Sounding the Peak: The Night of the Music Variety Show Finals (Part Four)

"Ding~ Congratulations, host, on completing the mission. You have received 5 Attribute Points to assign as you wish and 10,000 Empathy Points. The rewards have been delivered to your system inventory."

"Ding~ 10,000 Empathy Points deducted. Host still owes this system 7,857,760 Empathy Points."

Chen Ze had spent over eight million Empathy Points on skills and songs before.

"System, put all my Attribute Points into constitution."

"Ding~ Allocating points for host. Completion is expected within three days."

Chen Ze's personal attribute panel was also updated:

Name: Chen Ze

Age: 18

Height: 178 cm

Physique: 70

Constitution: 70

Temperament: 70

Charm: 80 (outstanding)

Skills: View the Other Person's Information Lv. 1, Top-Tier Singing Skill, Musical Instrument Mastery, dance mastery.

At that moment, in the luxurious apartment, Zheng Yanxi was lying on the bed Chen Ze had slept in, her face buried in the pillow. She took a deep breath, and Chen Ze's scent left Giant Loli looking utterly intoxicated. If Chen Ze saw this scene, he would surely call her a pervert again!

"Little Ze, I miss you so much!" Giant Loli's face was flushed red. It had only been a few days since she had last seen Chen Ze, but she missed him so much she was going crazy.

Giant Loli took Secrets to Pursuing Men out of the bag she carried with her and opened it. When she turned to one page and saw the heading "How to Make a Man Let Down All His Defenses Around You," her expression changed, and she began reading carefully.

When she read, "Men all lack a sense of security. Giving them that sense of security means not only showing them enough care, but also having a certain level of material means. For example, besides setting aside a little time every day to show him you care and make him feel you're always by his side, you should also create surprises and romance when necessary. Give him jewelry, cosmetics, handbags, and the like at irregular intervals. That takes a certain amount of money, so there's some truth to the saying that poor people don't deserve love!" Giant Loli thought it made a lot of sense!

At that thought, Giant Loli took out her phone and made a call. "Hello, Aunt Lin, help me buy some men's jewelry and bags. Yes, the latest styles, and men's cosmetics too. Mm! Get a set of each. Yes, bring them over to me once you've bought them." Aunt Lin was one of her family's housekeepers, responsible specifically for purchasing.

After giving Aunt Lin her instructions, Giant Loli called Chen Ze.

"Hello, Little Ze, how are things going over there?" Giant Loli asked sweetly, her voice as flirtatious as could be!

"I'm doing fine. I made it through the first round of the competition," Chen Ze's pleasant voice came from the other end of the line.

"Wow! My husband really is the best!" Giant Loli's voice grew even sweeter.

"How are you doing over there?" Chen Ze asked, showing his concern as well.

"I'm doing fine, but I miss you a little!" Giant Loli's voice was sickeningly sweet.

"I miss you too. Why don't you come watch my competition the day after tomorrow?"

"Okay!" In fact, Giant Loli had gone to watch the competition in person both days; Chen Ze simply didn't know. She hoped that when Chen Ze happened to spot her silently cheering him on in the audience, he would be moved, but unfortunately, her luck was too poor. She hadn't managed to get tickets near the front of the stage, and she had sat too far away for Chen Ze to see her at all.

"Little Ze, I really miss you so much. I want to hold you tight in my arms, and I want to kiss you so badly!" Giant Loli kept repeating that she missed him, hoping Chen Ze would feel that she was thinking about him all the time, so that she would be the first thing he thought of when he closed his eyes and when he opened them, forming a habit in his mind. She had learned this from Secrets to Pursuing Men as well.

"Ugh~" Chen Ze rubbed the goosebumps Giant Loli had raised on his arms and said somewhat helplessly, "All right, all right. I'll be back in a little over ten days. You can hold me then!" Ever since the two had made their relationship official, Giant Loli had become unusually clingy. Whenever they were together, she always wanted to hold him.

"All right! Then call me your wife and let me hear it!"

"Mm, no. We're not married yet, so I can't!"

"Come on, I already call you my husband. Can't you call me your wife just once?"

"No!"

"Come on!"

"I won't."

Men and women in love could always talk about a single topic for a long time. The two went back and forth until late at night, then said good night to each other and hung up.

The first round of The Voice of Great Xia was prerecorded. It only aired online after the technicians had edited it, polished the audio, and applied a series of other technical processes. As a result, the show aired a day later; it would not be livestreamed across the internet until the third round.

Only the second episode had aired online by then. When Chen Ze sang Secret Fragrance and admitted that he was the original singer of My Old Classmate, the internet erupted!

Plenty of people had been searching for the singer of My Old Classmate, but there had been no news whatsoever. Little did they know that Tianmei Entertainment had deliberately orchestrated it all so that Chen Ze could astound everyone with a single brilliant feat on this music talent show. It had to be said, the operation had been executed remarkably well. With a powerful entertainment company backing him, Chen Ze had become a household name without much effort and gained a huge wave of fans at the same time!

Though it was late at night, the headquarters of Tianmei Entertainment Company was still brightly lit.

"Manager Zhang, your eye is as sharp as ever. This Chen Ze really does have some skills!"

The president, Shangguan Mingyue, sat in her office chair with her beautiful black-stockinged legs crossed, watching The Voice of Great Xia. The show was airing the judges' comments after Chen Ze's performance of Secret Fragrance.

Zhang Ting was watching beside her. Hearing that, she said with a smile, "From the first moment I saw Chen Ze, I knew he was no ordinary person. I'm certain he'll give us an enormous surprise in the competitions to come!"

"Mm. Step up his promotion, and direct all our resources toward him during the competition. I have a feeling Tianmei Entertainment may be about to produce another superstar!" Shangguan Mingyue said.

Meanwhile, the core members of The Voice of Great Xia's production team were also holding a meeting.

"Director Wang, this season of The Voice of Great Xia has far more views than previous seasons!" one of the core members said.

Wang Shufen, the director of The Voice of Great Xia, was a middle-aged woman in her forties. She had personally directed the show in previous years.

"Mm, what exactly is the reason?" Wang Shufen asked with a serious expression.

Whenever the viewing figures were unusual, whether high or low, they had to find the reason so they could understand what the audience wanted and better tailor later episodes to their preferences.

"We can't draw a definite conclusion yet, but the contestant being discussed most online is a man named Chen Ze," the core member said.

Wang Shufen rubbed her bald-crowned head and pondered for a while before saying, "Give Chen Ze more screen time in the next competition."

"Yes!"

"Chen Ze, what song are you planning to sing in the next round?" Lin Dan still maintained her businesslike manner, but compared with her earlier coldness, her tone was much gentler now! Perhaps seeing Chen Ze's previous performance had improved her opinion of him.

Chen Ze took another folder out of the suitcase he had brought and handed it to Lin Dan. "It's another original song of mine."

Lin Dan glanced curiously into the suitcase and found it packed full of folders. There was no telling how many!

Lin Dan took the folder, opened it, and glanced inside. Just like last time, it was all sheet music.

"'Hometown.' Is this a folk song?" Lin Dan guessed as she looked at the title.

"To be precise, it's a rock-style folk song." What Chen Chen had given her was Xu Wei's Hometown from his previous life.

"Oh!" Lin Dan said nothing more and turned to make the arrangements.

In the blink of an eye, the day of the competition arrived again. Only fifty contestants remained.

Just then, the system issued a new mission.

"Ding~ The system has issued a new mission. Please sing a song and successfully advance to the next round. Mission reward: 10 Attribute Points to assign as you wish and 10,000 Empathy Points. There is no penalty for failure. Does the host accept?"

"I accept!"

This round was another elimination round. The show was in full swing, and the competition had grown even fiercer. The contestants had all brought works even better than before, and two of them caught Chen Ze's attention.

Lin Hao was one of the few male contestants. The song he was performing today was mentor Ai Kun's signature work, They Say I'm Too Bad.

As the rhythmic music started, Lin Hao began twisting his body to the beat.

"They all say I'm too bad, ah! Actually, I'm not that bad, ah! They just think I'm too bad, huh! So what if I'm too bad, ah! It's not like I'm eating your family's rice, oh! Is it you, ah, jealous of me, uh! Your hatred, ah! Hasn't caught my attention, huh! I'm still me, ah! That one-of-a-kind me..." Lin Hao's slightly childish voice was not at all annoying; on the contrary, people found it adorable!

The audience joined in singing and dancing, and the venue was filled with joy. The one dancing most enthusiastically was mentor Ai Kun. Since it was the song that had made him famous, he was unusually excited!

After finishing the rap song, Lin Hao gained a huge number of fans.

Lin Hao stood onstage, drenched in fragrant sweat, waiting for the mentors' comments.

Song Ying said, "Your rap style has a lot in common with mentor Ai Kun's, and it's just as outstanding. I have high hopes for you!"

"Thank you, Teacher Song. Mentor Ai Kun has always been my idol. I've always imitated him, and I hope that one day I can reach his level!" Lin Hao said, deliberately or otherwise flattering Ai Kun.

Hearing this, mentor Ai Kun laughed heartily. "Young Lin Hao, you're pretty good, but blindly imitating others isn't the way forward. You need to carve out a path in a style of your own!"

The other two mentors also voiced their agreement. In the end, all four mentors voted to pass him, and Lin Hao advanced without a hitch!

The other contestant who caught Chen Ze's attention was a woman in her thirties. The song she performed was mentor Wang Feng's signature work, In the Summer.