Chapter 26: Stunning Beauty

It was as if a bomb had been dropped into a volcano, the deafening screams that erupted immediately swept through the audience like a destructive wave.

Whether at the venue or watching the live broadcast on online platforms, the audience was undeniably caught in a frenzy of excitement:

“Oh my God! So handsome, so cute!”

“What kind of divine face is that!”

“Where did this little angel come from? Why have you kept this a secret until now? Why couldn’t we have seen him earlier!”

“That uncle on the left is blocking my view!”

“Wuwuwu, from now on, I’m a die-hard fan of Xiao Chen! Let’s go!”

“I’m eating lemons—why is that uncle standing next to Xiao Chen?! Get down, let me up!”

“He sings so beautifully and looks like this, it’s just not fair, God!”

“Ahhh—Ah Wei, come out and die!”

The audience at the venue was filled with gasps, and the barrage of comments on various platforms flooded the screen, densely covering the entire livestream feed, so tightly packed that not even a corner of the screen was visible.

The number of live viewers instantly began to skyrocket, and the barrage of comments grew so quickly that it nearly crashed the platform’s servers.

On social media, the two factions that had been fiercely arguing about the mysterious dark horse completely lost their steam. The critics who had claimed Xiao Chi didn’t show his true face because he was ugly were now silenced by the twist.

Moreover, many fans of competing artists who had been eagerly waiting for the mysterious aura around Xiao Chi to be shattered were left stunned—what they got instead was a real “show.”

As Xiao Chi’s trending index skyrocketed at an exaggerated speed, gaining countless fans in a short time, those troll accounts and malicious fans had no choice but to fall silent.

The most excited group were undoubtedly Xiao Chi’s loyal fans from his days as a virtual idol.

“Did you watch the Star Show competition? There’s a contestant in there, and I can totally feel Xiao Chi’s shadow in him!”

“Please tell me I’m not imagining things, they really do resemble each other!”

“From this mother’s eye, maybe it’s only about a 50% resemblance, but the facial features are totally different. But his temperament is amazing! Ugh, I think I’m switching teams!”

“Since they both have the surname Xiao and both have ^[1]“three water strokes in their names” refers to the Chinese character 氵, a common radical in many Chinese characters that relates to water. In Chinese writing, radicals are components of … Continue readingthree water strokes in their names, I’m a fan now!”

Xiao Chi’s popularity, of course, wasn’t welcomed by everyone. The person most affected was Fang Zichang, who saw him as a fierce rival.

He was the only one who had seen Xiao Chi’s dark skin and freckles up close at the venue. Who would’ve thought, just two hours later, his entire worldview was turned upside down!

Did this guy get a last-minute facelift or something?!

Or was he deliberately deceiving everyone from the start? This is too sneaky, too calculating!

Fang Zichang, watching the live broadcast backstage, almost dropped his jaw in shock. He kicked the table several times out of frustration, hurting his big toe.

“How could you be such a bad manager? How could you not gather such important information?” Fang Zichang glared at his manager and scolded him fiercely.

The manager wiped the sweat from his forehead helplessly. “Don’t be mad. Let’s think about what to do next. Actually, if you look at it from another angle, no matter which of these two strong competitors—Fang Hao or Xiao Chi—gets eliminated, it’s beneficial for us.”

Fang Zichang’s eyes spun as he considered this. He slowly calmed down, kicked the chair out of his way, and sat back down on the sofa to watch the rest of the competition.

“You’re right. Let them fight it out first.”

The host, standing on a hovering platform, almost got knocked over by the passionate wave of excitement coming from the audience. He stared at Xiao Chi’s high-definition image on the big screen for a moment, then remembered what he was supposed to say next.

“This contestant, Xiao Chen, is truly… unexpected! Now, let’s have both contestants prepare as we settle down to listen to their duet of ‘Light Dance’!”

The excitement in the audience continued through the opening notes, and the band, positioned at the back of the stage, finally regained some presence.

Miniature smart cameras moved quickly through every corner of the stage, faithfully capturing every smile and frown from the two contestants, as well as the highlights from the live orchestra, broadcasting them back to the director’s studio for display on the giant screens and live platforms.

This was a fast-paced rock ballad, a genre Fang Hao excelled at combining rock with emotional lyrics. The intense drum beats mixed with strong electronic sounds as he confidently grabbed the microphone and strode toward the center of the stage.

When he started singing, his signature raspy voice immediately filled the air with power and confidence, setting the mood for the performance.

Fang Hao’s fan base, strong and vocal, immediately sparked a wave of applause and cheers, their energy spreading out toward both sides of the stage.

After the first verse ended, Fang Hao turned with a slight smile and, in a gentlemanly manner, made way for Xiao Chi to take the center of the stage.

Under the spotlight, Xiao Chi’s figure was clearly visible to every audience member. He raised his hands and, with a calm, steady energy, began to suppress the noise around him, commanding attention.

The music swelled into the second verse, and as Xiao Chi’s transparent, clear voice poured out, it was like a fresh spring flowing softly—sometimes bending and twisting, sometimes rushing with force—filling every listener’s ears and eyes with a sense of purity.

The brief silence that followed felt like an aftereffect of Fang Hao’s energetic performance, with the audience almost hesitant to fully recover from his passion. Slowly, they were drawn into Xiao Chi’s independent world.

In stark contrast to Fang Hao’s rugged style, Xiao Chi’s voice was sweet, captivating, and breathtaking. The audience was swept away by the waves of emotion he created, their bodies relaxing and absorbing every note.

“Oh my God! I’m on my knees!”

“What the hell… I don’t know what to say other than these three words!”

After a few lines of singing, the barrage of comments on the live stream seemed to connect with the audience’s emotions. The girls in the crowd screamed uncontrollably.

Suddenly, some of the fans from other contestants were pulled into the emotional tide, their voices rising higher and higher, surging in every direction.

Fang Hao’s fan base, who had previously been dominating, was now surrounded by the powerful voices of Xiao Chi’s supporters, left helpless and silent in the middle.

Xiao Chi’s part was far from over, and as the second verse merged into the first chorus, he continued singing without fear of his emotions being interrupted. He freely poured himself into the performance, singing with abandon.

Fang Hao, standing on the side of the stage, seemed to have been forgotten by the world. He watched helplessly as his opponent stole all the attention and focus, shaking his head with a wry smile. From the moment he saw Xiao Chi take the stage, he had a bad feeling, and now, his premonition had come true.

As the chorus approached, the powerful music filled the entire venue. Xiao Chi suddenly took a few steps back, then leaped from the high main stage with a dive!

He landed directly on the second stage, instantly shortening the distance between himself and the audience!

The overwhelming wave of cheers erupted, with Xiao Chi raising one fist high above his head, facing the dazzling laser lights and the thousands of gazes upon him, and began singing once again.

His voice was like a lighthouse on the Black Sea—clear, bright, full of hope, and effortlessly crossing an extensive vocal range, bringing the climax of the melody to its peak while maintaining a steady, almost frightening breath control.

Xiao Chi used one hand to support himself and jumped back onto the main stage, performing a stylish move that once again caused a stir among the audience below.

“Ahh, Chenchen, don’t go, don’t leave me!”

“Mom asked me why I’m kneeling while watching this video!”

“Is it over so soon? I still want to hear him sing, what should I do?”

The audience gazed longingly at his retreating figure, reluctant to let him go. Most of the live-streaming platform’s comments were now dominated by Xiao Chi, as the viewers were still immersed in the surprise brought by the mysterious dark horse. Even when Fang Hao began singing again, the number of comments discussing him was minimal.

Fang Hao’s fans, not happy with this, started a sarcastic argument:

“A bunch of love-struck fools who don’t understand music! He’s just a pretty face, a little fresh meat relying on his looks. Let him try singing a high note! Fang Hao’s voice is truly refined, but you all just can’t appreciate it!”

Some newly converted fans who had been impartial before disagreed:

“You don’t understand music. It’s not just about being able to sing high notes. Besides, how do you know he can’t sing them?”

The two groups exchanged sharp words, full of tension, determined to prove themselves right. Meanwhile, Fang Hao’s performance fell into an awkward, invisible state.

Until a well-known music critic on Weibo posted a special screenshot:

“I noticed a detail: the distance between Xiao Chi’s mouth and the microphone never changed throughout the entire performance! The volume and pitch were entirely controlled by his breath, and this terrifyingly precise control—it’s just one word: impressive!”

In no time, this post went viral, becoming a powerful rebuttal for the neutral fans.

Back on the main stage, the first round of the Star Show finals ended with the audience still yearning for more.

The host’s excited voice echoed across the venue: 

“Ladies and gentlemen, our first group of contestants has finished their performance. Next, we’ll move on to the tense scoring session. The winner will stay on the main stage, while the other contestant will regretfully have to exit! This round will combine both judge scoring and audience voting, with a weight of 60% for the judges and 40% for the audience. The final result will be revealed soon!”

“Let’s first take a look at the voting results from the contestant guessing game… huh?”

The host exaggeratedly exclaimed as he looked at the numbers displayed on the giant screen: “Am I seeing this right? I remember before the competition, Fang Hao was predicted to win by a large margin, but now their votes have actually switched!”

“So, what is the actual result? Let’s switch to the judges’ scores!”

The cone-shaped 3D screen in the center of the venue rippled with water-like patterns. In the end, Xiao Chi scored 89 while Fang Hao scored 92, slightly ahead.

The audience reacted with great surprise, and Fang Hao’s fan base immediately erupted into thunderous applause!

On the online platforms, those who had been overshadowed were now beaming with pride: “See, the judges are professional after all!”

The scores of all the judges were displayed on the big screen. For Xiao Chi, the famous music critic and editor-in-chief of Fengshang Music Magazine, Shang Quan, gave a low score of 78, while the multi-talented star Xie Ting, who performed across three fields, gave a high score of 95.

Immediately, some gossip journalists detected a hint of intrigue.

The host glided onto the main stage, standing between the two contestants: “Currently, the judges’ scores are only three points apart, with Fang Hao slightly ahead, but the gap is small. The upcoming audience vote will be crucial.”

The host observed their expressions and smiled: “Xiao Chi, you’re at a disadvantage right now. Do you have anything you’d like to say to the audience?”

“Huh? Me?” Suddenly called upon, Xiao Chi pointed at his own nose.

Countless intelligent cameras focused on him, but Xiao Chi showed no trace of nervousness about the lower score. He simply blinked calmly and said, “I have nothing to say.”

The viewers who supported Xiao Chi on the live-streaming platform were frantic, practically dying to jump onto the stage to vote for him. Even the host couldn’t help but quietly remind him, “Just do something, anything!”

“Do something?”

Xiao Chi thought for a moment, rifling through the most popular gestures in his database. The top-ranked gesture.

He faced the camera, raised his right hand, and gently blew a kiss.

In an instant, the audience erupted in deafening screams!

“Ahhh, Chen Chen is kissing me!!!”

“Vote for him! Everyone, vote for him!!”

Ji Chenxuan, who was watching the Star Show live broadcast in a conference room, suddenly saw this scene. The pen he was holding punctured the paper with a sharp tip.

His face darkened as he dialed Zhou Tong’s number: “Arrange a car. I’m going to the competition site… for some investigation!”