88: Zhang was scammed by scalpers

The music flowed smoothly around their ears as the stage beneath Lu Qingyu's feet slowly rose. The other stages were arranged in a trapezoidal formation; from below, it looked like seawater spreading upward, making it seem as if Lu Qingyu was standing in the middle of the ocean, creating a powerful visual impact.

The chorus began:

"I'm afraid you'll fly far away, afraid you'll leave me."

"Even more afraid that you'll stay here forever."

"Every drop of tear flows toward you,"

"Flowing back into the bottom of the sky's sea."

On stage, naked-eye 3D made its first appearance. Everyone watched in shock as a large red fish leaped out from the sea's surface. Accompanied by Lu Qingyu's singing, it glided over his head and soared through the ink-blue night sky.

As the galaxy shimmered, everyone held their breath at the sight.

"Oh my god, this is too stunning."

"A stage like this must cost at least a million."

"Holy crap, it's so beautiful. The special effects team deserves a bonus."

The viewers watching the live stream thought it was some kind of post-production effect when they saw the large red fish swimming over Lu Qingyu's head, but the live audience felt the shock with incredible realism.

Below the stage, Lou Qingran and the others were envious. Why didn't they have this when they were singing?

Lou Qingran and her group were close to the stage; several people couldn't help but stand up and reach out, as if they could touch the giant fish if they were just a bit closer.

The stage effects artist stood in the back with his arms crossed, watching the scene with pride.

It was a coincidence; when they were testing the stage's naked-eye 3D effects, they had created a large fish leaping out of the water, so he decided to use it for Lu Qingyu.

He was very satisfied seeing everyone's dumbfounded expressions. Giving you all a little shock; he believed this heavily-invested stage would definitely make it onto the hot search topics.

The interlude slowed down, and Lu Qingyu sang from the beginning again. Everyone was intoxicated by the song's atmosphere.

Song Ke felt a sense of despair this time. Even though the votes hadn't been announced yet, Lu Qingyu's performance was simply better than his own; he had to admit it even if he didn't want to.

The final segment of the second verse:

"Watch you fly far away, watch you leave me."

"It turns out you were born to belong to the horizon."

"Every drop of tear flows toward you,"

"Flowing back to our very first meeting."

After the last line was sung, everyone thought the song was about to end, but the accompaniment didn't fade. Instead, it built up layer by layer, leaving everyone confused.

Suddenly, just as everyone felt the music had reached its peak, there was a half-beat of silence.

Then, everyone witnessed what a Siren was.

"Ah ah ah~~ Ah ah---"

A sacred and exquisite chant echoed through the vast venue, like a ritual for the descent of an ancient deity.

Everyone felt as if they had entered the world created by the song.

"What's with this feeling of having my soul purified?"

"Holy cow, this is amazing. A tingling sensation is spreading from the top of my head to the soles of my feet."

"Does this song have some kind of energy? It's too impressive."

"I'm willing to call this a god-tier chant. A Siren descending to earth would be nothing more than this."

The large fish shuttled between the sea and sky, its binding shackles falling away, until it finally swam toward the distance.

Chen Ting was so excited he couldn't sit still in his seat. He didn't even know Lu Qingyu could sing in a Bel Canto style; Lu Qingyu's excellence filled him with pride.

The other three veteran singers couldn't help but envy Chen Ting after seeing Lu Qingyu's performance.

Lu Qingyu was far too excellent, and he wasn't even twenty yet. What kind of insane luck did Chen Ting have to sign Lu Qingyu? Encountering someone this talented is a stroke of luck; not encountering one is only normal.

Even with her indifferent nature, Lou Qingran couldn't help but shout toward the stage, "Qingyu, that was amazing!"

Zhang Xiaoxiao let out a loud whistle and gave Lu Qingyu two thumbs up.

The director's face below the stage was beaming with joy; their live stream had surpassed fifteen million viewers!

Weibo was updating in real-time. Currently, there were eight hot search topics related to the Music Partner Program Production Team, and four of them were about Lu Qingyu. To their surprise, the station itself also made it onto the hot search topics because of the stage design.

This was a resounding success; their station's production standards and reputation both saw a significant boost.

When the music finally stopped, everyone on site—both mentors and audience members—stood up and applauded.

"With this one song, I feel like the 1,888 yuan I spent on a scalper ticket was worth it."

"The live performance was too stunning. It's a pity they don't allow mobile recording, otherwise I'd really want others to see it."

"This stage will be talked about for a lifetime. Lu Qingyu is freaking awesome."

"Ah ah ah ah, little brother, this big sister is giving all her votes to you!"

Hearing the screams and shouts from below the stage, Lu Qingyu bowed in every direction.

After the Host walked onto the stage, he announced that the voting was locked.

Everyone was curious about how many votes Lu Qingyu would get for this performance and whether he could break his own record.

Everyone stared at the stage as the progress bar on the big screen surged forward with a red glow.

When it passed three million, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.

At four million, Chen Ting felt like he couldn't even breathe.

Until the progress bar froze on a number, making everyone feel like the air had been sucked out of their lungs.

"Holy crap, 5.12 million votes."

"Ah ah ah ah, little brother, you're incredible!"

"This data is insane. Lu Qingyu is too powerful."

Lou Qingran jumped up happily upon seeing this data. Even though it was Lu Qingyu's achievement, she was incredibly happy for him.

Song Ke completely gave up. He had been too arrogant before; there is always a higher mountain, and he had no choice but to be convinced.

The General Director hadn't expected such figures either. This vote count could indirectly represent how many viewers their show had. Although the specific data wasn't out yet, the General Director could imagine it had definitely broken previous records.

It was nearly midnight by the time the program ended. Chen Ting and Su Jixing first sent Lu Qingyu home to rest. The popularity of Music Partner remained high. The one thing the General Director regretted most now was that only six episodes had been scheduled for this show, and the contracts signed with the guests were only for six episodes.

The key was that they hadn't expected it to become this popular.

After Lu Qingyu returned home, he opened Weibo. His inbox was overflowing; tens of thousands of messages had arrived in just this one night, making it impossible to read them all.

There were also over thirty thousand comments in the comment section. Lu Qingyu replied to the first few.

When Yang Yiyi left a message in Lu Qingyu's comment section, she didn't expect to get a reply. Fandom is like that; they enjoy the process of chasing. Although getting a reply from a star would make them very happy and they look forward to it, stars simply have too many fans.

Yang Yiyi's message to Lu Qingyu was: "I've been following you since your first variety show. Yesterday's live stream was absolutely amazing! Unfortunately, even though I asked eight friends to help me grab a ticket for the live show, we couldn't get any. I contacted five scalpers and got scammed out of 4,000 yuan. Forget about real tickets; all five scalpers were fakes. Wuu wuu wuu, help me, who on earth is competing with me for tickets?"