Chapter 67: Once Again, She Goes Viral (Please Keep Reading)

The show continued. After the other mentors had given their comments, it was finally Chen Chaonan’s turn. With a stern face, he severely criticized Fang Xing, “This technique you’re using to force your voice to hit a high C is damaging your vocal cords. Sure, you managed to reach the note, but how many years do you think you can keep singing like this? Once your voice is gone, your career as a vocalist ends as well.”

The live barrage of comments scrolled furiously across the screen:

【The professor clearly values talent.】
【Fang Xing, just go to graduate school already. Look how heartbroken the professor is.】
【No wonder the song sounded so good—he really went all in to win.】
【A battle fought at the expense of his own voice.】
【Actually, everyone shouldn’t overthink it. The professor is only criticizing the technique that harms the voice, not saying that singing this way once will ruin it forever.】
【This technique is quite common in rock bands. Usually, after a decade or so, the lead singer’s voice gives out and the band has to find a new one.】

After the mentors finished their critiques, the host announced the live vote tallies for both teams. In the end, Fang Xing’s group’s “The Wind Rises” edged out Wu Junchen’s group’s “Reckless Youth” to claim the victory.

Half an hour after the show aired, several related topics shot up the trending lists. But the top trending subject wasn’t Fang Xing—it was Wu Junchen.

【TideSound Five reunited, narrowly defeated in the end.】
【Next episode preview hints at Liu Yichen’s elimination.】
【Second place on the popularity chart, Liu Yichen unexpectedly eliminated.】

Even after the TideSound Five’s much-anticipated reunion, Wu Junchen’s group still lost to Fang Xing’s team. On Weibo, countless fans were in tears, protesting everywhere:

【Unfair!】
【The show is rigged!】
【Talent shows are for us fans to pick idols, what right do professional judges have to vote?】
【That’s right! Unless they revoke the judges’ voting rights, we’ll boycott the show.】

Fans even began to flood the official Weibo of “Star of Tomorrow”:

【Boycott the show’s scoring rules!】
【Boycott the show’s scoring rules +1】

The debate over Wu Junchen, Liu Yichen, and the TideSound Five raged wildly on Weibo. Meanwhile, Fang Xing’s group’s “The Wind Rises” quietly held steady at number three on the trending list. But soon, its popularity began to spill over to other platforms like C Station and DouM short videos. Fang Xing’s song once again broke out of the niche, rapidly conquering all major online platforms.

Under the trending topic for “The Wind Rises,” irreverent netizens began leaving cheeky comments:

【Fang Xing’s song has gone viral again and again—this guy’s honestly a little scary. Five songs, all five have blown up.】
【Isn’t he basically carrying this show?】
【He still wants to quit? Even if the show had to chain him up, they’d keep him in the training camp. And swallow the key for good measure.】
【Fang Xing, are you being coerced by the show into not quitting? If yes, blink twice.】
【I officially stan Lu Ming now, but I’ll keep roasting Fang Xing.】
【Just act like a decent person, will you?】

On Weibo’s trending topics, the so-called “negative news” and “clarification statements” about Fang Xing still lingered at the bottom of the charts. Ever since Turquoise Records posted their clarification, the “Entertainment Industry Morality Captain” immediately deleted his expose and went radio silent. After the episode aired, trolling netizens swarmed the “Entertainment Industry Morality Captain’s” Weibo:

【Lost in the show, lost outside the show too.】
【TideSound Culture really lost big today. Spent so much on the production team, hired shills, and still lost inside and out.】
【If even the competitors can’t dig up dirt on Fang Xing, maybe it means there isn’t any?】
【I don’t care. If there’s dirt, I’ll roast him. If there isn’t, I’ll make some up.】
【Can you all just behave like decent people?】

After the public opinion reversal on the “assault incident,” many casual viewers began to take notice of Fang Xing. People who normally didn’t watch talent shows clicked into “Star of Tomorrow” because of the heroic incident. Their thinking was simple: check out this young guy who stood up for justice and see how he sings. Even if he wasn’t great, they’d at least boost his play count.

But once these viewers clicked in, they couldn’t leave.

【I can’t believe a talent show could be this good. Am I just out of touch with the times? I never cared for boy groups, even found them off-putting.】
【You’re not out of touch. This season’s “Star of Tomorrow” just has one contestant with a completely different vibe. He doesn’t do flashy moves or rip his T-shirt; he just uses real skill to show how beautiful a voice can be.】
【He really doesn’t fit the show’s usual style—every performance feels like it belongs somewhere else.】
【And he’s so arrogant, but somehow not annoying at all.】
【That “Nocturne” was amazing—the intro alone was unbeatable. But why isn’t there an arranged version?】
【Yeah, when’s the arranged version of “Nocturne” coming out?】
【Seriously, release the single already! Or an EP—I’ll buy it, okay?】
【I want a female duet version of “Lovers Under Heaven”! Maybe sing it with Zhang Huiying? Or Shen Xiyin would work too.】

These new viewers—who had tuned in because of the “heroic” incident—voiced their opinions:

【I went back and watched every episode from the beginning. Gotta say, Fang Xing really is impressive—every song is a hit.】
【Lucky I clicked in, or I’d have missed out on a great show.】
【This newcomer is something else. Not only sings well, but can catch thieves too.】

Of course, there were skeptics as well:

【A celebrity catching a thief—wasn’t that staged?】
【Can we not joke around?】
【I feel like my intelligence is being insulted.】
【Go ahead, try staging something like that and then call the police. See if they’ll play along.】

After the airing of the first part of episode six, the show’s popularity kept climbing. This season of “Star of Tomorrow” had broken all the viewership records set by previous seasons. And it wasn’t over yet—the latest episode began breaking last week’s records as well, and the buzz continued to rise.

Before today’s broadcast, due to the news of Fang Xing’s “assault incident,” several sponsors had called Tong Fei, expressing concern and stating that if the allegations were confirmed, they would pull their ads. Now that the “assault incident” had been flipped into an act of heroism, public opinion had turned completely. As soon as the latest episode aired and “The Wind Rises” went viral, dominating major online platforms, those same sponsors were thrilled and eager to increase their investments.

With the show’s momentum still growing, this season of “Star of Tomorrow” looked set to become a phenomenon and perhaps even recapture the glory of fifteen years ago. Tong Fei was elated, and the passion that had lain dormant in her heart was blazing once again.

...

(A new week—please keep following the updates! Your continued reading is extremely, extremely important! Whether there’s another round of recommendations depends on these next couple of days of support. The new book has already made it through to the third round of recommendations; if we can hold on one more round, there’s a chance for a spot on the Sanjiang list. I’ve been writing for six or seven years now, and though I’ve produced some quality work, I’ve never made it onto Sanjiang. The closest I ever got, I actually skipped Sanjiang and went straight to a homepage feature. This time, it’s the closest I’ve ever been to the Sanjiang Pavilion. Brothers and sisters, help me out—let’s finally make it onto Sanjiang together!)