Chapter 109: A Splendid Victory (Seeking First Subscriptions)

The live broadcast continued. He Hao said in an excited tone, "We have arrived at the most thrilling moment of the night. The final votes for tonight's camp showdown are about to be revealed!"

"Let's look at the big screen. Director, please bring up the real-time voting numbers from the *Star of Tomorrow* section on Penguin Video."

Stage special effects burst to life as two pillars of flame—one ice, one fire—ignited on the floor.

The blue ice flames on the left and the crimson fire on the right blazed simultaneously, lighting up the entire stage before spreading across the giant screen.

The bar charts for both camps appeared.

The votes for both sides had surpassed 45 million, climbing back and forth in a fierce, neck-and-neck race.

"Wow!" He Hao exclaimed, his voice brimming with excitement. "It looks like an incredibly tight race. The total votes for both camps have reached 45 million, chasing each other down. It's impossible to predict who will emerge victorious tonight!"

"Before the voting lines close, let me reiterate tonight's voting rules."

"The voting for the second round of performances will lock at exactly ten o'clock. In other words, there are only ten minutes left."

"Due to the latency in the live broadcast signal, the lock time will be based strictly on the time displayed in the *Star of Tomorrow* section of Penguin Video."

Next, He Hao called the members of both camps to the stage. They stood on opposite sides, taking turns to make their final appeals for votes.

Keeping his eyes on the real-time vote count on the big screen, He Hao built up the atmosphere: "With only ten minutes left before the voting lines lock, the final victory lies entirely in the hands of the audience watching the live broadcast."

"If you prefer the Glacier Camp's stage tonight, please vote for the Glacier Camp."

"If you prefer the Flame Camp's stage, vote for the Flame Camp."

"Now, let's look back at the most brilliant moments of this season."

The big screen split into two. The real-time votes for the two camps moved to the left and right edges.

In the center of the screen, a highlight reel of this season's *Star of Tomorrow* began to play.

Starting from the very first episode, one public performance after another flashed across the screen.

These stage clips primarily featured Fang Xing's group and Wu Junchen's group.

It started with Fang Xing playing the guitar and singing *Wild Bird*, followed by *Nocturne*.

Then came *Lovers of the World*, *A Difficult Scripture*, *The Wind Rises*, *Ode to Youthful China*, *The Red Actress*, and *Fireworks Cool Easily*.

Song after song played on the screen.

Each song got only a dozen seconds of screen time, but every single one of them was a classic, an unmatched masterpiece.

When these eight songs were compiled into a single video, the sheer impact was so breathtaking that no one could look away.

The live comment section exploded in waves alongside the video:

[This is terrifying. All these songs actually came from the same person on the same variety show.]

[What's even more terrifying is that his opponents actually managed to keep up with him all the way to the finals.]

[Say no more, I'll vote, okay?]

[With songs like these, how could any of them lose? The fact that a bunch of coat-tail riders managed to catch up in votes makes me blush with embarrassment.]

[I'm a man of action, not words. Here's 100,000 votes just to show my support.]

As the song montage played, the votes for the Flame Camp surged wildly once more.

Before the video even finished playing, the Flame Camp's votes began skyrocketing by the millions.

They quickly broke through the 50-million mark, leaving the Glacier Camp's 45 million far behind.

Seeing this, the fans of the Glacier Group fell into a panic.

The fans in the venue screamed hysterically, "The gap is widening! Vote quickly! Vote!"

It wasn't just the fans at the venue; the online Glacier Group fans began canvassing for votes across major social media platforms.

However, it was to no avail. The Glacier Group's voting growth had hit a plateau.

More than half of the Glacier Group's votes had been funded by fan crowdfunding. Once the crowdfunded money ran out, their voting speed plummeted.

Meanwhile, the Flame Camp's votes continued to soar.

The gap grew wider and wider.

The fan club leaders of the Glacier Group started privately messaging wealthy fans, using emotional manipulation and pressure to prod them into spending more money to vote.

Seeing the Flame Camp's votes surpass 50 million, a fanatical Glacier Group fan finally made a move, dumping 3 million votes in one go.

The Glacier Group's votes instantly jumped from 45 million to 48 million.

However, after reaching 48 million, their vote growth slowed to a crawl, almost coming to a complete halt.

Despite the fans' hysterical cries, their voting speed was simply no match for the Flame Camp.

In truth, comparing this to the previous season's debut night, once the votes hit the 40-million mark, the general voting pool was essentially depleted.

Any votes beyond that point had to be bought with cold, hard cash.

Once the money was spent, the voting speed naturally slowed down.

With three minutes left before the lines locked, the Glacier Group's fans made another move, dumping another 2 million votes to push the Glacier Camp's total to 50 million.

However, this was utterly meaningless.

The Flame Camp's votes showed no signs of slowing down.

This was because many viewers watching the live broadcast hadn't tuned in at exactly eight o'clock; some had started watching at 8:10 or 8:30.

They only started voting after watching the final performance, *A Man Should Stand Strong*.

Therefore, even as the lock time approached, the Flame Camp's votes continued to surge with no end in sight.

Once *A Man Should Stand Strong* finished, the votes had already hit 50 million.

And when the montage of the eight songs from the ten episodes—including *Nocturne* and *Ode to Youthful China*—was shown, the votes exploded once again.

Many casual viewers who usually just watched the show without bothering to vote felt that since it was the final episode, they should cast a vote out of respect for these masterpiece songs.

As a result, the voting base of casual viewers for this final episode was terrifyingly massive.

Just as the Glacier Camp managed to force their way to 50 million votes with money, the Flame Camp was already charging toward 60 million.

***

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Tidal Sound Culture, the atmosphere was incredibly tense.

Watching the gap between the two camps widen, He Hongtu asked in a low voice, "Has Pine Stone Records entered the fray? How much money did they dump?"

The operations director had a strange expression on his face. Steeling himself, he replied, "According to the information we've received, Pine Stone Records hasn't spent any money on votes. They're just doing normal promotion and marketing."

He Hongtu's eyes narrowed as he snapped angrily, "Impossible! They're almost at 60 million votes. How could they get numbers like that without spending money?"

The operations director replied helplessly, "According to the backend data from Penguin Video, the sheer volume of unique viewers voting for Fang Xing is massive."

"Normally, only about 10% of the audience votes. But this time, the proportion of viewers voting for Fang Xing's side has reached 22.8%. This is an astronomical figure."

He Hongtu leaned forward, propping his hands on the desk, and urged, "Then keep pushing the fans."

The operations director looked extremely troubled. "We've used every tactic we have. Several key big-spending fans have already shown signs of resentment. Pushing them further will likely backfire."

He Hongtu's face turned grim. "Is there any other way to win the camp championship?"

The operations director replied helplessly, "At this final stage of the battle, it's strictly a matter of cold, hard cash. There's no other way."

"How much?" He Hongtu squinted.

"Well... given the Glacier Group's current popularity, to secure the championship, we might have to sacrifice all of our projected profits for the next three months." The operations director didn't even dare to look up at He Hongtu as he spoke.

He Hongtu's expression soured even further. "The hype for these useless hacks will only last three months anyway, and we have to spend three months of profits just to buy them a win?"

The operations director quickly explained, "The main issue is that Fang Xing's popularity is too high. Although their vote count isn't vastly higher than ours yet, the actual number of individual voters on their side is already 3.5 times ours, and the gap is still widening."

"If we factor in fans borrowing phones and soliciting votes, the gap in voter count is even larger—possibly seven to eight times."

He Hongtu was unwilling to accept this. "What is going on with this season of *Star of Tomorrow*? In previous seasons, our champions debuted with an overwhelming landslide in popularity. This time, can an entire debuting group not even match a single Fang Xing?"

The operations director was speechless. He thought to himself: *Why don't you actually listen to the songs Fang Xing released this season? Any single one of them has the caliber of a chart-topping champion.*

However, he didn't dare say this out loud. He could only advise, "If we back out now, we can still recoup about half of the money the fans spent on voting. It's a guaranteed profit. We just won't get the finals championship, and the Glacier Group's popularity might not match that of previous seasons."

He Hongtu snorted. "That's enough. This temporary group is getting worse with every iteration anyway. Let's leave it at that."

Tidal Sound Culture ultimately decided to cut their losses and abandon the race.

Although giving up the race meant losing the championship, they would at least walk away with pockets full of cash.

If they continued to pour money in now, they would only lose money.

Capital was here to turn a profit, not to suffer losses.

To them, any project that lost money and had no future was simply garbage.

The peak popularity of a temporary group like this only lasted for the first three months.

Once those three months passed, the returns would drop off a cliff.

He Hongtu made a standard investor's decision: stop spending money and continue to harvest the fan economy.

***

In the final minutes before the voting lines locked, Tidal Sound Culture abandoned the race.

The Glacier Camp's votes stopped at 50 million, their growth rate dropping to freezing point, barely moving.

The Flame Camp, however, was a different story. Their votes soared, breaking through 60 million in the blink of an eye and leaving the Glacier Camp far behind.

Seeing this, He Hongtu knew he had made the right call.

Given the momentum of the Flame Camp's vote growth, they clearly still had plenty of steam left.

If Tidal Sound Culture had tried to buy the championship, they would have bled dry.

In fact, Tidal Sound Culture had already bled heavily to buy votes in the first round, and they had to rely on harvesting the fans to recoup their losses.

Once Tidal Sound Culture pulled out, the result was a foregone conclusion.

At exactly ten o'clock in the evening, the voting channel in the *Star of Tomorrow* section on Penguin Video closed.

The live broadcast continued. Looking at the final numbers frozen on the big screen, He Hao said in an excited voice:

"The voting lines are now closed, and the numbers on the screen are final!"

"Congratulations to the Flame Camp for winning the *Star of Tomorrow* finals with a total of 65.2 million votes! Congratulations to all the members of the Flame Camp!"

"We also congratulate our Glacier boys for securing tonight's runner-up spot with an outstanding score of 51.21 million votes!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the live chat erupted with sarcastic comments:

[This runner-up title is great, it's very valuable.]

[Oh, it's valuable alright—cost them several luxury apartments.]

[There are only two teams competing. Giving them a 'runner-up' title, who are you insulting?]

[Low EQ: You lost. High EQ: Congratulations on winning runner-up.]

[Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! When it comes to high EQ, no one beats Teacher He.]

[What a runner-up. I approve of this trophy.]

[So satisfying. Those brainless fans are finally quiet.]

During the first round of performances, the Glacier Group's fans had been far too arrogant, and now they were facing a massive backlash.

The fanatical fans of the Glacier Group were fighting back against casual viewers and internet trolls across various social media platforms.

In the fan groups of Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen, the group administrators posted an announcement:

[The competition is definitely rigged. Let's go raid Feifan Entertainment's official Weibo and let the whole world know how corrupt their show is.]

A massive wave of fans began flooding Feifan Entertainment's official account.

However, not all fans were so brainless.

There were still a few rational voices left in the Glacier Group's fan base.

One of them posted in the group chat: "Actually, judging by the songs alone, Fang Xing's music is indeed very good. But I support Junchen not just for his music, but for who he is. A loss is a loss, we should just keep supporting Junchen."

The next second, she received a notification: [You have been removed from the group by the administrator.]

The administrators of the fan groups began wielding their ban hammers. Anyone who dared to say a single good word about Fang Xing's camp was kicked out immediately.

Even some familiar, long-time members of the fan groups were not spared.

Coupled with Tidal Sound Culture's manipulative tactics to pressure fans into voting, many fans had already developed feelings of resentment.

While these extreme measures had worked temporarily, they were bound to backfire eventually.

Furthermore, because the Glacier Group failed to win the finals, many fans felt disheartened and began leaving the groups one after another.

***

The live broadcast was not over yet.

After He Hao announced the Flame Camp as the overall champion of this season's *Star of Tomorrow*, the show transitioned to the final awards ceremony.

"Congratulations to the Flame Camp on winning the championship. Members of the Flame Camp, please wait offstage for a moment. We still have more trophies to present."

"Now, let's welcome the Flame Camp back to the stage to lift our championship trophy. We also invite the executive director of *Star of Tomorrow*, Tong Fei, to present the award to these outstanding young men."

Fang Xing led his team onto the stage.

The eight of them stood in a line.

Soon, Tong Fei, dressed in an elegant wine-red evening gown, walked out gracefully.

Behind her, a stage assistant pushed a cart bearing tonight's championship trophy.

Tong Fei walked up to Fang Xing, a smile blooming on her face like a rose as she whispered, "Congratulations on winning against all odds."

"Thank you, and congratulations to you as well," Fang Xing replied with a smile.

For Tong Fei, it was indeed a shared victory.

This season of *Star of Tomorrow* had broken all previous records, producing more hit songs than one could count on one hand.

Moreover, judging from tonight's live broadcast metrics, this season of *Star of Tomorrow* had already become a cultural phenomenon.

Looking back over the last ten years, no other talent show had ever reached this level of popularity.

This season had naturally made Tong Fei a fortune.

She was incredibly glad that she had made the right decision back then.

Instead of choosing to suppress Fang Xing, she had given him the space to showcase his talent, which ultimately led to this monumental success.

Tong Fei lifted the championship trophy with both hands and presented it to Fang Xing.

Fang Xing took the trophy, looked at his teammates on either side, and said, "Let's lift it together."

The other seven members gathered around, raising the trophy high into the air as they shouted in unison, "We are the champions!"

Their shouts echoed throughout the studio, lingering for a long time.

The spotlight beaming down from above hit the championship trophy, reflecting a proud, brilliant glow that shone magnificently on the stage.

The trainees participating in the talent show were generally quite tall.

Lu Ming was slightly on the shorter side, and because the others held the trophy too high, he couldn't reach it even when he gripped Fang Xing's shoulder and stood on his tiptoes.

Having no choice, he had to jump up just to touch the trophy.

This moment was caught perfectly by the camera.

The viewers watching the live stream burst into laughter.

[Dammit, that's hilarious. Penguin Video, open the voting channel again, I want to cast ten more votes for him.]

[Poor Lu Ming.]

[Sending three seconds of pity to Lu Ming.]

[Pity +1]

***

While the people on stage cheered and shouted, the reactions offstage were a mixed bag.

The live audience was jubilant, while the rival fans were devastated.

In the trainee seating area.

Wu Junchen, Liu Yichen, and the other members of the Glacier Group looked up at the team holding the trophy on stage. Their eyes were filled with envy, mixed with a hint of jealousy.

They were deeply unsatisfied.

They were the ones debuting as a group, yet the championship trophy belonged to someone else.

Such a thing had never happened in previous talent shows.

In the past, no one had ever dared to challenge capital—not even a genius.

Fang Xing had relied not only on his own vocal prowess but also on the backing of a brilliant civilization to stand against Tidal Sound Culture.

Anyone else would have fallen long before the finals.

***

The show did not end after the championship trophy was awarded.

Because the final segment of *Star of Tomorrow* featured more than just one trophy.

He Hao continued, "Congratulations to the trainees of the Flame Camp. Please step down and wait. We still have more trophies to hand out."

At this point, the live comments began to mock:

[Here it comes, the runner-up trophy.]

[A runner-up trophy, how showy!]

[Be human, guys. Is it necessary to rub salt in their wounds? Even if you do, you should use chili salt.]

[So satisfying. The brainless Wu Junchen fan in my dorm is finally quiet.]

[Same here.]

[Satisfying +1]

However, there was no runner-up trophy.

He Hao continued, "Next, we will present the Weibo Most Popular Award..."

The subsequent awards were all of this nature—Weibo Most Popular Award, Best Leader Award, Team Chemistry Award...

A list of categories so diverse and numerous could only mean one thing...

Yes, consolation prizes.

When the members of the Glacier Group went up to accept their awards, their expressions looked as if they had been constipated for days.

Seeing their idols accept these awards, the fans wept bitterly.

The live comment section was flooded with fan comments:

[I'm crying. Junchen worked so hard, yet he didn't get the championship trophy.]

[Fang Xing owes Junchen a championship.]

[Tears. Why does Junchen always face rigged results?]

[Tears +1]

Fanatical fans began launching crusades across Weibo.

First they raided Feifan Entertainment's official account, then the *Star of Tomorrow* official account, followed by Pine Stone Records, and finally Fang Xing's personal Weibo.

After signing with Pine Stone Records, Fang Xing had registered a Weibo account managed by his agency team, primarily to post work-related updates.

Thus, Fang Xing's Weibo could not escape either, becoming a dumping ground for the Glacier Group fans' anger.

Not only that, but anyone on Weibo who dared to say anything positive about Fang Xing would face a barrage of attacks from his rival fans.

Even saying that Fang Xing's songs sounded good was forbidden.

Many well-known music critics were not spared either.

In particular, Ni Hongdan, a well-known music critic and a staunch supporter of Fang Xing, had her Weibo comment section filled with abuse.

***

After the final awards segment concluded, the host He Hao officially announced the end of tonight's finals.

This drew a definitive close to this season of *Star of Tomorrow*.

Tong Fei was thrilled when she received the final streaming numbers from Penguin Video's backend.

This season of *Star of Tomorrow* was undoubtedly the most popular talent show in the past decade, fully earning the title of a cultural phenomenon.

The show's topics were trending everywhere, and on the night of the camp finals, it occupied half of the trending search list.

The show ended amidst the tears of devoted fans.

Despite the abuse from the Glacier Group's fans, *The Lonely Warrior* and *A Man Should Stand Strong* stubbornly climbed the trending charts.

No matter how much the fans railed, they couldn't stop the two songs from exploding in popularity.

*The Lonely Warrior* and *A Man Should Stand Strong* spread from Penguin Video to various major online platforms.

At lightning speed, the two songs dominated the homepages of every platform.

Weibo, short-video platforms, and live-streaming platforms.

Live-streamers on these platforms smelled the traffic and began learning to sing these two songs.

Cover the song a second earlier, and you could ride the wave of traffic to your heart's content.

This was a truth already proven by Fang Xing's previous eight songs.

The competition among live-streamers was fierce. To capture more followers, they naturally chased the trending traffic relentlessly.

And for the past three months, Fang Xing had been the source of that traffic.

Any song sung by Fang Xing was guaranteed to go viral across the entire internet, without exception.

The entire web was dominated by *The Lonely Warrior* and *A Man Should Stand Strong*, but the Glacier Group's fans remained blind to it, continuing to disparage the two songs.

Whether it was a music critic or a famous singer, anyone who dared to like these two songs would become a target of the fans' verbal attacks.

Li Caiwei had been through a lot and no longer cared about the fans' abuse.

As she watched TV with her daughter, Little Bean Sprout, and scrolled through Weibo, she casually liked all the posts praising *The Lonely Warrior* and *A Man Should Stand Strong*.

Consequently, her Weibo fell victim to the Glacier Group's fans.

[What are you so smug about? Didn't you just ride Fang Xing's coattails to get *The Red Actress*? A near-first-line singer without even a signature song of your own, who do you think you are?]

Seeing this comment, Li Caiwei couldn't help but laugh out loud. Her fingers flew across her screen as she typed a reply:

[So you admit Fang Xing's coattails are worth riding?]

This reply completely enraged the fans.

The Glacier Group's fans began to collectively raid her Weibo, looking determined to tear her account apart.

"Mommy..."

Just then, the little girl in her arms called out softly.

Li Caiwei tossed her phone onto the sofa, pinched her daughter's cheek, and asked, "What is it?"

Little Bean Sprout pointed at the TV and pouted, "Uncle."

Li Caiwei coaxed her, "Yes, that uncle helped Mommy. Does Little Bean Sprout like him?"

"I do," Little Bean Sprout nodded earnestly.

"Then next time we see him, let's give him a gift, okay?" Li Caiwei suggested.

"Okay," Little Bean Sprout nodded again.

"What should we give him?"

"Pudding."

Li Caiwei pinched her nose and said, "You just want to eat it yourself, don't you? You little rascal."

Giggle, giggle...

Little Bean Sprout giggled in her mother's arms, swaying back and forth with laughter.

"Alright, it's late. Time for bed," Li Caiwei said as she handed her daughter to Little Bean Sprout's grandmother.

Because of her work, Li Caiwei couldn't tuck her daughter in every night, so this task was usually handled by the grandmother.

"Grandma's taking Little Bean Sprout to bed now," the grandmother said, carrying the little girl back to her room.

Li Caiwei picked up her phone and continued to clash with the Glacier Group's fans on Weibo.

***

The fans' frenzy on Weibo persisted into the next day.

Until several official media accounts, led by the Youth League's official account, shared *A Man Should Stand Strong*.

The crazed fans, attacking anyone in sight, began to raid these untouchable official accounts.

Tidal Sound Culture reacted quickly this time. Fearing that the fans' erratic behavior would implicate the company, they immediately ordered the leaders of the various fan groups to rein in the rabid fans.

Ultimately, this battle of public opinion drew to a close after major official accounts like the Youth League shared *A Man Should Stand Strong*.

At the celebration banquet that evening, Liang Yusong summarized Fang Xing's performance in this season of *Star of Tomorrow* in a single phrase: "A beautiful victory!"