Chapter 12

An Important Matter

Meng Fu was able to clinch second place despite such circumstances. The program planner felt that it was necessarily to reevaluate Meng Fu. Most importantly, he had seen Meng Fu’s performance live. Coupled with her outstanding appearance, she was definitely someone worth grooming.

The crew member immediately replied to the program planner, “Director Mu is in the office.”

Tonight’s eight performances were very important. As for the announcement of the rankings, they would be made after editing. After watching Ye Shuning’s performance, Director Mu had quickly left for backstage upon receiving a phone call. He was negotiating about the bet-on agreement with the investors.

He had handed the entire stage to the program planner. What remained of the show was the announcement of the rankings and the elimination of the contestants. This was the highlight of the entire program. The planner had already handed out the scripts and it was now Tang Ze and Xi Nancheng’s turn to perform their roles.

Tang Ze had always been good at managing things. Furthermore, the rankings would not be broadcast live until after editing. The most important live performance had already ended perfectly. It was thus reasonable for the director to leave the show temporarily to settle the funding situation.

“Okay, I’m going to look for him. Keep a tight watch here. Don’t make any mistakes.” The planner then went searching for Director Mu to inform him about Meng Fu.

The show had been tepid for two years. Now they had Meng Fu, another individual who was worth grooming. Perhaps the show could be revived from this stroke of good luck. This was an important matter. He must have a good discussion about this with the director.

**

At the same time.

The four mentors who had just stepped down from the stage were putting on their mics, preparing to announce the individual ranks and elimination namelist.

“Mentor Xi, was Meng Fu’s performance okay this time?” Wen Yu glanced at Xi Nancheng, who was very prejudiced against Meng Fu.

Hearing that, Xi Nancheng tidied up his sleeves slowly and then glanced at Tang Ze. “The original song you provided was suitable for singing outdoors. As for Meng Fu, she had vocal accompaniment throughout this performance? Chu Yue didn’t. You told me last time that she is the main vocalist on this team. How can she be considered a main vocalist if she does that?”

Tang Ze originally wanted to tell Xi Nancheng that the finalized song they composed was different from the original one he provided them. However, he was puzzled by Xi Nancheng’s last few words. “Meng Fu’s voice is excellent and has an absolutely high range. Her tune is also perfect. I really thought that she was a vocalist. I didn’t expect her to have vocal accompaniment. When she sang the last time, my migraine improved a lot…”

Xi Nancheng was not bothered by Tang Ze’s words but the latter’s last sentence about his migraine getting better…

Had Tang Ze gone crazy?

Xi Nancheng glanced at him. “In terms of votes, Ye Shuning sings and dances much better. She also composed the song her group performed to.”

“Anyway, I look forward to seeing how many votes Meng Fu gets. Her performance was beyond my expectations. She’s born to be a performer. She has improved markedly since the last time. It shouldn’t be difficult for her to get at least 200 votes.” Mentor Wen Yu was not very knowledgeable about professional dancing. Naturally, he would not give any random assessments. He could only say that Meng Fu’s performance was very striking.

The four mentors were seated in the front but they were still a distance from the stage. They could neither see the huge projection above their heads nor the detailed screen captures by the broadcasting director. They could only see a group of people dancing from a distance. They couldn’t see different angles, either. They couldn’t even see the close-up shots of the performance.

Even so, Wen Yu felt that Meng Fu had improved tremendously.

“She has made a lot of progress. Obviously, her limbs and movements are not as rigid as before.” Tang Ze adjusted the position of his mic. “However, it’s hard to garner live votes. It may be difficult to get 200 when Ye Shuning has such a following.”

As they conversed, crew members brought them the latest poll results.

Tang Ze took a look and smiled. “Ye Shuning, 689 votes. Sure enough, she’s still… Eh?”

Probably thinking that he had read it wrong, Tang Ze closed his eyes and then opened them. He stared at the last name on the team that had clinched second place.

Meng Fu, 667.

Wen Yu, who had just said that Meng Fu might get 200 votes, was speechless. Tang Ze was filled with excitement. He remembered Meng Fu’s stunning performance during the last assessment and he planned to go backstage to watch a replay of the performance later.

Squinting his eyes, Xi Nancheng held onto the document. It was uncertain what was in his mind. The mentors went in to announce the final popularity rank of the trainees as well as who would be eliminated. When the four mentors entered the room, a group of trainees was still looking dazed, until they heard Tang Ze announce the poll results.

“This is the online popularity poll results as of 12 o’clock in the morning yesterday.” Tang Ze took a second glance at Meng Fu and then pointed to the big screen behind him. The 65 trainees could see their original rankings.

No. 1 Ye Shuning, 8245615

No. 2 Nan Qiu, 5213694

…

No. 4 Meng Fu, 3993621

No. 5 Jiang Ran, 3542312

…

No. 11 Chu Yue, 1715762

…

No. 24. Wu Yatong, 861147

…

No. 37. Ding Liuyue, 179701

…

No. 39 Wei Jin, 170563

…

Towards the end of the list, the gap in the number of votes became increasingly smaller. This was the reason why those who had poor rankings wanted to find a strong team. For people like Ye Shuning and Nan Qiu, nothing had changed at all.

“Ye Shuning’s team members will receive 50,000 popularity votes. Chu Yue’s team members will receive 30,000 popularity votes.” Tang Ze looked at the large screen. “These are the revised rankings based on the popularity polls. The 20 least popular trainees will face elimination. Out of these 20 trainees, the top 5 trainees will not be leaving the show as they will participate in the revival match in the next round. For the other 15 trainees, your journey ends here.”

As he was talking, the large screen changed again. Ding Liuyue stared at the large screen without batting her eye.

No. 46 Ding Liuyue, 179701

…

The 20 who ranked the lowest would be eliminated this round and Ding Liuyue was ranked 46th. Ding Liuyue felt like she had been drained of all of her energy. Her ears buzzed. She was both fearful and thankful. She felt fearful because she had been listed as one of the 20 to be eliminated and thankful because she was one of the five who would be given a second chance.

No. 34 Wei Jin, 200563.

Wei Jin, who originally had a lower ranking than her, was now ranked 34th.

**

After the rankings were announced, the recording of the show was basically over.

“Meng Fu, why didn’t you sing this time?” Tang Ze finally found the opportunity to ask Meng Fu.

Meng Fu had put on her baseball cap and was calling Sister Zhao with her cell phone. Upon hearing Tang Ze, she looked up. “The song is not suitable for me.”

Tang Ze could sense the perfunctoriness in her reply and hence he did not press on.

He headed towards the backstage to look for a replay of the recording. “Nancheng, we’re going backstage to watch a replay of Meng Fu’s performance. Do you want to join us?”

The other three mentors were very curious about how Meng Fu got 667 votes.

Xi Nancheng was holding his cellphone. He had other things to attend to and wasn’t interested in Meng Fu’s affairs for the time being. He said lightly, “No thanks. I have an appointment with Teacher Yu Xian.”

Yu Xian was the teacher that Xi Nancheng had found for Ye Shuning. Tang Ze knew that Xi Nancheng was very concerned about Ye Shuning’s affairs.

Ye Shuning had a shocking talent for composing songs. Tang Ze nodded. “That matter is more important. Go ahead, then.”

At the same time.

The program planner entered the office to look for Director Mu immediately after the latter finished his conversation with the investors.

Director Mu looked at him and said with a headache, “I’m talking about Ye Shuning with the investors. You interrupted me in such a hurry and the negotiations almost failed. This better be important.”

Director Mu tone was harsh.. What else could be more important than Ye Shuning at the moment?