From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

The taxi was stuck in traffic on the East Third Ring Road for twenty minutes.

Yu Liang leaned back in his chair and used his phone to search for the registration page for "The Actor's Singing".

The page design is very flashy, with a gold gradient background and a huge slogan—

"Not only will there be great shows, but also great singing."

Below is a silhouette poster of the judging panel, with three black silhouettes labeled "Secret Superstar," "Queen of Pop," and "Queen of Anti-Drama."

He scrolled down and saw the competition rules. The show was divided into two halves: the first half featured dubbing performances, and the second half featured crossover singing.

The entire event was broadcast live, with all microphones open and no audio editing.

In other words, it's a case of "a mule is a horse, you have to take it out and put it to the test."

Yu Liang opened the registration form.

Name, age, representative works, performing experience, and a short a cappella audio clip.

He paused for a few seconds in the "Representative Works" column before finally filling in "Joy of Life as Teng Zijing (to be broadcast)".

The two words in parentheses made him feel a little guilty, but he still wrote them down.

He opened the video and casually sang a song. The driver glanced at him several times in the rearview mirror.

"Young man, are you a singer?"

"No, he's a comedian."

The driver was silent for a moment, then said, "...Well, you sang quite well."

Yu Liang smiled, said thank you, and clicked submit.

An animation pops up on the page: "Registration successful! Please wait for the program team's review."

He put his phone away, not holding out much hope.

---

Meanwhile, in the meeting room of the Mango TV program "The Actor's Singing".

The casting assistant was sifting through the last batch of applications. The screen was filled with more than a hundred names. She scrolled her mouse from bottom to top, pausing when she reached "Yu Liang".

"Yu Liang? Who's that?" She clicked on the profile. "Representative work... 'Joy of Life' is awaiting release? Doesn't that mean he doesn't have any works?"

She was about to drag the application form into the "elimination" folder when a colleague came over and glanced at it.

"Wait a moment."

"What's wrong?"

"This Yu Liang is the one from Douyin."

Which one is Douyin?

My colleague handed me the phone. On the screen was Yu Liang's Douyin (TikTok) profile, with 687 million followers.

"He's a popular livestreamer on Douyin. Our program was co-produced with Douyin, and they specifically included him in their recommended list."

Xiao Zhou removed his hand from the mouse.

"you mean……"

"This person cannot be targeted."

The conference room door was pushed open, and producer Fang walked in, holding a phone in her hand, her expression showing barely suppressed excitement.

"Yu Liang signed up? That's great!"

Xiao Zhou was taken aback for a moment: "Sister Fang, do you know him?"

"It's not me who knows him," Sister Fang turned her phone screen around. "It's this person who knows him."

The screen displays a WeChat chat history. The contact name is: Yang Mi.

The message contained only one line:

"Sister Fang, has the actor who plays Teng Zijing in the promotional video for 'Joy of Life', Yu Liang, signed up? If he has, please keep an eye out for him for me."

Xiao Zhou looked up and exchanged a glance with his colleague.

Fang put away her phone, looked at the waveform of the a cappella audio on the screen, and simply clicked "Pass".

"Send out a notice."

That evening, Yu Liang received a text message.

"[Mango TV] Mr. Yu Liang, congratulations on passing the review of the 'The Actor's Singing' program team. The recording time will be announced separately. Please keep your phone accessible."

He stared at the text message for three seconds, then took a screenshot and sent it to Guo Qilin and Wang Churan respectively.

Guo Qilin replied instantly: "Holy crap, bro, you're really going?!"

Yu Liang: "I didn't expect it to actually be reported."

Guo Qilin replied, "To be honest, bro, if you could use less of the K-pop singing style, you could actually sing quite well."

Wang Churan, who hadn't finished work yet, said enviously, "I want to go sing too."

Yu Liang smiled and tossed his phone onto the sofa.

---

Three days later, the official Weibo account of "The Actor's Singing" released the official lineup.

The poster is a collage of ten people. The three mentors, Wu Yifan, Na Ying, and Yang Mi, occupy the top center position, while below them are collages of stills of the seven initial contestants.

Yu Liang's photo was placed in the smallest square in the bottom right corner. It was a screenshot from the promotional video for "Joy of Life," showing Teng Zijing's profile as he lay in a pool of blood.

The comment section was initially filled with fan groups controlling the narrative, flooded with emojis and compliments. After a few screens, voices of doubt began to emerge.

"I can understand having Na Ying and Kris Wu as mentors, but what makes Yang Mi qualified? Has she even sung before?"

"Jia Jialiang, Bai Baihe, Hua Chenyu, Dilraba... Is Hunan TV serious about this lineup?"

Why did Hua Chenyu get involved in an actor singing competition?

"Wait, who is Yu Liang in the bottom right corner? I've never heard of him before?"

"I did a search, and the Deyun Society (a comedy troupe) is quite popular on Douyin (TikTok) lately. But what does that have to do with acting and singing?"

"【Hua Hua is not only a singer-songwriter, but also a very hardworking actor. He had a cameo role in 'Unexpected' and also filmed his own documentary 'When I Am Me,' but I really don't know which Xiao Kalami Yu Liang is."】

"Hey, you upstairs, if you're going to praise Yu Liang, fine, but why are you dragging him down with you?"

"I didn't mean to put anyone down. I just find it strange that this fashion influencer can participate, so why can't our Huahua?"

"[Just so you know, Yu Liang acted in 'Joy of Life,' and he's in the promotional videos released by the production team. Also, Yu Liang is the Douyin recommendation ambassador for this program; he was officially promoted by Douyin.]"

Yu Liang stared at the comment defending her for a long time.

So this is what it feels like to be protected.

It's not about fighting back against each point alone on the screen, staying up until 5 a.m., and then being watched by the entire internet the next day.

Someone spoke up for him from a place he couldn't see.

The document was very long, so he skipped the polite introduction and went straight to the competition rules.

The initial seven players will be eliminated, with the last-place finisher being eliminated. The replacement and challenger mechanisms will be announced later.

There is one competition every week, divided into two halves.

The first half consists of dialogue dubbing, and the results will determine the order of appearance in the second half.

The second half is a crossover performance; the scores from both rounds are added together, and the last place is eliminated.

Live broadcast throughout. All microphones are live. No audio editing.

Yu Liang closed the file and leaned back on the sofa.

Voice acting and singing.

He hadn't seriously studied either of them.

The basic skills of crosstalk are "speaking, imitating, teasing, and singing," but that is the "singing" that makes people laugh, not a proper performance on stage.

As for voice acting, he didn't even know which way the recording studio door faced.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Guo Qilin: "Dalin, do you know any voice actors?"

Just as I was about to put my phone down, a new message popped up on the screen.

It's not Guo Qilin.

The profile picture is a cat.

Yang Mi.

Yu Liang paused for a moment, then clicked on it.

"Hello Teacher Yu, this is Yang Mi. Let's add each other on WeChat, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Yu Liang stared at the message and remained silent for a few seconds.

The top female executive at Jiahe Media personally added her on WeChat several times.

He remembered what Director Sun Hao had said: "Director Sun, I'm definitely taking this actor."

He clicked "Approved".

A system message popped up in the chat box: "You have added mi. You can start chatting now."

The input status on the other end flashed a few times, then stopped. A few seconds later, it started flashing again.

Finally, one message came over:

"I heard you signed up for 'The Actor's Singing'?"

Yu Liang replied with an "Mm".

"What a coincidence. I'm a judge."

Yu Liang stared at those five words for a long time.

Enemy road is narrow.

Yang Mi posted another message: "Prepare well. I won't go easy on you just because I want to sign you."

It was followed by a smiling emoji.

Looking at that expression, Yu Liang suddenly realized that this woman was much more difficult to deal with than the agent surnamed Zheng.

Director Zheng's arrogance was written all over his face; you could see right through him.

Yang Mi is different.

Every word she uttered seemed casual, yet each one made him feel as if he had something on his mind.

He replied with a single word: "Okay."

Then he placed his phone face down on the table and took a deep breath.

Xin Li, Jia He. Yang Mi, Zhao Mingyuan.

There are more and more multiple-choice questions.

But now is not the time to think about these things.

He turned on his computer, created a new document, and typed four words in the title:

"Selecting music. Selecting plays."

The cursor is blinking on the screen.

There are still two weeks until recording.

Li Xiaoran called the next day.

"I've contacted the voice actor for you." She got straight to the point, "Do you know Mr. Li Lihong?"

Yu Liang was stunned for a moment.

Li Lihong!

He provided the voice-over for the narration of "A Bite of China," the Liang Emperor in "Nirvana in Fire," and the Jade Emperor in "Journey to the West."

"Sister Xiaoran, this..."

"I worked with Teacher Li before on 'Young Justice Bao,' and he was also my voice actor."

After Li Xiaoran mentioned it, Yu Liang remembered.

In the TV series "Justice Bao", Li Xiaoran played the role of Lan Rushi. Li Lihong provided the voice for Gongsun Ce, played by Li Zonghan.

"Favors are fleeting, so cherish them."

"must."

"Also," Li Xiaoran paused, "I've asked around for your vocal coach. Mr. Li Jian happens to be available in Beijing."

Yu Liang held her phone, unsure of what to say.

"Don't thank me." Li Xiaoran's tone carried a hint of a half-smile. "Just remember to treat me to a meal when you become famous."

Yu Liang recalled that night in Duyun, when moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains and Li Xiaoran looked up at him.

"Sister Xiaoran, I..."

"Practice hard," Li Xiaoran interrupted him. "Don't embarrass me."

The phone hangs up.

---

Li Lihong's dubbing class is held in a recording studio on the East Fourth Ring Road.

The studio wasn't big, and the equipment consisted of old-fashioned items; the faders on the mixing console were worn smooth. The walls were covered with TV drama posters.

Li Lihong's name appears on every single one of the TV series: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, and Nirvana in Fire.

Li Lihong was younger than Yu Liang had imagined. He was in his early fifties, wearing a faded black T-shirt and round-framed glasses. He spoke softly, but every word was clear and distinct.

"Li Xiaoran asked me, 'You've studied crosstalk?'"

"I studied it for a few years."

"That makes things easier." Li Lihong sat down at the mixing console. "Crosstalk performers train their breath control and enunciation. Dubbing also requires this. But there's one difference—"

He turned his chair around to face Liang.

"Crosstalk is about delivering every word to the audience's ears, with clear and distinct pronunciation, as if afraid that people won't hear it clearly."

"Dubbing is different. Dubbing requires subtlety, versatility, control, and a perfect fit."

Li Lihong picked out a few clips for him...

---

The vocal lesson was held in a rehearsal hall in Chaoyang District. The hall featured wooden floors, a full-length mirror, and a Yamaha upright piano leaning against the corner.

Li Jian looked thinner than he did on TV. He wore a dark gray sweater, his hair was neatly combed, and he exuded a gentle and refined intellectual air.

He sat down at the piano, his fingers lightly pressing a few chords on the keys, then looked up at Yu Liang.

Sing one of your best songs.

"Sure?"

"Goodbye, Mother, I'm setting sail tonight..."