Free Web NovelChapter 449: Chapter 249: Finally, Time to Settle the Score
At a Western restaurant, Chen Jincheng, Xue Qian, and their group had finished dinner. They were heading back to prepare for their performances at the music festival that evening.
Chen Jincheng looked at Cai Xiaoyi and asked, "Xiaoyi, what are you performing tonight?"
"A cover of ’Later’," Cai Xiaoyi said, not trying to hide it.
"Mm," Chen Jincheng nodded, then added, "After you’re done, be one of my backup dancers. A lot of people will get to see you."
"Of course!" Cai Xiaoyi agreed without the slightest hesitation, her face breaking into a wide smile.
’She wanted to join his company, and now he was offering her an opportunity. Of course she would agree.’
But her smile was captivating, making her look like an innocent young girl. In reality, she was a young divorcée. For anyone who knew her status, that smile held a unique sort of allure.
Just then, Xue Qian suddenly said, "Lao Cheng, Sujiang TV sent out the new lineup. Nothing else changed, they just swapped our positions. I’m going to be in the middle of the show to keep the hype going, and you’ve been moved to the slot right before Master Yu."
The whole point of a grand finale at a music festival is to keep the audience from leaving before the show is over.
Therefore, the closing act needed to be a star with some real drawing power.
Before Xue Qian had joined, Master Yu was supposed to fill that role.
Besides the finale, a long show like this inevitably has lulls where the audience gets bored. You need someone to come out and electrify the crowd.
Especially during a live broadcast, you can’t afford to lose viewers, so you need a heavyweight performer in the middle of the show.
Now that Xue Qian was here, he was taking on that role.
The new lineup quickly made its way to all the other performing stars and online celebrities. When they saw that Chen Jincheng was scheduled right before Master Yu, they all pretty much understood what was happening.
No one would believe it if Master Yu wasn’t the one pulling the strings.
But considering the history between them, it wasn’t surprising that Master Yu would pull a stunt like this. If they were in his shoes, they’d do the same thing.
After all, Master Yu’s live performances were known to be incredibly powerful.
Short Teemo and Wu Ning knew each other and had eaten dinner together. When they got back to the stadium, they saw the new lineup and both sighed quietly.
They knew how formidable Master Yu’s live performances were. They felt that with Master Yu on the bill, Chen Jincheng shouldn’t have even come. He had walked right into a trap.
Otherwise, Chen Jincheng could have kept coasting on his song sales, even building up a public image of being superior to Master Yu.
That kind of reputation is a massive advantage for a singer.
And now that he was an online celebrity, it would have been a huge boost to his standing within that entire community.
But if his live performance skills were utterly obliterated by Master Yu, it would be a completely different story. Then, Master Yu and his fans could all justifiably say that Chen Jincheng was just another internet singer who fell apart on a real stage.
Seriously, Chen Jincheng had really messed up this time.
...
By the time Chen Jincheng, Xue Qian, and their group returned to the stadium, nearly all the online celebrities and stars were back and had started getting their makeup done to prepare.
Just then, two online celebrities approached Chen Jincheng.
It was none other than Short Teemo and Wu Ning.
Aside from Chen Jincheng himself, they had the largest fanbases of all the online celebrities at the festival.
Chen Jincheng looked at them, quite puzzled.
Their paths had never crossed.
In fact, they hadn’t even said hello to him earlier, so for them to approach him now was a little strange.
Short Teemo got straight to the point. "You’ve been set up by Master Yu. I suggest you change your song. ’Girl’ doesn’t have the power for a live performance. It can’t compete with Master Yu’s ’King’."
Wu Ning nodded in agreement. "Even ’Trajectory’ has more stage presence than ’Girl’. With Teacher Xue around, it shouldn’t be hard for you to swap songs."
Chen Jincheng was surprised that they would come to warn him.
They meant well, after all.
So, he smiled and said, "Thanks for the concern, but you don’t really understand ’Girl’. When I, Chen Jincheng, sing it, it’s a completely different song."
"..." Short Teemo.
"..." Wu Ning.
The two were stunned by his words, their brows furrowing in unison.
’This guy really is arrogant.’
However, they didn’t know him well. They’d given their warning, and he’d ignored it. The two of them just shook their heads and said no more.
’If he wants to get humiliated, who were they to stop him?’
A little while later, Master Yu emerged with his makeup finished. He was wearing a very dramatic stage look today. The moment he came out and saw Chen Jincheng, the smile on his face grew even wider.
’Today, I will take back all the glory that belongs to me.’
’I’ll repay him today for the humiliation of having to turn off my comments and play dead.’
With that thought, he took out his phone, snapped a selfie, and uploaded it to his Weibo with the caption: "Today, I’ll show everyone what a true stage performance is."
His Weibo post naturally drew a lot of attention, and people quickly discovered that both Chen Jincheng and Master Yu were at the same music festival.
Someone even posted about the fact that Chen Jincheng and Master Yu were performing back-to-back, which sparked a huge amount of interest.
It even started trending on Tiao Yin, since their rivalry had generated considerable buzz on the platform before.
Was this the next Chapter in their feud?
...
「Time passed.」
Sujiang TV’s music festival officially began. The stadium was already a sea of people, packed to the rafters.
Chen Jincheng found a spot backstage where he could see the view outside.
The sight of tens of thousands of people gathered in one place was truly spectacular.
Most of them were holding glow sticks, transforming the entire venue into a dream-like, fluorescent world.
