49: Chapter 49, "The Singer & Lyricist," premieres.

He gave Cai Guoqiang a call and explained the situation clearly.

A moment later, a staff member came out and led the three of them inside.

Once inside, they saw many staff members busy working on the show.

Some were testing lights, some were testing the sound system, and others were testing camera positions, monitors, and so on.

Cai Guoqiang held a megaphone, constantly instructing the staff, striving for perfection in every detail.

"Director Cai, I've brought the person."

Cai Guoqiang waved his hand for the staff member to leave and looked at Chen Shaoping with annoyance.

"Kid, what are you trying to do? Stop messing around, okay? The show is about to start."

Chen Shaoping felt a bit embarrassed and was filled with regret, blaming himself for not communicating with Cai Guoqiang in advance.

"Old Cai, his name is Zhou Bule, and he's a singer. I want him to participate in this show as a lyricist or composer. I wonder if that's alright?"

He paused for a moment, and seeing that Cai Guoqiang didn't speak, he continued, "It's no problem if a certain lyricist runs out of inspiration during the show and can't write lyrics but sings a few songs, right? Zhou Bule is just such a person."

Only then did Zhou Bule understand the reason Chen Shaoping had brought him here.

He was deeply moved, and at the same time, he looked at Cai Guoqiang with a face full of expectation.

"Old Cai, please give me this chance, okay?" Zhou Bule bent over and gave Cai Guoqiang a deep bow.

Cai Guoqiang smiled; he wasn't angry, but rather quite happy.

"From the time the show's invitations were sent out, we haven't had any rigid requirements for singers or songwriters, nor have we ever said that songwriters cannot sing or that singers cannot participate in creation."

"We thought the likely scenario would be more groups with combinations like two composers and one lyricist, or two lyricists and one composer, but we didn't expect to have no such combinations at all."

"And you've discovered a loophole in our show; the resulting combination is: one singer-songwriter and two singers."

"This doesn't quite align with our show's original intent, but it doesn't matter. I approve of your combination."

Chen Shaoping's heart settled back into place, and he thanked him with a smile, "Thank you, Old Cai!"

He had been thinking that if Old Cai didn't agree, he would have to let Zhou Bule wait for them at the hotel.

Zhou Bule's heart raced, feeling dizzy from this massive, pleasant surprise.

It was only after Wang Bo nudged him that he snapped out of it.

"Thank you, Old Cai!!"

Zhou Bule's nervous and sincere manner moved Cai Guoqiang, who inwardly hoped these three fledgling young people could achieve good results.

"You don't need to thank me, thank him!"

Cai Guoqiang pointed at Chen Shaoping.

Zhou Bule immediately understood and turned to Chen Shaoping, saying solemnly, "Manager Chen, thank you!"

...

Soon, the time reached 4:10 PM.

"the singer & songwriter" officially began its broadcast.

The stage lights flared up, and the host stood in the center of the brilliant stage.

"Good evening to our audience across the nation!

Welcome to the large-scale original music competition variety show, fully produced by Dragon Country's CCTV, aimed at 'Revitalizing Originals, Saluting Creation' — 'the singer & songwriter'!

I am your host, Lin Xin."

Standing in the tunnel waiting to go on, Chen Shaoping's pupils contracted slightly. He never expected that after getting ironclad proof of her fake academic credentials yesterday, he would run right into her here today.

Lin Xin was wearing a beautiful evening gown with shoulder-length short hair, standing on the stage under the spotlight with a beaming smile.

She was enjoying the envy and admiration of the audience below.

An imperceptible cold sneer curled at the corner of Chen Shaoping's mouth.

"Right now, our music scene is 'plagued by plagiarism and excessive borrowing.'

But tonight, we will use our actions to prove that the power of original music in Dragon Country has never run dry!

Here, there are no covers and no adaptations; there is only pure originality born of talent within a limited time!"

"On our stage, there will be six extraordinary 'Music Iron Triangles' — golden combinations consisting of one singer, one composer, and one lyricist.

Under the draw of fate, they will face themes given by the judges and the audience. Within a short three hours, they will engage in an ultimate collision of brains and inspiration, finally presenting a brand-new work to you live!"

"Tonight, let us witness together the miracle of music being created from nothing. Let us join together to cheer for originals and crown originality!"

"Now let us invite the first group to the stage. They are singer Xu Kun, composer Liu Xue, and lyricist Ji Ping from Tiantian Media Film and Television Company."

The three of them, including Xu Kun, walked to the center of the stage with smiles and greeted the live audience.

"Hello everyone, I am the composer, Liu Xue."

Liu Xue had dressed up carefully today, wearing a dress paired with a shawl.

But her first impression was that she had a rather stout figure.

Chen Shaoping recognized her at a glance; wasn't this Lu Xueming's wife?

He didn't expect her to be a composer; no wonder she dared to call herself an intellectual.

"Hello everyone, my name is Ji Ping, and I'm responsible for the lyrics."

Ji Ping was a scrawny old man, so thin he was just skin and bones, as if a light breeze could blow him away.

Chen Shaoping didn't know this person and specifically looked him up online.

He was truly impressive; many classic songs had lyrics written by him.

Finally, there was Xu Kun, who did a handsome spin on the stage.

It immediately drew screams from the audience.

This was a sharp contrast to the calm atmosphere during Liu Xue and Ji Ping's self-introductions.

"Hello everyone, I am your Kun Kun, Xu Kun. Please be sure to support me."

Xu Kun patted his chest and pointed toward the audience below the stage, immediately eliciting a burst of thunderous applause.

After the three finished their introductions, they stood to one side of the stage.

"Next, please welcome the second group with warm applause. They are singer Qu Yang, composer Fang Shuo, and lyricist Fang Mingjie from Dahe Music Group."

After the second group took the stage, they also greeted the audience in turn.

Qu Yang, like Xu Kun, was quite popular and received warm applause from the audience.

"Oh!"

Wang Bo let out an exclamation and patted Chen Shaoping's shoulder.

"Da Ping, Fang Mingjie is also participating in this show. He's probably relying on his uncle's promotion."

Chen Shaoping naturally saw Fang Mingjie on the stage, but his heart remained untroubled; it made little difference to him who participated.

"Next, let us invite the third group. They are singer Zheng Wenfang, composer Ye Shunming, and lyricist One Blade from Hong Kong's Huangying Entertainment Company."

The singer from Hong Kong, Zheng Wenfang, had a beautiful appearance, but her popularity wasn't high, and the audience's reaction was relatively flat.

"The fourth group comes from Taiwan's Xinyang Music Company. They are singer Zhang Zhe, composer Zuo You, and lyricist Xiaoxiao."

Zhang Zhe's popularity in this group was also very high, and he received quite a bit of applause as well.

"Now let us welcome the fifth group with heavy applause. They are not from the same company; they are a freelance combination."

"Singer Huang Wenxing, composer Feng Jie, and lyricist Old High."

After taking the stage, Huang Wenxing introduced the team on their behalf.

The three had collaborated for many years, having achieved great success and also having fallen to rock bottom.

They came this time to release their final potential under these conditions of extreme pressure, to see if they were still suitable and if they could still make music.

After the five groups were introduced, Lin Xin walked gracefully to the center of the stage again, the spotlight shining on her, making her look exceptionally radiant.

"The final group to be introduced next is also special because their members are all very young."

"They are singer Wang Bo, composer Chen Shaoping, and lyricist Zhou Bule from Tongxing Entertainment Company."

"Let us welcome the three of them to the stage with warm applause."