Chapter 74: Having Fans Means You're Something Special

After a singer finishes performing, the judges usually offer their comments, ask a few questions about the singer, and then let the singer answer, taking the chance to share a few personal thoughts.

Things like: thanks to the show's crew for giving them this chance to show themselves, how much they love singing, and so on and so forth.

After Zhang Jie finished singing, all three judges nodded in satisfaction.

Especially upon hearing that Zhang Jie had sung a folk song, Li Daoquan nodded repeatedly — after all, his own specialty, bel canto, was completely out of place amid all the pop tunes.

Zhang Jie's folk song happened to fall into a niche category, and his skills were rock-solid, which made Li Daoquan feel as though he'd found a kindred spirit on stage.

It gave him the grand illusion that everyone else in the world was a mediocrity, and only the two of them were truly awake.

"Why did you come to participate in this competition?"

Li Daoquan smiled and jumped in to ask first.

Zhang Jie took the microphone and said excitedly:

"Hello, three teachers, my name is Zhang Jie. I really love music in my daily life, and I came to this competition hoping to get a good ranking so my music path can go further."

Li Daoquan smiled with satisfaction and nodded:

"From your singing I can feel your love for music. I hope you can stay true to your musical dream afterward. I have high hopes for you, so I'm giving you a pass!"

"Thank you, Teacher Li!"

It was Cheng Chen's turn. He spoke into the microphone:

"Have we met before?"

Zhang Jie said excitedly:

"Yes, Teacher Cheng. I was at your signing event before — I'm your fan…"

Hearing this, Li Daoquan furrowed his brow, and a hint of displeasure flickered in his gaze toward Zhang Jie.

What kind of nonsense are you spouting!

"That's right, thank you for the recognition. You sang very well, keep it up — pass!"

"Thank you, thank you, Teacher Cheng. I, I-can I make a small request?"

Zhang Jie said slowly.

"What request?"

"I really admire you. I've bought every single one of your albums. Could I, um, give you a hug?"

Cheng Chen: …

What's there to hug about with a guy? If only you were a female fan!

"Of course. But if you were a female fan, I'd have to think it over, hahaha…"

Zhang Jie walked over to Cheng Chen full of joy and gave him a big hug. Cheng Chen patted his back in encouragement and said:

"An elder in the music scene once said that fans offer no real help to making music — making music that caters to fans' tastes just to please them only makes you lose yourself, and then you'll sink in the market and lose everything you've achieved…

But I'm very grateful to have a fan like you, and thank you for your support. My sincere thanks!"

Cheng Chen repeated that elder's words to Zhang Jie almost word for word.

From Cheng Chen's angle, he could see Li Daoquan's face straight on. Teacher Li's face was, well, a little…

Dark!

Meanwhile, Xu Chunni, listening on the side, was terrified. No wonder Cheng Chen hadn't talked back when Li Daoquan was sneering at him earlier — he'd been saving it for this!

Front-row melon-eating~

So thrilling, so exciting!

After Zhang Jie, most of the singers were competing with covers; there weren't many original works.

Among those covering songs, a sizable proportion were covering Cheng Chen's songs, and their renditions were extremely high-level.

No choice there — whose fault is it that his songs are hits!

All these people shared one trait: in the remarks section after their performance, they laid on a thick stream of rainbow flattery toward Cheng Chen, brimming with reverence.

Of course — given Cheng Chen's current standing in the Chinese music scene, even if these singers just came up to say hi, they'd have to do it with utmost respect.

This is the face of the Heavenly King of Chinese music!

Of course, there were also people who didn't give the Heavenly King face.

Among the cover singers, anyone who covered Cheng Chen's songs was almost always passed by Li Daoquan,

Who would also nitpick and throw out a bunch of professional jargon to undermine them.

As for this obvious act of venting personal grudge, Cheng Chen didn't really want to bother with him — after all, there were three judges on the panel, plus 500 audience votes on site.

Even if Li Daoquan vetoed everything, without Cheng Chen and Xu Chunni and the live audience's support, those singers wouldn't be eliminated.

Judging from what happened today, combined with how Huaxia Yinyuehui had treated Cheng Chen before, many people already knew the two of them didn't get along!

Afterward, Li Daoquan set his sights on a young singer who could both sing and dance — the moment he came on stage, it was hot songs and intense choreography.

And from his past competition records, he'd always competed with Korean songs. Rumor had it he was a top student who'd returned from studying in Korea, and Li Daoquan said he was very optimistic about him!

Cheng Chen, on the other hand, wasn't interested in this Korea-worshipping type, and the obvious weakness of singing while dancing led him to give a direct pass.

This singer, at least, didn't claim to be Cheng Chen's fan and ask for a hug, which comforted Li Daoquan considerably. After a round of encouragement and praise, the Korea-fan boy grinned from ear to ear.

The live audience also loved this kind of singer with strong rhythm and good looks, and in the end he successfully advanced.

After filming wrapped, the leaders of Jingtai showed up and personally invited Cheng Chen and Li Daoquan to dinner.

But neither of them could stand the sight of the other, and on hearing they were both being invited at the same time, they shook their heads in refusal without a second thought.

Having dinner with a bunch of old fogies is worse than going back to keep Yuanyuan company.

……

Gao Yuanyuan was currently filming at a drama crew — she'd been busy lately shooting a show called "Di Renjie, the Great Minister Who Protects the Nation."

The moment Cheng Chen heard the three characters "Di Renjie," his scalp went numb.

As one of the over-exploited IPs, Di Renjie was just too popular.

In later generations alone, from March to September 2020, the General Administration had 48 online films and TV series titled with "Di Renjie."

The subjects ranged from fantasy to detective cases to workplace dramas, and Di Renjie was portrayed from youth to middle age to old age!

Even more outrageous was an online film called "Di Renjie of the Great Tang: The Evil Arts of the Eastern Sea," in which Di Renjie was forced to join the ranks of "anti-Japanese god-tier dramas."

The reason Di Renjie dramas became so popular traces back to the three-part "Prime Minister Di Renjie, Guardian of the Nation."

Afterwards, the iron triangle of Qian Yanqiu, Liang Guanhua, and Zhang Zijian delivered several "Detective Di Renjie" TV series for the audience, completely making the Di Renjie IP explode in popularity.

The meme "Yuanfang, what do you think?" also went viral online.

At the time, it set a record of "over 2.5 million reposts in a single day on Penguin Space."

Later, Xu Lao Guai's "Di Renjie Universe" made his name in one battle, raking in money at top speed.

While waiting for Gao Yuanyuan to eat, Cheng Chen was also pondering beside her:

"Acting is fine, singing is fine too, but money—I absolutely have to make it!"

Now, riding the Time Magazine dividend of the era, not investing in a few films and TV dramas would be a disservice to this reincarnation experience.

He recalled that the company license he had asked Wang Tianxiao to handle for him had already come through; it was time to get the company up and running during this period…

"Waited long?"

Just as Cheng Chen was thinking things over, Gao Yuanyuan, dressed in full ancient costume, suddenly appeared in the private room.

Gao Yuanyuan looked quite good in ancient costume—especially playing the swordswoman Pan Yu in this Di Renjie drama, dashing and crisp, clean and neat, giving off a distinctive charm…