Chapter 1551: The battle of the grand champions begins!

On this day.

It was the day of the battle of the grand champions.

In the afternoon, at a kindergarten.

“Sisi, over here.”

“Daddy, my daddy is here.”

“Come on, let’s go home.”

“Daddy, carry me.”

“Hur hur, you clingy little girl.”

At the front gate of the kindergarten, Zhang Ye had come to pick Sisi up from school.

The teachers were all very surprised to see him. Next to them, quite a few of the other children’s parents crowded around them. They couldn’t understand why Zhang Ye was in the mood to come to school to fetch his daughter.

His daughter’s form teacher asked anxiously, “Aren’t you taking part in the competition tonight?”

Zhang Ye was carrying his daughter and said with a smile, “Yes, it’s happening tonight at around 8 PM.”

“Then why are you still so leisurely coming around to pick your daughter up?” one of the children’s parents asked.

Another teacher asked dumbfoundedly, “Don’t you have to prepare for the competition tonight?”

Zhang Ye replied, “Of course I’m going to prepare for it. But I can’t forget about my child either. Hur hur, no matter how important work may be, my daughter is much more important to me.” He then lowered his head and gave Sisi a peck on the cheek. “Right, my dear?”

Sisi nodded hard. “Yes, Sisi is the most important!”

Everyone could only take their hats off to him.

They suddenly felt that Zhang Ye was no longer the same person. For a moment, everyone felt even more pessimistic about Zhang Ye’s battle tonight. Being tied down with a family, how could Zhang Ye possibly win? Could he still press forward without a care like the younger male idols of the entertainment industry these days?

…

On Weibo.

“What time does it start?”

“There are still two more hours to go.”

“Let’s see who will be the first to perform.”

“Haha, my Ququ will definitely sweep everyone aside.”

“Qiqi will definitely be victorious!”

“Haihai is the best!”

“Supporting Zhang Ye.”

“Previous poster, get lost!”

“What does a banned artist have against the might of our older brothers?”

“When Teacher Zhang was famous, those hunks weren’t even around yet!”

“That’s such old news, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Who isn’t more popular than Zhang Ye now?”

“He will surely be the first to get eliminated!”

…

At Beijing Television.

There was one hour left until the live broadcast began.

Although Zhang Ye was already running late, he still walked over at a leisurely pace.

The other contestants had already arrived. Immediately, all of them looked at him.

Xiao Lu was panicking badly. “Brother Zhang! My dear brother! Where on earth were you? I even had to call you twice before I could get through? The live broadcast is almost starting.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “I was cooking dinner, so I must have missed your call.”

Guan Xue said in a speechless manner, “You cooked dinner today?”

Zhang Ye said calmly, “I even picked up my daughter from school. That’s why I got delayed for a bit.”

Xiao Lu facepalmed. “I really have to give it to you.”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I’m not the same as you. Having been separated from my family and home for those few years, I have a lot of regrets. So I can only slowly make it up to them.”

Qi Liang looked at him.

Qu Dong was at a loss for words.

Hai Yifei was also rather taken aback.

Pick up his daughter?

Cook dinner?

Don’t you know what day it is today?

This is I Am a Singer’s battle of the grand champions, the culmination of the five seasons of the show! Whoever wins this honor would surely be sent directly to the top of the Chinese entertainment circle to stand alongside the big brothers and sisters!

Xiao Lu quickly said, “We’re going to begin immediately. I’ll brief you once more regarding the procedures. Everyone will first have to draw lots, then—” She went through the instructions very quickly.

Zhang Ye nodded. “Understood.”

Xiao Lu subconsciously said, “You must bear that in mind.” After saying that, she suddenly realized who she was speaking with and couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment. She tried to cough it off. This show itself was thought up by Zhang Ye in the first place, and it was he who successfully produced and directed it. When Zhang Ye was doing the live broadcast arrangements back then, Xiao Lu was just a member of his team. So when she finished saying those words, she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed about it.

But Zhang Ye said, “OK, I’ll remember it.”

Xiao Lu chuckled and said, “Come off it. I had better stop all that bullshit in your presence.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “You’re the executive director now, so of course I have to listen to you.”

In fact, Xiao Lu was very nervous today. She had served as the executive director of I Am a Singer for two years now. Previously, it had always been Hu Fei who was in this role. But when Hu Fei was promoted to become the Deputy Station Head, Xiao Lu couldn’t have expected that Brother Hu would hand over the star show of the station to her. She could still remember the exact words that Brother Hu said to her at that time. He told her that this show was left behind for them by Teacher Zhang, so she mustn’t screw it up and disappoint him. Those words remained very clear in her mind, so when she learned that Zhang Ye was going to join the finale competition of the show, she couldn’t help but feel perturbed. She felt even more nervous than when she first took over the reins as the executive director of the show. This was because she wanted to hand in the best possible answer that she could to Zhang Ye. She wanted to let him know that the show he had brought into this world had not been screwed up by her, and that she had not disappointed him!

The scheduled time was fast approaching.

The preparations for the broadcast were all in order.

After Xiao Lu had arranged everything, she suddenly went to Zhang Ye on her own and said to him, “Teacher Zhang, there’s something that I’ve always found very regretful.”

Zhang Ye was startled. “What is it?”

Xiao Lu looked at him. “Back on the first season of I Am a Singer, you didn’t win as the grand champion because we had forced you to save the day after the role of the host was vacated. But as the executive director of the show, and for the sake of the station, you made many sacrifices on your part. We at Beijing TV, as well as the people, all of us owe you the title of grand champion. You’re not the executive director today, and you don’t have any responsibilities for Beijing TV either, so you can finally sing as you like. It’s time that you took home the title of grand champion. It belongs to you anyway, or at least, you should’ve been crowned as the grand champion four years ago.”

Zhang Ye smiled and patted her head in response. “The grand champion was voted on by everyone, and nothing should ever be taken for granted. In this current day and age, do you still think that I can become the greatest champion?”

Xiao Lu said, “Of course.”

Zhang Ye shook his head and laughed.

…

At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.

The whole family had gathered in front of the television.

“Has it started yet?”

“It’s beginning soon.”

“Bro, you can do it!”

…

Old Chen’s house.

Chen Guang and Fan Wenli were both sitting quietly before their television.

“It’s about to start.”

“I’m feeling a little nervous.”

“Why would you be nervous?”

“I’m nervous for Zhang’er, of course.”

…

At Yao Jiancai’s house.

“Dad, hurry up!”

“It’s starting, it’s starting!”

“It’s blown up all over the Internet. Today’s viewership ratings of I Am a Singer are gonna be heaven-defying!”

…

At Old Wu’s parents’ courtyard house.

Wu Changhe and some members of his family had gathered around to wait in front of the television.

“Will Little Ye be able to do it?”

“Who knows?”

“I wonder how popular he still is.”

…

Dong Shanshan’s house.

Several of their old classmates had gathered here today.

“Comrade Yu Yingyi, why have you only arrived?”

“Aiya, I was caught in traffic.”

“Shanshan, increase the volume of the TV.”

“What song do you guys think Zhang’er will sing today?”

“It’s probably going to be an old song?”

“He’s not writing songs anymore?”

“Who knows if he can still write them. Having spent so many years in jail, his talents might have dried up. Hai, I feel such pain for our Zhang’er!”

…

At home.

Wu Zeqing was carrying Sisi and sitting down on the sofa.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy? Where’s Daddy?”

“Daddy will be out soon.”

“Mommy, can Daddy win?”

“If your Daddy wants to win, he will not lose. It’s been like this in the past, and it will be like this in the future.”

…

The countdown started.

Three.

Two.

One.

The live broadcast began!