Chapter 38: A Song to Stardom
The sky full of stars was like a handful of scattered gold, twinkling in the dark night, dotting it with countless dreams and splendor.
Neon lights lit up the entire city. In the studio of the building, a shocking and beautiful musical feast was underway.
Before Chi Xiasheng’s performance, many of the audience had just entered and had not yet fully immersed themselves in the competition. The entire audience was a bit noisy.
The judges were all sitting on the left side of the audience. Su Chimian rested his chin on his hand and watched Chi Xiasheng walk onto the stage, his mind already thinking of how to mock his mistakes in a subtle yet sarcastic way.
In Su Chimian’s heart, Chi Xiasheng was just a vase with nothing but good looks. Just as his acting was hopelessly bad, his singing wouldn’t be much better.
Many people held this thought, including Cheng Yue and Ye Qi, who were watching the fun backstage.
Even the director was crossing his fingers, hoping that Chi Xiasheng wouldn’t make a fool of himself on his first time on stage and ruin his show. The director had already offended Pei Zhixuan because of him, which was enough to make him tear his hair out. If he messed up his singing too, this show would definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame by the audience!
But just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, a singing voice captured all their attention.
It was like the crests of waves leaping up from the sea, rolling and surging, instantly invading the hearts of the audience, making them only able to follow the singing and feel the rise and fall of the sea.
They were captivated by the singing, slowly moving forward with the current, seeing the bright moon and starry sky in the sea, seeing the strangeness and magnificence of the deep sea…
All their emotions were completely drawn and moved by this song. For a moment, they almost forgot where they were.
The one least affected in the entire audience was probably Wen Shu, who was a merman herself. But listening to Chi Xiasheng’s singing, a look of surprise still appeared in her eyes.
Is Chi Xiasheng’s spiritual energy really so powerful?
Wen Shu’s singing could also move people’s hearts, but it did not have such a powerful infectious force as his. This kind of power was probably only possessed by the most powerful merman when the merman race was at its peak…
But Wen Shu quickly softened her expression, feeling gratified and proud for Chi Xiasheng. As his kinsman, she was also proud to have such a beautiful and outstanding junior!
On the judges’ panel, all the judges were clearly immersed in the singing. Only Su Chimian’s eyes showed a struggle.
He didn’t want to admit that he was affected by Chi Xiasheng’s song, but he couldn’t control the feeling of enjoyment. The two emotions clashed and entangled, making his face look very ferocious.
The song was only three minutes long. When it ended, most people were still savoring it, completely unaware that the singing had stopped.
Pei Zhixuan looked at the person on the stage and slowly leaned back in his chair, thinking to himself, As expected, he really is a merman.
After Chi Xiasheng finished singing, he was faced with a deathly silent studio.
He blinked in confusion and let out a soft “huh,” which finally woke everyone up from their immersion in the song.
One person started to applaud, and it eventually grew into a thunderous applause, cheering for Chi Xiasheng’s performance.
Chi Xiasheng smiled, and the starlight fell into his eyes, making some of the “look-cons” (people who are obsessed with looks) scream instantly.
“Ahhh, brother is so handsome!”
And in the live stream, which the audience couldn’t see, the comments had already been spammed with exclamation marks, expressing their shock and infatuation.
[This is absolutely amazing! I almost cried listening to this song!]
[I really feel like I saw a merman singing in front of me. It’s so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes!]
This was an era of extremely fast and widespread communication. The moment Chi Xiasheng finished singing, someone had already started a topic on Weibo, making a short video of his singing and spreading it.
It spread like wildfire. Anyone who clicked on it couldn’t control their urge to scream.
Although this song had an original singer, before Chi Xiasheng sang it, almost no one knew of its existence. Therefore, everyone thought it was a new song that had appeared out of nowhere, so beautiful and intoxicating.
But when they went to search for it on various music apps, they found that the original version was not by Chi Xiasheng, but by a female celebrity who had long since faded from the spotlight.
After listening to it, the netizens, although they thought the female singer’s version was not bad, felt it lacked the soul-stirring, heart-tickling feeling of Chi Xiasheng’s singing.
So, a large number of netizens flocked from the music apps to the live stream, spamming the comments and asking Chi Xiasheng to sing it again.
But the competition was still ongoing. After Chi Xiasheng left the stage, another singer came on with trembling legs.
He had been celebrating that he was performing after Chi Xiasheng. With Chi Xiasheng’s terrible singing as a comparison, he might be remembered by the netizens.
But he never expected the reality to be so desperate…
Chi Xiasheng sings so well, why did he become an actor before!
Isn’t this just misleading people!!
With a heavy heart, this singer had to brace himself and start singing.
In just a few minutes, the number of viewers in the live stream had reached tens of millions and was still rising.
After listening to Chi Xiasheng’s singing, the audience’s souls seemed to have been cleansed. But the moment the next singer came out, they immediately felt what reality was.
[I’ve never wanted time to go back so much…]
[To be honest, I still prefer Chi Xiasheng.]
[Can you not tremble, you singer? Your singing is already going off in eighteen different directions!]
The netizens who had been attracted by the short video on Weibo had thought this show was a high-level competition, but… this?
So only Chi Xiasheng can sing?
The audience and the singer on stage were both physically and mentally exhausted after the performance. When he left the stage, everyone couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Backstage, Chi Xiasheng walked to the waiting area, and the way everyone looked at him was now tinged with a bit of fear.
They had thought he was a bronze, but it turned out he was a king who could kill everything in sight!
How are they supposed to compete with that!
The previous disdain and indifference had now all turned into tears of regret.
If they had known earlier, they would never have let Chi Xiasheng go first!
After he finished singing, it felt as if there was no suspense left in the competition…
Ye Qi, who was in his group, was also speechless. He took a deep look at Chi Xiasheng, clenched his fists, and lowered his head.
The singer who had performed after Chi Xiasheng also came back trembling. He glanced at the bored and dazed Chi Xiasheng in the rest area and felt like cursing.
“Chi Xiasheng, did you professionally study singing before?”
After this question was asked, everyone else also turned their heads to listen to his answer.
“No, I studied landscape engineering in university. Maybe…” Chi Xiasheng looked up at the singers. “It’s talent.”
Everyone: “…”
This damn talent, it’s so depressing.
“Then why did you go into acting?” one of them asked, not understanding.
The viewers in the live stream were also curious about this question. After all, the stunning effect of Chi Xiasheng’s song really made them feel that he had been possessed when he had gone into acting before.
“I always thought I was just an average singer.”
Chi Xiasheng was silent for a moment before he said it truthfully.
Hearing this, the netizens couldn’t help but play with the meme:
[Chi Xiasheng: I can’t sing, just average!]
[Chi Xiasheng: I’m not good-looking, just average!]
…
The singers backstage were speechless and could only silently turn their heads away, lest he say something even more humble.
Chi Xiasheng was also very helpless. Because he had had almost no opportunity to sing in front of people since he was a child, and just trying to survive had taken up all his time, how could he have had a chance to discover his talent?
Therefore, this result was also unexpected for him.
The netizens, on the other hand, advised him to change careers and never go back to acting! They were begging him on their knees!
[Chi Xiasheng’s acting skills, emm… are really two extremes compared to his singing.]
[As expected, God is fair. When he opens a window, he must close a door.]
[I just want to ask, can this song be put on music apps? I want to loop it a few hundred times!]
This request was supported by all the netizens.
His agent, Li Ge, was also paying close attention to the online situation. When he saw the sensation Chi Xiasheng had caused, he couldn’t help but get excited.
This… this is the rhythm of becoming famous!
Seeing the netizens’ demands, Li Ge also immediately contacted various music apps, planning to put the stage version of “Deep Sea” on them to consolidate Chi Xiasheng’s popularity.
The competition was still ongoing.
The next to go on stage was Cheng Yue, who had drawn the third spot.
Listening to the encouragement from the other singers, Cheng Yue felt a strange sense of panic.
Standing on the stage, looking at the fans and audience holding light sticks below, she felt a sense of fear for the first time.
It was just like her first time on stage, her back drenched in a cold sweat from fear.
Listening to the sound of the accompaniment, for some reason, she suddenly remembered what Chi Xiasheng had said during their argument before:
“Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to make a sound on stage?”
At the time, Cheng Yue had just thought it was ridiculous. She had been on countless stages, big and small. How could she not be able to sing on this variety show because of fear?
But the fact was, she really could!
Cheng Yue didn’t know what was wrong with her. After thinking of what Chi Xiasheng had said, her mental defenses had collapsed again and again.
Although it was a cool autumn day, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead, and her hand holding the microphone was trembling.
Her previous spirit and pride had all turned into fear and panic after Chi Xiasheng’s performance.
Cheng Yue just stood on the stage like that. By the time the song was halfway through, she still hadn’t been able to sing a word.
The audience below and online had already started to whisper, wondering why Cheng Yue hadn’t started singing even though the accompaniment was almost over.
[Why do I feel like Cheng Yue is scared?]
[The pressure is too great. Chi Xiasheng’s song before was really shocking. It’s easy for people to have a mental breakdown, especially since she’s competing with him.]
Cheng Yue listened to the accompaniment end, still not having the courage to open her mouth. She just stood there in a daze for the duration of the song.
It wasn’t until she heard the director’s furious voice in her earpiece that she snapped out of her fear.
“Cheng Yue, what are you doing?! Why can’t you even sing!”
Cheng Yue was startled, as if she had just come back from her fear. She looked at the countless eyes of the audience below, and her mentality completely exploded.
She didn’t even remember how she got off the stage. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. As she was being helped away, she almost collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
The netizens all felt that something was wrong with Cheng Yue’s state and left messages telling her to adjust her mentality quickly.
As a singer, if she didn’t even have the ability to withstand pressure on stage, then she would never be able to go far in this industry.
After her performance, the keywords immediately appeared on the trending topics.
Along with the keywords for Chi Xiasheng’s “Deep Sea,” they were ranked first and second.
This show was a complete hit, but it was also polarized between black and red.
The director had been happy about the explosive growth in the show’s traffic after Chi Xiasheng’s performance. But then he had watched with trembling lips as Cheng Yue just stood on the stage without even opening her mouth.
Not to mention that the one who had become famous was Chi Xiasheng, whom he had just offended…
The director felt he couldn’t take such a big blow and almost had a heart attack and fainted.
But reality told him that the blow was not the biggest, only the biggest
