"Don't cry for me Argentina—" (A song recorded by Julie Covington in 1976, reinterpreted by Madonna in 1996 and by Elaine Paige in 2020)

As Xiao Yi's voice rang out, the whole venue was immediately shaken. His voice was deep and resonant, especially during the chorus of this classic song. Compared to the usual female voice, Xiao Yi's male voice effortlessly soared, singing with a sense of sadness, heaviness, and desolation that was completely different from Madonna's. He showcased his skills while also conveying genuine emotions.

Upon hearing the first line, Wang Jing immediately pressed the button, turned around, and cheered loudly.

"The truth is

I never left you..."

Xiao Yi sang, his voice trembling softly, his eyes closed, "all through my wild days..."

Until he sang, "I love you and hope you love me..." his voice gradually lowered, ending with a soft "yeah..." as the applause erupted throughout the venue.

However, the music hadn't ended yet. In an instant, it transitioned seamlessly into another piece of music, with Xiao Yi's "heya" melody gradually becoming more cheerful, merging into the prelude of another song.

The entire venue erupted into excitement, followed by thunderous applause.

"You know I cannot smile without you—" (NT: Can’t smile without you. Recorded by the Carpenters and Barry Manilow among others) Xiao Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, singing towards the three mentors with their backs turned to him. The second light turned on, and the chubby girl turned around.

Following Xiao Yi's rhythm change, he switched to another song, singing, "Send some love to me—!!"

"Please! Keep safe from harm!" Xiao Yi sang boldly, with radiant spirits. At that moment, the lights spun, and the whole stage seemed to belong to him, with the tempo of the music getting faster and faster.

"To a better man—"

Xiao Yi gracefully withdrew the mic. Finally, Ji Zi also turned around, leaving only Qi Quan still facing away from the stage.

The entire venue lit up, with the audience applauding wildly, and the fans hired by the company were about to cheer themselves hoarse.

"You're really handsome!" Pang Niu exclaimed. "I've never seen such a handsome contestant. Do you know you're very handsome?"

Xiao Yi smiled and said, "I don't know... Being handsome doesn't really matter much."

"Why isn't it useful?" Wang Jing said. "Being handsome can attract girls, get you a horse to ride, a car to drive, admirers in secret, and even cannons fired at you. Isn't that great?"

The audience burst into laughter. Qi Quan said, "Oh, Teacher Wang, you're so annoying, hahaha..."

Xiao Yi: "..."

Xiao Yi was speechless.

"Introduce yourself." Ji Zi said, " Three mentors have turned on their lights for you. Is this your first time participating?"

"I participated in auditions five years ago," Xiao Yi mentioned.

"Oh—" The four mentors seemed pensive.

"Why didn't you continue?" Wang Jing asked. "You're very talented, seamlessly connecting three English songs is rare."

Pang Niu said, "Gu Daji also did it, it's called a medley."

Xiao Yi smiled and said, "Yes, a medley. I think this is... the three stages of love, from the first song to the second and then to the third, telling the three feelings of love."

"Oh—what three feelings?" Wang Jing asked.

Xiao Yi replied, "The initial infatuation, the hesitancy and anxiety when falling in love, and the desperate longing for response and commitment."

The whole venue looked at Xiao Yi, and for a moment, the four mentors didn't know what to say. Wang Jing asked, "Do you have someone you like? Is the person you like here today?"

"Cut." The director said, "Teacher Wang Jing, he's here alone today."

Filming paused, and the director went to discuss with the four mentors. The makeup artist touched up Xiao Yi's makeup, and Xiao Yi smiled and said, "Thank you. Kisses."

Makeup artist: "..."

"Kisses kisses." The makeup artist laughed.

Xiao Yi finally said the brainwashing phrase he had been holding back for so long, feeling as relieved as if he had finally fulfilled his compulsion. Turning back, the director said, "Let's begin."

Qi Quan smiled and pointed at Xiao Yi, saying, "Do you know why I didn't turn around?"

The mentors all laughed, Xiao Yi smiled and didn't say anything.

"You didn't pass in terms of vocal performance with me," Qi Quan explained, "but you do have talent and are very innovative. I think you should try more in lyric writing, composition, and arrangement."

"You're right," Xiao Yi smiled. "I think so too."

"I hope to see better performances from you next time," Ji Zi said. "Here, take this pin."

Xiao Yi stepped forward, hugged the four mentors, and Pang Niu smiled, saying, "Good luck, handsome."

Xiao Yi kissed her on the cheek, wore the pin, made a victory sign to the audience, and left the stage.

After leaving the stage, everyone took a break. Ji Zi smiled and said to Wang Jing, "I wonder if his next song will be another folk music medley. I'm quite curious about what songs might appear."

Wang Jing said, "It's the first time I've heard a medley in a talent show; the format is quite good."

Xiao Yi returned to the backstage, hugged the host, and as the camera approached, Xiao Yi smiled and said to the camera, "I did it!"

Then Xiao Yi went back to the dressing room and said to Jing Lu, "Shall we go?"

Jing Lu said, "You sang so well."

Xiao Yi said, "Actually, it's quite average. Honestly, I'll analyse it for you later. When you see who sings well, you'll know."

*

Xiao Yi returned to the company, took off the pin, threw it on the table, rested for a while, ordered takeaway for dinner, and began to select songs for the semifinals with Jing Lu.

After the semifinals, Xiao Yi had nothing to do. In the semifinals, he needed to sing a love song with Jing Lu on stage based on the draw results, and then according to the arrangement, Xiao Yi anxiously waited for the mentors to decide whether he would be eliminated.

"What song should we sing together?" Xiao Yi asked.

"I have no objections," Jing Lu said. " Teacher Xiao, you decide."

"Don't call me Teacher Xiao," Xiao Yi smiled and said, "The company has hired a vocal coach for us, and we will train together later. Now I am your partner."

Jing Lu already admired Xiao Yi so much that Xiao Yi inadvertently felt that Jing Lu's feelings were a bit strange.

Is he gay? Maybe a bit.

Xiao Yi felt that JJing Lu was a bit introverted and didn't speak much on the stage, which was not good. Xiao Yi kept encouraging him to be more confident. However, he suddenly realized that Jing Lu's way of speaking to him was exactly how he felt when he was with Lu Zhou.

"Let's talk about it in a few days," Xiao Yi said. "So, for the next few days, take a vacation first. Do you need money? If you do, I'll talk to Director Du."

Jing Lu was indeed a bit short of money but didn't know how to ask.

The vocal coach arrived and gave them systematic training. Xiao Yi felt that Jing Lu might be a bit poor and couldn't eat enough, so he asked Director Du for an advance, giving Jing Lu some wages as living expenses. Director Du said, "You recorded very well today, be careful in the next round."

Xiao Yi nodded, knowing that Director Du was reminding him not to overshadow Jing Lu and get him eliminated, but Xiao Yi knew that wouldn't happen. Although he sang very impressively, his vocal skills were actually not good, and his voice's inherent foundation was not strong. On the contrary, Jing Lu's voice condition was good, decently average, and actually singing steadily was difficult. He didn't practice hard himself but urged Jing Lu not to miss any vocal lessons every day.

Xiao Yi returned home, breathed a sigh of relief, took a shower, and came out. His two good friends, OO and XX, were still sitting side by side on the sofa watching TV. Xiao Yi thought it was enough. Why did Director Du bring these two newcomers back? They just sat in the rental house and watched TV when they had nothing to do?

" Teacher Xiao," OO greeted.

Xiao Yi took the initiative and said, "You did well today. I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow."

After Xiao Yi finished speaking, he went into the room. The sound of the TV came from outside. Xiao Yi lay on the bed and checked his phone. He posted a Weibo to inform his fans: participated in the competition today, everything went smoothly, watch TV next week!

Just after posting the Weibo, the user "lfqlz009" sent another message.

lz009: "Muah muah, Xiao Yi ge, how was the competition?"

Maso Xiao Tzuki: "You can see it next week! I hope you like it!"

Xiao Yi almost wanted to block this person. Just when he finally forgot about "muah muah", it came again, and his whole body tossed and turned, with "muah muah" reverberating in his mind. Xiao Yi became almost manic, sitting on the bed, flipping through this guy's profile, and seeing him leaving comments under his Weibo again.

When others said they looked forward to Xiao Yi's performance, this person said not to expect too much. Xiao Yi actually sings poorly, so you shouldn't have high expectations.

When others praised Xiao Yi's singing, lfqlz009 humbly said in the comments that Xiao Yi's voice was actually terrible—

Damn, is this guy sick? Xiao Yi really wanted to block him directly. Then he saw someone else praising Xiao Yi's talent, and lfqlz009 said he actually didn't have much talent. You haven't seen anyone truly talented; his lyrics are simply garbage.

Xiao Yi began to understand why Lu Zhou registered twenty side accounts to curse people. So annoying. What the heck is this? Is it a mental illness? Is this thing black or a fan? Why are you being modest when others praise me? What's your business?

Xiao Yi decided to get to the bottom of this.

First, Xiao Yi clicked into this alt account, scrolled through his Weibo, but found no clues after half an hour of analysis, word by word. This person followed a bunch of marketing accounts and seemed like just an alt account, and there was no profile picture. What's the deal?!

And when did he follow this person? He had no recollection at all. Xiao Yi checked again and found it was recent.

Xiao Yi: "..."

Xiao Yi started to have a bad feeling, clicked into the person's Weibo, and this guy forgot to hide his registration email, so Xiao Yi copied the email and searched it on Baidu.

Xiao Yi thought to himself, I seem like a freak, why am I so crazy about identifying fans? This is not right, but let me just do a small investigation. After all, I've never done anything to others as a moralist—

Nothing came up.

Xiao Yi deleted the last few digits of the registration email and searched again. This time, a bunch of things came up, including some Weibo. Xiao Yi searched on Weibo and thought it was really freaky, so he dropped it... Damn! Are you kidding me?!

Xiao Yi was completely dumbfounded.

In the similar searches, there was an alt account that clearly, directly, under a Lu Zhou's post, said: "What you're doing is wrong. My Zhou has never had plastic surgery..."

Wait a minute! Isn't this me?! Xiao Yi searched for a long time, but only found himself. He was completely confused. With his limited intelligence, he couldn't figure out the mystery. Five minutes later, he finally realized.

This was Lu Zhou's alt account! That lfqlz009... are there also 008, 007?

Xiao Yi searched again and found that besides 008, all the others were there.

Does Lu Zhou have all these alts?!! Ahhh! Xiao Yi went crazy.

Xiao Yi looked at that lfqlz009, feeling like he wanted to kneel down. He wondered, what abbreviation is this? Is it "Lu Fa Cai Lu Zhou"? But shouldn't "Lu Fa Cai" be LFC? What the heck is LFQ?! Did you misspell the phonetic transcription when you registered?!

Xiao Yi tried poking lfqlz009.

Maso Xiao Tzuki: "Muah."

lz009: "Muah muah."

Xiao Yi: "..."

Xiao Yi's whole being went awry, with Lu Zhou's "muah muah" expression flashing in his mind for a moment. He had no strength left to contemplate why Lu Zhou would use this alt account to monitor him in an adorable way. Lying on the bed, he was almost laughing uncontrollably.

"Ahahaha." Xiao Yi laughed heartily, holding Lu Zhou's plush toy. "Muah muah, you're so cute, Zhou Ge!"

Xiao Yi really wanted to ask him, why did you just leave me like that? But if he saw through Lu Zhou's true intentions, Lu Zhou would completely ignore him. So, he had to cherish this "muah muah" and not scare him away.

Maso Xiao Tzuki: Are you a guy or a girl?

lz009: A guy.

Xiao Yi: Hahaha, what is happening? I'm not okay at all, bro.

Maso Xiao Tzuki: You're very cute you know that?

lz009: Yep. [Heart]

Xiao Yi: Hahaha, I can't handle this anymore, help...

Maso Xiao Tzuki: Where do you live?

lz009: I'm going to sleep now, Xiao Yi ge muah muah, sleep early, take care of yourself. [Salute]

Xiao Yi was about to cry. Was the fun over? No! Let's talk a little longer, I love you, muah muah...

Maso Xiao Tzuki: Can you chat with me for a while?

The Lu Zhou who had been given the wrong nutrient solution didn't say anything. Xiao Yi thought, okay, it's almost one o'clock, let's all go to sleep.

Xiao Yi spent the whole night with Lu Zhou's "muah muah" on his mind. The next day, he wanted to poke Lu Fa Cai, but he was afraid Lu Zhou would notice it too obviously, so he had to endure and ignore him.

On Friday night, the show aired.

Xiao Yi was drinking beer and eating Zhou Hei Ya (NT: (NT ‘dark duck Zhou’, also name of a food chain specialised in braised duck) his mom sent over, while watching TV with ooxx.

"The strongest silk heart with the most beautiful mood! This program is specially sponsored by Giant Black Shampoo. After using Giant Black, your hair will be like black ash, volatile, turning into gray ash, and flying into the black ash flower..."

Xiao Yi instantly sprayed beer everywhere.

"Please welcome the four mentors—!" the host shouted after finishing the tongue twister.

The four mentors turned around.

Xiao Yi received a call from Jing Lu and smiled, saying, "Yeah, I'm watching it. Not bad."

When Jing Lu was on stage, he seemed like a different person. Ooxx looked at him jealously, his jealousy so loud that even Xiao Yi could hear it.

Why should he be praised like that!

Xiao Yi watched Jing Lu singing on TV with a smile. Xiao Yi chose a song by Xu Ruyun for him. Jing Lu's voice floated, sometimes deep, sometimes ethereal. When he got on stage, it seemed like the whole stage belonged to him. Every successful artist would have this feeling—just like when Lu Zhou started filming, the set became his world, and when Jing Lu tidied up, the stage became his territory.

My territory, my rules.

Jing Lu didn't show off. Perhaps this song itself was a showcase from beginning to end. He sang well, Xiao Yi could only think so. It was reasonable for him to advance, and it was also reasonable for him to step aside.

When it was Xiao Yi's turn to go on stage, Xiao Yi almost choked on his duck neck.

Why was this so embarrassing! Xiao Yi saw himself on TV for the first time, and he was blown away to another galaxy. His expression, his movements, everything was wrong, and he even seemed self-indulgent. It was so embarrassing!

Xiao Yi wanted to throw the TV out the window, but the program had already aired. His image... couldn't be saved anymore.

"Teacher Xiao Yi, you sang so well!" ooxx said unanimously.

Xx said, "You look great on camera, much better than in person in front of the camera!"

Oo added, "So handsome! Teacher Xiao Yi, look, you're famous now!"

Oo checked Weibo, and Xiao Yi's messages were already flooding the timeline even before the show ended today. Xiao Yi was in tears and said, "Let me calm down..."

Xiao Yi finally understood why Lu Zhou didn't like to watch his own performances. It must also be because he found them too uncomfortable. Seeing himself, he felt embarrassed. Xiao Yi went into the room in tears, locked the door, and tossed Lu Zhou's plush toy on the bed, wailing, "How can I go on like this in the future!"

*

That night, the phone kept ringing.

"You're famous now," Du Ma said. "When did you join the talent show? Why didn't you tell me?"

Xiao Yi: "Did you watch it too? I can't go on."

"You did great!" Du Ma said. "Really amazing!"

Xiao Yi: "Don't console me."

Du Ma said, "Wait for the next time, I'll definitely come to support you!"

Xiao Yi: "No need for support! There won't be a next time!"

The coordinator from the first drama crew Xiao Yi joined also called.

"You're famous now—!" the coordinator exclaimed, "The show isn't even over yet! Someone has already started a thread specifically to discuss you!"

Xiao Yi felt speechless: "Oh."

"Next time, you must invite me!" An Jie said.

The entire night, Xiao Yi received calls from numerous drama crews he had worked with before, including Ning Yaqing and Qi Ai. His WeChat was flooded with messages, and his Weibo followers instantly soared to five hundred thousand.

Xiao Yi was almost scared out of his wits. He called Du Mei, who reassured him, "No problem, don't worry."

Okay.

Seeing that so many fans liked him, Xiao Yi was still very happy. He kept scrolling through his phone until one in the morning.

lz009: Xiao Yi ge, you did great today.

Maso Xiao Tzuki: Thank you! Aren't you going to sleep yet?

lz009: My mom asked me to do my homework. Muah muah, good luck!

Xiao Yi: "..."

Xiao Yi almost threw his phone, thinking, "What kind of homework are you doing! At your age, you're pretending to be an elementary school student!"

The next day, Xiao Yi's messages went viral. His fans instantly soared to over one million, and someone even captured screenshots of Xiao Yi singing, saying he was beautiful from every angle, like a big beauty.

Xiao Yi shed tears, feeling overwhelmed. On one hand, he was blown away by the attention; on the other hand, he couldn't help but open those big pictures to see. Someone even paired him with Kuang Yan, who had fought with him, saying they were a perfect couple, and Xiao Yi's world collapsed completely.

Then, people on Tianya began to gossip. Xiao Yi, who became popular overnight after the talent show, was once fought over by Lu Zhou and Li Changzheng, and was eventually taken away by Lu Zhou.

Countless old stories were dug up, including the period when Lu Zhou chased Xiao Yi from afar. Finally, some fans said to stop bothering him because he had a girlfriend! Then they brought out songs Xiao Yi sang for his girlfriend, old-fashioned tunes he recorded before, and all sorts of messy scandals.

This triggered a melee. Some said Xiao Yi was gay and was deceiving people in relationships. Xiao Yi thought, "Even if I'm gay now, I wasn't gay before! Who deceives a relationship with such patience as Li Changzheng's long road to deceive for five years without getting married? This liar has too much professional ethics!"

Then Lu Zhou's fans and Xiao Yi's fans, along with Xiao Yi's haters, Lu Zhou's fans, and Li Changzheng's fans, got into a big fight. Among them, the main characters like the Emperor and Siniang were shot numerous times. Finally, when Zhang Xinran, Ning Yaqing, and Wuhenggu were dragged into it, Xiao Yi couldn't bear to look anymore.

Xiao Yi felt dizzy and exhausted, thinking this was too much to handle. The next day, he felt like he had been crushed by countless elephants, so he had to close Weibo and stop looking at it.

"Do you want me to hire an assistant for you?" Du Mei didn't expect Xiao Yi to become so popular after recording the show.

"No." Xiao Yi said, "I'm done playing... After the next performance, I'm leaving."

Du Mei said, "We didn't expect you to suddenly become famous after recording the show."

Xiao Yi thought, "Am I a balloon? What do you mean, suddenly become famous!"

Lin Yao was still looking at the online reviews and said, "The accumulation of long-term topics caused yesterday's outbreak. The topics about you in the past were all suppressed by us. Xiao Yi, aren't you considering developing in the company?"

"No." Xiao Yi shook his head.

"What a pity." Lin Yao said.

Du Mei said, "If you want to terminate the contract, I'll break one of your legs."

Xiao Yi's face turned blue instantly.

Du Mei smiled and said, "Just kidding. I'd rather you stay in the company and help them tailor music for you."

Xiao Yi: "..."

Xiao Yi thought for a moment and said, "If there's a chance in the future, I'd be willing to, um, Director Du, aren't you angry?"

"It's not as serious as you think." Du Mei reassured him, "The entertainment industry isn't the underworld. Where do you get so much fighting from... If you're willing to stay, stay. If you don't want to, leave. I've already let Lu Zhou go. What can I do for you?"

Xiao Yi felt sorry for Du Mei. Although the company didn't say they had invested a lot of resources to promote him, at least during his time in the company, Du Mei had always been courteous to him, perhaps out of consideration for Du Ma's face, or perhaps she really liked Xiao Yi.

"Go back and prepare well," Lin Yao said, "How to smoothly transition with Jing Lu in your PK, don't make it seem too deliberate, we need to discuss."

"No problem." Xiao Yi said, "I will definitely follow the command and not mess around on site."

*

A week later, Xiao Yi went to the program team and recorded a video segment. This video was to be used after he was eliminated from the show. Xiao Yi earnestly recorded the video and then returned to the company to discuss with Jing Lu.

Wu Henggu happened to come in to look for someone and saw Xiao Yi; he smiled and said, "Xiao Yi ge!"

"Hey! How are you?" Xiao Yi smiled and replied.

Wu Henggu mentioned, "You sing so well!"

Xiao Yi smiled and replied, "Just singing randomly." He thought to himself, ‘Has your amnesia been cured? Let's have fun together after I get eliminated.’

Wu Henggu exchanged a few pleasantries and then left.

Jing Lu asked, "Teacher Xiao, what will you do after being eliminated?"

"I'll write songs for you guys," Xiao Yi said with a smile.

Jing Lu asked, "Can you be my manager?"

Xiao Yi replied, "I can't. The company will assign a better manager for you. Trust me, as long as you sing seriously, the company won't mistreat you. Director Du, Director Lin, they're all really good."

Jing Lu remained silent, flipping through the music scores in his hand. After a moment of silence, Xiao Yi smiled at Jing Lu and said, "Do you know? Lu Zhou told me that the entertainment industry is like a river and lake, full of dangers and opportunities, calculations and manipulations, lifting and suppressing. It's like the changing course of a river over thirty years."

Jing Lu nodded and looked at Xiao Yi.

"But there are also many people who value loyalty," Xiao Yi continued. "Not everyone steps on others to climb up, and not everyone is only after money. So don't worry. Just focus on doing your own thing. There will always be people willing to be your friends, and there will always be people willing to help you without asking for anything in return. If you haven't found that person yet, then just be yourself and don't lose your way."

Jing Lu nodded, and Xiao Yi concluded, "Let's practice this song and try to give it a different feel."

The semi-finals were in June. During this time, Xiao Yi would message that "muah muah" every day, but soon there was no response. Xiao Yi felt a bit disappointed, but completing the current tasks was the most important thing.

Beijing's weather was getting warmer. Xiao Yi lay on the balcony of his rented house, enjoying the good weather these days, quietly gazing at the night sky.

The constellations seemed to take on Lu Zhou's figure, speaking to him in the vast night:

"Muah muah."

Xiao Yi: "..."

 

Translator : DarNan