Having had their fill of food and drink, everyone—except for Hao Jian—rubbed their bellies and had a contented look on their faces.
Blessed, so blessed!
The sky was getting dark, and because it was such a rare occasion that everyone went camping together, none of them felt sleepy. They laid on the grass and casually chatted with each other, gazing up at the stars from time to time. It was incredibly relaxing.
College life was good!
“OH F*CK!”
Little Gen, who had been playing with his mobile phone, cried out in shock all of a sudden. He sat up immediately and said, “F*ck man, Chen Xiaoyan is eliminated from China’s Top Voice?!”
“What?!”
Everyone was still wide awake, and they quickly sat up and browsed through their phones.
“F*ck, it’s true! Why is Chen Xiaoyan eliminated when she has such a good voice, something shady must be going on!”
“F*ckin’ hell, this garbage show should eat a pile sh*t!”
“They’re all stupid c*nts! How could they eliminate someone like Chen Xiaoyan, they’re digging their own grave!”
“Is China’s Top Voice going crazy?!”
The girls could not hold in their anger.
The semi-final of China’s Top Voice was ongoing that day, and only two out of five contestants could advance!
However, Chen Xiaoyan was the best among the eliminated trio! However, the two that advanced had nothing to show in terms of their singing skills.
Ye Lingchen frowned slightly. He did not go and watch the show live and it surprised him that Chen Xiaoyan was eliminated.
The news had already spread on Weibo, occupying most of Weibo’s trending searches.
“Chen Xiaoyan was eliminated!”
“Dirty tricks in China’s Top Voice!”
“Hong Na does not acknowledge Chen Xiaoyan’s voice!”
Clicking on one of the trending searches, Chen Xiaoyan’s sullen mood was obvious from the photography. She was despondent when stepping off the stage.
In addition, the comment section exploded. There was a flood of comments lambasting and boycotting China’s Top Voice.
At that point, a classmate had already clicked one of the leaked videos.
Hong Na sat in the judge’s seat. Her face was unsavory and she said, “Your voice isn’t any good but your arrogance is incredible. If you can’t show the most basic of respect to others, there’s no way you will get my approval. This stage is not yours. Please leave!”
As a public figure who was still live on the show, the sentence was much too unkind and extremely ruthless. It caused the atmosphere to heat up immediately, with the audience making their dissatisfaction heard. Still, the matter had been decided.
Gao Wen sighed. “Hong Na is obviously targeting Chen Xiaoyan! China’s Top Voice has one rule. When entering the finals, the judge has the right to use their veto, but that right is generally not exercised. But Hong Na, she made sure that Chen Xiaoyan was directly eliminated.”
“A right to veto? There’s such a thing?”
“What kind of stupid rule is that? China’s Top Voice is a load of crap!”
“I don’t care about that; I’m just worried about what will happen to Chen Xiaoyan!”
All of them were Chen Xiaoyan’s fans, surprisingly. They each did their best to vent out the injustice on behalf of Chen Xiaoyan and their faces were red with anger. “Damn it, she’s really eliminated. I won’t ever watch China’s Top Voice again!”
“Yeah, this is too fake, the video of Chen Xiaoyan during the competition is already being shared around. It was the same new song—the one Y wrote for her!
“If it’s another new song from Y, then it’s definitely another classic!”
“Y is talented! Ah, ah, ah! Come on, hurry up and play it!”
“I found it too. The name of the song is Light Years Away. Everyone, hush!”
They all kept quiet and let the music gradually fill the night sky.
“Feeling the fingertips touching my hair
How a moment freezes time
Remembering a pair of eyes looking steadily at me
…
Fate had us meet beyond a chaotic world
Destiny made us fall in love in amidst crisis
Maybe in the future, lightyears away
Everything is uncertain, but I’m willing to wait for you.
… ”
Chen Xiaoyan’s voice was ethereal and powerful while the lyrics were contagious. It did not take long for everyone to be captivated.
This song was magnetic, and after the music was over, everyone could still hear it playing on repeat inside their minds. It was practically impossible to resist humming the tune.
“It sounds amazing! I really can’t believe two pieces of sh*t eliminated such a good song!”
“Damn, I’m about to cry. How can such a good song be eliminated? Chen Xiaoyan must be suffering right now.”
“It’s too unfair. What masterpieces did Hong Na write? Her voice isn’t even half as powerful as Chen Xiaoyan’s, but she used her right to veto to reject Chen Xiaoyan?!”
“Most importantly, Chen Xiaoyan’s song was an original creation. Y wrote that song. And it doesn’t matter which Y, they’re all my number one idol!”
“No, I want to support Chen Xiaoyan and Y. I want to contribute something to my idols, no matter how small my contributions may be!”
“Yes, let Capital’s TV station see our united resolution!”
“Ye’zi, come along too. One word: execute!” Xiang’s fighting spirit was soaring high.
…
After a night of simmering, the hullabaloo intensified instead of dying off. Hordes of people voiced their dissatisfaction on behalf of Chen Xiaoyan.
However, many cyber troopers began appearing on Weibo to attack Y and Chen Xiaoyan. They supported Hong Na and helped to wipe her slate clean.
[Miss Na! You are no doubt the most amazing female singer! I support you!]
[It’ll be a joke if the face of China’s Top Voice isn’t qualified to teach her junior a lesson!]
[I remember Y saying that seniors are meant to be surpassed by their juniors! Arrogant, much? You think you’ll be where you are without Miss Na?]
[Miss Na maintains her self-respect. Chen Xiaoyan’s attitude is a sign of disrespect toward her. Doesn’t that give Miss Na the right to teach her a lesson?]
…
Ye Lingchen scrolled through Weibo and was surprised that Chen Xiaoyan did not send him any private messages.
After a moment of contemplation, he decided to send her a message.
[You there?]
The screen showed that she was typing, but she then deleted the text. She typed again and then deleted her text again. It was evident that she was confused. In the end, she finally replied.
[I’m sorry…]
What pained her most was not the elimination, but the feeling of being unable to face Ye Lingchen.
She felt that she had not done justice to Y’s new song and was afraid of disappointing him.
[You did very well. China’s Top Voice is just a platform for you to show your talent. You sang my song perfectly. Thank you.]
[Really?]
[Yes, really!]
[You don’t blame me at all?]
[Not at all!]
…
At the same time, those behind the scenes of China’s Top Voice were under tremendous pressure.
“Director Zhou, what should we do? Our show has sparked public outrage!”
“The right to veto was a rule that existed since the beginning of the show. If we do a U-turn now, it’s a slap to our own faces. We’d be offending Hong Na too!” Director Zhou had a displeased expression. “We can’t afford to offend either side. It’s already reached this point, so we simply do nothing and pretend we don’t know anything.”
“Director Zhou, I think it’s better to have a repechage or something, or at least apologize to Chen Xiaoyan…”
Director Zhou was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “That’s not a concern anymore. The elimination is already done. Just let it stand.”
He hardly expected Hong Na to use her right to veto on Chen Xiaoyan. If he knew that earlier, he would have scrapped it altogether.
As things stood, it was already too late to say anything. He was caught in the crossfire and neither side warranted ingratiation. It was not worth it at all to offend Hong Na just for Chen Xiaoyan. It would be better to bury his head in the ground like an ostrich and just wait for everything to pass…
