Chapter 18: Mengmeng Was Cleared in the Very First Episode

The recording process for “Sing My Heart Tonight” Season 7 was very fast, so fast it felt urgent.

Because Tide needed to exploit a time gap.

As everyone knew, a talent show could hardly fail if done with enough care. Besides, Whale already had a successful female version precedent. Even at worst, they could just copy it!

Hundred Blossoms’ slow travel variety show was also full of drama, with endless hot searches.

But how could a music variety show in its seventh season achieve a breakthrough?

Reputation had to be fiercely guarded. At the same time, it needed fresh elements everywhere, highlights in every episode, and sing-along moments for all. Beyond strictly controlling stage quality and inviting guests who inherently generated buzz, the only option was to exhaust all marketing power and hope for the right timing, right place, and right people.

From the start of formal recording to the first public performance, there was just one week in between.

But many things had to be done within that week:

Discussing the adaptation direction, officially beginning the adaptation production, confirming new arrangements with the orchestra; concurrent with this were vocal and instrumental rehearsals, and advancing the visual and wardrobe concepts. Occasionally, a call from the program team, explaining that some concept couldn’t be realized, meant everyone might have to change the plan on the fly…

The night he returned to J City after the public performance, Li Tingzhou felt a long-lost weariness.

As exhausting as consecutively grinding through four or five major projects, followed by two large-scale concerto sessions without sleep.

He rarely complained to Liu Lusi. “A price increase is the right call. This job isn’t easy.”

Liu Lusi would never give up any opportunity to raise the performance fee for Heartbreak or Mengmeng individually. Whenever there was room for improvement, she would find a way to negotiate it. Previously, Li Tingzhou worried she might blow the deal, considering Heartbreak was indeed quite short on money, and thought less was fine. But now, he only felt Ms. Lusi was right.

This was all hard-earned money. Taking more was only fair.

“You’ll get used to it eventually.”

She had already arranged meetings with two professional agents these past few days. If the talks succeeded, Mengmeng would be given wings to fly during the “Sing My Heart Tonight” broadcast. Even if they failed, riding the show’s rising buzz, there would likely be people recognizing Mengmeng and Heartbreak’s potential, proactively seeking cooperation.

After discussing business, Liu Lusi left first.

Li Tingzhou, as usual, stayed in the studio to work overtime.

~

Friday night at 10 PM, Blue Ocean TV started broadcasting on time.

Unchanging sponsors, ever-changing openings.

“Sing My Heart Tonight” had no flashy intro, diving straight into the main content. While this season’s focus on the guest singer groups extended the introduction segment, it wasn’t boring. The audience simultaneously mocked the uneven standards of the guest singers while actively betting on this season’s dark horses, judging which pair looked more like champions.

At the same time, in S City.

Cui Lin was also watching TV. Beside him were his agent, Chi Yue, who had just finished a video conference, and his assistant, busy tidying the table.

The new show hadn’t worked out. For someone of Cui Lin’s caliber, it was completely irrelevant. He didn’t rely on variety show fees to eat, nor was he willing to overly expose himself outside of his dramatic roles.

“Oh, Night Heart is already airing?” Chi Yue stretched lazily.

“Yeah, they recorded late, but they’re the fastest to air.” The assistant multitasked, pulling up a few pages on his computer to check netizens’ real-time reactions.

“Say what you will, Tide works really efficiently.”

Cui Lin saw a face flash by on screen, and his breath caught for a moment.

At the same time, the assistant instantly recognized Mengmeng, the lead singer of Heartbreak, recalling their previous visit to Wave Tower when they’d squeezed into the elevator with the three Heartbreak members leaving work.

“I was going to mention it then…”

Before he could finish, Cui Lin interrupted, “Then why didn’t you?”

The assistant was speechless. “I said you wouldn’t know him even if I did!”

He had thought, since the boss stared at him for a few moments, perhaps he knew Heartbreak? Then in the car, hearing “Brittle Glass” and not knowing who sang it, it seemed he hadn’t quite matched the face to the voice. So no need to add extra words.

Chi Yue quickly intervened. “Hey, it’s First Sister’s group!”

The opening for Ren Shiyu’s group was unique.

She frankly stated she had proactively contacted her guest singer. “Before this, I had collaborated with Mengmeng. I trust him, and Mengmeng understands very well what feeling I need.”

The screen gave a cute big-head special effect:

[35-year-old Cheerful Big Girl] × [25-year-old Steady Little Lead Singer]

Youth and steadiness weren’t contradictory.

This was the program team deliberately strengthening the tag for the debuting Mengmeng.

Then, the perspective cut to Mengmeng’s introduction—the first performance after Heartbreak’s lead singer transition. That night, the night breeze blew the stray hair sticking out from under his beanie. Any casually captured frame was bursting with hormonal impact.

Viewers could probably understand First Sister’s mood at that moment.

Working with a handsome and reliable young man was indeed satisfying!

The assistant clapped his hands. “Right? This blues spotlight effect is so cool.”

As he spoke, his peripheral vision caught his boss’s expression—

He saw Cui Lin frozen in place, jawline taut.

The eyes praised by famous directors stared unblinkingly, like an eagle circling high above, fixating on prey on the ground, though not quite as fierce. He just watched, wordlessly. His slowed breathing pattern seemed more like hesitation, contemplation.

Chi Yue’s takeout arrived. He started eating while commenting.

“In the other groups, there’s a subtle rivalry between the main guest and guest singer, each wanting more screen time. But First Sister’s side doesn’t mind the guest singer standing out, and the guest singer only wants to maximize the adaptation’s impact. They don’t discuss dividing screen time at all.”

Although this online meeting segment was staged, the audience didn’t know that.

Chi Yue certainly couldn’t tell. “They’re so straightforward!”

His summary roughly represented netizens’ immediate reactions:

【First Sister picked well herself, knowing Mengmeng is a doer.】

【Who understands? Mengmeng cuts the crap from the start, just pushing progress.】

【Mengmeng hasn’t asked for screen time at all so far. He only cares about the overall adaptation effect. First Sister’s fans, after all that scolding, don’t you feel guilty?】

【Really love this version of Mengmeng. The veins on the back of his hands are so sexy.】

The cameras switched back and forth among the seven groups. First Sister’s group already had quite a lot of screen time.

Li Tingzhou also benefited, appearing on screen frequently.

Every time he appeared, Chi Yue would marvel, “This face is incredible. The type that’s a total magnet for female fans.”

As a professional agent, he was naturally predisposed to notice such things.

The assistant looked forward to the stage even more. He compared the progress of the seven groups and found that despite all the arguing, everyone was doing their work seriously, especially Zhuang Yifan’s group. Earlier, there was a hot search about him scolding his partner to tears, but according to the broadcast footage, his interactions with Wang Chao weren’t as confrontational as imagined.

“Both want a comeback. They argue, so what? Can they really split up?”

The other groups also quickly showed signs of running-in.

Just as everyone thought things were smoothing out, the camera returned to First Sister’s group, the pair with the most established rapport before the show. On the third day of recording together, they had a super cold war erupt!

Tide redeemed the “Deadly Silent 18 Seconds” preview.

The screen split into two, showing Ren Shiyu and Mengmeng’s faces on either side.

Ren Shiyu rarely displayed such hesitation and uncertainty.

As for Mengmeng, his superior facial features somewhat neutralized his cold, hard attitude. Simply put, with a face like that, it was hard to stay angry at him.

【How about this: Sis, try it first, and let me hear the effect.】

Chi Yue exclaimed, “I knew Mengmeng would back down.”

The assistant sighed, “What else could he do? He couldn’t win against First Sister.”

Cui Lin’s gaze remained on Mengmeng, not believing he would relent so easily.

The program team deliberately left a cliffhanger here to highlight First Sister’s effort and transformation. Of course, they added supplementary characterization for Mengmeng, because he was both producer and performer. The more the other groups stumbled and clashed, the more it showcased his ability to coordinate and handle pressure.

Even Chi Yue couldn’t help but praise him as “impressive.”

This impressive quality wasn’t just his strong professional skills, but also his charisma in winning over First Sister and the surrounding staff.

It was clear that Mengmeng was anything but simple…

After sitting glued to the screen for nearly an hour, Chi Yue didn’t care much about the other guests’ screen time. Only every appearance by Mengmeng felt vivid and profound.

“Watch closely. This kid is taking off fast.”

~

【When to Criminalize Lip-Syncing and Fake Playing | Night Heart Seven First Impressions】

————

[Mengmeng Night Heart Seven Personal Promotional Photo.JPG]

Circle Grass guards the main post.

Never thought an hour could pass so fast.

Logged onto Tide to watch past seasons of Night Heart. Okay, the first episodes are always short.

This show has something special to reach a seventh season. Its rhythm control is effortless. No flashy flashbacks or non-linear narratives; it just follows the timeline. Screen time was distributed fairly evenly among the groups, with extra given to those with topics or conflicts. But the specific details are abundant; need to rewatch on the streaming platform.

The most magical thing is, even knowing this season is likely rigged for First Sister, I’m still interested in continuing.

1L: Yes, went to rewatch online immediately after it ended.

5L: Tonight’s hot search, top 50 occupied six times. Tide is relatively restrained.

9L: Mengmeng alone occupies one. What concept? Need I say more?

18L: Actually, Mengmeng’s total screen time was less than five minutes (smoking emoji)

21L: Then he truly has a strong presence.

27L: Thought Tide would milk that malicious preview edit, didn’t expect the first episode cleared Mengmeng’s name (not really).

37L: Honestly, I quite agree with that music critic blogger. Mengmeng and Zhuang Yifan represent two kinds of pride, but the public better accepts Mengmeng’s self-aware, restrained pride. Unlike Zhuang Yifan who fights everyone, Mengmeng actually has skills in social interaction. When he confronted First Sister, she wasn’t really angry. The moment Mengmeng temporarily backed down, First Sister’s expression showed complete relief. She’ll most likely end up listening to Mengmeng in the end…

45L: +1, First Sister isn’t incapable of singing it; she just habitually retreats.

58L: [Mengmeng drinking the sponsor’s milk]x2

Picked up some good stuff from the Sister-in-Law Station. Thank goodness for the girlfriend fans.

63L: Was gonna buy the same milk, saw it’s 12.8 RMB a bottle, forget it.

68L: And Mengmeng even got a mid-roll ad now. So cute.

73L: When your Meng is speechless, his slight frown is truly so handsome. No wonder First Sister isn’t mad. If I were facing this face, I wouldn’t be angry either. I’d take the initiative to coax him…

79L: So can the next episode air the first public performance?

I can recite the few surviving online reports from memory by now.

82L: We can, sister. Night Heart’s opening first episode is always very short. Afterwards, it’s 70% stage (incl. rehearsal) + 10% critiques + 10% next challenge intro + 10% new round of conflicts.

Very old, very formulaic, used from Season 1 through Season 6.

87L: Can the next streaming episode be extended to two hours? Can it?

102L: Quickly patrolling Mengmeng Square. Dream Girls and Sister Fans are fighting in a tangled mess!

…

210L: Eye-opening. Mengmeng has warrior fans now too.

216L: Feels like there were faint signs before, just missing a spark. After tonight’s first episode aired, Mengmeng fans immediately strutted with pride! They didn’t really want to fight anyone, mainly resisting individual Sister fans trying to pair him up romantically.

225L: Inner entertainment female star fans are all like that. Nothing unusual.

234L: As long as a breathing man stands beside their Sis, they’ll fantasize about him liking her. I mean, Mengmeng and First Sister are 10 years apart.

241L: If you knew Mengmeng and his first love are 7 years apart…

244L: ?? Hello?? Who said this??

265L: Hey, is that right? Dropping a bomb in the thread and running away??

289L: Arrest 241! Arrest 241 with full force!

291L: [Consort Hua roaring in the rain: Kill her.JPG]

301L: Come back, sisters, please just keep discussing the show. I really don’t want to dwell on Mengmeng and the First-Gen Meng’s Wife. I admit I’m breaking down, okay…