“Then I will sing ‘Unexpected Encounter’,” Mu Rou nodded softly and said.

It was one of the two popular songs that made her famous. Facing Zi Yan, who was much more talented than her at singing, she had no choice but to use her signature song, but…

‘Oh Zi Yan, no matter what song you sing, you will be embarrassed later. After that, I’d like to see if you can still be so pretentious!’

Mu Rou laughed coldly in her heart. She had a very close relationship with one of the three judges and received some inside information from him, so she was quite confident in regards to the competition.

At the same time, she also wanted Zi Yan to listen to her singing. She was no longer the young newcomer who was crushed by Zi Yan. Now, Zi Yan didn’t even qualify to bring shoes for her. All Zi Yan had was a beautiful face that made people jealous.

It wasn’t long before the stage was vacated for Mu Rou. She grabbed the microphone and tested the sound. After that, the music and lights began to work.

She started to sing. As her mind was a little restless, she subconsciously raised the pitch of the opening lyrics a little higher and didn’t realize it until several stanzas later. Her heart beat fast and she quickly composed her mind and began to sing earnestly. But when she was about to sing one of the high pitches, she suddenly realized that she didn’t have enough breath for it.

What should she do?

When her voice was about to break, Mu Rou used her quick wits and intentionally tripped on her high heels.

“Ouch…”

Her body collapsed to the ground.

“What happened?” The host was frightened and rushed over to help her up.

“I didn’t step firmly and sprained my foot,” Mu Rou frowned slightly and said.

“How do you feel? Do you want to continue, or should we send you to see a doctor?” The host asked with concern.

“It’s okay. I’m better now. The sprain is not serious.” Mu Rou moved her ankle a few times, pretending to ease up, and then looked at the host and said apologetically, “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“As long as you are all right. Then, the program…?”

“Let’s just continue. I am fine.”

In the end, Mu Rou sang the song again. This time, her tone was normal, much lower than before.

Zi Yan was sitting in the VIP seat nearby. She looked at Mu Rou confusedly. Zi Yan vaguely felt that Mu Rou seemed unable to sing the high-pitched part just now. Did she deliberately over her own feet to avoid the embarrassment?

However, Zi Yan was not interested in this.

After Mu Rou finished her song in an orderly manner, there was a warm round of applause from the audience, including the three middle-aged men who were acting as judges. They were all nodding frivolously with praising expressions.

“Not bad, not bad, very good.” The host stepped forward and said, “Mu Rou, please go to the rest area and relax. The next performer is Zi Yan. Let’s welcome her.”

“Mmm.” Zi Yan stepped to the center of the stage.

She was not dressed as luxuriously today. Instead, she was dressed in a type of hip-hop style.

She wore light blue jeans and a pair of sneakers. The pants wrapped her slender legs and revealed her fascinating curves. But the relatively loose red sweater on her upper body made the males present a little anxious because it covered up everything they wanted to see.

Normally speaking, given Zi Yan’s good looks, it should not have been difficult for her to make a comeback. She was once a popular star, and people still had an impression of her. Besides, everyone liked beauties. Zi Yan fully met the standard requirements. If the company was willing to support her, it would be much easier for her to make a comeback.

Unfortunately, Zi Yan chose to return to the Royal Entertainment Company. She met Meiqi, who had bad feelings towards her, and Li Cheng, who had ill intentions. It’s easy to imagine how difficult it would be with Li Cheng, the son of a board member, getting in the way.

Zi Yan, however, didn’t know that Li Cheng had evil intentions towards her. At this point, she walked to the center of the stage, picked up the familiar microphone, and whispered,

“‘Love in a Fallen City’ for all of…”

Before she could finish speaking, a rude voice was head.

“Wait a moment!”

Zi Yan turned back and saw the fat judge with thick lips. He frowned and said,

“We don’t want to listen to old songs. Didn’t you recently release a new album? Please choose a new song. Thank you.”

Huh?

The whole audience looked at him together. In normal times, guests sang whatever songs they wanted. They could choose their song at will. Why were they placing a restriction on Zi Yan?

Zhou Fei was standing at the backstage gate, and she was very angry. She was already sick of the guy’s behavior and even wanted to go up on stage and punch him in his fat pig head.

Zi Yan’s expression was still very cold and calm. She looked at the speaker and said nothing.

From the eyes of the three judges, Zi Yan saw a trace of gloating. She vaguely felt that today’s program would not be that simple!

Feeling the awkward silence, the host quickly said,

“The judge’s words make sense. We are already familiar with ‘Love in a Fallen City’. I guess everyone here has heard this song many times. It is a very wonderful song. Singing a new song is also a good choice. Zi Yan, why don’t you choose a new song for us? I have listened to your new album and it is also pretty good.”

When Zi Yan heard these words, there was still no change in her expression, but she took a deep breath secretly. She turned her eyes away from the three judges, whom she had never heard of, and faced towards the nearly 100 audience members. They were the people she wanted to perform for. In Zi Yan’s heart, fans were far more important than some so-called judges who were hypocritical and only trying to make things complicated.

She compressed her emotions, gently opened her mouth, and coldly said,

“Then I will sing a new song. ‘How Warm It Is’ for everyone.”

At this time, the host took the lead and clapped. The audience also followed and clapped for some reason.

The accompaniment immediately began to play and the audience listened carefully to the unfamiliar melody.

It was a comparatively decent song in Zi Yan’s lackluster album. The song was bland and ordinary. Thanks to Zi Yan’s heavenly voice, it sounded a little better. However, poor quality songs were still poor quality songs after all. It would not be as melodious as a high-quality song.

As Mu Rou stood nearby, listening to Zi Yan’s sweet voice, a trace of jealousy could be seen in her eyes again.

It was unfair. Why did Zi Yan have such a beautiful voice? She started her career with a beautiful voice and some excellent songs. Within only two years, she became popular, then expanded to the movie and TV industry. She was just like a daughter of heaven, surrounded by endless acting opportunities. She even acted in several movies with high box office ratings.

Of course, Mu Rou was not the only person jealous of Zi Yan. Many people in the entertainment industry were also quite envious of her. But now, no matter how famous she was before, wasn’t she just a third-rate singer now?

Although Mu Rou was envious, she was very happy at the same time.

Finally, after Zi Yan finished the song, the host and Mu Rou stepped back onto the stage. After they sat down, the host looked at the three judges with a smile and said,

“It’s time for our music judges to give their comments.”

“Okay, let me talk about Mu Rou first.” The thin man on the left side picked up the microphone and spoke in a very serious tone.

“Mu Rou showed wonderful rhythm control, very outstanding skills in mood progress, and did well in her transition between true and false sounds. It can be said that this song thoroughly displayed her skills as a singer.”

“But Zi Yan’s song, how do I say this, somewhat disappointed me. In terms of rhythm, timbre, treble, and bass, I didn’t hear anything impressive, and it didn’t reflect Zi Yan’s singing ability at all. The first sentence gave me a feeling of dullness, and the treble part didn’t impress me at all. This is the worst song I have ever listened to during the program this whole year.”

Those words, although there was no foul language in them, sounded even more uncomfortable than actually cursing. He evaluated Zi Yan’s singing as useless.

At this time, the host’s expression was a little embarrassed, but Mu Rou was very happy, with her eyes even full of derision, but she pretended to look at Zi Yan with a complex expression of confusion and question. It seemed she was pitying Zi Yan.

Zi Yan still showed a protective and cold look, but she had already begun to increase her rate of breathing. Her heart was not calm at all, and she was even a little angry.

After the thin man gave his review, he indicated that it was time for the fat judge, who was sitting in the middle, to give an evaluation.

The fat judge picked up the microphone, coughed softly, and said, “There is no doubt that Mu Rou’s song is a popular song at the moment. From the enthusiasm of the audience, we can tell that she is good at various singing skills. It’s a great improvement over the last program and worthy of praise.”

After these words, he looked at Zi Yan. From his look, Zi Yan already knew he would not say anything good. The judge curled his thick lips, shook his head, sighed, and said,

“Zi Yan’s song…with all due respect, was a terrible song. It gives me the feeling of a tone-deaf person yelling at KTV. It has no musical appreciation at all. It’s a joke. Zi Yan, if you want to come back to the entertainment circle, you definitely won’t succeed with such an attitude. People are not fools. They can tell good from bad. Facts have proven this and it makes sense that your album was completely unprofitable. Okay, that’s all.”

The fat man then leaned back on the sofa, raised his thick palm and motioned towards the middle-aged man on the right.

At that time, the audience was in an uproar. They were all locked in a hot debate. A small number of them agreed with the judges’ words because Zi Yan’s song was indeed unsatisfactory. But, there were also some fans of Zi Yan and they felt that the judges’ words were too much. Even if it was not a pleasant song, the fault was on the song itself, not on Zi Yan. Zi Yan didn’t deserve such an evaluation since she had such a heavenly voice.

At that time, Mu Rou’s eyes were already full of pride. The host was very embarrassed and did not know what to say or do. Zi Yan, however, was sitting on one side, clenching her fists with her nails almost digging into her palms. However, she could not feel the pain at all. Her look was completely depressed. People could feel her anger from the cold look in her eyes.

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