Chapter 180: No One Is Optimistic

At 8 p. m., the Jin Ge Shou went live as scheduled.

Just while Ya Ya was doing the opening remarks, the number of viewers in the live stream surged to over 100,000.

And this number is still continuously rising.

It's obvious that so many people entered the live stream within the first two minutes; this isn't due to the platform pushing traffic, but because the first wave of viewers had been waiting for the live stream to start and jumped in as soon as they saw the go-live notice!

"Finally live, do you know how I've spent these five days? I and Xiao Hong, Xiao Li, Xiao Ling, Xiaomi, Xiao Fang."

"Jiang Cheng is invincible!" x1938

"Jiang Cheng!" x23455

"Jiang Cheng, I love you!"

"Jiang Cheng, you've made me wait so agonizingly; without you, how can I live?"

"Looking forward to what surprise Jiang Cheng will bring today!"

"Jiang Cheng's productions are always top-notch!"

"What are those who accuse Jiang Cheng of plagiarism thinking? Go piss and look at yourself—do you even deserve to accuse Jiang Cheng of plagiarism?"

In a live stream with over 100,000 people, the system automatically filters bullet comments, yet even so, it's basically been flooded with Jiang Cheng's messages!

At this moment, backstage of the show, whether contestants or invited big-name guests, looking at the live stream's bullet comments, everyone fell silent.

Among those present were many first-tier singers, and they had also done pre-promotion before the live stream, so fans basically knew they were participating as well.

But now that the show has started, it's been dominated by an amateur!

What's even more baffling is that Jiang Cheng isn't even a singer—just a composer!

As a behind-the-scenes staff member, a composer has never been able to overshadow a singer's popularity in such a setting!

Even the famed, long-established gold medal composer behind Zhoudong can't do that!

But Jiang Cheng did it!

Zhang Anqi watched the bullet comments, gnashing her teeth in hatred—she had a hand in this!

If it weren't for her being dragged into trouble by Jiang Cheng, and then Kangwei hiring a navy of fake accounts, could Jiang Cheng have his current popularity?!

Now all the popularity and heat have been taken by Jiang Cheng, yet she can't escape being targeted.

"Just enjoy your final revelry—everything you have is merely a wedding dress you're making for me!"

Gao Yunyun stood aside, sitting with Li Yu Jiao, and exclaimed in surprise: "Jiang Cheng is really hot! When I just met him backstage, I felt this young man is quite handsome."

"If he wrote a song for me, couldn't I be as popular as she is?"

After Gao Yunyun finished speaking, a mischievous expression appeared on her face.

If we're talking about popularity, she's been hot for many years, and her fame is far more substantial than Jiang Cheng's sudden rise.

Li Yu Jiao, showing no emotion, said: "Or maybe you should just step aside—when he crashes, you'll just become a stepping stone."

Gao Yunyun pursed her lips and didn't respond.

On stage, after Ya Ya finished her opening remarks, the camera cut to the four mentors; the audience watched them chat casually for a few sentences, then Na Jin spoke up first, asking the Queen: "Queen Teacher, which team do you think is most likely to win this episode?"

Although the Queen is not young—actually in her forties, she looks about thirty—and she put on a girlish innocence, saying: "I don't know?"

Huang Zhengming interjected: "You're afraid to say it, aren't you, for fear of misjudging?"

"I'm optimistic about Li Shiya this episode—her voice is clear and ethereal; if she has good works that can showcase her own style, she's very likely to take first place."

"Zhoudong, what about you?" After Huang Zhengming shared his view, he tossed the topic to Zhoudong. Zhoudong smiled and said: "Not bad, I think they're all pretty good."

Zhoudong is clearly not someone who jumps to conclusions lightly; he has long had a reputation in the entertainment circle for being friendly to newcomers.

Ya Ya timely said: "Right now, the calls for Jiang Cheng on our public screen are the highest; he and Ye Qing are a team, and we've also invited our heavenly Chen Shu for this episode—what do the four mentors think of Jiang Cheng's team?"

The public screen is full of Jiang Cheng, yet none of the four mentors talked about him; as host, Ya Ya wouldn't ignore it and steered the conversation toward Jiang Cheng.

The camera cut to Zhoudong.

Zhoudong couldn't avoid it; he picked up the mic on the table in front of him, looked left and right, and said: "Jiang Cheng's compositions are very deep; you can tell he has strong accumulation, a type we're severely lacking now, plus with the excellent vocal skills of Teacher Chen Shu assisting, he's bound to do well."

"However, my expectations for Jiang Cheng aren't high; I hope fans don't set their hopes too high for him either—his creations are rare gems; give him more time to settle, and he'll never lack good works to share."

This is the most Zhoudong has spoken since joining the show.

But what he said was completely opposite to what the audience said; instead, he said his expectations for Jiang Cheng aren't high and told the audience not to have overly high expectations either.

If anyone else said that, the audience would have to teach them how to behave.

But since these words came from Zhoudong's mouth, the audience responded politely and seriously.

!

Someone then said: "Zhoudong is speaking righteously, worried that Jiang Cheng might be killed by hype!"

"Zhoudong will always be a clear stream in the entertainment circle!"

"What hype-kill? Jiang Cheng could never fail to surprise people!"

"I'm here just to see Jiang Cheng—I think he won't disappoint me!"

"What do you mean? Outside, support for Jiang Cheng is overwhelming; why say this now? I came to see Jiang Cheng—am I supposed to give him a big pile?"

After Zhoudong finished, the camera turned to Na Jin, who said: "Jiang Cheng is a very good young man, though perhaps because he's young, a newborn calf fears no tiger—I look forward to his performance."

Na Jin's words were somewhat ambiguous, and it passed quickly.

Many know she and Chen Shu have a grudge, but Na Jin, being powerful with many fans, has lots of supporters, whereas Chen Shu is just an empty title—few care.

Next, the Queen said: "Jiang Cheng is my team's, uh, I certainly think highly of him, but I feel this episode is tough—he seems to have bought hot searches."

The Queen has always been outspoken, daring to love and hate, so whatever explosive remarks she makes, the audience isn't surprised.

But directly saying Jiang Cheng bought hot searches still left the audience speechless, then they burst out laughing.

In the live stream, some said, "No wonder Jiang Cheng is so hot—turns out he bought hot searches," but more people rebutted, saying buying hot searches also requires strength; without ability, buying hot searches won't attract anyone.

The final mentor, Huang Zhengming, following the Queen's lead, said: "Jiang Cheng still has talent, but this young man is too eager; rushing to perform isn't good. However, he's still young and has plenty of time to learn, and today's episode's guests include many seniors for him to learn from."

After the four mentors finished speaking, the audience felt empty inside.

Because no one said Jiang Cheng is bad, but the conclusion of the discussion was that the four people seemed not optimistic about Jiang Cheng.

Zhoudong said he had no high expectations for Jiang Cheng; Najin said Jiang Cheng is like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, hoping he performs well.

The Queen said Jiang Cheng bought a hot search; Huang Zhengming was more direct, saying Jiang Cheng still needs to learn how to be a person.

Next, please welcome our first contestant!

(End of chapter)