HDIEUMDBTSB ## Chapter 19: The Expected Conclusion
## Volume 1: The Road to Fame
## Chapter 19: The Expected Conclusion
The entire audience was stunned.
Lin Xia, preparing to return backstage to shed the burden of the moment, also stood frozen in place. He hadn't expected to perform exceptionally well, earning 725 votes, only to be challenged by a surprise guest.
Chu Zhi challenged everyone, and now a new guest is challenging me. Has the challenging guest always been this audacious?
So, who is it?
"Brother Lin, who is it?" his music partner asked.
"As far as I know, I have no idea," Lin Xia replied, his puzzled expression still lingering.
In a separate room, the challenging guest who caused the disturbance, Li Xingwei, was with his music partner.
The six of them, Li Xingwei and his partner included, were in a bit of a predicament.
"If you set out to kill your enemy, be sure to dig two graves." Li Xingwei, with the best looks among them, was undoubtedly the most competent in terms of skills. He had studied sports medicine at Waseda University before being discovered by Japanese talent scouts for his outstanding appearance. He underwent industrial training at Johnny & Associates and had a formidable skill set. Despite being on stage countless times in Japan for three years, Li Xingwei was the lead singer and vice lead dancer.
Li Xingwei was indeed sent by Da Hua Entertainment to target Chu Zhi. The plan was to pose as a "former senior brother" and ask Chu Zhi for guidance, then the trending topic would roughly be "removing harm for the people". However, Li Xingwei unexpectedly changed his mind.
Even though Da Hua Entertainment was a giant in the industry, Li Xingwei, as a cash cow, had the right to make his own choices. If he hadn't been willing to come, they couldn't have forced him. Li agreed to participate in the challenge because of Lin Xia.
Both of them were singers and dancers, and their fields were similar. Li Xingwei was primarily interested in Lin Xia. Having witnessed Lin Xia's exceptional performance just now, he immediately pressed the challenge button in the room. As for why Chu Zhi was challenged?
With his fragmented singing skills, was he even worthy of being challenged?
Not at all! Li Xingwei had never regarded Chu Zhi highly when they were on par before. He believed that Chu Zhi dragged down his level, not to mention Chu Zhi's current messy situation.
"Welcome to the broadcast of 'I Am a Singer' by Chunsheng Organic Milk. Just now, I got the information about this surprise guest. Wow, it's going to be a celestial battle, and mortals will suffer," Gu Nanxi introduced. "He is the first 90s-born Chinese male singer to perform at the Redbrick Sports Arena in Xianggang. He has won the Mnet Asian Music Awards twice—the Best Global Idol Award. Let's welcome our surprise guest, Li Xingwei!"
Applause thundered.
The audience hadn't expected such a surprise.
The song he performed, his representative work "Blue Sky," had won the Song of the Year award in 2018. Li Xingwei's stage appearance was stunning. He had dyed his hair a temporary blue color and wore a dark-colored suit similar to a tailcoat. Inside, he wore a shirt in the same color, and the blue tie around his neck was eye-catching. He looked like a dark horse prince at a banquet, and you can imagine the applause was even more enthusiastic.
"His physique is stronger than Chu Zhi's, but he loses in looks," Tsunemitsu Yoshi muttered to himself in the lobby.
Everyone in the lobby was surprised, but no one noticed what he said, mainly because he spoke in Japanese.
"Challenging Lin Xia?" Chu Zhi pondered. How did the cannon fire hit the front?
The challenged Lin Xia's face was relaxed, but his inner turmoil was evident. If it weren't inappropriate, he wanted to ask his agent right away why Li Xingwei was here.
One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers unless one is half-dead.
Not only Lin Xia was in a panic, but the program team was also in disarray. Regardless of the outcome, whether Lin Xia was eliminated or Li Xingwei bowed out upon failure, fans would storm in.
"Blue Sky" also received 725 audience votes. Was there something fishy going on?
"It's too coincidental. All 800 audience members voted the same score," Gu Nanxi exclaimed in surprise. "I find this not miraculous at all. Perhaps I'll be scolded for saying this, but I've never encountered a situation where the audience votes were all the same. I need to communicate with the director."
About ten minutes later, a message came from the director, Meng Fan.
Gu Nanxi announced publicly, "Due to the challenger and the first contestant receiving the same number of votes, Lin Xia and Li Xingwei have both contributed
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The unexpected turn of events was met with approval from the live audience, who perceived it as a win-win situation. However, they had no idea about the discussions between the production team and Da Hua Entertainment.
"This adaptation of 'Glass Flower' is the most unique I've ever heard," Li Xingwei initiated a friendly hug with Lin Xia. He chuckled, "I couldn't help pressing the button when I saw a master like you. But I regretted it right after."
Li Xingwei had a hearty laugh, giving off the impression of a cheerful and straightforward guy, with no deep thoughts.
"I sang this song at a fan meeting once, and it's super catchy," Lin Xia said. "Mr. Li, when you came on stage, I knew that anyone who could sing 'Blue Sky' could definitely nail it."
"Uh... I was a bit nervous when I went on stage," Li Xingwei wasn't accustomed to idle talk, but the two of them exchanged friendly banter in front of the camera, giving off a sense of mutual appreciation.
What were they really thinking?
Li Xingwei: Hehe, I guess it's because when I signed the contract with the production team, I mentioned some guarantees, like not getting eliminated. But with 725 votes, it's obvious I was outvoted.
Lin Xia: The production team must have considered their fan bases, hesitating to eliminate anyone right off the bat. So they must have reserved some votes, otherwise how could they have tied?
Li and Lin returned to the lobby, chatting and laughing. The performances of the two highly popular artists left the audience feeling quite satisfied.
"Thank goodness he didn't challenge me. I would've lost for sure," Zheng Yingying thought to herself.
Other contestants were even more uneasy. "I Am a Singer" was supposed to be a competition of vocal skills, but everyone knew that the votes were influenced by popularity. Unless someone displayed extraordinary talent, having more high-profile contestants would put those with weaker popularity at a disadvantage.
Hou Yubin gave Li's rendition of "Blue Sky" a moderate to above-average rating, saying it was "skillful and mature, but he should find a more comfortable vocal range to showcase his unique style."
When it was Chu Zhi's turn to perform, he was different from the other contestants; he went straight to the waiting area.
"Teacher Chu, are you going to perform in this outfit?" Wei Tongzi asked as he followed.
During their trip to Xingcheng, Chu Zhi had only brought two sets of clothes. He wore a dark brown trench coat with subtle patterns, paired with a striped knit sweater underneath.
It's true that someone with good looks can pull off any outfit, but there's a clear distinction between stage costumes and casual wear. It wasn't that a singer with no real talent resorted to such tricks. Just look at how Eason Chan exaggerated his attire during performances. Chu Zhi's outfit was too ordinary.
"I prepared it myself, no one helped," Chu Zhi said.
"What about the agency? It's impossible not to have a stage costume at least," Wei Tongzi said.
"I terminated the contract with the agency," Chu Zhi said. "Now it's just me."
Kangfei Entertainment couldn't wait to terminate the contract, but unexpectedly, they didn't announce it right away, which was understandable. If Chu Zhi were in Kangfei's shoes, he would have made the same decision—squeeze out the last bit of value from their artist. After the show aired, Chu Zhi was expected to be heavily criticized again. The company would then release the termination news, satisfying netizens and playing up the "no tolerance for unethical artists" angle to boost their image. But they didn't anticipate Chu Zhi's brilliant performance, so the plan wasn't put into action, and the public remained unaware of the termination news.
"Now it's just me," the simple statement made Wei Tongzi imagine a flood of criticism coming from all directions, the solitary scene, and his heart ached a little.
"Our next singer is the one who held a concert for eighty thousand people in the shortest time after debut. Let's welcome Chu Zhi to perform the song 'Desolate Island'!" Host Gu Nanxi announced.
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