Senior, You Won't Get Away This Time

When Lin Mu walked onto the stage, he saw Chi Yuting standing on the other side.

As Lin Mu came up, Chi Yuting winked at him and blew him a kiss.

The Pure Voice The rules for the pending contestants' PK were simple: they would draw lots and compete in pairs.

Both contestants would take the stage together and sing a song in the order determined by the draw.

Then the four mentors would turn on their lights. The contestant with more blue lights would advance.

If they received the same number of blue lights, the mentors would discuss and decide who advanced.

At the same time, the production team stipulated that the two contestants could not communicate with each other while onstage.

Nor could they influence each other's performances in any way.

In the first season, the ratings for the PK rounds were often even higher than those for the first round of performances.

After all, a contest where the winner advanced and the loser was eliminated was obviously more thrilling.

Especially when both pending contestants stood onstage and performed under the enormous pressure of impending elimination.

Some people even lost control completely, and afterward, the mentors would argue with each other over their differing opinions.

Those were exactly the kinds of scenes viewers loved to see.

Once the two contestants were onstage, standing behind the curtain, host Li Lan stepped onto the stage with a smile and graceful strides.

"Even with the curtain between us, I can already feel the tense atmosphere, like swords drawn and bows bent. I'd like to ask contestant Xiao Qing first: are you confident?"

Chi Yuting held a microphone fitted with a voice changer. Her usual seductive manner gone, she answered sincerely:

"I'm already very satisfied to have made it this far. I'll do my best to sing well and stay true to my dream!"

It was the standard answer on a talent show.

Not conceited, not self-effacing, and nothing that could go wrong.

But it clearly wasn't entertaining enough, so Li Lan asked Lin Mu instead:

"Contestant Dawei Tianlong, many people didn't expect you to end up pending. Is there anything you'd like to say?"

Lin Mu said, "I've got something to do tonight. Can we hurry?"

He really did have something to do tonight—a major matter. Fat Tiger and Zhang Hen were waiting outside right now.

According to plan, he should've gone out to meet up with them ages ago.

"..." Li Lan froze, staring at the curtain in disbelief.

Was he taking a jab at me?

What did I do to him?

Li Lan was a little annoyed, but couldn't show it. She could only keep smiling and announce that the PK between Dawei Tianlong and Xiao Qing was beginning.

According to the draw, Xiao Qing would sing first.

The music began. It was a classic love song.

Before Chi Haiyuan began performing, she gave Lin Mu a seductive smile, then gripped the microphone and started singing.

The song wasn't difficult, and Chi Yuting's singing was only average, just a cut above karaoke level.

The other contestants in the previous round must have been so awful that even someone as lousy as her had made it through.

Lin Mu couldn't help wondering which three mentors had given Chi Yuting blue lights last round.

Were they deaf?

A few minutes later, Chi Yuting finished singing, and enthusiastic applause rang out from the audience. The hired extras must have been responsible.

But Chi Yuting didn't know that. Hearing such enthusiastic applause, she immediately felt even more confident.

She turned her head and saw Lin Mu looking at her in astonishment.

She figured he must've been stunned by her singing.

She gave Lin Mu her most alluring smile, pressed her hands together against her chest to make a heart shape, parted her red lips, and licked them with her tongue.

If he'd been some young guy, he'd have been ready to enter post-nut clarity by then.

"Xiao Qing was as steady and soulful as ever. Now, let's see what contestant Dawei Tianlong has in store. Good luck!"

Li Lan filled time between performances, as usual, offering some encouragement.

At a moment this tense, how touched would a contestant be to receive encouragement from a beautiful host like her?

If he gave an enthusiastic, even emotional response, the show's entertainment value would shoot through the roof.

Just as Li Lan expected, Dawei Tianlong responded:

"Mm."

"..."

Veins bulged on Li Lan's forehead. She glared angrily at the curtain.

Feng Bingbing was also glaring hard at it.

In fact, Feng Bingbing's eyes were wider, as if she wouldn't stop until she saw right through the curtain.

"You won't get away this time, senior!"

She'd already made up her mind. Once she confirmed that this guy really was her senior, she'd violate the production team's confidentiality agreement if she had to and charge backstage to drag him out.

She'd ask him to his face why he'd kept it from her that he was entering the talent show.

That was too much!

Did he even care about her at all?

Couldn't he just let her support him?!

"Contestant Dawei Tianlong will be performing an original song: 'Ugly Monster.'"

Li Lan read the script with a blank expression, then walked offstage, annoyed.

Zhang Zheng rubbed his hands together, suddenly feeling nervous for the first time in ages. He turned to look at Wang Xinzhe and saw that Old Wang had his lips pressed together too, looking so tense he seemed constipated.

That made Zhang Zheng feel better. He chuckled and quietly asked Wang Xinzhe:

"Are you worried that guy will mess up?"

Wang Xinzhe nodded. "So many contestants got nervous and messed up in the pending PK rounds last season. I'm worried it could happen."

Zhang Zheng fell silent for a moment, then turned to Feng Bingbing on the other side. "Xiao Feng, this is all your fault. You were too naughty."

But when he saw Feng Bingbing standing there with wide eyes and her lip between her teeth, she looked even more nervous than he was.

Zhang Zheng was speechless. He couldn't help teasing her. "Nervous now? That's what you get for hitting the red light so carelessly."

Feng Bingbing kept her eyes fixed on the stage. "Teacher Zhang, don't say anything. Just listen to the song!"

Right now, all she wanted was to hear Dawei Tianlong's voice and find out if this guy was him.

At last, music sounded from behind the curtain.

"Piano? He's going with piano this time."

Wang Xinzhe nodded slightly. Three consecutive guitar performances might leave the audience tired of the same thing, so singing while playing piano was a good choice.

Zhou Yiyi smiled and shook his head. "So he only knows piano and guitar. His range is too narrow, too narrow."

After the intro, a voice unlike the one from either of his first two performances rang out:

"If the world is pitch-black, I'm actually beautiful. In love, no matter how I move forward or back, I'm just a commodity."

The audience and the mentors were all stunned.

"That voice..."

"Why does he suddenly sound younger?"

"Could it be a different person?"

Zhang Zheng's eyes widened. He turned to look at Wang Xinzhe, who was just as surprised.

"Where's my Brother Long?"

"Weren't we supposed to be the same age?"

But even as they marveled at the change, both nodded in approval.

His voice had changed, but his skill hadn't. He still had the kind of voice that made you fall to your knees the moment he started singing!

Zhou Yiyi sat there with his mouth agape. With his scant knowledge of music theory, he found it even harder to understand how a singer could change his voice so drastically.

Amid the audience's repeated gasps of surprise, only one person's eyes lit up, her face breaking into a bright, delighted smile.

"It's senior! That voice—he's definitely senior!"

Feng Bingbing smiled like a flower, overjoyed, like a little cabbage that had finally gotten its pig.

"Senior, let's see how you'll get away from me this time!"