Chapter 1234: Born Singer (Part 14)
During the competition, Hua Huai wanted to repeat his old tricks, but unfortunately, Liu Daquan had been bought off by Chuzheng. As soon as Hua Huai issued his ’orders,’ Liu Daquan turned around and sold him out.
Hua Huai was the second to perform, and Chuzheng went around to watch from the stage entrance.
Hua Huai’s style was a combination of singing and dancing, and he had put effort into his dance moves, striking all sorts of handsome and captivating poses.
If you don’t listen to his singing from a professional standpoint, it’s still quite watchable.
After all, that face isn’t just there for nothing.
Chuzheng watched for a while. As Hua Huai reached the end of his performance, she made a slight move with her fingertips, and all of a sudden, there was a ripping sound from the stage. Hua Huai’s clothes seemed to tear open due to his exaggerated movement.
The thin and loose stage costume top peeled straight off after that sound, leaving Hua Huai’s upper body exposed. His movements froze on stage.
The audience below gasped in surprise.
The livestream chat went wild as well.
[WTF! Is this a bonus?!]
[What kind of bonus? Hua Huai was so shocked he forgot his moves. It’s clearly an accident.]
[This guy’s physique isn’t that great!]
[Half-stripped, not impressed!]
[Damn! I just tuned in to see something this wild?! Aren’t you afraid of getting banned?]
[He seems to have not finished singing...]
Hua Huai was bewildered by the mishap, and he didn’t react during the following part of the song. By the time he snapped back to reality, all he could hear was the noise from the audience.
Chuzheng retracted the Yin Xian and left quietly, hiding her accomplishments and fame.
Making an effort every day to be a good person!
This was what Hua Huai wanted Liu Daquan to do, but his method was much cruder, merely sabotaging Sheng Yan and his group’s costumes to disrupt their performance.
All she did was return Hua Huai’s intentions back to him.
Hua Huai was escorted off the stage just as Sheng Yan and his group were going on, brushing shoulders with him.
Hua Huai glared sullenly at Sheng Yan, but until their performance ended, Sheng Yan’s group was incident-free.
How could this be!
What kind of job did Liu Daquan do?
Why did nothing happen to them, but I had an incident instead?
Hua Huai went to a secluded area to call Liu Daquan, only to find that the call prompted he was out of the service area.
He searched the entire backstage but couldn’t find Liu Daquan.
He asked other staff members, and they all said they hadn’t seen him.
With Liu Daquan missing at this time, how could Hua Huai not understand what had happened... His anger flared as he headed towards Sheng Yan’s dressing room, calming down just before he reached the door.
Hua Huai stood there for nearly a minute, then finally turned and left.
-
After the first round, when the ranking was announced, the livestream chat exploded instantly.
[No way, even with Hua Huai’s performance just now, he can get such a high score?]
[I don’t think Hua Huai sang that well... Is it just me? And besides, he didn’t even finish his song. These scores are a bit ridiculous!]
[Scandalous!]
[How could the Firework group’s score be so low!!]
[What’s going on with the voting, were they all bought?!]
In the first round ranking, Hua Huai hadn’t finished singing an entire song yet placed second, while the Firework group ranked at the bottom.
Just now, everyone witnessed the Firework group’s performance; they were stable, chose a good song, and it was an original.
There’s no way they should score this low.
The officials are blatantly rigging this.
Most people seemed to agree the first place was well-deserved, and there was little criticism directed at that, but Hua Huai got the worst of it.
Even after messing up, he still got such a high score.
Backstage, Sheng Yan and his group were a bit silent, but since there were cameras on them, they didn’t show much emotion.
[Yan Yan is really unfortunate. Singing so beautifully yet getting such a low score.]
[Demand an explanation from the officials!]
[This result is not convincing at all.]
[The rigging here is too blatant!!]
The chat was filled with cursing, and some people even went to the official blog to vent their frustrations.
Soon enough, it trended on social media.
#HarmonySoundLive#
#HarmonySoundScandal#
#FireworkHuaHuai#
#HuaHuaiScandal#
Though the program Harmony Sound wasn’t very popular, only spreading in small circles, having so many trending topics at once quickly drew in bystanders.
The live broadcast continued, and there was another round to go, but at this point, the screen was almost drowned in chat comments, making it hard to see anything.
-
Backstage.
"What’s going on with the voting?"
The man on the phone paused, seeing the girl barge in, and then hung up: "Miss Meng, the voting is done by the audience and the judges..."
Chuzheng stared at the man, words cold: "That vote count, who are you trying to fool?"
Even if Sheng Yan is bad, could he really be last place?
Chuzheng didn’t care about the ranking, but she wouldn’t tolerate anyone messing with them from the shadows.
"How audiences vote is beyond our control... Is there still talk about online voting? Miss Meng, I believe your group can do it." The man spoke without revealing any flaws.
"The numbers don’t add up. I demand to see the audience’s votes."
"Miss Meng, that’s against the rules."
"You want to talk to me about rules?"
You didn’t think of the word "rules" when manipulating those backstage!
What shame!
The man refused to disclose the audience votes.
While the two were at an impasse, someone pushed the door open.
"Miss Meng, long time no see."
Young Master Liang leaned lazily against the doorway, looking at her with a smirk, his eyes both complicated and gloomy, almost as if the words ’I’m here to make trouble’ were written on his face.
"Young Master Liang." The man greeted, respectful.
"It’s you, huh."
Suddenly everything clicked together for Chuzheng.
With Hua Huai’s skills, how could he pull off such a big manipulation?
But this second-generation rich guy with the surname Liang could.
"Miss Meng, ever since last we met, I’ve missed you dearly. I wonder if you’ve thought about me."
Chuzheng’s gaze remained calm, her tone steady: "Does Mr. Liang have such an affinity for the ladies’ room?"
"..."
Young Master Liang’s face darkened as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.
"Meng Chuzheng, show some respect."
"You think you deserve respect?" Chuzheng shot back. "I assumed Mr. Liang didn’t have a face."
"Meng Chuzheng!" Young Master Liang was instantly enraged, but the next moment his temper cooled, a cruel smile curling at the corners of his mouth: "Miss Meng, instead of arguing with me, maybe think about your next step? It’s a pity to be eliminated after coming this far."
Chuzheng stayed silent.
Young Master Liang, posing as magnanimous, said: "I’m not one to hold grudges. If Miss Meng agrees to one condition of mine, I’ll stop interfering."
Chuzheng took out her phone, tapping away as she spoke, "I do hold grudges."
Young Master Liang made no move to stop her from calling, boasting, "No call will help you. I’ve invested in this show."
Chuzheng emotionlessly dialed a number. As the phone rang, she glanced up slightly: "What a coincidence, so have I."
Young Master Liang: "??"
The call connected, and a voice Young Master Liang found somewhat familiar spoke: "Miss Meng..."
"Pang Kai, come backstage for a moment." Chuzheng addressed him by name.