going to become a fan of Ye Cang today!
I don't follow anyone, except I hate Ye Cang. I watched the live stream today to see how he got eliminated, but I never expected this! After listening to him sing, I actually became a fan!!! [Video][Video]
1L: Ye Cang's fans have switched from playing the victim to being dramatic today?
2L: Holy crap, I'm a fan just like the original poster! I became a fan after watching today's live stream. His confrontation with Zheng Zhao was so manly! He was so cool I couldn't believe my eyes!
3L: Cook it yourself!
...
35L: I went to check it out of curiosity, and all I can say is holy crap!
36L: Holy crap!
37L: Holy crap 2
...
123L: Suicide is like a complete transformation! This performance is like being possessed!
188L: Actually, his voice was never bad to begin with. Now that he's found the right style of singing and gained confidence, it's normal for him to sound different than before!
189L: Can the fans at the top of the chat put a little more effort into praising someone? Using this kind of edited audio video to praise singing skills? [vomiting]
200L: I was there, and I can testify that he sang even better live than in the video. Everyone in our row cried...
...
Ye Cang's popularity skyrocketed almost instantly, and he took the top spot on the trending searches in just one night.
Mingwei was stunned when she woke up and saw the trending topic. She didn't expect that Shen Huai had actually managed to revive this abandoned child. She hurriedly called him, but Shen Huai's reaction was very calm.
His phone was ringing off the hook that morning. No one had any faith in Ye Cang before, which is why he ended up in Shen Huai's hands. Now, many people naturally regretted it, but they could only offer a few sarcastic remarks under the guise of congratulations.