Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Hua Xingyu rubbed her fingers on the back of the scoreboard for three seconds.

Five hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on him in the studio.

Eight million people in the live stream were waiting for him to give them scores.

He knew better than anyone the consequences of scoring 61 points in the previous round.

The comments section was filled with insults, and it trended on Weibo for three days.

But he can't give a high score in this round.

Zhao Tianyu scored 731 points.

As long as he lowers the judges' scores enough, even if the audience votes are higher, the total score may not be able to turn the tide.

Hua Xingyu wore a perfectly timed smile.

He stood up.

"Jiang Fan".

Hua Xingyu's voice echoed throughout the studio through the microphone, sincere and even tinged with admiration.

"First of all, I must be honest with you. The lyrics and music of this song, 'Sorrow,' are truly top-notch. I would even say it's one of the best original works I've heard in recent years."

The chat slowed down slightly.

[He actually praised her?]

[No, this tone sounds like it's about to change...]

Hua Xingyu paused for a moment, her expression turning serious.

"but."

"Your arrangement is still too simple. You've been using the same guitar since your debut stage, and the stage presentation lacks visual impact."

He stretched out one hand, making an open gesture.

"Music is more than just singing well. Zhao Tianyu's performance just now, with its string arrangement, electronic sounds, and lighting, was a complete artistic presentation. Comprehensive qualities are the core competitiveness of an artist."

Hua Xingyu looked at Jiang Fan with the "goodwill" of an elder instructing a younger generation.

He flipped open the scoreboard.

60 points.

The white numbers were particularly glaring in front of the camera.

A noticeable commotion arose from the audience seats.

Some people booed.

The chat in the live stream went completely crazy.

[60? ?]

[Xue Zhiheng got a perfect score, and you gave him 60? Did you two listen to the same song?]

[Simple arrangement? That's just style!]

The barrage of comments was so fast that the server even lagged for a moment.

Jiang Fan on stage didn't show a single superfluous expression from beginning to end.

He took the guitar off his knees without even glancing at Hua Xingyu.

Teacher He's professionalism saved the day.

He quickly walked to the front of the stage and took the microphone.

"Alright! The scores from the three judges are in—Xue Zhiheng 100 points, Xu Qingya 98 points, and Hua Xingyu 60 points. The judges' total score is 258 points!"

"Next, let's see the results of the public vote!"

The large screen switched images, and the numbers started to jump.

There were 500 audience members present, each with one vote.

The numbers jump from 0 to 100, and then from 100 to 300.

It was moving so fast it felt like a countdown.

400.

481.

The numbers freeze.

Teacher He's voice rose half a tone.

"Public votes – 481!"

Jiang Fan's total score is 739!

Two names popped up side by side on the big screen.

**[Jiang Fan: 739]**

**[Zhao Tianyu: 731]**

The gap is 8 points.

The entire studio seemed to explode.

Applause and screams mingled together, and even the spotlights overhead swayed.

Zhao Tianyu sat in the contestant's seat, his lips pressed into a thin line.

The top producer from Times Media, the six-figure arrangement fee, and Huaxingyu's full-fledged support with a score of 98.

All of them combined lost to a guitar.

The comments section wasn't just spamming; it was flooding the walls with them.

[Brother Xiaochou is forever a god!!!]

[Hua Xingyu: I give it 60 points. Audience: We give it 481. Your decision doesn't count.]

[Does capital want to destroy ordinary people? Did they even ask us, the audience?]

Hua Xingyu's expression remained unchanged on the judges' panel.

His signature gentle smile still lingered on his lips.

His five fingers tightened one by one, his nails digging into his palms.

60 points was not enough to kill Jiang Fan.

Xu Qingya sat on the far right of the judges' panel, looking down as she flipped through a page of the documents in her hand.

His expression was indifferent.

The finger that was turning the page paused for a moment—just stopping on the "Jiang Fan" column.

He pressed his lips together repeatedly.

In the end, she couldn't hold back and bent over.

But the cameraman sitting to her right and behind her happened to capture this moment.

This scene was captured as a GIF in the program's behind-the-scenes footage that night, and it was shared over 500,000 times.

The title is: [The Ice Queen Smiled at the Sorrow-Relieving Guy!]

-

Recording continues.

The 1V1 matches on the Solo Track have all ended. Next up is the brutal elimination round in the waiting area.

There was no warmth, only slaughter.

Two hours later, the dust settled.

The three tracks weeded out only the best, with only six contestants remaining in each track.

Eighteen people stood at the starting line of the third phase.

Jiang Fan sat in the center of the Duxiu track, looking as relaxed as if he were waiting for takeout.

Teacher He returned to the center of the stage, holding a brand new cue card.

Congratulations to the eighteen contestants who remained on stage!

"Next, we'll announce the rules for the third round!"

The large screen flickered, and ink spread from the center of the screen, with two calligraphy characters falling heavily.

**[Traditional Chinese Style]**

Teacher He's voice echoed throughout the venue:

"In the third round, we will launch a limited-themed battle – the Solo Show track, where you must create and perform songs with 'traditional Chinese style' as the core! The Beauty and Talent tracks also require you to choose songs around the theme of traditional Chinese style!"

"This round is no longer 1V1, but six people competing on the same stage, and the last place is directly eliminated."

The atmosphere in the players' seats changed abruptly.

[Traditional Chinese style? This question is way beyond the scope of the curriculum!]

These days, talent shows featuring traditional Chinese songs are just about piling up fancy words and playing the guzheng (a traditional Chinese zither); nine out of ten performances are complete disasters.

[Wait a minute, Xiaochou Ge is in trouble! He's always played folk guitar music, can he even write traditional Chinese style music?]

[Zhao Tianyu and his team have a company backing them up, but where is Jiang Fan, an amateur, supposed to find a place to arrange traditional Chinese style music?]

Hua Xingyu is smiling. Look, Hua Xingyu is smiling.

The camera pans across the judges' panel.

Hua Xingyu leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and relaxed.

He turned his head slightly towards Xue Zhiheng beside him and said something in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"The format of this competition is quite good."

Xue Zhiheng glanced at him but didn't reply.

On the contestant's bench, Zhao Tianyu, who had just escaped death from the waiting area, breathed a sigh of relief.

Chinese style.

Jiang Fan's previous two songs were a folk song and a rock folk song.

The arrangement style is the simplest acoustic guitar playing and singing.

What does traditional Chinese culture need?

Guzheng, pipa, dizi, xiao, opera singing, pentatonic scales...

These things cannot be written simply by having talent.

It requires a great deal of traditional musical knowledge and the cooperation of a professional arrangement team.

Zhao Tianyu leaned back in his chair, feeling a sense of ease and comfort on this stage for the first time.

In the rest area behind him, an agent from Time Media was already texting with his head down.

-

After the recording ended, the contestants left the venue one after another.

Back in the car arranged by the production team, Jiang Fan had just leaned back in his seat when his phone vibrated.

A WeChat message.

The sender was Xu Qingya.

[Xu Qingya: The traditional Chinese style competition format was requested by Shenghai Entertainment; it's probably aimed at you.]

Jiang Fan looked at the screen and typed a few words in the input box.

[Jiang Fan: And then?]

[Xu Qingya: Are you prepared?]

Jiang Fan looked at the message.

The semi-transparent system panel flashed briefly at the edge of his field of vision.

In the song categories of the store, there is a section for 【Chinese Style/Traditional Chinese Style】.

Number of entries: 1374.

at the same time.

The office building of Sheng Hai Capital in Shanghai.

Cao Qiming and Hua Xingyu were on the phone.

"The traditional Chinese style competition format has been approved."

"The arrangement team and production resources for the third phase will all be tilted towards Lu Ming. There is no budget cap."

Hua Xingyu nodded.

"An amateur with no team and no resources can't even produce a decent backing track in the field of traditional Chinese style music."

"Once he delivers a poorly made piece of work, the audience's illusions will shatter."

"At that point, you won't even need to bet on him. He'll be eliminated on his own."