The song was carefree and exhilarating. When the music ended, the venue fell silent for a full ten seconds.
With an ancient-style song paired with modern outfits, He Rui, the mentor seated in the middle, could not resist teasing, "Looks like the wandering swordsmen have all started riding motorcycles."
The audience laughed along, and some even shouted that they had seen the young gentlemen swordsmen hitting the club together.
One song changed many people's opinions. Quite a few even felt that Shen Xingshuo had only dared to do this because he had the skills to back it up, and they loved the boy's genuine nature.
Although the mentors wanted to discuss the performance with the contestant, each contestant had only a limited amount of time. To avoid disrupting the schedule, they had to let Shen Xingshuo leave the stage first.
Still, judging by the satisfied smiles on the mentors' faces, his chances of advancing were very high.
Seeing Shen Xingshuo calmly walk offstage, Qiao Luo stared at him in disbelief as though he were a monster. Only when they stood face-to-face did he pat Shen Xingshuo's shoulder in astonishment.
"You scared me to death! No wonder you were sleeping while I practiced yesterday. So this was what you had up your sleeve!"
"You can't overuse your voice. Too much is as bad as too little." He had to admit that the amazed looks from the audience really had set Shen Xingshuo's heart surging. Even his words sounded suitably polished.
"Just taking shortcuts and creating a contrast. What's so great about that?" Hearing Shen Xingshuo say "too much is as bad as too little," a contestant who thought it was a veiled jab at him sneered in exasperation.
"Who are you? Was I talking to you?"
Shen Xingshuo never indulged anyone and settled his scores on the spot. At those words, he mocked him mercilessly. "Or did something I said hurt your fragile little heart?"
"Fuck."
Paired with his arrogant manner, Shen Xingshuo's mocking words not only left the provocateur speechless but also secretly delighted some of the others.
They appeared to stick together, but none of them actually respected the others. They had only formed a pretend alliance because they shared a common enemy.
Now that their so-called "companion" was being attacked, desperately suppressing the upward curve of their lips was already the greatest respect they could show him.
"Tsk, Mr. Nobody, isn't it almost your turn?" Catching sight of the number pinned at the other boy's waist out of the corner of his eye, Shen Xingshuo offered his well wishes with pointed sarcasm.
"Hope you can be, um, even more impressive!"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, he's so cocky. I love him."
"Hehe, 'even more impressive.' What a burn."
"With that performance, he's definitely advancing, hahaha. I'm going to be one of his earliest fans-a girlfriend fan."
"Count me in, person above. I'll be the mistress, and you can be the wife."
"They're both eighteen, so why does Shen Xingshuo already have girlfriend fans while Little Luoluo only has mommy fans?"
"No, Luoluo has boyfriend fans too."
"..."
"!!!"
Perhaps Shen Xingshuo had been won over by ability. Casual fans abandoned their previous poor impression of his arrogance and overbearing behavior, and even thought that his frown was a sign of manliness.
"Netizens really are a bizarre species." Qiao Luo scrolled through the comments in amazement. Although the haters were still kicking up a fuss, they had already been drowned out by positive comments.
Shen Xingshuo did not respond. Instead, he frowned deeply at the message his eldest brother had sent him. The unprovoked hostility was irritating.
Yang Yi, an utterly unfamiliar name, had begun contacting paid trolls as soon as Shen Xingshuo appeared at the audition venue, targeting him and Qiao Luo directly.
However, Qiao Luo had not shown any flaws from beginning to end, which made the paid trolls focus all their efforts on him. They had been smearing him since the day before yesterday and still had not stopped.
'Dark Night: He's pretty rich, huh? I'll go meet him tomorrow.'
'Shen: Just middle-class. Be careful.'
'Dark Night: Got it. If Little Yu weren't nagging me every day, I wouldn't have had to contact you.'
Shen Xubai could feel the arrogance from the other end even through the screen. He shook his head at the message without replying, merely closing the webpage open on his computer.
A closer look revealed that it was White Peach TV's livestream channel.
Conflicts were inevitable with so many people around. To reduce disputes, the production team actually managed to deliver the mentors' evaluation results within three days.
Meanwhile, Shen Yu had already boarded a plane and was eagerly hurrying to the audition venue.
"Why haven't I received a message yet?" Qiao Luo paced back and forth in the dorm room. Seeing Shen Xingshuo still calmly playing a game, he could not help admiring how relaxed he was.
"You sang so well. You're bound to advance." Recalling the other performances over the past few days, Qiao Luo could not help sighing. "A lot of people have the same style as me."
"So what if you have the same style? Take them out." Having hit another dead end in his match-three game, Shen Xingshuo irritably tossed his phone onto the bed and flopped backward lazily himself.
Despite saying he did not care, this was his first talent competition, and Shen Xingshuo was still very eager to know his result.
"I made it." Lin Yan, who was usually a man of few words, clenched his fists and spun around, openly showing his emotions for the first time.
"That's great! I always thought your voice sounded especially expensive!" Qiao Luo immediately went over to congratulate him, not forgetting to wave his arms as he described it. "That cool, aloof kind of expensive!"
"Hmph!" Jiang Can, who was also anxiously awaiting his result, huffed, but he did not dare lash out at the others. The competition's livestream had made him realize that his skill level was the lowest in the dorm.
"I made it too! I made it too!" Right afterward, Qiao Luo also received good news. The boy bounced around the dorm room happily before hugging a slightly awkward-looking Lin Yan.
"Ahem, me too." Compared with the two excited boys, Shen Xingshuo sounded unruffled, but the index finger repeatedly curling behind his back revealed his good mood.
"Not bad at all! We..." Before Qiao Luo could finish, a slamming door interrupted him. Only then did he realize that the fourth person had disappeared from the room.
"Tsk." Shen Xingshuo saw him off with a soft click of his tongue.
Lin Yan smiled shyly, but there was not a trace of sadness on his face.
"The official results are out. One hundred and twenty people passed the first round." Qiao Luo was always the best informed. Then he cried out in surprise again.
"That was so fast! A fan club's already been set up in just this little bit of time!"
"Saw it." After blocking private messages on Weibo, Shen Xingshuo casually browsed the newly created Super Topic, then twitched the corner of his mouth in disbelief.
"What's this about wife fans? I'm only eighteen. I'm not even old enough to legally marry."
"Hahaha, luckily mine are mommy fans and big sister fans." Qiao Luo was pleased with himself.
"Heh, do you know what that means?" Meeting Qiao Luo's bewildered gaze, Shen Xingshuo explained with relish.
"In other words, I'm your dad."