After being dumped by the diva, I was picked up by her arch-enemy.

Jiang Yichen walked down the aisle from the stage.

The light and shadow behind him gradually dimmed.

He pushed open the door at the end of the corridor that was marked "Advanced Players Area".

The room was much more luxurious than the waiting room.

Genuine leather sofas, a temperature-controlled wine cabinet, and even a dedicated tea and snack table.

There was only one person in the room at that time.

Li Ziyan.

"Brother Jiang, congratulations!"

Li Ziyan had silver-gray hair that gleamed coldly under the lights, and a business-like smile on his face.

He extended his hand, making a gesture as if to shake hands.

"Your performance just now was truly wonderful."

Jiang Yichen glanced at him and shook his hand politely.

"Thanks."

Li Ziyan withdrew his hand, the curve of his lips remained unchanged, but the smile did not reach his eyes, and his tone was even more sarcastic.

"To be honest, I've never heard of you before, Brother Jiang."

"It's truly unexpected to produce original works of this caliber in the preliminary rounds."

He deliberately emphasized the words "preliminary selection".

The implication is clear—you've already revealed your hand in the initial selection, what else can you bring out later?

Jiang Yichen leaned back into the sofa, his posture casual.

"You flatter me."

Just three words. There was no response, nor any further explanation.

Li Ziyan's smile froze for a moment. He was originally prepared to continue with a few more words of "concern," but the other party clearly didn't want to talk.

He couldn't very well continue to press his way forward.

"I'll head back to my seat now. Good luck in the upcoming matches."

After saying that, he turned and left.

As Li Ziyan returned to his seat, the smile on his face slowly faded.

He picked up his phone and glanced at the live stream chat.

The screen was filled with the three characters "Jiang Yichen".

His fans' comments in the live chat, such as "Ziyan is the best" and "Best of the night," were long ago drowned out.

Li Ziyan locked the screen and tapped his fingers lightly twice on his thigh.

An unknown nobody who only emerged from the preliminary rounds.

It's just a publicity stunt.

Once the audience's initial excitement wears off in the later matches, what kind of waves will he be able to stir up?

Li Ziyan told himself this.

But his clenched fists betrayed his true emotions.

The competition on stage continues.

Over the next hour, seven or eight more contestants took turns performing.

Some sang decently and barely passed, while others were so nervous that they cracked their voices and were eliminated on the spot.

But no matter who goes on stage, the most discussed topic in the live stream chat is always Jiang Yichen's song "Red-Clad Ladies".

"I'm still listening to that opera tune on repeat, it's so addictive."

Is there a complete version? I'm looking for a resource!

"What did this guy do before? I've never heard of him before?"

10 PM.

The recording of the first episode of "The Voice of Heaven" has officially concluded.

The host, Shao Hua, stood in the center of the stage, giving the final closing remarks to the camera.

"Thank you for watching."

"Tonight, a total of five contestants have successfully advanced, and they will face off against the other contestants who advanced in an orderly fashion in the next round, resulting in an even more brutal competition."

See you next time!

As the lights dimmed, the audience began to leave the venue.

Jiang Yichen got up from the qualifying contestants' area and picked up the coat that was placed next to him.

The phone screen lit up.

Gu Ruanxing's WeChat message.

Let me know when you get back, and I'll send a driver to pick you up.

Jiang Yichen replied with a "Okay".

As I walked out of the recording studio, a black van was already waiting by the roadside.

He opened the car door, got in, and leaned back in the leather seat in the back, closing his eyes to rest.

Tonight's events went smoothly.

Although I was disgusted by that old man surnamed Chen in the middle, the result wasn't bad.

As for Lin Qinghe's vote...

Jiang Yichen rubbed his temples.

Whatever her reasons were for approving it, it didn't matter to him.

The van drove smoothly through the night.

Half an hour later, we stopped in front of the small villa.

Jiang Yichen pushed open the door; the living room lights were still on.

Gu Ruanxing nestled on the sofa, the coffee table in front of her littered with potato chip crumbs and empty Coke cans. She held her phone in her hand, typing rapidly.

He looked up when he heard the noise.

"You're back?"

"Um."

Gu Ruanxing turned her phone screen to him.

"Look, the trending topics on all platforms are exploding right now!"

Jiang Yichen took the phone and glanced at it.

Several related topics were prominently featured on the trending topics list on Tencent Weibo.

[#Jiang Yichen's Heavenly Voice#] — Sixth on the trending topics list!

【#Chiling Opera Singing#】—8th on the trending searches!

[#Chen Yaohua's comments spark controversy#] — Trending topic number 12!

Gu Ruanxing stood up from the sofa, put her hands on her hips, and raised her chin high.

"Strike while the iron is hot; I've already instructed the company's PR department to get to work overnight."

"The promotion of short video platforms, the data maintenance of major music charts, and the press releases from several top entertainment accounts have all been arranged."

She counted on her fingers.

"Tomorrow morning, high-definition clips of your performance will be all over the internet."

"Once the hype picks up again, your name will be firmly established in the industry!"

Jiang Yichen returned the phone to her.

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Gu."

Gu Ruanxing glanced at him, a smug smile playing on her lips.

"Follow me, and I guarantee you'll live the high life."

That night, Gu Ruanxing didn't make a fuss about playing King of Glory, and Jiang Yichen slept soundly.

The internet, however, remained quiet all night.

The next morning.

Jiang Yichen was woken up by the vibration of his phone.

Although the original owner was just a nobody in the entertainment industry, she was still in the industry and naturally had a Weibo account.

The vibrations on my phone were all caused by messages from Weibo.

He groggily reached for his phone and opened Weibo.

The account, which originally had just over 10,000 followers, has now grown to 300,000 followers.

It ranked first on the trending search list.

[#Jiang Yichen Chi Ling#]

Jiang Yichen clicked on the topic and scrolled down two screens.

The number of views has exceeded ten million.

Discussion threads are everywhere.

The top trending topic is a long article posted by a music blogger with millions of followers.

"The biggest surprise of last night's 'The Voice of China' was undoubtedly Jiang Yichen's song 'The Red-Clad Lament.' It seamlessly blends traditional opera singing with pop arrangement, achieving an extremely high level of execution. The quality of this song is top-notch even in the entire Chinese music scene."

"On the other hand, Professor Chen Yaohua's comments, if I may be so bold, are completely untenable. To say this is 'disrespectful to traditional opera'? Then, Professor Chen, is bringing opera into the view of young people and sparking more interest in traditional culture considered disrespectful?"

"True disrespect is letting national treasures be shelved and ignored."

The comment section under this Weibo post has already received over a thousand replies.

"Well said! I was furious when I heard Chen Yaohua's words!"

"It's obvious they're deliberately picking a fight. What kind of senior are they? Their mindset is pitifully small."

"I suspect he took money, and I won't accept any rebuttal."

"Hahaha, stop cursing, stop cursing! Old Deng is turning in his grave."

Jiang Yichen continued scrolling down.

Another popular post was a high-definition video clip of his performance last night.

Views: 800,000.

The comments section was filled with praise.

"It played on repeat all night long, I just couldn't stop."

"I got goosebumps all over during the Peking Opera singing part. I've never heard such a stunning performance on a variety show in my life."

"Why wasn't this person famous before? Did God hide him away?"

"Handsome and talented, God is really unfair."

Further down, there's a whole bunch of fan-made videos.

Someone paired his opera singing excerpts with ancient-style visuals.

Someone made a GIF of his facial expressions while singing, which went viral on various forums.

Jiang Yichen logged out of Weibo and threw his phone next to his pillow.

He had to admit that Star Entertainment's methods were indeed impressive.

With this investment of resources, coupled with the quality of the work itself and its popularity, the hype surrounding it skyrocketed.

Of course, Chen Yaohua's highly controversial comments became the best catalyst for further fueling the fire.

What netizens love most is the "face-slapping" plot.

A highly respected senior figure harshly criticizes a newcomer who has just started out.

As a result, another judge immediately refuted him, contradicting him.

Such stories naturally have the power to spread.

Chen Yaohua's Weibo comment section is probably now a complete mess of insults.