I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Lu Yu introduced with a smile, "We've invited the famous singer Xu Xiangxiao, and the popular idol Cai Xiaokui..."

Xu Xiangxiao waved to interrupt the host, seemingly a little nervous: "Hello everyone, I'm Xu Xiangxiao."

It's obvious she hasn't been on many variety shows like this, and she's not very familiar with the routines; her shyness is immediately apparent.

In fact, as the most important person in the guest group, she can act as a stabilizing force even without saying a word, and she attracts attention on her own.

However, it was precisely because of the contrast between her ordinary persona and her seniority that many viewers found it amusing, feeling that she was like a girl next door.

Cai Xiaokui has appeared on far more variety shows than Xu Xiangxiao, and she's very photogenic. She immediately interrupted, saying:

"Thank you to the program team for letting me meet my idol. I have liked Xu Xiangxiao for many years."

Xu Xiangxiao asked shyly, "I heard you're very good at rapping?"

"Yeah, I'd like to play basketball with you again if I have the chance."

Xu Xiangxiao blushed and turned her head away: "I don't know how..."

Gao Xiaobai smiled and said, "You two generations of idols are quite harmonious, which is really rare."

After saying that, he turned to Lu Yu and said, "Xiangxiao and I are old friends too. We met before in... 'Poetic Life', right?"

Mentioning the show, Xu Xiangxiao suddenly brightened up: "Yes, yes, back in the Tianya forum... uh, I mean, JX, and the Music Archives, those days are very memorable..."

Once Xu Xiangxiao brings up any topic related to Chen Ya, even the slightest hint, she automatically veers towards Chen Ya and accelerates the conversation relentlessly.

Gao Xiaobai quickly steered the conversation back on track, saying:

“The production team specially invited the two of you here. After thinking about it carefully, I feel that it makes a lot of sense.”

Lu Yu seized the opportunity to ask, "How so?"

"The two idols are unparalleled in their professionalism as 'idols.' We are sitting in a studio in China, where we can not only hear the comments from the judges but also listen to the two idols' comments. Isn't that much clearer than being there in person?"

Lu Yu clapped his hands and exchanged a smile with Gao Xiaobai, who was waving a fan: "That makes sense!"

After saying that, Lu Yu continued, "The warm-up program has started playing on set. Perfect, we can review the previous rounds. Ms. Xiangxiao and Ms. Xiaokui, have you two watched the show before?"

Xu Xiangxiao shook her head honestly and said, "No at first. Last week, Xinhai suddenly dragged me to watch the show. I only watched a little bit of the edited version and didn't watch the live broadcast."

Lu Yu asked, "Do you know which contestants are participating?"

Xu Xiangxiao counted on her fingers, about to say "Chen Ya," but fortunately, she quickly changed her mind and only opened her mouth without saying a word.

Just last week, Jiang Xinhai discovered that Chen Ya, using the alias Chen Liang, had gone to participate in a variety show. She immediately announced this in the group chat, and almost everyone in the group went to watch the live stream.

Xu Xiangxiao also watched it. She specifically searched for Chen Liang's clips on PineapplePineapple and naturally knew that Chen Liang was among the contestants.

Of course, this only applied to Chen Liang—she didn't pay attention to any of the other contestants.

She was naturally embarrassed to mention Chen Liang's name. If she only mentioned Chen Liang and couldn't name anyone else, wouldn't that seem... too obvious?

Lu Yu, unaware of the situation, assumed she was just being polite and didn't actually understand the livestream, so she quickly tried to smooth things over, saying:

"It seems that Teacher Xu doesn't really know much about the show, and the contestants' names are rarely mentioned in the edited videos. What about Teacher Cai Xiao Kui?"

Cai Xiaokui touched her head and said she hadn't seen it at all, not even the video clips.

This was also a requirement of the production team, who specifically asked the guests to provide commentary with zero prior knowledge, in order to help new viewers better immerse themselves in the experience.

After asking the questions, Lu Yu began to introduce each contestant one by one, accompanied by videos of their past experiences.

The video starts on the ship and cuts in both daily life and the competition, with a great pace.

Lu Yu introduced Qin Yunshang to Jin Lan, and at that moment, the video happened to be playing a scene where "Chen Liang scolded Jin Lan, and Jin Lan hid and cried in grievance."

This segment is full of topics and interesting points. The production team loves to bring up this segment repeatedly to criticize it. Jin Lan can't stop it from airing even if she doesn't want it to.

Lu Yu said, "I heard that Jin Lan and Chen Liang had some conflicts before. Teacher Xu, have you ever had conflicts with the songwriters you've collaborated with?"

Xu Xiangxiao was staring intently at the screen. There weren't many scenes featuring Chen Liang, so she was watching very carefully. She was startled when Lu Yu suddenly called on her.

"Conflict?" Xu Xiangxiao raised her head, then pretended to think. "The only person I've ever worked with is Tianya. How could I dare to have a conflict with him?"

"Aren't you afraid to have a conflict with Tianya? Is he a very domineering person?" Lu Yu asked, her eyes wide.

“Overbearing? No, that’s not what I meant…” Xu Xiangxiao said, “He’s always right, so just listen to him. Besides, he’s very busy and doesn’t have time to argue with me. I can’t waste his time.”

At this point, Xu Xiangxiao said with a hint of regret:

"If I were Jin Lan, I would definitely listen obediently and wouldn't even think of arguing back..."

Although she didn't know why Chen Ya wanted to appear on the show under a pseudonym, she knew there must be a reason.

I don't know what kind of good fortune Jin Lan has accumulated to be able to get such a great deal and sing Chen Ya's songs so casually... You know, Xu Xiangxiao hasn't sung any of Chen Ya's songs for many years!

So from her perspective, Jin Lan was somewhat ungrateful.

But to other people, those words don't sound right.

Lu Yu and Gao Xiaobai exchanged a glance, both reading the same message from each other's eyes. Lu Yu turned back and murmured:

"I feel that Ms. Xu Xiangxiao is really... down-to-earth."

Gao Xiaobai pushed up his glasses and said, "He's a little too honest."

Xu Xiangxiao looked at him, and Gao Xiaobai continued:

"It's true that it's best for songwriters and singers to avoid conflicts, but it's also wrong to completely abandon one's own ideas, since it's ultimately one's own responsibility to sing the song."

After saying that, Gao Xiaobai changed the subject and added:

"But I can understand Xiangxiao. Who did she collaborate with? JX. When you collaborate with a genius like that, you have to think about how to do it well, not whether you should do it or not. But others don't have such good luck. Others may not be able to meet the same genius."

Lu Yu sensed something was up and immediately asked:

"So, what do you think of Chen Liang's skill level as a lyricist and composer?"

Gao Xiaobai waved his fan and said, "I don't know much about him. I listened to his book 'Plum Jam' and it's a decent commercial work."

He didn't say much more, implying that it was "just a passable commercial work."

Judging by his standards, "Plum Jam" is far from meeting the criteria for a good work in his mind, and far inferior to his own songs.

Xu Xiangxiao straightened up, about to retort, when Lu Yu suddenly said:

"It seems there's been a problem at the scene; Chen Liang hasn't arrived yet!"

On the screen, the host, with a serious expression, explained the rules into the microphone. After listening for a while, Lu Yu helped translate the message from Chinese to Chinese:

"The host means that if a contestant doesn't show up during the vote-soliciting segment, their score will be reduced by 25%. If Chen Liang doesn't come either, Yun Shang'er is in big trouble!"

In the live stream, after the host explained the scoring rules, the chat exploded.

"Is this scoring system biased against Yun Shang'er? They're doing this on purpose because Chen Liang isn't here. They really don't want Yun Shang'er to get first place!"

"I don't understand what you're complaining about. You think it's okay for Chen Liang not to come to the scene? Isn't that his own problem?"

"Rumor has it that Chen Liang was arrested at a brothel, which is why he didn't come to the scene."

"I'm really fed up with this guy. He's a typical example of someone who's talented but lacks integrity. I can't believe I trusted him before. It's terrible that Yunshang'er has such a teammate."

……

Jiang Xinhai turned to look at Qin Yunchu and asked, "What's the deal with these rules?"

Qin Yun Chu said helplessly, "These rules were set a long time ago, and I can't interfere with changing them..."

Jiang Xinhai wrinkled his nose: "You really don't want your sister to win the championship, do you?"

Although she expressed her dissatisfaction, it was just a habitual way of protecting her husband; she didn't really take the competition result seriously.

The songs Chen Ya wrote this time are enough to prove that he is still as good as ever. Even if he doesn't win first place in the end, he has already won.

Gu Yuqing suddenly interjected, "Don't blame Xiao Qin, this is actually a good thing."

"How to say?"

Gu Yuqing smiled and looked down at her phone.

“I gave him a task before he came, telling him he had to get first place. I’m sending him the rules now, let’s see if he still dares not to come.”

Jiang Xinhai's eyes lit up.

She came to see Chen Ya, not to watch the competition. Wouldn't it be better if she could use this to force Chen Ya to come out?

"Send it! Send him a message right now. He's been spending too much time with that Japanese woman. If Yunshang'er doesn't get first place because of him, I don't know how he'll feel about it!"

Chen Xi, sitting a few seats away, looked over with a puzzled expression.

Seeing their heated discussion, she became curious about what these prominent goddesses were so interested in.

Chapter 484 If Love Had a Color

After the host finished explaining the rules, Guo Xiaoran and Meng Xing, who were sitting in the audience, couldn't help but exchange a glance.

There's hope.

This is what they mean by "it's better to have a good team than to play well." No matter how amazing your own performance is, it's not as good as having a terrible teammate on the other side.

Originally, they had no chance of winning first place against Qin Yunshang.

But with Chen Liang joining their opponents, they have a real chance to compete for first place.

The points system for this final is as follows:

First, tally the tickets. The ticket with the most tickets gets 50 points, the second gets 30 points, and the third gets 10 points.

Next is the first round of competition, where the three singers take turns performing, and the judges score them to determine the first, second, and third place winners.

Then, starting from the third place, players can actively choose an opponent to PK with. A successful PK adds 50 points, while a failed PK deducts 50 points.

In the third round, online voting will begin again. The person with the most votes will receive 150 points, the person with the second most votes will receive 50 points, and the person with the third most votes will receive 0 points.

In other words, the point difference between the first and second place teams, even if the first and third rounds are combined, is only 100 points.

If the second-place team wins in the second round, the difference between the two teams will be enough to even out the score.

Add to that the rule of "deducting 25% of points for not showing up," and wouldn't that be an instant win?!

Guo Xiaoran had already thoroughly calculated the competition format and points before the competition and studied all kinds of situations, so he was particularly sensitive.

Meng Xing may seem indifferent, but he actually harbors a strong ambition to be number one.

Guo Xiaoran narrowed his eyes, turned to look at Meng Xing, and said:

What do you think?

Meng Xing pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "Strive for second place."

"Second place?" Guo Xiaoran almost burst out laughing when she heard Meng Xing say that. "I don't believe you've been working on your songs until 4 a.m. every day just to get second place."

"Second place first, then first," Meng Xing said. "We can't win the ticket scramble. Let's start from the first round and see."

Guo Xiaoran smiled.

It seems they both think the same thing.

Some are happy while others are worried. They feel there's a chance, but others will also notice this problem after seeing the competition format.

Yunshang'er's die-hard fans, in particular, are extremely anxious at this moment.

In the forum and in Yunshang'er's campaign group, all sorts of messages were flying around.

There are all sorts of rumors about Chen Liang's disappearance.

Some say that Chen Liang was excluded from the show by the production team and couldn't get on the program;

Some say he had a financial dispute with the production team, with an unequal share of the contract. He protested because he couldn't use the show, and as a result, the production team targeted him.

Some say this was a deliberate production by the show's producers to create a dramatic effect; otherwise, Qin Yunshang was too strong, and the other two teams wouldn't stand a chance.

The most outrageous claim is that he went to Okubo Park to illegally cohabit with a local female university student, and as a result, he was arrested and imprisoned.

On the forum, a post about "What exactly did Chen Liang do?" quickly garnered over six thousand replies.

"Honestly, if Chen Liang hadn't come and Yun Shang'er had lost, he would have been nailed to the pillar of historical shame!"

"Would the production team let Yunshang'er lose? Aren't they afraid of being bombed?"

"This is where the production team is being clever. As long as they shift the blame to Chen Liang, it's like they're going to expose him. It seems the production team is already planning to rig the show."

"To put it bluntly, Chen Liang is a scapegoat. He has neither background nor qualifications, making him the best candidate to take the blame."

"Is this forum for filial sons? Why is everyone's post so full of filial piety? Chen Liang has neither background nor qualifications, so what blame does he have to take? He doesn't even show up, yet he's shifting the blame onto others?"