Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

The stage lights switched from warm to cool white, and the eight people stood in a row, their expressions impossible to hide.

Teacher He stood at the front, holding a card in his hand.

"I'll repeat the rules again—a jury of one thousand people, each with three votes, and no two votes can be cast for the same singer."

"The voting channel is now open."

A countdown appeared on the big screen: sixty seconds.

Five hundred members of the audience at the venue operated their voting devices, while another five hundred people outside the venue voted simultaneously via live stream.

A minute goes by quickly.

The countdown has reached zero, and the voting channel is now closed.

Teacher He turned around to face the eight singers.

"We will announce them one by one, starting from the eighth place."

He raised his hand and pointed to the high-definition screen behind him.

"Eighth place - Liu Yuhang, 287 votes."

Liu Yuhang's face remained expressionless. He smiled at the camera and clapped for himself twice.

"Seventh place - Su Xiaoman, 296 votes."

Su Xiaoman nodded and pursed her lips.

The disadvantage of being the first to appear was too obvious, and she was well aware of it.

"Sixth place - Zhao Pengfei, 302 votes."

"Fifth place - Wang Mingxuan, 343 votes."

"Fourth place - Lin Ke, 379 votes."

When Lin Ke heard her name called, she first exclaimed "Ah!" and then gave a peace sign to the camera.

There are only three people left on the stage.

Zhang Yihan stood to Shen Nian's left, and Chen Hao stood on the far right.

The three people were two steps apart, but the camera framed them all in the same shot.

"Third place—"

Teacher He deliberately delayed for two seconds.

"Zhang Yihan, 423 votes."

Zhang Yihan's smile froze for less than half a second.

She quickly composed herself, nodded to the camera in thanks, and said, "Thank you everyone."

The chat in the live stream was already getting excited.

"Holy crap, Zhang Yihan is only third?"

"Only Chen Hao and Shen Nian are left!"

"Tang Yingxue's words were useless, hahaha."

Teacher He raised his voice.

"That means—tonight's first and second place will be decided between Chen Hao and Shen Nian!"

The audience murmured.

The live stream chat went crazy.

"Chen Hao vs. Shen Nian!"

"I bet Chen Hao is number one! His deep voice is amazing!"

"Shen Nian! It has to be Shen Nian! 'The Wind Rises' is absolutely amazing!"

Teacher He held up the card.

Second place—

Shen Nian's fingers curled slightly on the hem of her skirt.

Chen Hao stood there with his hands behind his back, his expression calm.

"Chen Hao! 466 votes!"

Chen Hao was stunned for a moment.

He turned to look at Shen Nian, raised his eyebrows, and his lips curled up.

Teacher He's voice had reached its highest pitch.

"That is to say—the champion of the first ranking competition of 'The Voice of Heaven'—"

He turned around and pointed his arm at Shen Nian.

"Shen Nian! 504 votes!"

The numbers were projected onto the LED screen behind the stage.

504.

More than half of the 1,000 people voted for the same person.

The applause from the audience drowned out all other sounds.

Chen Hao walked over and extended his hand.

"Shen Nian, you sang very well."

Shen Nian shook hands with him. "You too."

Chen Hao smiled and patted his chest. "I won't lose next time."

After saying that, he turned and left, taking long strides. Standing at 1.9 meters tall, he walked off the stage with a confident and unhurried posture.

-

Teacher He walked up to Shen Nian.

"Shen Nian, you're in first place tonight. Anything you'd like to say?"

Shen Nian raised the microphone.

Thank you everyone.

She thought for a moment and added a sentence.

"Thank you to the person who wrote this song."

The live stream chat exploded again.

"Jiang Fan! It's Jiang Fan again!"

"Who exactly is this man? All his songs are hits!"

"Please, Jiang Fan, write me one too."

"Anything produced by Jiang Fan is guaranteed to be of high quality."

On the mentor's panel, Peter Chan pushed up his glasses and said something to Jay Chou next to him.

Jay Chou nodded, and the two of them looked towards the side of the screen at the same time.

-

Recording complete.

In the backstage corridor, people from various teams began to leave.

Jiang Fan led Shen Nian and Zhou Yutong toward the dressing room.

Zhou Yutong's mouth never stopped.

"Sister Nian, you're amazing!"

"First place! 504 votes!"

"You have no idea, Tang Yingxue's face when the results were announced—"

"Alright, alright." Jiang Fan turned around and glanced at her.

Zhou Yutong quickly covered her mouth.

Once inside the dressing room, Shen Nian sat down on the sofa, her fingers still trembling slightly.

Jiang Fan's phone vibrated twice.

News about Li Cheng.

Li Cheng: I watched the live stream. Awesome.

Li Cheng: We've already made it onto three trending topics: #ShenNianTheWindIsRising# #JiangFan'sSongIsGoingViralAgain# #TheVoiceOfChinaEpisode1Rankings#

Li Cheng: Aren't you being a little too high-profile, kid?

Jiang Fan typed a few words in reply: "Standard procedure."

Li Cheng: ……

He put his phone back in his pocket and was about to tell Shen Nian to pack his things and leave when there was a knock on the door of the dressing room.

"Please come in."

The door opened.

Zhang Yihan stood at the door, followed by her short-haired assistant.

He smiled when he saw Jiang Fan.

"Teacher Jiang."

"Miss Zhang," Jiang Fan said, leaning against the dressing table, "Is there something you need?"

Zhang Yihan walked in, her gaze first falling on Shen Nian.

"Nothing much, just came to congratulate Shen Nian on winning first place." She looked at Shen Nian, "Nian Nian, you were really great tonight."

Thinking of it.

They called each other quite affectionately.

The two had never spoken before.

Shen Nian hummed in agreement. "Thank you."

Zhang Yihan didn't linger on Shen Nian, turning her gaze back to Jiang Fan.

"Ms. Jiang, I've always loved your songs. I've listened to 'Blue and White Porcelain' at least a hundred times." She tilted her head. "I wonder if there will be a chance to collaborate in the future?"

After saying that, she extended her hand.

Jiang Fan shook hands with her.

When he loosened his grip, Zhang Yihan gently hooked his palm with her index finger.

"Teacher Jiang, would it be convenient to add each other on WeChat?"

Jiang Fan looked at her.

The system panel pops up automatically.

[Target: Zhang Yihan]

[Appearance: 8.0/10]

[Compatibility: A-]

A-.

Jiang Fan shook his head inwardly.

Compared to Su Yuyan's SS and Tang Yingxue's SS+, this rating—well, it's tasteless.

Moreover, he is on the same side as Tang Yingxue.

Touching it will cause trouble.

"There's no rush for the collaboration." Jiang Fan withdrew his hand, showing no intention of taking out his phone. "Ms. Zhang, please continue with your work; we also need to pack our things."

Zhang Yihan's smile faltered for a moment.

got rejected.

Having seen it all before, she didn't show any embarrassment and simply nodded.

"Okay, let's chat another day. Congratulations, Shen Nian."

She turned and left with her assistant.

The high heels clicked on the corridor floor, the rhythm a little faster than when they came in.

The door closed.

Zhou Yutong breathed a sigh of relief and muttered softly, "What's she doing here? Sister Nian just got first place and she's already trying to get close to her."

Jiang Fan glanced at her. "Let's go back to the hotel."

Shen Nian stood up and picked up her bag.

As he passed Jiang Fan, his steps slowed slightly.

"She just...touched your palm."

The voice was very soft, but the words were pronounced very clearly.

Jiang Fan looked down at his palm. "You have good eyesight."

-

At the end of the corridor, Tang Yingxue was coming out of the mentor's passage, surrounded by three assistants.

The pomp and circumstance were exactly the same as when I saw them during the day.

Her gaze swept across the crowd and met Jiang Fan's directly.

This time, she didn't move away.

Jiang Fan didn't dodge.

The two people stared at each other for three seconds across the corridor, which was more than ten meters apart.

Tang Yingxue's lips twitched slightly—as if she were examining something interesting.

Then she looked away and turned into the elevator in her high heels.

Zhou Yutong turned around and glanced back, then lowered her voice: "Brother Fan, was Tang Yingxue looking at you just now?"

"Look how handsome I am."

"..." Zhou Yutong rolled her eyes.

Shen Nian was biting into a cashew nut, not turning around, but the tips of her ears turned red.

-

Upon arriving at the hotel, Jiang Fan escorted Shen Nian to her room.

Zhou Yutong swiped her card and went in first, saying, "I'll go run some hot water, Sister Nian, you can take a bath."

Shen Nian stood at the door, her hand on the doorknob.

Jiang Fan reached out and patted the top of her head.

Go to bed early.

Shen Nian hummed in agreement and retreated into the room.

Jiang Fan returned to his room, threw his coat on a chair, and collapsed onto the bed.

He closed his eyes.

Tang Yingxue.

SS+.

A woman a level above Xu Qingya.

If I could win her over—

Not urgent.

The more you get close to this kind of person, the less they'll like you.

She has to do it herself.