Chapter 64 The Broken Accompaniment

Lyer had three stage performances in total. The first one went very smoothly. The person in charge was watching on the monitor backstage, and a voice came through the headset, just two simple words:

"Prepare."

The person in charge gripped the mouse tightly and responded after a moment. Some of the audience members were fans of other people and didn't recognize the girl group, but they were all waving their light sticks to the rhythm, creating a great atmosphere.

His response was to directly cut off a certain route. So, during the synchronized dance moves on stage, Yu Shuling suddenly realized that when it was her turn, the background music stopped.

The subtle changes occurred within seconds, but the constant action on stage left them no time to stop and react. Fortunately, Yu Shuling had already memorized the rhythm beforehand; it was only a few minutes long, something anyone with a normal memory could remember, and it wasn't difficult for her.

The second song was a sweet little tune. Accompanied by the girl's sweet smile, Yu Shuling steadied her earpiece, and her clear voice flowed from the microphone as always, without the slightest pause or hesitation.

She then knelt down on one knee and made a hand gesture, her dance moves flowing smoothly like waves; whether there was accompaniment or not was irrelevant at this moment. As soon as Yu Shuling's part ended, Zhong Xinfan immediately followed with a rap, further energizing the atmosphere. This short period of time had already caused a stir, but most people excitedly took out their phones to record.

The audience wasn't in a hurry, but the festival organizers backstage were, rushing to their room to ask:

"What do you mean? The accompaniment was cut off and I didn't see it, and it's still not fixed?"

Each group of artists is managed by their own company, but such a major incident as the accompaniment breaking down will damage the reputation of their music festival if word gets out! The organizers were furious, and the second song has already been going on for over thirty seconds, and they're still so slow, are they doing it on purpose?

The on-site sound equipment had been thoroughly checked and was guaranteed to be working properly. The organizers quickly recalled the recent incident involving this company and Lyer, and felt contempt. They thought it was shameless of them to tamper with such things.

There were celebrities watching outside, and even more staff members. You Jingzhou stood in the crowd, suddenly chuckled, and turned to walk away. His assistant followed behind, muttering a curse.

"Seeing is believing. What a jerk! His little schemes are way too obvious."

If Lyer hadn't reacted so quickly, this would have definitely turned into a stage accident. That girl group has been involved in so many scandals lately; anyone who pays even a little attention has probably heard about it. They were only fighting back because they were forced into a corner, and they were willing to complete the remaining procedures properly. It's YueDong that didn't dare to respond openly, only resorting to these underhanded tactics in the shadows; no wonder they're becoming increasingly unpopular.

When You Jingzhou looked up again, he saw the third song starting, and Yu Shuling gave him a seemingly casual glance on the screen.

The meticulously applied eye makeup accentuated the girl's already beautiful face, making her even more exquisite. She had excellent control over her expressions. Her features were originally on the delicate side, and without any changes to her makeup, she easily pulled herself out of the sweet atmosphere of the previous song, creating a touch of flamboyant wildness simply through her eyes.

You Jingzhou didn't have much of an opinion about the idol industry before. Singers and dancers follow the idol route, which leads many professional singers and dancers to have some prejudice against them, which is common in the industry.

He went to the talent show as a special guest to repay a favor, but he never expected to witness such a shocking mess.

Industry irregularities can be seen everywhere, but this is probably the first time anyone here has seen someone expose them so ruthlessly.

He saw Jiang Wenxi lose her composure and become panicked and furious, while he also saw Yu Shuling's confidence and self-consistent logic. Although she seemed aggressive, she wasn't actually nitpicking at anything; she just happened to throw out questions that were impossible to answer.

I heard that the director's team has also been investigated and punished. The whole team hates Yu Shuling to the bone, but she doesn't care at all and remains calm and composed. That kind of leisure and relaxation is not something that can be easily faked.

You Jingzhou found this person very interesting.

Actually, I feel more envious than anything else.

If he had cultivated that mindset back then, his journey would probably have been much smoother.

There's no turning back in life, but those who have been through the rain can still offer an umbrella to others.

"Brother Xiao Chao." You Jingzhou stopped and called out to his assistant, "Could you please contact Sister Zhao for me and tell her that she agreed to the matter I asked her about last time?"

"Ah, okay."

Previously, Sister Zhao wanted him to write a song for one of her artists, which would have been a simple task for You Jingzhou. However, he planned to take a break after finishing his current schedule and didn't want any work-related troubles. Fortunately, he became famous very quickly after his debut. As a producer who excels in both singing and songwriting, he is generally someone that people in the industry wouldn't offend. Otherwise, someone as influential as Sister Zhao wouldn't have bothered to discuss things with him.

However, You Jingzhou rarely writes songs for others, so this time he essentially did Zhao Jie a favor, and she will definitely repay him without hesitation later.

As the two were talking, the short song ended, and Lyer's accompaniment returned to normal. Several girls took their bows on stage and only stopped waving to the audience when the rising platform was completely out of sight.

"When the accompaniment stopped, I was so scared, my heart stopped. Luckily, Lingling reacted quickly!"

As soon as Lin Yujie stepped off the stage, her sweet and cool demeanor from the previous performance vanished completely, and she almost collapsed to the ground. They hadn't been on stage for a while, so their rustiness was understandable. Real-world performance is definitely different from the practice room; facing so many audience members, any mistake is far more serious than a few words of criticism from the dance teacher in the practice room.

She remained tense throughout, only fully relaxing during the third song, and Li Song was the same. Kawana nodded in agreement.

"Lingling, good!"

She has now completely become a fan of Yu Shuling. Lin Yujie was amused by Chuan Nai's serious expression, and Zhong Xinfan also spoke with some lingering fear:

"It's probably something the company did; how could the accompaniment suddenly stop?"

"Fortunately, we've been practicing quite diligently lately," Li Song nodded in agreement.

Yu Shuling is different from those who have returned to the stage. She had absolutely no practical experience in this area before, at most she had performed a very short segment on the small stage of a talent show. Just now on stage, she could hear someone calling her name, and among the glowing light sticks, she found the shadow of the Lyer official light stick. When she looked over, she met a pair of smiling eyes.

There were also fans and signs printed with her image, and enthusiastic cheers that formed a converging wave in the midsummer heat, giving her a deep sense of satisfaction.

So this is what it feels like to be liked by many people.

There weren't many dressing rooms here, and there were quite a few celebrities, so they didn't change clothes here, but stayed for a while before leaving. The most famous among them were Jiang Wenxi and You Jingzhou. Jiang Wenxi came from a boy band, debuted as the center of a talent show, and was very successful. He was also the male lead in the original novel, so his talent and looks were undeniable. Even if Yu Shuling didn't like him, judging without any prejudice, Jiang Wenxi's abilities were still quite good.

It's not just empty talk; it has the right amount of force and the perfect timing.

But he only managed to get to the point of being "not bad." It's clear that he's very eager to perform and win back his fans. He made several greasy and offensive gestures. I don't know how his fans felt about it, but Yu Shuling found it a bit nauseating.

Even the usually mild-mannered Li Song accidentally saw it, and the expression on his face was indescribable.

The next few artists, though not very famous, also performed their acts with great dedication, igniting the atmosphere in the audience, who cheered loudly. When it was You Jingzhou's turn, he sang one of his recent breakout OSTs. Although it was a ballad, the enthusiasm of the entire audience singing along during the chorus pushed the atmosphere to its peak.

You Jingzhou truly lives up to his reputation as a producer who can produce one masterpiece after another in a short period of time. His singing skills and the captivating quality of his voice are both exceptional. Yu Shuling couldn't help but hum along a few lines from the audience and happily touched up her lipstick.

Right after he finished the audience interaction segment, his manager, Sister Gao, told them to leave to avoid chaos as the audience departed later. Some music festival attendees would leave early to see the artists they wanted to see. Lyer walked quickly, but as she exited, she saw quite a few fans at the back door. They were very well-behaved and didn't cross the line; they just stood behind the security cordon and shouted:

"Li Song, Li Song, welcome back Songsong!"

"Lingling, look at me!"

"Lingling has lost weight again, eat more!"

The manager walked at the front; having managed many artists, she was used to the shouts of fans. But Yu Shuling called out to Sister Gao:

"Let's stop for a bit. We came out early, didn't we? Jiang Wenxi and You Jingzhou's fans should be arriving later."

Out of respect, no one usually leaves immediately after a performance, so there weren't many fans from other groups. The front row was mostly Lyer fans. As soon as Yu Shuling finished speaking, she gestured for them to be quiet. Although she was smiling, she was also very authoritative, which restored order to the somewhat chaotic crowd.

The other members immediately stopped and, seeing that Sister Gao didn't scold them, they all gathered around and chatted with the fans one by one.

Originally, they had been waiting for them here for so long, and they weren't in a hurry to get on their way, so there was no need for them to act all high and mighty. Before becoming Empress Dowager, Yu Shuling had also climbed her way up from a noble family step by step, and she never relied on arrogance or scheming.

No one takes love for granted, especially so much of it.

"I'm eating, I haven't lost weight, don't worry too much about me."

She remembered that the girl who had just told her she had lost weight was petite, but now she was almost completely overshadowed by the crowd. Yu Shuling stood to the side and smiled as she replied. She then reached out and made a heart shape with the person closest to her, and reached out with her other hand to shake hands with each of them.