98: Zhang Diao Nan

When Song Ke saw that Lu Qingyu's first keyword was "Pop," he didn't show any surprise; it seemed to be well within his expectations.

Fans are a powerful group; long before the rules were even announced, they had already researched what genres each singer was good at and what they were not.

This singer analysis chart circulated among the four fan bases; they understood themselves as well as their opponents.

Song Ke's fans had discussed it beforehand: "If" Lu Qingyu's side actually drew them, they would give "Pop" as the music genre and then use the remaining two keywords to improvise, so that no one could say Song Ke's fans were intentionally targeting or bullying him.

The second person to give a keyword was a girl wearing glasses. She looked at Lu Qingyu and said, "The instrument I choose is the Pipa."

As soon as the word "Pipa" fell, the whole venue was in an uproar.

Isn't the Pipa an ancient instrument? Lu Qingyu's music style is Pop; can this even work?

When the director heard "Pipa," his scalp went cold. He automatically searched his mind for songs featuring the Pipa, only to find that, aside from pure Pipa music, there were virtually none.

But just as everyone thought, the Pipa is an ancient instrument—how could it be combined with Pop?

Lou Qingran looked toward the stage with some concern; Lu Qingyu had just had the difficulty level maxed out.

【Loquat? I only knew this thing was edible; it can be an instrument too?】

【--- These two are not the same Pipa.】

【Many singers don't even recognize the Pipa as an instrument. Even if they do, if they haven't heard Pipa music or don't understand it, they wouldn't know how to combine it. I wonder if Lu Qingyu knows how.】

【Why is it the Pipa? Even if it were the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument or an Erhu, our little brother could handle it. So annoying.】

Before sitting down, the female audience member who gave the "Pipa" keyword glanced at Song Ke, her expression looking as if she were asking for credit from her idol.

The Pipa was something they had carefully selected yesterday. They had searched for many instruments unsuitable for pop music, such as the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument or the Erhu, but when they studied Lu Qingyu in their group, they found he had used both of these obscure instruments, so they definitely couldn't choose them.

And instruments that were too obscure, like the Aijieke or the Oud, couldn't be chosen because most people hadn't even heard their names. If they really used those and Lu Qingyu didn't perform well, it would truly make it look like Song Ke's fans were intentionally making things difficult.

Lu Qingyu's fans: 【The hell, isn't this exactly making things difficult?】

Lu Qingyu stood on stage without a ripple of emotion; some thought he was just masking his nervousness.

The third audience member was also drawn—still a girl, holding a blue glow stick. Good grief, it was actually another one of Song Ke's fans.

The director frowned slightly. What was wrong with the lighting guy? Lu Qingyu had fallen right into a nest of Song Ke's fans; was he looking for trouble?

The girl looked at Lu Qingyu and said, "I've loved ancient poetry since I was a child, so I hope this song doesn't contain a single line of colloquial speech."

"My keyword is Classical Chinese."

The director's blood rushed to his head. The look he gave this fan was fierce; it was absolutely intentional.

【What the heck? Not allowed to use a single modern sentence? How is he supposed to sing this?】

【Good news: The final episode of "Music Stall" has hell-level difficulty. Bad news: All the difficulty is on Lu Qingyu alone.】

【Lu Qingyu is so miserable. He's only 18 and dropped out before finishing high school. You're asking him to write in Classical Chinese?】

【I guess Lu Qingyu is done for today.】

This time, Chen Ting couldn't hide the serious expression on his face. This was indeed going a bit too far; the request could simply be called unreasonable.

The Host looked toward the director, wanting to see what the director meant to do.

The director was also wondering if they should ask the audience to change the word, but this was a live broadcast. Doing so would count as a broadcast incident, and even if they changed the keyword, there was no guarantee Lu Qingyu could sing it well. If he didn't perform well, the controversy would be even bigger.

Just as the director was agonizing over it, his assistant nudged him—the live broadcast had broken 20 million viewers.

The director gasped at the off-the-charts viewership and said into the Host's earpiece, "Continue."

The Host received the instruction and then said, "Now that all the singers' keywords have been revealed, we will give everyone three hours. Please prepare well. The timer starts now."

As soon as the Host finished speaking, Chen Ting stood up from his seat in a flash and walked over to Lu Qingyu.

"Qingyu, do you need me to help you with anything?"

It had to be said that the three keywords given by the audience were quite tricky, but as it happened, he actually had a song in his mind that fit these three keywords: "song of the pipa."

Wouldn't this just become a freebie question!

Lu Qingyu remained lighthearted: "No need, Brother Chen. Rest assured, I have no problem."

After arriving at the arrangement room, Lu Qingyu began to busy himself with the arrangement—it was no wonder they had given them three hours this time.

Online, Lu Qingyu's fans and Song Ke's fans were already fighting tooth and nail.

【Song Ke really can't afford to lose. Giving such tricky keywords—do you think we can't tell you're looking for trouble?】

【Lu Qingyu's fans, don't slander others casually. Isn't the "Pop" we gave simple enough?】

【The hell, why don't you mention that the two keywords after that have absolutely nothing to do with Pop? You guys are just doing this on purpose.】

【The other singers didn't have any issues when they saw their keywords. Why are only Lu Qingyu's fans making a fuss here? Is it because of insufficient ability and fear of losing?】

【Pah, who's actually afraid of whom?】

Watching the online war of words, Su Jixing had the president of Lu Qingyu's Fan Club send an internal message: do not continue to entangle with Song Ke's fans. The final result had not come out yet, and it was too early to say anything.

Su Jixing knew this round would be very difficult for Lu Qingyu, but based on his understanding of Lu Qingyu, he hadn't shown any signs of nervousness or anxiety so far, which meant he was genuinely capable of doing it.

For the final battle, the singers began their own creations. The three hours passed quickly. During this time, "Music Stall" kept hitting the hot search topics, and the live broadcast viewership broke 22 million, currently ranking first among music variety shows.

Not to mention the audience looking forward to everyone's creations later, even the Program Production Team themselves were extremely expectant.

Lu Qingyu was a bit pressed for time this time because "song of the pipa" contained quite a few harmonies and operatic-style harmonies that he had to complete himself.

Three hours later, time was up, and everyone returned to the guest seats.

The first to go on stage was Zhang Xiaoxiao. Her original song related to "Rainy Day" carried a fresh, youthful vibe. The lyrics were set against the backdrop of school-age boys and girls meeting on a rainy day, which resonated with many people.

Zhang Xiaoxiao's singing voice had a fresh, youthful feeling that made listeners feel very relaxed, and the lyrics occasionally revealed the innocent sense of romance between a boy and a girl. This song could be said to be the best performance Zhang Xiaoxiao had given since participating in this program, and the director was very satisfied after hearing it.

Zhang Xiaoxiao's performance won the love of the audience, and in the final voting segment, Zhang Xiaoxiao surpassed her previous scores, receiving 3.99 million votes.