51 Chapter 51

◎Implementation◎

Chang Wanhong thought that she would not meet Zhang Li by chance, but unexpectedly, they bumped into each other in the end.

She knew that Zhang Li must have recognized her.

Compared to the pleasure she felt before she notified Zhang Li to come to the company and followed the vice president to tell her about being put on ice, as if she had the power of life and death, now all she felt was the embarrassment of being made worthless by comparison.

In fact, Huicai Entertainment did not remain silent in the face of Zhang Li's rise, but it only happened within the company.

At first, everyone thought that Zhang Li had no hope of making a comeback. In order to please Pei Yuanzhi, the company decided to put her on ice. At the beginning, the company did get some benefits from Pei Yuanzhi.

All the senior executives thought they had made the right decision.

However, as Zhang Li was noticed by Cheng Yu and signed with Lingman, they began to have a bad feeling.

Lingman's crisis was directly resolved by Wancheng before it even broke out, and the feeling of missing the opportunity was even stronger.

The top management would not think it was their mistake, and she, as Zhang Li's former agent, would naturally become the scapegoat.

Those people kept coming to her to question why Zhang Li had been able to find Cheng Yu in such a short time? Why did Zhang Li have a connection with Wan Cheng without her, her agent, knowing about it?

How does she know so much?

Even when he was under her command, she wanted to arrange a drinking party for Zhang Li, but she found all kinds of excuses to refuse. She seemed to be obedient and would rather be a little unknown than curry favor with the financial backers.

Who would have thought that just because she was pushed a little, she would completely let it go?

Chang Wanhong knew that no matter how she explained, it was useless. In the end, she was demoted again and again by the company and fell to the point of training new employees.

According to common sense, when Chang Wanhong brought her artists to meet Zhang Li, she should have been afraid that Zhang Li would deliberately make things difficult for her artists on the show, but she was not too worried about it.

This time, the company specially sent the artists she brought to "Sing Out Loud" and had already arranged everything.

Although she only knew a little bit of the inside story, she also understood that she and her artists seemed to have become pawns to surrender to Pei Yuanzhi.

All she could do was follow the script given by the company.

As for whether she would eventually turn things around like Zhang Li or become cannon fodder, it was no longer a question she had the right to consider.

-

Zhang Li didn't know what was about to happen.

As usual, after arriving at the instructor's backstage and waiting for a while, other talents arrived one after another.

It seemed like it had become a routine for Yun Shang and Pei Yuanzhi to arrive last.

Ever since Wancheng invested in Suoyun Entertainment, Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang have never spoken a word to her and Chen Xiaodong.

On the contrary, Yuan Minshan, who accidentally overheard the conversation between Zhang Li and Pei Yuanzhi, now completely stands on Zhang Li's side.

Yuan Minshan has her own studio, and Hu Minzhi is her good friend, and they are basically of the same mind.

As for Jia Jia and Cui Shan, since they signed contracts with a small company and the entire company relied on the two of them, they did not dare to offend Pei Yuanzhi, let alone Zhang Li who had You Wancheng as their backer.

Fortunately, Zhang Li and Pei Yuanzhi did not break up openly for the time being.

But everyone doesn’t know that this balance will soon be broken.

Yun Shang and Pei Yuanzhi came even slower today, almost arriving on time.

Bi Yandu almost asked the staff to rush them, but fortunately he learned from the venue guard that their car had arrived.

This time he didn't have time to ask everyone if they needed to touch up their makeup, so he directly brought everyone to the live broadcast site.

It’s the same old rules.

When everything was arranged, the camera turned on and Bi Yan began the familiar opening remarks.

"Hello, dear audience friends, this is the fifth episode of the second season of "Sing Out Loud". I am the host Bi Yan...blabla..."

The first three live broadcasts did not have the same exciting reversals as the first episode, but because it was a live broadcast and there was no script, it still attracted a large number of viewers.

In these three episodes, there is no one whose talent can surpass Feng Ruo, but there are also talented singers.

Among them was a female contestant who was good at high notes. She came from Yuan Minshan’s studio, so the two parties reached an agreement on mutual selection.

The male singer from Suo Yun Entertainment who chose Zhang Li in the second episode was also one of the most powerful ones. He won the first place in the second episode without any suspense.

Summarize the previous four issues.

In the first episode, both players from Zhang Li's team made it, both players from Yuan Minshan's team made it, and one player from Jia Jia's team made it.

In the second round, Zhang Li's team still had two players advance, while the other teams each had one player advance.

In the third episode, the contestant at the back of Zhang Li's team made a slight mistake in performance and missed the chance to advance, so only one player made it in. Two players from Yuan Minshan's team made it in, and one player each from Jia Jia's team and Pei Yuanzhi's team made it in.

In the fourth round, Zhang Li's team attacked strongly again, with two players scoring, while the other teams scored one each.

So in the four live broadcasts, out of the total twenty people who advanced, seven were from Zhang Li's team, and only one episode was not full. Yuan Minshan's team advanced six people, one less than Zhang Li and his team, but the only ones who could compete with Zhang Li's team members were Jin Quan from the first episode and the later high-pitched female contestant. Jia Jia's team was the most stable, with one person advancing in each episode, but Cai Lihua from the first episode also had solid strength.

The most disappointing team was Yun Shang and Pei Yuanzhi. There were only three players in total, and none of them could play.

Because of this huge gap, people on the Internet have been mocking Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang for countless rounds.

Originally, everyone's complaints were all about Pei Yuanzhi. Someone pointed out at some point that Pei Yuanzhi was the deputy hired by Yun Shang, so everyone started to mock both of them.

So during the fifth live broadcast, many viewers were ready to see whether Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang were still at the bottom.

Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang seemed to be completely unconcerned about the online reputation. One was still as aloof as ever, while the other smiled from time to time, looking like a good old guy.

The camera slowly moved across the tutors' desk, and there was basically no major change among the tutors.

After giving the mentors the shot, the program came to the contestants' grading stage again.

This time, Zhang Li bumped into the contestants by chance and formed a first impression of several of them.

The contestants were more impressed by her, not only because of the meeting when they entered the hall, but also because of the stable performance of Zhang Li and Chen Xiaodong in every episode.

Except for a few who pretend, most of the contestants have a basic understanding of themselves. They would certainly prefer a mentor who can motivate them to improve rather than a mentor who makes them stay almost stagnant.

Therefore, every time a new contestant comes up, they will always take the comments from Zhang Li and Yuan Minshan seriously, not only to listen to their own strengths and weaknesses, but also to leave a good impression on the two teams' mentors.

When the program appeared on the live broadcast room page, the audience arrived as usual.

Everything went very smoothly.

Zhang Li also saw her former agent's new artist come on stage. She behaved normally and her comments were mostly encouraging as always.

However, the opponent's strength in this period is still somewhat inferior, only in the middle and lower reaches.

What's more, the other party was brought by Chang Wanhong personally, which shows that Chang Wanhong's life must not be easy now.

After all eight artists in this episode finished their performances, no contestant emerged that completely impressed everyone.

As for the mentors' comments, except for Yuan Minshan's sharp tongue that made the audience sound like a substitute, the rest were normal.

Soon, the morning grading session ended, and with Bi Yan's announcement, the live broadcast entered a break.

Zhang Li no longer deliberately left the stage first like he did in the first episode.

She and Yuan Minshan and others stood up normally. Just as they were about to leave their seats, Zhang Li suddenly found that Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang had passed them with big strides.

Considering that this was a critical moment, Zhang Li and Chen Xiaodong paused and then looked at each other tacitly.

Although these two people didn't show it on their faces, their actions seemed more urgent than usual, which was not consistent with their previous habits.

Almost instantly, Zhang Li and Chen Xiaodong tacitly thought of a guess they had already made.

Before Yuan Minshan and the others could react, Zhang Li had unknowingly accelerated their pace.

Wait until they walk off the stage and reach the nearby exit.

As soon as he came out, Zhang Li looked around and saw Yun Shang and Pei Yuanzhi appearing in a direction they usually didn't go, and he became a little clear in his mind.

Yuan Minshan also noticed this strange phenomenon.

"Huh? Don't these two always go back to the lounge? Why did they suddenly change their ways today? Are they planning on eating in like us?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in her words.

In fact, the food in the program team's cafeteria tastes quite good. As long as you are willing to pay, they can even customize a menu for you. However, Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang always ask their assistants to order food from outside and bring it to their lounge. They never show up in the cafeteria, even though the cafeteria has private booths.

Such behavior naturally attracted the attention of others, but because of their status as mentors, no one dared to complain like Yuan Minshan did.

Zhang Li smiled and said directly, "Let's go."

Jiajia and the others were now used to being with Zhang Li and the others, so without further ado, they all headed towards the cafeteria.

Because he was not far behind Pei Yuanzhi, Yun Shang and the others, Zhang Li easily found someone waiting at a certain bend.

After taking a closer look, Zhang Li could clearly see the other person's appearance.

Yuan Minshan and the others nearby were also a little confused, "Who is that? It doesn't look like Pei Yuanzhi's agent, right?"

"No." Zhang Li already understood everything, and the corners of his mouth curved into a half-smile.

She had thought Huicai would behave itself, but she hadn't expected that they would choose to step into this mess at this moment. Their top management was as stupid as ever.

After Chang Wanhong reunited with Pei Yuanzhi and Yunshang, she inadvertently saw Zhang Li and others behind them.

Her expression froze, but Pei Yuanzhi had already taken the lead and left, so she could only follow.

Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang were naturally not looking for Chang Wanhong, nor could they be looking for Chang Wanhong, the artist who was not particularly talented.

The reason why Chang Wanhong was able to get along with Pei Yuanzhi was because she had other tasks assigned to her by the company.

The three continued forward, turned left after entering the cafeteria, and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

Yuan Minshan was full of curiosity. She took a few steps forward and found that the three people had turned inside. She didn't know which box they went to.

Because she and Pei Yuanzhi both have a bad relationship, Yuan Minshan is destined to be unable to solve the problem.

But she would never know that the director of the program team was also walking towards Pei Yuanzhi and the others from another direction, accompanied by a senior executive of Xigua TV.

When a group of people gathered in the box, the senior management of Xigua TV finally brought instructions that shocked and surprised the director.

"Director Lin, the higher-ups are somewhat dissatisfied with your current show, so they've specially sent me here to tell you that they've decided to change the rules of your show."

"What?!" The director was completely caught off guard. "Changing the show rules?! How come I haven't heard of this before?!"

"It's not really a change, but it seems your show's ratings haven't met expectations lately. So, to boost the ratings, we've decided to add an interesting rule to your rules."

The director knew as soon as he heard it that this 'interesting rule' would definitely subvert the entire show.

He looked at Pei Yuanzhi and the other two who had arrived early, and realized that they must have been the ones who caused the trouble.

Seeing that the director had noticed, Pei Yuanzhi and others no longer remained silent.

Yun Shang spoke directly: "Director Lin, don't you think this show is a little monotonous? It's always domestic singers fighting each other. What's the point?"

The director understood immediately after hearing his words, "You want to introduce foreign singers?"

"That's right." Yun Shang still had that good-natured smile on his face.

The director always felt that he and Pei Yuanzhi had ill intentions, and still wanted to shirk responsibility: "The program has only been reported for seven episodes, and we are already in the fifth episode. We have to use the last two episodes for the overall elimination round and the finals. I am afraid..."

"Director Lin, don't worry. We don't want to disrupt your plan, nor do we intend to ask you to increase the number of episodes. It's just... since the other eliminated contestants can challenge each other in the final elimination round, why can't a foreign contestant challenge them?"

The director was stunned and instantly understood their plan.

No wonder they only came to find him now, this was their original plan!

He had worked so hard to create this program, and he had put so much effort into maintaining its reputation that he treated it like his own child. He didn't want to see his 'child' being exploited by others.

"The singers I've recruited for this show are all immature, and I want the audience to see their progress. If any random foreign singer can challenge them, how can that be fair to us contestants?!"

The senior executives from Xiguatai looked at his frowning and excited expression with some dissatisfaction.

Yun Shang tried to console him, "Director Lin, don't get so excited. We certainly wouldn't do something as unfair as letting famous foreign singers challenge these contestants. What if... we added a new rule that only foreign 'reserve' singers can challenge these contestants?"

The director was stunned again.

The Xigua TV executive spoke up again, "Old Lin, there's no room for negotiation on this matter; it's already been decided. Mr. Yun and the others' idea not only adds to the show's appeal but also ensures fairness. Why not do it?"

Once these words were spoken, it meant that the matter had been decided and the director had no room to struggle.

The senior executive then introduced him, "This time, it's Tianqi Media, invested by Mr. Yun and Mr. Pei, and Huicai Entertainment, who are planning to cooperate with us. They will naturally be the ones to select and arrange the singers we'll bring in. You just need to step up the interviews and oversee the process."

The director wanted to say something, but at this point, all his words were in vain.

He sighed deeply in his heart.

At the end of the meal, the executives specifically explained, "This rule is very beneficial to the show. There's no other show like this in China yet. To prevent other shows from copying the idea, let's wait until after this round of ranking competitions to announce it. Until then, keep it a secret."

The director was speechless. He glanced at Yun Shang, Pei Yuanzhi and Chang Wanhong, who had little presence, and then nodded.

-

After this secret dinner, the director of the program team felt a little depressed.

Zhang Li and other mentors and contestants at the front desk certainly didn't know about it, but the assistant director and others who followed him noticed that something was wrong with him.

Although everyone asked, the director knew he couldn't speak and could only worry by himself.

The team selection session in the afternoon was almost completed live with the help of the assistant director.

Director Lin looked at the mediocre data in the background compared to the first period and began to doubt himself for the first time.

Is it true that the live broadcast viewership has been declining because these rules have gradually lost their interest?

But when he thought of Yun Shang and Pei Yuanzhi's faces, he came to his senses.

When he created this program, he originally planned to arrange the main event in the last two episodes, and the first season also started with the last two episodes.

This season was just too exciting in the first episode, which made the subsequent episodes seem dull, but once all the contestants have left the stage, the live broadcast will naturally become lively!

After thinking it through, he regained some fighting spirit.

He didn't want Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang to deliberately exploit the loophole to destroy the original intention of his show.

But the station has already issued the notice, and he definitely can't change it.

In this case, how should he deal with it?

The first people Director Lin thought of were the talented contestants from the first episode, especially Feng Ruo.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look forward to how Zhang Li would train Feng Ruo.

But given the current situation, if he takes the initiative to find Zhang Li and the others to explain the situation, and the news leaks out, someone will definitely find fault with him.

Just when he was extremely conflicted, this episode of live broadcast came to an end.

After Bi Yan announced the team selection results, the most talented contestants of this episode were still selected by Zhang Li and his team. Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang only got fourth place, as well as the artists brought by Chang Wanhong.

The comments were full of ridicule, but it didn't affect Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang in the slightest.

Today's live broadcast ends here.

The director was still worried and wanted to pull his hair, but he didn't know that Zhang Li and Chen Xiaodong returned to the mentor's backstage, took their personal belongings and separated from everyone else.

A few minutes later, the director received a call.

His eyes lit up when he saw the caller's name.

-

Following the director's guidance, Zhang Li and his companions soon arrived at a secret lounge.

The director didn't understand why Zhang Li and Chen Xiaodong had secretly asked him out. He had originally just wanted to ask Zhang Li about the progress of Feng Ruo and other contestants' training, but the first sentence Zhang Li asked stunned him.

"Director Lin, have the rules for the next episode been changed?"

The director looked at her in surprise, thinking that she had heard the news from some senior executive in the station.

Zhang Li saw through his thoughts immediately and explained with a smile: "This is what we guessed."

Hearing this, the director was even more surprised.

"You guessed it?!"

Zhang Li smiled and said, "Actually, we thought a long time ago that Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang might try to change the rules of the show."

"Did you think of this a long time ago?" A puzzled look flashed in the director's eyes.

Zhang Li then told the director how he had come up with the idea, leaving the director stunned.

"Since you've thought of this a long time ago, then you should have a way to deal with it?"

Zhang Li remained silent on this matter, merely keeping it a secret. "Director Lin probably doesn't like what Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang are doing this time. They're willing to disregard principles for profit. So, if a dark horse emerges from this show, the director will probably also help promote it."

"The dark horse you're talking about is...?"

Faced with the director's question, Zhang Li just smiled.

Because the other party will know soon.

-

After returning to the company, Zhang Li gathered all the people from last time together again.

"We've checked with the director of 'Sing Out Loud'. Pei Yuanzhi and Yun Shang have indeed gotten in touch with Xigua TV's higher-ups. The production team will announce after this round of ranking matches that they'll be adding a rule for foreign reserve contestants to challenge the host in the sixth round of the elimination rounds!"

"They're really here!" Not only Yu Feiyu was surprised, but even Feng Ruo and Deng Xu began to get a little nervous.

"Now that we've come this far, we can start implementing our plan."

Zhang Li looked at Feng Ruo and Deng Xu's agent, Kang Mei, and asked, "Sister Mei, have you put together the fan group for A Ruo and A Xu?"

"It's been prepared for a long time." Although Feng Ruo and Deng Xu have not participated in any programs or announcements in the past three months, Kang Mei registered them on a live broadcast platform.

The two of them would live-stream their singing on the platform from time to time, and had already accumulated a considerable number of fans.

Although the two are still unknown in the music scene, they will definitely become popular as long as their representative works are released.

"OK, then arrange for the two of them to have a live broadcast tonight, announcing simultaneously live and online that they will be working on their first album, and they will be given priority to audition in the live broadcast room. I'll have Xiao Man send you the schedule later."

"Aruo and Axu, are you two ready?"

Looking at Zhang Li's gaze, Feng Ruo and Deng Xu had already begun to feel excited.

"Ready!" They hardly slacked off during these three months.

They are like white swans transformed from ugly ducklings, just waiting for an opportunity to show their beautiful "wings" to everyone.

Yu Feiyu didn't need her to say anything more and said directly: "I will arrange for everyone to start preparing."

As soon as the two release a new song, Lingman’s public relations team will promote it quickly.

"OK, it's up to you now."

After everyone left, Zhang Li took out his cell phone and called Yuan Minshan.

The first sentence was: "Sister Shan, I wonder if you are willing to make a deal with me?..."