Chapter 17

【Chapter 17: The Moment to Witness a Miracle】

The judges naturally understood the inside story, but Director Zhao An reacted quickly, turning off Liang Dong's microphone and shifting the camera to the audience and judges, decisively handling the incident. Otherwise, the live broadcast would have exposed the dark side of the competition, causing a major embarrassment.

This made the serious judges shake their heads. Even Mao Duoduo, who had seen many such incidents, felt that Director Fang's behavior was too ugly. After all, he had taken money from others and should at least show some consideration.

However, at this moment, Mao Duoduo was more focused on the next contestant, because the next one was Ye Ming, a newcomer who had dared to be disrespectful. If he didn't teach him a lesson, Ye Ming wouldn't know what it meant to respect his seniors.

The next act was what Mao Duoduo was most eager to see.

Seemingly to ease the atmosphere, Mao Duoduo said, "Teacher Yan, the next contestant, whose name I just checked, is the second-place winner of the preliminary round. His performance of 'Rice Field Mouse' was very impressive. It's rare to find contestants with such skill nowadays. I hope he can surprise us."

This was a form of flattery, despite Mao Duoduo's desire to teach Ye Ming a lesson. He didn't want to be seen as jealous and envious, so he pretended to praise and support the newcomer.

If Ye Ming's performance wasn't good, Mao Duoduo would not hesitate to crush him, never giving him a chance to recover.

The host calmed the audience, and the judges commented on Liang Dong's performance. Even Li Shuangjiang said earnestly that young people often have short tempers and can't handle setbacks, and that they should focus on improving their self-cultivation.

This effectively smoothed over the situation.

As Ye Ming was introduced, the song he was to perform was "Rice Field Mouse." The name had a humorous tone, and the audience, both in the venue and at home, perked up, eager to hear how "Rice Field Mouse" would be performed.

Ye Ming walked to the center of the stage, step by step, under the spotlight. He felt Mao Duoduo's mocking gaze, but having experienced many competitions, he showed no signs of nervousness. However, Mao Duoduo's meaningful look gave Ye Ming a sense of danger.

Nevertheless, Ye Ming remained calm, bowing to the judges and the audience, then waited for the music to start.

Three seconds later, when the familiar music didn't play, Ye Ming felt something was wrong. Five seconds later, the backstage crew also realized the issue.

Director Zhao An immediately flew into a rage, throwing the script aside and shouting, "What's going on, Xiao Fang? I entrusted you with this, and this is how you repay me? How could this happen? Where's the sound engineer?"

At this moment, Song Kai walked out from a small room and said, "Director Zhao, the tape Ye Ming gave us was blank. I couldn't play any music."

Director Zhao An and Director Fang glanced at Song Kai, making him feel as if they were about to strip him bare. However, he held firm, knowing that as long as he didn't speak, no one could prove anything.

Director Zhao An couldn't just fire him, after all, he was a permanent employee. And without Director Fang's approval, would he have dared to do this?

Director Fang sighed, pointing at Song Kai with a hint of disappointment, "You were careless. Why didn't you check the tape beforehand? This is a live broadcast."

Despite his excellent performance, it didn't escape Director Zhao An's notice. He sneered and fell silent.

A staff member responsible for monitoring the ratings, Xiao Huang, hurried over and said, "Director, the ratings for the beginning of the show were between 1.0 and 1.1, showing that the audience was very excited about the competition. However, after the incident, the ratings dropped to 0.8. It seems the incident has had a significant impact, and the ratings are still falling."

Director Zhao An dismissed it, "So what? Do you think the audience is stupid? It might drop to 0.5. Xiao Fang, I suggest you start looking for connections. There might be a big scandal tomorrow."

Meanwhile, on stage, Ye Ming didn't leave. If he did, he wouldn't have another chance to perform.

This was a live broadcast, and there were still other contestants.

On stage, Ye Ming was stunned. He hadn't expected the TV station to set such an obvious trap for him. Looking at Mao Duoduo's smug and provocative smile, he knew he had been set up.

This was the power of a top star. They could make the TV station do their bidding at the right time because they brought in the ratings.

However, Ye Ming didn't give up. He had worked hard to reach the finals and wanted to seize this opportunity to showcase himself.

His expression quickly changed from shock to calm, as if he were performing a Sichuan opera face-changing act.

This impressed Li Shuangjiang, who commented, "Young and fearless, with the demeanor of a great general."

If they couldn't see the problem, they wouldn't have been in the industry for so long.

Ye Ming smiled and said, "Actually, I feel that just singing might be a bit monotonous. In the preliminary round, I performed 'Rice Field Mouse,' which the judges and the audience enjoyed very much. I appreciate everyone's support. This time, I discussed with the director backstage and decided to perform a new song called 'I Believe.'"

Originally, Song Jun had planned to use Liang Dong's guitar, but it had been broken during his performance.

However, Liang Dong's guitar gave Ye Ming an idea.

Opening the familiar page of the Entertainment Empire system, Ye Ming clicked on the prop store, searched for a guitar, and found the one he needed.

But when he saw the special prop—Magic Guitar. Function: "Has a certain chance to make the audience feel immersed, unconsciously entering the song." Price: 5000.

Seeing this outrageous price, Ye Ming felt like banging his head against the wall, but he still clicked to purchase it.

Five thousand yuan, out of the eighteen thousand he had earned from signing with the "Jewel in the Palace" production, the company had taken seven thousand two hundred. Indeed, his account balance was now only five thousand eight hundred. This system was incredibly greedy.

Fortunately, due to Liang Dong's guitar, there was a microphone stand on stage. Song Jun spread his arms, made a magician's gesture, and said, "Now, it's time to witness a miracle."

At that moment, Ye Ming extended his hands, and the system confirmed the purchase. A guitar with a fiery red glow appeared in his hands.

For a moment, almost everyone was stunned. Was this a magic show instead of a singing competition?

In a villa, a little girl with long hair and a white dress was sitting on a luxurious leather sofa, watching the TV with interest. She was cursing the TV station for its underhanded tactics.

Although Director Zhao An had acted quickly, many people still noticed that something was wrong with the competition. A contestant clearly wanted to expose something.

But the camera had already shifted to the audience and the judges.

The little girl, angry, kicked her shoes at the large TV screen.

She grabbed a handful of popcorn and muttered, "All crows are black. I'm glad I didn't participate in the competition; I would have been ruined. Forget it, I'll change the channel. This makes me angry."

Many people watching at home shared the same sentiment.

But just as the little girl was about to change the channel, she heard Ye Ming say, "It's time to witness a miracle."

A miracle? What kind of miracle?

Curiosity can kill the cat, and the little girl immediately let go of the remote control.

When she saw Ye Ming produce a fiery red guitar almost instantly, she was speechless, amazed. The popcorn in her hand fell to the floor.

But she didn't care. She quickly picked up the phone, dialed a number, and chattered, "Miao Miao, what are you doing? Still playing games? I have something fun to tell you. Turn on the Beijing TV channel, quickly, quickly!"

At that moment, Ye Ming gently strummed the guitar, and it produced a beautiful sound.

I want to fly up to the sky, side by side with the sun,

The world waits for me to change it,

I'm not afraid to dream, no matter what others think,

Here, I can make all my dreams come true,

Let's laugh loudly, shoulder to shoulder,

Where can we not find endless joy?

Throw away worries and move forward bravely,

I stand in the center of the stage,

The passionate shout seemed to make the audience feel as if their hearts were about to burst with excitement.

The explosive music was like the mighty Yangtze River, vast and boundless, making the audience feel as if they were standing by the river, under a blue sky, looking down at the surging waters. Lifting their heads, they could almost touch the sun.

The grand and powerful music gave the audience a strong, heart-pounding impact.

This made the audience want to sway to the rhythm of the music.

Not only did the audience on site listen with rapt attention, but even those watching at home couldn't help but sway to the music.