The Program Crew were all wondering whether Shen Lian had a grudge against Xiao Weiran. Why else would he keep voting the opposite way?
He didn't. Shen Lian was simply following his heart.
In the rounds that followed, Shen Lian sometimes made the same choice as Xiao Weiran. It had to be said that Teacher Shen really did have the audience's best interests at heart: every vote was firm and honest. Twice, his vote sent a round into overtime, and once the audience got involved, the contestants backed by industry connections no longer had a say.
They wanted him to play the villain. Shen Lian chuckled. How could it all be such a coincidence? Several six-to-five splits had seemingly left the decision in his hands, but in reality, if he followed the Program Crew's instructions and voted with Xiao Weiran, the audience would see him as the one who eliminated the contestant.
A few of those who had nearly been eliminated were especially well liked by casual viewers. If he had actually done it, Shen Lian could already imagine how badly his public reputation would tank once the show aired.
So Shen Lian refused to play along. None of this had been mentioned before he came.
Besides, this episode should already have enough talking points. After all, three well-connected contestants had been eliminated. He just wondered how they would rewrite their script from here.
For the final comeback round, all the eliminated contestants took the stage one by one. Afterward, the audience and mentors voted together, though the mentors' votes carried more weight: each was worth thirty points, while each audience vote counted for one. Once the totals were calculated backstage, they were displayed on the big screen. Simple and clear.
The draw of the comeback round was that eliminated