Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

The second to perform was the veteran Hou Xueheng, whose supporting guest was a young man. This was somewhat surprising to the audience—was he intentionally supporting a younger generation?

The veteran's spirit was indeed formidable; while others were scrambling to gather votes, Hou Xueheng's strength was overwhelming, practically killing the competition on this stage.

He had spent half his life in the entertainment industry, dedicated and diligent. But now at an age when one should understand their destiny, he looked back to find no one else on the same path.

Xu Qingyan, watching the screen, saw the young man singing beside Hou Xueheng and couldn't help but show a hint of puzzlement on his face. He felt the young man looked familiar but couldn't recall his name.

So he reached out and poked Pei Muchan's arm and asked,

"Who's the guest performer that Teacher Hou invited? He seems familiar."

"Lin Chuan, a rising singer from the younger generation." Pei Muchan looked somewhat surprised, turning to Xu Qingyan, "Didn't you just listen to his song a couple of days ago?"

"Which one?"

"Steps on the Moon," she said.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. He's the one who sang it?" Xu Qingyan still looked a bit bewildered, "I thought it was sung by a little girl, his voice is that high?"

Pei Muchan glanced at him, "God gives his gifts."

Xu Qingyan's phone suddenly popped up with a message. Seeing it was from Pei Muchan, he knew there were things she couldn't say out loud.

Pei: "Lin Chuan used to be an amateur, made a splash on another show, but didn't become popular. It wasn't until Teacher Hou discovered him that he entered the mainstream circle."

After reading the message, his focus went to a peculiar place, and he typed a question,

"There's a mainstream circle? Have you entered it?"

"Yes." Pei Muchan replied honestly, "I can't get into the view of mainstream artists, I'm far behind in every aspect, and my fan base is quite fixed."

"Oh, so you're alternative then?"

Pei Muchan looked at her phone speechless, the beauty covered her forehead and gave him a glance.

"...Thanks, the joke was cold."

After replying, she held her phone but seemed a bit lost in thought.

Did she really not have a chance back then? If she hadn't left Xingchen Entertainment when her career was looking up, perhaps her studio wouldn't be struggling, perhaps she...

Now she was getting farther and farther away from her initial dream, her mentality completely changed. If it weren't for "Qing Tian", she might have already settled for a quiet life.

Now, she's just on the path to a comeback, the future uncertain, with no idea how far she can go.

"Are you daydreaming?"

A hand waved in front of her, pulling her thoughts back.

"What's up?" Pei Muchan lifted her head and asked.

"The song is almost over, guess how many votes it'll get?" Xu Qingyan glanced over Lin Chuan on the screen, not paying much attention to him, only feeling that his voice was quite distinctive.

Pei Muchan randomly guessed a number, and the result had already come out—710.

Hou Xueheng, bringing a junior to cover an old song, managed to keep his vote count stable above seven hundred. Although Lin Chuan performed well, the entire scene was terrifying.

The guest performers started feeling some pressure, but Pei Muchan was okay, having set her sights on a goal. Hou Xueheng getting full votes wouldn't impact her.

Next, Jiang Jingsheng took the stage.

This time he directly invited his own vocal music teacher to perform, singing his teacher's song. With a theme of staying true to one's original aspiration, the re-arranged song set the stage on fire.

He played this trick to perfection, creating an explosive show effect, and ended up with 692 votes. His score was close to Hou Xueheng's, the only one to come so near.

The guests yet to perform nearly had a breakdown—such intensity at the start of the show, how were they supposed to compete later on?

Next came Wen Shuanghua, Zhang Yuqi, Wang Yu, in turn, each obtaining scores of 624, 634, and 625 votes respectively, with very tight numbers between them.

The atmosphere in the place suddenly took a drastic turn, the bottom two now being Qi Yingying and Wen Shuanghua. Your next read is at empire

The only ones yet to perform were Guan Fengchen and Pei Muchan. However, as Guan Fengchen was a guest who advanced from the last round, he had the privilege of inviting guest performers.

In comparison, Pei Muchan could only fight alone; her advantage wasn't as significant.

Meanwhile, in the rest area—

Qi Ting had been sitting there with Lin Wanzhou for over two hours watching the show. To be honest, she was feeling nauseous from watching too much, so agitated that she just wanted to find a corner and have a cigarette.

She turned her head and met the filming camera, only able to reveal a helpless smile.

"Sister Zhou Zhou, can I go out for some fresh air?"

"Oh, go ahead, the performance isn't starting any time soon," Lin Wanzhou said, glancing at the screen where they were still setting up the stage for what seemed like a rock concert.

She didn't like rock music and simply said,

"Wait for me, I'll go too."

At the bathroom door, Qi Ting pushed open the window and coolly exhaled a puff of smoke. Looking out at the gradually dimming sky, she excitedly quivered her eyebrows.

Honestly, listening to their singing was utterly uninteresting.

Qi Ting felt she was just a layperson; some songs really couldn't move her. Even if Hou Xueheng brought some oldies and the live performance was astounding, she could only comment with an impressed "Awesome!"

But if talking about preferences, she would rather find more joy in something cheerful.

After coming out of the restroom, Lin Wanzhou looked around and spotted Qi Ting smoking by the window.

She didn't say anything, just took out her phone and leaned against the wall, scrolling and waiting silently. This was the silent agreement the two had maintained for a long time.

Instead of describing them as singer and assistant, it would be more accurate to say they were like sisters.

"Sister Zhou Zhou," Qi Ting turned around, holding a slim lady's cigarette, and called out from afar, "When is Teacher Xu's group going on stage?"

"The next act but one," Lin Wanzhou replied, her eyes slightly downcast.

The performances that afternoon had each been distinctive, but she hadn't been able to get into any of them. Her heart was fluttering with nerves, not wanting Pei Muchan to advance but also fearing Pei Muchan wouldn't be able to.

For her, Pei Muchan's defeat could be a victory in another form.

The nervousness lasted all afternoon until Qi Ting couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to smoke; it was then that she followed Qi Ting outside for a breath of fresh air.

She looked down at the last message Xu Qingyan had replied on the screen, "A sure win."

She couldn't help thinking that if she had left Yun Yi earlier and had a big studio before meeting him, maybe... he would be working with her now?

She sneaked a glance at the giggling Qi Ting. Tong Ting was also good, but it would have been even better with him.

Qi Ting, unaware, finished a cigarette, aired out the smell, and walked up to Lin Wanzhou, saying,

"Sister Zhou Zhou, I was just thinking, Teacher Xu's group doesn't have much of a chance at winning."

Lin Wanzhou felt a complex mix of emotions upon hearing this. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say, only managing a muffled sound of agreement.

"Let's go, it's time to head back."

Returning to the resting room marked as a ceasefire zone, they coincidentally arrived as the performance began.

"Ji Chen?" Qi Ting, with sharp eyes, recognized the guest star supporting Guan Fengchen, "Why is he... How come he's on this show?"

The word "stupid" almost slipped out, but fortunately, Qi Ting held back.

Watching the flamboyant Ji Chen on the screen, Lin Wanzhou's face almost transparently showed her disgust. Thankfully, Qi Ting was there to block her, preventing her reaction from being captured on camera.

Guan Fengchen brought a rock song that exploded the scene right from the start with pounding rhythms. Coupled with Ji Chen's participation, the atmosphere quickly ramped up.

As the performance reached the halfway mark, Lin Wanzhou's frown deepened, and she couldn't help but look down and send Xu Qingyan a message.

"Following a rock song, won't that be disadvantageous?"

The answer was affirmative. As a professional singer, she knew all too well that if a sentimental song followed rock, the audience's hearts wouldn't have settled down, basically...

After seven or eight seconds, Xu Qingyan replied.

"No problem."

"Is she... going to sing a song you wrote later?"

"Yes."

"What's the name of the song?" She carefully sent back, eyes glued to the screen, typing out, "Next week I want to sing 'Clear Sky'."

She typed it out, then deleted it, pursed her lips, hesitated, and then a message came back.

"'Late Marriage'."