Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

At 8 p.m., the live broadcast of "The Voice of Heaven" started on time.

Shen Nian drew number five this time.

The first four singers finished their performances in turn.

Chen Hao ranked third. He chose a hip-hop song tonight and was more uninhibited than in the previous two episodes.

After the song ended, the audience erupted in applause. Jay Chou stood up from his chair and clapped, giving a thumbs-up to the audience.

Teacher He, please come on stage. Next, please welcome Shen Nian.

The large screen on the stage lit up.

Song title: Courage

Lyrics and music: Shen Nian

Singer: Shen Nian

The live stream chat exploded with comments.

"Wait a minute—lyricist Shen Nian???"

"She wrote the song herself?? Not Jiang Fan?"

"Holy crap, Shen Nian can write songs?"

"That copyright case was because her own song was stolen, didn't you guys forget?"

"Yes, yes, yes! She's a singer-songwriter!"

The prelude begins.

The simple arrangement of piano and guitar creates a light and sweet melody.

[Note: Please do not include the original song's music video; it doesn't exist.]

Shen Nian stood in the center of the stage, the hem of her beige dress swaying slightly.

"I've finally made this decision, I don't care what others say—"

The first sentence he uttered carried something in his voice that hadn't been present in previous episodes.

Relaxed.

It wasn't a deliberate relaxation; it was a genuine relaxation from the bottom of my heart.

"As long as you feel the same way, I'm willing to go with you to the ends of the earth—"

Chorus

"Love truly needs courage to face gossip and rumors—"

A girl in the front row of the hearing panel started humming along.

This melody is contagious. You can remember the chorus after listening to it once, and you'll want to sing along after listening to it twice.

"As long as you give me a single affirming look, my love has meaning—"

Shen Nian finished singing the last note.

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

The mentor's seat.

Jay Chou took the microphone.

"I noticed that the lyrics and music for today's song were written by Shen Nian herself."

He leaned back in his chair, tapping the screen in front of him with his finger. "To be honest, this song has a very catchy melody. I memorized the chorus after just one listen. There are only a handful of songs that can do that in a year."

Peter Chan pushed up his glasses and took over the conversation.

"Let me add a couple of points. Shen Nian not only sings well, but she is also a first-rate songwriter. The melody of this song, 'Courage,' is very mature and the overall quality is extremely high."

She paused for a moment.

"To be honest, this song would not lose any points if it were presented to the judges at the Golden Melody Awards."

The live stream room went completely blank again.

"Peter Chan's praise is way too high!"

"Golden Melody Awards level??"

"I believe it, this song is indeed good."

The microphone was handed to Tang Yingxue.

Everyone is waiting—she caused Shen Nian a lot of trouble in the last two episodes, what does she plan to say this time?

Tang Yingxue paused for two seconds.

"This song is excellent in both its singing and composition. Shen Nian's growth over the past few episodes is clearly visible, and we look forward to your future performances."

No buts. No turning point.

The live stream chat was flooded with comments—

"Tang Yingxue praised Shen Nian???"

"The sun has risen in the west."

"No, this song is really good; she can't find a single angle to criticize it."

Shen Nian bowed on the stage and then turned to leave.

-

All eight people finished singing.

Zhang Yihan's performance tonight was another high-budget production with amazing stage effects, earning praise from the three judges.

Voting session.

A sixty-second countdown began. Numbers flashed on the big screen.

Teacher He stood in the center of the stage and opened the card.

Let's start reading from the eighth place.

Jiang Fan stood on the side of the screen, ignoring the rankings behind him. He stared at the big screen, waiting for the top three.

Eighth place: Liu Yuhang, 227 votes.

The seventh, sixth, and fifth places will be announced in that order.

There are only three people left on the stage.

Shen Nian, Zhang Yihan, Chen Hao.

Teacher He looked at the card.

"Third place - Chen Hao, 481 votes."

Chen Hao's expression didn't change much, and he nodded.

He got used to being third in two consecutive periods.

There are two people left.

Zhang Yihan turned her head to look at Shen Nian and smiled.

Second place—

Teacher He flipped over the second-to-last card.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and the smile on his face seemed a little unnatural.

"Shen Nian, 512 votes."

The entire scene fell silent for a second.

"This week's first place winner is Zhang Yihan, with 587 votes."

On stage, Zhang Yihan covered her mouth, her eyes reddening, and made an expression of disbelief.

The audience erupted in applause.

Shen Nian stood on the stage, maintaining a smile on her face.

She nodded to Zhang Yihan and led the applause.

-

The live stream chat exploded. The sheer volume of comments completely overwhelmed the screen.

"??????"

"Zhang Yihan 587? Chen Hao 481? A difference of one hundred votes??"

"Didn't you guys hear how amazing Chen Hao's hip-hop was tonight?"

"It's a cover-up! I'll be frank! It's a cover-up!"

"I've reported it, I've reported it. Where is the complaint channel?"

-

Backstage. Control room.

Fang Yiming stood in front of the monitor, a cigarette between his fingers.

The assistant was flipping through the printed list of the jury members.

Fang Yiming took the list and flipped through it from the first page to the last.

He took a deep drag on his cigarette.

Then he took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Old Fang, what's up?" The person opposite him was Old Wu, the deputy director of the station in charge of variety shows.

"Mr. Wu, have you seen today's voting data?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"I've seen it."

Is this normal?

Silence again.

"Old Fang, there are some things... that are beyond my control." Old Wu's voice was very low. "Qin Wanhao contacted Deputy Chief Liu. I can't stop him."

Fang Yiming held his phone, his temples throbbing.

"Vice-Chief Liu?"

"Yes. We had dinner last week, but I don't know the specifics of what we discussed. However, some people on today's jury attendance list were temporary replacements. The approval was handled by Vice Director Liu."

Fang Yiming took the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for five seconds.

Then he stood up and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"I'll go find the station director."

"Old Fang—"

"Mr. Wu, this program is mine." Fang Yiming's voice wasn't loud, but every word was crisp and clear. "Anyone who tries to ruin it, I'll make them pay."

He hung up the phone, opened the door to the control room, and strode towards the end of the corridor.

-

It went viral on Weibo.

The hashtag #TheVoiceOfChinaBehindTheScenes# climbed to fourth place on the trending topics list within half an hour.

#Shen Nian's Courage# ranks seventh.

#Zhang Yihan and Chen Hao's vote difference# is currently in eleventh place and is still rising.

The comments section received hundreds of replies, filled with insults.

-

It was 11 p.m. that night. The lights in the station director's office were on for two hours.

The station director's surname is Chen. He is in his early sixties, and most of his hair is white, but he is in good spirits.

Fang Yiming sat opposite him and spread the materials on the table—a comparison of the entry list, a temporary replacement approval form, and the signatories.

The station director flipped through the pages for ten minutes, then took off his reading glasses, placed them on the table, and rubbed the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.

There was a long silence.

"Xiao Fang, do you know that Qin Wanhao's Universal Audio-Visual has three projects in talks with the station this year?"

"Director Chen, the internet is in an uproar. The top five trending topics are all filled with criticism. If the credibility of this show collapses, we won't be able to continue."

The station director glanced at him.

"What do you want to do?"

"Starting next time, I will personally oversee the jury list. I will verify the identity of each person upon entry, and the entire recording will be submitted via mobile phone."

The station director tapped his fingers twice on the table.

"Approved."

Fang Yiming opened the door and went out.

The next morning.

Deputy Director Liu – Received a public reprimand and suspended from duty for self-reflection.

The station director signed an internal document and copied it to the program team:

"Starting from the next episode, the list of judges for 'The Voice of Heaven' will be selected independently by the production team. Their identities will be verified one by one before entering the venue, and their mobile phones will be handed in throughout the process."