Don't call me a singing god, I just want to go back to doing scientific research.

"Ling Luo, how is it?"

As soon as Xu Yuxuan left, Gu Yang immediately put away all his thorns, raised his chin and approached Ling Luo, like a little rooster that had won a fight, his tail almost sticking up to the sky, as if he had "Praise me" written all over his face.

Ling Luo didn't speak.

He simply raised his hand and mercilessly ruffled Gu Yang's freshly done hair, which was still sprayed with hairspray.

"Ugh! You do it again!"

The carefully styled hair instantly turned into a messy bird's nest.

"!"

The top makeup artist next to her suddenly felt a jolt in her eyelids, her hand holding the hairspray hovering in mid-air, her knuckles taut.

Finally, looking at Ling Luo's calm and expressionless face in the mirror, and thinking about his million-dollar annual salary contract, he silently lowered his hand.

Forget it, I can't afford to offend the sugar daddy's friend.

"Stop doing it, just leave it like this." Ling Luo stopped the makeup artist who still wanted to salvage the situation, examined Gu Yang's new look, and nodded in satisfaction. "This song doesn't need to be meticulous. A young person's journey doesn't have to be glamorous all the time."

He turned to look at Gu Yang. The boy in the mirror had messy hair, but his eyes were still clear.

"That's perfect, unrestrained, flamboyant, that's what youth is all about."

The makeup artist suddenly understood; looking at the hairstyle again, she immediately felt that it was full of stories and a sense of brokenness.

No wonder he's the boss's friend, I get it.

Gu Yang himself didn't care. He straightened his unruly tuft of hair in front of the mirror and grinned, "Okay, whatever you say."

"I'll go to the audience area first. I have warm water in my backpack. Don't drink anything from outside."

Seeing Gu Yang nod, Ling Luo felt relieved and walked towards the front of the audience seats.

At 3 p.m., the studio lights suddenly turned on, and the live broadcast started on time.

【Ahhh, it's open! Guyang, here we come!】

[Yu Xuan, you're the best! Keep it up!]

The process for the second round is similar to that of the first round. After all the contestants have finished singing, their scores and rankings will be announced on the spot.

  

The top 20 are narrowed down to 10, with eliminations on the spot.

The host, Dong Xuelan, dressed in a white gown, stood in the center of the stage and announced the competition rules in her captivating voice.

The contestants backstage all looked solemn, and the air seemed to freeze.

"...Furthermore, the ten contestants who successfully advance will draw their topics for the next round tonight!"

As soon as Dong Xuelan finished speaking, the backstage area erupted in chaos.

"What? A random question?"

"My God, how are we supposed to prepare like this?!"

"Oh no, oh no, I'm terrified of assigned topics, I have absolutely no idea what song to sing..."

In an instant, gasps of shock, gasps of breath, and desperate cries rose and fell. Regardless of whether they knew the inside story beforehand, everyone had to put on an Oscar-worthy performance to perfectly portray their shock and panic.

After all, cameras are faithfully recording everything backstage.

Gu Yang subconsciously turned to look at Ling Luo's seat, only to find that the other party remained calm and composed, as if all the noise outside had nothing to do with him.

Ling Luo said, "Everything is fine."

On stage, Dong Xuelan's voice rang out again: "Now that the three teachers are seated, shall we interview them first?"

After asking the question, Dong Xuelan didn't give anyone time to answer and went straight to the point: "Teacher Wei, which performance from your last stage appearance do you remember most vividly?"

"I was very impressed with them all; every single one of them was very strong."

Wei Shaoan truly lived up to his reputation as a master of impartiality, never offending anyone.

Dong Xuelan seemed to be aware of Wei Shaoan's way of handling things. After thanking him, she turned to ask, "Does Teacher Ni have a different idea?"

"I also think every contestant is very talented. We are all heartbroken to see who is eliminated. However, I am most optimistic about Gu Yang, who was the last singer last time. His voice is very stable and has a lot of story to tell. I hope he will not disappoint me this time either."

"Okay, thank you, Professor Ni. Finally, we'd like to ask Professor Zhuo, who do you think has the best chance?"

Zhuo Tongyu was not intimidated at all. He picked up the microphone and said directly, "You're up to something, host. But my favorite is still Gu Yang. I hope Gu Yang can show more of his potential on this stage. I'm really looking forward to his performance."

"Okay, thank you very much for your answers, teachers. Now, let's give a warm round of applause to our first contestant!"

The lights flashed, and the contestants' avatars began scrolling across the large screen.

As the camera panned backstage, Gu Yang felt a malicious gaze fall upon him.

He looked up and met Xu Yuxuan's cold gaze.

Xu Yuxuan's lips moved silently, the shape of his mouth perfectly clear.

—You're dead.

Gu Yang shrugged, turned to meet those venomous eyes, and instead of being afraid, he made a face at Xu Yuxuan and mouthed something.

"I'll be waiting."

Then he turned back, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

Contestant number one took the stage and chose an old song that wasn't widely known. His voice was deep and his stage presence was steady, making him a much better performer than the previous contestant.

Perhaps because there were no judges performing at the beginning of the show, the contestants felt less pressured and performed quite well overall.

Twenty contestants, starting the broadcast at 3 pm, even with breaks in between, it won't be over until 10 pm.

Gu Yang glanced at the number 20 sign in his hand and lowered his head in disappointment.

Being number one isn't easy either. The order of appearance is the reverse of the previous ranking, and he has to sit on this hard chair for more than five hours.

Fortunately, the production team was somewhat humane and arranged two hours for meals and rest during the program.

The sixth person to appear was Feng Yuxi.

"Good luck, senior!"

Gu Yang immediately perked up and waved his hand vigorously.

When Feng Yuxi, who was about to go on stage, saw him, she smiled and returned the same gesture.

This scene was captured clearly by the backstage cameras, and the comments in the live stream chat instantly started scrolling.

[Haha, Gu Yang and Feng Yuxi are like elementary school students leaving school, waving goodbye.]

[Hey upstairs, stop being so sarcastic! My daughter does the same thing in kindergarten, it's so cute!]

[Those two really have a good relationship! Last time they were sitting together whispering, and this time they're openly exchanging glances!]

No, the Luoyang couple is the real one, and I've already locked them in! I've swallowed the key!

[Can't the CP fans above just keep to their own little world? My Yangyang is still growing, don't come near me!]

For a time, CP fans and newly formed mom fans were arguing fiercely in the barrage, and the scene was quite hilarious.

In the front row of the audience, Ling Luo watched Feng Yuxi walk onto the stage and unconsciously sat up straighter.

This is a friend whom Gu Yang acknowledges; he should pay more attention to him.

Feng Yuxi sang a recently popular online song, and also added some adaptations to it.

Although the changes were minor, the unique voice still caught everyone's attention.