novelraw Chapter 248 - 241 Unexpected
Chapter 248 - 241 Unexpected
"The voting begins! Countdown starts at 30 seconds," Tian Jiaxuan told the audience.
Throughout, the names of Li Shihan and Yu Xiaohong were constantly shouted by fans.
Both of them were very nervous, as the title of "Vote King" could greatly influence their ranking.
"Voting ends in 30 seconds. Who will become this group’s Vote King?"
In the waiting room, there were supporters for Yu Xiaohong and supporters for Li Shihan alike.
At this moment, Lai Ruoxuan chuckled and said, "It’ll definitely be Wu Meiying."
Sitting behind her, Yuwei was struck with curiosity: "Why would Lai Ruoxuan say it’s Wu Meiying?"
Nearby, Liu Feiyu was also wondering: "Lv Fangxin, who do you think it’ll be?"
"Wu Meiying!" Lv Fangxin replied without hesitation.
Liu Feiyu couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose, thinking Lv Fangxin was just making baseless claims.
In the back row, Yuwei’s mind was racing. Suddenly, she realized something, having a moment of epiphany.
"These two are just too clever—they’ve seen through the rules of the game."
From the performances until now, it’s been evident that the hottest contenders in alternating groups tend to ’fall off.’ This clearly isn’t the result of live audience votes, but rather deliberate manipulation by the production team.
The purpose of this is to create suspense. If every Vote King were simply a hot contender, who would still care to vote?
A talent show can also be seen as a competitive program. If the audience already knows the outcome, would they still watch?
"The Vote King for this group is Wu Meiying," Tian Jiaxuan announced loudly.
Yuwei exhaled deeply; the elimination of Zhang Xi and Ma Xingyu was inevitable.
Since their company teammates had already claimed Vote King titles—Zhang Xi belonged to Yuehua, while Meng Meixuan and Wu Zixuan were both Vote Kings.
Ma Xingyu, affiliated with Vitality Era, saw her company-mate Liu Feiyu garner the Vote King title earlier.
The production team was clearly aiming for balance.
Most of the contestants in the waiting room were dumbfounded, and even Wu Meiying on stage was stunned.
Her four teammates clapped to congratulate her, while Wu herself stood there, completely astonished.
"Congratulations! Say a few words to your supporters," Tian Jiaxuan said with a smile.
"I..." Wu Meiying couldn’t help scratching her head, her face filled with disbelief.
"I never thought I’d be the Vote King, so I didn’t prepare anything..."
Her words drew laughter from everyone, making her appear incredibly endearing.
Yuwei sighed in her heart. Those who were thrust into the Vote King position lacked the ability of someone like Lv Fangxin, who could instantly charm people just by grabbing a microphone.
Beside her, Li Zixuan patted her on the head and comforted her: "Just say whatever comes to your mind."
"Thank you all. Thank you so much." At this point, Wu Meiying couldn’t suppress her joy and broke into a smile.
Tian Jiaxuan looked at this sweet-faced girl and felt a pang of pity—such an opportunity, yet it was squandered.
"Congratulations!" Tian Jiaxuan turned toward the big screen. "Alright, let’s see if Wu Meiying can surpass Zi Meng."
At this moment, Wu Meiying stood there, her mind blank, feeling even her breathing grow difficult. Her nervousness was plain for all to see.
As the light beams appeared and vanished, Wu Meiying’s emotions surged as if riding a roller coaster.
Having had no prior expectations, her heart now flooded with disappointment, though this disappointment also brought a measure of clarity.
"May I say one more thing?"
"Of course," someone replied.
Wu Meiying steadied herself and continued:
"I’m deeply grateful to my captain and my teammates!
"Our group’s dance may look simple, but it was actually a lot of hard work."
"We also faced many challenges emotionally during preparation, but with the captain’s help, we overcame them."
Li Zixuan chuckled warmly when she heard Wu’s heartfelt words.
"Lastly, thank you all for supporting our performance," Wu Meiying concluded.
The group instinctively bowed together toward the audience.
At this moment, Zhang Wei interjected:
"Wu Meiying, you need more confidence because your performance was excellent."
"You shone today, and everyone saw your effort."
Zhang Wei’s words were essentially smoothing things over for the production team, encouraging future viewers to believe that the Vote King titles were fairly decided.
Wu Meiying was genuinely moved to tears, covering her face to prevent them from falling.
Tian Jiaxuan chimed in: "Now, we have another important task—to select the next group of contestants."
Wu Meiying pondered for a moment and then playfully smiled: "I choose Duan Yuxin’s group."
In the waiting room, several contestants from the vocal group, led by Duan Yuxin, instantly leapt out of their seats in excitement—waiting this long had been agonizing.
As they walked through the hallway, an elated Xu Qianhua laughed: "We’re going to make everyone cry with our singing."
"Yes, we’ll make everyone shed tears for our voices," Lai Ruoxuan declared confidently.
The selected song, "The Liar," hailed from a popular young artist from the USA.
This song tells the story of lovers who, despite facing adversity, continue to love bravely.
The narrative includes promises between lovers and the persistence of hope even after encountering misfortune.
From an artistic standpoint, it’s an outstanding piece—with top-notch lyrics and composition.
Backstage, the costume crew, makeup crew, and equipment crew encircled the group. Having waited too long, the makeup on their faces had partially worn off, so makeup artists touched them up.
Costume stylists triple-checked their attire, while equipment staff prepared microphones and other gear.
Feeling surrounded by so many people, the contestants—lacking stage experience—grew increasingly anxious.
Of them, Lai Ruoxuan was the most composed, as she had performed in dozens of large-scale events before.
In this group, Liu Nian and Gao Ziyi lacked confidence in the song itself.
Gao Ziyi could sing but struggled to convey emotions, as her attempts to appear deeply invested often came off unintentionally amusing.
Liu Nian, on the other hand, had limited skill and couldn’t tackle the more challenging parts.
The remaining three members were proficient and able to handle their parts with ease.
On stage, clad in white chiffon dresses, the group emerged from the starlight.
The chants for Lai Ruoxuan from the crowd were particularly loud; her fans showed up in droves today.
"Hello, everyone! We are the Snow White and Queen Team." Led by Duan Yuxin, the entire group curtsied to the audience.
Zhang Wei watched this group with a look of affection.
Back when Liu Niannian was under immense pressure, he had done his best to offer her comfort.
"Who among you is the princess, and who is the queen?" Tian Jiaxuan asked curiously.
"Anyone can be either a princess or a queen," Duan Yuxin replied with a grin.
"Then please introduce yourselves one by one," Tian Jiaxuan said, following standard procedure.
When it was Lai Ruoxuan’s turn, her doll-like face lit up with anticipation, longing, and excitement. "Hello, everyone, I’m Xiao Qi, Lai Ruoxuan."
Her journey to this point truly reflected extraordinary effort.
Gifted with a natural voice, she was recruited into Deep City’s most prestigious school as an art-focused student in her middle school years, participating in numerous performances.
She later auditioned for Galaxy three times but was rejected each time due to her height.
By sheer chance, she joined Bright Moon Girl Group, initially facing skepticism.
Even though she consistently ranked the highest in assessments, her talent wasn’t recognized—until she made waves during a proportional assessment, finally earning her the title of captain.
Her ultimate dream is to shine brightly among Huaxia’s stars.
Li Ke watched this girl and thought to himself how each contestant brought something distinct to the program.
Lai Ruoxuan truly embodied a youthful face paired with a commanding voice.