Chapter 16

【Chapter 16: Exposing the Black Box Operations】

Realizing that he had no chance of getting a good score and that his hopes of staying in the capital were dashed, Liang Dong's heart was filled with utter despair, a pain that could not be put into words.

After years of struggling in the industry, enduring countless hardships and suffering, only he truly understood the extent of his sacrifices.

At this moment, Liang Dong's face twisted, and his inner dissatisfaction erupted in an instant.

When the host smiled and asked him to thank the audience and the judges, he noticed that Liang Dong's mood was off.

The host was suddenly drenched in cold sweat, as this was a live broadcast, and any mishap would result in disciplinary action for him as well.

Immediately, the host subconsciously signaled the backstage staff, and they quickly sprang into action.

Any live broadcast has multiple contingency plans in place for emergencies.

Sure enough, Liang Dong did not thank the audience and judges as usual after the scores were announced. Instead, he raised his head and glared at the camera, saying, "What kind of competition is this...?"

The microphone was immediately muted, but almost everyone in the audience was paying attention to what was happening on stage. Although the director, Fang, really wanted to have Liang Dong pulled off the stage, he dared not do so in front of the camera.

At this moment, Zhao An, who had been sitting calmly, snorted and said coldly, "What is this? I told you, Fang, that the appearance must not be too ugly. If you take something, you must make some compensation. This has always been the rule, but you refused to listen. Now look what has happened. It's a live broadcast accident, and the contestant is directly criticizing the competition for being rigged. If this gets out, it will be embarrassing. Don't put my name on this production; I can't afford to be associated with this. I'm wondering what you were thinking. Was it just about money?"

Fang, the director, was drenched in sweat, unsure of what to do.

Zhao An instructed the cameraman to shift the focus to the audience and the judges, giving the stage at least half a minute to handle the situation.

At this moment, Liang Dong had already thrown his guitar into a corner of the stage and was angrily shouting, "When you took my money, you promised me a good ranking, but what happened? What happened? Do you have any conscience at all? Thirty thousand yuan, that's thirty thousand yuan!"

Although the microphone was muted, the audience in front of the TV could not hear what Liang Dong was saying. However, on stage, the judges and the front-row audience heard his words clearly, and there was a flurry of discussion.

The entire broadcasting hall was like a bustling market.

After receiving the director's instructions, the host calmly walked onto the stage, and the camera immediately switched to him. By this time, Liang Dong had already been dragged off by two staff members, and no matter how wildly he cursed, it could not affect the live broadcast.

Zhao An said coldly from the audience, "I told you before, it's not a bad idea to have a backup recording, just like the Spring Festival Gala. But you were too lazy to do it to save a bit of money. Now you're in a bind, aren't you?"

Fang, the director, did not dare to argue, but he was seething with hatred for Liang Dong, determined to make the ungrateful young man pay.

Although Zhao Wei and Huang Xiaoming had left for a while, they were still worried about Liang Dong and quickly returned.

At this moment, they saw Liang Dong struggling with two staff members backstage, and it seemed that Liang Dong was not in a good state.

Clearly, Liang Dong, in his current frenzied state, was at a disadvantage. His mind was filled with thoughts of the rigged competition and the unfair treatment he had received, which made him extremely angry.

Zhao Wei quickly rushed over and pulled the two staff members aside, pointing at them and saying, "What are you doing? How can you treat a contestant like this? I'm his friend. If there's a problem, talk it out. Why use violence?"

Huang Xiaoming immediately pulled Liang Dong to the side, and seeing his classmate, Liang Dong's emotions gradually stabilized, and he began to calm down.

However, the TV station staff were not at all polite. The director's assistant, who had been the most aggressive in dragging Liang Dong back, pointed at him and said, "Are you his friend? Do you know what your friend did? He's a student at the Film Academy, does he know what a live broadcast means? Do you know that he almost ruined the live broadcast? If you're not happy, don't ruin it for us. This is the work of many people, and your friend almost destroyed it. If you don't want to play, get lost."

The director's assistant did not hold back, scolding Liang Dong harshly.

Liang Dong finally calmed down, looked at the director's assistant, and said, "Your hard work, how many people have benefited from it? Just your director's salary, can he afford a house and an Audi? But I didn't expect that even after taking my money, you couldn't do the job."

The director's assistant, being young, was taken aback for a moment before reacting and saying, "Everything needs evidence. If you make false statements, you will be held legally responsible. Security, come here, get him out of here. In the future, don't let such an uneducated person into the TV station. He's a disgrace to university students."

Liang Dong straightened his clothes and said calmly, "I'll leave on my own. I don't want to stay in this place of deceit and intrigue. The competition is already rigged, yet you pretend to be fair and just. I will expose this rigged competition to the media."

At this moment, Fang, the director, finally had a chance to walk over and point at Liang Dong, saying, "There are many people in the industry who want to rise to the top like you. If you have evidence, go ahead and sue us. The more you sue us, the more influential our competition becomes. But I can tell you that even if your teacher pleads for you, we will blacklist you. You'll find it hard to move in the industry."

Liang Dong was not even a recognized actor. Even those who had just started in the industry knew that if they had a falling out with the media, they would be blacklisted.

Therefore, while there were many rigged operations in the entertainment industry, not many were exposed.

Liang Dong did not understand this. He naively believed that his passionate exposure would cause a sensation, but he did not realize that such things were common in the entertainment industry.

The key was evidence. Did he have direct evidence? If not, Fang, the director, could even sue him for defamation.

Distorting the truth was something the industry was very skilled at.

Although Liang Dong wanted to continue making a fuss and expose the matter, seeing two tall security guards approach, he realized that this was not the time to cause trouble. It would be very disadvantageous.

After all, this was a TV station, and a live broadcast. Thinking about this, Liang Dong sighed, his eyes showing a hint of despair, and his spirit seemed to be drained.

He suddenly looked ten years older, dragging his slow steps out. Zhao Wei and Huang Xiaoming quickly followed, not bothering to argue with the director.

At this moment, Zhao Wei and Huang Xiaoming truly experienced the cruel and cold-hearted side of leaving the entertainment industry. Even with money, things were not always resolved.

On stage, the host was explaining what had happened, trying to calm the audience, as the live broadcast had to continue.

At this moment, the judges were not very polite. Such an incident was embarrassing for them as well.

Although they did not know the details, as people who had been in the industry for a long time, they could see from the clues Liang Dong had mentioned.

One of the judges said sternly, "The current competitions need to be reformed. A live broadcast should not have such incidents. This would never have happened in the past."

Li Shuangjiang, who seemed to be more familiar with such matters, having been a judge many times, said, "Nowadays, if you don't show some effort, you won't have the chance to stand here and compete. Some contestants may have exhausted their savings for a chance to stand out. The student just now was angry because he did not achieve his goal, so he exposed the matter."

The other judge remained silent for a long time before saying, "After all, singing skills are the most important. A person's success through shortcuts is just a matter of luck."

Looking at the current generation of young singers, there was already a deep chasm between them and the older generation of musicians, a gap that was hard to bridge.

In the past, singing competitions were not necessarily pure, but they only involved giving a slight favor to a familiar person's student in terms of scoring. There was no such thing as using money to secure a place in the finals.

Now, it seemed that without spending money, it was hard to make it to the finals. Even if you did spend money, it was not guaranteed to achieve your goal. Liang Dong, the contestant, had not achieved his goal, so he caused a scene on stage, even breaking his guitar.