The Vicious Female Supporting Character Goes Viral After Her Masks Drop During the Talent Show - Chapter 37

Because she needed to contact Lu Tingshen, Zhong Yan requested her phone back from the production team.

Zhong Yan was now the “apple of the eye” for the entire crew. She simply mentioned she had urgent business, and the staff handed her the phone without a single question. When Zhang Jing found out, he went a step further and told her she could keep it permanently rather than handing it back in.

Guanke and Yanstar had officially signed their contract; Zhong Yan was now his business partner. There was no logic in confiscating a partner’s phone. Furthermore, since Yanstar had secured the management rights, the preliminary work for the debut group needed to start immediately. Zhong Yan truly did need to stay in touch with Li Xing to confirm business matters, so she accepted Zhang Jing’s gesture of goodwill.

When she messaged Lu Tingshen, he agreed almost instantly, without even asking who it was that needed to see him. Since he didn’t ask, Zhong Yan didn’t elaborate; he would find out soon enough. By successfully inviting him to the performance, she had completed the first step of her matchmaking plan.

Sunday, Performance Recording Studio.

Lute’s Lament (Pipa Yuan) was the final group to perform. After several hours of recording, the audience was weary, but when the host, Yan Shi, invited the group to the stage, the most thunderous cheers of the day erupted.

“Zhong Yan! Zhong Yan! Zhong Yan!”

Even in the wings, Zhong Yan could hear her name being called like an overwhelming tide. Compared to the first performance, the volume had doubled. As she stepped onto the stage, her eyes met a sea of banners printed with her name. Almost every audience member wore a violet silk ribbon on their wrist.

Violet was her official support color.

The fans shook off their exhaustion, raising their banners and screaming her name. The violet ribbons fluttered, turning the seating area into a surging purple ocean. Looking on from the sidelines, Zhang Jing couldn’t help but marvel. Zhong Yan had turned a group performance into a solo concert; her fans had practically cornered every ticket for this second stage.

What a pity Xu You couldn’t make it today, Zhang Jing thought. If he saw this, he’d be even more hyper than he was during the first show. He snapped a photo of the crowd and sent it to Xu You.

In less than thirty seconds, his phone buzzed. Xu You replied instantly: “You’re doing this on purpose to make me jealous, aren’t you? You heartless old man! You know I’m tied down by work and can’t go, and yet you still taunt me!”

Xu You had started a new project this week assigned by Origin Point. There was a mountain of work during the early days of filming, and he was stuck on set every day. He immediately followed up with: “Since you already sent one, don’t stop there. Where are the photos of Teacher Zhong’s stage? I want them within a minute.”

Zhang Jing replied with a mischievous grin: “The episode hasn’t aired yet. That’s confidential content.”

“Zhang Jing, I’ll kill you!”

“I can give you a spoiler, though: Teacher Zhong’s stage styling today is like a celestial fairy descending to earth.”

“Argh! I hate this! I should have turned down this job to watch the performance!”

“One more secret: CEO Lu of Dingming is here again today.”

“? Why is he there again?”

Zhang Jing looked up at the VIP viewing area on the second floor. The lighting in the house was dim, leaving only the faint silhouette of a man sitting alone. Zhang Jing had assumed that after the partnership was rejected, Lu Tingshen would never return. He had been shocked when Lu’s secretary contacted him to reserve a seat.

Reflecting on everything, Zhang Jing suspected that Lu Tingshen’s visits weren’t about business, but for another purpose: Zhong Yan.

On stage, the members of the Lute’s Lament group finished their introductions. Yan Shi looked at their matching wide-sleeved celestial robes and flowing skirts, asking a scripted question: “The broadcast date for this performance happens to be the Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine’s Day). Your outfits are very fitting for the occasion. Do you have any wishes for the audience and your fans?”

Zhong Yan was slightly surprised. What a coincidence—it seemed her matchmaking attempt was blessed by perfect timing.

As the leader, she raised her microphone and spoke for the group: “Then, I wish that all the lovers in the world may eventually be united.”

After speaking, Zhong Yan smiled at Xia Meng and then cast a glance toward the VIP area on the second floor. Today, she would play the role of the magpie, helping this pair of “Cowherd and Weaver Girl” cross the bridge.

Lu Tingshen’s gaze was locked onto Zhong Yan; he didn’t miss her glance. The corners of his lips curled upward. She said those words and looked at me… is she hinting at something? His mood soared.

A moment later, he caught a glimpse of someone else watching her with a gaze full of tenderness. Lu Tingshen’s mood soured instantly. He glanced sideways at Yan Shi standing at the edge of the stage. Between recent events and his own male intuition, Lu Tingshen felt that behind that gentle look lay a motive that was far from pure.

He frowned. First Xu You, now Yan Shi. These butterflies and bees crowding around her are incredibly annoying.

He shifted his gaze back to Zhong Yan. She hadn’t noticed Yan Shi; her attention was still directed toward him. Lu Tingshen’s mood improved again. It seemed the other man was merely pining in a one-sided love.

The introductions ended, and the trainees stepped back. The lights dimmed as the stagehands rushed to set the scene. Moments later, pale blue lights flickered on through a thick layer of dry-ice mist, outlining a few solitary boats and the silhouettes of the girls sitting upon them.

The excited crowd fell into a hush as the performance began.

The music started. The four girls were dressed in sky-blue, wide-sleeved ruqun with their hair swept into elegant buns held by jade pins and silver hairpins. Zhong Yan, sitting in the central boat, held a pipa (lute) in her arms. She lowered her head and plucked the strings with a light touch, sending out a clear, mournful melody that felt like the whispered lament of a lute player.

“In the next life, I wish to be the mist in the woods, the smoke on the river, drifting through heaven and earth, staying for no one.”

Opening with a line from the chorus, Zhong Yan used the haunting, delicate Kunshan opera style to captivate the audience. Her voice held a trace of carefree detachment within the sorrow. With a single line, she conveyed the desire of the lute player to turn into the wind after seeing through the vanities of the mortal world.

As the melody swelled, Zhong Yan set down the lute. The four girls rose gracefully from the boats.

In previous rehearsals, Xia Meng had struggled with the high-pitched segments that exceeded her natural range. After daily coaching from Mentor Mu Bin and Zhong Yan, she had managed to get through the high notes during the dress rehearsals. Zhong Yan hoped she could maintain that stability today.

The first half of the song was the lute player’s lament of her wasted life:

*”…The days passed, the nights came, and my beauty faded; in my old age, I became the wife of a merchant. But merchants value profit over parting; last month he went to Fuliang to buy tea, leaving me to guard the empty boat at the river’s mouth…”*¹

Xia Meng’s high notes during the first chorus were stable. Following the line “Late at night, I suddenly dream of my youth,” the stage lights shifted to a warm red. Under the glow, the sky-blue skirts seemed to transform into vibrant pomegranate red.

The rhythm quickened. Zhong Yan took up the lute again, her slender fingers plucking the strings with lightning speed to match the upbeat drums. The other three girls spun around her in a whirlwind of dance.

*”…At thirteen, I had mastered the pipa; my name was first on the list at the Music Academy. After a song, even the masters were impressed; after my makeup was done, even the famous beauties were jealous…”*²

The strings ended with a sharp snap, like the tearing of silk. The excitement stopped abruptly, and the lights returned to a cold blue.

As the camera zoomed in on Zhong Yan’s face, her eyes glistened with a damp shimmer, full of sorrow and longing. She sang softly in her opera style: “This life is a daze, tasting the bitter and the sweet, knowing love and hate… born as a human, for whom do I stay?” “In the next life, I wish to be the mist in the woods, the smoke on the river…”

The music swelled for the second chorus. This time, when Xia Meng reached the high note on “For whom do I stay,” she lost control. Her voice cracked.

In both the mentors’ viewing room and the contestants’ room, gasps of surprise were followed by sighs of regret. Flustered by the crack, Xia Meng rushed the final line.

The music faded. The performance was over.

Applause rang out, but as Zhong Yan held her ending pose, she sighed inwardly. What a pity. A flaw in a beautiful piece of jade.

Backstage, Xia Meng broke into tears while apologizing to Zhong Yan and the others. She had been nervous about meeting CEO Lu to plead for Yu Junran, and that anxiety had caused her to falter on the high note she found so difficult.

“I’m worried I’ll drag down our group’s score…” Xia Meng sobbed.

“Don’t worry,” another member teased gently. “Even if the sky falls, we have Teacher Zhong to hold it up. The votes won’t be affected that much.”

While they said it to comfort her, they were secretly worried. Xia Meng’s mistake was glaring, and there was another group in the Vocal category that had performed flawlessly. They weren’t sure if Zhong Yan’s brilliance alone would be enough to turn the tide.