111: Chapter 111 The Inside Story

At 8 PM, the livestream of The Sound of Nature started on time.

Shen Nian drew number five this time.

The first four singers performed in sequence.

Chen Hao was third. He chose a hip-hop song tonight, and his stage presence was more relaxed than in the previous two episodes.

After he finished singing, the entire venue erupted in thunderous applause. Heavenly King Zhou stood up directly from his chair to applaud, giving a thumbs-up toward the stage.

Teacher He went on stage. "Next, let's welcome Shen Nian."

The large screen on stage lit up.

Song Title: "courage"

Lyrics/Composition: Shen Nian

Performer: Shen Nian

The Livestream Room's chat exploded instantly.

[Wait—Lyrics/Composition by Shen Nian???]

[She wrote the song herself?? It wasn't written by Jiang Fan?]

[Holy crap, Shen Nian can write songs too?]

[Isn't that copyright case because her own songs were stolen? Did you guys forget?]

[Right, right, right! She was originally a singer-songwriter!]

The prelude began.

A simple arrangement of intertwined piano and guitar, the melody was light and carried a hint of sweetness.

[Note: Don't bring in the MV of the original song, it doesn't exist in this world.]

Shen Nian stood in the center of the stage, the hem of her beige dress swaying slightly.

"Finally made this decision, I don't care what others say—"

The first line she sang carried something that hadn't been there in the previous episodes.

Relaxation.

It wasn't forced relaxation; it was truly letting go from the bottom of her heart.

"As long as you are just as certain, I am willing to follow you to the ends of the earth—"

The chorus—

"Love really needs courage, to face the gossip—"

A girl in the front row of the Audience Jury started humming along.

This kind of melody was infectious. You could remember the chorus after hearing it once, and you wanted to sing along after hearing it twice.

"As long as a single look from you affirms it, my love has meaning—"

Shen Nian finished the last note.

Enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

The judges' seats.

Heavenly King Zhou took the microphone.

"I noticed that the lyrics and composition for today's song were written by Shen Nian herself."

He leaned back in his chair, tapping the screen in front of him. "To be honest, the melody of this song has a very strong hook. I remembered the chorus after hearing it just once. Songs that can achieve this don't come out very often throughout the year."

Producer Chen Kexin pushed up his glasses and took over the conversation.

"Let me add a few words. Shen Nian not only sings well, but her songwriting is also top-notch. The melodic progression of this 'courage' is very mature, and the completion is extremely high."

He paused for a moment.

"Frankly speaking, if this song were brought before the Golden Melody Awards judging panel, it wouldn't lose any points."

The Livestream Room was flooded with white text again.

[Producer Chen Kexin's evaluation is too high, right?]

[Golden Melody Awards level??]

[I believe it, this song is really good.]

The microphone was passed to Tang Yingxue.

Everyone was waiting—she hadn't caused Shen Nian little trouble in the past two episodes, so what was she planning to say this time?

Tang Yingxue paused for two seconds.

"This song is excellent in both performance and composition. Shen Nian's growth over these few episodes is visible to the naked eye. Looking forward to your future performances."

No "but". No twist.

The Livestream Room chat was flooded—

[Tang Yingxue praised Shen Nian???]

[The sun rose from the west.]

[No, this song is actually good. She couldn't find an angle to bash it even if she wanted to.]

Shen Nian bowed on stage and turned to leave.

—

All eight people finished singing.

Zhang Yihan's song tonight was another high-budget production, with stage effects maxed out, receiving good reviews from the three judges.

Voting segment.

Sixty-second countdown. The numbers on the big screen jumped.

Teacher He stood in the center of the stage and opened the card.

He started reading from eighth place.

Jiang Fan stood in the wings; he didn't care about those lower rankings, he stared at the big screen waiting for the top three.

Eighth place, Liu Yuhang, 227 votes.

Seventh place, sixth place, fifth place—announced in sequence.

Only three people remained on stage.

Shen Nian, Zhang Yihan, Chen Hao.

Teacher He looked at the card.

"Third place—Chen Hao, 481 votes."

Chen Hao's expression didn't change; he nodded.

Third place for two episodes, he was getting used to it.

Two people remained.

Zhang Yihan turned her head to look at Shen Nian and smiled.

"Second place—"

Teacher He opened the second-to-last card.

His Adam's apple moved, and the smile on his face was slightly unnatural.

"Shen Nian, 512 votes."

The entire venue went quiet for a second.

"First place this episode—Zhang Yihan, 587 votes."

Zhang Yihan covered her mouth on stage, her eyes reddening, putting on an expression of disbelief.

The whole venue applauded.

Shen Nian stood on stage, maintaining her smile well.

She nodded at Zhang Yihan and led the applause.

—

The Livestream Room completely exploded. The density of the chat covered the screen in white.

[??????]

[Zhang Yihan 587? Chen Hao 481? A difference of over a hundred votes??]

[Did you guys not hear what god-tier level Chen Hao's hip-hop was tonight?]

[Shady dealings! I'll say it straight! Shady dealings!]

[Reported, reported, where is the complaint channel?]

—

Backstage. Control room.

Director Fang Yiming stood in front of the monitor, holding a cigarette in his hand.

The assistant was flipping through the printed Audience Jury entry list nearby.

Director Fang Yiming took the list and flipped from the first page to the last.

He took a hard drag of his cigarette.

Then he took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Old Fang, what is it?" On the other end was Old Wu, the Vice Director in charge of variety shows at the station.

"Director Wu, have you seen today's voting data?"

There was silence on the other end for two seconds.

"I saw it."

"Is it normal?"

Silence again.

"Old Fang, some things... are not things I can control." Old Wu's voice was very low. "Qin Wanhao went to Vice Director Liu. I couldn't stop it."

Director Fang Yiming gripped his phone, his temples throbbing.

"Vice Director Liu?"

"Yes. We had a meal last week; I don't know exactly what they discussed. But in today's Audience Jury entry list, a batch of people were swapped in at the last minute. The approval signature was from Vice Director Liu's side."

Director Fang Yiming took the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for five seconds.

Then he stood up and stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

"I'm going to see the Station Head."

"Old Fang—"

"Director Wu, this show is mine." Director Fang Yiming's voice wasn't loud, but every word was crisp and decisive. "Whoever wants to ruin it, I won't let it go."

He hung up the phone, pulled open the door to the control room, and strode toward the end of the hallway.

—

Weibo exploded simultaneously.

#The Sound of Nature Shady Dealings# The entry rushed to fourth on the hot search list within half an hour.

#Shen Nian courage# ranked seventh.

#Zhang Yihan Chen Hao Vote Gap# hung at eleventh and was still rising.

Hundreds of replies below, filled with cursing.

—

11 PM that night. The light in the Station Head's office had been on for two hours.

The Station Head's surname was Chen, in his early sixties, with mostly white hair, but his energy was good.

Director Fang Yiming sat opposite him, spreading the materials on the table—the entry list comparison, the temporary replacement approval form, and the signatory.

The Station Head flipped through it for ten minutes, took off his reading glasses, placed them on the table, and rubbed the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.

He was silent for a good while.

"Xiao Fang, you know that Qin Wanhao's Universal has three projects in discussion with our station this year."

"Station Head Chen, the internet has already exploded. The top five hot searches are all questioning us. If the credibility of this episode collapses, we won't be able to continue."

The Station Head glanced at him.

"What do you want to do?"

"Starting next episode, I will personally vet the Audience Jury list. Verify identities one by one upon entry, and hand over mobile phones for the entire recording."

The Station Head tapped his fingers on the table twice.

"Approved."

Director Fang Yiming opened the door and walked out.

The next morning.

Vice Director Liu—publicly reprimanded, suspended for introspection.

The Station Head signed an internal document and copied it to the production team:

[Starting from the next episode, the Audience Jury list for The Sound of Nature will be independently screened by the production team, identities will be verified one by one before entry, and mobile phones will be surrendered for the entire duration.]