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The lights across the venue came on, and the chorus rang out once more: "Oh, that girl across from me is walking this way step by step—how could I not look forward to it?"①

The bullet comments were instantly flooded with a dense stream of "Aaaahhh!"

"My ears are pregnant! They have to be!"

"That's it? More, more!"

"Holy crap! Ye Zexi's voice was so freaking gorgeous just now!!!"

"Who was it in the comments that said he was lip-syncing? Get out here and apologize right now!"

"I'm losing my mind! With singing skills this good, which idiot bought him a trending topic about lip-syncing?"

"Is the voting channel open? I'm going to vote for Ye Zexi!"

"It is, it is! Hurry up, it's right next to the comment section. I just voted!"

The length of a song was neither long nor short, yet it was enough to completely overturn everyone's impression of Ye Zexi.

But the audience was far from the only one shocked. Tang Jing, who was sharing the stage with Ye Zexi, was stunned as well.

The moment Ye Zexi opened his mouth onstage, Tang Jing froze.

There was no other reason—Ye Zexi's performance today was worlds apart from before.

Whether it was his vocal technique, his voice, or even his stage presence, Ye Zexi could be considered the best in their group today.

Tang Jing was so astonished that he was somewhat distracted throughout the entire performance that night.

If Ye Zexi had not lightly bumped him with his elbow just now, he would have nearly forgotten that it was his turn to sing the next line!

Tang Jing's face immediately turned a little pale, and some of the color drained from his lips.

How could he make a mistake at a time like this?

During a change in position, Tang Jing stole a glance below the stage and immediately spotted He Jinyun seated upright at the judges' table. A faint smile rested on the man's pale lips, his gaze—

Following the direction of his gaze, Tang Jing's eyes settled on Ye Zexi beside him.

The smile at the corner of Tang Jing's lips stiffened at once, and the hand at his side clenched imperceptibly.

Could it be that Ye Zexi had deliberately been hiding his talent by singing so badly before?

Many of the contestants below the stage shared Tang Jing's thoughts.

Jiang Ran's face had gone green with anger, and the other group members seated beside him did not look much better either.

Someone muttered quietly, "It has to be fake, right? He was off-key through the entire performance before. How could he possibly improve so much in just one day—"

Jiang Ran glanced at the camera ahead of them and lowered his voice. "Keep it down!"

The person froze, then instantly realized they were still recording and shut his mouth with lingering fear.

Jiang Ran turned his gaze back to Ye Zexi onstage. He really was singing well—so well that even Jiang Ran felt inferior.

Damn it! He was furious!

He had even mocked Ye Zexi today. Looking at it now, wasn't that trending topic from last night simply paving the way for Ye Zexi?

Whoever had bought it for Ye Zexi was probably regretting it so badly his guts had turned green by now!

The song reached its climax. As the lingering harmonies faded away, the accompaniment dispersed as well, bringing the first performance to a perfect close.

Applause surged like a tide. The spotlights spilled down, and the camera focused on the ten contestants onstage.

Someone in the venue shouted, "That was amazing!"

The viewers in the bullet comments grew excited too.

"So, so, so, so good!"

"Ye Zexi was way too unexpected!"

"Era Idol is freaking amazing! Every contestant is so good! I'm already looking forward to the next performance!"

"Ye Zexi really is kind of incredible..."

"More, more! I'm not satisfied yet! I want Ye Zexi to sing a solo!"

"What kind of feral nonsense is that!"

Unfortunately, one song was just one song.

The livestream continued, but the bullet comments had long since lost their earlier mockery. They were now all cheering for the contestants they supported.

When it came time for the contestants to introduce themselves and canvass for votes, the comments nearly covered the entire screen when it was Ye Zexi's turn.

Ye Zexi's self-introduction was very brief. "Hello, everyone. I'm Ye Zexi."

After saying that, Ye Zexi looked up and gave the host a faint smile.

The host's smile was a little strained. His name was Xi Shu, and he had only been working as a host for three years. He had only become the host of Era Idol this time through someone's recommendation.

Xi Shu treasured this hard-won opportunity very much and had been diligently memorizing the script.

Until this morning, when chief director Li Changjian had called him in for a talk.

Xi Shu had spent the whole day preparing, but thinking about what he was about to ask still made him nervous.

After taking several deep breaths, Xi Shu cleared his throat and joked, "Since it's Zexi's turn, I have a question for you as well. Would it be convenient for me to ask?"

Ye Zexi smiled. "Please, go ahead."

Xi Shu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly threw out the question Li Changjian had instructed him to ask. "I'm sure you saw last night's trending topic as well. After the preview video was released yesterday, quite a few netizens questioned whether you were lip-syncing. What do you think about that?"

The moment Xi Shu asked the question, everyone present changed expression.

"This question! The host is obviously stirring things up!"

"So was he lip-syncing or not?" The doubts that had been suppressed earlier surfaced again.

"Yeah. Even though Ye Zexi sang pretty well, I still want to know what was going on with the preview."

"I doubt he'll admit it. After all, every singer who runs into this kind of situation just denies it outright."

There was no shortage of speculation in the bullet comments, and the camera naturally turned to Ye Zexi onstage.

Under the lights, his pink hair was especially eye-catching, making his skin appear even fairer. Even the small mole at the corner of his eye looked particularly vivid and alluring. He gave a light cough. "Ahem—I don't really see it that way. I truly wasn't familiar with the song at the time, and I apologize to the audience."

After all, he had only transmigrated here yesterday, and it was a song he had never heard before. Being able to match the lip movements at all was already pretty good.

Xi Shu froze. "Huh?"