Chapter 79: The Reputation

At the Xinyu headquarters, Shen Shaoqiu held a teacup, watching the screen full of bullet comments, so angry he wanted to smash the cup, but ultimately refrained.

Although this tea set only cost fifty-nine thousand, it was very dear to his heart and was his favorite set, so he really couldn't bear to break it.

The two company shareholders on the side watched the bullet comments flooding the screen with "We approve of this marriage," and said with a smile: "Old Shen, why are you getting so angry? Your cultivation of inner peace is not up to par; didn't you tell me you meditate every night?"

Another shareholder wearing Glasses fanned the flames: "Exactly, the netizens are just saying things casually, and this young man is quite handsome, isn't he? It's not like he's some kind of monster or demon."

Hearing these two people's words, Shen Shaoqiu became even angrier for a moment.

Angry to the point of laughing, he said: "Hey! I suddenly remembered something. Didn't you two say before that your daughters are also following this *Creating Idols*? You should remember to ask them when you get home and see who they like the most in it."

"Eh? Now that you mention it, I seem to have some impression. I heard Qiqi mention it before, it seems the surname is Luo," said the shareholder wearing Glasses.

Shen Shaoqiu sipped his hot tea, his mood improving slightly, and he countered with self-consolation: "Sorry, but the ideal son-in-law has been snatched away by my Shen family."

"You, oh you!" The two shareholders couldn't do anything about him; they couldn't win an argument against him.

Of course, everyone was just joking; no one took the netizens' words too seriously.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see this was just a normal cooperative relationship. As executives of an agency, they knew very well that it was popular to pair up celebrities these days, and many stars under Xinyu were recently bundling as a pair to hype up popularity.

Shen Shaoqiu put down his teacup and looked at the big screen: "Gao, Li, let me tell you, Nuo Nuo told me when she came home that day that her performance in this episode is very eye-catching, claiming it will be her god-tier live performance."

"I don't care if you think it's good or not after watching it, remember to send a WeChat to praise her!" Shen Shaoqiu said seriously.

Gao immediately replied: "As expected of the head of Xinyu, you've even hired shills to work on us."

Li shook his phone and said: "The red envelope will be sent, but I see young people always talking about fifty cents per post. For people with our status in the industry, five yuan is the minimum, right?"

The three entertainment industry bigwigs were amusing themselves here when Shen Shaoqiu's phone rang.

He picked up the phone and saw it was a WeChat message from Shen Yinuo.

"Look, Nuo Nuo is reminding me to watch the show. She wouldn't specifically remind me before; it seems she is very confident about the upcoming performance." As soon as Shen Shaoqiu saw his daughter's WeChat, his expression changed, and a smile immediately appeared.

He picked up his phone and started sending a voice message: "Dad is watching, and your Uncle Gao and Uncle Li are here too. I'll have them give you some feedback in a moment. Come on, everyone say something to Nuo Nuo!"

Gao and Li were helpless and could only lean over and shout: "We're watching, we're watching!"

At this moment, *Creating Idols* had already broadcast to the part where they went on stage.

The camera panned over, and one could see Luo Mo and Shen Yinuo both wearing red clothes.

Shen Shaoqiu had been smiling, but his expression suddenly stiffened again.

Because the silly netizens started acting up again.

The bullet comments before were still "We approve of this marriage," but now that they saw the two of them wearing red performance outfits, the screen was immediately flooded with "I've shipped it."

Shen Shaoqiu glared in Anger: "Shipped what? What have you shipped?"

"These netizens today, it's just wearing red clothes, what's there to be so surprised about?" The old father expressed some displeasure.

The Anonymous Team officially took the stage at this moment.

The song title appeared on the big screen—*Double Happiness*.

Looking at the song title, the corner of Shen Shaoqiu's mouth twitched.

As everyone knows, the character for *Double Happiness* is almost never used in daily life; it mostly appears at weddings.

Gao and Li looked at each other and started laughing out loud.

The netizens' bullet comments had already gone crazy the moment the song title appeared.

"I've already moved the Civil Affairs Bureau here, get married immediately!"

"Where is the 'pushing heads together' squad? Fast-forward to the couple bowing to each other!"

"Shipped it, shipped it!"

"I said they looked like a match; Shen Yinuo's face is round, she looks festive."

Shen Shaoqiu's veins were about to pop. This man with a limp in his left leg really wanted to curse out loud: Festive your head!

From the perspective of an old father, he watched this performance with a sense of displeasure toward Luo Mo.

Even if this was just a stage, just acting.

When the first line of singing came through, Gao frowned.

"【The eighteenth of the first lunar month, an auspicious day, the sorghum is carried.】" Li Junyi sang on stage.

Gao spoke up: "The first lunar month is taboo for weddings; there's a saying called 'raising the head to red.' This Luo Mo's lyrics lack Strictness."

Li, however, disagreed: "That's all old-fashioned history. My hometown doesn't seem to have that saying. Besides, look at how many young people get married and register on Valentine's Day now; it's no big deal."

However, the more they listened and watched, the more these three old men felt something was wrong.

There was no festive feeling at all; on the contrary, they felt the atmosphere was a bit strange, and the lyrics were also weird, completely mismatched with the song title, as if it had gone off-topic.

These three were all company executives and were long accustomed to viewing the works of company artists from a leadership Perspective.

So their perspective was different.

And the atmosphere of the whole song was actually pushing forward slowly, and the bullet comments were becoming denser and more numerous.

At this time, it had reached the part where the rhythm accelerated.

"【The wild Cat has followed for several streets, tilting its neck on the tree.】"

Eerie, too eerie!

The style of the bullet comments had long since changed.

Before, they were all "Congratulations, congratulations," but now it had evolved into "bullet comments for self-preservation."

The silly netizens started frantically posting bullet comments, seeking a sense of security.

"Everyone post more, so I feel like I'm not the only one watching."

"Is there anyone here to warn of high-tension moments? Is it high-tension ahead?"

"I'll pay the gift money, just don't scare me!"

"Take it, take it, take my Blessing and red envelope!"

"You guys are so timid; I'm curled up in my quilt alone, and I'm not scared at all!"

Of course, many viewers also had their attention focused on the suona.

Previously, a suona version of "Confession Night" had burst onto the scene, making Luo Mo's Senior Brother Liu, Liu Gongming, quite popular for a while.

What was revealed along with that was that Luo Mo could also play the suona.

Everyone hadn't expected that what was originally just a playful call would result in Luo Mo actually performing the suona.

In everyone's inherent impression, this thing is considered very tacky; would it lead the entire performance in a tacky direction?

However, at which stage was he actually going to play it?

At this very moment, the interest of the three entertainment industry bigwigs was also piqued.

The song also finally reached its true climax at this time.

"【Look at how she is crying while laughing.】"

The sound of the suona began to spread throughout the entire venue, and these three well-informed old men, caught off guard and completely unprepared, felt goosebumps rise all over their bodies!

The "rogue instrument," that really wasn't just a joke.

Since many people jokingly call it a Dharma Instrument, then, of course, it must have the effect of piercing straight to the soul!

These three old men were still slightly different from the young people. At their age, they had come into contact with the suona more often than the young people, so they adapted a bit faster.

Nowadays, you can't really hear the suona at weddings in the city, but in the past, there was plenty of it.

Looking at the screen at this moment, there wasn't a single bit of nonsense in the bullet comments; the whole screen was just two characters:

——【Holy crap】!

Li couldn't help but exclaim: "The use of the suona here is ingenious."

Gao also chimed in with emotion: "It really has a vibe."

Although Shen Shaoqiu held a slight prejudice against Luo Mo at this moment, he still nodded slightly, expressing his agreement.

As insiders, they knew very well that the reason many musicians didn't dare to play certain instruments was for fear of poor market feedback.

For an instrument like the suona, which many young people have inherent prejudices against, they would avoid it if they could.

What's more, the characteristics of this instrument are too strange; once it enters, it suppresses all other sounds.

This thing, even firecrackers can't beat it!

And just at this moment, the song entered its second section.

When the suona appeared in the second section, it was accompanied by other sounds.

"【One Bow to Heaven and Earth】!"

When these four characters appeared, the bullet comments were once again filled with 【Holy crap】.

The most fatal thing was that in the scene, only Shen Yinuo was bowing to heaven and earth, while the groom, Luo Mo, beside her was still blowing the suona with all his might, trying to attract her attention, but she couldn't hear him.

Those netizens who had previously said they were "hooked," as well as those who said to "fast-forward to the wedding ceremony," were so numb they couldn't even type.

"This isn't the kind of wedding ceremony we wanted!"

"Satisfied, satisfied, satisfied my foot!"

"It's truly both terrifying and moving."

"Hooked, hooked, sob sob sob!"

Following immediately after were 【Two Bows to the High Hall】 and 【Husband and Wife Bow to Each Other】.

When everyone saw Shen Yinuo dressed in red, bowing alone toward Luo Mo, for some reason, they felt that the scene before them was both astonishing and very sad.

This was a very complex emotion; they were actually moved.

Parting by life and death, separated by the yin and yang.

The love within it came rushing toward them.

At this moment, the three old men realized that Shen Yinuo wasn't joking.

The stage before them might truly be a god-tier performance that would explode in popularity!

"It will hit the Hot Search," Gao said seriously.

Shen Shaoqiu nodded, opened his mouth and said: "Nuo Nuo told me, saying to let the company do some marketing and push the Hot Search up."

Li asked: "Then did you let the people below do it?"

"I gave the order," Shen Shaoqiu said with a bitter smile, "but I feel like I underestimated the marketing costs."

The three of them were all quite sensitive to the market; judging from the feedback in the bullet comments, this stage was bound to break out of its niche!

After the song ended, star mentor Li Ge stood up, pointed to the Poster on the stage screen, and said to Wei Ran: "A coffin!"

The show's editor naturally wouldn't let this detail go, and very decisively edited the Poster for "Happiness" into this part of the plot.

The large "Happiness" character on that Poster had a unique structure; wasn't it just a red coffin!

Countless viewers began to gasp, rubbing the goosebumps on their arms.

Underworld operation, what kind of underworld operation is this!

Good art is meant to be presented to the audience, not to send the audience away!

Are you playing the suona for a wedding, or are you playing it for a funeral?

The mischievous netizens who were stirring up trouble could no longer make a fuss; the bullet comments were once again filled with 【Holy crap】, using these two simplest characters to crudely express, time and again, the emotions in their hearts that could only be conveyed by these two words.

The theme presented by the entire stage was already self-evident.

This is—a ghost marriage!

Shen Shaoqiu was a bit torn between laughing and crying for a moment.

He couldn't quite tell if Nuo Nuo really wanted to show off this stage to her father, or if she was playing a prank and wanted to scare him a little.

He felt it was probably both.

He felt "filially" moved.

You have to know, this man's left leg was lame, and it wasn't natural; there was a story behind it.

Even so, he was still startled by this stage.

Novel, high impact, unexpected, and the performance format was very shocking.

No wonder many songwriters in the company say this Luo Mo is a genius.

He turned his head to look at Li and Gao, saying: "I'll tell you two in advance now what the content of tomorrow's emergency meeting is."

"What is it?" the two asked: "Could it be related to this Luo Mo?"

Shen Shaoqiu nodded and said: "Nuo Nuo has wanted to sign him for a long time, back when he hadn't become popular yet, but they never reached an agreement."

"Huh? Nuo Nuo, that girl, is capable!" Li and Gao said: "Then you should raise the conditions for him; are you being stingy with such talent? He should have very high traffic now, right?"

"Nuo Nuo is now taking advantage of her status as a mentor to get the first opportunity. Once the recording of *Creating Idols* ends, she'll have to fight other companies for him!" they continued.

Shen Shaoqiu looked at them and said word by word: "But the conditions this kid is asking for are S-level."

"Then give it to him, isn't it just... what did you say!?" The two old men were stunned in unison.

S-level!?

Shen Shaoqiu's fingertips tapped on the tabletop a few times.

"It won't be easy for our Xinyu to take a step forward and develop to the level of the four major companies," Shen Shaoqiu said.

"This requires a Super First-line Singer, and it also requires a true... Top Traffic."

"We are missing a trump card..."

"I bet he will become a Top Traffic," Shen Shaoqiu said, making the final decision.

"At tomorrow's general meeting, I will personally vote in favor."

………

………

This night, countless people witnessed the charm of the suona.

Their perception of the suona was changed like never before in just one stage performance.

Shocking, incredibly shocking!

However, many people discovered that there seemed to be some small problems over at Pineapple TV.

Other trainees had individual cuts, but Luo Mo's did not.

Many of his previous individual videos had actually been taken down as well.

In some content that only VIP Members could watch, there wasn't much content about Luo Mo either.

On the homepage Poster, Luo Mo, this popular contestant, did not appear either.

Strange, very strange.

But, who cares!

"Xi" is just too hype; we must recommend it to friends and family—it's better to scare everyone together than to be scared alone.

Such a festive stage, we must let everyone feel the celebration and joy within it!

Harboring such thoughts, many silly netizens began to take action.

"What bad intentions could I have? I just want to promote Chinese classical musical instruments and let everyone feel the charm of the suona."

Basically, without needing much time to ferment, the heat of this stage is growing explosively!

In the top ten of the Weibo Hot Search, there are three items related to this stage.

And when the program aired, the audience's weekly free votes were refreshed. Penguin Video VIP Members then had another 11 free votes.

In just a few hours, the number of votes for Luo Mo on the Popularity Support Ranking surged again.

Many netizens jokingly said they were giving a wedding gift for a ghost marriage.

Since we've already attended the wedding and watched the whole thing, we have to show some gesture, right?

Not for anything else, just for peace of mind.

I'm not a bad person, I just know the rules and observe etiquette. If I don't give this gift money, my conscience will hurt, and I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep at night, tossing and turning in bed!

Of course, the main thing is that I really knelt down to this stage.

Especially after Li Ge shouted that "coffin."

Many people didn't have such a strong impact initially, but once they heard that shout from Li Ge, their whole body went half-numb.

This feeling was exactly like the moment in Earth's *Street Dance of China* when mentor Wallace Chung finished watching the dance for "Xi" and shouted that line: "Fake!"

Vote! Everyone vote for Luo Mo!

Raise his coffin—pfft, I mean, raise his ranking up!

Luo Mo should be at the top, coffin-crushing everyone!

Someone come, raise the coffin!

Netizens carefully recalled that the previous "Big Fish," "Red Actor," and now "Xi," all had stunning stage effects.

After watching these stages, looking at the other trainees, it just feels lackluster.

Many netizens suggested: "Can we let Luo Mo perform a few more times in the grand finale?"

Why does he need to compete with those weaklings?

He only needs to compete with himself!

Free votes fell like a rainstorm, and the number of people voting for Luo Mo increased significantly every week.

The evil organization "Mo Sheng Ren" expands virally every week.

Luo Mo himself has a relatively large casual fan base, and his likability among the public is good. Under one Stunning Stage after another, many people expressed that they had fallen into the trap.

Moreover, the overall atmosphere of the "Mo Sheng Ren" organization is not bad, and their slogan today is:

"【Unite together, coffins supporting each other】."

"【Charge to the throne, coffin-crowned and magnificent】."

"【Vote for a Blessing, may your coffin be prosperous.】"

"......"

What kind of idiotic organization is this? I must join it to criticize it!

Anyway, it doesn't cost money, just casting a free vote, and one can reap infinite joy from it; the Idol one supports is also promising enough, bringing a sense of infinite pride, or even a thrill.

Happiness, happiness is all that matters!

Finally, on the 【Popularity Support Ranking】, Luo Mo reached a new peak tonight.

He struck Ji Kangdong down from his horse, his accumulated votes finally surpassed him, and he charged into the top three of the ranking for the first time!

Over at Xingshi Entertainment, they were completely panicked.

(PS: First update, over five thousand words, it's the end of the month, requesting monthly votes!

There is an event now; subscribing to this book, casting monthly votes, and tipping all grant a chance to draw a prize, meaning every legitimate reader can participate in the lucky draw. Those interested can go to the event page to check out 【August New Book Launch】.)

(End of this chapter)