Chen Zhi stood on the hotel steps, watching the black Mercedes van merge into the traffic. He didn't pull his hands out of his coat pockets until its taillights completely disappeared around the corner.
He took out his phone and lit up the screen.
The WeChat interface was still stuck on Pei Ningxue's message from last night: [Forget it, I won't ask anymore. Good night.]
Chen Zhi rubbed his face, electronically signed several PDF financial documents saved on his phone, zipped them up, and sent them over.
The reply came quickly.
[Pei Ningxue: Taking an afternoon flight back to Beijing?]
Chen Zhi's fingers flew across the keyboard: [Not going back. Tonight's finals are the most critical promotional node for the project. I need to keep an eye on things at the scene.]
[Pei Ningxue: Keeping an eye on the project or on a person?]
Chen Zhi didn't dare to take the bait. He conveniently forwarded the overseas server expansion plan that Dai Damai had sent to the work group last night, forcing a change of subject: [Here is the latest bandwidth budget. Take a look first, we'll finalize it at the meeting next Monday.]
There was no further reply from the other end.
...
By a little past nine in the morning, the area outside the broadcasting building was already packed with a sea of people.
Cars couldn't get in at all, and Chen Zhi was forced to get out two streets away from the main entrance.
Walking closer, he realized the crowd was out in full force.
Police lines had been set up on both sides of the road. The street, several hundred meters long, was filled with fans holding support signs and banners.
The grandest spectacle was Zhou Chengyu's fan club.
They hadn't just rented the largest LED billboard across the street to play Zhou Chengyu's music videos on a 24-hour loop; they had also parked three food trucks plastered with giant posters of Zhou Chengyu by the roadside, handing out free milk tea and cookies to passersby.
In contrast, Lin Wanwan's fan base seemed a bit weak and outnumbered.
A few dozen girls were squeezed into an inconspicuous corner, holding up a few handwritten light boards. Their chants were completely drowned out by the megaphones of Zhou Chengyu's fans next door.
Chen Zhi ignored the commotion and entered the venue through the VIP channel reserved for staff by scanning his face.
Once he reached the backstage lounge, the atmosphere was the complete opposite of the outside.
The corridor was extremely quiet.
Security was at its maximum level. There was a security guard every three steps and a director's crew member wearing a badge every five steps.
Chen Zhi pushed open the door to Lin Wanwan's private dressing room. This room had been cleared out overnight by Director Wang's people. It was originally a large shared dressing room for several A-list singers, but now it was Lin Wanwan's exclusive space.
Lin Wanwan was sitting with her eyes closed, letting the makeup artist style her hair.
Su Man stood nearby, holding a stack of rundown sheets. The moment she looked up and saw Chen Zhi walk in, her back instantly straightened.
Mr. Chen, you're here.
Sister Su, there are no outsiders here, no need to be so polite, Chen Zhi said as he walked over to the sofa and sat down. Act normal, otherwise Wanwan might think you've been possessed.
Su Man coughed awkwardly. Yesterday, she had spent the entire night turning the domestic startup scene upside down, searching for keywords like AI, Peking University, and multi-billion valuations. Finally, in an obscure corner of a financial news report, she found the words Deep Space Technology.
The results she uncovered almost gave her a heart attack on the spot.
She had managed many artists and met many investors in her life, but she had never seen a capitalist titan who could casually throw around four and a half billion dollars in cash. The most outrageous part was that this titan was only a college freshman this year.
Lin Wanwan glanced at Chen Zhi through the mirror. She didn't say anything, just made a funny face.
How is Wanwan's condition? Chen Zhi asked.
Absolutely perfect. The makeup artist, a man with long hair, praised her enthusiastically with his pinky finger raised. Her skin is so good you can't even see the pores, and the base makeup went on flawlessly. The rarest thing is her energy—it's incredibly vibrant!
Chen Zhi leaned back on the sofa. Nonsense, did they think the sixty-one-point exam she took last night was for nothing?
At five in the afternoon, the live broadcast of the finals officially began.
The broadcasting hall.
The lights dimmed, and the thousands of audience members erupted into deafening screams.
Chen Zhi sat in the VIP viewing area at the rear side of the stage. This position wouldn't be caught by the broadcast cameras, yet it offered a clear view of the entire stage and the reactions of the front-row judges.
David and two American bodyguards sat behind him, while Taylor's team was in another exclusive waiting area.
The performances of the preceding singers were standard fare, nothing more than belting high notes and showing off vocal techniques, though it did manage to hype up the atmosphere in the venue.
Soon, the fifth performer, Zhou Chengyu, stepped onto the stage.
The entire venue instantly boiled over with excitement.
Huayu Entertainment had invited a superstar veteran to perform with him, and the two sang an extremely difficult classic song together.
The duo indeed held the stage well.
Especially during the chorus, the veteran superstar anchored the song with twenty years of vocal experience. Zhou Chengyu also gave it his 120 percent. Although his breath control was a bit unsteady on a few high notes, with the senior singer supporting him, the audience couldn't tell at all.
As the song ended, the fans in the venue erupted into fierce cheers.
Zhou Chengyu stood on the stage panting, soaking in the thunderous applause from the crowd.
The host walked onto the stage, controlling the flow with a beaming smile. Thank you, Chengyu, for that ultimate audio-visual feast! Our next contestant is the biggest dark horse of this season. Tonight, she will be our finale act, bringing us the last song of the finals.
By this time, the live chat barrage was already in an uproar.
Is there even a need to compete anymore? Brother Yu's live performance was incredible, just give him the award already!
Exactly, letting a rookie be the finale, what is Hunan TV thinking?
Don't be so sour up there, our Wanwan made it this far on pure talent!
Stop arguing. I'm actually quite curious. Everyone else's guest performers were officially announced ages ago, but Lin Wanwan's guest still hasn't been revealed. Could it be that she couldn't get anyone?
She definitely couldn't invite any big shots, so she can only resort to acting mysterious.
At the venue.
The lights completely went out.
The arena plunged into darkness.
Only the large screen slowly displayed a few lines of text.
Song: Love Story
Singer: Lin Wanwan
A soft spotlight shone down from above, landing in the center of the stage.
Lin Wanwan was wearing a minimalist white floor-length dress without any exaggerated decorations. She simply stood quietly in front of the microphone.
The piano intro slowly flowed out.
She closed her eyes, bringing her lips close to the microphone.
We were both young when I first saw you...
With just this one line, all the background noise in the arena instantly vanished.
It was breathtaking from the very first note.
Her English pronunciation wasn't perfect, but the texture of her voice won out, bringing a completely new emotional depth to a song that had been covered countless times.
In front of the backstage monitors, Director Wang wore his headphones, his eyes locked onto the various data metrics. The viewership rating curve was climbing at an uncanny angle.
He swallowed hard. This little girl's condition today was ridiculously good.
As the first verse ended, the atmosphere in the venue reached a climax. Lin Wanwan opened her eyes and cast her gaze toward the VIP viewing area at the rear side of the stage.
Chen Zhi sat in the shadows and gave her a thumbs-up.
A very faint smile tugged at the corners of Lin Wanwan's lips.
The music entered the bridge section right before the chorus.
At this moment, everyone was waiting for the guest singer to appear.
The live stream comments were going crazy:
"Where is the guest? Is she going to sing all by herself?"
"She is definitely going to bomb."
Just at the exact moment when the anticipation reached its peak.
Snap!
On the right side of the stage, a second blinding pillar of white light descended from above.
The stage lift slowly rose.
A tall foreign woman stood within the beam of light.
Long blonde hair, flaming red lips.
She strummed her guitar and seamlessly cut in, following the trailing note of Lin Wanwan's previous line.
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone——"
The moment this English line was sung.
The entire broadcasting hall.
Froze.
The five music critics in the front row stood up from their chairs in unison.
Several entertainment company executives in the second row stared with eyes as wide as saucers, their jaws practically hitting the floor.
The live comments lagged for three solid seconds; the servers could not handle the load.
And then.
An overwhelming flood of question marks and WTFs instantly drowned the entire live stream screen.
"WTF!!!!"
"Am I blind?! Tell me who that is!!!"
"Taylor?! Is that the real living Tay-Tay?!!!"
"Hunan TV, are you freaking crazy?! You invited Tay-Tay as a guest?!!"
After a brief moment of brain malfunction, the live audience erupted into the loudest roar this studio had ever seen since its construction.
Taylor took a step forward in her high heels, standing shoulder to shoulder with Lin Wanwan.
Lin Wanwan's energy was completely ignited. She was not overwhelmed by Taylor's aura; instead, she rose to the occasion. Their harmonies intertwined perfectly in the final climax.
Backstage.
Zhou Chengyu stood at the entrance of the corridor. The mineral water bottle in his hand had been squeezed out of shape, and he did not even notice the water spilling all over his hand.
His manager beside him looked ashen, muttering, "It is over."
At the end of the song.
Taylor executed an incredibly cool strumming finish, then turned her head and gave Lin Wanwan a huge hug.
Roar——
The entire audience stood up.
Thousands of spectators gave a standing ovation, the applause thundering. Even the fans who originally belonged to Zhou Chengyu were screaming Taylor's name like crazy.
There was absolutely no need for any voting results. The champion of today's finals had been set in stone the moment Taylor rose from the stage.
The host jogged onto the stage holding his microphone, his voice trembling with excitement.
"This is too shocking! Too incredible! Ms. Swift, welcome to China! Welcome to the stage of Singer!"
Taylor took the microphone, smiled, waved to the audience, and greeted them with a newly learned Chinese phrase: "Hello everyone, I am Taylor."
The entire venue boiled over once again.
The host turned to look at Lin Wanwan: "Wanwan, you really gave everyone a massive surprise today! Do you have anything you want to say?"
Lin Wanwan's forehead was covered in sweat, and her breathing had not fully steadied yet.
She held the microphone and stood in silence for two seconds.
"Many people think I was able to make it this far because of good luck."
Hearing her speak, the broadcasting hall quieted down.
"Today's song, Love Story, was the first English song I learned when I was a kid. Back then, I pasted Taylor's poster on my bedroom ceiling. Every night, I would make a wish to that face, wishing that one day I would also stand on the biggest stage and become a huge star."
She paused.
"Being able to sing this song with my idol is a gift someone gave me."
"He once said a sentence to me—you deserve the best stage."
"So tonight, I want to win this championship and give it to him as a gift."
The entire audience was in an uproar.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
