Chapter 37: Who Exactly Was a Child Back Then?

Flying to G City once a week, the Heartbreak members were now so accustomed to it they were numb.

Deep summer had arrived. G City regularly hit 40-degree heat with high humidity. Even just standing still outdoors, one would slowly sweat into a sopping mess. Under such wildly scorching temperatures, the production team was immensely thankful they had finished recording the Summoning Match last week.

After this episode’s recording, the overall number of groups still needed to be kept at seven.

That is: the Raid Singer group whose elimination was pending would face off against the lowest-scoring Premier group. The former, if they won, would be promoted to Premier. The latter, if they won, would mean the pending Raid Singer failed their raid.

This wasn’t to prolong survival but to conclude the previous Summoning Match.

If they had followed the format of previous seasons, both matches would have been completed consecutively last week.

But every season had its unexpected situations.

Last week’s circumstances—venue, time, and guests’ schedules—simply didn’t allow it.

The heat, fearing the audience might not endure it, was just one aspect. Guest schedule conflicts could have been adjusted in an emergency if needed, giving way to more important engagements. The key factor was that the Spirit Confluence Hall, facing an inspection by leadership, dared not defy the odds and casually extend the performance time the production team had originally applied for!

One could only say, there are always gains with losses.

If the leaders came, it added prestige to the show and secured official endorsement.

If they didn’t come, they could try to extend the performance time and just pay a fine afterward. Both Tide and Blue Ocean TV were G City’s own platforms. Even if fined, how much could it really be? Just a token gesture to provide an explanation.

As soon as they assembled tonight, Ren Shiyu was talking about this very matter.

“…So now Feng Mo and his people are just butting heads with the production team over this.”

“Because they have to compete in an extra match, preparation is bound to be insufficient. No matter who gets eliminated, the Raid and Premier groups will have less time to prepare for the 4th Public Performance compared to the other groups. Half a day less can set them far behind, and a day and a half less could put them several lengths behind! They think it’s unfair, believing the competition rules set by the production team are unreasonable.”

But hadn’t the guests in previous seasons all gone through the same thing?

Being ranked lower, was it because they didn’t want to compete for the top spots? Couldn’t outperform other Premier groups, so they should have been prepared for the possibility of being challenged by the Raid group. And now they were dragging the fairness banner into this…

Li Tingzhou bent his index finger, adjusted his glasses frame, and asked, “So what’s the word now?”

Ren Shiyu shrugged. “Bickering, of course.”

Pan Jun, the Whale Media representative, considered himself just an Associate Director, not responsible for anything.

When guests’ agents gathered to voice demands, he’d respond to the left with, “That’s a fair point,” and to the right with, “You’re not wrong either.” When the main creative team officially convened a meeting to discuss solutions, his tone shifted again: “I think this plan is viable,” “This public opinion risk does exist.” His stance was all over the place—every question answered, but his answers were meaningless.

But the one person Pan Jun would never brush off was Mengmeng.

Not only that, he even tipped him off. “Don’t go to sleep too early tonight. Tidy up a bit. They might summon you all for a meeting late tonight.”

Meaning, there’d be cameras recording on-site.

Li Tingzhou was rarely this speechless. “Is this for Qu Lang and Feng Mo’s groups?”

If it was just their issue, why wouldn’t the production team just hash out a solution themselves? Why call in the other groups?

Surely things hadn’t deteriorated to the point where everyone needed to share the blame?

“I’m not worried about First Sister not knowing how to handle it. My main concern is you. Don’t act too resistant. You don’t need to stick your neck out to express an opinion on anything. Just go with the flow and cast a vote!” Pan Jun rarely spoke so plainly. It wasn’t that he feared Mengmeng wouldn’t understand, but rather he feared Mengmeng might understand too well and seem too calm. If a conflict plot lacked the reaction of a key guest, the direction of the storyline would seem too deliberate once the final cut was edited.

In every episode of Night Heart Seven, clips focusing solely on Mengmeng had the highest replay engagement.

Those analysis bloggers especially loved creating Mengmeng reaction compilations.

What brand of clothes he wore, what special accessories he had, how his long or short work footage demonstrated his professional, profound abilities and skillsets. Even a single reaction shot of Mengmeng during another guest’s performance backstage, they would try to interpret it. Even though the professional content was genuinely tough for entertainment bloggers to digest…

Regardless of the topic, the engagement was invariably good, proving effective time and again.

The Heartbreak Studio was generous and tolerant of such entertainment-based derivative content. And Mengmeng seemed very reassuring too. Apart from his tendency to fall in love, his conduct was upright, his heart was good, his work capability was strong, and there was absolutely no fatal career-ending threat. The bloggers’ videos wouldn’t risk copyright infringement or takedowns.

After the production team collected and summarized the feedback, they became intentional about giving Mengmeng certain roles to play.

The first to pioneer this trend and successfully benefit from it were Ancient Style King’s fans. They loved using Mengmeng’s professional, producer-level assessments to back up Ancient Style King’s performance…

One could imagine just how many viewers were scrutinizing every frame with a magnifying glass.

Li Tingzhou exhaled slowly. “I got it. When will they roughly come?”

Pan Jun’s end transmitted the sound of a lighter sparking a cigarette. He took a deep drag before answering, “Three writers and two Associate Directors are rewriting the script overnight. It’ll take some time.”

This “some time” meant anywhere from half an hour to an hour.

First Sister’s side had also received a heads-up from Zhou Ling. She simply packed up her things and came to work overtime with Mengmeng. She rarely wore a shirt jacket, her long hair tied in a low ponytail hanging in front. Completely bare-faced like Li Tingzhou, she’d found a pair of glasses to put on.

“I’ll have to treat Zhao Chenmin to a meal soon. She picked a great song for us.”

Li Tingzhou smiled in reply. “Me too.”

The fourth round of public performances on Sing My Heart Tonight was generally semi-freeform. Each season, a broad theme was designated: The fifth season coincided with the Hong Kong & Macau Return Anniversary, with the theme Golden Years, and guests mostly chose classic Cantonese golden oldies. The sixth season responded to the anniversary of the nation’s founding, resulting in a lively Red Song Gala.

Every season, the 4th Public Performance was a high-quality climax, no exceptions.

This season’s 4th Public Performance coincided with the August TV and Film Festival and was also a major anniversary year.

G City, as the main host city, couldn’t possibly pass up this opportunity to ride the momentum.

Last week’s public performance at Returning Wave Tower had already revealed the theme, and a “cross-drawing” method was used to determine each group’s performance piece. The First Sister/Mengmeng group drew the ending theme for the classic spy drama The Verdict for Zhuang Yifan’s group, while Zhao Chenmin’s group drew the ending theme for the Republic-era legendary drama Phoenix Tangled Branches for them.

Why was this considered a good draw? Because the lead actress of Phoenix Tangled Branches was newly inducted into the TV Festival’s jury as a lead judge.

Of course, that was just a small external factor.

The ending theme of Phoenix Tangled Branches, “A Courtyard of Fragrance”, sung precisely of the heroine’s symbolic white peony.

Some songs only feel more meaningful with more life experience and accumulated knowledge.

When Li Tingzhou was a child watching Phoenix Tangled Branches, he loved watching the scenes and listening to the songs. The male lead, Zhang Ying, with his romantically tragic-to-death style, had deeply shaken his young self. The other profound memory besides that was his older brother criticizing the male lead for his inaction, for not being able to shoulder the family’s heavy burden, calling him an absolute good-for-nothing dandy.

That spring, Li Tingzhou started learning the violin. His teacher gave him extra tutoring every day.

By winter, stuttering and stumbling, he taught himself to rearrange scores and played “A Courtyard of Fragrance”. His dad, mom, and brother had listened with such delight…

Listening now, the feeling was completely different.

The male lead was but a single grain of millet in the tide of his era. He alone couldn’t turn back the tidal wave.

Because of this, Li Tingzhou got up, moved away from First Sister and Mao Maoyu and the others, and called his older brother. Without preamble, he asked, “Do you still remember when we watched Phoenix Tangled Branches as kids?”

Li Songyi thought to himself: What ‘we’ as kids? It was clearly you as a kid!

Such a little person, yet he could sit so still, watching adults fall in love with rapt fascination. If he hadn’t kept an eye on him, Li Tingzhou might have dared to find a little girlfriend in his class right afterward.

But he still asked patiently, “Have you… remembered something?”

Or perhaps, had he fallen for a girl like the white peony?

“I’m not discussing my love life tonight, okay? I remember you scolded Young Master Zhang as a dandy good-for-nothing when we were little, selling off the family fortune and even selling the ancestral medicine formula to foreigners. My next public performance piece is ‘A Courtyard of Fragrance’.”

“Oh.”

He couldn’t be bothered to correct the “who exactly was a kid back then” issue.

Li Songyi shifted his position, sitting up slightly. “I admit my views back then were one-sided, my assessment of Zhang Ying too subjective. In that era, even great thinkers and reformers were constantly trying and erring. Zhang Ying’s personal power was indeed as insignificant as an ant. Not everyone has the ability to perceive crises and resolve them; that can’t be forced. Ultimately, those born with much rarely have a clear understanding of loss.”

In other words, it was fate destined to meet this calamity.

One had to be utterly destitute, driven to the very end of the road, to understand the preciousness of what they once possessed.

“Of course, film and television works are just a projection of the creators’ consciousness. You can have your own reflections, but there’s no need to take it too seriously. Tingzhou, just walk your own path well; that’s enough.”

Li Tingzhou felt something stir within him and responded with a soft hum.

Just then, Pan Jun’s voice came from the elevator entrance. “Hey, set up the cameras first. Yes, the usual two on Mengmeng. The fill light should be that long strip from last time. Leave the big panel light for Teacher Shiyu…”

“Still busy this late? Then Brother wishes you a smooth performance in advance.”

Supplementary filming lasted until 1 a.m. Finally, everything ended.

The six seeded Premier groups currently confirmed and the director team jointly devised a final solution—

Qu Lang and Feng Mo’s groups would each be assigned three Premier groups to assist in their decisive battle.

This Ascension Decider would be broadcast as a special episode of the Summoning Match.

Well, now everyone was unhappy!

Li Tingzhou was even more baffled. “What about the production team’s own music team? Can’t they help Qu Lang? Qu Lang’s song isn’t starting from zero with no progress. He’s already done so much. Wouldn’t having us join in at this point just be meddling?”

Pan Jun quickly pulled the little ancestor aside. “Feng Mo’s side is even scarier.”

Feng Mo was someone forced in with his own backing and sponsor support.

He wasn’t like the previous Raid Singer who had been promoted to Premier—that person was a bona fide top-three winner of the Youth Singing Competition, who could stand there and easily fill the Main Broadcast Hall with his voice without a microphone. Feng Mo was reportedly the nephew of some higher-up at Tide. Seeing that a no-name band’s lead singer like Li Tingzhou could join the show and explode in popularity, gaining two million followers on social media, how could he sit still?

So his family pulled strings, giving him the Raid Singer title, planning to reap the benefits without the effort.

After hearing this, First Sister also agreed with Pan Jun’s approach of choosing the lesser of two evils.

While soothing Mengmeng’s emotions, she didn’t forget to lighten the mood with a joke. “A relative of a platform executive? That background persona clashes with yours!”

Speaking of that, Pan Jun had something to say. “Mengmeng’s background has already been updated.”

“Excluding Whale, excluding Tide, the trail now leads to Hundred Blossoms.”

Li Tingzhou, completely unaware: “Huh?”

“It’s being spread with convincing detail, saying you’re a junior relative of the big boss of Hundred Blossoms.”

Ren Shiyu nearly spat out her water. “T-This, could it be…” Could it be talking about Cui Lin? He was the nephew of the big boss of Hundred Blossoms…

Pan Jun looked meaningfully at Mengmeng. “You should know why.”

In fact, Li Tingzhou didn’t know. At least not right now.

But he didn’t even have time to dwell on it. The next day, he was thrown back into even more intense filming work. Qu Lang’s group was indeed in a slightly better situation than Feng Mo’s. Qu Lang had also participated in an old-school version of a singing talent show years ago. His peers from that time had either transitioned into variety show personalities or become very successful solo singers, touring annually, buying cars and houses one after another.

Qu Lang, it was true, lacked a bit of luck.

If one truly compared raw ability, seven or eight Feng Mos wouldn’t be enough to match Qu Lang.

The problem was, the other side had a pretty good Guest Singer and came with various buffs, determined to pick the softest persimmon among the seven Premier groups to squeeze, elevating themselves to share the fruits of Sing My Heart Tonight Season 7’s victory.

And now this special episode shenanigan—Tide’s intention to promote Feng Mo was known to everyone!

Qu Lang had been completely set up.

But what surprised Li Tingzhou was that this guy was actually quite easy to get along with, somewhat laid-back, bearing a slight resemblance to Ren Shiyu when she first joined the show—that same timidity: Although he was willing to listen to the revision suggestions from the other three groups, after a round of discussion, he’d circle back to, “…It’s really good, but still…”

At this point, Li Tingzhou was also frustrated by his lack of fight.

By noon, when he could finally catch his breath, he unexpectedly received a call from Cui Lin.

“What’s up?”

Cui Lin didn’t waste words and got straight to the point. “Mengmeng, you need to stay far away from that Feng Mo. That guy is seriously bad luck! He previously tried to force his way into White Beard’s film crew. I was helping with the screen test and saw his so-called acting—what even was that? It was so hard not to burst out laughing on the spot. Later, when Hundred Blossoms started that travel variety show, as soon as I heard he was on the candidate list, I immediately vetoed it.”

It wasn’t that Tide artists couldn’t join Hundred Blossoms’ variety shows. If you could thrive, you could even rotate between all three platforms.

The problem was, this guy fell and broke a bone before filming even started.

Now that Hundred Blossoms’ slow-paced travel variety show was doing well, Feng Mo was being noisy again, hinting to his fans to attack the guest who replaced him.

Li Tingzhou took a deep breath. “A bit late for that. He’s already here.”

“Can’t he be kicked off?”

Now Li Tingzhou really found it a bit amusing. Half-jokingly, he said, “Rumor has it he’s a relative of a Tide higher-up. With that connection, how do you kick him off?”

But upon hearing this, Cui Lin’s attitude didn’t change; he was still arrogantly confident.

“What are you afraid of? Your backing isn’t bad either!”

Wait, what backing?

Li Tingzhou reached out, seemingly grabbing a random clue. “The rumor about my backing… you wouldn’t happen to be the one spreading it?”

“Uh—erm—”

Cui Lin reflexively stood at attention. “Don’t be mad! I was afraid others would bully you.”

Li Tingzhou inhaled deeply. “Meaning I should thank you?”

“You don’t need to be afraid! It’s the perfect cover that can’t be exposed. I’ll have my uncle follow your Weibo right away. As for my uncle—well, okay, my uncle is that guy named Duan at Hundred Blossoms. Saying you’re a junior relative of a Hundred Blossoms higher-up isn’t wrong anyway. What’s mine can also be considered yours…”