119: Still not convinced

The other five investors in the back row laughed, and Wang Tong began to break into a sweat because he felt that those five financial backers in the back row were looking at him as if he were an idiot.

One might ask, who would want to collaborate with an idiot?

Wang Tong walked off the stage, looking dejected.

The contestants who performed afterward were much better behaved, and no one dared to provoke Lu Qingyu into providing commentary again.

Zhang Xinyu was the second to last to perform. He sang a fresh-styled little love song, and Lu Qingyu, knowing he was an artist from his own company, paid extra attention to his singing.

Zhang Xinyu was already nervous on stage, and when his gaze accidentally swept over Lu Qingyu, he became even more nervous.

Lu Qingyu was his actual boss, and in Zhang Xinyu's heart, the opinions of the other four judges were not as important as Lu Qingyu's alone.

Lu Qingyu had a pretty good impression of Zhang Xinyu. The boy's voice was gentle and warm, possessing both healing and melancholic styles, but the song he chose today didn't quite suit him.

That little love song was too low in difficulty; based on Zhang Xinyu's level, he could definitely challenge a more difficult genre.

After Zhang Xinyu finished his performance, it was time for the judges' critique session.

The judges felt the same way as Lu Qingyu, affirming Zhang Xinyu's vocal timbre, but everyone felt the song's difficulty was too low. Additionally, Zhang Xinyu's performance in terms of technique wasn't very strong. So, in the end, combined with the scores from the four judges and six investor representatives, Zhang Xinyu received a total score of 43 points.

This score was currently the second to last in the entire competition.

Seeing this result, Zhang Xinyu felt it was to be expected, yet he also felt a bit disappointed.

This was his first time competing on the same stage as professional singers. He knew his performance wasn't as outstanding as theirs, but he still hoped for recognition from everyone.

Fortunately, Lu Qingyu still gave him 5 points; this impartiality made Zhang Xinyu feel inexplicably lucky.

After Zhang Xinyu went off stage, it was time for the last singer of the session to perform.

Because two people were to be eliminated in this session, the score of the last performer was crucial; his score would determine whether Zhang Xinyu would be eliminated.

The last one to perform was named Qi Mingze, who also felt very nervous before going on stage.

At this moment, Wang Tong was standing beside him, cheering him on. Wang Tong and Qi Mingze had been friends for many years, and it was Wang Tong who had encouraged Qi Mingze to come participate in this competition.

Although Wang Tong had lost face on stage, his own results were already secure. His good friend was still on the edge, so he had to cheer him on.

"Mingze, don't be nervous. With your strength, you can easily surpass Zhang Xinyu."

"You just need to perform normally."

When Wang Tong said this, Zhang Xinyu happened to be walking down from backstage. Qi Mingze felt a moment of awkwardness, like being caught bad-mouthing someone behind their back.

Wang Tong also felt awkward for a moment, but he was in a terrible mood today, and seeing Zhang Xinyu reminded him of Lu Qingyu.

He couldn't offend Lu Qingyu, but couldn't he say a few words about a small, unknown singer like Zhang Xinyu?

"I'm just telling the truth; some people's strength is just at the bottom level."

"If it weren't for connections, they probably wouldn't even have the qualifications to participate in this show."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xinyu suddenly straightened his back and walked toward the two of them.

Qi Mingze felt a moment of unease; did Zhang Xinyu want to fight?

Who would have known that Zhang Xinyu suddenly bypassed them and returned to his seat to rest.

"If you provoke me, you've essentially just provoked a ball of cotton."

It was a fact that his strength wasn't as good as theirs, and he accepted that fact. Being talked about a bit was fine. Since he was participating in this show, if he couldn't win, so be it, but he definitely couldn't cause trouble for the company.

Seeing Zhang Xinyu's behavior, Wang Tong felt even more that the other party was a pushover.

Qi Mingze thanked Wang Tong and then went on stage.

Coincidentally, the style of the song Qi Mingze chose was the same as Zhang Xinyu's, but clearly, the difficulty of his song was higher than Zhang Xinyu's, and it suited his vocal timbre better.

However, overall, Qi Mingze's level wasn't much higher than Zhang Xinyu's.

On the contrary, in Lu Qingyu's view, it lacked the genuine emotion of Zhang Xinyu's performance.

After Qi Mingze finished singing, the Host invited all the other nine singers from backstage to the front of the stage.

Then, he had Qi Mingze and Zhang Xinyu stand together.

Host: "Now we have reached the most exciting part of this show. Qi Mingze's score will determine whether contestant Zhang Xinyu can advance."

After the Host finished speaking, both Qi Mingze and Zhang Xinyu were incredibly nervous.

Wang Tong patted Qi Mingze on the shoulder from the side, signaling him with his eyes not to be nervous.

The judges began to give their scores.

After some critique, the four judges gave Qi Mingze a total score of 27 points.

Then it was the investors' representatives' turn to score.

Starting from the first investor in the back row, they gave 2 points, 3 points, 2 points, 2 points...

Until the fifth investor in the back row revealed a score of 3 points, Wang Tong let out a low cheer of joy for Qi Mingze.

The current total score was 39 points, and since Lu Qingyu always gave 5 points, if that 5 points were added, Qi Mingze's total score would be 44 points.

In that case, the one eliminated would be Zhang Xinyu.

Everyone almost celebrated in advance.

However, what shocked everyone next was that this time, Lu Qingyu did not give 5 points but instead held up a card with 3 points.

The result was reversed in an instant.

Qi Mingze, Wang Tong, and everyone present were instantly petrified.

Zhang Xinyu himself was also dumbfounded; he hadn't expected Lu Qingyu to actually give Qi Mingze three points.

The Host's ability to adapt was very fast. In just two seconds, he reacted immediately and continued hosting:

"Qi Mingze's total score is 42 points. Unfortunately, the contestants eliminated this round are Sun Yuan and Qi Mingze."

Qi Mingze felt it was very unfair, but Wang Tong reacted even more strongly than Qi Mingze.

"Teacher Lu, why did you give Qi Mingze three points?"

Wang Tong asked it so bluntly that, live on air, everyone thought Wang Tong was incredibly brave.

Those who understood, understood: because Zhang Xinyu was recommended by Qingcheng Entertainment, Lu Qingyu was simply favoring Zhang Xinyu.

Everyone wanted to see how Lu Qingyu would smooth things over, but clearly, they didn't expect that Lu Qingyu would just say it directly.

"Because I want Zhang Xinyu to advance."

The whole venue was in an uproar!

Wang Tong was brave, but his younger brother, Lu Qingyu, was even braver.

"In my heart, Zhang Xinyu is very outstanding. His potential is huge, and this performance didn't even show half of his potential, so I want to give him a chance."

Wang Tong's eyes were practically spitting fire: "But this isn't fair."