Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

Wu Qian stared at the red exclamation mark on her phone screen, completely stunned.

From the moment Xu Yao removed her from the blacklist, Wu Qian angrily sent three 60-second voice messages.

From "Who do you think you are, Xu Yao?" to "Don't think you can be arrogant just because you won the championship," and so on.

Xu Yao didn't even open any of the voice messages; he simply blocked them.

"Damn it...did they block me again?"

He Xuanlin sat next to her, leaned over to look at the phone screen, then looked at Wu Qian's expression, and sighed.

"Look at you! I finally managed to persuade Xu Yao to let you out, and you just messed around, constantly cursing and cursing. Now look what's happened, you've blocked me again. Now even the Emperor of Heaven can't do anything about it."

Wu Qian slammed her phone on the sofa and raised her voice: "So what if he blocked me? Who does he think he is! Once my 'My Sunshine' airs, let's see how long he can keep jumping around. By then, his popularity from the talent show will have completely plummeted, and he won't even be worthy to shine my shoes! Blocked me? Once I become Huace's top female star, let's see how he begs me to unblock him."

He Xuanlin leaned back on the sofa, glanced at her, and shook her head: "Alright, alright, you're just being stubborn. Sigh, haven't you noticed that Xu Yao has changed? Don't talk to him like you used to."

After saying that, He Xuanlin picked up her phone and found that Xu Yao had only sent one message.

In short: "Letting you out is actually a way for you to see yourself in a mirror."

"Looking in the mirror... what does looking in the mirror mean?" He Xuanlin muttered to herself, tilting her head and thinking for a long time.

"Who knows what he means? He won a lousy championship, and he talks in a weird tone, he's incredibly arrogant." Wu Qian's anger hadn't subsided, and her voice grew louder and louder.

He Xuanlin ignored her and continued to stare at the line of text.

"A mirror, a mirror is for reflecting yourself... yourself?"

She suddenly sat up straight, her eyes wide open: "I understand!"

Wu Qian was startled: "Why are you so jumpy?"

"He's predicting your character and saying you're stupid!"

He Xuanlin turned to look at Wu Qian, her tone filled with the excitement of "I've finally solved the case."

"He unblocked you to let you see if you'd continue saying stupid things. If you spoke politely, this would be over. If you kept swearing, he'd block you again. And sure enough, you did..."

"What? You're calling me stupid again?"

Wu Qian's anger flared up again, and she jumped up from the sofa, her face flushed red.

"He Xuanlin, hurry up and call him! I'm going to curse him to death! I'm going to curse him for an hour straight without taking a breath..."

He Xuanlin had no intention of handing her the phone. She quickly hid it behind her back and shook her head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, no, just shut up for a bit. Xu Yao is the champion of The Voice of China now. Liu Yifei and Deng Ziqi are both tagging him on Weibo, extending olive branches. He's riding high right now, wake up!"

"Riding on the crest of success? I think he's just carried away! What did he say when he was pursuing me? 'Qianqian, I'll do whatever you say for the rest of my life,' and now? Blocked me? Called me stupid? I'm the most beautiful girl at Wuhan University, this is outrageous!"

Wu Qian became increasingly angry as she spoke, and her voice cracked.

"But you two broke up... so what gives you the right to criticize him?" He Xuanlin muttered softly.

Wu Qian glared at her but didn't reply.

After chatting with Liu Yifei, the two discussed a date to meet for a meal, and then the tour was about to begin.

On the third day after being discharged from the hospital, Xu Yao received a call from Sister Lin.

"Xu Yao, how is your recovery going?"

"Alright, Sister Lin."

Xu Yao leaned against the headboard of the hotel room, his voice much stronger than a few days ago.

I spent 4,000 of my 15,000 idol points to repair my bodily functions. Problems such as electrolyte imbalance and weakness have long been corrected, and my physical strength has recovered to about 70-80%.

"That's good. Get ready on your end. I've sent you the itinerary via WeChat. Take a look."

"OK."

The call ended. Xu Yao opened WeChat, and the schedule sent by Sister Lin filled the screen. There was a show almost every three or four days, interspersed with various commercial performances, brand events, and media interviews.

Xu Yao stared at the schedule for a few seconds, and his lips twitched.

This isn't a tour, this is non-stop work.

But he didn't say anything.

Having just won the championship, it's the perfect time for management companies to cash in... no, to make money through tours. If they don't take advantage of this opportunity to travel more, it will be too late once the hype dies down.

Hong Kong, August 31.

Backstage at the variety show venue, Xu Yao pushed open the door to the dressing room. Before he even entered, he heard Zhou Shen's voice.

"Brother Yao!"

Zhou Shen jumped up from his chair, rushed to him, and looked him up and down.

"Are you alright? Are you feeling better? Can you eat now? You've lost weight..."

"How can I answer all these questions at once?" Xu Yao asked with a smile, looking at the excited Zhou Shen.

Zhou Shen's eyebrows danced with excitement: "Then let's not answer. Come on, give me a hug."

"Attention! Stop!" Xu Yao quickly dodged.

The lounge was already quite full of people.

Zhang Bichen leaned against the corner, holding a thermos in his hand, and nodded when he saw Xu Yao come in.

Yu Feng sat in front of the dressing table, and the stylist was doing his hair. He saw Xu Yao in the mirror and gave him a thumbs up.

Cheng Bing and Li Jiage were chatting, while Liu Mingxiang was practicing her voice in a corner.

There were a few other trainees that Xu Yao wasn't very familiar with, probably from other groups, all sitting in their respective seats with different expressions.

Some were excited, some were nervous, and some were expressionless.

The stadium can hold 15,000 people, and it was packed to capacity.

The live footage has been switched over to the TV screen backstage.

The audience seats were filled with glow sticks, creating a sea of ​​light. Some people held up signs for "Zhang Bichen", some for "Zhou Shen", and a few for "Xu Yao".

Xu Yao was stunned when he saw his name appear on the light board.

Does this... count as a debut?

This is his first time on stage since the finals.

Before, when he was on stage, the people below were watching the competition, watching the excitement, and wondering "how good this fat guy can be at singing".

Tonight, the people standing on the stage are there specifically to see their performance.

This feeling is completely different from the competition.

Those shows that require tickets are for true fans.

Are you finally starting to build up your fanbase?

Xu Yao remembered Liu Yuning saying in a live stream that whoever has 50,000 die-hard fans can do whatever they want in the entertainment industry.

The performance started promptly at 8 p.m.

The opening song was "Our Dream," which was sung by all the trainees.

Xu Yao stood in the center of the stage, the spotlight shining on him. The moment the music started, the glow sticks in the audience waved to the rhythm, and the roar of 15,000 people surged up from the audience seats, engulfing him like a tide.

It's not a competition, not a battle, there's no elimination, and no mentor comments.

It's about singing, standing on a stage, and singing to the people who want to hear it.

Xu Yao's program was scheduled towards the middle.

While he was waiting backstage, Zhou Shen had just come down from the stage, his face covered in sweat, but his eyes shone like stars.

"Brother Yao, someone in the audience is calling my name! Did you hear that? I have fans here to hear me sing! My musical dream has begun!"

"Yeah, I saw it. You're quite popular. You must be happy today."

"I'll let you in on a little secret: I almost burst out laughing while I was singing on stage, hahaha, you know how I am, I can't laugh. Once I start laughing, I can't stop..."

Xu Yao looked at him and patted him on the shoulder: "This is just the beginning. Today, ten thousand people came to listen to your concert. In the future, ten thousand people will come just for you, Zhou Shen."

"Impossible, a concert for 10,000 people? Impossible, absolutely impossible..." Zhou Shen said with a grin, clearly not believing that he possessed such charm and ability.

Xu Yao didn't offer much explanation, leaving everything to time.

When it was Xu Yao's turn, he walked onto the stage, and the spotlight shone on him.

Glow sticks waved in the darkness below the stage, and someone held up a bright light sign that read "Xu Yao".

When the intro started, some people in the audience began to hum along.

Xu Yao stood under the spotlight, holding the microphone.

He sang "You Got Me Drunk".

It's not the version from the finals; there are no angry vocals, no heart-wrenching outbursts, just a quiet performance.

There's no need to prove anything, no need to create a sensation, no need to plan performance effects; just quietly express the most simple melody of a song.

People in the audience sang along, and glow sticks swayed to the rhythm, turning the 15,000-seat stadium into a giant karaoke room.

When he sang the last line, he handed the microphone to the audience.

The voices of fifteen thousand people surged up from below the stage: "You got me drunk, you made me cry, and you bore all the blame..."

Neat and uniform, rising and falling in waves.

But it was precisely this uneven flow of voices that made Xu Yao feel that it was really good to be singing on stage.

If one day I could hold a concert for 10,000 people.

If one day, I can stand side by side with my sister.

How wonderful it would be if that day ever came.

That day will surely come.

"Thank you for coming to hear me sing, I love you all..."

Xu Yao bowed and stepped off the stage.

As he passed the side stage, Zhou Shen was still waiting there. Seeing him come down, he smiled and said, "Brother Yao, when you were singing just now, did you feel a surge of emotion, like you were about to burst into tears, or that it was really exhilarating?"