Day 37

"It's just the first ranking. What's wrong with changing the votes? No one will care."

"Yeah, since that's Fu Xunyan, he can be number one next time. After all, he has both popularity and ability."

"Anyway, this time Fu Xunyan only had about a hundred votes ahead of Ye Lai. This tiny gap would be interesting only in the finals, but it wouldn't be shocking at all in the first round."

"I also think it's better to adjust the votes and let Ye Lai be first and Fu Xunyan be second. You don't know how much these two families can spend on things. Their peripheral income has exceeded 500,000."

"I agree! Ye Lai's original fans are already our members. We need to stimulate the fans who like Fu Xunyan and let them become our members."

"Yang Qing, this is a bit too much." Shen Ziqing poked the pen, the dark circles under her eyes were too obvious. She was very upset. No one was taking care of the child at home today, and his father kept urging her to pick him up after work.

Yang Qing's team's remarks simply added fuel to the fire.

Looking at the five people with strange expressions of "What are you objecting to?", Shen Ziqing felt a dull pain in his head.

Why?

Adjusting the number of votes can bring greater benefits, but is this the right thing to do?

Even if Ye Lai is willing, Fu Xunyan is willing, and their fans are willing, can this matter be justified because of maximizing profits?

Shen Ziqing's throat burned. She had been working overtime since last night and hadn't rested or even drunk much water. But the burning sensation in her throat seemed to be spreading upwards along her blood vessels.

The atmosphere in the room became heavy because of Shen Ziqing's words.

Yang Qing tutted, threw the pen on the table, and fell backwards. "So what do you think?"

"What do I think?" Shen Ziqing was impatient, hugged his arms, and looked around the room.

Including her, the assistant director, the director, Yang Qing's planning team and an intern secretary, there are nine people in total.

"The original intention seems ridiculous to you, right? But do you still remember what you said when you first started planning this?"

"Is that a lie?"

Yang Qing was silent for a moment.

This program was planned two years ago. They are relatively young in the station and have new ideas. They want to make an inspirational talent show to give trainees who have no capital to support a place to show their abilities.

But precisely because of this goal that is inconsistent with the mainstream, they have not been able to attract investment.

The program was finally launched, and Fu Xunyan's popularity gave them new hope.

Also makes them swell.

What would happen if Fu Xunyan hadn't been around? Yang Qing felt that even someone as aloof as Shen Ziqing would try to stir up controversy by creating hype.

The reason why Shen Ziqing can still talk about her "original intention" now is that the situation is still some distance away from her bottom line, so she has enough room to pretend to be righteous and denounce these "bad guys".

Yes, they began to tolerate connections on the show, opened up trainees' external affairs, and started producing and selling merchandise... But how clean was Shen Ziqing? Did she speak out against it?

No.

Ultimately, they weren't good people; they just had different boundaries. Yang Qing knew that Fu Xunyan's sudden popularity had raised his expectations, making him "greedy." While Shen Ziqing didn't become greedy, he didn't raise his boundaries either.

If the show starts to lose money, won't both he and Shen Ziqing sacrifice these pathetic trainees anyway?

"I'm not lying." Yang Qing sighed, "But you have to change your mind according to the actual situation. Now according to our plan, the program will definitely be able to take it to the next level, and everyone will make a lot of money. But if you insist on it, the next opportunity may not come."

"What's the price of the former? I don't think Fu Xunyan will care about this vote change, and Ye Lai, the beneficiary, will care even less, so who are you speaking for?"

"For the general audience? Shen Ziqing, are you starting to do charity? Isn't it their money that we have been making all this time? If you have the guts, why don't you just pay for them to have VIP membership yourself?"

The topic came back again. Shen Ziqing held his forehead tiredly and wanted to argue again, but Yang Qing received a call from the investor.

"Change the ticket, that's what they said over there."

**

Jiang Sulin was somewhat surprised at Fu Xunyan's sharpness. It was remarkable that a young man in his twenties could have such a brain.

"We are very humble when it comes to treasure hunting." Jiang Sulin smiled.

"But trainee Fu Xunyan has inspired me. Everyone here, and the audience in front of the screen, we are all the protagonists of our own lives. Even if there are setbacks and sadness, please hold on a little longer."

"It's like fighting monsters in a game. If difficulties arise and you conquer them, it seems like a wonderful and respectable life."

[Teacher Jiang is right!]

[I feel like he's still trying to change the subject. Isn't what he's saying different from the treasure hunt?]

[Tsk, your life has been smooth sailing, of course you would say such nonsense. Who wants to encounter setbacks...]

The director waved his hands frantically again to signal Jiang Sulin to block Fu Xunyan's voice and not let him say anything more. Jiang Sulin licked his dry lips and looked at the two of them with mature eyes.

"We are about to announce the final results. Please both stand on the stage."

In the row in front of the pyramid, there used to be ten people standing in a row, but now there are only two. They cannot be too far away from each other. Fu Xunyan moved two steps and was only an arm's length away from Ye Lai.

Ye Lai hasn't spoken since the beginning, as if he is thinking about something.

Jiang Sulin took a sealed envelope, slowly opened it with his slender fingers, and took out the hard card inside.

"In the first ranking of 'New Century Idol', the first place received a total of 532,2032 votes, and the second place was only 1,782 votes behind, with a total of 532,0250 votes."

"Oh my god!" Liu Yongshan on the stage couldn't help but exclaimed, "Over five million votes? That's ten times my vote count! Oh my god!"

"This is such an inhumane massacre..." The other trainees covered their faces. Zhong Mingjia, who was ranked 59th, only had over 80,000 votes, not even a fraction of that...

Even though they have long known the cruelty of talent shows, when the gap is clearly laid out before them, many people still become completely speechless.

First place goes to…

Jiang Sulin dragged out the word.

Ye Lai raised his eyes, and the light stung his eyes. The darkness that had obscured his thoughts was finally slowly cleared away.

It's him.

"Congratulations Ye Lai!"

No, none of this is right.

However, the scent of heavy snow and pine trees immediately reached him. The not-so-smooth fabric pressed against Ye Lai's neck. He could feel the throbbing blood vessels underneath, and the warmth...

The man hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear.

"Congratulations."

Don't congratulate me.

No, really, don't congratulate me.

Ye Lai's eyes immediately became sore and slightly red. Several people ran down and hugged them both.

He knew which ones.

They are all Fu Xunyan's friends.

"Ye Lai! Don't make a sound!" This was Fu Xunyan's voice. Unlike his usual calm voice, it was filled with a sense of urgency for the first time.

"Yes, don't talk." This is Da Pei.

"Don't cry, speak more normally later." Yin Xingheng.

"You can't...don't be impulsive!" Min Hai.

Jiang Sulin couldn't hear what they were saying. He could only see the high-ranking trainees hugging each other, looking very close. But for some reason, he still felt something was wrong.

"Everyone, we need to make room for the first and second place winners to speak."

Retreating like the tide, those people still looked at Ye Lai with a worried look that the camera could not capture.

"Then let's invite the second place trainee, Fu Xunyan, to speak first."

The young man walked onto the platform.

He stood there, tall and slender, and the dark blue suit looked really good on him. His body had the perfect golden ratio, with broad shoulders, a thin waist and long legs. He had the thinness of a young man, but was more substantial than frail.

His eyes were still habitually downcast, and his slightly narrow eyes made him look less approachable. His noble appearance often made people forget his tragic life experience.

Her thin lips parted slightly, unexpectedly revealing a smile. It was difficult to decipher every emotion from that whisper, but at least it wasn't one of joy.

He raised the microphone to his lips and slowly raised his eyes to look at the camera that was working.

I'm dead, I'm really dead

[Speechless, it's really too beautiful, how can someone look like this]

[How should I put it? I just really want to be understood. This is human nature and understandable, right?]

[…I only feel bad for my treasure hunt now, this number of votes is definitely fake]

[Yeah, the Aphrodite team clearly did the statistics, and our vote count, not counting the scattered votes, is 5.5 million. How could it be lower than Ye Lai's? ]

[The production team is really good at playing dirty. Just wait, the Xun family will definitely seek justice!]

[Leaf, go, go, go, step on those sour chickens!]

[You're crazy. What's wrong with Ye Zi's votes being higher than yours? They were all won by Ye Ma's votes, okay? Our fan page statistics show 5.4 million. It's not impossible for us to have more individual votes than you, right? Why are you questioning us right away?]

[Wake up, Yeh moms! Did you still think this was before the show? Fu Xunyan's popularity has completely overtaken yours since the show started. How did you think the individual votes would surpass it?]

"It all suddenly felt very strange to me."

The person on the stage spoke slowly, but it was confusing - this year's trainees were all very strange, and the top 20 were full of riddles.

“Everyone’s faces are so familiar, but many things have changed and are full of new changes.”

"Even myself. At the beginning, my wish was simple, just to walk on steadily with Jiang Han, my brother. But I don't know when, I also started to have ambitions. I want to debut and want to walk on with all the hard-working people."

"Is ranking important? Yes, it is. Votes are important. I cannot deny that. I'm grateful to everyone who supported me for coming in second this time. At the same time, I know there are many people who wanted me to come in first who are feeling sad."

"But I hope everyone who is worried about me can rest assured that rankings and vote counts will not affect my attitude or my thinking. I will no longer question myself because of these things."

The person on the stage curled his lips again, like a spring flower just blooming, full of rare warmth.

"It seems I have really grown a lot. Well, I am bragging about myself."

"My efforts and the performances I've completed are all real and unaffected by any other factors. I'm sure of the beauty I've created, and therefore, I don't feel any loss."

Fu Xunyan took a deep breath, his eyes becoming firm. "Of course, like other trainees, I will continue to work hard. This is by no means the highest point I can reach."

"My stage will prove this to everyone."

After these words were spoken, many trainees were touched.

Of course, most people are actually reflecting on whether the votes they received are really worthy of the stage they just performed on?

Everyone knows about Fu Xunyan's training for the first public performance. He put in almost 200% effort, suffered from long-term sleep deprivation for a week, took on all the work in the group, and finally contributed the most wonderful stage.

What about them?

Did they really try their best? If they were in Fu Xunyan's position, would they be able to have a clear conscience?

Apart from the silent majority, a loud cry broke out on the stage.

"Wow, Master, I'm so touched~~Brother, let's work hard together! I'll try my best to keep up with you! I won't let you down for everything you've done for me!"

It was Jiang Han, crying loudly.

But Fu Xunyan, with his back to him, felt very sad because he was not sure whether it was a good thing for Jiang Han to stay here.

The microphone was handed to Ye Lai.

He stood in the center of the halo, his light brown hair shimmering like a pale gold, like ripples on a lake. His skin, like the unmelted snow on a spring night, shimmered with the shimmer of porcelain. In the shadow cast by his brow bone, his amber eyes were filled with star fragments, reminiscent of the curve of a dew-soaked willow leaf trembling in the wind.

He is very different from Bo Mi. The 20-year-old Ye Lai has more than three years of "working experience" and has seen the world. Compared with the trainee Bo Mi, whose only works are web dramas, his face and temperament are more mature.

More than once, fans have ridiculed Bomi as Xiao Yelai.

But in Fu Xunyan's opinion, the two had nothing in common. Bo Mi was the first snow, seemingly cute but actually dragging people step by step into the cold winter, while Ye Lai was the new willow tree that gently sprouted in the chilly spring breeze of March.

He stood under the light, as if soaked in moonlight, and even the curved lines of his knuckles were as warm as if repeatedly caressed by the spring breeze.

The spotlight created tiny rainbows at the corners of his eyes, as if someone had sprinkled a handful of crystal sugar into a thawed stream.

"I..." He was a little dazed, but his good professionalism finally overwhelmed the sudden emotion and allowed him to find his voice.

“I’m very grateful to the fans.”

"I'm also very grateful to all my teammates, and of course, all the trainees here. Although we've only known each other for less than a month, this is a journey I won't forget."

"I will never forget every day and night we spent recording together, the laughter and noise that filled the practice room."

"Today, whether you are still staying at the base or going out to explore more possible futures, we will have the opportunity to meet again."

"I hope everyone can be safe and successful in pursuing their dreams and gain something."